The Epistle to Diognetus

Lightfoot's Translation
Roberts-Donaldson Translation

                          The Epistle TO Diognetus
(Apostolic Fathers, Lightfoot & Harmer, 1891)

CHAPTER 1
 1:1  Since I see, most excellent Diognetus, that thou
art exceedingly anxious to understand the religion of
the Christians, and that your enquiries respecting them
are distinctly and carefully made, as to what God they
trust and how they worship Him, that they all
disregard the world and despise death, and take no
account of those who are regarded as gods by the
Greeks, neither observe the superstition of the Jews,
and as to the nature of the affection which they
entertain one to another, and of this new development
or interest, which has entered into men's lives now
and not before: I gladly welcome this zeal in thee,
and I ask of God, Who supplies both the speaking and
the hearing to us, that it may be granted to myself to
speak in such a way that you may be made better by
the hearing, and to you that you may so listen
that I the speaker may not be disappointed.

CHAPTER 2
 2:1  Come then, clear yourself of all the
prepossessions which occupy your mind, and throw off
the habit which leads you astray, and become a new
man, as it were, from the beginning, as one who would
listen to a new story, even as you yourself didst
confess. See not only with your eyes, but with your
intellect also, of what substance or of what form they
chance to be whom you call and regard as gods.
 2:2  Is not one of them stone, like that which we
tread under foot, and another bronze, no better than
the vessels which are forged for our use, and another
wood, which has already become rotten, and another
silver, which needs a man to guard it lest it be
stolen, and another iron, which is corroded with rust,
and another earthenware, not a whit more comely than
that which is supplied for the most dishonorable
service?
 2:3  Are not all these of perishable matter? Are they
not forged by iron and fire? Did not the sculptor make
one, and the brass-founder another, and the
silversmith another, and the potter another? Before
they were molded into this shape by the crafts of
these several artificers, was it not possible for each
one of them to have been changed in form and made to
resemble these several utensils? Might not the vessels
which are now made out of the same material, if they
met with the same artificers, be made like unto such
as these?
 2:4  Could not these things which are now worshipped
by you, by human hands again be made vessels like the
rest? Are not they all deaf and blind, are they not
soul-less, senseless, motionless? Do they not all rot
and decay?
 2:5  These things you call gods, to these you are
slaves, these you worship; and you end by becoming
altogether like unto them.
 2:6  Therefore you hate the Christians, because they
do not consider these to be gods.
 2:7  For do not you yourselves, who now regard and
worship them, much more despise them? Do you not much
rather mock and insult them, worshipping those that
are of stone and earthenware unguarded, but shutting
up those that are of silver and gold by night, and
setting guards over them by day, to prevent their
being stolen?
 2:8  And as for the honors which you think to offer
to them, if they are sensible of them, you rather
punish them thereby, whereas, if they are insensible,
ye reproach them by propitiating them with the blood
and fat of victims.
 2:9  Let one of yourselves undergo this treatment,
let him submit to these things being done to him. Nay,
not so much as a single individual will willingly
submit to such punishment, for he has sensibility and
reason; but a stone submits, because it is insensible.
Therefore you convict his sensibility.
 2:10  Well, I could say much besides concerning the
Christians not being enslaved to such gods as these;
but if any one should think what has been said
insufficient, I hold it superfluous to say more.

CHAPTER 3
 3:1  In the next place, I fancy that you are chiefly
anxious to hear about their not practicing their
religion in the same way as the Jews.
 3:2  The Jews then, so far as they abstain from the
mode of worship described above, do well in claiming
to reverence one God of the universe and to regard Him
as Master; but so far as they offer Him this worship
in methods similar to those already mentioned, they
are altogether at fault.
 3:3  For whereas the Greeks, by offering these things
to senseless and deaf images, make an exhibition of
stupidity, the Jews considering that they are
presenting them to God, as if He were in need of them,
ought in all reason to count it folly and not
religious worship.
 3:4  For He that made the heaven and the earth and
all things that are therein, and furnishes us all
with what we need, cannot Himself need any of these
things which He Himself supplies to them that imagine
they are giving them to Him.
 3:5  But those who think to perform sacrifices to Him
with blood and fat and whole burnt offerings, and to
honor Him with such honors, seem to me in no way
different from those who show the same respect towards
deaf images; for the one class think fit to make
offerings to things unable to participate in the
honor, the other class to One Who is in need of
nothing.

CHAPTER 4
 4:1  But again their scruples concerning meats, and
their superstition relating to the sabbath and the
vanity of their circumcision and the dissimulation of
their fasting and new moons, I do [not] suppose you
need to learn from me, are ridiculous and unworthy of
any consideration.
 4:2  For of the things created by God for the use of
man to receive some as created well, but to decline
others as useless and superfluous, is not this
impious?
 4:3  And again to lie against God, as if He forbad us
to do any good thing on the sabbath day, is not this
profane?
 4:4  Again, to vaunt the mutilation of the flesh as a
token of election as though for this reason they were
particularly beloved by God, is not this ridiculous?
 4:5  And to watch the stars and the moon and to keep
the observance of months and of days, and to
distinguish the arrangements of God and the changes of
the seasons according to their own impulses, making
some into festivals and others into times of mourning,
who would regard this as an exhibition of godliness
and not much more of folly?
 4:6  That the Christians are right therefore in
holding aloof from the common silliness and error of
the Jews and from their excessive fussiness and pride,
I consider that you have been sufficiently
instructed; but as regards the mystery of their own
religion, expect not that you canst be instructed by
man.

CHAPTER 5
 5:1  For Christians are not distinguished from the
rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in
customs.
 5:2  For they dwell not somewhere in cities of their
own, neither do they use some different language, nor
practice an extraordinary kind of life.
 5:3  Nor again do they possess any invention
discovered by any intelligence or study of ingenious
men, nor are they masters of any human dogma as some
are.
 5:4  But while they dwell in cities of Greeks and
barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the
native customs in dress and food and the other
arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their
own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvelous,
and confessedly contradicts expectation.
 5:5  They dwell in their own countries, but only as
sojourners; they bear their share in all things as
citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers.
Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and
every fatherland is foreign.
 5:6  They marry like all other men and they beget
children; but they do not cast away their offspring.
 5:7  They have their meals in common, but not their
wives.
 5:8  They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they
live not after the flesh.
 5:9  Their existence is on earth, but their
citizenship is in heaven.
 5:10  They obey the established laws, and they
surpass the laws in their own lives.
 5:11  They love all men, and they are persecuted by
all.
 5:12  They are ignored, and yet they are condemned.
They are put to death, and yet they are endued with
life.
 5:13  They are in beggary, and yet they make many
rich. They are in want of all things, and yet they
abound in all things.
 5:14  They are dishonored, and yet they are
glorified in their dishonor. They are evil spoken of,
and yet they are vindicated.
 5:15  They are reviled, and they bless; they are
insulted, and they respect.
 5:16  Doing good they are punished as evil-doers;
being punished they rejoice, as if they were thereby
quickened by life.
 5:17  War is waged against them as aliens by the
Jews, and persecution is carried on against them by
the Greeks, and yet those that hate them cannot tell
the reason of their hostility.

CHAPTER 6
 6:1  In a word, what the soul is in a body, this the
Christians are in the world.
 6:2  The soul is spread through all the members of
the body, and Christians through the divers cities of
the world.
 6:3  The soul has its abode in the body, and yet it
is not of the body. So Christians have their abode in
the world, and yet they are not of the world.
 6:4  The soul which is invisible is guarded in the
body which is visible: so Christians are recognized as
being in the world, and yet their religion remains
invisible.
 6:5  The flesh hates the soul and wages war with
it, though it receives no wrong, because it is
forbidden to indulge in pleasures; so the world hates
Christians, though it receives no wrong from them,
because they set themselves against its pleasures.
 6:6  The soul loves the flesh which hates it, and
the members: so Christians love those that hate them.
 6:7  The soul is enclosed in the body, and yet itself
holds the body together; so Christians are kept in
the world as in a prison-house, and yet they
themselves hold the world together.
 6:8  The soul though itself immortal dwells in a
mortal tabernacle; so Christians sojourn amidst
perishable things, while they look for the
imperishability which is in the heavens.
 6:9  The soul when hardly treated in the matter of
meats and drinks is improved; and so Christians when
punished increase more and more daily.
 6:10  So great is the office for which God hath
appointed them, and which it is not lawful for them to
decline.

CHAPTER 7
 7:1  For it is no earthly discovery, as I said, which
was committed to them, neither do they care to guard
so carefully any mortal invention, nor have they
entrusted to them the dispensation of human mysteries.
 7:2  But truly the Almighty Creator of the Universe,
the Invisible God Himself from heaven planted among
men the truth and the holy teaching which surpasses
the wit of man, and fixed it firmly in their hearts,
not as any man might imagine, by sending (to mankind)
a subaltern, or angel, or ruler, or one of those that
direct the affairs of earth, or one of those who have
been entrusted with the dispensations in heaven, but
the very Artificer and Creator of the Universe
Himself, by Whom He made the heavens, by Whom He
enclosed the sea in its proper bounds, Whose mysteries
all the elements faithfully observe, from Whom [the
sun] has received even the measure of the courses of
the day to keep them, Whom the moon obeys as He bids
her shine by night, Whom the stars obey as they follow
the course of the moon, by Whom all things are ordered
and bounded and placed in subjection, the heavens and
the things that are in the heavens, the earth and the
things that are in the earth, the sea and the things
that are in the sea, fire, air, abyss, the things that
are in the heights, the things that are in the depths,
the things that are between the two. Him He sent unto
them.
 2:3  Was He sent, think you, as any man might
suppose, to establish a sovereignty, to inspire fear
and terror?
 2:4  Not so. But in gentleness [and] meekness has He
sent Him, as a king might send his son who is a king.
He sent Him, as sending God; He sent Him, as [a man]
unto men; He sent Him, as Savior, as using
persuasion, not force: for force is no attribute of
God.
 2:5  He sent Him, as summoning, not as persecuting;
He sent Him, as loving, not as judging.
 2:6  For He will send Him in judgment, and who shall
endure His presence? ...
 2:7  [Dost you not see] them thrown to wild beasts
that so they may deny the Lord, and yet not overcome?
 2:8  Dost you not see that the more of them are
punished, just so many others abound?
 2:9  These look not like the works of a man; they are
the power of God; they are proofs of His presence.

CHAPTER 8
 8:1  For what man at all had any knowledge what God
was, before He came?
 8:2  Or dost you accept the empty and nonsensical
statements of those pretentious philosophers: of whom
some said that God was fire (they call that God,
whereunto they themselves shall go), and others water,
and others some other of the elements which were
created by God?
 8:3  And yet if any of these statements is worthy of
acceptance, any one other created thing might just as
well be made out to be God.
 8:4  Nay, all this is the quackery and deceit of the
magicians;
 8:5  and no man has either seen or recognized Him,
but He revealed Himself.
 8:6  And He revealed (Himself) by faith, whereby
alone it is given to see God.
 8:7  For God, the Master and Creator of the Universe,
Who made all things and arranged them in order, was
found to be not only friendly to men, but also long-
suffering.
 8:8  And such indeed He was always, and is, and will
be, kindly and good and dispassionate and true, and He
alone is good.
 8:9  And having conceived a great and unutterable
scheme He communicated it to His Son alone.
 8:10  For so long as He kept and guarded His wise
design as a mystery, He seemed to neglect us and to be
careless about us.
 8:11  But when He revealed it through His beloved
Son, and manifested the purpose which He had prepared
from the beginning, He gave us all these gifts at
once, participation in His benefits, and sight and
understanding of (mysteries) which none of us ever
would have expected.

CHAPTER 9
 9:1  Having thus planned everything already in His
mind with His Son, He permitted us during the former
time to be borne along by disorderly impulses as we
desired, led astray by pleasures and lusts, not at all
because He took delight in our sins, but because He
bore with us, not because He approved of the past
season of iniquity, but because He was creating the
present season of righteousness, that, being convicted
in the past time by our own deeds as unworthy of life,
we might now be made deserving by the goodness of God,
and having made clear our inability to enter into the
kingdom of God of ourselves, might be enabled by the
ability of God.
 9:2  And when our iniquity had been fully
accomplished, and it had been made perfectly manifest
that punishment and death were expected as its
recompense, and the season came which God had
ordained, when henceforth He should manifest His
goodness and power (O the exceeding great kindness and
love of God), He hated us not, neither rejected us,
nor bore us malice, but was long-suffering and
patient, and in pity for us took upon Himself our
sins, and Himself parted with His own Son as a ransom
for us, the holy for the lawless, the guileless for
the evil, _the just for the unjust,_ the incorruptible
for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.
 9:3  For what else but His righteousness would have
covered our sins?
 9:4  In whom was it possible for us lawless and
ungodly men to have been justified, save only in the
Son of God?
 9:5  O the sweet exchange, O the inscrutable
creation, O the unexpected benefits; that the iniquity
of many should be concealed in One Righteous Man, and
the righteousness of One should justify many that are
iniquitous!
 9:6  Having then in the former time demonstrated the
inability of our nature to obtain life, and having now
revealed a Savior able to save even creatures which
have no ability, He willed that for both reasons we
should believe in His goodness and should regard Him
as nurse, father, teacher, counselor, physician,
mind, light, honor, glory, strength and life.

CHAPTER 10
 10:1  This faith if you also desires, apprehend
first full knowledge of the Father.
 10:2  _For God loved_ men for whose sake He made the
world, to whom He subjected all things that are in the
earth, to whom He gave reason and mind, whom alone He
permitted to look up to heaven, whom He created after
His own image, to whom _He sent His only begotten
Son,_ to whom He promised the kingdom which is in
heaven, and will give it to those that have loved Him.
 10:3  And when you have attained to this full
knowledge, with what joy think you that you wilt
be filled, or how wilt you love Him that so loved
you before?
 10:4  And loving Him you wilt be an imitator of His
goodness. And marvel not that a man can be an imitator
of God. He can, if God wills it.
 10:5  For happiness consists not in lordship over
one's neighbors, nor in desiring to have more than
weaker men, nor in possessing wealth and using force
to inferiors; neither can any one imitate God in these
matters; nay, these lie outside His greatness.
 10:6  But whoever takes upon himself the burden of
his neighbor, whoever desires to benefit one that
is worse off in that in which he himself is superior,
whoever by supplying to those that are in want
possessions which he received from God becomes a God
to those who receive them from him, he is an imitator
of God.
 10:7  Then, though you are placed on earth, thou
shall behold that God lives in heaven; then shall
you begin to declare the mysteries of God; then shall
you both love and admire those that are punished
because they will not deny God; then shall thou
condemn the deceit and error of the world; when thou
shall perceive the true life which is in heaven, when
you shall despise the apparent death which is here on
earth, when you shall fear the real death, which is
reserved for those that shall be condemned to the
eternal fire that shall punish those delivered over to
it unto the end.
 10:8  Then shall you admire those who endure for
righteousness' sake the fire that is for a season, and
shall count them blessed when you perceive that
fire ...
                              *     *     *     *     *     *

CHAPTER 11
 11:1  Mine are no strange discourses nor perverse
questionings, but having been a disciple of Apostles I
come forward as a teacher of the Gentiles, ministering
worthily to them, as they present themselves disciples
of the truth, the lessons which have been handed down.
 11:2  For who that has been rightly taught and has
entered into friendship with the Word does not seek to
learn distinctly the lessons revealed openly by the
Word to the disciples; to whom the Word appeared and
declared them, speaking plainly, not perceived by the
unbelieving, but relating them to disciples who being
reckoned faithful by Him were taught the mysteries of
the Father?
 11:3  For which cause He sent forth the Word, that He
might appear unto the world, Who being dishonored by
the people, and preached by the Apostles, was believed
in by the Gentiles.
 11:4  This Word, Who was from the beginning, Who
appeared as new and yet was proved to be old, and is
engendered always young in the hearts of saints,
 11:5  He, I say, Who is eternal, Who to-day was
accounted a Son, through Whom the Church is enriched
and grace is unfolded and multiplied among the saints,
grace which confers understanding, which reveals
mysteries, which announces seasons, which rejoices
over the faithful, which is bestowed upon those who
seek her, even those by whom the pledges of faith are
not broken, nor the boundaries of the fathers
overstepped.
 11:6  Whereupon the fear of the law is sung, and the
grace of the prophets is recognized, and the faith of
the gospels is established, and the tradition of the
apostles is preserved, and the joy of the Church
exults.
 11:7  If you grieve not this grace, you shall
understand the discourses which the Word holds by the
mouth of those whom He desires when He wishes.
 11:8  For in all things, that by the will of the
commanding Word we were moved to utter with much
pains, we become sharers with you, through love of the
things revealed unto us.

CHAPTER 12
 12:1  Confronted with these truths and listening to
them with attention, you shall know how much God
bestows on those that love (Him) rightly, who become
a Paradise of delight, a tree bearing all manner of
fruits and flourishing, growing up in themselves and
adorned with various fruits.
 12:2  For in this garden a tree of knowledge and a
tree of life has been planted; yet the tree of
knowledge does not kill, but disobedience kills;
 12:3  for the scriptures state clearly how God from
the beginning planted a tree [of knowledge and a tree]
of life in the midst of Paradise, revealing life
through knowledge; and because our first parents used
it not genuinely they were made naked by the deceit of
the serpent.
 12:4  For neither is there life without knowledge,
nor sound knowledge without true life; therefore the
one (tree) is planted near the other.
 12:5  Discerning the force of this and blaming the
knowledge which is exercised apart from the truth of
the injunction which leads to life, the apostle says,
_Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies._
 12:6  For the man who supposes that he knows anything
without the true knowledge which is testified by the
life, is ignorant, he is deceived by the serpent,
because he loved not life; whereas he who with fear
recognizes and desires life plants in hope expecting
fruit.
 12:7  Let your heart be knowledge, and your life true
reason, duly comprehended.
 12:8  Whereof if you bear the tree and pluck the
fruit, you shall ever gather the harvest which God
looks for, which serpent touches not, nor deceit
infects, neither is Eve corrupted, but is believed
on as a virgin,
 12:9  and salvation is set forth, and the apostles
are filled with understanding, and the Passover of the
Lord goes forward, and the congregations are gathered
together, and [all things] are arranged in order, and
as He teaches the saints the Word is gladdened,
through Whom the Father is glorified, to Whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen.

Roberts-Donaldson Translation

The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus

CHAPTER I -- OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE.

Since I see thee, most excellent Diognetus, exceedingly desirous to learn the mode of worshipping God prevalent among the Christians, and inquiring very carefully and earnestly concerning them, what God they trust in, and what form of religion they observe, so as all to look down upon the world itself, and despise death, while they neither esteem those to be gods that are reckoned such by the Greeks, nor hold to the superstition of the Jews; and what is the affection which they cherish among themselves; and why, in fine, this new kind or practice [of piety] has only now entered into the world, and not long ago; I cordially welcome this your desire, and I implore God, who enables us both to speak and to hear, to grant to me so to speak, that, above all, I may hear you have been edified, and to you so to hear, that I who speak may have no cause of regret for having done so.

CHAPTER II -- THE VANITY OF IDOLS.

Come, then, after you have freed yourself from all prejudices possessing your mind, and laid aside what you have been accustomed to, as something apt to deceive you, and being made, as if from the beginning, a new man, inasmuch as, according to your own confession, you are to be the hearer of a new [system of] doctrine; come and contemplate, not with your eyes only, but with your understanding, the substance and the form of those whom you declare and deem to be gods. Is not one of them a stone similar to that on which we tread? Is not a second brass, in no way superior to those vessels which are constructed for our ordinary use? Is not a third wood, and that already rotten? Is not a fourth silver, which needs a man to watch it, lest it be stolen? Is not a fifth iron, consumed by rust? Is not a sixth earthenware, in no degree more valuable than that which is formed for the humblest purposes? Are not all these of corruptible matter? Are they not fabricated by means of iron and fire? Did not the sculptor fashion one of them, the brazier a second, the silversmith a third, and the potter a fourth? Was not every one of them, before they were formed by the arts of these [workmen] into the shape of these [gods], each in its own way subject to change? Would not those things which are now vessels, formed of the same materials, become like to such, if they met with the same artificers? Might not these, which are now worshipped by you, again be made by men vessels similar to others? Are they not all deaf? Are they not blind? Are they not without life? Are they not destitute of feeling? Are they not incapable of motion? Are they not all liable to rot? Are they not all corruptible? These things you call gods; these you serve; these you worship; and you become altogether like to them. For this reason you hate the Christians, because they do not deem these to be gods. But do not you yourselves, who now think and suppose [such to be gods], much more cast contempt upon them than they [the Christians do]? Do you not much more mock and insult them, when you worship those that are made of stone and earthenware, without appointing any persons to guard them; but those made of silver and gold you shut up by night, and appoint watchers to look after them by day, lest they be stolen? And by those gifts which you mean to present to them, do you not, if they are possessed of sense, rather punish [than honor] them? But if, on the other hand, they are destitute of sense, you convict them of this fact, while you worship them with blood and the smoke of sacrifices. Let any one of you suffer such indignities! Let any one of you endure to have such things done to himself! But not a single human being will, unless compelled to it, endure such treatment, since he is endowed with sense and reason. A stone, however, readily bears it, seeing it is insensible. Certainly you do not show [by your conduct] that he [your God] is possessed of sense. And as to the fact that Christians are not accustomed to serve such gods, I might easily find many other things to say; but if even what has been said does not seem to any one sufficient, I deem it idle to say anything further.

CHAPTER III -- SUPERSTITIONS OF THE JEWS.

And next, I imagine that you are most desirous of hearing something on this point, that the Christians do not observe the same forms of divine worship as do the Jews. The Jews, then, if they abstain from the kind of service above described, and deem it proper to worship one God as being Lord of all, [are right]; but if they offer Him worship in the way which we have described, they greatly err. For while the Gentiles, by offering such things to those that are destitute of sense and hearing, furnish an example of madness; they, on the other hand by thinking to offer these things to God as if He needed them, might justly reckon it rather an act of folly than of divine worship. For He that made heaven and earth, and all that is therein, and gives to us all the things of which we stand in need, certainly requires none of those things which He Himself bestows on such as think of furnishing them to Him. But those who imagine that, by means of blood, and the smoke of sacrifices and burnt-offerings, they offer sacrifices [acceptable] to Him, and that by such honors they show Him respect,--these, by supposing that they can give anything to Him who stands in need of nothing, appear to me in no respect to differ from those who studiously confer the same honor on things destitute of sense, and which therefore are unable to enjoy such honors.

CHAPTER IV -- THE OTHER OBSERVANCES OF THE JEWS.

But as to their scrupulosity concerning meats, and their superstition as respects the Sabbaths, and their boasting about circumcision, and their fancies about fasting and the new moons, which are utterly ridiculous and unworthy of notice,--I do not think that you require to learn anything from me. For, to accept some of those things which have been formed by God for the use of men as properly formed, and to reject others as useless and redundant,--how can this be lawful? And to speak falsely of God, as if He forbade us to do what is good on the Sabbath-days,--how is not this impious? And to glory in the circumcision of the flesh as a proof of election, and as if, on account of it, they were specially beloved by God,--how is it not a subject of ridicule? And as to their observing months and days, as if waiting upon the stars and the moon, and their distributing, according to their own tendencies, the appointments of God, and the vicissitudes of the seasons, some for festivities, and others for mourning,--who would deem this a part of divine worship, and not much rather a manifestation of folly? I suppose, then, you are sufficiently convinced that the Christians properly abstain from the vanity and error common [to both Jews and Gentiles], and from the busy-body spirit and vain boasting of the Jews; but you must not hope to learn the mystery of their peculiar mode of worshipping God from any mortal.

CHAPTER V -- THE MANNERS OF THE CHRISTIANS.

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

CHAPTER VI -- THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANS TO THE WORLD.

To sum up all in one word--what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.

CHAPTER VII -- THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST.

For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which was delivered to them, nor is it a mere human system of opinion, which they judge it right to preserve so carefully, nor has a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and has firmly established Him in their hearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any one of those who bear sway over earthly things, or one of those to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but the very Creator and Fashioner of all things--by whom He made the heavens--by whom he enclosed the sea within its proper bounds--whose ordinances all the stars faithfully observe--from whom the sun has received the measure of his daily course to be observed--whom the moon obeys, being commanded to shine in the night, and whom the stars also obey, following the moon in her course; by whom all things have been arranged, and placed within their proper limits, and to whom all are subject--the heavens and the things that are therein, the earth and the things that are therein, the sea and the things that are therein--fire, air, and the abyss--the things which are in the heights, the things which are in the depths, and the things which lie between. This [messenger] He sent to them. Was it then, as one might conceive, for the purpose of exercising tyranny, or of inspiring fear and terror? By no means, but under the influence of clemency and meekness. As a king sends his son, who is also a king, so sent He Him; as God He sent Him; as to men He sent Him; as a Savior He sent Him, and as seeking to persuade, not to compel us; for violence has no place in the character of God. As calling us He sent Him, not as vengefully pursuing us; as loving us He sent Him, not as judging us. For He will yet send Him to judge us, and who shall endure His appearing? ... Do you not see them exposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of His manifestation.

CHAPTER VIII -- THE MISERABLE STATE OF MEN BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WORD.

For, who of men at all understood before His coming what God is? Do you accept of the vain and silly doctrines of those who are deemed trustworthy philosophers? of whom some said that fire was God, calling that God to which they themselves were by and by to come; and some water; and others some other of the elements formed by God. But if any one of these theories be worthy of approbation, every one of the rest of created things might also be declared to be God. But such declarations are simply the startling and erroneous utterances of deceivers; and no man has either seen Him, or made Him known, but He has revealed Himself. And He has manifested Himself through faith, to which alone it is given to behold God. For God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things, and assigned them their several positions, proved Himself not merely a friend of mankind, but also long-suffering [in His dealings with them.] Yea, He was always of such a character, and still is, and will ever be, kind and good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is [absolutely] good; and He formed in His mind a great and unspeakable conception, which He communicated to His Son alone. As long, then, as He held and preserved His own wise counsel in concealment, He appeared to neglect us, and to have no care over us. But after He revealed and laid open, through His beloved Son, the things which had been prepared from the beginning, He conferred every blessing all at once upon us, so that we should both share in His benefits, and see and be active [in His service]. Who of us would ever have expected these things? He was aware, then, of all things in His own mind, along with His Son, according to the relation subsisting between them.

CHAPTER IX -- WHY THE SON WAS SENT SO LATE.

As long then as the former time endured, He permitted us to be borne along by unruly impulses, being drawn away by the desire of pleasure and various lusts. This was not that He at all delighted in our sins, but that He simply endured them; nor that He approved the time of working iniquity which then was, but that He sought to form a mind conscious of righteousness, so that being convinced in that time of our unworyourss of attaining life through our own works, it should now, through the kindness of God, be vouchsafed to us; and having made it manifest that in ourselves we were unable to enter into the kingdom of God, we might through the power of God be made able. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, was impending over us; and when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with hatred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us, He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Savior who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] impossible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counselor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honor, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious[ concerning clothing and food.

CHAPTER X -- THE BLESSINGS THAT WILL FLOW FROM FAITH.

If you also desire [to possess] this faith, you likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved mankind, on whose account He made the world, to whom He rendered subject all the things that are in it, to whom He gave reason and understanding, to whom alone He imparted the privilege of looking upwards to Himself, whom He formed after His own image, to whom He sent His only-begotten Son, to whom He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved Him. And when you have attained this knowledge, with what joy do you think you will be filled? Or, how will you love Him who has first so loved you? And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over his neighbors, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are weaker, or by being rich, and showing violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbor; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another who is deficient; he who, whatsoever things he has received from God, by distributing these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive [his benefits]: he is an imitator of God. Then you shall see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over [the universe]; then you shall begin to speak the mysteries of God; then shall you both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they will not deny God; then shall you condemn the deceit and error of the world when you shall know what it is to live truly in heaven, when you shall despise that which is here esteemed to be death, when you shall fear what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to the end that are committed to it. Then shall you admire those who for righteousness' sake endure the fire that is but for a moment, and shall count them happy when you shall know [the nature of] that fire.

CHAPTER XI -- THESE THINGS ARE WORTHY TO BE KNOWN AND BELIEVED.

I do not speak of things strange to me, nor do I aim at anything inconsistent with right reason; but having been a disciple of the Apostles, I am become a teacher of the Gentiles. I minister the things delivered to me to those that are disciples worthy of the truth. For who that is rightly taught and begotten by the loving Word, would not seek to learn accurately the things which have been clearly shown by the Word to His disciples, to whom the Word being manifested has revealed them, speaking plainly [to them], not understood indeed by the unbelieving, but conversing with the disciples, who, being esteemed faithful by Him, acquired a knowledge of the mysteries of the Father? For which s reason He sent the Word, that He might be manifested to the world; and He, being despised by the people [of the Jews], was, when preached by the Apostles, believed on by the Gentiles. This is He who was from the beginning, who appeared as if new, and was found old, and yet who is ever born afresh in the hearts of the saints. This is He who, being from everlasting, is to-day called the Son; through whom the Church is enriched, and grace, widely spread, increases in the saints. furnishing understanding, revealing mysteries, announcing times, rejoicing over the faithful. giving to those that seek, by whom the limits of faith are not broken through, nor the boundaries set by the fathers passed over. Then the fear of the law is chanted, and the grace of the prophets is known, and the faith of the gospels is established, and the tradition of the Apostles is preserved, and the grace of the Church exults; which grace if you grieve not, you shall know those things which the Word teaches, by whom He wills, and when He pleases. For whatever things we are moved to utter by the will of the Word commanding us, we communicate to you with pains, and from a love of the things that have been revealed to us.

CHAPTER XII -- THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE TO TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

When you have read and carefully listened to these things, you shall know what God bestows on such as rightly love Him, being made [as you are] a paradise of delight, presenting in yourselves a tree bearing all kinds of produce and flourishing well, being adorned with various fruits. For in this place the tree of knowledge and the tree of life have been planted; but it is not the tree of knowledge that destroys--it is disobedience that proves destructive. Nor truly are those words without significance which are written, how God from the beginning planted the tree of life in the midst of paradise, revealing through knowledge the way to life, and when those who were first formed did not use this [knowledge] properly, they were, through the fraud of the Serpent, stripped naked. For neither can life exist without knowledge, nor is knowledge secure without life. Wherefore both were planted close together. The Apostle, perceiving the force [of this conjunction], and blaming that knowledge which, without true doctrine, is admitted to influence life, declares, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." For he who thinks he knows anything without true knowledge, and such as is witnessed to by life, knows nothing, but is deceived by the Serpent, as not loving life. But he who combines knowledge with fear, and seeks after life, plants in hope, looking for fruit. Let your heart be your wisdom; and let your life be true knowledge inwardly received. Bearing this tree and displaying its fruit, you shall always gather in those things which are desired by God, which the Serpent cannot reach, and to which deception does not approach; nor is Eve then corrupted, but is trusted as a virgin; and salvation is manifested, and the Apostles are filled with understanding, and the Passover of the Lord advances, and the choirs are gathered together, and are arranged in proper order, and the Word rejoices in teaching the saints,--by whom the Father is glorified: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

10/2/05