Since I see, most excellent Diognetus, that you are very eager to learn about the devotion of the Christians, and you are carefully and in detail asking about them—what God they trust in and how they worship him, and why they all look down on the world and do not fear death, and why they neither regard the gods worshiped by the Greeks nor follow the superstitions of the Jews, and what special love they have for each other, and what is this new way of life that has come into the world now and not before—I welcome your eagerness and, with God’s help, who provides us both with the ability to speak and listen, I pray that I may speak in such a way that you may become better for hearing it, and that you may listen in such a way that you do not regret hearing me.
Ⅱ
Come now, cleanse your mind from all the thoughts that hold it and set aside the habits that deceive you. Become like a new person from the beginning, so that you may listen to this new teaching. Look not only with your eyes, but also with your understanding, and see what kind of substance or form these beings have, whom you call and consider gods.
2 Isn't one of them stone, just like the stones we walk on, another bronze, no better than the utensils we use, another wood, already rotting, another silver, needing a person to guard it so it doesn't get stolen, another iron, rusted, and another clay, no more beautiful than the cheapest pots we use?
3 Aren't all these things made from perishable materials? Aren't they shaped by iron and fire? Didn't a stonecutter make one, a bronze smith another, a silversmith another, and a potter mold another? Before they were shaped into their current forms by these crafts, weren't they just materials, and aren't they still just transformed materials? Couldn't the same craftsmen, using the same materials, make other utensils just like these?
4 Couldn't these things that you now worship be made into utensils like any other by humans? Aren't they all mute? Aren't they blind? Aren't they lifeless? Aren't they insensitive? Aren't they motionless? Aren't they all decaying? Aren't they all perishing?
5 These are what you call gods? These are what you serve? These are what you worship, and completely become like them.
6 Is this why you hate Christians, because they don't consider these as gods?
7 For though you think you praise them and believe in them, don't you actually despise them a lot more? Don't you mock and insult them even more, worshiping the stone and clay ones that cannot protect themselves, and placing guards over the silver and gold ones day and night so they won't be stolen?
8 But if you think you're honoring them, if they can feel it, you're actually punishing them; and if they can't feel it, you're exposing them as senseless by offering them blood and burnt offerings.
9 Let one of you endure this, let anyone agree to suffer this punishment themselves. But no human would willingly bear this kind of punishment, because they have feeling and reason. Yet the stone endures it because it is senseless. So, aren't you proving that it has no feeling?
10 So, concerning the fact that Christians are not enslaved to such gods, I could say many more things. But if someone thinks even this isn't enough, I consider it unnecessary to say more.
Ⅲ
Next, you probably want to hear why Christians do not worship in the same way as the Jews.
2 So, if Jews avoid the mentioned worship, they rightly think it's good to honor one God, the Lord of all. But if they practice their religion in the same way as those previously mentioned, they are mistaken.
3 What the Greeks offer to lifeless and deaf idols shows their foolishness. If Jews offer such things thinking God needs them, it would be more like foolishness, not worship.
4 The one who made heaven and earth and everything in them, and who provides for us all, doesn't need any of the things we think we're giving him.
5 Those who think they're honoring God with sacrifices of blood, smoke, and burnt offerings seem no different to me than those who show the same devotion to lifeless idols. Both are either giving to things that can't receive honor or to one who needs nothing.
Ⅳ
But their timid beliefs about food, their superstitions about the Sabbath, their boasting about circumcision, and their mockery of fasting and new moons are all laughable and not worth discussing. I don't think you need to learn that from me.
2 For deciding that some things created by God for human use are good and accepting them, while others are useless and rejecting them, is that not wrong?
3 And telling lies about God, saying He forbids doing anything good on the Sabbath—how is that not disrespectful?
4 And boasting that cutting the flesh is proof of being specially chosen and loved by God—how is that not ridiculous?
5 And when they follow the stars and the moon to observe the months and days, splitting God's plans and the changing seasons to fit their desires, whether for festivals or mourning—who would call that piety and not foolishness?
6 So, as Christians rightly avoid the common foolishness and deceit, as well as the busybody behavior and arrogance of the Jews, I believe you have learned well enough; but don't expect to understand their own mystery of piety from any human.
Ⅴ
Christians are not distinguished from other people by land, language, or customs.
2 They do not live in their own cities, use a different dialect, or practice any peculiar way of life.
3 This teaching did not originate from some fancy ideas or the effort of busybodies, nor do they follow any human doctrine, like some others do.
4 They live in Greek and barbarian cities, as each one was assigned, and follow local customs in clothing, food, and other aspects of life, yet they display a remarkable and, admittedly, extraordinary way of living.
5 They live in their own countries but as if they are foreigners. They take part in everything as citizens yet endure all things as if they are strangers. Every foreign land is like their homeland, and every homeland is foreign.
6 They marry like everyone else and have children, but they do not abandon their newborns.
7 They share their table but not their bed.
8 They live in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh.
9 They live on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven.
10 They follow the established laws, but they surpass the laws with their own lives.
11 They love everyone, yet they are persecuted by all.
12 They are ignored and condemned; they are killed and made alive.
13 They are poor, yet they make many rich; they lack everything, yet they overflow in everything.
14 They are dishonored, yet in their dishonor, they are glorified. They are slandered, yet they are justified.
15 They are insulted, yet they bless; they are mistreated, yet they honor.
16 They do good, yet are punished as if they were evil; when punished, they rejoice as if they are given life.
17 They are attacked by Jews as if they were strangers and persecuted by Greeks; those who hate them have no reason to explain their hatred.
Ⅵ
Simply put, what the soul is to the body, Christians are to the world.
2 The soul is spread throughout all parts of the body, and Christians are throughout the cities of the world.
3 The soul lives in the body but is not of the body; and Christians live in the world but are not of the world.
4 The soul, though invisible, is kept in a visible body; and Christians are known to be in the world, but their faith remains unseen.
5 The flesh hates the soul and fights against it, even though it has done no wrong, because it is kept from enjoying pleasures. Likewise, the world hates Christians without cause, because they oppose its pleasures.
6 The soul loves the flesh and its parts, even though they hate it. Likewise, Christians love those who hate them.
7 The soul is locked in the body, but it holds the body together. Likewise, Christians are kept in the world as if in a prison, but they hold the world together.
8 The soul lives in a mortal body, but it is immortal. Likewise, Christians live in perishable places, hoping for eternal life in heaven.
9 The soul gets better through food and drink even when suffering. Likewise, Christians grow stronger each day even when they are punished.
10 God placed them in such a position that it is not right for them to reject it.
Ⅶ
For this is not an earthly discovery, as I said, nor do they keep a mortal idea so carefully, nor are they entrusted with managing human secrets.
2 But truly, the almighty and all-creating and invisible God Himself placed the truth and the holy and incomprehensible word into their hearts from heaven. Not, as one might assume, by sending some human servant or angel or ruler or those in charge of earthly matters or those trusted with managing things in heaven, but the very creator and maker of everything: who made the heavens, who enclosed the sea with its own borders, by whom all the elements faithfully keep their mysteries, from whom the sun received to keep the measures of its daily courses, to whom the moon obeys by shining at night, to whom the stars obey, following the moon's path; by whom everything is arranged and determined and subjected—heavens and what is in the heavens, earth and what is on the earth, sea and what is in the sea, fire, air, the abyss, things in heights, things in depths, and things in between. He sent Him to them.
3 Could it be, as one might think of humans, for tyranny, fear, and terror?
4 Certainly not; but with kindness and gentleness, like a king sending his royal son. He sent Him as God, He sent Him as a man to men, He sent Him to save, He sent Him to persuade, not to force; for force is not an attribute of God.
5 He sent Him to call, not to pursue; He sent Him to love, not to judge.
6 For He will send Him to judge; and who will be able to withstand His coming?
7 … thrown to the wild beasts so they would deny the Lord, but still not overcome?
8 Do you not see that the more they are punished, the more others increase?
9 These do not seem to be the works of a human. This is the power of God. These are signs of His presence.
Ⅷ
For which person at all knew what God is before He came?
2 Or do you accept the empty and foolish words of those so-called reliable philosophers, some of whom said God was fire (the very thing they will end up in, and they call this God), others said water, and still others said one of the elements created by God?
3 And yet, if any of these words are acceptable, one could similarly say that each of the remaining created things is also God.
4 But these are just the tricks and lies of deceivers.
5 No person has seen or known God, but He revealed Himself.
6 He revealed Himself through faith, by which alone it is permitted to see God.
7 For the Lord and creator of everything, God, who made all things and ordered them, not only became loving to people but also patient.
8 But He always was, is, and will be like this—kind, good, without anger, and truthful, and He alone is good.
9 Having conceived a great and indescribable plan, He shared it only with His Son.
10 Therefore, as long as He kept His wise plan a secret and preserved it, He seemed to neglect and disregard us.
11 But when He revealed and made known through His beloved Son the things prepared from the beginning, He gave us everything at once—to share in His blessings, to see, and to understand. Who among us could ever have expected this?
Ⅸ
So, having arranged everything with His Son, He allowed us to follow our own ways for a time—driven by pleasures and desires. Not that He approved of our sins, but He tolerated them. He did not agree with our wrongdoing then but planned a time of righteousness now, so that we could see how unworthy we were of life by our actions then. Now, through God's kindness, we might be made worthy and, realizing our own inability to enter God's kingdom, become able by God's power.
2 When our wrongdoing had reached its full measure and it was clear that its reward was punishment and death, the time came that God had set to show His goodness and power. Oh, the overwhelming kindness and love of God! He neither hated us nor rejected us, nor did He remember our wrongs. Instead, He was patient and endured, He showed mercy by bearing our sins, and He gave His own Son as a ransom for us—the holy one for the lawless, the innocent for the wicked, the righteous for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corrupt, and the immortal for the mortal.
3 For what else could cover our sins except His righteousness?
4 In whom could we lawless and godless people be justified, except in the Son of God alone?
5 Oh, what a sweet exchange, oh, what an amazing creation, oh, what unexpected blessings! So that the wrongdoing of many would be hidden in one righteous person, and the righteousness of one would make many lawless people righteous.
6 After showing in past times the inability of our nature to obtain life, and now revealing the Savior, who can save even the impossible, He wanted us to believe in His goodness. We should consider Him our guide, father, teacher, advisor, healer, mind, light, honor, glory, strength, and life, not worrying about clothing or food.
Ⅹ
If you desire this faith and first gain knowledge of the Father ...
2 For God loved mankind, for whom He made the world, and to whom He subjected everything on earth. He gave them reason, mind, and allowed them alone to look up towards Him. He created them in His own image, and sent His only Son to them, promising the kingdom of heaven to those who love Him.
3 And once you understand this, what kind of joy do you think you will feel? Or how will you love the one who loved you first?
4 And if you love Him, you will imitate His kindness. Do not be surprised that a person can imitate God. They can, if He wills it.
5 Happiness is not found in overpowering your neighbors or wanting more than the weaker ones, or in getting rich and forcing those who have less. No one can imitate God by doing these things, for they are outside His greatness.
6 But whoever takes on the burden of another, who uses their strength to help the weak, and who shares what they have received from God with those in need, becomes like God to those they help. This person is an imitator of God.
7 Then you will see on earth that God reigns in heaven. Then you will begin to speak of God's mysteries, to love and marvel at those who are punished for not wanting to deny God. Then you will recognize the deceit and errors of the world when you understand what it means to truly live in heaven, when you disregard the supposed death here, and when you fear the true death that awaits those sentenced to eternal fire, which will torment them forever.
8 Then you will admire those who endure temporary fire for the sake of justice, and you will consider them blessed when you understand that eternal fire.
Ⅺ
I do not speak strangely or seek foolish things, but as a disciple of the apostles, I become a teacher of the nations. I faithfully serve those who become learners of the truth.
2 Who, having been rightly taught and grown fond of wisdom, would not seek to clearly learn the things shown through the word to the disciples? These were openly revealed by the word, who spoke with confidence, not understood by unbelievers, but explained to the disciples, who, being counted faithful by him, learned the mysteries of the Father.
3 This is why He sent the word, to appear to the world, who was dishonored by the people, proclaimed by the apostles, and believed by the nations.
4 This one from the beginning, who appeared new and was found to be old, is always new, being born in the hearts of the holy.
5 This one who is eternal, today considered a son, enriches the church and spreads grace, increasing among the holy, offering wisdom, revealing mysteries, announcing times, rejoicing in the faithful, gifting to those who seek, whose oaths of faith are unbroken and the boundaries of the fathers are not surpassed.
6 Then the fear of the law is sung, the grace of the prophets is known, the faith of the gospels is established, the tradition of the apostles is kept, and the grace of the church rejoices.
7 This grace, if you discover it without sorrow, the Word speaks through those He chooses, whenever He wishes.
8 For as much as we were moved to speak by the will of the commanding Word, with effort, out of love for what has been revealed to us, we become sharers with you.
Ⅻ
When you encounter and listen to these things with diligence, you will know all that God provides to those who love rightly, becoming a paradise of delight, raising within themselves a flourishing tree with various beautiful fruits.
2 For in this place, the tree of knowledge and the tree of life are planted; but it is not knowledge that destroys, rather disobedience destroys.
3 For what is written is not meaningless, as God from the beginning planted the tree of knowledge and the tree of life in the middle of the garden, showing life through knowledge; but those who did not use it rightly from the beginning were stripped bare by the deceit of the serpent.
4 For there is no life without knowledge, nor is knowledge safe without true life; therefore, both are planted close to each other.
5 Seeing this power, the Apostle criticizes knowledge practiced for life without the command of truth, saying: Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
6 For the one who thinks they know something without true knowledge, demonstrated by life, does not know and is misled by the serpent, not loving life. But the one who recognizes with fear and seeks life in hope plants, expecting fruit.
7 Let your heart be knowledge, and your life be true words, understood.
8 By carrying the tree and gathering its fruit, you will always harvest what is desired by God, untouched by the serpent and unaffected by deceit. Eve is not corrupted but is believed to be a virgin.
9 And salvation is shown, and the apostles are taught, and the Lord’s Passover comes forth, and the times are gathered and fit with the world, and the word rejoices teaching the saints, through which the Father is glorified; to whom be glory forever. Amen.