Since I
see you, 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 … I cordially welcome this 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. …
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. …
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 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 shalt know [the nature of] that
fire.
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