CHAPTER ONE
Occasion of the Homily
1 Since I see, most excellent Diognetus, that thou art exceedingly anxious to understand the religion of the Christians, and that thine 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 toward another, and of this new people or manner of life which hath entered into men’s lives now and not before:
2 I gladly welcome this zeal in thee; and I ask of God, who supplieth both the speaking and the hearing unto us, that it may be granted unto me so to speak that thou mayest be made better by the hearing, and unto thee so to listen that I the speaker may not be disappointed.
CHAPTER TWO
The Vanity of Idols
1 Come then, clear thyself of all the prepossessions which occupy thy mind, and cast off the habit which leadeth thee astray, and become a new man, as it were, from the beginning, as one who would hearken unto a new teaching, even as thou thyself didst confess.
2 See not only with thine eyes, but with thine understanding also, of what substance or of what form they chance to be whom ye call and regard as gods.
3 Is not one of them stone, like unto that which we tread under foot; and another brass, no better than the vessels which are forged for our use; and another wood, which hath already become rotten; and another silver, which needeth a man to guard it lest it be stolen; and another iron, which is consumed with rust; and another earthenware, not a whit more comely than that which is supplied for the most dishonourable service?
4 Are not all these of corruptible matter?
5 Are they not forged by iron and fire?
6 Did not the sculptor make one, and the brass-founder another, and the silversmith another, and the potter another?
7 Before they were moulded into these shapes by the crafts of these several artificers, was it not possible for every one of them to have been changed in form, and made to resemble these several utensils?
8 Might not the vessels which are now made of the same matter, if they met with the same artificers, be made like unto these?
9 Could not these things which are now worshipped by you be made again by the hands of men into vessels like the rest?
10 Are they not all deaf and blind? Are they not without soul, without sense, and without motion?
11 Do they not all rot and decay?
12 These things ye call gods; unto these ye are slaves; these ye worship;
13 And ye end by becoming altogether like unto them.
14 Therefore ye hate the Christians, because they account not these to be gods.
15 For do not ye yourselves, who now regard and worship them, much more despise them?
16 Do ye 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, lest they be stolen?
17 And as for the honours which ye think to offer unto them, if they be sensible thereof, ye rather punish them thereby; but if they be insensible, ye reproach them by propitiating them with the blood and fat of victims.
18 Let one of yourselves undergo this treatment; let him submit unto these things being done unto him.
19 Nay, not so much as one man will willingly submit unto such punishment, for he hath sensibility and reason;
20 But a stone submitteth, because it is insensible.
21 Therefore ye convict its insensibility.
22 Well, I could say much besides concerning the Christians, that they are not enslaved unto such gods as these;
23 But if any man should think that which hath been said insufficient, I account it superfluous to say more.
CHAPTER THREE
Superstitions of the Jews
1 In the next place, I suppose that thou art chiefly anxious to hear concerning their not practising their religion after the same manner as the Jews.
2 The Jews then, so far as they abstain from the manner of worship afore described, do well in claiming to reverence one God over all, and to regard Him as Master;
3 But so far as they offer Him this worship by methods like unto those already mentioned, they are altogether at fault.
4 For whereas the Greeks, by offering these things unto senseless and deaf images, make an exhibition of folly, the Jews, supposing that they present them unto God as though He had need of them, ought in all reason to account it folly and not religious worship.
5 For He that made heaven and earth and all things that are therein, and furnisheth us all with whatsoever we need, cannot Himself need any of these things which He Himself supplieth unto them that imagine they give them unto Him.
6 But they who think to perform sacrifices unto Him with blood and fat and whole burnt offerings, and to honour Him with such honours, seem unto me in no wise different from them that show the same respect toward deaf images;
7 For the one class think fit to make offerings unto things unable to partake of the honour, and the other unto One who needeth nothing.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Other Observances of the Jews
1 But again, their scruples concerning meats, and their superstition touching the sabbath, and the vanity of their circumcision, and the dissimulation of their fasting and new moons, I suppose thou needest not to learn from me, for they are ridiculous and unworthy of any consideration.
2 For to receive some of the things formed by God for the use of man as well formed, but to refuse others as useless and superfluous, is not this impious?
3 And again, to lie against God, as though He forbade us to do any good thing on the sabbath day, is not this profane?
4 Again, to boast of the mutilation of the flesh as a token of election, as though for this cause they were especially beloved of God, is not this ridiculous?
5 And to watch the stars and the moon, and to observe months and days, and to distinguish the dispensations of God and the changes of the seasons according unto their own desires, making some into feasts and others into times of mourning, who would account this an exhibition of godliness, and not rather of folly?
6 That the Christians are right, therefore, in holding aloof from the common vanity and deceit, and from the meddlesomeness and pride of the Jews, I account that thou hast been sufficiently instructed; but concerning the mystery of their own religion, expect not that thou canst be instructed by man.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Manners of the Christians
1 For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either by country, or by speech, or by customs.
2 For they dwell not in cities of their own, neither do they use any strange language, nor practise an extraordinary manner of life.
3 Neither do they possess any invention discovered by the understanding or study of ingenious men, nor are they masters of any human doctrine, as some are.
4 But while they dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians, as the lot of each is cast, and follow the customs of the country in raiment and food and the other ordering of life, yet the constitution of their own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvellous, and confessedly surpasseth expectation.
5 They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners;
6 They bear their share in all things as citizens, and endure all hardships as strangers.
7 Every foreign country is a fatherland unto them, and every fatherland is foreign.
8 They marry as all other men, and they beget children;
9 But they cast not away their offspring.
10 They have their table in common, but not their wives.
11 They are in the flesh, and yet they live not after the flesh.
12 Their conversation is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven.
13 They obey the laws that are established, and in their own lives they surpass the laws.
14 They love all men, and are persecuted by all.
15 They are unknown, and yet they are condemned.
16 They are put to death, and yet they are made alive.
17 They are poor, and yet they make many rich.
18 They lack all things, and yet in all things they abound.
19 They are dishonoured, and yet in their dishonour they are glorified.
20 They are blasphemed, and they are justified.
21 They are reviled, and they bless;
22 They are insulted, and they honour.
23 Doing good, they are punished as evil-doers;
24 Being punished, they rejoice as being made alive.
25 War is waged against them as strangers by the Jews, and they are persecuted by the Greeks; and yet they that hate them cannot tell the cause of their enmity.
CHAPTER SIX
The Relation of Christians to the World
1 In a word, what the soul is in the body, that are the Christians in the world.
2 The soul is spread throughout all the members of the body, and Christians throughout the divers cities of the world.
3 The soul hath its abode in the body, and yet is not of the body.
4 So Christians have their abode in the world, and yet are not of the world.
5 The soul, which is invisible, is guarded in the body, which is visible; so Christians are known to be in the world, and yet their religion remaineth invisible.
6 The flesh hateth the soul and warreth against it, though it suffereth no wrong, because it is forbidden to indulge in pleasures;
7 So the world hateth Christians, though it suffereth no wrong from them, because they set themselves against its pleasures.
8 The soul loveth the flesh that hateth it, and the members thereof; so Christians love them that hate them.
9 The soul is enclosed in the body, and yet itself holdeth the body together;
10 So Christians are kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they themselves hold the world together.
11 The soul, though itself immortal, dwelleth in a mortal tabernacle;
12 So Christians sojourn amidst corruptible things, while they look for the incorruption which is in the heavens.
13 The soul, when hardly treated in the matter of meats and drinks, is made better;
14 And so Christians, when punished, increase more and more daily.
15 So great is the office whereunto God hath appointed them, and which it is not lawful for them to decline.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Manifestation of Christ
1 For it is no earthly discovery, as I said, which was committed unto them; neither do they care to guard so carefully any mortal invention, nor have they been entrusted with the dispensation of human mysteries.
2 But truly the Almighty and Maker of all, even the invisible God Himself, hath established among men from heaven the truth and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and hath fixed Him firmly in their hearts; not, as any man might suppose, by sending unto men some servant, or angel, or ruler, or one of those that administer earthly things, or one of those that are entrusted with the orderings in heaven, but the very Artificer and Demiurge of all, through whom He made the heavens, through whom He enclosed the sea within its proper bounds, whose mysteries all the elements faithfully observe, from whom the sun hath received the measure of the courses of the day to keep them, whom the moon obeyeth when He commandeth her to shine by night, whom the stars obey as they follow the course of the moon; through whom all things are ordered, bounded, and subjected: 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, the abyss, the things that are in the heights, the things that are in the depths, and the things that are between.
3 Him He sent unto them.
4 Was He sent, thinkest thou, as any man might suppose, to establish a dominion, and to inspire fear and terror?
5 Not so; but in gentleness and meekness hath He sent Him, as a king might send his son who is a king.
6 He sent Him as sending God;
7 He sent Him as a man unto men;
8 He sent Him as Saviour, using persuasion and not force; for force is no attribute of God.
9 He sent Him as calling, not as persecuting;
10 He sent Him as loving, not as judging.
11 For He will send Him in judgment; and who shall endure His presence?
12 Dost thou not see them cast unto wild beasts, that they may deny the Lord, and yet not overcome?
13 Dost thou not see that the more of them are punished, so many the more abound?
14 These seem not to be the works of man;
15 They are the power of God;
16 They are proofs of His presence.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Miserable State of Men Before the Coming of the Word
1 For what man at all had any knowledge what God was, before He came?
2 Or dost thou receive the vain and foolish sayings of those pretentious philosophers, of whom some said that God was fire, calling that God whereunto they themselves shall go; and others water; and others some other of the elements formed by God?
3 And yet, if any of these sayings be worthy to be received, every one of the other formed things might likewise be declared to be God.
4 Nay, all this is the wonder-working deceit and error of the magicians;
5 And no man hath either seen or known Him, but He hath revealed Himself.
6 And He revealed Himself by faith, whereby alone it is given to behold God.
7 For God, the Master and Fashioner of all, who made all things and set them in order, was found to be not only gracious unto men, but also long-suffering.
8 Yea, such was He always, and is, and ever shall be: gracious and good, and without wrath, and true; and He alone is good.
9 And having conceived a great and unspeakable counsel, He communicated it unto His Son alone.
10 For so long as He kept and preserved His wise counsel in mystery, He seemed to neglect us and to have no care for us.
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 things at once: to partake of His benefits, and to see and to understand mysteries which none of us ever would have expected.
CHAPTER NINE
Why the Son Was Sent So Late
1 Having therefore ordered all things beforehand in His own mind together with His Son, He permitted us during the former time to be borne along by disorderly impulses as we desired, being led astray by pleasures and lusts; not because He delighted in our sins, but because He bore with us; not because He approved the former season of iniquity, but because He was preparing the present season of righteousness; that, being convicted in the former time by our own deeds as unworthy of life, we might now be accounted worthy by the goodness of God; and having made manifest our inability to enter into the kingdom of God of ourselves, we might be enabled by the power of God.
2 And when our iniquity had been fully accomplished, and it had been made perfectly manifest that the wages thereof, even punishment and death, were expected, 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 remembered evil against us, but was long-suffering and patient; and in pity for us He Himself took upon Him our sins, and Himself gave 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.
3 For what else but His righteousness could have covered our sins?
4 In whom was it possible for us, lawless and ungodly, to be justified, save only in the Son of God?
5 O the sweet exchange! O the unsearchable operation! O benefits beyond all expectation!
6 That the iniquity of many should be hidden in One Righteous, and the righteousness of One should justify many that are iniquitous!
7 Having therefore in the former time shown the inability of our nature to obtain life, and having now revealed the Saviour, who is able to save even them whom it was impossible to save, He willed that for both causes we should believe in His goodness, and should regard Him as Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Physician, Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Strength, and Life; and that we should take no thought for raiment and food.
CHAPTER TEN
The Blessings That Will Flow from Faith
1 If thou also desirest this faith, receive first the full knowledge of the Father.
2 For God loved men, for whose sake He made the world, unto whom He subjected all things that are in the earth, unto whom He gave reason and understanding, whom alone He permitted to look upward unto Him, whom He formed after His own image, unto whom He sent His only-begotten Son, unto whom He promised the kingdom which is in heaven, and will give it unto them that have loved Him.
3 And when thou hast attained unto this full knowledge, with what joy thinkest thou that thou shalt be filled? Or how wilt thou love Him who so loved thee before?
4 And loving Him, thou shalt be an imitator of His goodness.
5 And marvel not that a man can be an imitator of God.
6 He can, if God willeth it.
7 For happiness consisteth not in lordship over one’s neighbours, nor in desiring to have more than weaker men, nor in possessing riches and using force against inferiors;
8 Neither can any man imitate God in these things;
9 Nay, these lie outside His greatness.
10 But whosoever taketh upon himself the burden of his neighbour; whosoever desireth to benefit one that is worse off in that wherein he himself is superior; whosoever, by supplying unto them that are in want the possessions which he received from God, becometh a god unto them that receive them from him: he is an imitator of God.
11 Then, though thou art placed on earth, thou shalt behold that God ruleth in heaven;
12 Then shalt thou begin to declare the mysteries of God;
13 Then shalt thou both love and admire them that are punished because they will not deny God;
14 Then shalt thou condemn the deceit and error of the world;
15 When thou shalt perceive the true life which is in heaven; when thou shalt despise the apparent death which is here on earth; when thou shalt fear the true death, which is reserved for them that shall be condemned unto the eternal fire, which shall punish unto the end them that are delivered unto it.
16 Then shalt thou admire them who for righteousness’ sake endure the fire that is but for a season, and shalt account them blessed when thou perceivest that Fire. Amen.
Here endeth the Homileticon.
