The Christians in the World
“Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by
nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their
own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their
teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike
some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to
dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever
city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives.
They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They
play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of
aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland,
wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have
children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their
wives.
They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the
desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of
heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.
Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are
not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in
poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance
of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed,
but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response
to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but
even then they, rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are
attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one
can explain the reason for this hatred.
To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is
to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part
of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all
the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the
visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the
world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and
wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of
the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates
the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are
opposed to its enjoyments.
Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves
the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul,
enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is
by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held
together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and
Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the
freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits
from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under
persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function,
from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.”
~From a letter to Diognetus (written in the 2nd
Century)
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