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In Diognetus, Christians are spoken of poorly and yet vindicated, one of many contrasts echoing the language of 2 Corinthians 6, where Paul compares slander and praise. Diognetus reshapes this into a verdict already given in their favor.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Corinthians 6:8
New Testament
3 We do not give anyone an occasion for taking an offense in anything, so that no fault may be found with our ministry. 4 But as God’s servants, we have commended ourselves in every way, with great endurance, in persecutions, in difficulties, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in hunger, 6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love, 7 by truthful teaching, by the power of God, with weapons of righteousness both for the right hand and for the left, 8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet—see!—we continue to live; as those who are scourged and yet not executed; 10 as sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Epistle to Diognetus 5:14
Early Christian
11 They love all people, and they are persecuted by all. 12 They are ignored, and yet they are condemned. They are put to death, and yet they are endowed with life. 13 They are beggars, and yet they make many rich. They lack all things, and yet they abound in all things. 14 They are dishonored, and yet they are glorified in their dishonor. They are spoken evil of, and yet they are vindicated. 15 They are reviled, and they bless; they are insulted, and they respect. 16 Doing good they are punished as evildoers; being punished they rejoice, as if they were by it made alive. 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.
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... Diognetus 5:14 alludes to 2 Cor. 6:8–10, which gives a series of descriptions of how the world views believers in contrast to how God views them. One of the descriptions is based specifically on the phrase “by evil report and good report” (2 Cor. 6:8b), which is phrased as “they are slandered, yet they are vindicated.” Paul’s “good report” (euphēmia) is expressed as “they are vindicated” (dikaiountai). Here the time scope pertains to the present life of Christians, so that this later Christian author understood that the unjust verdict pronounced by the world was to be seen as having already been overturned, though those outside the community of faith do not yet recognize this. ...”
Beale, G. K.
A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New
(p. 523) Baker Academic, 2011
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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