Texts in Conversation
In Diognetus, people cannot enter the kingdom of God alone and are then enabled by the power of God, which may echo the language of Jesus in John 3, where no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
John 3:5
New Testament
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’
Epistle to Diognetus 9:1
Early Christian
1 Having thus planned everything already in His mind with His Son, He permitted us during the former time to be carried along by disorderly impulses as we desired, led astray by pleasures and lusts, not at all because He took delight in our sins, but because He bore with us, not because He approved of the past season of iniquity, but because He was creating the present season of righteousness, that, being convicted in the past time by our own deeds as unworthy of life, we might now be made deserving by the goodness of God, and having made clear our inability to enter into the kingdom of God of ourselves, might be enabled by the ability of God.
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
“... When the author of Ad Diognetum 9. 1 says that Christians have been shown (φανερώσαντες) that they are unable ‘to enter the kingdom of God (εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ) on our own’ but also that they are now ‘enabled to do so by God’s power (τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ θεοῦ)’, one has to wonder whether the demonstration he has in mind is not found in the announcement of Jesus in John 3: 5, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit [John 3: 3, unless one is born anew], he cannot enter the kingdom of God (οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ)’. ...”
Hill, Charles E.
The Johannine Corpus in the Early Church
(pp. 363-364) Oxford University Press, 2004
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,