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In Diognetus, the gods of the Greeks are reduced to their materials, stone, bronze, wood, silver, iron, and clay, echoing the language of the Wisdom of Solomon, where the Jewish writer mocks idols of gold, silver, stone, and scrap wood cut by a craftsman.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 13:10
Deuterocanon
10 But miserable are those whose hopes rest on dead things, who have called the works of human hands gods: gold and silver crafted with skill, likenesses of animals, or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand. 11 A woodcutter may saw down a tree that is easy to handle, skillfully strip off all its bark, and with good workmanship make a useful vessel for everyday life. 12 He burns the scraps from his work to cook his food, and eats his fill. 13 Then he takes a leftover scrap that is good for nothing, a crooked piece of wood full of knots, and carves it carefully in his spare time, shaping it with the skill of his leisure. He shapes it into the image of a man, 14 or makes it like some worthless animal, smearing it with red paint, coloring its surface red, and covering every flaw in it.
Epistle to Diognetus 2:2
Early Christian
1 Come then, clear yourself of all the preconceptions which occupy your mind, and throw off the habit which leads you astray, and become a new man, as it were, from the beginning, as one who would listen to a new story, even as you yourself confessed. See not only with your eyes, but with your intellect also, of what substance or of what form they happen to be whom you call and regard as gods. 2 Is not one of them stone, like that which we tread under foot, and another bronze, no better than the vessels which are forged for our use, and another wood, which has already become rotten, and another silver, which needs a man to guard it lest it be stolen, and another iron, which is corroded with rust, and another earthenware, not a bit more attractive than that which is supplied for the most dishonorable service?
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... The elegantly written work is similar to Aristides’s Apology, but not dependent upon it. Like Aristides’s work, it blends Hellenism and Judaism. It uses such apologetics as are to be found in Psalm 115, in the Wisdom of Solomon, and in the Sibylline Oracles. Its understanding of creation also is anthropocentric, the world being understood as having been made for humanity’s sake. ...”
* 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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