Texts in Conversation
In Diognetus, the one God sends is described as the creator of the universe, by whom God made the heavens, which may echo the language of John 1, where the Word is with God in the beginning and all things are created by him.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
John 1:3
New Testament
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. 2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it. 6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
Epistle to Diognetus 7:2
Early Christian
2 But truly the Almighty Creator of the Universe, the Invisible God Himself from heaven planted among men the truth and the holy teaching which surpasses the understanding of man, and fixed it firmly in their hearts, not as any man might imagine, by sending (to mankind) a subordinate, or angel, or ruler, or one of those that direct the affairs of earth, or one of those who have been entrusted with the administrations in heaven, but the very Craftsman and Creator of the Universe Himself, by Whom He made the heavens, by Whom He enclosed the sea in its proper bounds, Whose mysteries all the elements faithfully observe, from Whom [the sun] has received even the measure of the courses of the day to keep them, Whom the moon obeys as He bids her shine by night, Whom the stars obey as they follow the course of the moon, by Whom all things are ordered and bounded and placed in subjection, 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, abyss, the things that are in the heights, the things that are in the depths, the things that are between the two. Him He sent to them.
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... The author uses the term Logos for Christ, and while this may not in itself signify a familiarity with the Fourth Gospel, the author does, in connection with his use of this title in 7. 2, expound on the Word’s role as ‘the very artificer and Creator (τὸ τεχνίγην καὶ δημιουργόν) of the universe himself’, which may well be based upon John 1: 2–3. ...”
* 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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