Texts in Conversation
Diognetus quotes Paul's language from 1 Corinthians that knowledge puffs up but love builds up. It is the letter's only direct quotation of a New Testament book and is used to explain the tree of knowledge in Paradise.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Corinthians 8:1
New Testament
1 With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know. 3 But if someone loves God, he is known by God. 4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.
Epistle to Diognetus 12:5
Early Christian
4 For neither is there life without knowledge, nor sound knowledge without true life; therefore the one (tree) is planted near the other. 5 Discerning the force of this and blaming the knowledge which is exercised apart from the truth of the injunction which leads to life, the apostle says, Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 6 For the man who supposes that he knows anything without the true knowledge which is testified by the life, is ignorant, he is deceived by the serpent, because he did not love life; whereas he who with fear recognizes and desires life plants in hope expecting fruit. 7 Let your heart be knowledge, and your life true reason, duly comprehended.
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... He knows multiple Gospels, and, to judge from his language and conceptions, these must certainly include John and Matthew. He knows Paul as ‘the apostle’ (12. 5), in fact his only New Testament quotation is from 1 Corinthians 8: 1, and he knows other apostles as well (11. 3). He calls himself a disciple of apostles, 11. 1. The appearance of ‘Gospels’ and ‘apostles’ alongside the Law and the Prophets suggests a high estimation of the works which constitute his Christian scripture. ...”
* 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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