Texts in Conversation
In Diognetus, the Word is described as the one who was from the beginning, echoing the opening of 1 John, where Jesus is the one from the beginning the author has heard, seen, and touched.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 John 1:1
New Testament
1 This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life— 2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us). 3 What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ). 4 Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
Epistle to Diognetus 11:4
Early Christian
3 For this cause He sent forth the Word, that He might appear to the world, Who being dishonored by the people, and preached by the Apostles, was believed in by the Gentiles. 4 This Word, Who was from the beginning, Who appeared as new and yet was proved to be old, and is born always young in the hearts of saints, 5 He, I say, Who is eternal, Who today was accounted a Son, through Whom the Church is enriched and grace is unfolded and multiplied among the saints, grace which confers understanding, which reveals mysteries, which announces seasons, which rejoices over the faithful, which is bestowed upon those who seek her, even those by whom the pledges of faith are not broken, nor the boundaries of the fathers overstepped.
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... As I observed earlier, the author’s mention of the people’s dishonouring of the Word recalls John 1: 9, and his depiction of this Word as ὁ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, seems a transparent allusion to 1 John 1: 1, ὁ ἦν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς (somewhat less likely, John 1: 1, ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος), whose author attests to eye-, ear-, and hand-witness knowledge of Jesus. This chain of references to the Word’s revealing activity among his disciples seems then to be modelled on the example of the author of John and 1 John. This implies that the author of the Ad Diognetum accepts the Johannine author’s self-testimony as presented in these books and that he regards him as one of those to whom the Word revealed himself and his Father, that is, as one of Jesus’ personal disciples. ...”
* 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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