Texts in Conversation
In Diognetus, God is described as giving up his own Son as a ransom, the just for the unjust, echoing the language of 1 Peter, where Jesus is described as suffering once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring people to God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Peter 3:18
New Testament
15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. 16 Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil. 18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.
Epistle to Diognetus 9:2
Early Christian
2 And when our iniquity had been fully accomplished, and it had been made perfectly plain that punishment and death were expected as its reward, and the season came which God had ordained, when from then on He should show His goodness and power (O the exceedingly great kindness and love of God), He did not hate us, nor reject us, nor bear us malice, but was long-suffering and patient, and in pity for us took upon Himself our sins, and Himself parted with His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy for the lawless, the guileless for the evil, the just for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.
Date: 150-250 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... Righteousness language is also applied to Jesus. In fact various traditions entitle Jesus the “Righteous One” (ho dikaios). In their speeches Peter, Stephen and Paul all name Jesus the “Righteous One” (ho dikaios). [...] Jesus’ priestly role as an advocate with the Father earns him the title “Jesus Christ, the Righteous” (Iēsoun Christon dikaion), a confession common within the Johannine community (1 Jn 2:1, 29; 3:7). 1 Peter and the Epistle to Diognetus also name Jesus the “Righteous One” (dikaios) in early confessions of faith (1 Pet 3:18; Diogn. 9.2). ...”
Martin, Ralph P.
Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments
(p. 1502) InterVarsity Press, 1997
* 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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