Friday, January 19, 2007

The Epistle of Diognetus concludes

Chapters 10 -12 emphasise the role of faith and belief for salvation. Chapter 10 emphasises that faith should lead us to love of the Father and therefore to his imitation. There is a beautiful exposition of what it means to imitate the Father, in which one can see concerns of the emerging church, such as vulnerability, service rather than power, being echoed:

"or it is not by ruling over his neighbours, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are weaker, or by being rich, and showing violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbour; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another who is deficient; he who, whatsoever things he has received from God, by distributing these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive [his benefits]: he is an imitator of God."

C
hapter 11 shows that already the concept of a tradition of the apostles is playing an important role, especially in the shaping of Christology. Chapter 12 extols the virtues of knowledge, but of a particular knowledge. For it is not knowledge in itself which is valuable, for there is a knowledge which destroys, but knowledge that leads to life, based on love and the fear of God. [I would not be surprised if there are scholars who believe that chapter 12 is the work of a different author, for having lambasted the OT earlier, this chapter provides us with a positive narration of the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden]

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