May 12, 2010
Finding treasures in piles of paper
I’m sitting here in my shed, which has recently had an extensive facelift to transform it into an office. Part of the process has required sorting through piles of old papers – the accumulation of several years of odd documents that I couldn’t quite bring myself to throw out. Surrounded by piles of paper, let me take a break and share with you an old treasure I must have clipped from somewhere. I mean really old – this one dates back to A.D.150 – well, the text, if not the document itself. Apparently it was a report received by one Diognetes from some outpost of the Roman Empire. This man had evidently been marked by his dealings with a peculiar group of people that seemed to be spreading throughout the empire…
The Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country nor language nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own nor employ a peculiar form of speech nor lead a life which is marked out by a singularity…
They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners.
Every foreign land is to them as their native country and the land of their birth as a land of strangers…
They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws of the land and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives.
They love all men and are persecuted by all…They are poor yet make many rich…To sum up in a word: What the soul is in the body, that is a Christian in the world.
Were Diognetes alive today, I wonder if he would be able to recognise a Christian.
I love this passage from the Epistle of Mathetes! The whole thing should be required reading for believers today. Lovely to find you – although it seems you’ve been quiet for some time. Where did you go?
Good morning, Simon,
Good to be visiting your site and found your “clipping from the past” very good. I’m also checking through old papers and like yourself finding treasured articles one is prone to throw out. Martin Luther’s – 40 page letter on prayer is one that I appreciate.
Do trust you are all well. Note you have not posted any further updates – look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
David