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Epistle to Diognetus : THE
CHRISTIAN WAYfrom the Epistle to Diognetus (Full Text),
* 5.1-6.10, translated by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson
Greek Fonts,
Epistle to Diognetus Resources Online and in Print
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 OR 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 any singularity. The course of conduct which
they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation
of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the
advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as
well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has
determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to
clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display
to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. 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 every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They
marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not
destroy their offspring. |
Χριστιανῶν βίος Χριστιανοὶ γὰρ οὔτε γῇ οὔτε φωνῇ οὔτε ἔθεσι διακεκριμένοι τῶν λοιπῶν εἰσιν ἀνθρώπων. Οὔτε γάρ που πόλεις ἰδίας κατοικοῦσιν οὔτε διαλέκτῳ τινὶ παρηλλαγμένῃ χρῶνται οὔτε βίον παράσημον ἀσκοῦσιν. Οὐ μὴν ἐπινοίᾳ τινὶ καὶ φροντίδι πολυπραγμόνων ἀνθρώπων μάθημα τοῦτ΄ αὐτοῖς ἐστὶν εὑρημένον͵ οὐδὲ δόγματος ἀνθρωπίνου προεστᾶσιν ὥσπερ ἔνιοι. Κατοικοῦντες δὲ πόλεις Ἑλληνίδας τε καὶ βαρβάρους ὡς ἕκαστος ἐκληρώθη͵ καὶ τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις ἔθεσιν ἀκολουθοῦντες ἔν τε ἐσθῆτι καὶ διαίτῃ καὶ τῷ λοιπῷ βίῳ͵ θαυμαστὴν καὶ ὁμολογουμένως παράδοξον ἐνδείκνυνται τὴν κατάστασιν τῆς ἑαυτῶν πολιτείας. Πατρίδας οἰκοῦσιν ἰδίας͵ ἀλλ΄ ὡς πάροικοι· μετέχουσι πάντων ὡς πολῖται͵ καὶ πανθ΄ ὑπομένουσιν ὡς ξένοι· πᾶσα ξένη πατρίς ἐστιν αὐτῶν͵ καὶ πᾶσα πατρὶς ξένη. Γαμοῦσιν ὡς πάντες͵ τεκνογονοῦσιν· ἀλλ΄ οὐ ῥίπτουσι τὰ γεννώμενα. |
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Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/diognetus-christian-manners.asp
