The Epistle To Diognetus: Apostolic Man

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The letter to Diognetus is an unusual document within the apostolic fathers. It is a different literary genre than most of the other documents. The original source text is missing. There is no indication of the identity of the author. The presentation of content and imagery are in a unique way compared to other Apostolic Father documents. The difference brings up many significant issues with the letter to Diognetus. This paper provides an overview of the content of the letter to Diognetus It is important to know from which source documents the written work originated as a vital part of understanding ancient writings. A reader is more certain about the authenticity of the written work when there is a high number of source documents and the …show more content…

The Epistle to Diognetus resembles an early apology in the Christian Church. Quadratus is a scholar in the apostolic era who was known for his apology which is lost today (Homes 688). The belief is the Epistle to Diognetus is part of the lost Apology of Quadratus. Thus supported by pairing the Epistle of Diognetus with the Fragment of Quadratus. There is a gap in 7.6 and 7.7 in the Epistle to Diognetus where the Fragment of Quadratus would fit (Holmes 688). It is hard to support the claim of this gap theory because most of the modern text has edits to its current format and there is no definite way to tell if the Fragment of Quadratus fits within the Epistle to …show more content…

Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the setting of the origin of the Epistle to Diognetus. Furthermore, the author is not positively determined. Knowing the author allows us cities to speculate where the document was written. It is hard to determine an author when the document has the possibility of being written in anytime during the span of a century. The document being addressed to Diognetus is the only point of reference in the Epistle to Diognetus. However, there is no evidence to the identity of Diognetus. In addition, there is no known figure in antiquity to connect to Diognetus. Based on the respect and apology format of the Epistle to Diognetus, the recipient is possibly a government official. Depending on the belief of the author and the date of the document, Diognetus may be a tutor to Marcus Aurelius, Claudius Diogenes of Alexandria, or a government official named Diognetus (Jefford 170). This places the documents setting in two different places or an undetermined setting which is unhelpful in understanding the context of the document. Scholars conject the author intended for the Epistle to Diognetus to be circulated throughout the empire, surmising Diognetus is a made up person to help set up the apologetic argument (Jefford 170). Unfortunately, this doesn’t help clarify the setting of the document. Looking at the style and language of the Epistle

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