[notes on EpDiog §4]
This chapter (EpDiog 5) is one of the longer sections of the letter. But it is important because it records how Christians were perceived (or how they wanted themselves to be perceived, depending on your view) at a very early point in Christian history.
The author transitions from talking about the inadequacies and problems with the Jewish religion to describing how Christians live in the world. Christians aren't a particular ethnic group; they're present and noticeable across ethnic boundaries. But even in light of this, Christians are unique, writes the author, for a number of reasons. EpDiog 5.1-4 set the stage (Ehrman's translation):
1. For Christians are no different from other people in terms of their country, language, or customs.
2. Nowhere do they inhabit cities of their own, use a strange dialect, or live life out of the ordinary.
3. They have not discovered this teaching of theirs through reflection or through the thought of meddlesome people, nor do they set forth any human doctrine, as do some.
4. They inhabit both Greek and barbarian cities, according to the lot assigned to each. And they show forth the character of their own citizenship in a marvelous and admittedly paradoxical way by following local customs in what they wear and what they eat and in the rest of their lives.
The balance (EpDiog 5.5-17) is dedicated to showing that while Christians may appear to be similar to their neighbors, Christians really aren't similar to their neighbors. A bit paradoxical (as 5.4 mentions above) but that's really the best way to sum it up. The author writes things like “They (Christians) marry like everyone else and have children, but they do not expose them once they are born.” (EpDiog 5.6).
Verses 7-10 are similar; noting that Christians share their meals and not their wives; that while Christians are in the flesh, they do not live after the flesh (allusion to 1Jn 2.16?); that while Christians live on the earth, their citizenship is in heaven; that while they are subject to laws on earth, they surpass the same laws in practice as they live according to a higher standard.
The concluding verse to this chapter (EpDiog 5.17) always leaves me in a state of awe.
17. They (Christians) are attacked by Jews as foreigners and persecuted by Greeks. And those who hate them cannot adequately explain the cause of their enmity.
Even though Christians are similar to their neighbors and arguably peaceable folk, for some reason the lifestyle of Christians stirs up the ire of others. This (of course) reminds me of Titus 2.6-8:
6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Next up: EpDiog 6. Not sure when, though.