{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which\r\nwas delivered to them, nor is it a mere human system of\r\nopinion, which they judge it right to preserve so carefully, nor\r\nhas a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed\r\nto them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator\r\nof all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed\r\namong men, [Him who is] the truth, and the holy and incomprehensible\r\nWord, and has firmly established Him in their\r\nhearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to\r\nmen any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any one of those who\r\nbear sway over earthly things, or one of those to whom the\r\ngovernment of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but\r\nthe very Creator and Fashioner of all things—by whom He\r\nmade the heavens—by whom he enclosed the sea within its\r\nproper bounds—whose ordinances<a id=\"r1493\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1493\"><sup>[1493]</sup></a> all the stars<a id=\"r1494\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1494\"><sup>[1494]</sup></a> faithfully\r\nobserve—from whom the sun<a id=\"r1495\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1495\"><sup>[1495]</sup></a> has received the measure of\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_310\">310</span>his daily course to be observed<a id=\"r1496\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1496\"><sup>[1496]</sup></a>—whom the moon obeys, being\r\ncommanded to shine in the night, and whom the stars also\r\nobey, following the moon in her course; by whom all things\r\nhave been arranged, and placed within their proper limits,\r\nand to whom all are subject—the heavens and the things\r\nthat are therein, the earth and the things that are therein,\r\nthe sea and the things that are therein—fire, air, and the\r\nabyss—the things which are in the heights, the things which\r\nare in the depths, and the things which lie between. This\r\n[messenger] He sent to them. Was it then, as one<a id=\"r1497\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1497\"><sup>[1497]</sup></a> might\r\nconceive, for the purpose of exercising tyranny, or of inspiring\r\nfear and terror? By no means, but under the influence\r\nof clemency and meekness. As a king sends his son,\r\nwho is also a king, so sent He Him; as God<a id=\"r1498\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1498\"><sup>[1498]</sup></a> He sent Him;\r\nas to men He sent Him; as a Saviour He sent Him, and as\r\nseeking to persuade, not to compel us; for violence has no\r\nplace in the character of God. As calling us He sent Him,\r\nnot as vengefully pursuing us; as loving us He sent Him, not\r\nas judging us. For He will yet send Him to judge us, and\r\nwho shall endure His appearing?<a id=\"r1499\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1499\"><sup>[1499]</sup></a> ... Do you not see them\r\nexposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny\r\nthe Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the\r\nmore of them that are punished, the greater becomes the\r\nnumber of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of\r\nman: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of\r\nHis manifestation.</p>","headings":["The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers","THE EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS.","THE EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS.","Chap. vii.—The manifestation of Christ."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg77576-paragraph-640"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"07e896567db0c05ab93040f385a1fe1da4c78218ef4540eea74ec676a4abf3ef","edition_title":"The writings of the Apostolic Fathers","edition_translators":["Alexander Roberts","James Donaldson","Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1870,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg77576-f1495","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Historical 1870 English edition; electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f1495","source_ebook":77576,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1495\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1495\">1495</a>. </span>The word “sun,” though omitted in the <abbr class=\"spell\"><span class=\"fss\">MSS.</span></abbr>, should manifestly be\r\ninserted.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"5cef11d737d7f5d65aa99f44ca2d8e967d725f3bed872960330e88c0905597a9","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/77576/pg77576-images.html#f1495","text_sha256":"5be794153410c1ec2e2a63aceb67a23d60ee5a097f8c106744e8dc1aaf946561","verified":false,"work_id":null}