Christians are
indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs.
They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect,
or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon
reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they
champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of
life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be
living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is
something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as
though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens,
but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their
homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign
country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose
them. They share their meals, but not their wives.
They live in the
flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their
days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they
yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all
men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to
death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they
are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer
dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing
is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they
do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they, rejoice, as
though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they
are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this
hatred.
To speak in general
terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the
body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct
from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be
identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so
Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains
unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury
the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its
pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have
done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.
To put it simply:
What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. The soul is
dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered
through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, but does not
belong to the body, and Christians dwell in the world, but do not belong to the
world. The soul, which is invisible, is kept under guard in the visible body;
in the same way, Christians are recognized when they are in the world, but
their religion remains unseen. The flesh hates the soul and treats it as an
enemy, even though it has suffered no wrong, because it is prevented from
enjoying its pleasures; so too the world hates Christians, even though it
suffers no wrong at their hands, because they range themselves against its
pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and its members; in the same
way, Christians love those who hate them. The soul is shut up in the body, and
yet itself holds the body together; while Christians are restrained in the
world as in a prison, and yet themselves hold the world together. The soul,
which is immortal, is housed in a mortal dwelling; while Christians are settled
among corruptible things, to wait for the incorruptibility that will be theirs
in heaven. The soul, when faring badly as to food and drink, grows better; so
too Christians, when punished, day by day increase more and more. It is to no
less a post than this that God has ordered them, and they must not try to evade
it.
