What does the Epistle of Diognetus say about Final Judgment?
The anonymous Epistle of Diognetus sticks out among the Apostolic Fathers. Unlike 1st Clement or The Martyrdom of Polycarp, we don’t see the Church Fathers referencing Diognetus. We only had one manuscript of the writing, but even that has unfortunately been lost. Also, the title itself is a bit misleading, as it’s more of an apologetic writing than an epistle.
When studying how Diognetus describes final judgment and hell, we see the writing once again sticks out from the rest of the Apostolic Fathers. In my opinion, Diognetus heavily implies hell as Eternal Conscious Torment, whereas most of the previous Apostolic Fathers we’ve examined have a far more nuanced understanding of final punishment, often times emphasizing death as the end for the wicked.
For those under Christ, death is not the end
In the opening of the letter, the Apologist describes in 1.1 how Christians reject the world and “despise death”. In the closing of the letter (chapter 12), the Apologist refers back to the Garden of Eden, and how the disobedience of Adam and Eve led to them (and the human race) being rejected to eat from the Tree of Life. However, in Christ, life is given by faith and knowledge of Him.
Christ’s judgment is coming
Diognetus 7.6: For He will yet send Him to judge us, and who shall endure His appearing?
Punishment by fire
Diognetus 8.1-2: For, who of men at all understood before His coming what God is? Do you accept of the vain and silly doctrines of those who are deemed trustworthy philosophers? Of whom some said that fire was God, calling that God to which they themselves were by and by to come; and some water; and others some other of the elements formed by God. (emphasis added)
Diognetus 10.7-8: Then you shall see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over [the universe]; then you shall begin to speak the mysteries of God; then shall you both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they will not deny God; then shall you condemn the deceit and error of the world when you shall know what it is to live truly in heaven, when you shall despise that which is here esteemed in death, when you shall fear what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to the end that are committed to it. Then you shall admire those who for righteousness’ sake endure that fire that is but for a moment, and shall count them happy when you shall know [the nature of] that fire.
Edward Fudge, a well known defender of Conditional Immortality, comments on this passage:
“The fact that the ‘eternal fire’ will ‘punish to the end’ seems to indicate a destroying fire that burns until all is consumed, although by contrasting this with ‘temporary fire’, the author might believe the ‘eternal fire’ keeps burning forever after the victims are consumed.”
It is worth pointing out that the manuscript of Diognetus seemed to have had a little bit of content cut off right after this passage. (Holmes, 2006, Pg. 299) It’s an unfortunate place for our study to have a missing portion since the Apologist was describing judgment. Perhaps he elaborated more on this, or maybe he moved on to something else. Until we discover another fragment of Diognetus, we’ll never know for sure.
Immortal Souls
In chapter 6, The Apologist uses an analogy of Christians being to the world what the soul is to the body. It’s a powerful illustration, and bears some resemblance to Jesus’ words about the Church being the salt of the earth. However, in 6.8, he uses an example in this analogy that may not seem important to our discussion, but it actually pretty crucial:
“The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens.”
This is the first time in this study we have seen an Apostolic Father reference the soul being immortal. A common argument from Conditionalists is that the theology of souls being immortal is not biblical, and wasn’t taught in Christian theology until the late 2nd century. (Fudge, 2011, Pg. 20) This was done by apologists such as Tertullian as a way to relate their theology to their pagan opponents. Platonic thought specifically was heavily filtered into Christian apologetics, which included the belief that souls live forever. If souls live forever, then hell must be an eternal torment for those in it. Whether the apologetic nature of teaching the immortality of souls was the right move or not, it became a predominant belief in the Church over time.
It’s been pointed out by scholars that the apologetic nature of Diognetus brings the writing into more of the 2nd-3rd century Christian apologists category rather than the Apostolic Fathers. (Holmes, 2006, Pg. 288) The Platonic influence found in apologists Tertullian and Origen can also be found in Diognetus. The thought of the soul being immortal is a prime example of this. (Bird, 2021, Pg. 315)
Conclusion
The Apologist’s understanding of souls being immortal and true life being found in Christ would heavily lean his understanding of hell toward Eternal Conscious Torment. A Conditionalist could argue that Diognetus was simply using Platonic thought to help the pagan audience understand his point about Christianity, but didn’t actually believe that souls are immortal. But we don’t know this for sure, and we do know that later Christian apologists did adopt Platonic understanding into their theology, including soul immortality.
A Conditionalist could also point out that Diognetus is an exception to the Apostolic Fathers, as it fits more with the later Christian apologists and adopts a Platonic understanding of the soul. But even with that noted, it is still an early Christian writing that leans away from Conditional Immortality and more toward Eternal Conscious Torment. The writing may not share the same convictions (or popularity) of Clement, Ignatius, or Polycarp, but it is still in the Apostolic Fathers collection.
Bibliography
Schaff, P. (2016). The Complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Collection of Early Church Fathers. Toronto, Canada.
Fudge, E. (2011). The Fire that Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment (3rd Ed.). Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Holmes, M. (2006). The Apostolic Fathers in English (3rd Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Academic.
Bird, M. (2021). The Epistle of Diognetus and the Fragment of Quadratus. In M. Bird and S. Harrower, The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers. University Printing House, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.