Apologetics is generally the term used to describe a “defense of the faith.� The typical apologetic battleground includes Greek and Latin phrases with torn pages of ancient manuscripts strewn about. It is a skirmish of wits, and hopefully, of spirit-led discussion. The winner claims “truth� as his or her own. In a less heated affair, apologetics is just the word associated with trying to “convince� someone that they are right; in Christianity, it is to convince someone to put their faith in the Christian God. The typical arguments involve archeological evidence, questions of logic, and a couple of “holy grenades� aimed at maiming the less-than-valid enemy.

Who really wins these gladiator-style debates? Since when did we start to “convince� people to be a Christian using logical treatises as our deadly weapons? Why can’t we be more like the author of the “Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus?�

Maybe because we’ve never even heard of him.

Mathetes has been considered one of the earliest apologists in Christian history. Writing no later than around the dawn of the 2nd century, Mathetes was possibly a pupil of St. Paul or one of the apostle’s close associates. In fact, Mathetes is surely not the writer’s real name, as it is just a generic word for a “disciple.� But he does claim to be a “disciple of the Apostles� in his letter to an even more unknown “Diognetus.� Sorry, we don’t really have a lot of fancy information for you on him.

We’ve only got three manuscripts of Mathetes letter, but it’s a good thing that a few survived because the texts give us a really unique perspective of the lives of early Christians. The writer speaks of Christianity as still being a fairly new thing in the world, which makes sense, because it was probably only a 100 + years old. Gone were the early disciples, but the religion was just starting to make the headlines in the local paper, and receiving large chunks of gossip at the neighboring beauty boutiques.

But perhaps the most shocking discovery to us 21st century Christians is the method of this so-called apologist’s argumentation. What were all the non-Christians talking about? The strict logic of Christianity? The open beliefs of the monotheistic believers? The answer may rattle even the most devout readers of Lee Strobel and Josh McDowell.

Mathetes tells us that he writes his letter because Diognetus desires to learn “the mode of worshipping God prevalent among the Christians…and what form of religion they observe.� Diognetus has apparently caught wind of this new wave religion and wants to learn what its all about. Christians aren’t polytheistic like the surrounding Greeks, they only worship one God; but yet, they don’t seem all that superstitious and ritualistic like the incumbent Jews. Who are these people?

Here’s how Mathetes describes them: “Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe.� In fact, Christians simply follow “the customs of the natives.� They dwell in their own countries as fellow citizens, and share everything they have with others. But here’s the catch: they do so as “foreigners.� Mathetes takes up the “resident aliens� theme of the Bible. They may appear to be Romans or Galileans, but they are actually sojourners. Their real home is with the God they serve.

There are a few striking differences between the Christians and their fellow man however. Mathetes makes it clear that they obey all the prescribed laws, but at the same time “they surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all.� So despite any apologetic discourse, the early believers best evangelism tool was their steadfast love of their neighbor. Oh, they obeyed the local pretenses, but they went one step beyond that. They were above reproach and gave what they had to others despite the hatred they incurred. Ironically, “those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.�

It kind of reminds you of Jesus. Pilate really couldn’t find a reason to fault Jesus for anything and send him to the cross. Yet the people continued to cry out for the Savior’s blood. Despite Jesus’ open hands policy, he was largely rejected by the masses. And this is where the early Christians found their apologetic. This makes sense, because as Mathetes points out, Christianity “was no mere earthly inventionâ€? or “human system of opinion.â€? This was the testimony of the living God handed down to them by the man they walked the earth with…Jesus. God didn’t send an angel or a divine servant to show them how to witnessâ€"he sent Himself. The early Christians apparently picked up Jesus’ example and ran with it. They realized that Jesus came not to lord over them or “exercise tyrannyâ€? as Mathetes puts it, but came seeking to persuade them. Fancy arguments aside, Jesus worked. He came, he lived, and they believed. Therefore, this is their apologetic, to endure and love.

How will we reach our neighbor who we have tried so hard to “convince� of Christianity? What will we say the next time we go to work and see our co-worker who has consistently rejected our gospel tracts and biblical arguments? Will we stand fast in our example, obey the laws of this land, and endure all hardships? Or will we continue to throw “holy grenades?� It seems pretty apparent where Mathetes would fall. He’s no Lee Strobel, but he definitely is more early church.
“Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest?�
-Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus-

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