I am truly wealthy; instead of being ignorant and blind, I have become
sound?” (1). Character A then implores him not to hoard jealously from a
friend the source of such bliss; this is, of course, the same language that
Josephus used to characterize his and Eleazar’s motives (see above).
In response to this request, Character B recalls in detail the speech of
Nigrinus, which pierced his soul and led him to embrace philosophy
(35–37). That speech is essentially a synkrisis,contrasting the disgusting
worldly values so prevalent in Rome with the philosophical life, free of
luxury and sham, which prevails in Athens. To choose the Athenian life is
to choose a life of toil (14, 33), but one that alone brings happiness. Inter-
estingly, Character B’s praise of the philosophic life and repudiation of false
living does not include an explicit appeal for the conversion of Character
A; but we are not surprised when Character A insists at the end that he must
join his friend in a “change of heart” (38). I submit that Josephus expected
the same response from many hearers in the light of his presentation.
Our second example of the protreptic genre is the Christian Epistle To
Diognetus,which is variously dated to the mid- or late second century CE. This
document has a structure that in many ways parallels Contra Apionem.For
example, the epistle opens with a prologue addressed to “most excellent Dio-
gnetus”—the same title used by Josephus of Epaphroditus—who is iden-
tified as a deeply interested outsider making active inquiries concerning
Christian piety (1.1). After ridiculing pagan worship of handmade gods in
human form (2), as did Josephus, the Christian author disparages Judaism
as an option. He does this by rejecting the notion that God needs sacrifices
(a point pre-empted by Josephus!) and by repeating common objections to
Sabbath observance, circumcision, and dietary laws (3–4).
Having thus refuted false sources of knowledge, the author of Diogne-
tusmoves to his positive portrayal of Christian piety (5–6), which again par-
allels Josephus at many points: Christians do not expose their infants, and
they are happy to suffer for their faith, holding death in contempt. Just as
Josephus repeatedly cited Judean suffering as proof of this point, so the
Christian author recalls Christians “flung to the wild beasts to make them
deny their Lord, and yet remaining undefeated” (7, end). We even find
this remarkable parallel: whereas Josephus had suggested that as God per-
meates the cosmos, so the Law permeates all humanity, the author of Dio-
gnetusproposes that, “As the soul is diffused through every part of the
body, so are Christians through all cities of the world” (6.1). And where Jose-
phus had credited Moses with constructing a constitution that time could
not weaken, our Christian author appeals to the divine authentication of
Christ’s revelation. The epistle ends with a direct appeal to Diognetus to
nora
(Nora)
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