Summary of online lecture
Sabino Chialà
“IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD”:
THE EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR TIME
The third event of the “Time for action” series for 2025 was held on Monday, March 10, 2025. Dr Sabino Chialà, prior of the Monastic Community of Bose, presented the topic “‘In the world but not of the world’: The ancient Epistle to Diognetus and its significance for our time.” The event was moderated by Dr Nikos Kouremenos, PhD in Coptic Studies, Research Associate of Volos Academy.
After giving an outline of the history of the Epistle to Diognetus and its fortunate discovery in a fish market in Constantinople in the last years of the Byzantine empire, the speaker referred to the changes in the socio-political context of the Christian community that explain the fact that the letter was lost from sight for centuries. He went on to present the most important topics of the Epistle, such as who the Christian God is and how he is worshipped, and mainly the relationship between the two capacities, that of the faithful Christian and that of the Roman citizen of the time. This relationship with the state has a decisive importance, as it points out that the Christian person is characterized mainly by his way of life, and not by his practice of worship or his declarations of faith. Although the Christian does not seek to stand out, he nevertheless stands out, because, although he respects the laws and customs of his place, his behavior is determined by the commandment of love for all, which is understood as the basic divine commandment. In the conclusion of his speech, Dr. Chialà emphasized how timely this approach of the ancient Christians is in the contemporary world, in which Christians do not constitute the main majority but, on the contrary, are called to coexist with a multitude of diversities and to be examples of “life in Christ” exactly within this context.
The video recording of the speech is available on the YouTube channel of the Academy, in English (https://youtu.be/U21MUQx6rcc)
and in Greek (https://youtu.be/dpbYgpxkiCg).
The next event of the “Time for Action” series will be the lecture of Professor Stylianos Tsombanidis “‘The Church does not live for itself’: the incarnate function of the community before and after the Liturgy”, on Thursday, March 20, as already announced.
