Is the Epistle to Diognetus an apology? A Rhetorical Analysis (original) (raw)

This paper aims to bring clarification and justification to the common assumption that The Epistle to Diognetus is a second-century Christian apology. The essay begins with an analysis of the rhetorical situation of Diognetus and then proceeds, in the second section, to a rhetorical analysis of several other second-century apologies in order to illustrate how they contrast and compare to Diognetus. In the third section I argue that, despite the differences between the works considered, they are all united in the fact that they arise from similar rhetorical situations.