Christians are indistinguishable from other men; and yet there is something extraordinary about their lives

From a letter to Diognetus (2nd century)

Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.

Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.

To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.

Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.

¿Las religiones provocan guerras y conflictos?

Tomando como excusa el fundamentalismo, algunos acusan a todas las religiones de ser fuente de conflictos. Pues bien, junto con la civilización y la cultura, la fe cristiana aporta razones para no imponerse a los demás mediante la violencia física, verbal o moral.

En el siglo XX hubo más guerras y muertes que en ningún otro siglo, y se trató de conflictos no religiosos, o incluso anti-religiosos. Ni Hitler, ni Stalin, ni Pol-Pot actuaron por motivos religiosos, al contrario.

En los siglos en que hubo guerras de religión, los conflictos también estaban provocados por la instrumentación política de las religiones. Al mismo tiempo, en muchos países y durante siglos, los creyentes de diversas religiones han convivido en paz; p.e. en Jerusalén, en Toledo, en países de África, en USA, etc.

En cualquier caso, una cosa es la religión y otra cosa es la intolerancia religiosa, de la misma manera que una cosa es la nación y otra el nacionalismo, por ejemplo; una cosa es el capital y otra el capitalismo; una cosa es la libertad, y otra el liberalismo.

La deformación de la religión (una religión sin teología, sin diálogo entre fe y razón, sin mediación de la cultura) es la que lleva al integrismo y al conflicto. La religión tiene el peligro de radicalizarse si no hay reflexión intelectual sobre su propia fe, si no hay contraste con otras realidades, etc.

Hay que fomentar una correcta separación entre la Iglesia y el Estado, entre otras cosas para evitar la instrumentalización política de la religión. En el siglo XX, esa separación la ha promovido el Concilio Vaticano II, y en cambio no se vive en lugares donde otra religión es predominante; p.e. países ortodoxos como Grecia, o luteranos como Suecia, o países anglicanos como Reino Unido, y sobre todo, estados islámicas.