The Christian Way of Life

Compare our religion with your own. Do we not have genuine harmony and an untiring love for others? If we rebuke a fault, is not our aim to warn, not to destroy; is not our correction meant for safety, not for cruelty? Do we not keep not only sincere faith toward God but also faithfulness in the dealings of social life? Do we not pity the unfortunate? Is not ours a life of simplicity, one that refuses to hide evil behind the mask of fraud and hypocrisy? Do we not acknowledge the true God and his undivided rule? This is real godliness; this is religion that is sincere and truly undefiled; this is the life of wisdom. Those who have it are travelers, as it were, on a noble road that leads to eternal life. For whoever has set out on such a course and keeps his soul pure from the pollutions of the body does not wholly die. He may be said to complete the service God appointed him, rather than to die. Again, whoever confesses his allegiance to God is not easily overcome by insult or rage. He stands firm nobly under the pressure of necessity, and the testing of his steadfastness is, as it were, a passport to the favor of God. For we cannot doubt that God is pleased with excellence in human conduct. It would indeed be absurd if the powerful and the humble alike show gratitude to those whose services benefit them, and repay them with services in return, while he who is supreme and sovereign over all, indeed who is Goodness itself, should be careless in this respect. No, he follows us through the whole course of our lives. He is near us in every good act, and he accepts our virtue and obedience and rewards them at once. Yet he puts off the full recompense to that future time when the actions of our lives will pass under his review. Then those who are found clear in that account will receive the reward of everlasting life, while the wicked will suffer the penalties due to their crimes.