Christians "do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life… although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man's lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary consititution of their own commonwealth… They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require. They love all men, and by all men are persecuted. They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life. They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance."
-The Letter of Diognetus, early 2nd Century A.D. (as quoted in Leith Anderson's Winning the Values War in a Changing Culture, 10).