"When our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward--punishment and death--was impending over us....God himself took upon Him the burden of our iniquities. He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!"
Author unknown, "Ep. ad Diognetum," quoted by Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 2 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006) 586.
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