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CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
A STUDY IN CHRISTIAN LIBERALISM

BY

R. B.

TOLLINTON,
RECTOR OF TENDRING

B.D.

SOMETIME EXHIBITIONER OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD EXAMINING CHAPLAIN TO THE BISHOP OF RIPON, 1895-1911

VOL.

II

c u. CHRISTI
818,

LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE

14

HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN,

1914

W.C.

U665

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
XII

THE INCARNATION
Christianity, as a religion, claims (i) a universal significance
historic
:

(2)

origin realising all their difficulties Many tendencies of his time On the other hand, facilitated the idea of an Incarnation

Clement accepts

these

claims

without

serious objections led thoughtful minds the Word made flesh the doctrine of
"
"

to

shrink

from
distin
:

Clement

(i)

guishes four main aspects of the doctrine of the Incarnation The fact of the Incarnation; the Word had "come" His mention of details and incidents of the Lord s life on
earth
interest

His conviction as to the fact

is

clear,
:

though his main

not in the historic event

(2)

The mode

of the

thought has hardly attained precision He connects the Incarnation with God s other manifesta There was some ground for Photius tions of His nature Clement accepts, but does not build of Docetism charge
Incarnation
his

Here

upon, the Virgin birth (3) The purpose of the Incarnation This is the salvation of humanity What Clement understood
:

by salvation

"The

taking of the
life in

manhood
the Lord
s

into

God":

(4)

The climax

of the Incarnate

Passion

What
s

was meant by the term

view of the Incarnation
theologians
historical
:

irdOos

"He

suffered"

Clement

It

may be compared with those of other The view of Irenasus more (i) Irenaeus is also more Scriptural And less speculative

His presentation of the doctrine, as well as Clement s, has its value (2) Athanasius His De incarnatione With Athan:

asius the Incarnation

is closely connected with the Fall The significance of the doctrine far more limited than in Clement

Its

cosmological aspects

less, its soteriological

more, pro-

vi

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
PAGES

nounced

Athanasius view

is

further from

Points of similarity (3) Anselm ences, however, are more important The contrast Clement s varied interpretation of the doctrine
further

modern conditions with Clement The differ

between

a priori method of the Cur deus homo ? removed from modern conditions

and the Anselm also is Has Clement s

view of the Incarnation value not only in relation to his own time but also for ourselves ? The danger of facile association
But, at
solution
least,

then

as

now, religious

thought was in

Clement

Clement may be brought into relation with certain contrasts which have arisen in the theology of the Incarnation (i) The contrast between the Human and the Divine (2) The contrast between the doctrine of the Incarnation and the theory of Immanence (3) The contrast between the historic and the spiritual aspects of Christianity (4) The contrast between the Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith Importance of the synthesis, in each
quest of synthesis
: : : :

essentially synthetic This characteristic of

We,

too,

are

in

case, of the contrasted terms

.....
XIII

1-34

CHAPTER

GNOSTICISM
Gnosticism the occasion of Clement
attraction of Gnosticism for
s

many

only controversy The probable of his more educated pupils

To
out
(2)
(3)
:

such the teachers of the Gnostic schools would point That there was no question of leaving the Church That the Gnosis also had its antiquity and
( i )
:

That great and learned men had and created its literature (4) That
:

continuity championed its tenets

:

its

message contained
:

elements of value

Especially
road"

its

cosmological theories
all

(5)

That

it

was a

"royal
:

for the elect,

it

That, finally, it had its religious value, particularly in its doctrine of Grace and Redemption To these positive attractions must be added the fact that Gnosticism liberated its adherents (i) From the need to
:

might not intrude Greek philosophy

(6)
(7)

That

conserved

where the many that was best in

accept certain concrete, sensible, historic elements in Chris tianity (2) Sometimes from the harsh claims of the Old
:

Testament:

(3)

Sometimes

also, less to

its

credit,
rival

from the
teaching

obligation to a Martyr s death

Such was the

CONTENTS
with which Clement was confronted

vii
PAGES

His attitude towards

is

Gnosticism cannot be described by any single statement His differentiation between Gnosticism and the Church
often clear

But, where his condemnation is most strong, he speaks of its moral rather than its intellectual

and decided

aspects Three main points at issue between Clement and the Gnostics Human Freedom, Dualism, Cosmology (A}
:

Human Freedom

He

repudiates the theory of distinct and

His criticism of certain predetermined natures in man teaching of Basilides on this subject His remarks on a The problem of Determinism similar theory of Valentinus

was

also

raised
in

by the sufferings of the righteous

This
of

especially

the case of

Martyrdom

An

illustration

In the main, he is successful in proving that Determinism will not account for the facts, but not in solving the difficulties involved by Freedom ()

Clement

opinions on this point

Marcion His importance and influence Charac Clement s strong opposition teristics of Marcion s Dualism His assertion of the unity of the world His criticism of Pessimism Clement s controversy with Marcion brings out the synthetic and reconciling tendency of his nature -On the the other hand, he had never felt the full stress of Marcion s problem (C) Cosmological theory Here Clement s opposi tion is less sharply defined His own unaccomplished project of a complete scheme of knowledge was largely due to Gnostic influences Yet Clement s scheme (i) was to be more closely Scriptural (2) And would have been formulated as an ascent

Dualism

not as a descent from, the First Principle The extent of his indebtedness to Gnosticism Some general features in
to,

Clement s

attitude

common
against

desire

among

throughout this controversy: (i) the adherents of any Religion

is

The
is

to

conserve and defend what

all

established

and

traditional

attack

But Clement possesses the

less frequent

disposition which, while remaining loyal to its heritage, seeks to acquire and learn from new sources In him we see the

Ecclesia docens et discern

especially effective

(2)

As

to his criticisms,

when he
fair,

attacks

he But he keeps

is

not
the

to

main

issues,
:

is

generally

and does not sink

to the level of

abuse (3) The true significance of his position in this con troversy is that, against the trend of his own nature, he maintains the value of the concrete, the particular, the historical, as
against the abstractions of Gnosticism with the great Church as against Heresy

Thus he
.

sides here
. .

35-71

viii

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
CHAPTER XIV

THE HIGHER
An
orthodox
"

LIFE
PAGES

though the Church rejected Gnosticism, had existed from Apostolic times Yet it was a bold step for
Gnosis,"

Clement

to reassert the
for

way

of

"Gnosis"

within the Church

The occasion

such teaching
Faith the

Stages and aspects of this

stage

journey of the soul

initial

Clement, some

times, insisting upon the unity of the Christian life, seems to regard Faith as one with Knowledge But the distinction

which he often draws between the two is more important Knowledge, however, never invalidates Faith The three motives which impel the soul upon this upward way (i) Its
:

own choice

greater than Fear and Hope (3) Together with these, the divine Grace How these three blend in one The further stages or features
:

the will
:

is

involved

(2)

Love, which

is

of this
vision
this
life

way (i) Moral and The pure in heart see

: :

Spiritual qualities required for

:

(2)

The

effort

and

difficulty of

(3) Purification
"
"

Sources of this element in his

negative character of this feature

teaching

(4)

Apathy

His extreme statements concerning it But he Causes frequently makes admissions which modify these which may have led to his high estimate of this quality This is specially seen in the freedom (5) Likeness to God
in his ideal
:

pass, in

Apathy "Such likeness to God may even Clement s extreme language, into being God (6) The Prayers of the Gnostic Beauty of his teaching on this point (7) But this higher life has its external as well as its inward Action combined with Gnosis aspects Beneficence,
conferred by
"

"

"

courtesy,

human

interest

The Gnostic

as a teacher of others
:

which has been

vision
(i)
Its

Such are the stages that lead to the goal (8) The goal, in Clement s mind throughout, is perfect
Characteristics of this final stage of the soul s advance permanence (2) The perfection of communion
:
:

attained in

it

(3) Its final

peace

Clement

s ideal, like

other

particular Christian

ideals, did

ance

What we may

not win permanent accept gain by reconsidering this type or

.

tendency of character

....

72-101

CONTENTS
CHAPTER XV

ix

THE CHURCH
The
special interest of the Church s internal history during Clement s lifetime Hence our disappointment at his scanty references
to

such topics

Two

reasons for this

:

(i) (2)

Alexandria cared

little

for order, discipline, organisation

Clement

personal

interest lay in other directions

Church
ideally,

is

yet a noble one

But his conception of the For Clement the Church possessed,

figures for the

He employs many common Church The Church as spiritual Mother As a Body As an Organ of the Spirit As Heavenly Kingdom, Bride, and Holy Mount The spiritual and invisible Church above Together with these elements certain concrete ecclesi astical facts emerge in Clement s pages (i) The composition of the Church Its members exhibit variety of nationality, of
both Unity and Antiquity
:

occupation, of social position, of spiritual attainment The difference between its cultured and uncultured members

concerned Clement (2) The ministry of the Church Does Clement support St Jerome s statement concerning the method of appointing the Bishop in Alexandria? He speaks sometimes of three orders, sometimes of two His
specially
:

evidence, on the whole,

is

compatible with Jerome

statement

The Episcopal
Chaplain

office

The Laying On
:

of

Hands
is

The

lay

Pastoral care

(3)

Doctrine
substance
in the

It

clear

from

Clement s references that the Creed was generally accepted

of the Apostles

Church of Alexandria

How

stress with

Clement distributes his doctrinal emphasis The him falls always on the inward side of belief

Slight evidence for

(4)

any authoritative formula

its
"Places

in his writings
Worship"

The Church already had

of

yet specially erected buildings Clement s shrine is rather public buildings in Alexandria the Universe, the Home, the Soul (5) Times and Seasons
:

there were not as

But Other

Clement s views on the Easter question The Epiphany Days of the Week Fixed hours of Prayer (6) The Church s Clement cares little discipline and control of its members for external authority His references to sin after Baptism
:

And
the

to public Confession From internal affairs we pass to Church s external relations (i) The Church and the Heresies But were they without or within ? Both aspects seen in Clement s references (2) The Church and the State
:

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
PAGES

Motives of persecution Martyrdom (3) The Church and the World Missionary enterprise The merits and defects It is specially a of Clement s Church Its interest for us
:

Church of many contrasts Freedom and Discipline Youth Attainment and Culture and Ignorance and Antiquity Conclusion Failure Thus it is a mixed society 102-134
.

CHAPTER XVI

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

The
value of the Sacraments as centres round which associations

Clement s appreciation of these Does his use of sacramen tal terminology spring from an already established Order, or does it anticipate and in part suggest the later forms of

may

collect

The

interest of

rites

preliminary question

Worship?
will

In general the latter view

is

true

In this chapter

the externals of the Sacraments

in

and

their

inward significance

external form of this Sacrament in

:

(A) Baptism: (i) The Clement Comparison of this with later usage (2) The inward significance of Baptism It conferred membership in a new Kingdom And in a new Family Purification Protection from Forgiveness evil Its more positive aspects It brought Immortality And Illumination (2?) The Eucharist (i) The external form
each case be considered:
:
:

The number of the worshippers Five elements in this worship The Homily The Reading of the Scriptures The Oblation Prayer Praise To these the Kiss of Peace must be added Were the Eucharist and the Agape as yet dis
tinguished in Clement s Church ? Difficulty of this question Divergent views of the authorities But there is some reason to think that this distinction did exist The

Agape,

however,

still
:

associations

important Its religious character Details and (2) The inward significance of this Sacrament

feeding Like Baptism it brought Truth and Clement lays no emphasis on the sacrificial Relations between the Sacraments aspects of the Eucharist of the Church and (i) The Pagan Mysteries (2) The Gnostic Sacraments Clement specially indebted to the Mysteries
It is spiritual

Immortality

in his interpretation of the

Sacraments
to

Details of such cor

respondenceHis
Criticism

Gnostic SacramentsBut his view of the Valentinian Sacraments is

attitude

the

not hostile

Catholic practice in regard to the Sacraments

CONTENTS
anticipated by Gnosticism The danger of depreciating either the outward or the inward elements of the Sacramental
principle

xi
PAGES

The
its

value of Clement

of these in

right proportion

.....
s

example

in preserving

each

135-164

CHAPTER

XVII

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES CANON AND TEXT

Clement
s

knowledge of Scripture
conversion

his

His debt

in this

This possibly commenced before respect to his masters

His reading of the Bible His labours in the Catechetical School largely Biblical and exegetical His personal delight
in the Scriptures.
(I)

THE CANON

(A) The Old Testament The Old Testament Scriptures taken over from the Jews Question as to certain books the Song of Songs, What was Clement s view of the Ecclesiastes, Esther Apocrypha? His fondness for Ecclesiasticus and the Book of Wisdom But he gives no decisions as to technical His use of its various canonicity (Z?) The New Testament books Four Epistles are doubtful Where does he locate the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, and other doubtful writings ? On the New Testament Canon, as on the Old, he gives no final decisions.
his

What was
s

Bible?

Church

(II)

THE TEXT

What

is

the value of Clement

?

textual criticism

hindrance
text

s evidence for purposes of His familiarity with Scripture is here a His habit of quoting from memory His freedom

in adapting Scripture
is

Hence

his evidence for purposes of the

:

(A) The Clement s Old Testament in Greek The versions of Symmachus and Theodotion already in existence side by side with the LXX His acquaintance with more than one version of the Old Testament The Vatican Codex of the Old Testament Does Clement support this ? As be tween B (Codex Vaticanus) and (Codex Alexandrinus) Clement s preference is doubtful His quotations tested in
of less value than might have been expected

Old Testament

"

"

"A"

(i)

Exodus

Deuteronomy:

(2) in
s,

Isaiah:

(3) in

Ecclesi

asticus

His evidence,

like Philo

gives no clear superiority

xii

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
either to
"

"

or to

"

PAGES
"

(Z?)

The New Testament

has twice as

from the Old

quotations from the New His familiarity with the Gospels The nature of his evidence to be seen by definite examples (i) The

many

Clement Testament as

quotation of St Mark x. 17-31, in the Quis dives salve tur, similar test compared with Westcott and Hort s text (2)
:

applied to nine quotations from the other Gospels (3) Also to nine from the Epistle to the Ephesians (4) And to seven from the second Epistle to the Corinthians (5) Points of
: :

interest in his quotations from the Prologue to the Fourth P. M. Barnard s important proof of Clement s Gospel

Mr

affinities

with the Western type of text

165-191

CHAPTER

XVIII

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AUTHORITY AND

EXEGESIS
Clement
attitude towards Scripture at once free and dependent Scripture a final authority The Bible a book by itself Scripture the sure source of certainty The main principle supported by the theory, not original with Clement, that the
s

Greeks had stolen from the Scriptures

with distinct elements
:

The harmony
:

The Scriptures a unity of (i) the Law (2) the

:

Clement does not Prophecy from the Law The relation Relatively, the importance of Prophecy is raised of the Gospel to the Old Testament The unity of the Law and the Gospel maintained as against the Jews Also as against Marcion and other Heretics Clement s appreciation
of the Law In regard to the Gospel, the fact that the Lord taught or said certain things is more important for Clement than that they were written in certain books The voice
"

Prophets (3) the Gospel (4) the Apostles dwell upon the distinction of

and Scripture of the

Lord"

The

Apostolic element

In

Unity and diversity in such phases and sequence of Revelation Clement s use of three important terms (i) Covenant or Testament As yet this word had not finally come to mean a collection of books
:

particular, St Paul s Epistles

one of interpreta tion Its characteristics, with (3) Tradition Clement, not those of Roman Catholic Tradition Exegesis The selection of books or passages as important, is a form of ExegesisClement selects His insistences and omissions Allegorism
:

Canon

(2)

rule or standard, in particular,

CONTENTS
PAGES

theory understood

Its

meaning

is

Truth is hidden How the Bible is to be The two Moses" "The veil" The inner Various for those who have the gift of Gnosis
"

(a) From the Old examples of allegorical interpretation Testament, where he frequently follows Philo (b) From the New Testament, where he is more original Criticisms of
: :

the allegorical

method
also

It

ignores the original intention of

the

proceeds upon the ground of trivial identities, not, like the Lord s Parables, upon real correspon dence Yet through Allegorism Clement could retain the
writer
It

Allegorism Scriptures without the fetters of literalism also solved the discrepancies between the Old Testament and
the New Clement s treatment of Scripture often fragmentary and discursive Examples (i) His exposition of the De
:

calogue
(2)

Estimate of this piece of Gnostic ormystical exegesis

Illustrations

The Hypotyposeis method The value of

of

their

scope

and

this exegetical work not permanent but possibly considerable for its own time (3) One particular book selected to illustrate Clement s use of Scripture The
:

Epistle

to
s

the

Hebrews

Of

the

main

principles

of

this

teaching Clement does not make so much use as he might have done His considerable indebtedness to it in points of detail General features of his use of the Epistle
Epistle

Conclusion
tion

In regard to Scripture

Clement s principles
:

(i)

He

we cannot wholly adopt His permanent interest in this connec exemplifies the fundamental importance of the
:

interpret (2) He also illustrates the place function of learning, as contrasted with that of authority
right to

and
:

His delight and enthusiasm

and illumination

......
for

(3)

the

Scriptures

Guidance
192-230

CHAPTER XIX

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

The tendency
this

of the intellect to

crowd out piety and devotion

But

does not hold good in the case of Clement Some features of his piety (A) His marked instinct for unities and

harmony
:

This leads him (i) to blend Religion and Phil osophy (2) To connect Faith and Knowledge (3) To insist on the intimate association of Thought and Action (5) His
:
:

kinship with the Mystics He is indebted to Eleusis He is also influenced by the tendencies which issued later in Neo-

xiv

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
PAGES

Yet he never entirely belongs to the mystic company The intellectual element in his nature was too strong and persistent to allow this (C) Clement s views on His high estimate of the relationship of God and man
platonism
:

nature at its best With this accords his insistence on the freedom of man s will Yet his belief in Divine Providence and man s consequent dependence is equally How Philosophy and Religion specially blend and clear co-operate in this doctrine (D) Clement s marked Optimism His Optimism finds proceeds in part from this conviction (2) In the particular expression (i) In his views of Nature absence of darker elements from his Eschatology (3) And,

human

particularly,

theory of Future Punishment How in this theory Clement blends severity with hope This point illustrated by his teaching on the remedial discipline of Fire
in

his

of

Perhaps he turns away too readily from the darker facts life Yet he remains a memorable example of Christian

serenity (E) Clement s debts to Religion may be made clear by comparing his general outlook with that of Marcus Aurelius and with that of Lucian (i) Marcus Aurelius
:

What Clement had

in

common

with

the

Emperor
principally

How
in in

they differed

Such difference seen

not

regard to the Christian doctrine of the Cross But rather Clement s more assured sense of the Divine Love And

also in his unhesitating conviction of the Life Lucian In particular, his Dialogue Charon
life

beyond

(2)

How human

appeared to two divine Spectators The tragic comedy TrcWa 7eAws Vanity and Transience Where the charm of the Greeks failed Clement s many-sided piety
of existence
Its

value

.......
CHAPTER XX

231-262

THEN AND NOW

In taking leave of Clement of Theology and of of value for
authorities,

we recognise

his interest for the student

Church History Has he also elements our own age and conditions ? Opinions of modern

his writings do contain such Teacher of our own day be supposed to visit in spirit Clement s world The account which he would give of the second century would be found

who hold

that

elements

Let a

religious

largely

applicable

to

the

twentieth

From

this

general

CONTENTS
similarity

xv
PAGES

must,
:

however, be

deducted

certain

particular

divergences
tianity
:

(i)

Now

the

"Social Question"
:

confronts Chris

in the general thought, the Christian is the oldest element Then it was the most recent addition (3) Further minor divergences Still, principles may be learned where

Then

religion

was individual

(2)

Now,

solution

of religious

details cannot

be imitated

Some

general principles, which a

:

modern religious teacher might learn in Clement s school Our own (I) The value of the synthetic attitude of mind need of a new synthesis The teacher s task is now to a large extent one of reconciliation (II) The value of the Hellenic
:

element

in Christianity

Similar in

Clement fundamentally a Hellene our own desire for Light Similar is the more
:

extensive, less rigorous, outlook in religion (III) The "pro our interpretation of the portion of Faith" in Clement

How

Creed may

in

some

respects coincide with his

With him we
of

may

reassert the doctrine of the

with him,
lectual

we may estimate
in

element
retained

God Also, the mystical before the intel Religion, the intellectual before the
Immanence

institutional

Yet the harmony and the value of these three

need, now and then, to consider thoughtful and often undecided importance of this service as it might be
:

may be

(IV)

The

the spiritual wants of the

minority

The

rendered by a modern religious guide Our farewell to happy and learned interpreter of the Gospel
.
.

this
.

263-284

CHAPTER XXI

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS
I

285-313

APPENDIX
THE PERSECUTION OF
A.D. 202-3

.....
II

314-324

APPENDIX
ON THE ORDER AND DATE
INDEX
OF CLEMENT S

.........

WORKS

324-333

334-339

ILLUSTRATIONS
SEVEN COINS OF THE PERIOD
"POMPEY S
PILLAR"
.
. .

to face

page
,,

IN

ALEXANDRIA

,,

102

PLATE

III.

SEVEN COINS OF THE PERIOD.

i.

Commodus and
and
6 are

i, 2, 4,

2 and 3. Julia Domna. 4. Alexandria (reverse, a head of Hadrian). 5 and 6. Severus. 7. Commodus. from the Cabinet des Medailles et Antiques in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 3, 5, and 7 are from the British Museum.

(?)Marcia.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
CHAPTER
XII

THE INCARNATION
it is a religion with a universal significance From the com also a religion with a historic origin. bination of these two elements arise alike its spiritual value
:

CHRISTIANITY
is

and

its

most constant problems.

Belonging, as

it

does in

part, to the domain of Faith and Interpretation, in part also to that of Facts and Events, it may be viewed from either

standpoint, yet loses

as the other is

its

virtue and

its

characteristics so

soon

are con wholly forgotten or denied. cerned, on the one hand, with a divine Purpose, a universal Life, a spiritual interpretation of the Cosmos ; on the other,
particular historic Person, connected by definite associations with events, localities, personages, conditions, on the temporal plane. The relation between these two

We

with a

elements

may be variously represented the stress and and our process of emphasis may be laid on either side or the other from one move thought may point of view:

But except the two be in some manner related and united, The historic Jesus is in there is no Christian Religion. some sense the spiritual Christ. The Epistles stand side
by side with the Synoptic Gospels. In religion as elsewhere there may be no entire divorce between philosophy and
VOL.
II.

2
facts.

THE INCARNATION
Our own
age
is

attempting again the readjustment of the historic and the universal elements in Christianity, which from time to time becomes necessary, a
process

inasmuch

as religion can

never be isolated from the general

it

movement

of thought and knowledge. For Clement, in the second century,

was an accepted
elements.

contained both these principle that Christianity The difficulties involved in their combination

were only

midway between the New Thus he inherits and the Great Councils. Testament and
beginning to emerge.
all

He

stands

accepts

that Saint Paul, Saint John, or the writer of the

Epistle to the Hebrews, had taught about the manifestation of the Godhead in the life and the person of Jesus.

On

the other hand, he is not yet involved in the acute contro versies over theories of the Incarnation, which so monopolised the Church s thought from the age of Arius to that of

Eutyches.

His acceptance
is

of the Divine revelation in the

:

Lord

is

joyous and
his

characteristic

equally characteristic,

however,

unconsciousness of some of the problems his readiness to speak of it in different and not involved,
entirely consistent terms.

And

throughout, as the previous

find
their
life

chapter has made plain, his faith and interest centre in the universal Logos, rather than in the
of Jesus. little for

human

Like Justin and Origen he cares comparatively Gospel history, but much for the great Yet principles upon which it depends for its significance. there is no hesitation or question in his the of recognition
the
Incarnation.

God had

been manifest within the limits of a

to into

human

life.

He
is

takes this doctrine over from Christian

specially anxious

tradition

and

not

develop

it

systematic consistency. this truth into relation with other tendencies of

His philosophy, however, brought

thought, rendered more

some

of which facilitated, some of which difficult, this central article of faith.

AFFINITIES OF THIS DOCTRINE

However
little

teacher might care to doubt that there were recognise it, elements in pagan Mythology which prepared the way for the belief in the Incarnate Christ. To one who, like had from come over Clement, Paganism it was not a wholly idea that God should manifest Himself on earth as strange man. The theophanies of the poets had in this way their value, and the crudest anthropomorphisms at least evidenced the connection between the human sphere and the divine.
there

the

Christian

can

be

little

Hercules, the deity of laborious service

healer
efforts

-flisculapius, the

and physician
to

Prometheus, who

suffered for

his

similarity

had their obvious points of with the ministry of the Son of Man. Celsus 1
benefit humanity,

had already made use of this resemblance for his own purposes, and the argument continued a favourite one with
Christianity, as is evidenced by the insistence of Athanasius a century later on the differences
hostile
critics

of

between these pagan friends of humanity and the Christ. 2 Clement, in a similar strain, dwells mainly on the baser side of these affinities of the deities of Olympus with mankind. 3 He scoffs at the servitude and bondage of the pagan gods on earth, though indeed the argument was a dangerous one
for a Christian writer.

Not

the less,

it

is

sufficiently

evident that

all

these

ancient stories, enshrined in Homer and the Drama, must have rendered it easier to welcome the Gospel narrative of God s intimate association with the life of man. The
religious imagination had already conceived it possible that there should be a ladder between Heaven and Earth.

The

Benevolence could come down, the nobler Humanity could ascend. So Clement delights to recall a suggestive thought which he attributed to Plato, and to
divine
1

Origen,
31,

c.

Celsum,

iii.

22.
in the Protrepticus.

De Incarnatione^

49.

and other passages

THE INCARNATION

think of good souls as voluntarily leaving the upper heavens and taking bodies on earth, in order by sharing the ills of to be its benefactors as lawgivers or teachers,

humanity which no greater blessing ever came or shall come l from the gods to humankind." So, too, he is acquainted of line that also with thought, which regards some opposite service of mankind as an avenue singular and exceptional 2 or title to a place among the gods. Apart from all
"than

Christian influences,
of

Clement

is

thus familiar with the idea

God coming down

to share in the life of

man, and of man

Moreover, he being taken up to share the life of God. and no lived in the days of the Empire, subject of Caesar
to remember, that one after another of this world s had been numbered, even while living, among the company of Heaven. Even from the pagan standpoint there was no insuperable barrier to prevent the Word Men were prepared to admit and to becoming flesh.

could

fail

rulers

recognise a way." On the other hand, it is equally clear that Clement felt the force of many difficulties and objections. Just because the popular mythology had brought the divine down to
"

and attributed all its own common failings to 3 the gods, there had come among thoughtful men a reaction and ever since Plato had banished from his state those who spread unworthy stories about the gods, the philosopher had always feared to desecrate the Divine by associating it too The Stoic closely with the common and imperfect world.

human

levels,

doctrine of divine
to

immanence found
religion to banish

this prejudice difficult

it

overcome, and strangely enough

part of

the

true
"

God
it

sometimes seemed altogether from

Deity,"

His world.
Porphyry,
1

The

ordinary notions

of the
is

said to

"are

of such a kind that

is

more godless
2
-KO.VTO.

355.
3

The

reference to Plato

Cp. Clement s

own words,

uv airTerat

not quite clear. irdOos, QBapTa

22.

eVriV, 846.

DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED
share

5
"

strong before

l to neglect the images of the Gods and ; of its an with had thus a Incarnation, Christianity, teaching and in the main a justified reluctance to overcome,

them than

it

could

commend

to the thinker

its

Gospel of the

Word made

flesh.

For the best of Hellenism and the best of Hebraism were here at one, and it is a remote and noble Monotheism

God is good which Celsus pleads when he argues that in the best and most and beautiful and blessed, and that
for
"

beautiful

degree,"

and that
a

"

if

He

came down among

men, Clement
of

He

must
refers
3

undergo
to

change."

More

.than

once

the

new

the objections urged by those critics religion, who found it incredible that the

subject to external influences, liable to Traflo?, conditioned by limits of place and time. human Christ, a God made manifest in the life of man, seemed to involve all this ; and the efforts made by the

divine should be in any

way

various Gnostic schools to bridge the gap by interposing many phases of being, each slightly less divine and more
nearly

human than

the

last,

are sufficient evidence of the

itself to

real difficulty

which presented

the

more thoughtful

minds of the age, when the Church claimed that God had Assent revealed Himself and taken human form in Jesus. It was one thing to accept in theory did involve an effort. the doctrine of the all-pervading Logos, and to admit thereby
the most intimate relation between the Sovereign Deity and the Cosmos. It was quite another, to maintain that in

an unimportant province of the

origin

Empire

man

of

humble

and no repute had

really

been the

Word
to

Incarnate,
his

in spite of the fact that

he had died as a criminal, and only

accept touch of

induced a handful of negligible persons That Clement, with no slight message.

1

the

Quoted
Origen,

in
c.

Harnack, Hist. Dogm.

Cels., iv. 14.

i.

354.
3

E.g. 370, 736.

THE INCARNATION
is

intellectual aristocrat in his

difficulty

nature, felt the certain and not unnatural.

that

force of this

Thus

it is

Clement received from Christian

tradition

the doctrine of the Incarnation, and yet found it impossible The to hold it isolated from other tendencies of thought.

unsettled debate, as to whether our Alexandrine father was fundamentally Christian or philosopher, is again and again suggested by his attitude towards this article of his creed. may observe the blending of these tendencies

old and

still

We

in his
his

mind, as we proceed now to examine more

in detail

There is a passage at the teaching on this doctrine. l Stromateis in which he of the Book Fifth of the opening
in the distinguishes four elements in the Christian faith there is the fact of the Incarnation (on ?A#ey), Incarnate Son
:

its

manner

(TTOJ?),
(vre/ol

its

purpose (&

r/),

its

climax in the

Crucifixion

rov trdOovi).

Our

appreciation of his theo

logical teaching will

be more complete, if we examine what he has to say on each of these four points. The Word had come. That was a fact. It stood in

line with other events of the historical order.

There was

no surrender here of the concrete and the particular. Clement s main interest is not in facts, but in principles and He can hardly be said to welcome both, with that ideas. generous equality of treatment which characterises, for For him always the stress example, the Fourth Gospel.
falls

on the abstract side

he

is

happiest

of the divine as apart from places, there is the more significance in the importance which he attaches to the fact of the Lord s coming. It is as solid for

when he can think 2 Hence times, persons.

him

For once the philosopher takes on an event. The divine was not only universally immanent it had also arrived. God had come down eXOen/, there had been Karafiaiveiv, are terms in constant use
as for the Synoptists. his stand
:

643.

As,

e.g., in

772.

THE FACT OF THE INCARNATION

an Advent, a
Trapova-la.

This

last

common word
is

for the

Lord
and

special

and

historic

Presence
point

with Clement habitual

is

significant.

On

this

he

prepared to
1

meet

Here objections from both Greek and Jewish sources. there is a clear issue between the clever critics of Christianity and the Church tradition for which he stands. 2 It is a
terminus

ad

quern,

a quo, in

revelation of

His purpose. 3

human history and in God s The Law and Prophecy and

this

the Philosophy of the Greeks are stages which lead up to more intimate manifestation. It is from the date of the

Lord

birth that even the chronology of the

4

Emperors

is

reckoned.

Clement was familiar with various views

"

as to the actual

date of the crucifixion, and appears himself to have held the acceptable year of the Lord the opinion that implied
"

that Jesus

5 public ministry was limited to a single year.

From His of human

salvation,"

His cross, He passed through all phases drama of our experience, and so enacted the 6 and by "drama" Clement meant not that
birth to
"

which

in

dent fact for

any measure lacks all to know.

reality,

but that which

is

evi

He

words than to the deeds of are notices of his Baptism and Temptation, of the fact that Jesus drank wine, of the washing of the disciples feet, of the feeding of the multitudes, and of the diadem of thorns. 7 He refers also to the single life of the Lord, and
gives
his

more often to the the Lord s life, but there

refers

view of the reasons for

"

8
it.

He
"

also

infers

from Isaiah s description of the that the Lord Servant was plain in appearance, with no beauty that we should desire Him he believed, characteristically enough, that
:

736.

01

5oicn<ri(ro<f>oi,

370.

The Advent
407.
86, 939.

is

frequently so regarded
6
7

see, e.g., 366, 369, 374, 451, 467,

belief, see Iren.,
8

823, 898.
4

407,

8.

This was a Gnostic

ii.

22,

I, 5.

113, 186, 190, 214-5, 439, 665.

533.

THE INCARNATION
attractiveness in Jesus appearance would have His hearers from the higher importance of His
1

personal diverted
teaching.

This
of the

is

the substance of Clement

s

references to the facts

They are well nigh as scanty and occasional as his sadly infrequent mention of his own
life

Lord

on earth.

personal

life.

OeoXoyeirai

X/otcn-o?,

as

Eusebius

said.

Even though he mentions

the

Lord

weariness, as

He

sat

on the well at Sychar, and the insight with which He watched Martha s busy domestic zeal, Clement hardly appreciated 3 It is Christ s the full humanity which such incidents imply. to Clement the charm which of the appeals teaching Galilean story, the depth of Gethsemane s sorrow, the colour of the Parables, are things for which he has no eye. The love of the Lord for children is one of the few beautiful elements in His humanity, that seem to have really arrested Clement s notice. 4 So is a man limited by his dominant interests, and Clement, who moves about with ease in the
;

higher realms of Christian Gnosis, has never made himself at home in Nazareth or Capernaum. But against this in
difference
to

so

Gospels must, as
his assertion of

much that seems to us of value in the we have seen, be set in strongest contrast
the fact that the

Word

had

really

come.

Details apart, there was the great reality, God made man, the Logos assuming flesh, the Divine coming very near. It was so glad and so clear a fact, that we feel again and

again in Clement
facit theologum."

treatment of

it

the old truth,

"

Pectus

His theology was Faith and Fact blend for him together
to the

of

homage Word, who was made man for our salvation. When we pass from Clement s unhesitating acceptance the fact of the Incarnation to the question of its mode
it is
2

really a religion, in his joyous

and

and implications,
1

less easy to
v. 28.

speak definitely.
3

Indeed,
104 sqq.

86,252,818.

H.E.,

148, 941.

ITS

MODE AND CHARACTER

there are evident indications that he had not thought out this aspect of the subject into any consistent theory. That he had
surprise ; his date and mental his combination of really for characteristics alike account

not done

this,

need cause us

little

festation

How, for example, does the incompatible ideas. or Advent of the Logos in the historic
the

mani
life

of

the
of

Saviour stand in relation to other admitted activities

Divine within the

sphere

of

things
it

temporal

Are the two wholly

different in nature, or only in degree

Must we
events
?

isolate the Incarnation or

connect
or
its

with other
?

Shall

we

regard

its

affinities

uniqueness

On

this

fundamental

question

of

Christian

theology

Clement speaks with two voices. We may be tolerably clear which is the true Clement, but undoubtedly both
accents are to be heard.

With
to

the

the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel and the Epistle Hebrews, this later Alexandrine teacher sees the

Incarnation as an event in a series. 1

What happened

at

the Parousia had occurred before, in a lower degree and in different modes. The purpose of God for humanity has
in the

been gradually unfolding itself, and reaches a further stage 2 The earlier dispensation of coming of the Son.
later dispensation of Christianity, are parts of a single scheme. 3 Through the Greek, as well as through

the

Law, the

the Jew, the same

Logos who came

in the
"

humanity of Jesus
"

had been
of

at

work.

The Word
"

is

the

instrument

or organ

God, but Salvation is an ancient melody, and long before He became incarnate and took a name," the Word was active for the welfare of humanity. 4 So Clement does not
speak of the Incarnation as the greatest evidence of the divine Love, or as the more intimate revelation of the divine Will, in each case mentally classing it with
hesitate to
"

"

The Advent
467-

is

^ Tf\evraia TOV
3

ffoarripos (Is r^uas

543-

eVepyem, 6796 I 32
>

io
other

THE INCARNATION
modes
of

God s

beneficence.

It is a

supreme example

of the principle, which he asserts in another connection, that most blessings are given from God through man s agency. 2

This tendency to connect the Incarnation, rather than to is made it, which constantly plain in Clement s un clearer expression in other finds even disputed writings,
isolate

passages, which are probably quotations and not his own. In one it is said explicitly that the Word became flesh not

alone at the Advent, but also when His activity was exerted 3 In another he tells us that just through the Prophets.
as the Saviour

spoke and healed through a body, so did

He

"

formerly
s

through the

Prophets,"

and now

"

through

Apostles and

Teachers."

The Church
His
incarnate
For,"

is

the channel of the

Lord

activity, as

He,

in
"

life,
"

was the channel

of the Father s will.

he adds,
for

the loving
s
is

God

is

always putting on humanity

old the Prophets,

now
if

the

statement, and even

an important Clement only quotes it, he does so

Church."

humanity 4 This

salvation, of

approval of its implication that the a principle of the divine action, rather than an isolated and unique event. Nowhere else in his pages do
full

undoubtedly with
Incarnation
is

we

find a

more frank recognition

It is

divine revelation.

of the continuity of the the truer expression of his mind

in those of a

which reaches us
different order

in

such passages, rather than

which we have now to consider. For here and there, no doubt, Clement gives

fair

ground

for the charge of Docetism. terms of the Lord s

He

will

speak

in the plainest

humanity and then, as it seems, the old philosophic dread of contaminating the Absolute gets the better of him, and he reduces the human story of the Gospels
1

*?

/i7/(rTT/

rov

ff(0TT)pos

tirKpdveia,

668.

6 8ebs

Trpofff^fffrfpov %5r)

5m
It

rfjs

TOV vlov rapowlas ffwfav K.T.A., 467.

Trpoorexeo-repa ei/e^yem,
"

The term
irpo<rex*
<TT

Trpoerex^s is

frequent in this
Cp. 679.

connection:
2

514,

*P oy #0#7J,
4

669;

unites the ideas of

325.

recent

"

and
3

"

intimate."

973-

994-

DOCETIC VIEWS
to a

n
thinks,
to

symbol or

a show.

It

is

ridiculous, he

suppose that the

its

Lord
eat

body required food and drink for

support.

He

and drank from no physical necessity,

but merely to avoid creating suspicion in the minds of His 1 He was not an ordinary man, and He did companions. not belong to the world, though He came into it. 2 What men saw indeed in Him was not the reality of His nature 3
:

to apprehend powers, and He took our flesh in order to manifest just what we were able to Himself He was different from that which He receive. Clement was even familiar with, and mentions assumed. without criticism, the view that the rejected, insulted, crucified, Son of Man was another than the real Christ.
this

was beyond man

The human

nature of Jesus

is

not actual reality, but some

thing transparent, diaphanous, through which the higher This is the sense, apparently, of the nature is displayed. 4 comparison of the Lord to a pearl.
to
It is true that in some of these passages Clement seems do no more than guard against the supposition that

perfect sense.

Godhead could be fully revealed to the perception of So far he would command full assent a limitation, a Kenosis, an accommodation of some kind, is necessarily involved in the very notion of an Incarnation. But,* when
:
"

"

the different references to this subject are taken together, it 5 is fairly clear that Photius had some ground for his charge, and that a certain Docetic strain does blend itself with his

other teaching on the mode and fashion of the Incarnation of the Word. He never mentions the Psilanthropists, but

perhaps he dreaded them more than he feared the Gnostics. The Church had some way to travel before it arrived at
1

7752 4

Not
241
p.)]
;

Koivts,

533 not cp. the doubtful

:

803 cp. 439. Fragment given in Dindorf,

;

ocr /ii/ofs,

3
iii.

812, 833.

492

etrrt /j.apyapiTr)s

/C.T.A.
6

ffapKwQrivai rbv Xoyov,

a\\& 86ui.

Bibliotheca, Cod. 109.

12

THE INCARNATION

the formula of the two Natures in the one Person of the

Hence come Clement s inconsistencies, for such rather than conscious difficulties. were They are such they that starts from the as are bound to arise on any theory absolute distinction between the human and the divine. We may notice a kindred fusion of really distinct alter
Christ.
natives,

human
form.

when he speaks occasionally of the Lord as 1 nature carried to its perfection, more usually and
Godhead coming down and taking human
attains, the result

habitually of the

Whether God condescends or man

possibly be the

may

same

but the theories

different points of view. full perhaps find place for both, so that
his combination of alternatives.

start from and true theology will we may forgive Clement

must not leave the subject of his views on the mode of the Incarnation, without some reference to his statements in regard to the Virgin Birth. Clement receives it gladly
Church s tradition, 2 and has no difficulty in pointing out from time to time its significance in the Chris tian scheme. So far his example is in full accord with the statement that there are no believers in the Incarnation
as a part of the
"

We

discoverable, who are not also believers in the Virgin Birth. But it is in no sense true to say that his accept ance of the Incarnation depends on his belief in the Virgin
"
:

Birth.
fact,

For him the Incarnation

is

a great

and

significant

The

the highest expression of a widely regulative principle. birth from a Virgin is a concomitant and notable in

cident, an element in Christian tradition

which he cordially

accepted ; but in no measure does it form the groundwork or condition of his belief in the Incarnation of the Word. It could be eliminated from Clement s without
disaster to the general structure. Church of the future

In

theology whatever light the

may

regard this most ancient article

3

156, 623.

123, 558, 804.

Gore, Dissertations, 49.

PURPOSE OF THE INCARNATION

of her belief,
it

13

is

important phase of
necessary
Incarnate.

well to point out that, for at least one Christology, it had no inseparable or

connection

with

the

vital

faith

of

the

Word

For Clement,
of course,
s

as for all Christian theology, the

is

purpose
this,

of the Incarnation

the Salvation of
interpreted of salvation
in
is

Humanity, but
various
his

has

been

ways,

and
char

Clement
acteristic.

conception

own and
l

There

is,

behind

it

all,
"

the Divine
economy,"

Purpose.

The coming

of the

Word

is

an

something

determined by the supreme Householder for the wellbeing of the inmates of His world ; a piece of administra

work to which the divine hands have been set and 2 It was essential that which must not be left incomplete.
tive
this
it was a part of the scheme of for a Clement will have and Providence, necessary part, nothing to do with theories of the self-sufficiency of man s 3 On humanity s need of a nature for his own redemption. as much with Saviour he speaks emphasis, as do those who have felt spiritual burdens press far more heavily than he had ever done himself. But, given this need of salvation,

should be undertaken

in
his

what does

it

consist

How

shall

man

appropriate

it

for

own

Now,

there

is

no one answer to

would have agreed with

this question. Clement the teaching of his great

pupil,

Origen, that the Saviour becomes many things, perhaps even all things, according to the needs of the whole creation

redeemed by Him. 4 But it is clear that main purpose of the Word s Advent was to reveal the mind and purpose of the Father. The central He is that of self-manifestation. had found this thought in Saint John and in Saint Paul, and it dominates his
capable of being for Clement the
,

669 and elsewhere.

I.

968.

347, 645.

Injoannem, Tom.

21-22.

The passage

is

one of singular value.

THE INCARNATION

"The whole conception of the Parousia. pre-existent 1 he writes in the opening Saviour was made manifest," The word and its compounds chapter of the Protrepticus. are used half a dozen times in almost the same number of

lines.

saves,

as

Essentially the coming of the Word illuminates and leads us out

is

light

He

He

of

the dark

Cimmerian
vision that

land.
is

Even by
3

the Cross

it

is

given. Incarnate, as of the universal

The main

function of

the power of the Word

instruct

and

teach.

The

all-pervading Logos, is to human life of the Lord is as a

5 door, through which the divine revelation enters. Perhaps, in all this, we are reminded from time to time

how

true a Hellene

Clement was.

Even

in his interpretation
is

of the

new

religion, he does not wholly forget that he

Socrates countryman, for

salvation dependent Still there is will.

whom
if

upon
truth,

virtue was knowledge and intelligence rather than upon the

not the whole truth,

in

the

thought of God s self-revelation in the Christ ; and the out come of the process, after all, is no bare intellectualism, but
the raising of humanity to the divine level. anticipates all that is taught in the Athanasian
"

For Clement Hymn on the

taking of the

manhood

into

God."

of

God became man, that you may how man becomes God." 6 By this heavenly teaching man is made divine. 7 The full meaning of salvation, it seems, is
nothing
less

say, the learn from a man

"

Yea,

Word

than to share the

it

life

of

God.

developed soteriology, and

elastic, sincere,

offers

many
But

not a fully of contrast points

It is
it

with the theories of later writers.

is

suggestive,

and has

its real

religious value, as the closing

The vicarious chapters of the Protrepticus amply prove. aspect of the Lord s life, though not emphasised, does
not

go without recognition
2

twice
3
7

he
419.

speaks
*

of
768.

the

72.
8.

in.

88-9.

THE
"

PASSION OF

THE

DIVINE

15

Elsewhere he writes that Christ paid for us. on our behalf." 2 This brings us to the fourth point on which Clement deems right faith as regards the Incarnation to be specially important irepl TOV irdOovs, on the Passion of the Lord.

ransom

"

"

suffered

"

Passion,"

however, gives a very incorrect idea of the

It

has acquired a restricted theological sense, by special application to Christ s death upon the Cross, but in Clement s day it had not lost its philosophical That the Divine should be subject to TraOo? connotations.
iraOos.
its

Greek term

resulted from the entry of the Godhead into a world of human experience, not always or necessarily painful in character, but in every case involving the liability of the Divine to

some form

of external

influence.

By

this

was implied a

sort of contradiction of the principle of the self-contained

Godhead, independent, secure, unmoved, and unaffected by Here, then, was the divine con any power outside Itself. descension of the Incarnate, not only, nor even mainly, that He suffered death, but that Himself He entered into our world of change and contingency and allowed Himself to be
affected

He

by agencies not His own. was bound by the flesh. 3 It was

It

meant
It

limitation

a voluntary submission,
4

an experience

He

willed to
5

undergo.
;

involved some
rfjs o-a/oKo?

measure of weakness and

avroTraOw
e-rre/yoaora?.

liability
"

ryv avOeveiav

The

cup,"

which

He

must needs

drink, was the completion of His experience, the crowning phase of a process which lasted from His birth unto the
Cross.

How

difficult

it

was for a man of philosophic training

s s

and outlook to accept the Gospel story of the Lord humiliation, we gather again and again from Clement
1

148,
2 3

956

cp. Segaarii

ad

Lib. Q.
4

D.

S.,

Excursus

v. in

Dindorf,
135.

iii.

609.

137,215.
86, ffap K l

toSMs.

875, 956.

6 to

THE INCARNATION
this

references

subject.

When

it

has

been

all

fully

admitted and even asserted, there

still

occur the occasional

hints of a reluctance to allow the full content of the truth.

shrinks from the admission that there was anything for Lord to learn how could there be since He was God ? l The Lord was different from all humanity, in that He alone
the
;

He

2 Elsewhere He is said to have was wholly without desire. been altogether aTraOtfs, liable to no motive of pleasure or 3 If He took our flesh upon Him, it was to educate of pain. Such a phrase it to a condition of passionless indifference. as o/xoXoy/a e*V rov TraOovra* reveals, at once, wherein the faith and confession lay for the man of philo difficulty of Clement may seem here also to abate or mind. sophic his own retract assertions, but there was a real problem, as

the Apollinarians

made

clear

at

later

date.

What

is

important to observe is the fact that the Lord s 7rd6o$ meant, at this stage of Christian thought, something wider and more

fundamental than the single experience of His death. That was the climax of His submission, but the real problem was raised, the real condescension of the Divine made manifest,
the

moment

it

could be stated

that
s

the

very

God had
in

entered into the

sense

domain of man
still

we should
el

experience. the clause, interpret

"

It is in this
suffered,"

He

the Creed:

TraOtjros 6

Xpfcrro?

is

phrase

of

similar

implication in the

New

Testament.

was Clement s view of the no developed and consistent interpretation He has thought out few of with which he presents us.
in its principal aspects
It is

Such

Incarnation.

the questions involved to their final settlement ; of many indeed he is unaware. But if he is often undetermined, he
is

often suggestive

religious,
1

and if he found it difficult to fuse the and dogmatic, philosophic elements of this great
;

1135

87523.

775-

189-

Acts xxvi.

COMPARISON WITH IREN^US

truth into a harmony,

17

it hardly lies with the moderns to blame his failure. It may be of advantage to compare what Clement has to say on this subject with its treatment by His outlook will be more other representative writers.

understood, if we consider its relation to the teaching of such typical doctors as Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Anselm.
easily

Irenaeus,

who was an

older

man

than Clement by about

had probably composed his work Against Whether Heresies before Clement turned to writing books. it was well known in Alexandria before the persecution of
twenty years,

Clement knew it, say with certainty. but his views on the Incarnation were in any case not de pendent on those of his great contemporary of Lyons.
Severus,

we cannot

Like Clement, and with more insistent assertion, Irenaeus taught, as against the Gnostics, that it was the real Word of Like the Father who actually took human flesh upon Him.
Clement, he held that the Word sake was made that which we are,
perfect
"

for

His immense love

in

order that

He

might
the

us to be what
is

He

2
is."

He

sees, too, that

Incarnation

no

whole scheme of

God

isolated solitary event. It is a part of the 3 s and order. And through providence

the manifold workings of the divine grace other teachers also, before the Word was born of Mary, had been the

channels
there
is

His operation common ground

of
little

for
to

man
the

good.
writers.

In

all

this

two

On

the

fundamental issues between the Church and the Heresies

there was

discrepancy.
if

But

their differences also,

less

weighty, are instructive.

;"

Irenaeus belongs to the "great central party of the Church Clement to the outer country, where Christianity and Philo sophy met without a boundary line. This general difference

colours their treatment of the

1

Incarnation.
v.,

Irenaeus, for
Praefatio.

H.E.,
II.

vi. 13.
4

Contra Hareses, Lib.

14, 2.
5

Id., iv. 7, 4.

/.,

iv.

Bigg, Origins, 215.

2

VOL.

THE INCARNATION
:

Alexandria the God-man example, starts with the fact of The important with the theory of the Universal Logos. life and appearance of the Lord on thing to Irenaeus was the this no doubt was only explicable by the wider earth,

though

doctrine of Godhead.
is

Whereas

for

Clement the Incarnation

only one

among many

manifestations of the

Word,

of

whose existence and beneficence there were good grounds from the human life. Thus Irenaeus is Clement s tendency is to more abstract considera historical Irenaeus believed the Lord s public ministry lasted tions.
of evidence apart
;

ten years Clement, with the Gnostics, is The Bishop goes to the content to limit it to only one.
for
at

least

2 Gospels again and again for evidence of fact, the head of the Catechetical School for the divine teaching. It is not

without significance that, while both fathers have learned

much

alike

affinities

from Saint John and from Saint Paul, the special of Irenaeus are with the Apostle who was the loved
;

companion of the Saviour in His earthly ministry those of Clement with the other Apostle, whose knowledge of Christ
after

the

flesh

is

so

attitudes of the
in Christianity,

two Apostles

The respective entirely doubtful. to historic fact, as an element

be said to recur in the Fathers of

may

fairly

Lyons and Alexandria. There is a similar distinction in their treatment of For Clement the five loaves, or the three Scripture. hundred bells on the High Priest s robe, or the Saviour s crown of thorns, are all of symbolical value ; 3 such details
But invariably veil a higher meaning for him as for Philo. Irenaeus takes Scripture in its natural sense. primary, seeks for no wider interpretation. values the literal

He

He

and the concrete, and quotes almost every book of the New Testament, not to draw out an inner significance, but in order that plain statement may do its work. It is by this
1

ii.

22, 6.

E.g.

ii.

22, 3

v. 15,

21, 2.

215, 665, 668.

IRENJEUS SCRIPTURAL
manner

AND CAUTIOUS

19

of appeal that he maintains, as against Gnostic manipulation of selected texts, that the eternal Christ has

wrought salvation by actual entry into the world of time. It is his settled principle that, though we may not understand 1 The all Scripture, we must not attempt to seek beyond it. whole of his important Third Book is grounded on this His gospel is real redemption, on a New Testament rule.
basis.

This sober limitation, with

"

its

fidelity to the letter,

difficulties,

and

a certain

"

happy blindness

to possible
s

contrasts

extraordinary readiness to find sanction for any idea of his own in the
strongly

enough with

Clement

pages of

Holy Writ.

Finally, and in keeping with the contrasts already drawn, Irenaeus accepts the Incarnation, but declines to speculate can be emphatic in his repudiation of Docetism, upon it.

He

differing notably in this point

from Clement, because he does

not

raise, or indeed is unconscious of, the question which the 3 Or consider his char Docetic theory was meant to meet.

acteristic saying,

the

Should anyone say to us, How then is Son produced by the Father ? we tell him that this
"

production, or generation, or utterance, or manifestation, or by what name soever one may denote His generation,

no inexpressible temperament has its value.

which
is

man
There

knoweth."
is

This mental

significance in

Harnack

remark that
so far as
it

the present day, ecclesiastical Christianity, seriously believes in the unity of the divine and
"

At

human

in

Jesus Christ
"

still

occupies the same stand

as also in the suggestion of the same ; writer that, If some day trust in the methods of religious philosophy vanishes, men will revert to history, which will still be recognisable in the preserved tradition, as prized by

point as Irenaeus did

"

Irenaeus
1

and the

5
rest."

Clement ministered
2

to

minds of
ii.
ii.

ii.

28, 2-3.
32,

Harnack, Hist. Dogm.,

6

245.
275, 330.

ii.

iii.

18, 6.

ii.

28, 6.

Hist. Dogtn.,

20
a different order.

THE INCARNATION
its

retains

probable that, so long as the Church faith in the Incarnation, there will be need of
It is

shall these different types of teachers to interpret it. of historic faith that which the require latter-day counterpart

We

that philosophical presentation

Irenaeus taught in Lyons, and not less the counterpart of of the Gospel, which was

taught by Clement with such large results in Alexandria. Somewhat more than a century after the death of Clement, Athanasius, while still a young man of twenty-

The two, published his short treatise De Incarnatione Verbi. Arian controversy had not yet arisen. The work was the second of two Essays addressed to Macarius, a convert from
"

heathenism,

the

first

attempt,"

it

has

been
of

"

said,

ever

made
in

to present the

doctrines

and

facts

Christianity

l a philosophically There are certain religious form." notable differences between Athanasius account of the

Incarnation

and Clement

scattered

but not infrequent

references to the

same

subject.

years defined.

that

have elapsed,

has

Theology, in the hundred become considerably more

of the
is

For in this treatise, which may be taken as representative Church s general mind at the period, the Incarnation

considered exclusively in relation to the Fall. Whether God would have so manifested Himself, had humanity not

needed restoration
possible for

and whether

it

would not have been

are

God

to restore

humanity by other means,

speculative questions with which Athanasius does not deal. He is concerned with the one central fact and theme, that

what had been lost by the Fall of Adam was restored by the Death of Christ. So he has much to say on the 2 evil state of Death humanity after our first parents sin. and corruption entered in. Vice and violence prevailed
1

Mohler, Athanasius the Great, quoted by Bright

ix.
2

the Arians,

Orations against v

STANDPOINT OF ATHANASIUS
more and more.
City was at strife with city
;

21

nation with

nation. originally implanted image was fast dis Man was doomed to death, appearing from man s nature. God would not be true if, after He had said we "for
s

God

should die,
It
is

man

did not

1
die."

in contrast

Incarnation of

the

Word

with this dark background that the is He alone presented to us.

had been spoiled. He alone could 2 Human discharge the liability that had been incurred. It needed a God to alone was insufficient. repentance
could re-create what

remedy the
ably,

disaster.

Where

nature has failed so lament

3 grace must intervene.

The

fitness of the Incarnation

being thus shown, the treatise proceeds to discuss the death more especially as this is the main point of our of Christ,
"

faith,

and
at

all

men everywhere

speak

much
death

of
of

4
it."

The
;

writer reviews the

reasons for the

Christ

its

manner,

the

hands of others and on the Cross

kind of death which

its

publicity ; to determine the

the motives which induced

Him to leave others He should die. The

s

Resurrection

is

set forth as the

proof of the Lord

victory,

and so the more positive portion of the treatise comes to its close, and the writer passes on to reply to objections raised from Jewish or from philosophic standpoints. Now, in this short but notable and typical statement of
the

Church

doctrine, there

is

a twofold concentration or

limitation of thought. In the first place, the Incarnation is set in the closest relation to the doctrine of the Fall ; in the
It second, its significance is seen exclusively in the Cross. true that the writer will sometimes allow his mind to

is

range beyond these limits and dwell on the universal power and nearness of the Word, 5 but our interest in the Incarna
tion
1

is

not claimed in connection with these wider thoughts

vi.
2 5

C.

C. xx. C.
viii., xliii.,

C. xiv.

C. xix.

xlv.

22
in

THE INCARNATION
technical

with Clement, the language, as compared is less common with Athanasius, the outlook cosmological Much has been gained in the habitual. soteriological more
clearness, connection, systematic thought. been lost, perhaps, in suggestiveness, adapta has Something Like Clement, Athanasius of presentation. bility, variety

direction

of

and the hard rigidity of Roman theology is still even so the legal, forensic element is there, But wanting. and the stress of the later writer falls, to some extent, on the one element in Paulinism which seems to have made no s mind. Christianity, no doubt, was impression on Clement compelled so to define and formulate the content of its
is

a Greek,

belief.

ence

This tendency, of course, was to have abundant influ in the next two centuries, nor was the Church s instinct mistaken in fastening upon man s need of salva tion and the death of Jesus on the Cross, as the two

most

significant

modern

common

its scheme. But, from the while Anthropology is challenging the standpoint, conception of the Fall, and legalistic theories of Sin

elements in

and the Atonement are giving way to an interpretation of moral facts which is drawn from Biology and Evolution rather than from the domain of Law, there is advantage in remembering that, anterior to the age of Athanasius and Nicaea, there had been competent interpreters of Christianity who had not regarded its scheme and purpose as principally
determined by the Fall ; who held that God made man not of perfection, and for whom the supreme perfect but capable
truth of the Incarnation lay, not so

much

in its unparalleled

uniqueness, as in its close correspondence with God s many other manifestations of His will and nature, and in its

harmony with what, TroXv/mepw KOI TroAm-poVo)?, quote again Clement s favourite phrase, had been taught
entire

to

to

humanity through other yet kindred channels.

Athanasius

ANSELM S TREATISE

23

was a greater man than Clement, but the earlier Father had Therein in some ways a freer and a less restricted outlook. lies his value for our own day, with its notable collapse of
systematic theology.
It
is

a far journey, in

more

respects

than one, from

Alexandria, and the age of the Fathers, to a

Norman

Monastery or an Anglican Archbishopric in the early days The religious and intellectual atmospheres of Scholasticism.
are so different, that any comparison between typical repre sentatives of the Eastern Church at the close of the second

Western at the close of the ninth, must and will not improbably be deceptive. any a is with certain So it caution, that Clement s view of only the Incarnation is to be placed side by side with Anselm s famous treatise, Cur Deus Homo. The two men, for all their differences, may be said to have had certain points of similarity. Both are strongly
century, and of the
in

case be difficult,

by philosophy, though it is philosophy of Clement s Platonism has little very different order
influenced
;

a
in

common

with the scholastic

Aristotelianism

of

the great

Both, again, with all their philosophy, were Archbishop. saved from dry intellectualism by a warmth of personal piety

and by an activity of
interests
far

practical service,

beyond

the

circle

of

the

which carried school and

in

their

the

monastery.
their

Both, too, were essentially teachers, masters of

calling

and lovers of
the

it.

Both,

regard to

the

Incarnation, are far

of
their

removed by the philosophic

historic

character

outlook from

side

of Christianity.

Finally, while both accept the fact of the Incarnation, they are both also conscious, and, being the men they were, could

not be otherwise than conscious, of the real difficulties which are involved in the condescension of the Divine to

human
Anselm

conditions.

It is significant

that both

Clement and
Christ could

resolutely refuse

to

allow that

the

24

THE INCARNATION

1 Anselm s remarks upon the truly increase in knowledge. to be found subject are almost as fully Docetic as anything

Clement s pages. These points of resemblance, however, must not be pressed beyond their true significance. The difference between
in

the Alexandrian and the Scholastic theologies in reality far outweighs any affinity that can rightly be claimed. There is

indeed an evident contrast, when we place Clement s inter pretation of the Saviour s work side by side with Anselm s.
In the earlier writer
it is

the manifold Christ

we
2

find

He has

many

offices.

"

The

Saviour speaks in
has been said

many
man."

tones and uses

"

various methods for the salvation of

idea of the
Saviour," it

Clement s by one who under

stood

him
3

well,
?

"is

conventional
Church."

than

larger and nobler that of any other

may we

say less doctor of the

the whole subject a of the road logical necessity. by high priori At the outset we are invited to consider the Incarnation
"

With Anselm we approach

as

if

nothing were

known

"

of Christ

4
;

that

is

to say, the

and colour and suggestiveness of the Gospels are inten tionally omitted, and abstract theological reasoning dominates the whole inquiry. We hardly feel surprised when, as the
facts

Dialogue proceeds, Boso, Anselm s interrogator, remarks, The way by which you lead me is so walled in by reasoning
"

on each

side, that

do not seem able

5
left."

to turn out of

it

either

to the right hand or the or necessity which led to

bility of

We

are

shown the reason

God becoming man.

The

impossi

receiving into a state of blessedness anyone involved in the debt of sin is made plain. the divine
s

God

How

and human natures must coexist

is

in the

same Person

how

it

antecedently appropriate that

1

God

should be born of a
2

113;

cp.

Cur Deus Homo,

Preface.

I.,

ix.

II., xiii.

8.

3
4

Bigg, Christian Platonists, 72.

Cur Deus Homo,

n., 9.

CLEMENT AND ANSELM CONTRASTED

Virgin
;

25

how

it

could be right for the Father to allow the

and how this could effectively happen without of the Godhead, are all demon detracting from the honour strated on grounds of abstract reasonableness. The concentration of interest on the relation of the In carnation to the Fall, and on Christ s satisfaction made on Son
to suffer,

The the Cross, is as marked in Anselm as in Athanasius. The facts of doctrine is a part of the scheme of Salvation. Christianity are interpreted, not as a manifestation of the
in the

divine will and purpose, nor as a supremely important stage education of humanity, but as a divine transaction,
in its results.

stupendous

Revelation, love, humanity,

fall

into abeyance, but the plan of God is commended as marvel are grateful for Anselm s protest lously reasonable. is incompatible with against the idea that the divine Justice

We

Mercy we are not less grateful for his refusal to admit that 1 the Lord s death was a species of payment to the Devil. The wonderful ability and reverence with which the whole
;

subject

is

handled strike the reader again and again, nor

is it

without hope for the future adaptability of Christianity to new intellectual conditions, that we observe the significance
of the Incarnation interpreted through so apparently alien a medium as that of scholastic logic. But, for our own time,

the general

movement

of religious thought,

and the

inevit

able acceptance of critical

and

scientific

methods, have rendered

the a priori theories of the they were once conclusive.

in its details

great
"

Anselm
its

as obsolete as

Neither in

can the theory of

Anselm be

principle nor said to have

is

survived
"

to

modern

2
times."

Religion, happily,

more

1 The belief that the Redemption was essentially an act by which man was bought by God from the Devil prevailed among theologians during the first It was accepted by S. Irenseus, by ten centuries of Christianity. F. C. Burkitt, The Gospel History and its Origen, by S. Augustine."

Transmission, 300.
2

J.

Caird,

Fundamental Ideas of Christianity,

ii.

176.

26

THE INCARNATION
its

permanent than
given
data
as

could never have written

the

Clement interpretations in theology. so masterly an argument from

Cur Deus Homo.
to

Yet
it

his

type

of

Christianity

system perhaps is especially true in regard to his treatment of the Saviour s life and work. 1
theology
atic,

is

is more near more suggestive,

modern

conditions.
is

His

just because

less

and

this

is

Before leaving Clement s account of the Incarnation, it natural to ask, whether his views on this fundamental

article of Christianity
It will

have

intrinsic value for

our own time.

always be allowed, by those

who

are

competent to

judge, that Clement s standpoint is important for the student of doctrine, and that, in its historical connections, his view of the Incarnation is serious, interesting, and represen
tative.

But, allowing that his place in the second century

must not be ignored, is there justification for going beyond this and attempting to discover, in his teaching on the Word made flesh, elements of truth which the twentieth century can reappropriate and make its own, or at least
fundamental
his
similarities

between such views as he held

in

own age and

?

those which

we

find

it

possible to hold

to-day

There

superficial, so easy to forget the subtle and yet continuous changes in the connotations of Besides, there are evident terminology. divergencies,

any such association. semblances which are

are obvious dangers in attempting to substantiate It is so easy to exaggerate re

not least the

fact
life

that,

earthly cares only for the facts in so far as they can be regarded as the media and manifestations of abiding principles, the
1

Lord

whereas Clement approaches the from the philosophic standpoint and

Cp.

Harnack s account of
Hist. Dogm.,

St

Anselm

as
i.e.

"

Augustine, but eliminating the

of
thought,"

patristic,

the

standing on the shoulders of Greek elements of his mode

vi. 67.

PRESENT VALUE OF CLEMENT S VIEW

"

27

student or teacher of to-day must ground his theology on a historical basis, and undertake the quest of the historical
Jesus,"

before he can discover universal significance in the of His person or the records of His career. Our qualities

problems for the most part are not those of Clement, our methods are further still removed from his. The pre suppositions from which we start have been so modified by
the intervening years
that,

between Clement
demonstrated,

time and our

even when the resemblances own have been most fully

we have to qualify the parallel by remember that history as a matter of fact does not repeat itself. ing All these things warn the student to abide by the severer
methods of rigid history, and to suspect all attempts to 1 rediscover the present in the past. Yet there is one consideration which might predispose
us to look for elements of permanent value in Clement, and it holds good in regard to the doctrine of the Incarnation
lived when Christian thought had not yet formulated itself finally on this subject, when many various ideas were still current within the Church, when theology in important respects was fluid rather than In spite of all he says about tradition and the dogmatic.
in a

peculiar degree.

He

Church
the

rule,

Clement was more

free to ask questions than

any subsequent teacher of importance.

The

theology of

Church passed afterwards into a phase of increasing Theories on the nature of the Lord s Person, definition. and on the purpose of His coming, grew, through perfectly intelligible influences, more precise, and with many changes
have remained definite in character

down
forms.

to the rise of the

modern

To-day, again, thought is more fluid, free, interrogative, in definite, than in any other century since Clement s time. We depreciate the work and the greatness neither of
spirit

in

all

its

various

Christian

For a

fuller consideration of this point, see

Chapter

xx. infra.

28

THE INCARNATION

of the Reformation, Augustine, nor of the Schoolmen, nor we have to take if we say that in certain important respects laid it down, the Alexandrines where of task theology up the

moved among had been truly remarked that they those deepest questions of the philosophy of religion, which have never come fully to the front again till our own
"

for

it

1
time."

one important characteristic in Clement s theology with which modern religious thought has evident affinities, though it can hardly be discovered as

Now,

there

is

at

least

among

the dominant tendencies of any intervening period. Clement is essentially synthetic. The whole bent of his
is

intellectuality

towards unity.
truth.

His

didactic

harmony

of

all

The Cosmos and man

aim was the s under

standing of

As we

for him were essentially and ideally one. it into the age of controversy and definition, this pass

outlook is largely abandoned. Definition involved antithesis, and debate made thought more precise than facts. Men
learned to see distinction, but forgot to look for unities. Catholic is a signal The strange history of the term
"

"

illustration of the
lines.

boundary upon the world and human life has been vitiated by such hard and sharp definitions, as have set Nature over against Revelation, the Law over against Grace, the Church over
against the

tendency towards contrasts, alternatives, Again and again the theological outlook

World, the saved over against the modern mind will have none of these contrasts,

lost.
if

The

they are

If represented as the final realities of our experience. Science has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that the world is a unity, and our fixed determinations are, at best,

the

artificial

landmarks

in

domain where

existences,

supposed to be separate, in reality blend and by a process of continuous and imperceptible

1

intermingle
graduation.

Gwatkin, The Knowledge of God,

ii.

89.

THE DIVINE AND THE HUMAN

Our
theology
is

29

synthetic are discerning the unreality of many traditional However slow the movement, the face of the oppositions. is set towards Therein we are asserting the unity. age
type.

We

consequently reverting to the

truth of the Alexandrian outlook.

Let us consider the similarity between Clement s age and our own in respect to some of those antitheses, which
enter so prominently into much of the theology of the Incarnation. have drawn sharp distinctions between

We

Nature and the Divine between the doctrine of Immanence and the doctrine of the Word made Flesh between the historic and the spiritual foundations of between Christianity, that is, between Fact and Faith one It in one and the Christ. contrast, is, Jesus reality,
;

Human

distinction,

which

in

many

various pairs of opposites. ciliation we may think of Clement as forerunner and

phases runs throughout these In our search for their recon

ally.

There
but
his
it

is

a difference

between the

Human and the

Divine,

is

Man

is

made

a difference compatible with fundamental kinship. The goal and ideal of in the image of God.

If development is to share the divine life. there is a certain danger in the freedom with which the Greek Fathers use the term God in connection with human nature, there is also a profound truth. For if there

spiritual

"

"

be really an absolute distinction between the nature of God and Man, the Incarnation is only possible by depriving
either the
acteristics in

one nature, or the other, of its essential char the age order to facilitate their combination
:

of the great Councils abundantly manifests the difficulty of conceiving a personality, which should combine natures

which are ex hypothesi diverse.

is

The modern
It
is

religious world

moving away from

"

this

theology.

influenced by

indicate an affinity between God and conceptions which man and a nearness of God to man which the earlier creeds

3o
obscured."
l

THE INCARNATION

afterthought

So we come back to an idea of the Incarnation which represents it not as a new departure, nor as a divine and expedient, but as the climax or most
emphatic
nature.
after

expression of "Let us make

likeness."

the
man,"

divine

element
said,
"in

in

human

God

our image,

our

KOL

Sri

yeyovev o Xpio-ro^-rovro TrX^pe?,

s humanity this ideal and purpose were perfectly realised. Fundamentally, the difference is one of measure and degree, but not of kind. The distinction
2 adds Clement.

In Christ

is

But we see the unity beyond it. on similar lines we must relate the doctrines of the The latter has Incarnation and of the Divine Immanence. It stands so plainly in the never been formally rejected. He was in the world," that statement of the Fourth Gospel, it would have been difficult for the Church to abandon it but, practically, it has been so generally ignored and neglected
not
lost.

It is

"

in the official ecclesiastical theology, that its reassertion in modern times has come upon us as a novelty and a surprise. 3

As

a general rule the coming of the sented as an incursion of the Godhead into

Word

has been repre

at best as a beneficent intervention

to set right

an alien domain, what had

has

gone awry.

The Church
"

has

not

believed, or else

forgotten, that significance of the

came unto his own." The immense Advent has seemed best secured by its isolation, and from this laudable and intelligible motive has come the tendency to narrow and restrict the ways of God.
Again, beyond the differences
the
"

He

forces
1

one increasing purpose," which converge towards

Henry Jones
p.

It is see the unity. the idea of the many spiritual

"

we

the

one

far-off divine

Professor
or

in

the Hibbert Journal

article is well

"Jesus

Christ,"

92.

The whole

Supplement, 1909, worthy of attention.

* 3

On

156. this subject

Immanence in
October, 1908.

New

venture to refer to an article on The Doctrine of Divine Testament Theology, Church Quarterly Review, No. 133,

IMMANENCE AND INCARNATION

event,"

31
in

that are the

supreme and dominant conceptions

the

we

What religious interpretations of the world. find in Christ, we find in other less clear, less unmixed
modern
in

modes,
divine

The history, in nature, in human character. in so central and fundamental Clement s Logos,
we may
interpret
it,

thought, or, as
of the cosmic
Christ.
in

the Divine Reason,

Will, and Love, are manifested

in all the higher tendencies as as in well the Person and the life of order,

There modes many

if,

honour

is continuity. of expression. in order to recognise

it

There

is

We

render

substantial affinity God a dubious

in

His Presence
:

one human

life, ignore through many other phases. The the reality that differences again are of degree and manner is operant and manifested is the same, nor is it easy to give

we

all

its

exact

meaning
"

to the objection, that at the Incarnation the

Word came
other way.

Himself

"

at

other times
as

The

belief

in

God

was in some living and manifesting

it
"

His intensified world helps to interpret 1 In other words, the Incarnation is presence in Christ." in line with the Immanence of God, and what in one figure
Himself
in the

we
in

Godhead, we might another figure represent with equal truth as the emergence
describe as the
of the

coming down

of the latent spirituality of the world. It is a desideratum of modern theology, that it should work out in greater detail the harmony between the immanent and the incarnate phases

of the divine In this regard the activity. well visit Alexandria in the quest for truth.

moderns may

Once

again,

we may

consider the difficult problem of the

connection between the historic and the spiritual elements in Christianity, the relation of universal religious ideals to
the earthly life of the Son of nection of Faith and Fact.
of the contrete
1

Man in other words, the con On the one hand is the value
;

the personal appeal of the

human Saviour
,

Cp, Bishop Gore,

Bampton

Lectures p. 41.

32

THE INCARNATION

to touch the masses of

the total impotence of abstract ideals and disembodied truths humanity ; the liability of all philo These things sophic theories to evaporate and to be lost.
in

tell

favour of the historic aspect of the Faith.

things lead

men

to discern in

Saint

Mark

precious heritage than the Epistles of things convince us that Christianity is

in

These Gospel more Saint Paul. These more truly learned

s

Galilee than in

the Schools.

Yet

to

all this

there

is

Can we rest the hopes of humanity on events Does man s spiritual nature stand or ? particular fall with the Do we not reliability of ancient documents ? and limit it down when we tie needlessly hamper religion, to facts and occurrences, on which criticism have may yet more words to say ? No man who breathes the atmosphere of the modern
another side.
religious world can fail to be conscious of the force of these two tendencies, of the difficulty of adjusting their different
claims.

For Clement,

as

we have

seen, the Incarnation

was

pre-eminently a manifestation of higher truth. The universal Word took our flesh under particular conditions in order
fully demonstrated, can possess religious value, except in so far as they express that which appeals to the spiritual consciousness of humanity
facts,

might be seen. one hand, that no historic

that

He

And

if

it

be remembered, on the

however

at large ; and, on the other, that accessible and available except by ticular forms and modes, we
difficult
it

no truth ever becomes

its

embodiment
realise

in

par

may

that,

however

ship,

at

be to formulate satisfactorily their true relation least the two elements are essential, at least in

principle Christianity of their combination.

was right

in

Negatively, needs, be as little satisfied with mere Miracles as we can with mere Ideals. Positively, it is because, even under modern critical conditions, we can discern elements of

we

asserting the necessity can, for our religious

FACT AND FAITH, JESUS AND CHRIST

that

33

paramount and universal spiritual value in the life of Jesus, we must assert a historic basis for the Faith. It is

not that such spiritual verities as the divine love, or the destiny of man, or the value of human life, depend on
particular occurrences ; or that for ourselves the old inter pretation of the Lord s incarnate life, as in some sort a

attitude to

God s divine transaction or readjustment, retains its value. man is not altered but revealed by the Incarna
;

The spiritual verities are as they were it is the light tion. and the knowledge of them that are new. In particular The events humanity read great and abiding principles. eternal is ever the eternal, but our knowledge of it comes In the Saviour s life, and in the Saviour s death, in time.
Church has discerned an expression of the divine love and will. The Incarnation then is more properly connected
the

On with the thought of Revelation than with that of Sin. lines s we may adjust, under to-day conditions, some such the elements of Faith and Fact in our Christianity, neither
indifferent to the historic element, nor yet
its

dependent upon

The fact gains its value through the absolute actuality. it embodies idea and this becomes operative or principle
:

only through the facts.

Clement

view of the Incarnation

may be

some modern History from if a the Christ of Faith corresponding distinction is some times drawn among the human faculties, and the mind and
teachers

fairly said to recognise both these conditions. And, finally, if after the manner of the Gnostics

would
;

dissociate the Jesus of

understanding are depreciated, and the religious powers of our nature exalted as of independent validity and worth,
here again there is need that we should not forget that Christianity has stood for the unity of the Christ and Jesus,

and that no psychology can rest satisfied with a permanent Where we discord among the powers of the human soul. love and where we believe, there, so far as our limited
VOL.
II.

34
intelligence

THE INCARNATION
reaches,

we must
life

also

understand.

All

that

Christ stands for in the

ward movement

of the Church, and in the on of humanity, is in some ways so related to

if

the Jesus of Nazareth, that attempts to treat the two as

fundamentally distinct and independent seem,

we may
little

judge by recent

efforts

in

that

direction,

to

have

Clement would accept no sort of prospect Here he entire separation between Jesus and the Christ. takes his stand unhesitatingly by the side of Irenaeus and The distinction was common in his age he Saint John. knew it well, but rejects it. He saw the unity, in spite of difficulties which confronted him from the philosophic side. To us it is from other sources that the problems principally come. Historic inquiry, and the movement of the human spirit, lead us to ask whether we can still discern the ideal of humanity in the life and words of the Galilean Master, who, to an extent we find hard to estimate, was limited by conditions of time and place. It is one among the latterof success.
;

day tasks of Christian thought to justify this appeal anew, and to restate, in terms that are valid for the modern mind, the grounds upon which it adheres to the great acknow
ledgment,
Christ.
first made at Caesarea However much our

Philippi, that Jesus was the point of view may have

altered with the ages, however considerably we changed the connotation of our terms, we must
essentially
if

may have still make

and fundamentally the same momentous synthesis, with anything of Apostolic or Alexandrine conviction we

are to carry 1 to be.

"

on the Christian religion into the years that are

the second century enables us to understand Church to cherish on the whole a histori
Christianity."

1 The course of events in some of the reasons which led

the

cal,

as distinct from an ideal, account of the foundation of

cit.,

F. C. Burkitt, op.

Preface to Second Edition,

ad fin.

CHAPTER

XIII

GNOSTICISM
CLEMENT never loved
convictions, cared

controversy.

He

possessed by nature

few of the qualities of the partisan and, even where he had

little

for their aggressive exposition.

We

have already had occasion to notice how the whole trend of his mind was towards unity and affinities, rather than in
the direction of
contrasts, discrepancies, Nevertheless, through his writings, and

through his life, there ran one trail was his opposition to Gnosticism. It has been said that this was his one trouble." 1 As we shall see, it is by no means an unqualified hostility, for, if he found much to criticise,
"

and antagonisms. no doubt equally of contention, and that

also to accept. Church teacher of the 2 earlier period stands so near to the Gnostics as Clement." But with all deductions, it is still the case that Clement felt
"

he found

much

No

bound
is
it

strate their errors

difficult to

to oppose these dangerous innovators. To demon was an unavoidable task of criticism ; 3 nor

see that Heresy, in his eyes, rather than the was real enemy. The philosopher, for instance, Paganism, be a near friend," and so proverbially less dangerous might than the distant brother," 4 who had taken to these dubious paths of extravagant speculation and wilful heterodoxy.
" "

Now,
1

it

will

be

less difficult
2
4

to understand

Clement

Bigg, Christian Platonists, 115.

01/07*010 avri\oyia, 562.

Baur, Die christliche Gnosis, 502.

374.

35

36

GNOSTICISM
if

attitude towards Gnosticism,

is

we

recur to the fact that he

here, as always, fundamentally the teacher, that it is as much in the interest of pupils
as

and remember and inquirers,

his personal love of abstract truth, that he assails 1 the Gnostic theories. intelligent man of the time, trained in the encyclical instruction of the schools, and not

from

An

without acquaintance with philosophy, who had been drawn by such effective appeals as Clement s Protrepticus to throw
in his lot with Christianity,

would,

in

many

cases,

need no

very lengthy course of instruction in good manners at table, or propriety in regard to raiment, or decent behaviour at the
baths.

The Padagogus would soon

lead

him through

this

intermediate stage, and, since the new convert would hardly be content to remain permanently among the number of

those
if

inquiry always dangerous, not wrong, he would be asking, within a few months of
simpliciores,

who thought

his Baptism, in

by

his

new Religion must be sought.

what direction the higher instruction promised To such a man,

intelligent, only recently converted, with Alexandria as his environment, there can be little doubt that Gnosticism had much to offer. Let it be supposed, for example, that
alert,

conducted about
2

he attends such meetings as those Eusebius describes as this time by Paul, the popular teacher of
heresy.
a series
If

we

can portray his state of

s

mind

at the

end of

of Paul

lectures,

we may be

the better able to

appreciate the danger Clement faced. To begin with, the new convert was not asked to leave

the Church in which he had so lately found spiritual shelter ; for Gnosticism was not an external rival to Christianity,
3 Such severance but a movement or tendency within it. He writes, cbroo-Tpeipeu /JouA^uevos rrjs fls ras See esp. 895.
1

eue/ATTTOHrfas
8

rovs

<f>i\o/j.adovi>Tas.

H.E.,

vi. 2.

distant,

897-8, cp. 374, quoted above. i.e. a member of the family.

The Gnostic was a "brother," though Tares and wheat grow together, 774.

ITS
as did exist

VARIED ATTRACTIONS
s

37

came rather by the Church

action than

the Heretics, members of the Society, and complained bitterly when their 1 So the way was easy ; title to its privileges was denied.

who commonly claimed

to be true

from and lawful

no renunciation or transition was involved, but the intelli to add to the common faith of gent believer was invited the Churchmen higher treasures of advanced ordinary his natural gifts and aptitudes had knowledge, for which
him. clearly destined

he had any doubts or qualms as to the wisdom of such a spiritual venture, there were many re flections by which this hesitation would be dispelled. For,

Moreover,

if

was no new thing. It was implicitly Seek and sanctioned in the Lord s often quoted words, of actual there was not in find shall and, point priority, ye and Simon the to choose between much Apostles Magus, In germ and or even between Saint John and Cerinthus. and per principle, with no doubt many faulty exaggerations its within and versions, Gnosticism had had place upon the Church s borders since Saint Paul wrote Epistles to Corinth and Colossae, and the folly of endless genealogies was pointed Had not Peter s teaching been conveyed out to Timothy. to Glaukias Basilides, and had not Theodas been a through similar link and intermediary between Saint Paul and Valenafter all, this
"

Gnosis

"

"

"

tinus

More

than that, did not the esoteric teaching of

the Saviour, imparted after the Resurrection, not merely during the forty days, but throughout a period of many 3 Besides, years, still survive in the Traditions of Matthias ?

while the

Canon

of the

New

Testament was

still in

debate,

who
1

could effectively prove the inferiority of such Gnostic

Irenaeus,
900.
iii.

15, 2.
vii.

898.
s

the

Hippolytus, Resurrection, see

20.

For the duration of the Lord

Gnostische
viii.

C.

Schmidt,

Schriften
;

in

teaching after koptischer

762.

Sprache, in Texte

und Untersuchungen^

438 sqq.

also

ScSSe/ca CTTJ in

38

GNOSTICISM

Scriptures as the Preaching of Peter, and the Gospel according Even if to the Egyptians, to the Synoptists and Saint John ?
Irenaeus had settled the point for the

Church of Lyons,

it

was

still

an open question

in Alexandria.

But antiquity and continuity of tradition were not their Half a century before Clement taught in only credentials. the Catechetical School, Gnosticism had reached its maturity
in the reign of

Hadrian.
its

It

had organised

its

forces, given

and could appeal now to an abundant literature, to numerous and flourishing schools, and to a company of great teachers, whose memories and authorities still survived. There had been something astonishing in the prolific rapidity with which heretical books appeared. So serious had the propaganda seemed
definition to
distinctive tenets,

some

to Justin, that he
fluence,

composed

a treatise to counteract

its

in

and the alarm of the Church s leaders had not been forgotten, when Eusebius wrote his history more than a hundred years later. 1 Towards the end of the second century it was probably easy for anyone, who so desired, to
procure in the book-shops of Alexandria a copy of Basilides four-and-twenty Commentaries, the similar treatises of his son
Isidaurus, the collected letters and homilies of Valentinus, the Antitheses of Marcion, or the notorious work of the

young and remarkable Epiphanes on

"

Justice/

Apelles

and Heracleon were, perhaps, actively engaged at that date 2 in while imaginary writing books of a similar nature conversations of the Lord with His disciples must have been already a recognised and common type of Gnostic literature. Such books were chiefly concerned with the interpretation of Scripture, but the Gnostics, even more than
;
1

Justin, Apol.,
2

i.

26

H.E.,

iv.

24.

For Apelles

(rvvrdy/jLara

see

Hippolytus,

x.

20.

The Fragments
Studies^
i.
;

of

Heracleon are edited by A. E. Brooke in Texts also given in Stieren s Irenceus, i. 936 sqq.

and

they are

ITS

BOOKS AND TEACHERS

39

Clement himself, understood the art of discovering their own ideas in the sacred text. That the ability and popu
larity

of

such

writings

induced

many members

of

the

to ally themselves with Gnosticism, is amply evident to every reader of Clement or Irenaeus. And, as with their

Church

These existed in Rome, in and elsewhere, and afforded the Alexandria, Antioch, leading Gnostic teachers the most effective opportunity of 1 The School," indeed, became spreading their opinions. in some ways more closely identified with Heresy than with 2 the Church Catholic. More important than the literature and the lecture-room had been, of course, the teachers themselves. They aroused attention and opposition because, with all their extravagances and pretensions, they were really men of considerable power. Even as we know them now from the unfavourable accounts of the Fathers and Historians, we cannot fail to recognise their originality and power of influence. Though it be ad mitted that Simon Magus was an impostor, Marcus a licentious
books, so with their schools.
in
"

credit

quack, Carpocrates a specious defender of lubricity, the dis which such persons brought upon the Name could
"

"

not obliterate the prestige and influence of Basilides or Valentinus, of Marcion, or of Clement s contemporary, Bardaisan.

Renan may be
3

"

Basilides,

of right in speaking of the icy resignation but at least there was a severe and fearless logic
"

in his reduction of the

Absolute Deity to non-existence, a noble passion for the purity of the Divine Nature in his 4 refusal to attribute any fragment of evil to Providence. So,
the crude impossibilities of the system of Valentinus, may be discerned the outlines of a great and poetical view of the drama of the universe, half Hellenic,
all

too,

behind

half Oriental in its character,

1

not more tenable or success2 4

H.E.,

iv. 7,

ii.
p. 165.

See the mention

600.

LAglise chretienne,

40
ful

GNOSTICISM
than other attempts of the

human

intellect

to

take

infinity captive, yet deserving of honour as the great venture of a great mind, in spite of all its inevitable failure. The

more prominent than any other in Alexandria, and its tenets must have been well known to all Clement s more educated hearers. Marcion had been a
Valentinian school was
teacher of a very different type, less imaginative than Valentinus, with less of the

Hellene

in his nature,

but far more

than any

deeply conscious of the problem of moral evil other religious teacher of his time. Clement,
shocked, after the

manner

of

Job

friends,
l

impiety, was right in calling him a "giant." did not fail to leave their mark, and though, as a rule, the resulting Gnostic schools fell far below the level of their

who was s Marcion by Such teachers

various founders, and soon lost themselves in the mazes of uncontrolled speculation or moral licence, 2 it remained for many years no slight commendation for an opinion that Valentinus had held it or Marcion believed it true. Such

an appeal to the great names of the last generation would lead many an Alexandrine Churchman in the direction of
this aristocratic

heterodoxy.

Where, indeed, should Gnos

if

ticism

stronghold, connected with the names of

have

its

not in the city which was Cerinthus and Basilides, of

Apelles and Valentinus, and in which there was less hin drance, than in any other great centre, to the abundant

development of its schools ? But we must turn from its credentials to its message, and ask what were the elements in Gnosticism, which made it so No single answer can, of course, evidently attractive ? be given to such a question, for though Tatian and Carpo1

6 8( 0fj.dxos OVTOS ytyas

$22.

There

is,

of course, a reference to the giants

"

of mythology,
2

who attacked

the gods.
4,

Cp. Tertullian,

Adv. Valentinianos,

Itaque

nusquam jam Valentinus,

et

tamen

Valentiniani."

ITS
crates

CREDENTIALS AND MESSAGE

41

might both be accounted Gnostics, their teaching would appeal to very different natures. But, among the reasons which were likely to lead the better educated members of Clement s flock to adopt Valentinian or Marcionite opinions, we shall hardly be wrong in accounting the following as prominent and considerable.

To many
logical

the glamour and completeness of a cosmo-

theory would no doubt appeal.

In an age when

Philosophy had limited its most serious concern to moral conduct, and Science, in the modern sense of the term, did not exist, here was a doctrine which offered to solve those deeper riddles of the universe, at which Heraclitus and

Anaxagoras had vaguely guessed, and for which

Plato
s

neither

promise be led up to the absolute, the original, the uncontaminated Source of Being, and then,

Timteus, nor the later Stoic theories, could

more than
by

tentative solutions.

To

stage
half

the delicate gradations by which Existence, Time, Sense, Matter, Evil, and a multitude of
stage, to

trace

poetical,

half

personified
as

Activities,
it,

concrete

World-Order

man knows

and came

finally

this

into being,

was indeed a fascinating prospect for an intrepid intelli Basilides gence, with no knowledge of its own limitations.

dreamed of such
of Valentinus

The attempt a comprehensive theology. in the same direction has been placed re-

Clement, as v/e have seen, morsely on record by Irenaeus. had himself some such idea of a great scheme of knowledge and hoped, it may be, to meet here the Gnostics on their

own ground.
as
"

The Gospel

in

this

way came

to be defined
l

Modern the knowledge of supramundane things." critics of these bygone speculations remark that they con tradict common sense. The criticism is true for the
But for many moderns. It was also true for Irenaeus. an Alexandrine Catholic it was by no means self-evident
1

Hippolytus,

vii.

27.

42

GNOSTICISM

The prospect, that the Valentinian teaching was absurd. from the intellectual standpoint, was at any rate so splendid
as to justify

some considerable element

this higher
"

of risk.

Moreover, Knowledge was only for way the few. It was the Royal Road of the elect, appointed for that only spiritual minority, who were by nature a or distinct order, with whom the crowd of natural
of
"
"

"

"

"

material

souls could claim

little

in

common. 1

The man

of philosophic training, who found the brotherhood of the uncultured a somewhat exacting part of Christian obligation 2 found a Catholicism, says Renan, has no aristocracy

welcome combers

from the familiarity of slaves and woolin circles where the claims of culture and the intellect seemed to be held once more at their proper value. The Gnostics were not a humble people. Conceit was a true and easy charge to bring against them. 3 They held themselves aloof from the multitude of the believers, and disdained to cast their pearls before the common swine.
relief

On
of

the other hand,

the

it

is

higher, esoteric section of the Church.

easy to understand the attraction enlightenment for the educated

Moreover, for all whose previous training had been in the schools and philosophies of Greece, Gnosticism had the
further advantage
is

of

close

affinities

with Hellenism.

It

among the authorities whether, funda mentally, the Hellenic or the Oriental characteristics pre dominated in these Heresies. Probably, in the many
a disputed point

phases of their development,

now one and now

in

the other

tendency was supreme.

1

But

Alexandria at any rate the

i|/ux*Kof,

This frequent distinction,

"

irvfv/j.ariKoi,

UA.JKOJ,

is

given,

e.g.)

in

982-3.

Deja 1 essence du catholicisme etait de ne souffrir aucune aristocratic, pas plus celle de la philosophic hautaine que celle de la saintete pretentieuse,"

DEglise chretienne,
3

p. 168.

Their

5oo<ro<t>ia

and

<j>iAoTi/Ja,

892.

Their

oftjo-u,

894.

ARISTOCRATIC, HELLENIC, RELIGIOUS

Greek element was the stronger, though
otherwise in Antioch or Edessa.
really carried
it

43

Basilides

on the work of Philo. It was a common with Plato and Pythagoras. charge to that indebted such earlier were them, sources, against they and their title to be accounted Christians was questioned on 1 Such indebtedness, whatever else it this very ground.

may have been and Valentinus They were in line

may have involved, at least preserved for the baptised Hellene much that he had valued before he came over to Clement s own example has already given us Christianity.
an illustration of the importance of this concession. Gnostic teachers had anticipated him in retaining Plato while they
read the Gospels
tant adherents
;

by

they gained, no doubt, their most impor the assurance that citizenship in the New

Jerusalem was quite compatible with entire loyalty to the essential claims of Athens. What chance had even Tertullian s indignation against

such attractive overtures as these

important, however, though not always recognised, The extravagances religious element in Gnosticism. of these schools have been amply preserved, and we can

More

was the

form a tolerably clear estimate of their dangers but it needs some care and vigilance, if we are to deal fairly with their It is not spiritual value. they were the only true that 2 there is no Theologians of the first century," and that
;
" "

mean thinking
by
side

in

some

with their

Side of their strange theories." intellectualism and their cosmological

speculations ran a strain of practical teaching, with a true Gospel of Grace and of Redemption and a definite attempt
to

meet religious needs. 4

1

To
ii.

this ethical
2

and truly Chrisi.

E.g.
3 4

by Hippolytus.
67.

Harnack, Hist. Dogm.,

227.

Gwatkin, Early Ch. Hist.,

the distinctively religious element in Gnosticism see Mansel, Gnostic C. Schmidt, op. cit., Baur, Die christliche Gnosis, pp. 18 sqq. p. 3 Marcion, in particular, "was a religious character." Hist. Dogm., 424 sqq.

On

Heresies,

i.

269.

44

GNOSTICISM
Catholic

tian side of their activities the

Fathers are

not

unnaturally indifferent, yet that Gnosticism never became

it is

just in virtue of this

a

element

mere philosophy.
of a divine

The

work
but
for
it

of the Saviour
is

may

be spiritualised or reinterpreted,

never abandoned.

The need

is recognised in all their the ultimate victory of the higher while portant systems, in the Cosmos is never surrendered, forces and spiritual

human recovery

Power more im

even when Gnostic Pessimism takes its most sombre forms. There is more true religion in the Gnostic Hymn of the Soul, than in many ancient and modern productions which have
fell

passed as Catholic, and if any disciple of Clement ever in with either Heracleon or Ptolemaeus, he probably

gained piety as well as instruction from such association. Not the least attractive element in Gnosticism was that, in
professing to not abandon

show the road

its

to higher Illumination,
It

it

did

purely religious message.

appealed to

the spirit as well as to the intelligence. An interpretation of the Cosmos, a place in the higher order of the elect, the right to bring Plato into Christianity,

together with the hope and

assurance of a true Gospel of Grace and Redemption, were thus among those enrich ments of the new faith which Gnosticism, at its best, could
full

offer to the select spirits,

who were meet

By these positive gains the great their followers, and stirred the more central forces in the
Church
to
activity

for such possessions. heretical teachers won

negative advantages also, a

some elements

in

But there were freedom from certain burden Christianity, escape from which must
and
opposition.

often have been welcome.

further

Both the Hellene, and the man whose affinities lay East, must have been relieved by the Gnostic depreciation of all that was concrete, sensible, material. It was not really in the flesh that the Word had come.

EMANCIPATION BY GNOSIS
There had been
the

45

human,

a temporary association of the Divine with but no more. Thus the heavenly Christ had

neither been truly born of Mary, nor truly suffered upon The Resurrection, His and ours, was spiri the Cross. tualised and freed from its incongruities, while the whole

Redemption was shifted from the temporal and For those who are the supramundane plane. the elect, the souls chosen from the greater number of and recognised as of higher spiritual birth, 1 the called body was really of no account. Therefore it might either Marcion be allowed its will, or repressed in rigid asceticism. and Carpocrates were agreed that, in itself, the soul s material
drama
of
historic

to

"

"

vesture should be treated with

offered diverse forms of

So the Gnosis disregard. freedom from the claims of the body, and the message of Christianity was relieved of all
necessary implication in historic, concrete, material events. of the Stoic schools, and the Platonic "Apathy"

The

Divine by contact with birth and with becoming, were both allowed. Gnostic Chris Its surrenders were tianity abandoned here too much. soon seen to be incompatible with its claims. But they
dislike

to contaminate

the

were undoubtedly welcome to

but as
its

many who, from

s

lifelong

conviction, regarded the material not as the Spirit

foe.

medium

So with the Old Testament. To sincere and thoughtful monotheists it was difficult to accept the national Deity of
as the supreme Source and Ruler of the was not less difficult to reconcile the evident evil of the world with absolute Beneficence. And though Marcion had no complete Cosmology to offer, after the manner of Basilides and Valentinus, at least he got rid of one which, from the Hellenic standpoint, 2 was demonstrably

the

Hebrews
It

universe.

526, 546.
2

The Greeks always

"

ran

down

the

Law,"

492.

46
false,

GNOSTICISM

when he declared that the Deity of the Old Testament was the subordinate and not entirely good Creator. The
moral
difficulties of the narrative, the severity of

the
that

Law,

the excessive claims

of Hebraism,

and

all

else

driven

thrown

a century before to allegory, over by the great heresiarch of Pontus.

Philo

had were frankly His sombre

pessimism was more unrelieved than any that the soul of Greece had ever known, yet a Christian who came from

Athens may well have welcomed the difficulties, which his criticisms secured.
is

relief

from many Marcion s dualism

any ever propounded. The difficulties of the Old Testament are as little to be solved by his ex But he faced real problems, pedient, as by Philo s allegory. and we can feel no surprise that his teaching found con
as impossible as

siderable acceptance in Alexandria. Besides, the Jews were more unpopular there than in any other great city of the

Empire, and some "enlightened" Churchmen may have been glad to be assured that they owed no manner of
allegiance, either to their Scriptures, or to their severe Deity. There were other ways, perhaps less creditable, in which

Gnosticism relieved the elect few from

it

difficulty.

In par

and unbending than the Church, ticular, and had fewer scruples in accommodating itself to the surrounding world. This is only true of certain phases of
less rigid

was often

Gnosticism, for at times

extremes, and Marcion
s

its

asceticism could
to baptise

run to any

refusal

persons,

who

had been guilty of marriage, could hardly have commended 1 his tenets to those who sought a comfortable creed. But often its very claim to superiority resulted in an indifference to rules and obligations though these might seem necessary
;
"

enough
1

for

"

Galileans

or

the

merely

faithful.

The
and

followers of Nicolaus saw no

harm

in eating things offered

On

this point see,

p.

however, Professor Burkitt, The Gospel History

its

Transmission,

311.

THE WAY MADE EASY

to idols
;

47

others placed statues of the philosophers side by 1 side with the figure of the Lord, while it was commonly

held that the Gnostic was at liberty to deny his faith in the His testimony, or martyrdom, exigencies of persecution.

was of another order, and he probably approved as little sheer obstinacy of many as Marcus Aurelius of the Often there was real justification for the charge Christians.
"

"

that they loved their lives too well, though this attitude was not universal. Both the Valentinian and Marcionite
3 schools could point to their lists of actual martyrs. And, in the main, the later adherents of Gnosticism were guilty of a laxity which could never have been charged against its

eminent leaders.

But there may well have been timid and

yet sincere natures within the Church, to whom it was a real relief to know that the impossible was not demanded. It
is

never quite easy to say the house of Rimmon.

how Naaman should behave

in

Thus,

like in

Irenaeus in Lyons, Tertullian in

Carthage,
in

Hippolytus
subtle, that
to

Rome, Clement found himself confronted

was
as difficult to attack as

Alexandria with a rival teaching so varied, so diffused, so

it was dangerous and uncriticised. It is impossible unchallenged to sum up in any single statement Clement s attitude to wards the many doctrines, which pass under the common name of "Gnostic." 4 Like many other teachers of wide information and liberal views, he found an unqualified it

leave

judgment quite impossible.

1

He

must often blame, but he

2

Iren.,
3

i.

25, 6
33,

26, 3.
v.

QiXofaova-i, 571.
16.

9; H.E., our people" sought this death. 4 How many varieties of teaching have been termed seen by the German epigram Was man nicht defmieren kann,
Iren.,
iv.
"

Clement mentions how some

"

"not

of

Gnostic

"

may be

Das

sieht

man

gern als
art.

gnostisch
"

an."

Herzog, Encyc.,

Gnosticismus,"

Bd.

vi., p.

730.

48

GNOSTICISM

can sometimes praise, and for this he shared the suspicion which so commonly attaches itself to a balanced verdict.

Let us consider where the

stress of his

blame and of

his

commendation

falls.

In the main, Clement is quite conscious of the general Part divergence between the Church and the Heresies.

most important
that

of his purpose in writing was to set forth the tenets of the 1 believed sects and to show their error.

He

every perversion or travesty of the truth could be it needed a keen and fairly refuted from Scripture, though
trained

mind

to conduct the

argument.

As compared with

the Church, two defects characterised the Gnostic teaching. what one sect taught, another It was extremely varied
:

denied

time would never allow him to deal with

all

these

numerous and incompatible views. 3 All this shifting diver to stand in marked inferiority to the ideal unity sity seemed A second defect of not less moment became of the Church. one compared the antiquity and orderly when apparent, of the with the later origin and rapid formu Church growth
lation of Gnostic views.

with such haste and rashness

Their doctrines had been published even their best known leaders,
;

such as Marcion or Prodicus, were so inferior to the great men of old, 4 and there were, besides, such evident differences

between the founders of the various schools and their

successors, that the advantage of the ancient tradition over this mushroom growth of novelties seemed an indisputable

argument

in the

Church

favour.

It is in this strain that

Clement

refers to the conceit

and

assertive confidence of the Heretical Schools. 5

their motives

He challenges

were ambitious, anxious to find a specious ; they cloak for moral laxity ; even Tatian did not deal fairly and 6 honestly with truth. They stole the Church s rule for their
1

324896.

2
6

543112, 128-9, 456, 997-

3
6

529, 893-

547, 895. 897-

CLEMENT S OPPOSITION
"

49
!

but Lord, Lord personal ends ; they were ready to say, Lord and so as the said, grave scandal fell they did not do
"

Sometimes he is so often by their default upon the Name. an is unfit for discussion he declares that opinion indignant,
in his

Sometimes he perverted doctrine is more

book.

them roundly, that their likely to show the way to a 3 Much of their brothel than to the kingdom of God. teaching seemed to be impious and irreverent, and he recurs
tells

constantly to the ingratitude of all Pessimism in its rejection 4 So he compares Gnostic opinions in of the gifts of God. 5 In an the Church to the tares sown among the wheat.

almonds

other passage he says that their dogmas are as bitter as wild he also complains of their ; patchwork," much
"

as Irenaeus did

but it is all a matter of human teaching and human assemblies, 7 they have no claim or title to the His utterances possession of the grace and truth of God. are sometimes contemptuous on occasion he even accuses
; ;

and Valentinus of chattering nonsense, 8 and in other cases uses similar terms with a greater measure of
Basilides
justification.

Now

all this is

the language of pronounced and decided

it were taken alone, it would convey a very s mind and erroneous of Clement partial impression upon the subject. It might indeed be argued from some of his statements that, after all, Clement was much in line with Irenaeus and Tertullian, and saw as little good as they did in the teaching of these bold innovators. But it is not difficult

hostility, and, if

On the extreme remote from the doctrine and practice of the Church, there were insidious
to account for the vigour of his criticism. side of Gnosticism, where it was most
1

511,901.
520, 584, 593.
atpeereis avdpunrivcu,

2 6

513-

5246

4
7

774.
448.

893.

Iren.,

i.

9,

ii.

14, 2.

890.
8

avOpvireiat St5a(TKoAtat, 896.

avdpuirivai

<rvi/ij\v<reis,

898.

VOL.

II.

50

GNOSTICISM

moral dangers, of which Clement had a profound and credit His antagonism is far more determined by able dread. ethical than by intellectual considerations, and originated no

doubt in large measure from his actual knowledge of scandals and depravities in Alexandria. A certain pastoral strain seems to come out in the nature, as we professor s to him his lest those who have been known fear, recognise
"

"

in the lecture-room

attractions

of

should be captured by the dangerous His business is not to specious laxity.

of
real

discover the

elements

value

in

the

medley of

Gnostic doctrines, but to save the educated section of the

Church from being led along the slippery paths of a domi nant and dangerous speculation. Hence comes his normal As we shall see, this was not attitude of opposition. incompatible with some effort to do justice to those with

whom

he differed, nor even with a very considerable indebtedness to the better elements of their achievement.
not wholly forget his characteristic charity, for, their errors, the Gnostics, he holds, deserved pity 1 is rather than hatred. willing to defend Nicolaus, one

He

does
all

with

He

of their leaders, against current misrepresentations marked contrast to Polycarp s attack upon the
"

2
;

and, in

first

born

of

Satan,"

3 expresses the charitable hope that Marcion,

who

must now have been dead some

years,

may

perchance be
his

induced by repeated arguments to change think more kindly of the Creator.

mind and

Out
1

of the strange diversity of doctrines into which the

2

895-6.

490-1, 523.

This reference to Marcion is very curious. Clement writes with 593. his amendment in view els eVrpOTrV Mop/aWos, f\v TTWS fterajSaATjTai ireiffOtis. As the words stand they would naturally imply that Marcion was still living. Clement s writings could hardly reach him in another world. But the general view is that Marcion did not survive Anicetus, i.e. that he died not later than A.D. 165. He had clearly been dead some time when (about A.D. There is no 200) Tertullian wrote the De prcescriptione hereticorum, c. 30. ground for suspecting the text of the passage in Clement.
;

FREEDOM OR DETERMINISM
Gnostic

51

movement seemed

to be dissipated, there
issues,

certain larger

and prominent

emerge on which the contro

In the case of versy was maintained at higher levels. certain other elements in the false Gnosis, there was no need Their own extravagance of any laboured demonstration.

The Pistis Sophia, for example, at have been written, was never likely may to exert any great influence over Western minds. It could But it was otherwise with such funda safely be ignored.
was
their best refutation.
it

whatever date

mental issues as the Freedom of the

will,

speculative Cosmology the Church could not afford to leave her teaching doubtful. Clement, in these matters, takes the Gnostics quite seriously, and his attitude is worth examination.
It

of the Valentinians.

On

Dualism, the such points

was a

common
that

theory with
the

some

of

the

most

important
classes of

sects,

world contains three

separate

"

men. These, though not invariably distinguished the same terms, are usually described as "spiritual," by and material natural," by nature. Their separation into
"

"

such types

is

a part of

supramundane Wisdom is man s destiny is assigned

the highest class
is

the predetermined order, for the 1 a power of distinction, and a

to

him before

his birth.
life,

Only

foreordained to eternal

and such a

no matter what the manner of a s life may be. Such higher birth, as we have already seen, brings the dangerous right to entire freedom of

supreme

gift

is

inalienable,

man

conduct in

its

train.

It

is

quite

evident that in such a

is left for human responsibility. The of the be are not to gifts Spirit sought and won, nor is the to him who life s battle best. The world-order prize fights

scheme no place

determines a

man

spiritual qualities, as absolutely as

it

fixes

the courses of the stars.

The
1

Gnostics

were here raising an ancient and

2

still

448.

510.

Gnostic

U7/eio conferred

e\6i/0epto,

546.

52

GNOSTICISM
more

unsettled controversy, and their solution of it was no final than Aristotle s, or Calvin s, or Bishop Butler s. strange thing
is

The

that

determinism by their dictum on freedom and responsibility was surely well known
in

they were not delivered from such indebtedness to Plato, whose familiar
this point
is

their schools.

Clement on

at direct issue

The followers of Basilides had borrowed with their teaching. from medical science a term by which they described the
passions as the
"

appendices"

of the soul.

Certain spirits,

they held, were attached to man s rational nature without his will, and other strange growths were appended in turn In this way a man carries within him the charac the wolf, the lion, or the ape, and even other influences from the lower vegetable and animal worlds.
to these.
teristics of

Such latent elements expressed themselves from time to The forces were there and operated let the according to their natures, and if a man did not
time in his actions.
"

ape and tiger

die,"

the fault lay

somewhere outside the range

this

of his control.

Clement does not deal with

curious anticipation

Such a discussion is postponed, after his manner, till he comes to write his treatise on the Soul, but he remarks that a man s nature becomes, on this Basilidean hypothesis, a sort of Trojan horse or, as he might have added, a kind of Noah s Ark. He gains a clear point in the argument by a clever quotation from a work of Isidorus, Basilides own son, in which it is admitted that, if the soul is thus allowed to be a complex and composite nature, the wicked have no slight justification for their plea that they were forced, or
of Darwinian theories at any length.
"
"

carried away, or driven to act without their will. In other Clement to the he is school words, appeals criticising very
1

alrla cXofjifvov 0ebs avatnos.

Rep., 617.

It is

a favourite quotation with

Clement.

GNOSTIC VIEWS OF
He

MAN S NATURE

53

for a recognition of the evident truth that all moral action mentions a modification of this depends on freedom.
1

theory by Valentinus,
serai,

who compared

the soul to a caravan

with

But

all kinds of visitors make their habitation, care or consideration for their temporary lodging. according to Valentinus the soul is cleansed and purified

within which

little

by the action of divine Providence, and so is freed from the To which Clement desecration of these daemonic influences.
replies

by raising the question, Why did not Providence take charge of the soul from the Either the soul did not deserve it, in which case seems to have changed its mind or else, on
;

the divine

beginning ? Providence
Valentinian

it should nature," grounds, such admitted never have intruders, unless, indeed, it was The theory of Valentinus too weak to keep them out.
"

it

was a

saved

in

which case

prevents his admitting, what Clement would have deemed the true explanation, that the soul itself repented and chose
is the divergence of views which our results, according theory of salvation makes it dependent on repentance and obedience, or on mere nature,

the better part.

Such
as

without act of will or moral

tion
us,

effort.

when he adds that who commit sins.

it

is

Clement carries convic and not evil spirits within we,

Conversely,

man

has the power of

all

himself to choose the noblest course.

Over

obstacles he

The shadow of Oriental Fatalism rise triumphant. seems never to have fallen on Clement s happy soul.
may
a

The unmerited sufferings of problem for man s faith in the

Christian

the Righteous have formed divine order ever since the

difficulty

days of Job.

martyrdom brought the

again into prominence ; indeed, the sufferings and death of Basilides had Jesus raised in reality the same question.
this matter in the twenty-third book of his and had advanced, or revived, the somewhat Exegeticaf

dealt

with

488-9.

54

GNOSTICISM

all such suffering was a beneficent for sin. Substantially, his explanation did not differ penalty from that of Eliphaz and his comrades in the Hebrew

hazardous theory, that

Drama, though he
the
liability

amplifies the theory by suggesting that to sin may in some cases be punished and not

the actual deed.

In other words, the perfect man, like a

child, suffers remedially for his undeveloped propensities, even though the occasion for evil actions has never pre

sented

itself.

The

being combined,

as in

explanation is further safeguarded by the Karma of the Buddhists, with

Our sufferings in this the doctrine of Metempsychosis. in a previous state of deeds be the outcome our life may
of existence.

Now
principles

this, again, is a

minism, and
to

Basilides,

who

very thorough-going piece of deter never shrank from pressing his

their full conclusions, had even, it seems, been willing to argue from the Passion to the sinfulness of Clement criticises severely the impiety the human Jesus. of this suggestion, though he is also quite fair in allowing

that Basilides

motive throughout is to maintain the absolute He succeeds in placing goodness of the providential Order.
Basilides in a considerable dialectical difficulty, by raising the question of the man who denies the faith before his judge,

and so escapes penalty. Let me ask Basilides, says Clement, whether it is Providence that decides whether the man shall make his confession and receive punishment, or fail to do so. Now Clearly, if he denies his faith, he will not be punished. if Basilides in this from the and case result, argues says that Providence determined the man s denial and escape, because he did not deserve to be punished, then, however little Basilides may wish it, he implies that Providence is also responsible for the ultimate perdition which must befall one who shall be guilty of such a denial. Moreover, on
this supposition,

what indeed becomes of the Martyr

crown

WEAK POINTS
Clement conducts
his

IN

DETERMINISM

55

Basilides with not is he more a little acumen, though convincing in his proof that the extreme Determinism of the Gnostics cannot be

argument against

consistently maintained, than problem under discussion.

in

his

own

solution

of the

He

believes

the

Providence

and the Goodness of

God

can both be defended on the

theory that the sufferings of the righteous occur, not because God wills them, but because He does not prevent them. 1

This
It

is an explanation which does not in reality explain. does more credit to Clement s piety than to his intel

lectual

mastery of the subject. But his intense interest in maintaining human freedom is undeniable and stands to his
honour.
If

he has not been able to reconcile

this

with the

divine Sovereignty, he fails at least in good company. further typical illustration of Clement s attitude on

this subject
fifth

may be found

in the

book

of the Stromateis?

opening chapter of the Clement is discussing faith.

turns aside to consider the Gnostic theory, that man s knowledge of God depends upon his natural qualities, and
refers to Basilides view that faith is superior to intelligence, to be interpreted as spiritual loyalty, true riches, the right to approximate to the Creator. this theory faith is not

He

On
"

a faculty, but a matter of essence, nature, substance, of

our

rather than of our will, an undefined grace of our inalienable creation," but not the reasonable assent of an

make

independent soul.

Consider what follows from

this.

The

commandments of the Old and New Testaments if a man is saved, faithful, and elect in virtue of

are useless, his nature.

Human

nature, of

itself,

could have recovered in the course

a Saviour.

of time without

any advent of

Whereas,

if

the

necessity of the Lord s coming is admitted, natural quali fications fall to the ground at once as insufficient, since the
salvation

of the elect
1

becomes dependent, not on nature,

2

602.

643 sqg.

56

GNOSTICISM

but on instruction, purification, and good works according to the Saviour s teaching. Take the faith of Abraham.

Was

he elect or not

If not,

how

shall
faith
?

we account

for his

immediate and evidently natural

elect, this

would be found
this

theory collapses, for to have existed before the Advent.

But if he was then election and salvation

In
the
necessity for which

coming, Gnosticism strongly asserted, would have no sufficient and

intelligible

case

the

Saviour

purpose.

these discussions Clement, at any rate, realises the magnitude of the issue. Christianity cannot be defended,
all

In

on the Gnostic theory of distinct natures, as a religion possible for free men and for the striving multitude, how
its doctrine of a spiritual aristocracy might be to the scanty minority of the elect. Here, for once, the learned father fights the battle for simple and commonplace believers. pleads the cause of those who were despised

ever pleasant

He
"

as

"

natural

men.

The

"

babes

"

of Christ

must not be

robbed of their great heritage, nor the lowly seeker after And in his light and truth excluded from the new Israel. main contention, that Determinism is a theory which will
as well as
all the facts, he is right from the logical, from the spiritual, point of view. Probably the most dangerous of all the opponents of the central and Catholic teaching of the Church was Marcion, the wealthy shipowner of Pontus. Several years must have since the end of his elapsed long life, when Clement made critical references to his views. Possibly Marcion s desire in old age for reconciliation with the Church of his Baptism, it was never destined to be accounted for fulfilled, though the generous hope which Clement expresses for his reversion to older and better ways. 1 How Clement regarded Marcion s on we have teaching marriage already explained in a previous

not account for

1
593>

se e note

on

p. 50,

supra.

MARCION AND HIS DUALISM

chapter.

57

with Marcion

have had considerable acquaintance But there were also other issues involved, and the extent and danger of the Marcionite teaching may be gathered from Clement s reiter
also
s

He

must

views on Scripture.

ated

references
is

to

the

main points of the controversy.

There

when we

a notable difference in the tone of the criticism, compare Clement s treatment of Valentinus with his

attitude to Marcion.

Yet Alexandria was the native home and hardly the atmosphere in which Marcionite doctrine would have been expected to take root and thrive. The more significant is Clement s pronounced
of the Valentinians,

The view that Marcion was the most formidable opposition. of opponent orthodoxy, may find considerable justification in the fact that Tertullian s attack on his teaching, if stripped of its aggressive rhetoric, does not go beyond the deep and
fundamental divergence, which inspires the many references in Clement. On this point the representatives of Carthage and Alexandria were at one.

Where Clement,
most

like

the

other

Fathers, joins

issue

It was directly with Marcion is over his Dualism. the central element in his system, and his attitude on other

God is so good, points was invariably determined by it. said Marcion, that could not have made the world we

He

it must be the work of another, of a or is who not Creator, Demiourgos, good, but is identified with the hard, just, national Deity of the Old Testament.

know.

Therefore

Redemption by the Advent of the Christ is the work of the good God and it is thus a real salvation, a real revelation, a real reversal of the world s evil order, that is offered us in The theory is strongly antithetic and dualistic. Christianity. Its entire pessimism as regards Nature is in exact proportion to its tremendous claims on behalf of Grace. The world is to the of the depreciated greater glory Gospel, and Paulinism pushed to its most startling extreme. There is
;

58

GNOSTICISM
as to the exact position of the

some doubt

second

God

or

Creator, for the Dualism is obviously not complete, if the is in any degree subordinate to the good just, creative Deity

God
has

but the

real intention of
1

made clear, was religious no Cosmology and no absolute Being, but an over-mastering consciousness of the evil of the world and of the magnificent
Gnostic redemption effected by the Incarnation. If the is sometimes in his theories evident, there warp and woof ideas were is still good ground for the claim that his
"
"

Marcion s work, as Harnack and soteriological. He has

"

Christian through and through," and his system, with all its pessimism, may well have attracted Greeks by its entire

the Old Testament, and Christians by its depreciation of It is not given to estimate of the Gospel.

unprecedented

everyone to feel enthusiasm over a mere republication of the moral law.

Clement

criticism of this teaching

is

that the world, in

Goodness its contradictions and diversity, is a unity. spite of 3 The fear and punish and justice cannot be antagonistic. ments of the Law are not irreconcilable with love, but indeed It is not true that the good are one of its manifestations. of Creator the world because of His the be God cannot Rather, it is because He is good that He became goodness.
no entire opposition, such as Marcion taught, between the Creator and the Saviour, 5 The truth is that the same God the Law and the Gospel.
is
4 Father and Creator.

There

the variety is in the works through both Dispensations means employed, but never in the purpose or in the directing Clement will allow no justification for the hostility agency.
;
1

See
T]

his

account

in Hist.

Dogm.,

i.

266 sqq.
291.
;

2 3

F. C. Burkitt, Gospel History

vopoQeffla T)JV rot) 0eou

and its Transmission^

a/j.a

8iKaio<r6vr)v

Ka\

ayaO^r^ra Karayye\\fi, 473

4

Cp. 1536
457>

SO-

54 2

544~5
446.

C
P>

his

continual justification of fear as a motive

\oyticbs

<pofios,

OPPOSITION TO MARCION S VIEW

of these heretics to Nature and the

59

Cosmos

their antag

onism to the Creator seems to him a piece of thankless is the prison house impiety, and their theory that existence 1 Even Marcion s of the soul neither true nor even original.
soteriology will not bear examination, for if the good God did nothing to rescue humanity before the Advent, it dis

His goodness that He left redemption till so late, and His interference then seems a poor imitation of such saving 2 beneficence as the Creator Deity had already accomplished. even a Moreover, consistent Pessimism was impossible so and avail the food and breathe celibate must eat air, 3 Marcion s himself of the blessings of the evil world. followers had as little esteem as the Montanists for Christians natural of the merely order, but would they maintain that even their leader himself was as wise as the great Masters of old, whose teaching and traditions he had
credits
:
"

"

handled with such reckless disregard

Such is Clement s attitude, consistently maintained, to Marcion and his school. Two points come out in strong
relief,

when we gather together

his

many

scattered references

Clement s nature, as we have to this living controversy. often had occasion to notice, was fundamentally unitive,

He loves to collect truth from harmonious, reconciling. Nowhere does this hates he sources antagonisms. many native characteristic display itself more strongly than in his
;

attitude towards this

last

set

mighty yet dangerous teacher of the the Gospels with a penknife, divided generation, Moses at variance with Saint Paul, turned Prophecy

who

of the Gospel, and even introduced his irre concilable discords into the very being and nature of the
into an

enemy

516, 528.
2

645.
i.

This was a

common

criticism
4

cp. Tertullian,

Adv. Marcionem,

22
3

ii.

28.

516, 527-8.

896.

60

GNOSTICISM
"

l your Church," said Marcion to the Roman elder. To Clement it seemed that he had rent the seamless robe of truth and the beautiful unity of God s order. It is hard to conceive that any offence would appear more impious and disastrous in the eyes of the Alexandrine master of synthesis and accommodation. But it is not less clear that Clement had never grasped Marcion s problem. The experience of life had given him many things, but it had never led him to those dark places of the soul, where spiritual forces clash without fusion, and 2 the strife of Empedocles seems to reign supreme. He had neither sounded the problems of evil, nor measured the depth of humanity s needs, nor trodden those v/ild, tempestuous

Godhead.

will

tear

regions of the spirit, of which the horrors of Marcion s 3 native Pontus, as Tertullian described them, might well be that Therefore, while we feel graphically symbolic.

Clement
his time

in
is

his treatment of the

most dangerous heresy of

undoubtedly more
is

are conscious also that there

criticisms.

right than his opponent, we a certain superficiality in his

are
true.

They are justified and they convince us, as similar arguments in the

They

Fathers do, that Marcion s soul of Marcion had known the iron and the tragedy of life as neither Clement nor Irenaeus nor Tertullian knew it,

writings of other theories cannot stand. But the

and

his

scant justice to his greatness. sequence of his achievement

orthodox opponents, while they saw his errors, did Not the least notable con
is

the

fact

that,

through

opposition to it, a convinced and usually consistent Hellene such as Clement, comes forward as the champion of Hebraism

and the Law.

1

Epiphanius, Adv. Hares., L, iii. 42 (2). Hippolytus, vii. 29 sqq., connects Marcion

teaching with that of

in

Empedocles. 3 See the remarkable description of the locality Marcionem, i.

i.

Tertullian,

Adv.

COSMOLOGICAL SPECULATION

61

There is no special difficulty in defining Clement s attitude in relation to the foregoing controversies. If the
Gnostics denied, at least by
implication,

the doctrine of

Freedom, Clement asserted it. If Marcion and his school declared the Cosmos was divided and two Gods The ruled, Clement stood for unity and a monistic basis. issues are clear and direct. But when we come to other
departments of Gnostic speculation, Cosmology, Angelology, and the like, the case is different. It becomes at once
impossible to draw sharp contrasts between Clement and, for example, the Valentinians. The task of distinguishing between his criticisms and his debts grows here particularly
literary questions connected with the Stromateis, the Excerpta ex Theodoto, and the Eclogue Prophetic*, introduce a further complication.
delicate, while

Human

the

We
left

have already seen

great

in a

former chapter that Clement

His intention of undertaking incomplete. scheme of the totality of truth from the Christian standpoint was never fully accomplished, and the reader may
his

presenting a

recollect that,

among

the possible causes for this surrender

of his purpose, the

most probable appeared to be his sudden departure from Alexandria, combined with his growing
realisation that the

magnitude of the task lay beyond his powers. good ground for the supposition that he hoped at one time to erect, upon a Scriptural basis, a theory of Cosmic Order, which would in part have been suggested by the Gnostic speculations, and in part have formed their refutation. We have already remarked the frequency v/ith which he refers to a projected discussion of 1 There are similar references to a proposed Principles." treatment of the Origin of the World. 2 When he speaks of a Gnostic science of Nature, he most probably includes in

But there

is

"

f,

448, 564, 57i, 604, 733, 737.

KOffp-oyovia, 564.
K6<rp.ov

2
(f>vffio\oyia,

ytveffis,

325, 827

Cp. 779.

62
his

GNOSTICISM
purpose a consideration of what, in modern terminology,
as ontological problems. of these anticipations of his

would be described
ficant that

Now it is signi
never
fulfilled,

many

and highly speculative, project occur in passages in which he is 1 In Clement s dealing with the Gnostics and their teaching. mind the dream of a complete and Christian scheme of all truth and all knowledge was never far removed from those

He Gnostic cosmologies, with which he was so familiar. was well acquainted with Valentinian aeonology and with the been speculative philosophy of Basilides, whose purpose has
pantheistic representation of the evolu 2 tions of the world in a series of necessary developments."

well described as a

"

such advanced and arbitrary theories it is evident s system would have differed in two particular It would have been far more closely related to respects. His cosmogony, for example, was to be an Scripture.
that

From

Clement

interpretation
3

opening section of the book of Heretical vagaries were to be corrected by the Genesis. sound rule of the sacred text, 4 and the whole scheme was
of

the

to be firmly established

books.

on the sure basis of the received So sanity and consistency and contact with reality

were to be maintained, even in those high, rare realms of pure ideas, where great minds had so often adventured themselves, only to end in the disaster of sublime absurdity.
It

was a further point of difference

started

that, while the Gnostics

commonly

with

the Absolute,

or

the

One,

and

attempted by grades of being, gradually descending from this source, to bridge the gap between remotest Infinity

and the immediately concrete Fact, Clement

to
1

purpose was

work
This
is
2

in the opposite direction,

progressing by a series

the case in pp. 448, 516, 520, 603-4.

159.
4

Mans el, Gnostic Heresies,

564-

3
6

Cp. the account of Basilides

fv

891. theories in Hippolytus,

vii.

20,

and the

passage in Clement, 524,

ITS

INFLUENCE ON CLEMENT

63

of orderly advances

lesser to the greater mysteries, 1 to the transcendently divine.

from the common to the rare, from the from physiology or ontology
fulfilled.

This high purpose was of course never

the

But
it,

very
all

fact

that
at

Clement so seriously entertained

once in his relation
to

differentiates

him

Gnosticism

from

the other champions of the orthodox and Catholic It constitutes him Basilides teaching of the Church. debtor as well as his critic, and justifies the view which

regards his work as a phase in the development of the 2 Gnosis. What survive among his writings as the Excerpta

and the Eclogue Prophetic^ are in the stage preparation for the great
ex Theodoto

no doubt

a further

dreams.

undertaking of his They are the fragmentary and partial fulfilment

expound and correct heretical speculation ; so yet impossible to distinguish between the words of Theodotus and the words of Clement, there is so little
of his desire to
it is

much sympathetic presentation, in short so wholly beyond our critical powers to say where the Valentinian ends and where the Catholic begins, that these curious literary remnants can only be interpreted as a farther
antagonism and so
it is

evidence of Clement s genius for discovering affinities and kindred teaching in quarters commonly regarded with sus
picion

and dislike. There runs in

this

way,

all

through Clement

higher

His de theology, a certain strain of Gnostic influence. 3 parture from the traditional eschatology of the Church, his
undue depreciation of
in speculation, his
1

historic reality, his evident interest unfeigned delight in some of the better

564 and other passages. Das Lehrsystem, das seine Schriften enthalten, bildet selbst ein neues wichtiges Moment in dem Entwiklungsgange der Gnosis," Baur, Die
2
"

christliche Gnosis^ p. 502. 3 On this subject see C.

Schmidt, op.

cit.,

526 sqq.

Harnack, Hist.

i.

261.

64

GNOSTICISM
"

examples of Gnostic exegesis, his profound belief in the Gnosis," together possibility and the value of the higher
with his bold appropriation of the term itself for that ideal of advanced Christian life, which the next chapter will describe, are all evidences of the extent to which a tendency he felt

had found lodgment in his own nature. Clement was more conscious of his opposition to Probably than of his Gnosticism obligation to its influence and re In any case, he would have been too cautious to sources.

bound

to criticise

parade his debts to Valentinus.

It

remains true that his

sympathies as well as his antagonisms must be equally con sidered, if we would understand his actual relationship to
those varied phases of speculative theology of which Gnosis was the common name.

The

desire

to

conserve

the

Christianity, by its isolation familiar feature of all Church history. The first instinct of every religious institution which believes in the value

integrity and purity of from alien influences, is a

of

its

own
"

spiritual heritage,
"

is

to preserve this unimpaired.

So the New Learning in all its forms is held suspect ; and the contrasts between the Church and the world, between the old and the new, between the sacred deposit and the impieties of innovation, are sharply drawn in the
interests of
is

orthodoxy.

The
is

traditional

and established

natural tendency of all that towards belief in the value

of possessions, towards distrust of the unexplored. Hence comes the honour which we pay to the Defenders of the
Faith, who may be kings or controversialists, inquisitors or saints. It is sufficient that they protect the sanctuary

from

the

invasion

of

unclean

through This is the normal and natural tendency of every religion, from the moment at which it becomes conscious of its
message.
Its

their devotion

Israel retains

abominations, and that her heritage secure.

champions, from Tertullian to our latter-day

NEW WINE AND OLD

conservatives,
instinct.

WINESKINS
this

65

express

and

formulate

fundamental

to a different line. is an early within of that other the Church, which tendency example is the corrective and correlative of the defensive attitude.

Clement belongs

He

involves the power of assimilation, as well as the of resistance, and the organism maintains its exist power ence as much by the appropriation of new forces as by selfHence comes the Church s need protection from its foes.
all life

For

for that minority of wider minds, who discover values as well as antagonisms in the external forces, and whose liberal standpoint, while it inevitably loses something of religious

intensity and conviction, finds compensating gains in the The areas which stricter orthodoxy has left unexplored.

temptation, to the
appeals
for

man who is conscious of truths and which the Church seems to have no ear and

no aptitude, is to go over to the side of the new forces, and to leave the more ancient institution to a rude and To remain within the traditional borders, tardy awakening.
and to plead in such an environment for those elements of truth, which are perverted or exaggerated but still vitally progressive in the teaching of the Church s rivals, is an ill rewarded, though it is an invaluable, service. Neither Clement nor Erasmus followed the line of an immediate
success
;

while many,
of

reception

honourable

prepared the way for the suspected truths, have accomplished this duty because they have preferred obscurity

who have

or unpopularity within the Church to recognition evident influence among the Heresies or Sects.

and more To few

types of ministry is Christianity more indebted than to that limited succession of teachers, who have never broken with
the old ways,
their Jerusalem,
VOL.

and never gone over to the foes or rivals of but who, after the manner of Jeremiah,
little

and often with equally

II.

popularity, have

still

discerned
5

66

GNOSTICISM
It is in this spirit

in the external forces a veritable manifestation of the divine

Clement opposes Gnosti cism. We are sometimes inclined to wonder why he did not break with the suspicious and querulous company of the Orthodoxasts, and boldly add another to the many He remained true to his earlier Valentinian schools. that may allegiance, and it was to Catholicity, whatever have meant in Alexandria at the time, not to Heresy, that his services were given. Yet he is the disciple of the heretics as well as their If the Gnostics had made Christianity possible opponent.
purpose.
that
If Gnosticism is really Hel for the educated, so did he. If Gnosticism held religion Clement a Hellene. was lenism,

to be a matter of ideas rather than of facts, so did the master

of the Catechetical School.

If

the heretics claimed that the

essence of advanced religion was the mind s apprehension of ultimate truth, Clement taught in principle the same scheme. It is hard to say whether criticism or assimilation

predominates

In any case, it is due to such recognition of the value and the necessity of higher teaching, that the Church was able to meet and outbid this competi
in his attitude. tion.

In controversy the truest victory lies with those who And, as the mind passes the appropriate the rival truth. of the s Church succeeding phases history in review, as we

watch the various tendencies of the changing ages exert their influence upon her development, the twofold process
of opposition and appropriation repeats itself with notable The Ecclesia docens is also the Ecclesia frequency.
"

"

"

discens,"

and

"

Fas est

et

ab hoste

doceri."

In the con

troversy with Arius, in the Revival of Learning, in the Reformation, in various Puritan movements, in the modern

growth of Science,

in the rise of the Critical Spirit, in the

evolution of Democracy, the Church has been confronted by tendencies, which have in varying degrees been diverse

LEARNER AND CRITIC

67

from her modes of thought and from her accepted traditions. From all, in varying degrees, she has had also to learn. In some instances her power of service for future ages has Clement s relation to depended on such assimilation. Gnosticism owes its interest to the fact that he so admirably exemplifies this twofold process, which is essential to
religious vitality. and a pioneer of

once the custodian of a heritage a new spirit, at once the champion of

is

He

at

continuity and the leader of wise and timely innovation. When, however, all allowance has been made for the

evident influence of Gnosticism upon Clement s interpreta tion of Christianity, the fact remains that his one serious In his works, as we controversy is with the Gnostics.
possess them, there is a constant sense of the obligation to confront and disprove the dangerous elements in their teaching ; and though he may think Nicolaus has been mis

represented, or discover wise exegesis in Heracleon, it is the errors and extravagances and immoralities of Gnosticism that even this liberal theologian has most in mind. Here,
then, so far as he ever plays the role of the controversialist, we see Clement challenging the Church s rivals and doing
battle for the truth.
his

The

spirit of
It

the

man comes out

avowed

in

conduct of the argument.

cannot be claimed that he

dislike

was specially effective

of rhetoric gave

as a fighter, or that his

him that power of conviction, which some times specially belongs to the quiet men whose words are few. He is too discursive, and too far removed from the
partisan temper, to be a giant of debate, and when Irenaeus or Tertullian make the same points in controversy, they do it, as a rule, with greater incisiveness and effect than
their

contemporary in Alexandria. But in one regard Clement s treatment of Gnosticism still remains a model for the religious teacher, who is
involved in controversy.
It
is

with the great and impor-

68
tant

GNOSTICISM
issues

he deals, and the motive is always the assertion of truth rather than rhetorical victory. The things
that

he really cares to

assert, as against the Gnostics,

are the

goodness

of

the

World

order,

human Freedom,

sane

morality, the spiritual possibilities of the unlearned, the true method of interpreting Scripture, the supremacy of the

one

God

of Christian belief.
s

It

did not accord either with

disposition, or with the scheme of his work, to an give adequate or final treatment to any one of these To a large extent he deals with them great issues.

Clement

he is fully conscious that some inevitable attaches to his handling of these themes. But superficiality at least he realises where the momentous issues lie, at least
incidentally
;

he places the controversy on its highest levels. Though he does not argue without a sense of humour, he is neither He does not personal, nor violent, nor consciously unfair.

make

great play with the minor mistakes or extravagances

of his opponents, and even when he is dealing with Carpocrates and his doctrine of free love, it cannot be said that he

throws mud.
not less

Probably the moral scandals of heresy were frequent in Alexandria than in Gaul, and Clement
as

must have known episodes quite

career of Marcus, which
is

discreditable

as the

But,

if

make
met
raised.

so fully portrayed in Irenaeus. he possessed such materials, Clement did not care to great use of them ; he may fairly be said to have

his

opponents on

the most serious issues they had

Tertullian was as familiar with Gnostic teaching as Clement was, but it is hard to conceive his treating any

Gnostic work with such deliberate care and honesty, as we discover in the Excerpta ex Theodoto. It is so easy and it is so common in theological controversy to impute motives, to take your opponent at his worst, to
achieve trivial victories, and to involve the central issues in the dust of irrelevant debate, that tribute is surely due to every

CLEMENT

AS A CONTROVERSIALIST
who

69

defender of tradition

has desired to convince rather

than to exasperate his opponents, and

who

has risen so far

above the common temper of debate, as to retain his width of view and his sense of proportion unimpaired through

many

contests.

The

Christian

Church cannot regard her

satisfac-

conduct of such discussions with any great sense of

faction.

Since party spirit reigned in Corinth, or Jerome poured out his vituperative wrath upon Jovinian, or Luther

regretted that Savonarola s feet were soiled with theological mud, a change for the better has come over religious
discussions,

and the modern controversialist

is

at least

more

cautious in his imputation of motives to an adversary. But it remains an inherent of all liability religious argument that,

where convictions are strong and the momentous character of the issues is keenly felt, our sense of fairness, our desire to think no evil, our limitation of interest to the vital elements
in discussion,

We

and, above all, our resolve to carry on the debate upon the highest and worthiest levels, are apt to fail. strive to defend the Kingdom by violence, and deem

sweet

reasonableness

useless

weapon

in

the

stress

of

combat.

temperament, to his nature, to his width of sympathy, Clement owed the possession of a finer spirit. If he did not stand out, like Athanasius or Luther, against
his

To

the world, he may at least be said, even in controversy, to have retained something of the mind of Christ. There are few more searching tests of the reality of a man s religion.
In closing our account of Clement s relation to Gnosti cism, it will be well to reassert and emphasise the true The Gnostics, whether of the significance of his position.

Oriental or the Hellenic type, were at their best religious people, with a sincere sense of the value of redemption, and
a true

allegiance

to

Christianity,

as

they

interpreted

its

message.

But they

held, and
all

it

was the one principal

element

common

to

phases of the Heresy, that ultimate

yc
spiritual values

GNOSTICISM
were
to be discovered in the realm of ideas,

knowledge, abstract being, eternal principles, and philosophic verity. They are the religious idealists of their day, and few authorities on the subject fail to remark the parallel

between these early disciples of the Absolute and the kindred idealism of Hegel and his company. But with the Gnostics the outcome of this philosophic creed was the
entire depreciation of all the lower elements of experience, not their transformation, or re-interpretation, through the pervading action of the higher principle. Plato and Eastern

Dualism helped them to

sequence,
this material

this result

world and

and, as an inevitable con its diverse elements, all

historical events, the

changing drama of the individual life, the

humanity of the Lord, the bodily vesture of the soul, and all that goes to give substance and colour to the common story of average men and women, are estimated in sharp contrast

and positively evil obstructions to the true The bulk and mass of human experience form the dark background, against which the higher activities of the elect minority of souls shine forth in painful and
as the valueless
life

of the soul.

illuminated rarity.

How
be
too,

far

Clement
the

is

known
is

to

reader
a

drawn in this from previous

direction

should

in

many

respects

member
;

of

He, chapters. the fraternity of

But, on the central issue, he belongs to and the Church he takes sides, against the Christianity drift and prepossessions of his nature, with Irenaeus and not with Valentinus. The world for him was God s good order. History had a divine purpose. The Lord entered the temporal and finite sphere. The Body had its value. For the multitude there was a Gospel. These, in spite of all apparent weakenings and abatements, are central articles
the

Gnosis.

in his creed.

It

is

in virtue of these convictions that his

Christianity dominates even his philosophy.

Therein, for

SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS POSITION

all his

71

of Nazareth, in claiming, as Jesus claimed, that the temporal and the material and the partial and the distinctively human factors
is

Hellenism, he

at

one with the

Man

in the
is

Cosmos have an

eternal significance

and value, which

revelation.

heightened and not depreciated by the pure light of The Gnostics sought freedom by the abandon
of

ment or elimination
associated elements.

the

material
is

world and

all

its

But there

a better way.

It is

the

principle of the Athanasian Hymn, when it speaks of the taking of the Manhood into God." Christianity teaches
"

indeed a real redemption, a possible spiritualisation of all elements and of all persons, under the higher influence of

which
sopher,

its
is

Gospel

tells.

Clement, Alexandrian and philo

in quest of

with the Church in this fundamental assertion.

To-day, when the world seems once again to be

a Gospel, his attitude has
its

peculiar interest.

CHAPTER XIV

THE HIGHER
THE Church

LIFE
The

decided on the whole against Gnosticism.

Church was probably right, and Clement, as the previous chapter has shown us, was here in accord with Catholicity. Yet the tendency, of which the organised Gnostic schools were the expression, had existed within the Church from
Saint Paul regarded Gnosis as a gift of Apostolic times. a that certain natural satisfaction went and knew the Spirit,
"
"

commonly with
in

stating the
diet

its possession. contrast between

He
the

had seen no
"

babes

"

difficulty in Christ,

whose

must be
s

come

to

man

stronger fare.

spiritual milk, and those who, being estate in understanding, could profit by the Among them that were perfect he, like
"

Clement, could

speak the wisdom of

God

in a

mystery."

The Fourth Gospel pointed clearly when it spoke of the further truth

in the

same direction into which the Spirit

"

should guide the Lord s followers, and of the many things which as yet they were unable to understand. From the
"

first

even the

spirit of

Christian brotherhood could never

distinction between the intelligent and the simple. "Not many wise men" were called, but there were a few. Even the Kingdom of Heaven was to
entirely obliterate the

have

its Scribes with their The differ keys of knowledge. ence between an Apollos and a Cephas did not always lead, as in Corinth, to open friction, but it must have been found

72

GNOS1S WITHIN
in

THE CHURCH

73

out

most of the early Christian communities and never with At the end of the first century its consequences.
1

Barnabas

is

familiar with the idea of an

;

esoteric Gnosis,

and Ignatius, 2 like Saint Paul, employed terminology of which fifty years later the heretical schools made abundant use. Celsus, too, writing in days when Gnosticism was at its height, knew that it was properly a
within the Church
8 growth inside the Church.

their

Thus the intelligence and the spirit of inquiry claimed own from the first. However deplorable the scandal
erratic

which

morals, brought was never wholly upon company freed from the men who added the love of knowledge to the love of Christ. The age was too intellectual for such a tendency to remain permanently ignored or in abeyance, but it had not hitherto been dominant or welcome. Charity had been more prized than learning. The Church believed too profoundly in her message to
the

speculation, or faithful, still their

advanced

Knowledge puffeth up was a much and when the strange teaching of warning Valentinus and Marcion began to spread, and the worse dangers identified with Carpocrates or Marcus became known, it grew more difficult than ever to plead the cause
"

"

speculate reiterated

upon

it.

where piety and unquestioning orthodoxy reigned supreme. The Episcopate was developed to secure the Church s heritage of truth, and it often seemed that this purpose was best attained by rigorous suppression of all questions and of all avoidable speculation.
of

knowledge within

circles

Hence,
mostly
1

in spite of the fact that the Apologists

had been
Irenaeus,

men
vi.

of culture, and that learned books of

ix. 8. s

"

E.g.

2 II.

For references see Lightfoot

Origen,
c.

Index, Apostolic Fathers, Part

II., vol.

(ii.)>

p. 1096, s.v. "Gnostic phraseology."

Celsum,

iii.

12.

74
Melito, and the
it

THE HIGHER
l
rest,"

LIFE

were current in the Church before was a bold step for Clement to propound his It characteristic theory of an orthodox Gnosis. may be doubted whether the heretics or the simpler Churchmen were the more startled by this unexpected appropriation of a suspected term. It does not appear that any writer from
his time,

the ecclesiastical standpoint had as yet hazarded the sugges tion, that the Gnostics were right in principle, and only wrong in their mistaken deductions. And there was evident alarm
asserted that simple faith was not the whole of Christianity, that higher ways of conduct, of vision, of spiritual life, and of Christian contemplation,
in

many minds when Clement

were open to all who had the patience and the grace to climb them. He was as wise as he was bold. To criticise Marcion, and to show that Basilides was in error, like all other de
structive enterprises,

was a negative method after all. If the converted Hellene was not to find rest for his question ing spirit in the Gnostic schools, where was he to turn ?

Back

to the old philosophies

s

of Philo

allegories

Or to the half-way house ? Or should he set out, as Clement

intellectual quest,

had done himself, on a tour of

taenus

upon There was no need, Clement assured him. The Church could meet his needs. In her keeping, latent, un
?

Rome,

or Tarsus, or Edessa, to light

a second

hoping in Pan-

appropriated, yet capable of carrying the human spirit to any heights on which the atmosphere was not too rare for
it

to breathe,

was the esoteric tradition of the Lord and His

all

Apostles, at

once the stimulus and the solution of

inquiry

after higher truth.

or few, by the liberty and the speculations and the prestige of the Gnostic schools, Clement offered an adequate alternative.
1

more intelligent pupils, many who had not been drawn away from Mother Church
his

To

H.E.,

v.

28.

STAGES OF
Orthodoxy, too, had
its

THE WAY
its

75

Gnosis and

advanced teaching.

Construction as well as criticism was a function of the Master.

There were further stages

attainable

on the Royal Way,

the lesser, fairer visions than greater Mysteries to succeed All these were open and offered, the soul had yet beheld.

without any new departure or any dangerous he points the road to the Higher Life.

alliances.

So

understand him best, if we recall the stages the Protrepticus and Ptedagogus guide us, and which through then trace the course of the Heavenward Journey onwards,
shall
till

We

at length all traces of the route are lost in the

of the Beatific Vision.

Like

all

splendours other great conceptions of

its

the

Spirit,

it

has

its

practical

and

ideal

aspects

we

may no more ask Clement than we would ask his masters, Christ or Plato, to draw the sharp defining line between the two. Roughly, and more for our own convenience than
because they are separate in actuality, we may distinguish the various stages on the road, or, as they may be otherwise
described, the several elements, or avenues, or manifesta tions, of the Higher Life.

About the
Faith.

who
have

It is is little question. for those of the was P<edagogus training had responded to this appeal. The further spiritual
initial

stage

there

The moral
is

advance, which
this

now

in question,

is

only open to those

who

elementary qualification. of the relation of teresting, if somewhat difficult, problem Faith to those more developed gifts and graces, Beneficence,
It is impos s utterances on this Clement subject into bring His use of terms is somewhat any rigid consistency.

Hence

arises

the in

Apathy, Vision, Knowledge, and their kind.

sible to
all

variable,

nor

perhaps
shall

is

he always

master of

his

language.

But we
as

probably do him no

injustice,

if

own we

recognise that he regarded

the connection between

Faith

and Knowledge

being close

and intimate, and yet on

76
occasion found
it

THE HIGHER

LIFE

necessary to lay considerable emphasis on the distinction between the two. His accounts vary with
his

point of

view, and are often

different without being

incompatible.

There is, for example, in the P<edagogus^ much that might seem at first sight to lead us to the identification of Faith and Knowledge. 1 Perfection, he says, is given with Baptism.
Faith is the completion of learning. Illumination comes with our admission to the Church, and illumination is Gnosis.

He

writes strongly against those

"

who
"

v/ould too completely

well-known passage All are equal, all are spiritual. It recalls the There seems to be no equal penny of the Lord s parable. allowance for grades and distinctions, nothing to hint at the
"

distinguish of Saint Paul. 2

milk

"

from

meat

in the

difference, elsewhere recognised,

lieves

and the man who knows. that no such levelling equality

between the man who be Yet the passage itself shows

is

intended.

He

is

writing

to oppose the Gnostics who, as Clement thought, drew their lines of demarcation far too and tended to inflate sharply,

the pride of the elect few and to despise the crowd. As against this vicious separation, he emphasises the unity of the Church. The essential matter is to be within the

boundaries of

life.

Only within

this spiritual area is full

attainment possible. It is more important that a man has within the of Light, than that he has or has not domain passed It seems, yet attained to this or that higher grade of vision.
then, that he
really asserting a conviction which elsewhere also finds frequent expression in his pages, the truth, namely,
is
3

that potentially the highest gifts of Christianity are for With the earliest faith, as soon as God is known at

all. all,

there comes the possibility of advancing to fullest intimacy

1

See especially the sixth chapter of the First Book, 112-29. Elsewhere he fully accepts this distinction, 659-60, 685.
593-

FAITH THE INITIAL STAGE

of

77

communion and
;

of vision. 1

Theoretically,

it

was a demo

human Gospel and human The choice. whole scheme of the capacity by Padagogus depends on the assumption that by the proper training anyone who possessed faith might, in proportion to the measure of their spiritual capacities, pass on to the
cratic

practically, attainment was limited by

The treatise, as we have seen, provided for the discipline ordinary believer in the world, and also fitted those who could profit sufficiently by it for the higher
higher
stages.

way

of certitude

and
"

intuition.

Moreover, the
never abandoned.

common

"

faith

is

never invalidated,
basis,

It

remains the foundation, the

the preparation for all later and nobler spiritual erections. 2 Without it, the higher gifts could not come to us. 3 It is
assimilated, like the milk of necessary, as the air we breathe our childhood, into the more settled and developed nature. 4
;

Nothing is further from Clement s mind than to sever Faith from Knowledge. It finds its completion and perfection by growing up into surer vision, only lost, as childhood is lost, 6 in For there is continuity in the spiritual life. maturity. 6 Faith itself becomes of a higher quality as the soul ascends.
In
for
its intrinsic
it

character

it is

not alien from the intelligence,

may be defined in terms which belong to the category of the mind. 7 If it is the logical assent of an independent 8 if it can into "certain it is soul," develop demonstration," not a we must hardly clearly quality divorced from reason
"

expect any such conception from so true a Hellene as the Stromatist. Rather we must believe that Clement conceived of Faith as the initial assent of man s nature, not least yet not solely of his to the intelligence, message and offer of the

Gospel.
1

There were many stages yet

2

for

him

to travel, but,
3
643>

8314

659, 736.

445.
6

TreVrjye;/ rrj iriffrt

yvwa-riKds, 456.
7

5
8

865.

608, 644.

444

78

THE HIGHER

LIFE

throughout them all, the significance and consequence of such primary illumination are never lost. So far, Clement is concerned to assert the fundamental So far, he claims unity of all phases of the Christian life.
for the ordinary believer spiritual kinship with the rare and elect minority, and holds that knowledge and faith may
"

l But within this be spoken of as in substance identical." common area he goes on to draw sharp contrasts, recurring

again to the thought of the Higher Way, that was possible To say that he erected a barrier 2 within the Church.
"

"

between the multitude and the few may be a partial, if not but at least the distinction is one to an untrue statement
;

which he deliberately gives great prominence. He is pre pared to deny that mere abstention from evil, characteristic as it was of the ordinary believer, could ever be identified
with Christian perfection. 3 He is prepared to deny that simple faith can be placed on a level with full knowledge,
for
"

to

know

is

more than
far
"

to

believe."

The range

of

domain of elementary beyond the is and which instruction, potentially ours perfection," in Baptism, must be kept carefully distinct from the realised attainment of the Higher Way. 5 The first spark of fire
Gnosis stretches
the

within our nature does but kindle

to

all

the higher faculties

first

move on
valued for

to

clearer
is

intuition.
its

Our

inclination
faith

towards salvation
is

not

full possession,

and while

its

and the rewards

prized for
its

precious results, for the liberation it brings it offers, knowledge or vision can only be
7

sake, for it is itself the best. Again and again there are hints of a cultivated aristocracy of finer spirits, suggestions of an aloofness from the many,

own

which bring Clement, for the moment, just as near as a

1

See Bigg, Christian Platonists, p. 82, n. See Harnack, Gesch. der Scheidewand."
"

altchrist. Litt.,
6

II. (ii.),

p. 4.

770.

794-

826.

8i8.

7789.

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE

"

79

Christian writer ought to come, to the dictum of Plato that is impossible, or to the Pharisees philosophic crowd
"
"

impatience with

this

multitude that knoweth not the

law."

No

doubt, in his essential purpose, Clement was right.

He

was claiming, as against those who sought to forbid the spirit s quest and to limit Christianity to what the uneducated could
receive, that all the
in

higher faculties of human nature, and the mind, had full title to recognition and particular satisfaction in the scheme of the Divine Society. So having

won

his convert

trained

from Paganism to the Church, and having him by the wise and temperate moral discipline

which was

common

to

all

him

to the

upward pathway

believers, he delights to point of the soul, to assure him that

the resources of Christianity are not exhausted in our mere acceptance of its first offers, and to disclose to his apt pupil the motives, the inward discipline, the outward line of

conduct, the training of the soul s vision, which should lead him from the domain of elementary belief to that perfect

and uninterrupted communion with ultimate reality which, though never doubtful, lay beyond the power of his pen and tongue to describe in terms of human speech. These things Eye hath not seen nor ear heard," he says, in apt 1 On these lines full Gnosis is set in strongest quotation. contrast to simple Faith. Let us again remember that it is forbidden to none, and that it involves and not invalidates
"

belief.

With

these cautions

we may

follow Clement in the

blessed and arduous ascent.

If we ask what is the motive power which determines such spiritual advance, a threefold answer must be given,

choice

though the process must play

desires
in

in reality
its

is

one.
is

To
of

part.

It
2

begin with, human ourselves that God

his

always involved progress towards perfection, and towards the more

s will is

we should be
615.

saved.

Man

2
;88>

8o

THE HIGHER

LIFE
Word,
just as
it

intimate association with the divine

was

involved in his acquirement of elementary faith. 1 Gnosis is chosen there is no compulsion on this higher road a
:

man

place among the separate company of the elect depends on the worthy decision of his soul. 2 So our noblest posses
s

sions are

won by

quest and

effort.

It

is

not merely a

The question of the nature that is given us. character does not alone determine its destiny.
again

make

of a

we
is

appeal
is

Again and reminded of the autonomy of the soul. The frequently with Clement, as it was principally with
are

The kingdom Jesus, to the central stronghold of the will. taken by violence. 3 ourselves must to some extent

We

be the motive power of our own advance. But the heights are not climbed by sheer decision alone.

Clement makes frequent reference to a trinity of predis These are posing forces, which assist or impel the will. 4 and Love. The relative measure of their Fear, Hope, influence is in some sense a key to our spiritual attainment for Fear, albeit a wholesome and legitimate motive, of which Clement has many commendatory things to say, is in the main the motive of the crowd, while even the Hope of the future is sometimes severely restricted to the ordinary 5 No doubt there are grades of fear, 6 and there believer. are hopes which can only be surrendered when they have
;

been merged in
to a point,

full

possession

but the distinction holds up

the dominant influence of
pass into this

and leaves Love

which
is

as

the higher way.

The lower motives

at
It is

supreme
satis

spiritual force, faction of the soul.

once the incentive and the

the love of affinity rather than of

desire.
1

It
rj

transforms the servant into the brother, friend,

TriffTis
rS>v

KOIV))
2

eAo/tepwi/,

833.

curio

f}

a lptffis

TTJS yycitrews,

835-

734, 832. 565, 654, 868-9.

445>

3
4

569

Cp.

fji6vov

rb irpoaipfTiKbv Kal
6

rrjv ayairfyv ffcpfa/j-fv,

7

623.

789.

450.

776-7.

FEAR, HOPE, LOVE

or son. 1
his
It takes a

81

man

out of himself to unite him with

3

understanding, and though Clement cannot naturally agree with Saint Paul that "knowledge shall vanish away," he is at one with the Apostle in holding that,
It surpasses

Lord. 2

when it becomes indistinguishable from Love never fails. All that he has to say of the Knowledge, final goal of human life, of that likeness to God on which
right

on

to the end,

the diverse teachings of Platonism, Judaism, and Christianity seemed so wonderfully to coincide, is an appeal to this power of Love, which has many degrees and many phases, but only

one conclusive end, the union, namely, of man with God. Clement is afraid, as a rule, of emotion. He could hardly have judged fairly, and he had certainly never experienced, the passionate longing of the soul for God in the form in which we see it in the Psalmists or in some later Hymns. This Yet, even with Clement, there is a warmth in love.

new
its

Christian power, so wholly diverse from the epw of Paganism, seems to touch the reason s colder nature with

own glow and

radiance.

If intellectualism

has in other

respects led

Clement

recognising, by supreme influence

lay in

astray, it has at least not hindered him instinct rather than from argument, that the

of Christianity

upon human

character

Love.

yet it is not alone through deliberate choice and the love of the highest that spiritual progress is secured. Clement is no stranger to that paradox of the inner life,

And

which has

its

simplest expression in the

his favourite Apostle.

Human

of yet not I will and human love are,

"

"

I,

when viewed from another standpoint, indistinguishable from the grace and the care of God. So divine action must
also be recognised in all stages of the soul s ascent.
1

We

542.
3
4

2
777>

872.

a7cur>7

Kvpitarart] Troops
a.ydvri y

Oep/j.6v rt
II.

xp^A10 v

VOL.

he does not say yvctxrews. Frag, in Migne, Pair. Gr&c., ix. 773. 6
eVt<rT^/tr;s

82

THE HIGHER
1

LIFE
we
are also chosen

choose, like Mary, the better part, but

for
it.
"

thou canst the mystic line, Severing rightly His from thine."
if

Draw

We
for

are taken back

Word
all

again to the thought of the divine as the universal and unfailing teacher of humanity, that is said of the earliest guidance of the P<edagogus
"

holds good of that later training towards perfection, when the Master come into play. With higher functions of the
"

out the divine grace we cannot attain. The Father draws His children to Himself. 2 If on the human side knowledge

must be sought, on the divine it is given as a grace. 3 Plato was right our best things come to us by divine appoint ment. 4 Faith, Hope, and Love are sacred bonds, which draw us with our Lord upwards into the Holy Presence. 5 The God who cares for all men bestows peculiar aid and
:

oversight

Clement s the care and guidance and inspiration of the unseen Teacher, without which, indeed, human wills and even human love must prove of So the motive power, which impels the spirit slight avail.

upon the Gnostic soul. happy mind dwell upon

In

such

terms

does

upward course, has its threefold character. It is a question of man s choice, and of man s love, and not less of the grace of God. And these three are one. The
upon
its

resultant

is a single inward force, tending ever heavenwards. Such being the motives of the higher way, what are its features or stages ? Such a life will best be considered on its inner side, before we ask what manner of man Clement s Gnostic must have appeared to the outer world. It is remarkable to observe how moral qualities preponderate in his description of it. The goal was vision, pure uninter

rupted
1

communion with God

803.
2 5

reality, a

final
3 6

phase of

647, 696.
86s.

696.

689, 914. 824, 860.

VISION
spiritual life, for

DEPENDS ON CHARACTER

83

than any other.

which Platonic language was less inadequate And Clement himself was a man of the mind, Hellenic, Alexandrine, even when he was most Yet the upward way was largely distinguished Christian.

by its virtues of character. Choice, disposition, affections, inward freedom, count for more than knowledge or mere intellect even the philosophy that was so dear to the
:

1 Thus he included only as an addition to the feast. that of purity of Christianity, recognises the great principle heart is the condition of the divine vision, that it is through

writer

is

doing

God

s will

that

we come

to understand
retain their

His

truths.

Hence conduct and morality

importance

far

beyond the preliminary stages described in the Padagogus. Even in the later books of the Stromateis it is with a dis cussion on character, with a sketch of the greatness and
3 beauty of the Gnostic s disposition, that we are concerned. Speaking of his treatment of such subjects, he compares his

work

on the other to that of a sculptor modelling a figure his hints and occasional of Gnostic vision hand, insight are
:

given only sporadically, here and there, as a

4

man might

scatter seeds. Again we notice how superficial is the view which would regard Clement s Christianity as purely intel His ideal of the higher life may be open to many lectual. criticisms, but at least it provided for the heart and character and not only for the mind. Nor again was there any doubt in Clement s mind about

will

the distance and the difficulty of the spiritual goal. write with a generous enthusiasm on the universal

He

summons, on the Church to choose

1

free right of the humblest member of the this upward path. But let none imagine

824.
2

Cp.

troiovvrfs

rit

Qe\r)fAa

yivAffKointv,

338

and
:

<f>6as

fKiivo TO 4v
vii. 17.

ry

fyyct>6fjievov

CK TTJS KOTO TOS

eWoAos

UTTO/COTJS,

531

Cp.

St John

735, 827.

*9oi.

84
that
it

THE HIGHER
is

LIFE
its
"

an easy journey, or that he may travel carelessly, without sacrifice and without effort.
not,"

We

stages

may

lifted

he writes in a beautiful and impressive passage, "be must up and transported to our journey s end.

We

travel there

on
1

narrow

way."

foot, passing over all the distance of the And though elsewhere he tells us that it is

man who has faith to go on to knowledge, and allows that the soul has wings, 2 there is constant mention also of the force and effort," of the difficulty and
natural to the
"

long toil, of the tedious training, through which the ascent 3 is made. It is as true of the soul s highest needs, as it is
true of the
a

most elementary wants, that, figuratively, 4 only satisfy them "by the sweat of his brow." In spite of all his optimism and all the even tenor of his happy disposition, Clement must have known something of

body

man

shall

the inward pain of spiritual effort. To his disciples he the as he understands it, but he never points highest way

deludes them with the false assurance that

all

it is all

easy or

pleasant, or that the

little

Promised Land

lies

very near.

He

would have had

patience with the

common

delusion

of the religious Philistine, that the interior life is a facile undertaking for those who have the inclination and the time.
principal element in this way of attainment was the The island of Crete, so purification of the soul from evil. said the naturalists, sheltered no beasts of prey. 5 The

Gnostic soul was to resemble this happy country and to be as free as Crete from It is not the devastating influences.
consciousness of moral guilt, still less the fear of future The obligation to purity penalties, that occasions this rule. lies in the fact that it is the condition of vision. This is
the
1

old
627.
filq.

Platonic principle, that

pure truth can only be

2

696, 819.

3
4

Kal ic6v(?,

675

& iro\\f /cafiary,

788

810 iro\\ris rrjs iratSeiaj, 794.

6

736.

997-

THE CLEANSING OF THE SOUL

85

apprehended by the pure soul. Such KaOapcrts, then, is a It process, a long process, carried out with an end in view. in s is an Clement understanding of the Higher equivalent, Life, of what the pagan world demanded in preparation for
the
1

Mysteries.

The Pythagoreans, Apollonius

of

Tyana

for example,

had always recognised the necessity of such inward cleansing for the religious and philosophic aspirant,

while the prominence of the similar principle in Buddhism Clement under some such influences had is well known.

probably learned this truth before he became a Christian. On few points is he more convinced than on the
impossibility of beholding the Highest without this inward Deeds morally wrong, ideas speculatively false, purity.

must
soil is

As silver is rid of its alloy, as the alike go. 3 rid of its weeds, so is it with the soul. The practice
is

of positive virtue 4 evil. God s true

inseparable from the elimination of priests are always the pure in heart
:

they are the veritable Israelites. for forgiveness and for future

Gnostic prays alike freedom from sin, 6 but the

The

dread of penalties

is

with his intense desire to attain.

clearly a slight influence in comparison The lustrations of the

rite of

Christianity are alike symbolical expressions of that inward purity, which renders the soul fit for its final entry on the Blessed Life. 7 For the process has its term and completion. At last there

High

Priest

and the Baptismal

comes a

rest

from constant cleansing

"

we

pass

beyond

it

to

a higher stage. 8

Longa dies, perfecto temporis Concretam exemit labem."

It
1

orbe,

is

commonly
Cp>

said

that

Clement
i.

is

defective in his
;

844-5.
2 6

Philostratus,
3
7

Vita Apollonii,
4

ii.

30

Zeller,

Die

Philosophic der Griechen^

877791. 770-

III. (ii.),

145 (3te Auflage).

4438

635, 794a0cp<ra>y,

628, 669-70.

7T67rau/ie//Oi rrjs

865.

86
sense of Sin.

THE HIGHER

LIFE
his different

But no reader can gather together

statements on this purification of the soul, without discerning that in reality his spiritual standard is as high and exacting as that of many writers of other schools, who have dwelt,
as

Clement never cared to dwell, on the internal terrors of The the conscience and the after sufferings of the damned. the bondage of Egypt counts with him for but little
:
"

Promised Land with all its far distances Let the dead," he might makes him forget the past.
splendour of the

have told his hearers,

"

bury
this

their

dead."

The
entire

process of purification leads at last to a state of

"Apathy."

Of

inward condition Clement has

his

much

to say.

It is

one of
for

dominant ideas

in the

moral

domain.

His fondness

the conception

has

laid

him

open to much

criticism. Perhaps it is peculiarly difficult for western minds, under modern conditions, to be fair or Clement held patient in their estimate of this principle.
that, in

proportion as the soul attained to purity,

of the

it

acquired
7rdOo$

independence
all

passions and

affections.

For

risk of a man s meant liability to external influence, all true self, which to the Greek was his reason, being over powered by the solicitations that came to him chiefly, though

not exclusively, through the channels of sense.

at so

To

arrive

and conclusive freedom of the spirit, the absolute liberty essential for perfect con This ideal is, of course, as well a gradual templation. it is indeed another aspect of purification and process
final
:

pure and so calm a state no interior response, was the

that

all

these influences found

Human nature is to strip off the appetites of discipline. the flesh, and the soul to be gradually separated from the 1 The moderate and regulated condition of the body.
desires gives way at length to a state in which the desires 2 Neither courage, are not so much regulated as non-existent.
1

686.

2
775>

777-

APATHY
nor
grief,

87

remain

nor anger, nor jealousy, nor any sort of passion, even ; ordinary affection must go with the rest. In such a condition our nature is incapable of feeling resentment, is conscious of no distinction between a sister
a wife, regards all
1

and

recognition with
grace.

human beauty with the same cold which we may be conscious of a statue s

detachment appears,

Strangely negative as such a state of passionless it is yet in reality only the obverse
2

To attain side of the higher life of renewed Humanity. that it becomes, not an occasional mood it so completely
endeavour, but a permanent and unvarying condition of unruffled inward serenity, is to be once and for
nor a
difficult
all

master and conqueror of the passions, and the fully

for the uninterrupted and unsatiating qualified aspirant 3 At times Clement is carried away vision of God Himself.

by

his

ideal, at

facts

and

limitations.

times he seems drawn back by mundane It may be of interest to compare his

extreme statements with his concessions and his reactions in

the direction of average possibility. On the one hand, we are told of a state in which desire has actually ceased to occupy its place in human nature. 4 find the strange suggestion of a passionless marriage, entered upon purely for the discipline which wedded life

We

affords.

We are

in

such a character. 6

told that even bravery has no proper place The condition of the soul becomes so

entirely

unified, that it is unaffected by the 7 of normal variations experience and cosmic process. shifting It seems to have passed beyond the stage at which
"

homogeneous and

Life, like a

dome

of many-coloured glass,
Eternity."

Stains the white radiance of

And
1

such things apparently are more than a dream and a

2
8s6>

616, 884.
5

3 7
776>

58l)

886

4
.

_ 537 8

869.

633) 694)

777<

88
vision
:

THE HIGHER
while

LIFE
this

we

are

still

in the

body, he says,
1

Apathy

and

entire Tranquillity may be ours. Side by side with such statements

its

admissions which abate

difference, he allows,

must be placed many There is a exacting idealism.

between the passionless nature of the

Lord and man

case of
3

human

2 In the hardly acquired imitation of it. nature the process is lifelong and has many

stages.

And

of

mankind, who
our
"

he must indeed be different from the average can really treat with indifference the
life.
4

than once he seems to be satis which does not exclude the normal Apathy and necessary demands of our nature. More than once he
aSidfpopa of
fied

More
"

with an

recognises the inevitable limitations of the present state 5 His it must be so far as is possible for human nature." in his of so manifest treatment of such view, general sanity
:
"

subjects as
fail

marriage, property, and martyrdom, does not him here, and though he never loses sight of the summits, he remembers that the higher way must not be too abrupt
for the steps of the traveller to climb. doubt his theory leads him

No

sistencies.

He

has

not

really

into frequent incon thought out the relation

of the

two phases,

ideal

and

practical, of his
"

conception as
to

above described.

his perfect gladness character in one passage, only to claim it for him else where. 6 And when the worst has been said about Pleasure,
"

He

denies

it

is

allowed that the Christian Gnostic has pleasures of his

own. Once at least he seems to have felt the difficulty, and makes a hardly successful attempt to prove that Christian love has in it no element of desire. 7 But he had made of
course, not without
1

good authority, the

3

initial

mistake of
4

588.
5

156, 623, 875.

569, 810, 836.

487a-vfjurda-xa

fls %(rov 8vva.fj.is,

8.
vt]

642

cp. 500, 792.

Even the Christian Gnostic

7

denied, 777

claimed, 789, 835, 894.

776-7.

THE ASCETIC ELEMENT

IN

CLEMENT

89

drawing his line, not between higher and lower objects of The desire, but between desire as such and the reason.
consequences of this are frequently evident, notably so in relation to the divine nature, for along with his reiterated assertion that God and even the incarnate Word are wholly
the many references passionless and without affection, go to the divine sympathy and to the condescension of the

Word, who
creature
s

for

man

salvation

becomes

liable

to

TrdOij,

in subject, at least
life.
1

some measure, to the conditions of the The Stoic and Christian elements are

clearly not entirely fused.

Yet we must not blame Clement too severely for this in his ideal of the Higher Life. He truly Hellenic element could hardly have been the man he was, had he shed entirely, on his entry into the Church, all that suspicion of the senses, all that distrust of the changing shows and the evanescent
pleasures of our life, which, since the days of Heraclitus, had been so fundamental a principle with the most serious
his race. spirits of
"

Eheu

eheu

mundi

vita,
"

Quare me

delectas ita

This twelfth-century

hymn shows how

deeply the ascetic,

world-renouncing temper was to strike its roots in Chris all his extreme demands for tianity, and Clement, with far less was rigorous in his asceticism than much Apathy," of the Gnosticism of his day, and much of the Monasticism that came later. Moreover, we know something of his As he watched the life of the volatile surroundings. of Alexandria, and marked on how slight grounds populace
"

they could be stirred to pillage Jewish houses or to shout for the lives of martyrs, as he beheld them carried beyond all
1

He

finds in

God

TO

els

y^as

o-u/xTraflc j,

956.

Cp. &

ffv fj.tr ad^s

Oeos,

2$l.

He

is

aware of the meet it.

difficulty involved, 686-7.

But his explanation does not really

90

THE HIGHER

LIFE

control by the excitements of the theatre or the horse-race, or by sensuous music, or inflammatory rhetoric, or again, as

he reflected on the small percentage of those

philosophy, to

who

professed

and fame and the entry into even lower and great houses, things, were in reality matters of indifference, he may well have felt that no true and full salvation of the spirit within man was possible, until by his own efforts or the divine grace he attained to freedom from external things, and made his exodus from that restless, divided, variable realm of 7ra$/, of which he remembered 1 So his environment co-operated that Egypt was a type. with the Stoicism he had heard Pantaenus teach, and the result was his strange portrayal of the Christian Gnostic as one who has no emotions and responds to no appeal, seeming to anticipate the disembodied life on earth, and to be as pure and faultless and inhuman as the statue to which he was compared. 2 And yet Clement was a man of
very different type himself.

whom money

And, from his own standpoint, he had a further justifica For this "Apathy" was a quality common to the divine and human natures, a point in which man s life could
tion.

through long training in a measure resemble the life of God. The end of all our efforts, as he had learned from many Plato in the sources to conceive it, was likeness to God.

well-known passage in the Th#<etetus 3 the Book of Genesis Let us make man in our image, after our in the saying, Philo again as he had fused these two strains likeness 4 Be imitators of teaching, and Saint Paul in his admonition, I am of had all of me, as Christ," recognised that to attain first to the image and then to the likeness of God was the 5 Clement definitely accords true goal of the human spirit.
;
"
"

"

453.

Cp. 678.

Egypt was

TOV dtiov \6yov

3

2
4

827.

Plato, ThacEt., 176.

ii.

See Drummond, Philo Judceus^

287.

500-2.

MAN MAY

RISE

TO DIVINITY
De
l

91

with this teaching, drawing, as

its

no careful line between its moral aspects in Christianity, but recurring again and if somewhat elastic again to the familiar and suggestive,

has pointed out } intellectual aspects in Plato and

Faye

worth noting, how frequently this like God is mentioned in connection with 2 The two can hardly be said to have been "Apathy." identical, for resemblance to the divine nature must have
definition.
It
is

ness

of

man

to

involved

much

else

elements of a more positive character,

and a fuller measure of the abundant life. But of these it was not They be easy to speak in human language. the lies of that domain to the range beyond eye and longed
ear and understanding. Hence, in default of any detailed account of the soul s ultimate estate, this somewhat negative

remains as a principal feature in his sketch of To possess it is so far to resemble spiritual attainment.
"

"

Apathy

God.

And
he

then, in language which sounds strange to our ears, passes even beyond this conception of resemblance.

This higher way of the soul leads to more than similarity. It issues at last in an actual identity with God, a state in

which man can be described

as

being God.

That man was

to be equal with the angels, or that God was to make His shrine within human nature, or that there was an ancient

and inborn

affinity in

man

with heaven, are claims

made

fre

Clement, like quently by Religion and Philosophy alike. other Greek Fathers, goes beyond them he says it is possible for the Gnostic to become God, and to walk about as a god
;

appeals in support to language used by Heraclitus and by Plato and to the Psalmist s words, used also by the Lord, I said far the ye are gods."
in
flesh.
"

human

He

How

Cltment
TOVT(p

d Alexandrie,
r^

Svyarbv

rp6ircf

295, n. 3. rbv yviaffriK^v

542, 632-3, 836, 883, 886.

tfSri

yeveadai

flerfy,

632.

et>

crapitl

ire pnr

oKvv

6(6$, 894.

Cp. 797, 830.

92
deification of the

THE HIGHER
that

LIFE

minds

Emperors, or the conviction of thoughtful many of the gods of Olympus had originally

been men, contributed to make such a conception possible, it is hard to It was generally allowed in the Greek say. Church it was to be found even in Western writers, and
;

survived,

Harnack

tells us, till

Saint Augustine brought

it

to

an end. 1

reduction in our conception of the godhead is Clement, after certainly involved in such phraseology. his manner, finds no difficulty in asserting elsewhere that
there
is

Some

is

no identity between divine and human

virtue.

It

hard to say exactly It is not his OeoTToiria-is.

how much he intended by this own invention. Here, as often, he

is In using one of the conceptions current in his world. other respects his supreme Deity is not too near, but rather

too remote, from

human
the

life.

The

boldness of his claim,

however
ence.

startling to western ears, implies

no

real irrever

He

follows

progress

of

the

spirit

along the

further than

higher way, and if faith and hope carry him somewhat we can accompany him, we should rather envy his optimism than criticise his terms.

One
is

of the
in

seen
a

most beautiful traits in this ideal character Clement s account of the Gnostic s prayers. 3

Such

man

conception

prays indeed with the understanding, for his of God is true, and his standard of things

desirable rests

on reality. Hence he prays, not as ordinary men, for boons that may prove disastrous, but for such spiritual gifts as forgiveness, freedom from sin, indifference

to things indifferent, independence of the flesh, knowledge of the will of God. will pray aloud, sharing the common petitions of the faithful, which are the true

He

"

incense,
1

composed
in

of

many tongues and

p.

"

voices

4
;

or,

See the note

;

Hort and Mayor,

3

203,

and Harnack, Hist.

4

i.

119
2

iii.

164, n.

886.

See esp. 853-61, 876, 880.

850.

THE GNOSTICS PRAYERS

He

93

preferably, he will pray silently, without utterance, speak is familiar with the paradox ing in the heart to God.

involved in prayer that, although God knows our wants before they are uttered, and gives, unasked, every good gift
to those

who are fit to receive it ; still prayer, even in the sense of petition, is right and has its use and function in In one passage Clement makes the the spiritual economy. illuminating observation that prayer is a return of Pro
itself,

vidence upon

the

human

will

being so identified with

is

the divine that

God
"

receives back the

own purpose from

anticipation of the

ourselves.

This
"

suggestion of His almost a beautiful

But indeed,

Da quod jubes though God gives

of Saint Augustine. to such a soul in re

sponse to inward desires and thoughts, the higher purpose of prayer is not any ulterior end even of a spiritual character
;

it is

rather a converse with

God and
is

precious on
set

its

own

account.
places a man
;

Such communion

independent of

times and

alone or in company, walking or reading or at rest,

may

hold this inward

as

communion with God,

add.

consciously,"

we perhaps should
is
"

So

all life

sub becomes
"

a festival,
all

without ceasing," and, avoiding the soul lives in such higher fellowship, wordy petitions, not without humility, for there is gratefully, hopefully, yet
risk of falling even on the higher road. There is a further touch of humility in Clement s inclusion of himself among the number of those, who may be benefited by the prayers 1 of the pure in soul. This is a Christian sentiment and

and prayer

over against two prayers, 2 one that of a Martyr, the other that of a Greek Athlete, both of which are offered

must be

set

as

examples,

philosophic

though indeed there is a certain ring of complacency in them, more consonant, as

Mayor

with the

points out, with the class-room of Epictetus than But, this apart, there is spirit of the Gospel.
1

880.

588, 860.

94

THE HIGHER
true
s

LIFE
Christian

much

piety in

Clement
It

account of the

Gnostic

prayers.

contains hardly anything that jars

is specially sug for all those more thoughtful minds, which have long gestive One such since abandoned the battery theory of prayer."
"

upon modern

feeling on the subject, and

spirit

Clement found

in his

own day

in
s

Origen, whose
teaching.

De

Oratione bears clear traces of his master

stages and tendencies of the higher life, as And yet throughout it on its inner side. we are never allowed to forget that it has its outward as well as its inward aspects, and may be observed and read of men. Though in a sense this true Gnostic has left the world and is away from home to be with the Lord," he is

These are the Clement describes

"

liable to constant recall, as the ties of a family, the wants of his neighbours, the claims of citizenship, the pressure of circumstances, or the care of pupils, or the interests of cultivated men, remind him that he has not yet received his
still

final

summons

to

character,

taking market-place, and the home, could not fail impression on the mind alike of the intelligent pagan and of have frequent hints in the average Churchman.

its

depart and be share in the

with
affairs

Christ.

Such a

of

the city, the to leave an

We

Clement
life

pages as to

its

these together,

we may

see

most notable features. Putting what manner of man this higher

produced in the sight, not of God, but of his neighbours. What must have struck the observer most was the fact that this lover of contemplation was also constantly active in well-doing. He would extol Apathy, and then
puzzle his hearers by some act of charity, or by the earnest
exhortation of a younger friend, or by his delight in the 1 instruction of a child. His days were full of fair deeds ;
his kindly consideration for inferiors

he had none of the clever

1

man

was often remarked contempt for simple and

861, 880-1.

THE SAINT
stupid
souls.
as
1

AS

THE WORLD SAW HIM

95

knowledge

For good deeds, Clement knew, follow 2 its shadow follows the body. Even in God
3

And he brings a thoroughly Hellenic principle into his Christian ideal by asserting that, though a man may do without knowing, in no case can a
beneficent action never ceases.

So the world could take know doing.* of this consecrated ledge visionary, for indeed he differed from other men not so much in the things he did, as in the

man know without

manner
and

of his doing them.

intelligent.

Men

action was always conscious felt that the motive of his deeds was

His

often different from their own, that he saw more significance in common duties, and discerned in circumstances the order

martyrdom, if it came unfaltering courage, though he thought it 5 to seek it, and took no pride in irrational bravery. wrong As to details, he was frequently a vegetarian 6 on the other hand, he might on occasion be met at a banquet where, like his Master, he had the art of leading conversation to more serious themes and levels. He was more often than not a married man and, if public positions were offered 7 filled them sometimes him, remarkably well. Though usually a man of frugal habit, he was never known to neglect the body s actual needs its care, he recognised, was a duty for the sake of the soul it enshrined. 8 People who had heard him accused of asceticism and detachment from ordi nary interests, were surprised, when they met him, to find that he would discuss philosophy or music or geometry or
of the will of
to
that,

God.

He

would

face

with

even agriculture 9 with them, and that, if things went well with him, he accepted his prosperity gratefully, though it
left
still

his

nature quite unspoiled. 10

his

They

felt this saint

was

human, and even

607, 678-9, 779, 873.

enemies knew
2

that,

notwithstanding
3
792<

882

Stahlin,
8

iii.

212.

6 9

569, 871.

6
10

573) 779-

773-

850. 688.

837, 874.

96
his

THE HIGHER

LIFE

advanced and illuminated piety, he might be found sharing the common prayers and worship of slaves and sailors and women and country labourers, who formed the Church s rank and file. 1 So far he was in the world and even of it.

But they never saw him

shows. 2

in the theatre or at the gladiatorial

they were often conscious that in many other ways he was different from themselves, that envy and anger and resentment had less place in his nature, that he was
they dreaded and the pleasures they most enjoyed, that he was less influenced by flattery or blame or ill repute or superstition, that he had the
the

And

somehow above

persecutions

strength of an inward purpose from which none could move him, and that living in the midst of the great city, and
lawful interests, he was still at heart a stranger 3 amongst them, with his real home elsewhere. To whatever high degree of contemplative vision and

sharing

all its

communion such

a character might be led, this outward

life

of active well-doing was never here to be forgotten or The association of practical activity with the neglected. 4 higher grades of insight is asserted with notable insistence.

These two aspects of the perfect life, Activity and Knowledge, which, since they were first distinguished by Aristotle, have never again been entirely unified, are to some extent combined in Clement s scheme, when he dwells on the Gnostic s delight in imparting higher truth. It is the crown of his activity to train others like himself and to fashion, as Pantaenus and our Stromatist himself had done, the successors who should carry on his work. 6 Nowhere does the Gnostic influence on others take
Contemplation
is
"

meliorative."

so high a form, as in this ministry of spirit to spirit, mind to mind. Clement s own position and career give colour here to his ideal, and there
1

is

something not only pardonable

2

797, 860.

852.
5

3 6

878.

453-4, 581, 796, 801, 895.

830.

862-4.

THE GOAL

IS

VISION

97

but noble in the delight with which he magnifies his office and dwells on the dignity of the Gnostic calling. It is a personal touch, which gives concrete reality to his concep Of one at least of the outward aspects of this life tion. Clement s contemporaries and fellow-citizens must have learned something from his own labours and "conversation."

Under such guidance we have followed

Christian of

the

Gnostic

domain of primary and simple Faith. We have analysed the motives which impel him, his choice, his Love, the Grace of God. We have seen him pass through the many and we phases of Purification to the high estate of Apathy
;

Way.

We

Alexandria along the stages of the Higher have traced his upward journey from the

have also looked upon

exterior
aspects,
its

this

type of spiritual
its

life

in

its

activity, dignified It remains to things. gather up the fragmentary hints which are given us of the ultimate goal of this journey of favoured souls. shall not be able

beneficence,

its

share

in

common

We

fully to understand or describe that this could not be done.

it,

for

Clement knew well

learn a
little

But we may

more
vision

of

its

direction

and
is

its

fail,

and the way

character, before words and lost in the glory of the Light

ineffable.

Throughout his account of the higher life, Clement never allows us to forget for long that Vision, Insight, Contemplation, Gnosis for the reality has many names
are always the

end in view. Much as he says about Love and Beneficence and Salvation and Purity, these are not the
ultimate criteria of attainment they are the conditions of Vision or, as in the case of Love, they pass into it and are valued, if the question is pressed home, for their relation to
:

it.

1 end, he says, is Contemplation. 2 distinguishing feature of true well-being.

The

Gnosis
It
is

is

the

a sort of

T& TeA.cs

is

Bewpiav Trcpototmu, 883.

opos fvSat^ovias^ 733.

VOL.

II.

98
perfection of
is

THE HIGHER
man
as

LIFE
is
2

man. 1

Obedience

good, Beneficence

good, but Contemplation stands

first.

The knowledge

of

God and

to be in fact identical.

eternal salvation are so inseparably connected as But if their severance were possible,

and the Gnostic were offered his choice between the two, it is on the knowledge of God that, without a moment s 3 This is the final stage of his choice would fall. hesitation, the soul s progress, foreseen in the Protrepticus and the
and never for long out of the writer s mind, he discusses marriage or digresses into a diatribe even when on plagiarism. But Gnosis may be recognised as such, even
P<edagoguS)

in

its

earlier

manifestations.

Initiation

into
4

the

lesser
spirit

Mysteries precedes admission to the greater.

The

and aptitude of the Gnostic are revealed

in

his

power

to

find profit in the old philosophies, or to pierce below the language and symbolism of Scripture to its hidden meaning,

or to prove himself a worthy recipient of the sacred trust 5 These are but his of the esoteric tradition of the Church.
TrpoyvjULvacr/uLaTa

It

is

in such preliminary exercises that

the
its

highest faculty in his nature finds its training

foretaste of the

and has
this
is

immortal
s

state.

Three

characteristic

features

seem

to

belong to
of these

final stage of

the soul

attainment.

The

first

its

permanence.

among
ence.

the
"

The fluctuations of our highest moods are common disappointments of all inward experi No human faculty," complained Aristotle, can
"

"A little while and activity." and little while and a again ye shall ye We are taken beyond these limitations, when see me." Clement speaks of an abiding and unalterable state of con

maintain
shall

continuous

not see

me

"

"

templation
of a
1

of an exercise of vision that of

is

uninterrupted

permanence
2

communion
3

that corresponds with our

4

864.

453.
6

626.

See Ch.
7

xxi., p. 309.

564.
8

348, 376, 678, 779-

624.

613.

Ethics,

x. 4.

FINALITY,

COMMUNION, PEACE

99

1 Such a phase of experience extremest hopes and prayers. To is not so much an activity of our being as a state. attain it is to reach a spiritual condition absolutely unified,

The feast of unending vision absolutely free from change. 3 The soul becomes, rather never ceases and never cloys.
It attains to indefectibility, and experiences. lives eternally on the levels where neither loss, nor power

than has,

its

of abatement, can touch

its

blest estate.

Such

is

the per
s

manence of ultimate and perfect Gnosis.

The second

characteristic

comes out

in

Clement

refer

Both in ences to the union of the spirit with its object. love and in understanding there is a certain identification
of

man

in so far as this
see.
it

individual nature with the external fact or person, are what we is loved or understood.

We

There

is

a certain kinship

between the mind and what

apprehends.
it,

The
is

to conceive

stage of vision, as Clement seems the fulfilment of this principle in its comfinal

have already seen how the increasing pletest term. likeness of the soul to God issues, at last, in a condition in
rather than resembles, the divine. most intimate phase of his being s contact with
is,

We

which

man

It is

the

supreme
less

reality.

It
"

is

more than knowledge, though

it

is

than

ecstasy
in

perhaps, is the nearest equivalent the English, though conception never loses a certain intellectualist tone. Man has intercourse with the divine
:

communion,"

and shares
"

its

holy nature.
"

"

The

the pure in heart

is

consummated

in fellowship
all

apprehensive vision of with God. 6

We
the

close with all

we

love,"

and with
"

we know.

It

is

Pauline conception of seeing face to face," the entire accord and harmony that unites the soul to its

kindred environment. 7

Language
2

is

poor medium for

portraying the final intimacy of the soul with God.

1

There

77i, 789, 859.

*

776-7835-

3
7

835-

5 8i.

581.

873.

COIL CHRISTI
ms, WAJ.

TORONTO*

TOO
is

THE HIGHER

LIFE

more, Clement knows, than he can say ; it is significant that he can only conduct the spiritual traveller up to the

vestibule of the sanctuary. do the rest. 1

The

great

High

Priest

must

Yet of one other point we are assured.

estate of spiritual

This permanent
s final

communion

is

the soul

the tranquillity the philosopher had desired ; remaining surely somewhere for the people of

All peace. all the rest

God, of
;

which old Canaan had been such a disappointing type all the calm which Alexandrian mariners had found for a
time in the quiet waters of
its

great harbour, are gathered

quest Quietness and rest and peace, always kindred qualities to the Gnostic 2 soul, have their final development in unbroken serenity.

up and
ends

fulfilled in this ultimate

in discovery,

repose in God. the of debate. reach beyond

The

3 To such high gain abides." and unalterable attainment, in the full enjoyment of the Beatific Vision and in the closest union with God, has the
"

The

toil is

over

the soul

a\\a been guided along the Higher Way. ra Words are no longer It is best to say no more. oryw. must remain The account incomplete and frag adequate. to make the modern It is sufficient, however, mentary. reader feel, with Clement, that it remains only to glorify

human
4

spirit

<T

the Lord.

Such
life

is

the Alexandrian father

outline of the highest

Many things might be said about examine the sources from which it might was derived, or the points at which it was most open to criticism, or the relation it bears to subsequent developments of religious philosophy, both inside and without the Church.
open
to humanity.
this ideal.

We

might we dwell upon its value for all who find in But it is best Mysticism the surest element in religion. here to omit such discussions, partly because some of these
Specially
1

8 5 8.

VALUE OF CLEMENT S IDEAL

subjects

101

must be
s

Clement
of
his

dealt with in another chapter, partly because conception may well be left to rest upon its own

intrinsic merits.

Undoubtedly

it

bears the evident impress

personality, of his environment, of his time. Undoubtedly, too, it contains elements to which our

own

busy

western Christendom can only accord a qualified admira The world moves on and our ideals are transformed tion.

and modified,
the

as the years

essential to the

accomplish the changes which are continuance of life. The monastic recluse,
of

vigorous champion
s

the

Church

rights

order, controversialist, missionary, the enthusiastic philanthropist, the fierce assail ant of social wrong, are all types of Christian character and

Church

the

subtle

the

and the devoted

enterprise, produced by the action of the world s shifting environment upon the original and fundamental achievement of the Gospel. They have their vogue, their day, their

They validity. in our own

sitory
is

have no assured permanence. Least of all century do we need to be reminded, how tran the dominance of even the highest ideals. The
contribution to the cause of Christianity estimated principally by his conception of the
s

value of Clement

must be

Gnostic character, and this, like the ideal of virgin woman hood, or of crusading enterprise, can claim no unalterable

But so long as the higher intuitions of finer pre-eminence. are not spirits entirely sacrificed to the common needs of the devoted multitude so long, too, as we face the problems of
;

adjusting the claims of the exterior and the interior lives, and of discovering new harmonies between and

Knowledge

Love, there will be gain and profit in looking back to the sketch that Clement has left us, and in tracing anew the
features of the highest Christian character, which power to conceive.
it

was

in his

CHAPTER XV

THE CHURCH
FOR
the student of

Church History
the

a special interest

lifetime.

importance In
mation,

belongs to

many ways

when institutions, when

and
"

period the epoch was one of rapid for tendencies were being consolidated into
Christianity
"

covered

and s Clement by

was recognising the need

utility of organisation,
its

fashion of
etait

apparatus.
fait

Le

and Faith deciding upon the christianisme," says Renan,

l

entierement

avant

Origene."

The new

religion

quickly acquired or developed its essential elements, and not a few of these received substantially the form in which

they were to survive for many centuries, between A.D. 150 and 220. How the Church with her growing membership was impelled to systematise her internal administration how
;

the presence of strange doctrines led precision in her authorised teaching ;

naturally to greater how the clearer con

sciousness that she possessed in this world a future destiny and mission, made practical efficiency of greater moment than it ever could have been in the days when her mind

was set wholly on her Lord s return, are subjects upon which something has already been said in a former
2

chapter.
It is only natural, under these conditions, that we should look with special expectation to Clement for information on
1

Marc-Aurele,

p. 511.

Chap.

iii.

102

INSTITUTIONAL ORDER NOT PROMINENT

the institutional aspects of Christianity.
city

103

second only
the

in
s

of

Church

importance to order and arrangements

Rome

belonged to a itself, and a picture

in

He

Alexandria

during

his lifetime

would be

a legacy of peculiar interest.

Unhappily
are

his writings are singularly

devoid of information

of this nature.

His references to the details of Church life comparatively scanty, and their allusive character often
than resolves inquiry.
the great

raises rather

He

is

entirely silent

as to

the origin of

Church with which he was

connected, throwing no light whatever upon the tradition The vivid glimpses which of its foundation by Saint Mark.
Tertullian gives us, from time to time, into the ecclesiastical customs of Carthage have few parallels in his contemporary
of Alexandria.
It
is

disappointing that a writer, in other

"

ways

so instructive

and valuable, should not have contributed

in

the worst gap more towards filling 1 Church History." early

our knowledge of

The
for

reason of this

one who

twofold, nor does it lie far to seek will bear in mind the characteristic features of
is

Alexandria, and the mental temperament of Clement. indeed the great city, with its mixed population and its

For

many

creeds and philosophies, loved nothing less than order and In all the principal departments of ecclesiastical definition.
organisation, in respect of the Ministry, of the Sacraments, of the Creeds, and of the Canon of Scripture, Alexandria was

notably behind the other great Churches in the rate of its de It accorded with the spirit of the place to leave velopment. free and practice unfettered for as long as possible, thought

and no vigorous personalities had and custom binding and precise.

as yet arisen to

make use
intract

How

difficult

and

able a nature the Alexandrians brought with them, even into their Church life, the later centuries were abundantly to

evidence.

It

might not have been possible for Clement to

1

Harnack, Mission^

ii.

158.

io 4
write so

THE CHURCH

warmly as he did on the subject of the Church s had the predecessors of Demetrius in this metro unity, politan see been insistent on unvarying uniformity of Thus, if in many matters of interest Clement practice. seems singularly silent as to rule and custom, the explana tion must partly be sought in the freer, and comparatively
unregulated, conditions of his environment. But the further, perhaps the principal reason, lies in He is a Christian his own temperament and affinities.

He is a forerunner of the mystics, if even philosopher. he does not belong to their company. He is a Platonist, and cares more for the idea than for its partial and concrete
So he does not set great store by form and rule and details of Church order, and, had not the Gnostic heretics carried liberty too far, he would probably have embodiments.
cared for such things even
to
treat
letter
less.

His

inclination

is

always

customs and institutions much as he treated the of Scripture, on the principle of Allegory when the
;

exactly or ordinance was carried out, he is led away instead into some lengthy and not too relevant discussion of its possible

reader

is

anxious to

know

how some ceremony

inner significances. No doubt, in fairness to our author, we must bear in mind that his principal extant writings have
their special purpose,

and
in

that,

if

the

part
"

Christianity predominate of a deliberate plan.

"

them over

On many

inward aspects of the external, this is points his fears of

silent.

divulging mysteries

kept him intentionally

He

had no desire that Christian rites should be exposed to the sort of ridicule he himself had poured on those of Eleusis.

Nor should it be forgotten that, among his lost works, there was a discussion on the Easter question, another on Fasting, and an Address to those recently baptised. These titles,
taken in conjunction with the surviving Quis Dives, enable us to realise the truth in De Faye s remark that

may
"

II

THE IDEAL OF THE CHURCH

a etc peut-etre plus

105
l

homme

figlise

qu on ne

le

suppose."
it

But when

all

such allowances have been made,

remains

notwithstanding true that on many points of interest he tells us far less, than we might have hoped, of the ways and customs of the Church in Alexandria ; also that in large measure we must find the explanation of this omission in
his

own

character and interests.

This disappointing scarcity of information is, however, quite compatible with a noble and exalted conception of the

Church

purpose and

ideal.

Occasional

references

and

expressions betray a consciousness of the divine society s mission, which proves that Clement did not always sustain
the
ro/e of the detached At times he gives philosopher. utterance to an enthusiasm of churchmanship, not in

case

easy
s

to

reconcile

particular facts.

He

every poor estimate of many delights, for instance, to dwell on the

with
his

2 Its Essentially the Church is one. membership implies the pursuit of unity, the quest of the 3 monad." The one Church had some inherent "good

Church

unity.

"

"

unity. brings all the Pythagorean doctrine of the One into his conception of the Christian Body, and finds in this a supreme character
affinity
istic

with

the

nature

of

ideal

He

of the Church. 4

It

is

in this feature that

he discerns
heresies

grounds, the very claims which other teachers were already enforcing in the interests of practical order. Many roads indeed there are, but the

the chief superiority of the Church to the of the age, advocating, on theoretical

numerous

King s High Way is only one. But the Church could claim antiquity as well as unity. The Apostles, after Christ, founded the Church, and suffered for it. 6 The Church is the keeper of an unbroken continuity
of tradition. 7
1

The sequence
2
s,

of truth has been preserved

3 6
7

by

P. 49-

900.

103, 542, 899. 5 888.

72.

597.

793, 802.

106
its

THE CHURCH
"

members, and the true treasures of the spirit are to be 1 alone. Here is a further found in the ancient Church
"

contrast with the heresies.

late,

"

The
2

heresiarchs began quite

The Church goes back Lord Himself, and can claim the further antiquity of Prophets and Apostles and the divine eternal pur The ancient things are always venerable in Clement s pose.
about the time of
Hadrian."

to the date of the

Perhaps these are the two features which he prized in his conception of the Church, its unity, its But there are many other aspects which emerge antiquity. from time to time. We have the familiar thought of the
eyes.

most highly

Church

as a

Mother.

"

The mother

calls
"

her children, and

we seek our mother, the Church." 3 Only one maiden became a mother I love to speak of her as the Church." 4
;
"

beauty of the Church complete, and run like children to our good mother." 5 All the care of
fair

Let us make the

all the delight of the mother in her children, find a place in his ideal of the Church ; his love of home-life gives a quaint and tender colour to his thought.

motherhood,

besides, the thought of the Church as a Body. body, of course, is a unity, and the idea of the one body and many members is naturally familiar to Clement, as the
is,

There

But he adds the further disciple of Plato and of Saint Paul. As thought, that the body is the instrument of the Spirit.
the Saviour spoke and healed through the medium of His u the Church subserves the Lord s bodily frame, so now
e

activity."

God
"

puts on how, apart from the body, could the divine body, but 7 for in the Church have been realised ? The us purpose
"
"
"

He

human nature, now putting on the Church. Some Gnostics depreciated the
is

ever

"

"

suggestive conception of the divine society as the medium of spiritual life is clearly contained in such teaching. The
1

888. 310-

2 6

898.

3
7

no.
559-

123.

994-

UNITY, ANTIQUITY, PURITY, ZEAL

Church again
is

107

the heavenly Kingdom, in which we are 1 It is the Bride of the Lord, and, enrolled as citizens. by an extension of the figure, to forsake the Church for other
teaching
is

to be guilty of spiritual adultery.

aloft,
3

It is

the

Holy

Mount, the true Zion,

above the clouds, to which the

Good Shepherd
distinct

leads us.

from
"

it,

with

its

The Church is in the world, yet own walls and entrances, and its
4
:

are conscious of their separate way of life. "We," he says, or our people," follow certain rules his recogni tion of Christian fellowship comes out in the simple yet
5

members

significant

pronouns.

Catholic, as distinct
a

man

of

Clement
6

the Church, he says, is Catholic from the heresies. It is strange that theology should be the first Greek
its

And

writer to use this debated term in

technical sense with

marked emphasis. These are some of the features or notes of the Church as Clement conceived it. The best characteristics
"

"

of the ideal Christian society are all there unity, antiquity, But he them all. of value service he the knows purity,
:

was too true to Plato and the

his

New

Testament

to expect all

the excellences to be fulfilled in Alexandria.

Hence comes

crowning thought of the Church as spiritual, heavenly, in the Heavens, of which shadows laid up invisible, a city
"

"

and images and approximations are all we must expect on 7 earth. No one can fairly accuse Clement of indifference to the actualities. It is of a real, live society that he writes with Yet such enthusiastic piety at the close of the Protrepticus.

we may

also be grateful that he saw beyond it, and that his true Jerusalem was built for ever, because never built at all. From the ideal, however, we must turn now to concrete

facts
1

and inquire what amount of

2 5

light

Clement
3

rare

and

69, 74-5, 167.

4
7

533, 5476

3,

148(i.),

897.

447, 571.

See Lightfoot, Ignatius,

11.

311, n.

642, 793, 873.

io8

THE CHURCH

frequently vague references throw upon the actual state and practices of the Christian society with which he was familiar.

Who,

in the first place,

its

were the men and

of
?

women who were

Previous chapters membership upon have anticipated, to a large extent, the answer to this Plainly they were a mixed company, reflecting question.
enrolled
lists

in all their varieties of race, culture,

the

heterogeneous

characteristics

of

and worldly social and

position,
political

Alexandria.

majority were converts to Christianity, born under other influences and shedding their accustomed
1

The

Some few were wealthy ; the majority habits with difficulty. were of moderate means. Some few were highly educated,
but the rank and
the
file

had

little

culture.

The Greek element

clear that

must have predominated considerably, but it is number of converts from Judaism was no
2

negligible
city the
;

quantity.

Law

might have expected that in Philo s and Synagogue would have retained their own

We

on the

other hand, the liberal tendencies of Alexandrian Judaism had numerous affinities with the Christianity of Clement s
school.

In any case,

it

is

clear that

many

for

whom

he

wrote had come over from the following of Moses, and that he expected to make more such converts by his lectures and 3 his books.

Above

There was much variety in occupation and social position. the slaves, whose number in the Church was evidently
4

considerable, were the men who led a labourer s life. Higher still in the scale we hear of the retail trader and the dealer
of the market-place. 6
sailors

in
1

Some of the Christian company were and probably made the voyage to Puteoli many times the year 6 others were soldiers, some won perhaps by
;

Note especially his frequent references to KOOTUK^ ffwfjdfia (97), irdBri ffvvrpofpa. (958), and similar influences. 2 The Jewish and Greek elements in Clement s Church are mentioned
together, 736, 770, 793. 3 429, 886.
4

80, 872.

299.

80.

MANY TYPES OF MEMBERS

109

watching the fortitude of their prisoners, as Basilides became 1 Even the outlying country a Christian through Potamiaena. was not unrepresented. The new faith was a link to connect 2 Some were very the toiler of the fields with city folk.
3 Some came poor and betrayed their poverty by their attire. over to the Church as old people, in the eventide of life." 4
"

in other cases a ; single a pagan house. But, as we have seen before, the tendency was setting in the direction

Occasionally a whole family belonged

member would come

in

from

of the

already far

Church, and people of means and education were from rare. God s philosophers were a recog
"
"

the rich man heard the divine nised element and again an official would give in his name. 5
:

call

now

As to the standard of their lives, it evidently varied. The difference between the Gnostic Churchman, who was well advanced on the road to and the ordinary apathy,"
"

needed lectures on table manners and on Christian deportment in the streets, was considerable enough. And it is evident that Clement felt the danger of the
believer,
still

who

Christian profession without the corresponding he complains, believe in name alone. 6 Many
of
their
7

life.

Many,
traffic

made

was sometimes lived religion. 8 such members were the use within the Christian society less flesh of the spiritual There were some who body. attended worship and associated themselves with the faithful, but in the rest of their lives were indistinguishable from the
life
:

The pagan

The range of standard and was very wide, and Clement is often much concerned at the scandal brought by unworthy professors upon "the Name."
attainment
1

common and naughty

world. 9

H.E.,
5

vi. 5.
ot
ir\ov<noi

80.

954.

84.

793~4) 837,
Stahlin,
Hi.
iii.

KXriToi,

936.

6
7

212.
492.

Dindorf,
885.

This

is, o

however, a very doubtful fragment.

300.

no

THE CHURCH

His more constant trouble did not lie, however, in the domain of morals. The diversity of the Church was even more marked in the matter of culture. It has already been
necessary to point out the acute division which existed be tween the multitude of the faithful and their better-educated
strange that in Alexandria, with its wide dif fusion of culture, this should have been so ; but there can be
fellows.
It is

as to the aggressive intolerance, with which the of the believers assailed the few who, like Clement, majority For these troublesome, if associated learning with religion. he has many names. They are my well-meaning people,

no question

"

critics/ "ignorant
people,"

alarmists," "unlettered believers"; "gifted

"

he says sarcastically, who can dispense with every but faith, and expect to gather grapes without taking thing l Sometimes, too, he has them any trouble about the vine." the crowd." Orthodoxasts in mind when he speaks of
"

"

"

was already

a recognised

term for them.

Churchmen

of this

type asked what was the use of culture, and frankly declared that there was no advantage in understanding causes so long

one knew the facts. 2 Philosophy, they believed, came from the devil their dread of learning was like childhood s 3 There was a certain boorish quality terror of hobgoblins. in their religion, and often their insistence on faith went 4 Clement had constantly along with very imperfect conduct. to face their criticism, nor was he perhaps so wholly in
as
:
"

"

different, as his

own

ideal Gnostic, to the

ill

favour of the

multitude. 5
of an opposite type within the or Gnostic standpoints 6 the of faith. Clement pleads that depreciated simplicity
critics, too,

There were

Church,
1

who from

intellectual

326-7, 336, 341,

786.

oi TroAAoi,

as in 780, 789, etc.

4

In contrast with these are

ot 0iAo06ct|Uoi/ej TTjy ewKArjiriay, 2 3 6

900. 784, 794avTi\a/j.f3dvtTai 6

773, 78o.
6

oiJTf

/Jif^fus OUT

KUKoSo^ias rrjs fK

TWV iro\\uv

838.

112,367,466.

CRITICAL
these

CHURCHMEN THE MINISTRY

those

in

and those who know, should lay aside their suspicions and understand one another But indeed he was between two fires. It was a better. mixed There is society in which he found himself. very no hint of any sorting out of the different elements into
two
classes,
act,

who

separate congregations. Throughout his pages we hear the of minor undertone discords. Converts did not drop many

the peculiarities of race and rank and temperament at the moment of Baptism, and the plea for a philosophic Christi anity brought fresh division, rather than the divine tran
life

Certain phases of modern Church and close analogies. In regard to present striking Alexandria, the very diversity of these many elements is an additional testimony to the power of the new religion, which could blend them, all surviving distinctions notwith
quillity of the schools.

standing, into any sort of effective harmony and concord. To the Christian Ministry Clement s references are not

thought more of spiritual qualities than of held antiquity to be of greater importance and position, than ecclesiastical rank. Hence it has been truly said, that

numerous.

He

official

the Gnostic
attain,

is

his real priest.

Even

the ordinary believer

may through discipline and the perfect life, to a place 1 in the select list of the Apostolate. So does he love to Yet his spiritualise the external orders and distinctions. occasional references to the ministry have a special interest, in so far as they have any bearing upon the origin of the
Alexandrian Patriarchate.
in

Jerome,

it

is

well

known,

states

and and the Dionysius (A.D. 233 onwards) presbyters of this Church "always nominated as Bishop one chosen out of 2 their own This body and placed in a higher grade." statement is supported by a story about Pcemen, the hermit,
his letters that
1

one of

down

to the times of Heraclas

793; Epist. cxlvi.

see Lightfoot

Dissertation, Philippians^ pp. 230 sqq.

ii2

THE CHURCH
in

which was current

Egypt

in

the fourth century

2

;*

also

Severus of Antioch (c. A.D. 530) ; and by 3 himself a Patriarch of Alexandria (A.D. 933 4o). Eutychius, The reliability of the tradition has been questioned, e.g. by Bishop Gore on the ground of Origen s silence in regard to

by a

letter of

Others have explained it away, as a fiction fabricated by It his enemies with the object of discrediting Athanasius. is generally admitted (not, however, by Bingham) that con
it.

secration as well as election

is

involved.

The

subject

is

one
s

of sufficient interest to justify our asking whether Clement language is in accordance with Saint Jerome s statement.

He

was himself a Presbyter and must have been quite familiar

with this exceptional practice, if it existed in Alexandria in his day, though indeed he would probably have seen no
special

importance in the deviation.

speaks of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, as ranks which are imitations of the angelic
5
:

He

ecclesiastical

hierarchy

elsewhere
this
is

Deacons,
ministry.

in
It

order.
in

mentions Presbyters, Bishops, Here, it seems, is a threefold accordance with such expressions that
he
6

he refers to the Pastoral Epistles, as teaching the duty of 7 Such an office the Bishop to preside over the Church. may still be described as Stoxovia we must clearly be
:

very careful in assigning a technical

On

the other hand, he mentions

meaning to his terms. more than once Presbyters

and Deacons together, without any hint of a third order. 8

He
1

speaks of himself, a Presbyter, as

;

among

"

the leaders

in

See Migne, Pat. Grcec., Ixv. 341 also the Historia Lausiaca of Palladius Texts and Studies, vi. (i.), 213 cp. (ii.), 26. 2 See Journal of Theological Studies^ ii. 612-3 ^ so i- PP- 278-82, for Bishop Gore s view. 3 Migne, Pat. Grcec., cxi. 982.
;
>

4 So Lightfoot, op. cit., 231 Bingham says Jerome "speaks not of the ordination of the Bishop, but of his election," Antiquities, Book II., Ch. iii., 5.
;

793-

3Q9-

546, 561-2.

5 52,

793,

830."

THE ORDERS OF THE MINISTRY

of the
l

113

Churches,"

and

in the story of Saint

John and the

young robber treats the terms Bishop and Elder as applicable to the same person, though the scene of the incident was
Asia Minor. 2
It is difficult to resist

the conclusion, that he

regarded the Episcopate as an office not wholly distinct from the Presbyterate. In this general sense his language is in with Jerome s statement. There is, besides, one harmony
specially notable passage in
"

being

honoured with the

which he speaks of an Elder chief seat," which may most

naturally be explained as a reminiscence of an actual practice with which he was familiar. 3

to other functions of the Episcopate, Clement says 4 nothing, as Harnack has pointed out, of any special duty

As

of the Bishop to conserve and protect the faith ; nor is there any hint in his pages of Apostolic powers as inherent in the Episcopal office ; still less, though he recognises Peter
as the first of the Apostles, of any primacy of the The suggestion that ecclesiastical officials in Clement s see.
5

Roman

conception of the Church

is

resemble the English orders," and suggestive interesting, though, indeed, the com to some extent is one of undetermined quantities parison on either side. The Episcopal office in Alexandria was to
"

develop into an important Patriarchate, and Demetrius, in

Clement

own

lifetime,

was to make

his

assertion of

Bishop s claims. But his predecessors appear to have left no mark upon the Church over which they presided. The considerable independence of the Catechetical School is
1

20.

Cp. the quotation from Clem.

Rom.
*

in 612.

959-60.
Ti/iarffloi,

793-

The phrases x et P OTOJ/otVtei os

6>7r
>

7^ 5

irpMroKaOeSpia

in

con

It is difficult to reconcile with this nection with a Presbyter are significant. passage the view expressed in Cabrol, Dictionnaire d? Archtologie chrttienne

et de Liturgie,\.

suppose toujours aussi la (i.), 1209: "Clement distance entre pretres et eveques qu entre diacres et pretres. 4 See the important note in Hist. Dogm., ii. 70-72.
.

meme

947.
ii.

VOL.

ii 4
itself

THE CHURCH
:

it an evidence that they had not been strong rulers was well perhaps for Clement, that he did not require

So far as we can episcopal sanction for all he taught. construct any scheme of the Ministry from his pages, it is more characterised by service and freedom than by order

and power of government.

have a glimpse of the Presbyter administering the laying on of hands in token 1 of divine blessing, and another of the activity of women

We

in mission
laity,

work

to their

were free to separate order and

own sex. 2 The 3 Widows seem marry.

have been held,
4

clergy, like the to have been a

to

if

they abstained from

The duty of the Shepherd second marriage, in high repute. 5 to restore lost sheep is mentioned, and the beautiful story,
with which the Quis Dives closes, points to a high ideal of
pastoral care. man of God
"

There
"

is

a reference in the

same

treatise to the

who

acts as a rich

man

chaplain, probably,

Bigg points out, a layman, yet a true director and spiritual 6 It is interesting guide in spite of his unofficial standing. to compare the position of this adviser in a Christian house 7 hold with that of the salaried philosopher in a pagan family. These are the main references which Clement s pages contain
as

to the persons and functions of the Christian ministry. do not see much of any ecclesiastical hierarchy, nor are the

We

On the grades of official status defined with any exactness. other hand, the standard of piety and devotion was high,
and sometimes an occasional phrase affords us
true pastoral care.
a glimpse of

There
though
1

is still

it

less precision in point of doctrinal formulas, could be demonstrated without difficulty from
pofleo-t a,

291.
It

Cp. xf

974-

There were Gnostic equivalents of

for the sick, 955.
3

this rite,

510.
2
4

was apparently used

536.

552.
5

309, 558, 875.

958.

465.

6
7

See Bigg, Christian Platonists, 102, n. 3. See esp. Lucian s Treatise, De mercede conductis.

THE CREED

IN

ALEXANDRIA

115

Clement s writings, that the substance of the Apostle s Creed was matter of common acceptance among Christian people in Alexandria in his day. The only Article to which it might be said there is no reference of any kind, is that of
of Saints, in so far as this is understood of any spiritual fellowship between the living and the But as this clause never had any place in the departed. the

Communion

Eastern

Creeds,

Clement

silence

on the

matter

need

It is interesting to notice upon what occasion no surprise. Faith he of the lays special stress, and in respect of portions what others there is abatement of emphasis and interest.

God

is

Father, Almighty,
is
2

Maker of Heaven and

earth.

Jesus

Christ

His Son, our Lord, who suffered

in the sixteenth

year of Tiberius, and who lives eternally in Heaven in closest The doctrine of the Trinity is association with the Father.

spoken of

To

as profitable and even necessary to salvation. these cardinal verities he assigns a primary importance.

Beyond them, he may be

ing to the

said to insist or

minimise accord

complexion of his theology. a of Virgin, born also spiritually from

Ghost.
4

The Lord was born

The

preposition

is

not by the Holy the same as in the Creed of

Constantinople.
into Hell,

He

showing

lays considerable stress on the Descent much interest in the doctrine of Christ s
6

valued this tenet, on which preaching to the Departed. the Gnostics, too, set great store, as an evidence of the
universality

He

of
less

the
:

emphasise
:

it

it

Irenaeus and Tertullian Gospel. has no place in their rule of faith.

Clement believes, as we have seen, in a Holy and Catholic Church he is equally clear on the Forgiveness of Sins and 6 On the other hand, his only mention of Everlasting Life.
,

691, 833.
Sanctum."
6

407.
"de"

997.

aylov TTVCU^OTOS, 975.

"

So the Latin Formula has

95, 138-

or

"ex"

more
v.

usually than
5

per Spiritum

Cp., too, St Basil,

De

Spir. Sanct.,

765

W.

n6

THE CHURCH

the Ascension, in any physical sense, must be found in his quotation of the words in the Epistle to the Ephesians,
"

He

that descended

is

the same also that

ascended."

He
the

speaks not infrequently of the Resurrection, but on future of the body it is clear that speculation was rife.
in their systems,
"

The

Gnostics usually had no place for any bodily resurrection

and whether Clement personally expected must be left an open question. 2 He gives very little prominence to the work of the Holy Spirit. The Logos practically fulfils all the offices of the Third Person. 3 It would have been entirely foreign to Clement s
"

restitutio carnis

of the thought to use such a phrase as Vicarius Domini Comforter. 4 So, too, he says little of the final Judgment. 5 It is referred to, indeed, as an accepted doctrine, but Clement
"

"

concerned very slightly with the future episodes of the He never dwells on the second present dispensation.
is

Advent and knows

of

no earthly Millennium.

In Eschato-

logy he stands at the opposite pole to Papias, who only Clement s future is that preceded him by one generation.
of the soul s perfect
"

communion with God

"

he looks for

no cosmic catastrophes, but for the fulfilment of spiritual Thus his is in some sense hopes. proportion of faith characteristic. The external and temporal elements are the stress falls on the inward side of belief minimised in a different sense from that his creed was a symbol," It is impossible to which the term usually conveyed. far this of the faith was peculiar how interpretation say to Clement, how far it was commonly held in the Church in Alexandria. The influence of Gnosticism is
; ;
"

unmistakable.
iv. 10, 979. Cp. esp. Iren., v. 31, carnis suae."
2 3
1

Eph.

i.

The

heretics erred
4

"non

suscipientes salutern

See

vol.

i.

359-60.

Tertullian,

De virgin,

velandis^

i.

NO AUTHORISED FORMULA
One
or

117

The formula point, however, seems to be clear. in of doctrine can have had Alexandria hardly summary
it

the same authority, which at this date

places.

possessed in other

Some
"
"

speaks of

baptismal Creed probably existed, for Clement the confession on the points of greatest im
"

as a special part of the Church s rule, and regards portance sealed to the faithful," the doctrine of the Trinity as being 1 Of the content of such con doubtless in their Baptism.

fessions

we cannot be

sure

it

may,

as
;

Harnack

says,

have

in any case Clement s been as elementary as that of Hermas whole scheme of esoteric interpretation is evidence con

clusive that

no precise formula was regarded

in his time, in
It
is

Alexandria, as
that he has

rule, but of it concerns this it will be best to speak in another place of summaries rather than doctrine. He refers Scripture
s
;

much

definitely regulating to say about the

all

belief.

true

Church

once to

"the
"

common

element

in

belief."

He

mentions

frequently
"

earlier ages

the teaching that had been transmitted from a Rule of faith." 3 and speaks even of But
"

we are never sure of the exact implications of these terms, and a study of the connection in which they occur lends some colour to the belief, that their content was as often moral as doctrinal. The master who thought a three or
four years

have had many things to say, and his instruction was little fettered by authority. Thus, in the matter of the Creed, as well as
in that of the Episcopate, the

4 course advisable for catechumens, must

Church of Alexandria developed more slowly than Rome or Asia Minor. Even the imminent danger of Gnosticism did not produce, till after Clement s So free was even time, the reaction to rigid definition.
1
T]

iff pi

Toev /j.eyi(TTO)v 6fj.o\oyia t

887

fKfivr) (sC.
is
ii.

OI, 2
3

Dindorf, iii. 507, but this fragment See the discussion in Hist. Dogm,,
rb Koivbv
rrjs
irtffTftes,

^ rpids) ro is iricrrois rejected by Stahlin.

Vff<ppayi-

32 sqq.
TTJJ
4

892

Kaviav

iritrTews,

607

Cp.

8t8a<rKa\ias

d$o<ris,

322.

479.

n8
is

THE CHURCH

Christian thought in that home of speculation, though it curious to watch how, even in Clement s case, all teaching

about the Church grows firmer and more precise through

opposition to the heretics and their notions. At the date with which we are concerned, Christianity
1

had already its separate places of worship," and Clement Church uses the term exactly as we do, both for the 2 company of the faithful people and for the place of assembly. He speaks of coming to or from Church, of a Church echoing, of the correspondence which should exist between 3 So when he our worship in Church and our life outside.
"
"

"

expressly mentions prayer in the

Gnostic no one place

is

home, or says that to more sacred than another,

the
his

and language implies that prayer was not always domestic 4 When he says that Saint John that sacred places did exist.
"

rode away from the Church to seek the young robber, he is throwing back the customs of his own age to an earlier

"

century, incidentally proving how thoroughly established was the assignation of separate places to the purposes of But the building apparently was still an ordinary worship.

was not till considerably later that more imposing structures were obtained for Christian assemblies. On the other hand, there seems to have been no secrecy as to the To go home from Church was as locality of worship. 6 an as event to The right ordinary go home from market. of assembly seems to have been unquestioned, without the
house.
It

fiction of a

"

Burial

Club."

The

"

"

areae

of Tertullian have

no

parallels in Alexandria, and,

though

the city had

many

catacombs,

hint that any of them were used at this date for the gatherings of the faithful. The peace of
1

we have no

This
851
960.

is

specially apparent in the closing portion of Strom.,

3
"Oratio

vii.

2
4 6

375, 846.
;

228, 300-1.
iii.

cp.

quae

fit

in

domo,"

Stahlin, G 228.

215.

PLACES OF WORSHIP
the Church, which

119

came with Commodus

accession,

brought

such freedom in
Alexandria

its train.

and the elaborate shrines of other cults must have struck even a mind so indifferent to externals as He was quite conscious of the architectural Clement. and costly decoration, which characterised the grandeur
betrays, too, some in the interest orientation of the archaeological discussing 2 have been shrines. must oldest quite familiar with

buildings, that Christian assembly

and Egypt were so rich in their sacred the contrast between the humble houses of

temples

of

the

Egyptian gods.

He

He

the wonderful Caesareum, most splendid, in Philo s judg ment, of all the structures erected in the divine Imperator s

honour. 3

At

least

destined in after

one shrine of an ancient divinity was 4 In years to become a Christian Church.

there

Alexandria,

too,

were many Synagogues, some of

"

them buildings of considerable magnificence, if the later accounts of the famous Diapleuston may be trusted. There is some evidence that the practices of Jewish worship in Alexandria had special influence in determining the interior
"

5 Outside the city, beyond the arrangements of the Church. Mareotic Lake, he may have seen the chapels or monas teries of the Therapeutae they may have helped to give
"
"

meaning
part,

to

one of
little

his favourite terms.

But, for the most

he has

desire to see Christianity

more worthily

made with hands. How impossible it he to localise God. Zeno and Euripides, he thinks, is, says, were right in their protests against all such attempts to
enshrined in houses
circumscribe
divinity
2
;

and

it

is

with a certain malicious

satisfaction that
1

he records
856-7.
d>

how many temples have been

3
1

252.
4

Cabrol, Dictionnaire
Leclerq,

Manuel

Philo, Leg, ad Caium, 22. Archeologie chretienne et de Liturgie, I. (i.), d* Archeologie chretienne, i. 343 sqq.
xiv. 2.

107.

6
Ato/TJ,

from St John
is

See Hort and Mayor

index,
-vita

^ovao-r-^ptov (the
3.

derivation, of course,

different) occurs in Philo,

De

contemp.,

120
destroyed by
fire,

THE CHURCH
s
1 including that of Serapis in Alexandria. true shrine is the soul of man. The inviolable

Clement

sanctuary into which we pass through the gate of salvation 2 is not a building, nor even a society, but a spiritual state.
think, as the Emperor Alexander Severus did, of building an elaborate 3 shrine for Christ. Or, if God must have a visible temple,
It

would have been

alien to

his nature to

the universe, as Plato said, or perhaps the place two or three are gathered together in the home.
it is
"

"

where

Even

the great shrine is the Church," he is 5 not For the craft of the probably thinking of a building. architect, of the mason, of the mural decorator, he has no
says that
"

when he

more sympathetic appreciation than he had for the statue of the Olympian Zeus. Art, for Clement, has no offering
to

make

to worship.

Its

medium

is

and, like a true Platonist, he shrinks

away

necessarily material, into the inward

and

spiritual

Most High.

world and erects there his habitation for the Doubtless he was quite content with the

Men ordinary house, that served in his day for worship. of his type may gain something by such superior detach ment, but, on the whole, Hooker s was a wiser attitude. The Church was to learn before very long how greatly things
material and things external may minister to the spirit, and how subtly the shrine on earth may suggest its prototype
in heaven.
"
"

But

this,"

he might doubtless have replied,

is

for the

multitude."

"

From localities we come naturally to times and seasons. Here, too, his real sympathies are all with those advanced souls whose Christianity, passing beyond the limitations of feasts and appointed days," keeps the whole of life as a
spiritual
1

festival.

Still,

even for Clement, the year, the

2

691,46-7.
"Christo

55.

3
4

templum

facere

voluit,"

Lampridius, Alexander Severus, 43.

882.
e

691,845.

85I

THE

YEAR,

THE WEEK, THE DAY

however elementary.
of
It

121

week, and the day had their special seasons.

calendar and a sequence,
half

There is a was about

Alexandria

way through

his

period

residence

in

that

the Quartodeciman

through

controversy again flared into life the vigorous action of Victor, Bishop of Rome, in
all

excommunicating the churches of Asia Minor.

with her traditional interest in

Alexandria, matters of chronology, was drawn into the controversy, and this doubtless explains why Clement wrote a treatise on the Easter question to

oppose the views of

He

1 Melito, now laid to rest in Sardis. the Last Supper was, sides unhesitatingly with Rome
:

he believes, on the thirteenth Nisan, and the Lord Himself was the Passover victim on the fourteenth. This, of course, is Saint John s view, but Clement boldly claims an entire
of the Gospels for his side. century later the Alexandria were to settle the date of Easter of Bishops 3 There is no hint of any for the whole of Christendom.
2

harmony

authority as yet, though the interest with which Clement discusses the year of the Lord s birth, and his mention of other calculations, which somewhat needlessly

such

"

"

attempted to define the actual day, point to the prominence 4 of such inquiries even in Christian circles. But these
matters
private
in

Alexandria were
:

still

within

the

domain

of

decision,

of any Council being held formally in Easter question was dealt with in this the Egypt, though manner in Palestine, in Gaul, and even in Pontus. 5 In

judgment no trace

there

is

no hint of any authoritative

any case, Easter was the one important season of the Church s year there was no Christmas, no Lent, no
;

festival
1

of

the Spirit.
2

But there

is

a possible
in Stahlin,
iii.

reference
216 sqq.

H.E.,

iv. 26.

See the Fragments

4. Bingham, Antiquities, Bk. xx., c. v., stating that this point was decided at Nicaea.
4

He

quotes

a.

letter of

Leo

s,

ireptepydTtpov.
6

So, too, rb ird9os avrov aicpi&o\oy oufj.fi/oi, 407-8.

H.E.,

v. 23.

122
to the
:

THE CHURCH

our 6th of January was observed by Epiphany some of the Basilideans as the day of the Lord s Baptism. 1 There is no evidence as yet of any other annual festival.

Clement says nothing about the celebration of the birth The Church was to learn in time days of the martyrs. that the fuller calendars of the pagan and the Jewish years had their practical value for religion. As to the week, the days seem to have been observed

much
is,

as at the date of the Didache.

The
It

"

Lord

"

day

of course, the remembering the

its

most prominent. 2

was the day for

Lord

spiritual

power.

Resurrection and reappropriating The Jewish Sabbath had now been

s

wholly abandoned
century
revived.
its

by Christians, though

in

the

fourth

observance, as a

day of Christian worship,

was

But Wednesday and Friday were already kept with some measure of fasting. 3 The syncretism of Alex andria is curiously exemplified in the fact, that these days
of the Jewish
deities,

week had been

associated with

the pagan

Hermes and Aphrodite.

In this the Gnostic read

the suggestion of abstinence from greed and indulgence. Whether in Alexandria or elsewhere there were assemblies

worship on these days, or whether their observance was still private custom, Clement s single The week, at any reference does not enable us to say.
for

public

rate,

had

its

seasons

more

fully
"

Finally, there was the day.

determined than the year. In germ the canonical hours

"

were already established. Some," he says, assign fixed hours to prayer, the third, the sixth, the ninth." 4 Tertullian

gives

us

similar

information.

The

practice

of

Daniel and the Psalmist had been adopted by the Church.

Le plus lointain indice Duchesne, Origines dti ctilte chretien, p. 263. See qui se rapporte a cettc fete nous est fourni par Clement d Alexandrie."
1
"

Hort and Mayor

1

s note, p. 265.
3

877-

877-

854; #.851.

CHURCH

DISCIPLINE

123

After his manner, Clement sees in this threefold division of three a mystical reference to the Trinity. He regards
the individual Christian as quite free, however, to observe the hours or not. There is no binding rule ; devotion by

day rested on the same ground as the prayer which was customary on retiring to rest, or even, in some cases, during
rise from bed frequently during the night and bless God." Per A single word gives haps this was a counsel of perfection.

the
his

still

hours of the night. 1

"A

man should

us the picture of the worshippers returning

early morning stato die ante
"

home

in

the
s

after service
lucem."

it

is

the equivalent of Pliny

Such are the few references in Clement to the times and seasons of religion. Apart from the interest they possess as giving colour and precision to our conception
of his environment, they are significant also as evidence of the formative stage of customs which were to prevail in the

Church

for

many

centuries.

We

watch
It

private
is

practice

slowly crystallising into general rule. observe in how many applications

remarkable to

this

holds

good

of

Clement
to

portrayal of Christian life in his great city. In the technical sense of the term he pays little attention Church discipline. Only rarely are we told anything
s
its
;

about

nor rules, penalties, and practical administration does he ever enable us to say exactly what action was taken by the Church, when one of the faithful contracted a third
marriage or another adopted the heresy of Marcion.
the Church, as Clement

Clearly

knew

it,

had need of

discipline.

Laxity had come with numbers. Pagan habits were not unknown within the Christian circle. have referred

We

already to the difficulty of keeping the acter within rules and bounds. And

Alexandrian char

remedies for
1

all this.
;

Clement has his His threefold work is a continuous

2

216, 218, 506

cp. 958.

iuOivb, 228.

Pliny, Ep.,

x. 96.

i2 4

THE CHURCH
of

discipline of of the Ptedagogus 1 a whole string of terms expressive of correction and reproof. defends the beneficial severity of the Law ; refers re
its

scheme

education

with

appropriate

character.

He

gives us in the

first

book

He

Church s rule ; and asserts peatedly to the 2 reserve the principle of everything in order."
"
"

"

without

But the

authority to which he usually appeals ecclesiastical, but the higher of the whether written or in the heart. Word, authority So he turns to Plato to enforce truth, but never to the
is

sanctions are always of the moral kind.

The

not

Bishop, and significantly recommends those, settled in opinion, to seek advice from the

who
"

are

un

peacemakers

of

doctrine,"

whoever they may have been. 3

in theology,

Throughout,

in morals

and

he speaks as the master of the

school, appealing to the highest motives, referring often to the discipline of the providential order, but rarely hinting that the Christian Society could insist on the observance of

Yet Demetrius was Bishop in Alexandria when he wrote, and it is difficult to imagine that his exercise of We must refer once authority was anything but vigorous. more to the possibility that, for the last years of Clement s residence in Alexandria, there was some measure of diver Clement pre gence between the Church and the School. ferred to rest Christian obligation on the ground of man s life was a better thing than rules. higher nature
its rules.
;

background of individual and philosophic Christianity, must be set the occasional references to the more definite regulation of conduct by the Church s Suppose her members fell into sin, were corporate action.
Against
this

general

there any remedies beyond the offender s own conscience, or the kindly counsel of a friend ? Alexandria was here

apparently in line with

leaves
it
1

Rome and Carthage, for Clement doubt that one offence, and only one, after beyond
2

H3 sn-

613.

894.

EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY

125

Baptism could be atoned for by repentance and confession. But repeated repentance was practically no better than
unbelief.

The Lord
to

in

His mercy has allowed

fall

a second

repentance

those

who

after

receiving

the

call.

Clement

is

so precise on this point, and shows such close

agreement with the Shepherd of Hermas and Tertullian, that the reader is inclined to wonder whether, in other respects
also, there

was not

good

deal

more

positive regulation in
"

Alexandria than his pages would suggest. However that may be, he is familiar with the term Exhomologesis,"
public confession. Perhaps when he speaks of reproof as an utterance which sets our sins in the light of he has some practice of the publicity,"

already

specifically

used of

"

makes it clear that, after grievous sin, restoration to the Church has its defined conditions fasting, prayer, and exhortation were essential, though the 4 So when he says that certain discipline was one of love. scandalous characters are to be forbidden our city and at a the similar exercise of some positive distance, kept
in
:
"

Church

mind. 3

He also

"

authority
is

is

implied.
"

of the Church Yet, when all is said, the spiritual sword an instrument of which he knows very little. Even sin
"

more than once repeated

6

after

Baptism must not cause entire

merciful and the gates are not absolutely despair. closed. after And, all, the severest penalty for such sin is the consciousness of its committal, and the spiritual loss
is

God

which

it

involves.

For some

forgiveness to ourselves
learned, apparently,
1

offences, he says, we must give a curious doctrine which he had

from the Valentinians. 8

2

Sometimes

459.

On

the subject generally, see Swete in Journal of Theological

460, 769, 880.

Studies,
3
4

iv.

321-37.

irpo<f>opa

ofcapTi os tls TO ptffov Qfpovffa, 144.

*
226>

9 60.
634, 957.

6
7

For

inrtyvoxris

see 936
8

and Dindorf,
957, 993-

iii.

507.

795-

126
lay adviser

THE CHURCH

would impose discipline, or even strengthen his 1 It is brother weaker by an informal laying on of hands. thus clear that Clement s Church was not wholly without
the disciplinary system which must have been necessary to maintain its standard. Besides, the asceticism of the Montanists and of other sects may have often shamed believers

out of

But, on the whole, Clement relied little upon He sets before his pupils the formal exercise of authority.
laxity.

fear of the Church

heavenward way, but among these the is as little prominent as the His attitude in the matter is dread of penalties hereafter.

many motives

for the
s

censure

quite characteristic. Postponing for separate chapters all consideration of the Scriptures and the Sacraments, we may now pass from this outline of the Church s life to some short notice of her
external
relations.

No

longer an

isolated

and detached

had her numerous points of contact with society, the Church She was forces and tendencies which were not her own.
conscious of their influence, though she exerted an influence If we could of her own in turn. fully understand this
process of action and reaction, and watch in the details of that were daily life the relation of the believer to those

without, our knowledge of the would be far more complete than

tell

growth of Christianity it is. Clement does not

chiefly in scholarly retirement that we the know him. But subject is of such interest that it is not lost labour to collect the various references to it from

us much.

It is

may, for example, consider his occasional hints of contact between the Churchman and the Gnostic, or between the Christian and the State authority, or again between the Missionary and the unconverted world.
his pages.

We

Heresy, of course, is not schism, yet it is difficult to say whether the heretics of Clement s age were within or without

THE CHURCH AND THE HERESIES

the Church.

127

Alexandria

knew
s

of

no authoritative decision
is

language quite contradictory. heretics, says, leave the Church ; to lapse into heresy is desertion ; the heresies are cross winds or swelling waves, through which the believer must guide his ship ;

on the point, and Clement

he

The

heresy is the caricature which invariably follows excellence ; the heretics, like other wild growths, needed to be grafted

was necessary, wherein they were inferior to the philosophers. 1 He draws sharp contrasts between the Church and a school, between the Church and human assemblies. 2 The heretics had their
into the tree of
life,

and force

in their case

separate meetings, their own ritual, their own appointed days. Saint John s flight from the presence of Cerinthus and

Satan s first-born Polycarp s recognition of Marcion as did not occur in Alexandria, nor in Clement s generation, but
"

"

even there and

that
"

at
"

that date

it

was remarked

as exceptional

our people

should have attended heretical lectures. 3

All this points to sharp and acute division, to an absence of intercourse between the Churchman and the Gnostic, to a defining line, which shut out the heretic in practice.

The
wall

Yet the separation was far from being final and complete. heretics, Clement complains, break through the Church s
;

4 they have a vice key and a side entrance. They are but are as in weeds a inside, intruders, they grow garden or the tares among the wheat. 5 If they leave the Church, still

they claim
distance.
6

its

name.

They were

"

brothers,"

though

at a

Moreover, there must have been much personal intercourse. Irenaeus had met and discussed with numbers
of
faithful

these dangerous guides, though he would prefer the to hold aloof. 7 Clement himself had listened to

heretical
1

teachers

and heard their peculiar emphasis and

2

IQ 8, 375, 800, 816, 887, 889.

yfMfTepoi

889, 898.

3
4

contrasted with
5

atpertKoj,

H.E.,

vi. 2.
6

897-

774, 887-8.

374-

ii-

17, 9-

128

THE CHURCH
;

intonation in the public reading of the Scriptures

familiar
also
1

he was

meaning.
modation,"

He
2

interpretations of its the wisdom of accom discusses frequently and it is probable that he himself acted upon

with

their

perverted

"

all things to all men the principle of dealings with these doubtful brethren.
"

"

in

many
"

of his

In this spirit he seat of which would refer the rejects the interpretation 3 He prefers the suggestion to the heresies. the scornful
"

that
his

it is

theatres and law courts that are intended.

is

Thus

remains to say, in brief, language that for Clement the heresies were and were not a part of
it

not consistent and

Both estimates may be found in his pages. Christianity. His references have the interest which belongs to an inter mediate stage. Perhaps his most illuminating parallel is found in the remark, that the heresies stand to the Church in the same relation as that in which the Epicurean stands 4 to other Greek Philosophy. Each in some sense belongs to the main body, yet there is a difference and a separation. But, whatever measure of connection and intercourse between the Church and the heresies may have existed in
other respects, there is one mode of contact which is plainly revealed in Clement s writings. Each side made diligent

study of the literature of their opponents.

much by books fought may have despised much of

as
less,

as in the schools.

The contest was The heretics

the orthodox literature as worth

in turn circulated freely,

but they read

in

it.

Their books

even

circles, and were discussed by orthodox 6 lecturers. It is hard to say what manner of theologian Clement would himself have been, if he had never known this abundant and eventually rejected literature.

Church

Definitely outside the Church was the State and its Caesar and Caesar s rule were of the earth. 7 The authority.
1

490, 529, 615.

4

169, 863, 881.

5 14, 997.

464-5.
995-

774-

892.

CONTACT OF CHURCH AND STATE

129

Church had a higher and not always compatible allegiance. And the most notable and frequent contact between the two Non licet esse vos." There arose, when the State declared were no special Edicts in force when Clement wrote, not, at least, if the view be correct that he wrote the Stromateis before the proclamation of Severus in A.D. 202. Yet perse in on as in went did cutions Alexandria, they Carthage, on 1 the authority of the ordinary laws. Christianity was To decline to illicita." sacrifice to Caesar was Religio "Laesa Either charge was sufficient justification. majestas." It is clear that many prosecutions started from the Name alone from the mere profession of Christianity, apart from 2 Clement must have known of many any proved crime.
" "

instances, or

he could hardly have spoken of the daily stream of such spectacles. 3 Several features in these trials

evidently arrested his attention. often prejudiced, ignorant of the

anity,

The
real

magistrate was tenets of Christi

and unwilling to inquire. 4

specially

were

Sometimes the attacks directed against those who, like Clement, were
5

The motives behind public teachers of the new religion. sheer these persecutions were very varied, hatred, or jealousy
of the

Church
6

the

"delator"

who proved

progress, or desire for the reward due to his case, or, again, just the fury
it

of the crowd.
able, that
it

At other times

was so wholly unreason

could only be put down to daemonic influences. Occasionally the accused would deny their faith, but more
often they were
their

a great impression by their even persecutors and greatly fidelity, shaming 7 Church. the Indeed, Clement is much strengthening concerned at the growth of the passion for martyrdom.
1

immovable and made

Tertullian s

Ad

A.D. 197,
2

make

this clear.

Martyras and Apologeticus, probably dating from See Appendix I.

3
4

598.
6

494871, 949.
7

82.
II.

598. 601.

VOL.

3o

THE CHURCH

He
to

likes this excess as little as the heretical justification of Christians had no right to be rash or denial under stress.
1 A self-sought end was no true upon death." of knew He numbers, whose whole life seemed martyrdom. a preparation for the fiery exit which should unite them to their Lord. Already such a death was recognised as the 2 from all sin. This, together with the abundant purification

"leap

honours paid to the martyr, made the stronger spirits among the faithful more anxious to secure their place in this roll of
honour, than to assure themselves that such was the divine So Clement doubtless had many critics, purpose for them.

When when he quoted with approval the famous text, 3 and they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another a few still more when he acted on this principle perhaps
"
"

years later.
It is clear that the penalties imposed by the magistrates were very various. Short of actual death, Christians seem to have suffered exile, loss of civil rights, confiscation of

ways, by crucifixion, or beheading, or the beasts of the amphitheatre, or the flames 4 of the tunica molesta." Clement, like many other char

their property, torture, and, extremity, this was enacted in

if

finally

it

came

to

the last

many

"

acters of his type,

was

little

fascinated

by the glamour of

He had nothing of the Oriental and him, perhaps he shared Aristotle s belief in the value of the normal span of human life. Yet his references prove the truth of the well-known paradox
these glorious surrenders.
as
in

Origen had

that the State,

promoted
*}

its

very efforts to suppress Christianity, growth. Indeed, he says as much explicitly

by

its

Se Kal /maXXov avOei. 5

Finally,

if

we ask what was

to
2

the

exact

secret
in

of

the
s

Church
1

power
(j>vyf),

win the world, and seek

3

Clement
5

571, 871.
arifiia,
S^uci/c"*,

596.

St

Matt

x. 23,

quoted 597.
827.

5^7

ftdvavoi,

862

Cp. 494, 589.

METHODS OF THE GOSPEL

131

pages for some hints of the methods and incidents of the propaganda, it is only a partial answer that can be given. In Alexandria, at any rate, it was rather by teaching the truth than by activity in works that the good Church, in
"

"

so far as these two can be separated, won her extraordinary success. Clement is himself the born teacher, and his have gospel is light, rather than charity or consolation.

We

how he appealed to thoughtful Greeks, how he desired to save his converts from lapsing into anxiously how heresy, highly he estimated the task of instructing
already seen
others in the

Way.

This conception of the Church s office as an important stage in the divine scheme for the education of humanity, is so congenial to his nature and so prominent in his extant
writings, that we may easily be misled by it into sup posing that the victory was, in Clement s view, due wholly to argument and doctrine. But Christianity, even in an
intellectual

environment,
life

is

never a matter for pure reason,

in tracing to higher stages perfect com left us sufficient evidence of that
is

and Clement, whose main

the interior

interest lies,
its

no doubt,

through

munion with God, has

still

other side of Christian activity, which rated in the West than in the East.
special task in life to

so

much more
it

highly

Though

go out
in the

"

into the streets

was not his and lanes of

the

city"

and bring

the duty of

poor and the maimed, he knows loving your neighbour even though he be

uncongenial, of praying for his faults, of caring for the aged, the orphan, and the widow, of ministry to the sick, and of 1 Exposed children were pity for those who are in distress.
not forgotten, and even for the departed generations some 2 Not by the share was claimed in the Christian hope.

power

of
1

her message alone, but by this

in

combination

86 1, 880, and
265, 999 sqq.

many passages

in the

Quis dives salvetur.

32

THE CHURCH

with an activity of service and of love, did the Christian Divine blessings come as a society convince the world.
l many and diverse through human instrumentality held this were the modes in which principle good for the Church s ministry to the world as Clement knew it.

rule

Such, in outline, is the picture of the Church, which we can may discover in the pages of our Stromatist. its deficiencies, whether of without great difficulty recognise

We

performance or of ideal. On the other hand, it is possessed of qualities which may justly move our admiration, and, according to our standpoint, we may either note the contrasts

and divergencies which separate it from the Church of our own time, or we may fix our attention on the singularly striking points of similarity between its conditions and our own. In any case, it is an interesting society at an interesting
period of
its

into contact.

development with which Clement brings us We would gladly have known more about it,

and watched

at closer proximity the lives and customs of its but our author did not write for the information members, of remote posterity, so that we must needs make the most

occasional references and incidental hints. But there one feature, which even Clement s scanty information brings clearly into light, with some mention of which our
of
is

consideration of this subject

may

conclude.

it, and as we know it through him, the Church in Alexandria was one of many contrasts. Side side with the claim that the is Church one by frequent must be set this particular Church s marked lack of
"

As Clement knew

"

uniformity.
It is less

Freedom, for example, strongly characterises this society. defined in doctrine and organisation than other
Its

Christian communities.
ternally,
it

discipline

is

not

strict.

Ex
In-

knows no authority
325.

of

Pope

or Council.

A SOCIETY OF MANY CONTRASTS

133

ternally, its chief presbyter claims as yet no patriarchal rights. But, in contrast with this freedom, it rejects the heretics, talks

much
to

already about the Church

rule, forbids its

members

wear dyed raiment, and dictates the manner of their ex penditure to the wealthy who believe. It is a young society, with all the vitality and enthusiasm and assimilative power of youth. Its message is new
"

music." Its face is set towards the future. It is possessed of purpose and the power of growth. On the other hand, it is the Church of Egypt, the oldest of all the lands whose shores were washed by the Mediterranean, and habitually visited So it claims already to cognoscendi antiquitatis." be the ancient Church," looks back to what the Elders
"
"

taught, delights to assert that the wisdom it has inherited from the Hebrews is more original than that of Greece, pays
special

honour

to the

most

"

ancient

philosophy."

It is

the

Church of hope and memory at once. It possesses cultured members. Clement pleads their cause. read Homer and Plato, as well as the Bible. They loved to find affinities between They Philosophy and the Gospel. They could appreciate Euripides. Athens as well as Jerusalem was their But in the same Church were city. men and women as narrow and limited as their latter-day
descendants have ever been, suspecting all culture, believing their own road was the only road, sincerely detesting the

holding that faith was everything and knowledge naught. Few contrasts in Alexandria were more acute than this.
spirit

of

inquiry,

Here, again, were those whose standard of Christianity

was of the highest. They would die as martyrs readily, if the summons came. Or they would live with their affection set on Ascetic purity, detachment from many things above. interests, loyalty to ideals, marked them off from ordinary men. But the ordinary men were there as well, bringing

34

THE CHURCH

the ways and interests of the average world with them, falling away when persecution threatened, lapsing often into

grievous

sin,

needing elementary instruction

in the Christian

way

of

life,

Thus

making profit of religion. in Alexandria the Church, not less than the world,

was a mixed

every /ecu andrine phrase, TroAvr/ooTra)?, of which Clement made such frequent and characteristic use. If there are
7roAv/xe/>a>?

Its contrasts present themselves in society. It entirely direction. justifies the peculiarly Alex

many theologies and many moralities in own day if we have serious reason to
;

the Church of our

ask

how

the older

and the newer, or the broader and the narrower, interpretations

of Christianity can cohere ; or if, by the very sincerity of religious conviction, we are sometimes led to deny the

manifold diversity of the ways of God, there

is

some

re

assurance, and some degree of wholesome corrective, to be found in the actual facts of a particular Church s life, as they

present themselves with all their many contrasts in the pages of the most multifarious of all the Fathers.

CHAPTER XVI

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

WHATEVER
other elements of value

may have been

rightly

claimed by Christian Theology for the Sacraments of the Church, there is little question as to their supreme utility in one particular respect. These simple and primitive rites

have formed the centres or

associations

"

nuclei,"

around which

spiritual

might cluster and collect. Already in Apostolic times they had acquired a certain measure of essential The Baptism in water, the broken Bread and the character. shared Cup, are among the few indisputable elements of To these visible and sanctified media original Christianity. and mystic value have appropriately religious significance
Their very simplicity has lent itself to a of variety symbolism and interpretation, and this in turn has occasioned and justified the elaboration of external ritual
belonged.

and the

insistence

on regulated and valid forms.

Men

pro

tested with

good reason that

God

made with hands, and that we And then, in spite of this protest, or define our deity. to to set work develop and perpetuate the special and they definite channels, through which a divine presence and a

dwelleth not in temples must not attempt to localise

To

vading be limited, and hence

divine grace might be appropriated and brought to mind. the bulk of mankind a universal Love, or an all-per in proportion as they can Reason, become real

only
135

arises the practical

dependence of

all

136

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

upon the forms and channels through

spiritual influences

which they operate.

the
few.

The

pure, immediate

communion

of

human

spirit

with the divine has been only for the very

knew something of it, and the Mystics knew the Church has been entirely right in retaining but more, her consecrated elements with jealousy and insistence, and in so connecting her highest message with visible external
Plato
rites.

Humanity, apart from

its

rare

saints

sophers, needs such aids and apparatus ; receive some manner of embodiment before

and philo divine truth must

we can

truly

claim

it

as

our own.

There is a certain interest in watching this principle work in Clement s mind. He is by nature a man in different to religious forms. We have already seen him
at

upward pathway of the soul s progress to the which thought and language altogether fail. His spiritual ideal lies, indeed, very far from all forms, all rules, all And we might have expected in Clement organisation. some impatience of even sacramental rites. In other ways, as we have already realised, he had none too much sympathy
stage at

point out the

with the spiritual limitations of the multitude.

receives
little

expectation, however, justification His references to Baptism and the Eucharist are writings. not, indeed, so detailed and so explicit as those which

Such an from his

may

be found in the works of his contemporaries and even of

his predecessors. Ritual order, so far as it was developed and established in the Alexandria of his time, is never fully described in his pages. It was already familiar to those

whom

it

Didache, Justin, or derive material for a far closer and more Tertullian, detailed portrayal of sacramental ceremonies, than could ever

divulge

chiefly concerned, his

"mysteries."

and Clement had no desire to

From

the

we can

be constructed from the evidence of Clement alone, but this scarcity of detail need not lead us to underrate the
signifi-

VALUE OF OUTWARD SIGNS

137

cance of the wealth of symbolism and association, which he In technical characteristically discerns in these essential rites.

language, the grace of the Sacraments, as he understood stands for far more with Clement than the sign. Yet it

it,

is

evident that he recognised the service and importance of the external sign as the form, channel, and embodiment of the invisible spiritual gift, as the evident and tangible centre, to

which different interpretations and ever varied values might

profitably be attached.

One further point should be mentioned, before we examine

Clement
s

references to the

It concerns his

treatment of the Eucharist

Sacraments in greater detail. more than his

are involved.

allusions to Baptism, but in

some degree both

meet not infrequently in Clement s pages with language which bears obvious similarity to ritual formularies, known to have been established in the Church at a later period. For example, Clement s terminology shows considerable correspondence with the Prayers of Bishop Serapion, and
with the later Liturgy of the Alexandrian Church.
in regard to Baptism,

We

And,
in

many

usages which were unquestion

of this order

ably recognised
his writings.

later,

have their similar anticipations

Each

hint or reference

must

no doubt be explained and

How

far,

Clement answer can only be given by an examination of the passages in which he employs this term. But, speaking generally, where the language of the later sacramental formularies seems to be anticipated in Clement s pages, two explanations of the facts are possible, and it is a matter of some little liturgical interest to decide between the two. For it may either be that Clement, in his allusive manner, is employing terminology with which he had become familiar in the Church s already regulated, although still unwritten,

for example, the a technical sense,

dealt with on its own merits. term evxapurria has already in is a question to which the

138

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

;

forms

or, in the other alternative, it is possible that

such

language was
authorised
derived.

as yet only the current and elastic phraseology of Christian circles, from which, at a later date, the fixed and

were naturally in large measure in any case, have preceded the authoritative establishment of Eucharistic and Baptismal forms the question is, whether at the close of the second
formularies

Custom must,

century in Alexandria the stage of liturgical development was so advanced, that Clement s language must be regarded as borrowed or suggested, rather than as itself one among

from which the Church s formularies were The former explanation, so far as afterwards composed.
the

many

origins,

applies to the Eucharist, is maintained by Probst, who says much of Clement s intentional secrecy, and holds that
1

it

"

Missa Fidelium

detailed

already existed in such a measure of completeness, that the Stromatist s terminology

"

must be interpreted as reminiscent of this source. Yet there is much to be said on the other side. No written liturgical forms can be shown to have existed for more than a century after Clement s date. 2 As recently as in
Justin
s

time the prayers at the Eucharist were mainly free

and extemporaneous. The Baptismal Order, too, in many important respects, was still far from finality. And in all matters of organisation Alexandria is known to have been behind other important Churches in the rate of development. Liturgical authorities are in the main inclined to discover 3 little for their immediate purpose in Clement s writings.
inferred that they regard his language as the anticipation, rather than the reflection, of sacramental formu
It
laries.
1

may be

To

the

general

question

only a general answer

Liturgie der drei ersten christlichen Jahrhunderte, pp. 130-41, where the writer refers to an earlier article on the same subject. 2 See F. E. Warren, Liturgy of the Antenicene Church, pp. 105 sqq. 3 This is true, e.g., of Brightman s Liturgies (see esp. Appendix J, pp.
504
sqq.),

and of Duchesne

Origines du cult chreticn.

LITURGICAL TERMINOLOGY
can be given.

139

But, on the whole,

s

it

is

the safer course,

when Clement

does, with what

language corresponds, as it so frequently is known in later days to have been the

it

authorised terminology of the Church, to treat

as source

and

material, unformulated and undefined, out of which,

ritual

when

precision grew more necessary, some of the most valuable elements of her liturgical abundance were

derived.

From
sider

more

such general considerations we may pass to con in detail Clement s various allusions to the
It will

be convenient to consider Baptism first, and afterwards the Eucharist ; also, in the case of each, to
Sacraments.
distinguish the evidence he offers us as to the actual rite and its performance from the inward significance which he
attaches to the external form.

To some

extent

it is

legiti

mate and even necessary in dealing with such a writer to give some greater measure of precision to what he only
allusively suggests.

Adult
evident
in

Baptism

was

clearly

still

the

rule.

This

is

many
is

Protrepticus

to those

who

ways, principally by the fact that the addressed to the unbaptised, the Padagogus have received the rite. Normally, then, it

took place between the two stages which these books re present, after adherence had been given, before the more Yet some instruc advanced instruction had been received.
tion, more detailed and definitely Christian than the appeal Information of the Protrepticus^ clearly preceded Baptism. and catechetical training came before the Sacrament, 1 though

inward experience, Clement warns us, must not be too The doors and gates of salvation are precisely dated.

and they who enter the Church by this sacrament, act with intelligence and understand the selfcommittal of their assent. 2 Yet infant Baptism, with which
"

"

rational

in character,

116.

9-10, 55.

40

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

1
"

Tertullian and Origen were certainly familiar, was perhaps Children drawn out not wholly unknown to Clement.

which seems to imply it, and it would perhaps be difficult to understand such an expression as Christ the children s guide," if Clement s Church had
"

of the water

is

a phrase

"

not already found a place in her membership for those of 2 Immersion was, of course, still practised. tender years. The baptised went up out of the water. 3 They were as
"

"

from caught by the divine Fisherman, or born 4 a phrase which recalls the Lord s the womb of water conversation with Nicodemus in the fourth Gospel.
"

Fish

"

"

"

do not pass wholly without received the blessed seal, by baptised person no doubt meant, like Tertullian, the which term Clement
Other elements
in the rite

notice.

The

6 To bear the sign," or to bear about sign of the Cross. the stigmata of Christ," are expressions applicable to those who have received Baptism. 6 The seal is specially con
"

"

"

"

nected with the

name

of

the

Trinity.

It

appears

that

the threefold invocation was

made both

at the

immersion

and again later, when the sign of the Cross was imposed. Another usual adjunct of Baptism was unction. Clement,
perhaps, once refers to
it
"

"I

will anoint

you,"

the
8

Word
The

promises

his disciples,
is

with the unction of

faith."

It is notable, symbolism probably suggested by the rite. however, that in the considerable section of the P^edagogus^ in which he deals with the use of unguents and criticises its

luxurious

no hint or suggestion of the baptismal unction of the Church. Again and again, as we read the passage, we come upon contexts in which such a reference would have been A man must entirely natural.
excess, there
is
"

Tert.,

De

Baptismo, 18

Origen, Horn. VIIL, in Levit. (Migne, Pat.

3

Gr.,
2 6
8

xii.

496).
172, 987.
7

117, 289, 312.

312, 637.
iii.

434, 95993-

880, 989.

690, 987

cp.

Dindorf,

507.

THE

RITE OF BAPTISM

141
;

carry about with him the scent, not of myrrh, but of nobility a woman must have the aroma of Christ, the royal unguent."

of the sacramental anointing would have been here so appropriate, that its absence, taken in connection

Some mention

with single reference to the subject made by Origen, might well lead us to suspect that in Alexandria this element in
the baptismal ceremony was less prominent and invariable than it was at the same period in Antioch and in Carthage. 2 But the argument from silence is peculiarly unsafe, when

Clement

silence

is

in question.

Then

there

is

also a

mention of the mixture of milk and

honey, which was administered immediately after Baptism. This curious symbolism had special prominence in the Roman

and Alexandrian Churches.

It signified
"

of final rest in the heavenly Jerusalem, 3 that milk and honey fall like rain. Through the

the Christian hope where it is written

material,"

he proceeds, we seek the holy sustenance." a means whereby we receive the words,
"

It is, in
same."

other
It
is

"

interesting to notice how accurately principle of sacramental theology.

Clement had caught the

4
"

We have already referred

the laying to the infrequent mention made in his pages of on of hands," and of the acknowledgment of the most im

With some probability, we portant articles of belief. connect these with Baptism and find in them the rite of
firmation and the
"

may Con
the

Redditio

Symboli,"

in so far as these

existed in Alexandria at his time.

We

may summarise

that with Clement scanty information he gives us, by saying

mainly for adults, after careful preparation, administered by immersion, conditional upon a confession of the faith, and followed by unction, by the sign of the

Baptism

is

208.

For the practice in Antioch see See Warren, op. cit., pp. 160-1. for i. 12 Ad Carthage, Tertullian, De Baptismo, 7. Theophilus, Autolycum, 4 3 See Duchesne, op. cit., p. 338. Supra^ pp. 114 sqq. 125 cp. 119.
2
; ;

42

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

Cross, by the laying on of hands, and by the tasting of the His references are in substantial agree milk and honey. know of the Church s practice from we what ment with

other authorities for this period. If we compare Clement s references to this Sacrament

with the Baptismal prayers in Bishop Serapion s Euchologion^ we notice certain developments which the intervening century
authority there is a separate The descent of prayer for the sanctification of the water. The the Word and of the Spirit is definitely invoked.

had brought.

In

the

later

anointing

oil

is

blessed before use.

And

Confirmation

is

But it does not seem that any separated from Baptism. element has been added that is wholly new, and important
there are notable correspondences of terminology and ideas. Alexandria may have had a less precise and elaborate ritual

than Carthage in Clement s day, but it does not appear that any principal items of the later baptismal ceremonial were wholly wanting in her ecclesiastical order.

But Clement
"

main

interest

is

not in the actual

rite

or

associations

He cares more for the truths and which were connected with it. His attitude is exactly that, which we have already seen him adopt in regard to the historic life of the Lord. He breaks away from events and particulars into the wider and spiritual verities. And Baptism stood with him for many such. Indeed, if one
opus
operatum."

should

which Christianity and the reasons it able to attract the was offer, why there could world, hardly be any better answer than that which lies to hand, when we have collected the various interpreta tions which Clement and his contemporaries attached to its
raise inquiry as to the exact
"

"

gift

had to

initial rite.

We

may enumerate

the most notable of these.

The

baptised person became the

member

of a spiritual
registered, and fresh 7roXmr/a,

He was State, Kingdom, Commonwealth. a new He possessed a acquired citizenship.

CITIZENSHIP, SONSHIP,
with
that
City,
all its

PARDON
By
in
"

143

privileges

and

all its

obligations.

he was henceforth neither

"

Jew nor Greek, but

life

nationality a part of

third
at

race,"

whose

was centred

the spiritual

once of heaven and on earth,

which no foe
rj

(TTrovSalov yap TroXt?, capture and no tyrant oppress." Clement adds, like a true Hellene. 1 But the Christian conception of the Household or Family is even more In Baptism we become sons of prominent. God. The thought of regeneration is frequent and em 2 It is our new birth, The phatic. by water and the Word.

may

Sacrament stands for nothing

the true Father.

sonship of Clement would never have denied the

less
full

than the

doctrine of

the universal fatherhood of

it.

God.

He
and

does

indeed assert
Christian

But, like Saint

John, he

knew

that for the

this

common

truth

had

deeper

more

This associa tion was traditional, going back to the New Testament and to John the Baptist. The severity with which the Church treated sin after Baptism is a proof of the spiritual value and importance, which was attached to such sacramental remis sion. Clement accepts, but does not develop or accentuate,
this aspect of the rite.

intimate significance. 3 Forgiveness of sin, too,

came by Baptism. 4

The

legal

view of

religion, in spite

of

all

he says in praise of the Law, never really possessed

him, and the comparatively slight emphasis laid on forgive ness and the sense of pardon is thus characteristic.
said on the kindred principle of Purifica a was Baptism spiritual washing," and in dwelling on this idea Clement was in line both with the Prophets and with Plato. 5 He had an even closer precedent in the
is

But more

tion.

"

Mysteries
1

purificatory rites
642,761.

"

are

the
2

first

stage

of

the

156,450, 55i.

3
4

Note the expression

114, 128, 460.

TUV varepa airo\a/j.^dvtiv ) 69, 88. 5 282.

44

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

"

is with the Christian Mysteries of the Greeks, as Baptism Cleansed and pure and fresh, he says, barbarian." or In the ritual should we enter upon sacred rites and prayers. washings of Penelope and Telemachus before their devotions
"

he discerns an

Our

anticipation of the very bodies are deserving of

3

Christian

Sacrament. 2

such cleansing.
elements

Our

nature

is

more honour through purified from its worthless

:

indeed, the process is one of straining or filtration, ; 4 which leaves the soul free from infected taint
"

purumque
sensum."

reliquit

aetherium

development of this aspect of Baptism in the idea that it brought protection, and security from the powers of evil. The demons, which might possess the human soul, were to the world of ancient days as fully real as the Devil was to Luther, and it is hard to say whether Plutarch or the New Testament affords stronger evidence of
is

There

a further

the

potency of this
because
it

belief.
;

Before

Baptism these
"

evil

powers were renounced

tion,"

the Sacrament itself was

salva

control.

conferred safety from their possession and Within its secure doorways the soul found a
5
"

veritable asylum, whence no demon might drive it out. The seal of the rite was the symbol of complete protec
"

tion

from such

influences.
;

The words

of

the

Lord

parable are quoted

these evil spirits might not return to

the house from which they had been expelled, for God had occupied it and the seal had marked it as His holy place.

So the Sacrament brought security, not merely from remote penalties elsewhere, but from very near and actual enemies
in this present world.

There were,
Remission,
1

besides,

more

positive aspects of Baptism.

purification,
2

protection,
241.
4

did
6

not
55.

exhaust
959,992.

its

688-9.

628-9.

117.

PURIFICATION, LIFE, ILLUMINATION

significance
;

145

it

conferred gifts as well as immunities.

minent among them was Immortality.

inalienable possession of that in the Sacrament
Christ.
1

Pro This was no inherent,

It is rather

man

nature as such.

we put on

It is

"the

Word

the incorruptibility of of incorruptibility" who confers

upon us

this

2 higher birth.

By
3

spiritual unction
"

we throw

off our liability to dissolution. Upon you alone of all mortal beings do I bestow the fruit of immortal life," says

through the Sacraments the Incarnation had conferred the privilege which had been denied to man in Paradise. Be initiated and thou shalt in have thy place the angels choir, around the one true God, Death was gone. Eternal life unbegotten, incorruptible." was a gift, and Baptism the outward and visible means of its
the divine
a hint that
"

Word, with

So the Church believed. conveyance. One other aspect of Baptism remains, which was This Sacrament, peculiarly attractive to Clement s mind. besides its many other interpretations, was also known as
This conception had its special appro Alexandrian theology and would recall, by its associations, both the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Pagan
"

Illumination."

priateness in
4

It is Clement s favourite synonym for Baptism. and illumination are for him identical with 6 "We have been illuminated, which means regeneration.

Mysteries. Instruction

to

know

6
God."

The Father summons

all

salvation,

above

to

illumination.
all
8

us to cleansing, to It is the term that

denotes the completion of

possession of Christianity.
1 2

stages preliminary to the full Afterwards, potentially, we are

3

117.

90.
vi.
;

93.

and the connection of 4 its use there with the Christian Sacrament, see Wobbermin, Die Bceinflussung des Urchristentums durch das antike Mysterienwesen, 166 sqq., and E. Hatch,
4

Heb.

x. 32.

For

</>T

iff [*As

in the Mysteries,

Hibbert Lectures, pp. 294-300.

5 8

653.
a7rdAa/8e rb
II.
<j>>s,

113.

75-6.

x&

V^<

raY46I/ T ^

<

P^ 5 87-8
t

eypJiyopfv

7r=$ama>teVoy,

2 1 8.

VOL.

10

46

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

and
full

perfect

grown.

To

receive Baptism

is

to receive

illumination, because the Sacrament marked the transition from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light, from

the outer
faith.

gloom

to the brilliantly lighted sanctuary of the

The
is
;

soul in Baptism
in
"

but

washed
1

rational

not unconsciously cleansed, or the water of the water,"

is

understands what the process means. Gnosis, in passages where the term is used often knowledge,
it
"

Word

"

Baptism

might take

its

place.

Illumination, again, is the name given to the instruction which reveals the hidden truths of God ; it is the power

which, through the Saviour

grace, heals sick souls by leading them to possession of the truth. 3 Behind all this teaching we discern the fact that the knowledge of the Church s faith
s

was cautiously imparted to the believer before his Baptism. There was a Traditio Symboli or something of the kind and always afterwards the baptised person was conscious that
"

"

he possessed the clue to the higher interpretation of the So Clement loves, as we might express it, to intelworld.
lectualise the

illumination

is

Sacrament, though indeed the light of this with him no cold dry light of the bare reason,
Still,

but a flame that warms and cheers as well.

characteristic insistence,

there

is

throughout his references to Baptism, upon the right of the baptised to gather the fruits of the tree of Knowledge as well as those of the tree of Life.

We

recollect that the prisoner in Plato s cave

turned his eyes

there
is

gradually towards the

" "

light.

Undoubtedly

a certain

Hellenising

Clement most growth and prevalence of Infant Baptism much of Clement s language has ceased to be applicable. The Church was right in her decision to extend her welcome to those of tender Yet something has been lost in the inevitable separayears.
,

of Christianity to be seen in the significance With the delights to discern in this rite.

79.

TWO SACRAMENTS
tion

147

Sacrament of all those important associations illumination was the for which, as Clement understood it, most general and significant term. There is slight trace of
this
"

from

"

them, even
Years."

in

the

English form
the
"

"

For those of Riper

understanding,"

Nor does

"

Order of

Confirmation," in spite

of

its

reference to the

spirit of

wisdom and

wholly

pass on to consider his references to the Eucharist, noting incidentally how completely these two rites overshadow all minor

make up the loss. So much Clement tells us about Baptism.

We

ordinances.
their

To

that extent he

is

with the Reformers and

two Sacraments, rather than with

his principles are indeed elastic

Rome and
enough

seven,

though
to

to extend

many

particular applications.
s

Clement

references

to

the

Church

central

act

of

worship are not infrequent, but they are usually allusive and indistinct in character, leaving many interesting questions
in doubt. are quite sure of his general view and estimation of the Eucharist, but in much uncertainty about the details of its order. shall consider the externals of
still

We

We

the Sacrament

first.

The number
"

of believers
It

who assembled
was

worship was considerable.

three
"

habitually for two or not a case of

"

the troops of peace

gathering together in the Name, but a 1 with Christ as leader.

"

muster of

Their one

assembly was a union of many members. The blending of the many voices in one great harmony was notable and
of The impressive. coming together 3 may be discerned in the terms employed.
"

"

a congregation

This worship,
1

if

not elaborate, contained most of the

90
;

owaxflf^cu, 72

ffvvd^fi rovs tlpyviKovs ffTpaTKaras,

Cp. the

USC of ffvvais

in the Liturgies.
2

72, 848.

3
<rvvh\v(Tis,

167.

148

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

various elements, which were afterwards developed in the

There is a passage in which its five principal Liturgies. constituents are mentioned together, and we may follow
order, without committing ourselves to its complete knew that these things were subject to regu accuracy. to the Church s rule as defined and for he refers lation,
s
1

Clement

He

binding in connection with the Sacrament. There was a Homily or Exhortation. To hear this was
a part of the Eucharistic observance. It was commonly an 3 of And possibly there are hints of exposition Scripture. the distinction, more definitely drawn in later times, between

those

who
4

"

are

"

hearers

only and those

who

are

more

advanced.
in

Hearing is distinguished from full participation the mysteries, and they who could not read, at least
6

hearing was not confined to the Homily. was read there were lections from the Old Scripture Testament and from the New. 6 The connection between the use of the Scriptures and the Eucharistic rite is definitely
:

might hear. But the

stated to be a part of the Saviour s intention. 7 It is another form of Clement s frequent plea for intelligence in worship.

The Oblation
some
heretics

is

next mentioned.
:

the elements offered

this

Bread and wine were was the Church s rule, though

used water only, in defiance of the plain 8 of The wine was mixed with water, language Scripture. 9 to the in ordinary life. custom Clement never according
1

797.

He

mentions

(i.)

a/cor?, (ii.) avdyvu<ri$,

(in.) irpoo-^opot, (iv.)

eux

J,

(v.)

Praise
2

tyvxri

alvovva, u^i/oGo-o, fv\oyova-a, ^d\\ovffa.

is

The accumulation
5

of terms for this last item

3756
7rpo</>7?Tai

significant
4

and

characteristic.
299.

76.

248.

\a\ova-w, 92.

The Gospels

are read aloud, 794.

343;

375 CP. 1 86. Note the insistence on olvos. On the use of water in the Eucharist see Harnack, Brod und Wasscr: die eucharistischen Elemente bei Justin, in Texte und Untersuchungen, vii. 115 sqq.
9

177-

ELEMENTS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP

149

speaks of an altar in connection with Eucharistic ritual, though he may, perhaps, have had the Sacrament in mind

when he spoke
offering,

of the
"

"

table of

"

holy
2

supper, as

was was every meal

truth."

"

It

"

holy

at

which
in

Christ was present.

And man

gift

to

God became

God s gift to man, and through the elements souls were fed on spiritual food. 8 The words of institution were familiar to Clement, 4 as was the idea of the divine Word being blended with the material substance but there is no definite reference either to the act of consecration, or to
turn
;

or the Spirit. The recognised practice was for the elements to be administered to the faithful, but a different use was sometimes followed and the com
the invocation of the

Word

municants allowed each to take his share from the Table. 6

Prayer comes next
not suppose that
actual
rite.
it

in

Clement

order,

though we must

did not precede as well as follow the Clement s language frequently resembles that
"

The of the later liturgical forms. the kindness of God, the loving
"

"

rest

"

"

medicine

of the departed, of hallowed

"

knowledge that comes by communion, are occur frequently in Clement s pages which expressions and are found also in the Prayers of Bishop Serapion. 6
elements, the
"

"

all

So, too, in the Alexandrian Liturgy of Saint Mark, "the holy and only Catholic Church," the thought of the faithful
as

God, the conception of the Lord as the haven of the storm-tossed, and the physician of souls, have
"

"

the flock

of

all

their
s

obvious resemblances
works.

to

phrases

common

in

Clement

observed, argue with certainty from these and other notable correspon dences to the existence of a prescribed liturgical order in Clement s time. But they may still form some evidence
1

We

cannot, as before

1736

205.
<f>i\avOp(airia,

948.
^ap/xa/coj
,

86, 343.
too,
s

&

318.
s

avdTravffis,

yvSxris.

So,

Serapion

use of

s, ffj.iro\iTeveffdai,

(rvyKardBeffts, recalls

Clement

terminology.

150

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

as to the style and manner of the petitions offered in public worship in his day. The beautiful prayer to the Word,

with which the third book of the Psedagogus closes, may 1 afford us an even closer insight. Standing was the usual
attitude in worship, with head erect and hands raised and the heels lifted from the ground and the face turned to the

East.

The

prayer

was said by the

priest

alone, but
"

it

united utterance, in which every Amen was voice joined, though whether more than the all the it is worshippers, impossible to say. repeated by
closed with a
"

common and

Finally, there

was Praise, and with Clement

this

was an

important element.

To him we owe

the earliest Christian

in

hymn
andria.

still

extant, and music counted for much

Alex

From

and praise, it is had a glad and joyous character, and that in Alexandria the Eucharist fully deserved its name. 3 The Divine Word seemed himself to join with the uplifted voices of the 4 And Clement knew, what so many moderns worshippers. have forgotten, that false theology mattered even in a
5

the many references in his pages to hymns clear that Christian worship, as he knew it,

hymn. At some point in place must be found

this order, possibly before the Oblation,

for the Kiss of Peace.

Clement

tells

us that already this custom had fallen into some abuse. Some people even made the Church echo with their
salutations.
6

The

"

greeting lost
restraint

all its

"

when decency and

tullian

were

character, mystical thus forgotten. Ter-

of the kiss, even

1

was scandalised at the suggestion of the omission on days of fasting. 7 Clement has reason
2

107,854,856. But instrumental music, which Clement thought morally dangerous, was evidently not yet used in worship cp. 193.
3
;

311.

ffvyvfJivovvTOs
6
6

853.
301.

TOV dtov \6yov, 0,2. Cp. Bardaisan s use of hymns for purposes of teaching.
r)/j.?v

De

Oratione,

14.

EUCHARIST AND AGAPE

151

It is to deplore just the opposite defect. strange to find the Carthaginian father protesting against needless strict

ness,
tullian

the
is

But Terpleading for rigidity. thinking of the Eucharist, Clement mainly of the
Alexandrian
last distinction

Agape. This

perplexity.

Were

Clement, a point of much the Eucharist and Agape, as he knew

is,

in

them
order
meal,

in

Does his Church Alexandria, distinct or not ? unite the Christian Sacrament with the Christian
fall

and
;

into
it

line

with

that

of

the

Didache and

Ignatius

or does

correspond to the

opposite practice,

with

Cyprian, Origen were familiar ? His interpreters differ and it is hard to say. Clement is nowhere more mystical and allusive than in his treatment

which

Tertullian,

of sacramental rites,

and on
still

this particular point his refer

ences are
the

interpreted

by some

authorities

to

imply that

Eucharist was

connected with

the

Agape and

celebrated in the evening, while others hold that they afford There is a very evidence of a distinct and morning rite.
full

excursus in

Hort and Mayor, and

"

considerable reason

for their conclusion of

non

liquet."

the whole, when in question, there seems

On

we

consider the various passages ground for the belief that there

in Clement s Church a recognised practice of Eucharist in the morning. the Morning attend receiving in one is Church ance at passage clearly mentioned as a 2 It could hardly be for any other service usual custom.

did exist

than

the

Eucharist.
in

The

Clement both

a technical

term Eucharist is used by and also in a more general

1 The separation of the two in Clement s Church is maintained by Keating, The Agape and the Eucharist in the Early Church, pp. 78-93, and by Zahn, It is disputed by Bigg, art. "Agapen" in Herzog s Realencyclopadie. Christian Platonists, pp. 102-5, by Allen, Christian Institutions, p. 522, and by Harnack, Hist. Dogm., ii. 143, n. See Hort and Mayor, Appendix C.

228.

152
sense,
rite.
1

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

and technically employed seems to suggest a separate In one specially important passage he writes that
regular food
"

our
with

"

may

be a Eucharist,

if

we
it

receive

it

thanksgiving, implying apparently customary to connect the term with anything of the nature of an ordinary meal. Moreover, in the two passages in which Clement speaks of the Oblation, the term Eucharist
"

that

was not

"

occurs as well, but the idea of offering does not appear to 2 be so closely associated with the Agape. Such considera
tions

not prove conclusively that Clement thought of the Eucharist as a service distinct from the freer afternoon

may

assemblies of the faithful, but they give some probability to the supposition. Alexandria, we may suppose, had
already separated the two elements which were latent in the primitive Supper of the Lord.

But
it is

here, as elsewhere, the morning Eucharist existed, also clear that the Agape was still a popular institution,
if

with considerable religious significance and no

to

little

liability

scandal

and abuse.

The term was

elastic,

covering

formal assemblies of the Church and more social gatherings in houses. Its associations, though not the actual name,

were extended to the ordinary evening meal of the family. 3 Such gatherings may have commenced by daylight, in the
late

they were continued into the evening, with 4 the lamps alight. They retained a sacramental character the table was a table of truth ; the food was heavenly fare the Scriptures were read aloud the kiss of peace was given
afternoon
; ;
1

The word has a

/col

Kpaa-is irorov re

technical sense in such passages as the following \6yov ei>xapiffria KfK\rjrai, 178: ws chat rV SiKalav rpo^y
fvxapicrriav Suwfyciv,

fiiXapHrrlav,
It is

170:

rV

318: vSwp ^lAb?

used in the

less restricted

sense of

"thanksgiving"

fvxapurrovffi, 375. in irp\v vwov \a x ^v

6uxpt<TTe^

tffiov rtf

0e, 194

also in 683, 851, 879.

2
*poff<t>opd,

375, 797. cannot find that ayair-f} in

Clement ever means nothing more than the

ordinary evening meal of the family.

CHARACTER OF THE AGAPE

thanksgiving and
contributions
brethren.
1

153
;

were

hymns brought the evening to its close made to the needs of the poorer
it,

A
it

in so far as

measure of consecration attached to accorded with its true purpose and ideal. 2
certain

It

was a feast of reason, a banquet of the mind, a supper of which love was the motive. Such were the general associa How far its more public forms differed tions of the Agape. from private practice, it is not possible to say. In a rich and luxurious city like Alexandria, with men and women of the world beginning to find their way into the Church, it is easy to understand the liability of such an institution to The heretics employed the term freely, to give a abuse.
3 specious decency to many of their worst extravagances, and even in Catholic circles the religious character of the meal

tended to be obscured by licence and indulgence. So dis credit fell upon the very ordinance of the Lord. Clement is seriously concerned at the laxity of Christian practice in He seems to feel that a beautiful and these assemblies.
is spiritual institution the Carpocratians this

being vulgarised and spoiled. Among might be natural, but it troubles him

to see

any similar defection in the Church. Such in its central and most sacred rite was Christian
it

worship in Alexandria, so far as

reconstruction from Clement
s

is

possible to hazard

its

pages. so with the Eucharist and the Agape, it Clement s interest lies. It is the truths

But, as with Baptism, is not in the rite that

and associations
it

gathered round
"

it,

the mystical significance

suggested, the

"

grace

of the Sacrament, as in manifold fashion he loved

to interpret it, for which is wholly indifferent to

Clement truly
ritual,

cares. Not that he but the inward things are

always more.

The dominant
1

conception

is

that of feeding
2
T,

upon the
165.

72, 165-7, 171, 173, 228, 301, 860-1.

bydvn

r,

^ym<J>e i/r?,

8 9 2.

54

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

To
1

Word.

the
"

sound
I

in

soul
2

He

himself

is

spiritual
"and

nourishment.

am

thy

sustainer,"

says the Christ,

give myself to thee as bread." in the Sacrament, forasmuch as

is
"

There
it is

is a mystical element the flesh of Christ. 3 It

4 The blood of the heavenly food that the faithful seek. The divine the Word shed abroad for many." vine is

food that

is

above

is

ours, of which those alone

who

are

In such language Clement s worthy may mind dwells upon the central truth of the Eucharist, finding mystical and allegorical significance in the mixed chalice, in
the properties of the blood, in the qualities of milk, which is 6 For him, as for Saint John "white as the day of Christ."

have a share. 5

and
of

all

his like, there

is

no

rigid limitation of such spiritual

rite.

feeding to the Eucharistic

It is

the universal privilege

Christianity.

higher nature, as interpreted by Heavenly fare is the nourishment of the soul.

the cup of

our

Day by day

we drink

the

Lord.

To

all

his children the

their proper nurture. The Church had and focussed and centralised this universal need gathered up and privilege of human nature in her one principal rite, and this centralisation was to be more and more marked in the For Clement, the act or process of spiritual after years.

Word

supplies

feeding

is still

inward, mystical,

elastic, aided,

not restricted,

by outward

already beginning to recognise the need for order and regulation, but the fact upon which his thought habitually dwelt was that of Christ,
as always, with or drink of faithful souls.

rules.

Even he was

the

Word,

without the media , the meat

and

And
These
as

"

the benefits whereof

we

are partakers thereby

"

Truth and Immortality. For just was so are Eucharist and illumination, Baptism Agape the continued sustenance of our rational and intelligent
are principally two,
1

123.
4

2 6

948.
169.

3 6

125-6.

165.

121-2, 128, 177.

TRUTH AND IMMORTALITY

natures.

155

The two Sacraments have indeed

milk and water are kindred

a certain natural
in their
"

affinity, just as
ties.
1

proper
2

It is the

Lord
3

will that
is
"

we should

eat

rationally."

The

Saviour

teaching

spiritual

meat and the cup which

When we eat and drink of the Word, knows not thirst." we have the knowledge of the divine being.* The soul s
highest fare is the uncloying contemplation of the true 5 In such terms he loves to translate the rite and reality.

ordinance into mystic vision, and to appropriate angels food

for the understanding soul. Ceremony passes imperceptibly into meditation, and the Supper in the upper room is intellectualised, so that

Hellenes

may

share the feast.

Thus

the

may receive sacramental grace as he needs and can Because Christ is the Truth, is also the appropriate it.
Gnostic

He

true Vine and the Bread of

life.

one interpretation of the inward gift ; it is also Here, again, the implications are similar to Immortality.
is

That

those of Baptism. Just as in the initiatory rite man puts on the incorruptibility of the Lord, so in the Eucharist he
partakes
of

the

"

medicine of

immortality."
:

The

idea

the blending specially connects itself with the mixed cup of the different substances suggests the fusion of the divine

nature with our humanity. 7 To drink the blood of Jesus is to share the incorruptibility of the Lord. Day by day

He

gives us the cup of immortality, and whoso eats of the Thus divine bread has no further experience of death. does Clement anticipate the common conception of the later
Liturgies, that in the Eucharist

man

obtains eternal
sacrificial

life.

Clement does not emphasise the

Eucharist.

He

is

aspect of the familiar with the conception of sacrifice

as originally a feast
1

upon
34383.

a victim,
3
7

and neither the idea of

4

127-8.
6

896.
128, 177-8.

686.

5
8

169.

E.g.

CWTJS

awviov rvx* tv in the Liturgy of St Clement.

849.

156

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

a Real Presence, nor that of Transubstantiation, are foreign

his thought ; but he does not appropriate or expand 1 these principles in his treatment of the Sacrament. connects, indeed, the thought of Christ s death with the gift

to

He

and Cup, and even, in a strongly allegorical 2 In having the Word in one s mouth." passage, speaks of a fragment, of which the authorship is at best doubtful, the language is more definite, and Christ is said to be both flesh 3 But and bread, and to give Himself as both for us to eat.
of the Bread
"

Clement s most characteristic teaching runs upon other lines. We do not sacrifice to God, but we glorify the victim 4 The oblation, as he interprets offered upon our behalf." 5 The true altar is the it, consists of prayer and teaching.
"

6 The assembly of the believers, or the righteous soul. Church s sacrifice is the utterance which rises like incense

from holy
in

souls, or incense itself

is

is

prayer.
variable,

His thought
rather than

these

matters

mystical,
in

fluid,

Both parties precise. him as their ally, but

connections,

later

controversies have
this, as in so

claimed

indeed in
right to

we have no

many other demand from him a verdict

raised.

on questions which
in his

in his

day had not been

He

is

demands for decency and order, and in his emphatic He knows the sacred symbols regard for the Church s rule. stand for a hidden and higher reality. And Christ, the divine Word, is for him the veritable and unfailing Food of
souls.

doctrine

Let us be grateful for such wide and generous it was not wholly to his disadvantage, that Clement lived before the Church s Eucharistic teaching had
:

grown

erudite, definite,

and controversial.
Christian

Side
1

by

side

with these ordinances of the

in with
2

See Bigg, Christian Platonists, p. 106, n. 4. The idea of Origen. Harnack, Hist. Dogm., ii. 133, n.
298, 948.
Stahlin,
iii.

sacrifice

came

Dindorf,
6

iii.

505.

836.

204.

848.

INFLUENCE OF THE MYSTERIES

Society
both.
existed

157
heretical

the
the

Sacraments

of

pagan Mysteries, and Clement was Gnostics.

the

familiar with

shall briefly consider the relation between these rival ceremonies and the Church s forms of initiation and of

We

worship, as Clement s pages reveal them to us. To some extent the influence of the Mysteries may be traced in the New Testament. Saint Paul, Saint John,
the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, all made use of the terminology proper to Eleusis, and such conceptions as those of purification, of revelation, of an assured

Hereafter,

are

common
how

to

certain

phases

of
far
is

apostolic

Christianity and to the Mysteries.

direct appropriation,
far the

How

there was

correspondence

explained
is

by the
difficult

general

religious

atmosphere of the period,

and undetermined question. When we pass from the New Testament to Clement, the influence is still more evident his writings are indeed of peculiar interest and
;

importance in any consideration of the action of pagan cults

upon developing
Like other

Christianity.

ecclesiastical writers,

he

is

the severe critic of

these ancient rites, dragging forth every absurdity and every Yet, paradoxical as it may obscenity into the light of day.

and this seem, he is debtor where he scorns and ridicules indebtedness is specially evident in his treatment of the
;

Sometimes, like Tertullian, he makes direct the Church s rites and the mysteries of between comparison 1 Sometimes, by looser association, he speaks of the Paganism.
Sacraments.
"mysteries"

of the

Agape

or of the

"mystery"

of the Bread.

Certain terms specially appropriated to the Sacraments have been derived most probably from the Mysteries: among these the Seal," Perfection," were recognised Illumination,"
"

"

"

688-9.

Cp. Tert,

De Baptismo,
,

5.

rb p.vffTiKbv rov &prov, 12$

aydtrrj is

ra

rrjs
its

aydin)s

fj-va-T^pia^

956 (though perhaps

the

word

not used here in

special sense).

158

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

names for Baptism. Let anyone watch in the Protrepticus and in the P*dagogus how Clement exploits these terms, or how, in another passage, he speaks of Eucharistic wine as 1 and he will the "mystic symbol of the Holy Blood,"
in hardly question, that there was a recognised parallelism the Church. and rites of Eleusis Clement s mind between the

This comes out specially in the closing chapters of the Protrepticus, where the Church s membership is described as
the fellowship of the initiated, the Lord is portrayed as the true Hierophant, and the technical language of the Mysteries
is

freely

employed

to

commend,

in

strain

of

exalted
to

enthusiasm, the privileges of 2 the spiritual shrine.

those

who

are admitted

Like the Mysteries, Christianity drew the sharp line of distinction between those who were initiated and those who I have no concern," were not. says Clement once, letting his words carry him far beyond his practice, with the un
"
"

initiated,"

that

is

Christianity
in its full
its

demanded long and

its

to say the unbaptised. Like the Mysteries, careful preparation for share
ritual

Like the Mysteries, Christianity had symbolic meal, responses from the novice, its sacred ceremonies from evil powers. And the protection by parallel is even closer, when we consider how each, by sacra mental acts, brought its adherents out of darkness into light, and how each secured in a similar manner the assurance of immortal life. Clement is an important witness for all these
membership.
points of similarity, nor is it in the Sacraments alone that he discerns such correspondence. Like many men of his age,
as
life

already had occasion to observe, he must in earlier have been profoundly influenced by his initiation into what was at once the most spiritual and the most naturalistic

we have

When he comes over to the Church phase of pagan religion. he forgets the Mysteries just as little as he forgets his Homer
1

184.

91 sqq.

936.

GNOSTIC SACRAMENTS
and
their

159

All the higher and nobler elements of his Philosophy. scheme are brought to the service of Christianity, and

the sacred ordinances of the Lord, which had been adapted originally from Jewish practice, receive a Hellenic setting

the Greeks they became as Greek. The trend so given to the Church s sacramental teaching has never since been wholly lost. Clement has a twofold

and interpretation.

To

interest for us in the matter

first,

in so far as

he enables

us to watch this syncretistic process in actual operation ; and secondly, in so far as his attitude in the matter is another

evidence of the generous elasticity of his mental and spiritual

temperament.
of which the
able use.

He
new

will claim for Christianity

every element

religion could

make

fruitful

and honour

closer parallel to the Sacraments of the

sects.

be seen in those of the Gnostic

to these are in
at

Church is to Clement s references

generally

times he criticises and condemns

appropriates.

keeping with his whole attitude to Gnosticism at times he

;

commends and

The number

of passages in

the Excerpta and Eclogue which refer to the Sacraments, is an interesting evidence of the recognised importance of these

the earlier Valentinian system. Incidentally, it is to be noticed that the influence of the Mysteries is even more
rites in

practice and teaching of 1 Gnostics than in those of the orthodox Church.

evident in the sacramental

the

Clement naturally found much

of

to

condemn
mark

in the licence

the

Carpocratian

assemblies.

Sectarian
to

ambition and

sectarian indulgence seem to 2 of their misnamed Agapae.

him

He

the chief places finds fault, too, with those

who used

3 only water in the Eucharist.

:

And
it is

he seems to
"

question the validity of heretical Baptism

1

not proper

See especially Wobbermin,

ou yap
a.ya.Tft}v etiroi/j.

op.
TT]V

cit. t

70 sqq.
avToii
,

2 3

&f 670*76

<rvv*\tv<nv

514

>

^P- 892.

375-

160
or genuine from the

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

water,"

LXX
of the

version

he says, extracting a condemnation of it 1 of Prov. ix. iS. Cyprian later

same passage, possibly influenced by the Alexandrian father s example. Clement must have been well aware of the importance which the Gnostics attached to The Lord s Baptism, in most Gnostic systems, Baptism. marked the union of the Christ with the man Jesus. There
was therefore special point in his remark that, if the Gnostics 2 adhered to their theories, they rendered Baptism superfluous. But these criticisms are probably outweighed by his
appreciation of the use which the Valentinians made of the Sacraments. To the passages he extracted from their he writings appends few comments or objections, and we

made use

sometimes wonder whether he thought they interpreted In these ordinances more successfully than the Church. informa he has for us much any case, preserved interesting
tion as to Gnostic practice and belief. It was held that in some cases angels received Baptism on behalf of men, and

the phrase

unto angelic redemption Gnostic liturgy, where it was used

"

"

is

at

quoted from some the laying on of

is

hands. 3

elements, bread, oil, cantly omitted), were consecrated

Name."
4

The

water (wine
"

signifi

by the power of the

The

rite

of

with astrological beliefs, and held to free

Baptism was brought into relation men from the

fate.
5

power and influence

of

He
if

mentions the curious

superstition that unclean spirits,

not successfully expelled,

might descend with the candidate into the baptismal font and be rendered incurable by receiving the influence of the seal.

The

"

Baptism of

Fire,"

of which the

Lord spoke, gave

rise

in these circles to the practice of

6 baptised person with hot iron.

branding the ear of the Also, the inward signifi-

It

was not

yv-fja-ioif

vSup.
3

Cp. Benson, Cyprian, 412.

4

2
5

449-

974fJ-^xP
1

988.
T v ftaarftffueros t 987.
6

held good only

995.

GNOSTIC SACRAMENTS
cance of the
"

161
:

rite received fresh interpretation it was the from matter it not escape gave salvation, by washing 1 Its symbols stood for an in alone, but also by Gnosis. water" and So the Eucharist telligible discerning confers life, both as food and as knowledge. 3 The "divine is to be received after fare," which fasting, is spiritualised and interpreted as seven Christian virtues. 4 Again, prayer on the bended knee is a recognised element in worship.
"

"

"a

fire."

In such fragmentary, disconnected references we catch a glimpse of Christian rites and worship, as they existed in the
respects there was devia tion from the Church s custom or addition to her recognised order. But in certain respects, too, there was anticipation
heretical

communities.

In

many

of later Catholic practice ; or rather customs, which originated with the Gnostics, found eventually a lodgment within the domain of orthodoxy. The consecration of the water in

Baptism, to which Clement

doubtful, has clear recognition in these Valentinian extracts. 5 Kneeling in prayer seems to have been more usual with the Gnostics

own

allusions are

The correspondence between the the later Catholic practice has Gnostic and Coptic writings been made clear by recent inquiry, 7 and similar anticipations
than
in

the

Church. 6

are not lacking in the Gnostic extracts

which Clement has

probably quite early in the second half of the second century. Thus the Church s wisdom in learning and adopting, even where, in the main,
is

preserved, and whose date

she was

bound

to criticise

and oppose,
it

is

as evident in the
in

case of the heretical Sacraments as

Mysteries.

That Clement
2
99Ij995<
.
.

regard to the pages enable us to watch both

is
3
*
,

^87,
6

990. rb vSup

97I

992

ayiaa^bv

irpotrA.a/i/Jcij/ei,

988

Cp.

II4>

U7in

6
7

yovu/cA.ta-ioUj

See

988. the treatises of

vil.

Harnack and Carl Schmidt,

Texte

und
II

Unter-

suchungen, VOL. II.

and

VIII.

62

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

is

His entire surely no accident. both on appropriations. approval must have rested Since Clement led thoughtful pagans to the saving and
phases of this process
his illuminating waters of Baptism, and shared with these, house meal of the Christian spiritual children, the sacred

hold, many changes and controversies have passed over The significance these primitive institutions of our religion. we attach to Baptism has suffered regrettable diminution. The Eucharist, sad as the confession is to make, has become
as

much

Still,

in

at large has never made formal abatement the character and estimate she attaches to these holy

power the Church

for division as for unity in Christendom.

ordinances.
tinctive rites

For

Clement, they remain the dis of Christianity. And, at least in one respect,
us, as for

we

desire to reappropriate the sacramental the Alexandrine Master. teaching of For, however in other details opinion and practice may Infant Baptism superseding adult, fresh have altered,

might well

elaboration of ritual attaching to the Eucharist,

at

new attempts

definition limiting

and formulating our conception of

there are still retained in each of the sacramental presence these principal rites the outward and the inward elements,

the symbol and the belief in the reality symbolised, the sign that can be seen and handled, and the grace that is
invisible, given, divine.

The combination is recognised as use of these ordinances depends on a sound and essential, to its the power proper value to each of the two assign in or which aspects, every true Sacrament are combined. parts
just in this, in the balanced estimate of sign and gift, in the singularly true distribution of stress and emphasis in his sacramental teaching, that Clement is so
it is

Now

sane and valuable an example. Already within the Church or on its borders the tendencies existed, which would de
preciate,

on the one hand, the inward experience,

or,

on the

SIGN
other, the

AND GRACE
The mere

163

outward form.

regarded as so potent, that it from magic, as when Baptism

evil spirits,

act was sometimes became hardly distinguishable was described as a remedy for

or the Eucharistic elements as a medicine of

Conversely and it is notable that both exag were found within the Gnostic schools it was gerations sometimes taught that the material elements were indifferent, and that truly spiritual religion will wholly dispense with
eternal
life.

external aids. 1

often in later centuries were like tendencies to sometimes the mere opus operatum operate, acquiring a hard, sometimes the soul s inward experience unspiritual efficacy
;

How

being exalted, by the abandonment of such expression and ordered regularity as can only be secured through outward forms. In either manner of one-sidedness it is really the

wisdom

of the Lord s ordinance that is called in question, and so long as the present conditions of human life prevail, the Church can wisely ignore or depreciate neither outward sign

nor inward grace.

And

that, in singularly

Clement

attitude

throughout.

happy balance, is and Again again we are

to feel that the signs are there, prescribed, regulated, available, parts of an established external order, tangible, visible centres, round which associations may cluster, as elastic
in their possibilities of interpretation as they are unalterable in their material character. Mystic as he is, he never
belittles

made

them or speaks

matters in Baptism, for water. The elements are important in the Eucharist, for we must keep to the example of Scripture and the Church s
rule.

them as needless. The water the Lord Himself was baptised in

of

In a
;

man
it

of

Clement

temperament

this is a notable

insistence

is

an insistence on the value of externals

from one whose

religious bent might have led him to quite a different point of view. It reminds us of his refusal to
1

Cp. Irenaeus,

i.

21, 4.

164

SACRAMENTS AND WORSHIP

or the historic depreciate altogether either the human body, In their place we want these life of the Incarnate Word.

outward things. But, on the other hand, how far is he from binding down spiritual experiences and unseen truths to the forms which express and actualise them. Like Hooker after him, was not tied unto the Sacrament." His he knew grace
"

his symbols tokens of the signs are signs of a higher thing, is an infinite variety in the ways there and inexpressible,

and means of grace.

"

1st

Alles Vergangliche nur ein Gleichnis,"

he might have said with Goethe, and he loves to pass in thought from the transient images and figures to the hidden, inward realm, of which allegory was for him the key. And
thus, in his

own

figure, the

come

as

"

doors,"

outward, material elements be and through them we are led into those

blessed fields of spiritual thought, where the soul is purified and made white, and man s nature attains its true perfection, and the light of God shines round about His children, and

feed on Christ, who is the very Bread of soul closes with absolute reality in the intimate

we

life,

and the

communion

of perfect knowledge.

bidding to baptise, and His mandate to eat the bread and drink the cup, will not have been treasured
s

Our Lord

by the Church

in vain,

so long as the outward

and the

inward aspects of the religious life can be united in such harmonious proportions, as they received in the sacramental
teaching of Clement of Alexandria.

CHAPTER

XVII

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES CANON AND TEXT

CLEMENT
S

use of Scripture

is

an interesting and
to

difficult

no many problems, subject. certain answer can be given ; but we are never doubtful as
It raises

some

of which

to his extraordinary

to the importance he consistently attached to Scripture, nor as command of its abundant stores.

How

he acquired his familiarity with the Bible is worth consider ing, before we go on to ask what his Bible was, and in what manner he employed it.
probable that, before he finally came over to Christianity, he paid considerable attention to the sacred
It
is

books of the new religion. Educated persons in the second century, even while outside the Church, were frequently
acquainted with
her literature.
Celsus, for example, has

many shrewd things to say both about the Old and New Testaments 1 and Trypho had read the Gospels. 2 More over, Clement himself speaks of the value of the Scriptures
;

as well as for the faithful, recalling, in all Thus his probability, the experience of his earlier years. of to his love the due Bible have been study may originally

for inquirers,

of books as well as to his desire for guidance, but,

commenced,
1

it

was never abandoned.

It

was

however pursuit and

:

He compared

the Scriptures with Plato to their disadvantage

3

Origem

c.

Cels.) vi. i.
2

Justin, Dialog., 10, 18.

65-6, 429.

165

66

THE HOLY
1

SCRIPTURES.
it

interest in
old.

which he counted

happy

to live

and
"

to

grow

the true conversion came his travels, and traditions of blessed teaching," to which he listened under

After his

masters, can hardly have been dissociated from the Christian documents in which it was enshrined. Certainly, if Tatian was his he must have learned Assyrian teacher,

many

much from him about both the Old and New Testaments and when he finally settled in Egypt, as the pupil and
;

assistant of Pantaenus,

it

was

share the studies of one

of exegesis,

who was

to hear the expositions and to a master in his own line

"

who had

gathered his

"

honey

from prophetic

and apostolic sources, and grown rich whose zeal, moreover, as pretation
;

in treasures of inter

a missionary, did not

diminish his scholarly delight in the discovery of an un known manuscript of the Gospel. The Biblical trend in all

Clement

s writings was probably more due to the influence of Pantaenus than to any one other cause, and competent

judges have counted Clement as more Biblical than even 8 Origen. Nor, again, was his acquaintance with Scripture only a matter of the lecture-room. The frequency with which he mentions the reading of the Scriptures, sometimes as an element in Christian worship, sometimes as a private habit
as

meal

the prelude, for example, to the common domestic leads us to reflect that such frequent lections must
4

have largely contributed to his

text of holy writ.

To

this

own familiarity with cause we may principally

the
set

down Clement
as also his
1

power

to quote so

abundantly from memory,

roTs ypafiais, 896.

consequent and lamentable inaccuracy.

is

The Gnostic
KOTO TOVTOV

described as
H.E.,
v. II.

fv avrais

Karayijpd<ras
ypa<f>ais

(sC.

Pantcenus) TOUS

Ofiais

avva.ffKovp.tvos

eV AAelavSpefaj

iyruplfao KA^rjs.
3

Redepenning, Origenes,

nising that

many

i. 95 (pub. 1841), holds this view, though recog 4 authorities dissent. 305, 786, 860, 997.

CLEMENT S KNOWLEDGE OF SCRIPTURE

To
work
these
influences
in the Catechetical School,

167

many

subjects,

must be added his twenty years where he dealt, indeed, with but with none so frequently as the Bible

and where no topic lay too far afield for it to receive proof or illustration from this source. The teacher beyond all
others
is

is in part his indirect

the true learner, and Clement s mastery of Scripture reward for .his devotion to his pupils.
in
all

Christian centres, and especially in had become the question of the day. Alexandria, exegesis The interest in it was extraordinary the necessity, too, was For the heretics were threatening to capture the pressing. Church s books, much as the Church had captured the Old Testament from the Synagogue so the orthodox had to defend their own. Thus the literary activity of the Church in combating heresy was fundamentally scriptural, differing in this from the work of the Apologists. Melito signifi 1 Irenaeus is scriptural cantly wrote a work entitled the Key. to the core. The fight with the Valentinians was largely over Such was the atmosphere. The authority interpretation. of the Book, on the whole, was greater than that of the In Clement s case there is no question on this Church.

Moreover,

point.

Finally, there is the personal factor. was a man of books, and the books

Essentially

Clement
Scripture

known

as

came naturally first. He liked to persuade himself that, however far he might seem to wander from the text, still the source of all his life and inspiration as a teacher lay there 2 There was a power in Scripture to stir the soul s alone. latent faculties into flame, and to direct the eye of our under 3 Truth was given in the standing towards the higher vision. till they found Scriptures, accessible to those who would seek
it,

and, once found,

1

it

was to be
2

in constant use.
3

The

H.E.,
Cp.
T\

iv.

26.

829.

321.

Xpriffis TTJS

a\j0efas, 66.

68

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

enthusiasm with which he will again and again refer to the

subject betrays alike the consciousness of a great spiritual possession, and the delight of a scholar in his books, and
relied

the confidence with which, as a champion of the faith, he on these sure and adequate resources. Here, as

frequently, outward circumstances and natural disposition 1 lead Clement in the same direction.

and similar causes that we must set down the prominence of the Scriptures in Clement s writings, and
It
is

to such

his

ready
"

command

of their material.

We

approach a

far

when we ask what Clement meant and what was the nature of the distinction by Scripture," he drew between these and other books. His Bible was a whole and a unity, for he will allow of no discord between the Old Testament and the New, 2 but it will be convenient, for several reasons, if we consider the older and the later
more
difficult question,

Scriptures separately. The Canon of the

Old Testament had been

settled for

3 upwards of a century in Clement s time, and the Church had in the main accepted all that it contained. Melito, Clement s contemporary, gives a list of the Jewish Scriptures

compiled by careful inquiry, and it accords, save for the single omission of the book of Esther, with the Hebrew

Canon. 4

similar result

is

obtained

when we examine

the

No significance must quotations and references in Clement. be attached to the fact that he does not make use of the
book of Ruth, or quote directly either from Nehemiah or from the short prophecy of Obadiah. 5 The absence of quota1

On

the whole subject see

is

Harnack s Bible Reading in

and

the

Early Church,

esp. pp. 32-89, E.T.

2

This

Kvpiov $v4pytta
3

frequently asserted as against Marcion 6 rt v6pos rJ TC tvayy4\iov, 424.

. .

others, e.g. iris y&p,

official
6

H. E. Ryle, Canon of the Old Testament, conclusion of the Canon about A.D. ioo.
3

p.

172, places the

4

"Jewish

H.E.,

iv.

26.

Nehemiah

himself, however,

is

mentioned, 392.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

tions

169

to accident, or to Clement s personal preferences. it is to be remembered that Ruth was usually

from these books may quite reasonably be set down Moreover,

regarded as

one book with the Judges, and Nehemiah similarly united to Ezra. Obadiah must have had his right place in Clement s

Book

of the

Twelve Prophets, 1 or

their

number would have

is

been incomplete.
to the fact that

No

significance, then,

to be attached

Clement neither quotes from, nor refers to, these three less important books of the Old Testament. There is no reason to believe that he ever questioned their right to a place in the Canon. On the other hand, there is possibly some significance in the fact that he nowhere quotes the Song of Songs. The of this collection of canonicity poems was for long a matter of debate among the Rabbis, 2 and, though it had been before Clement his dread of the emotional wrote, accepted element in love may well have led him to question the wisdom of the decision. It was reserved for Origen to boldly spiritualise these beautiful and passionate lays. Ecclesiastes, another book of doubtful canonicity, Clement
3 It is a quotes three times. writing so alien to his tempera ment that, here again, he may have wished the Synagogue

had retained its own. But the quotations are quite clear, so that our optimistic father gives more recognition to this sad Scripture than his predecessor, Philo, who never refers

But the most doubtful book in the whole Hebrew Canon is that of Esther. Clement knew, of course, Esther s history. He mentions her with high commendation as among admirable women, 5 and in one 6 passage it is just possible that he quotes the book itself. But elsewhere he mentions it as a book known to be in
to the

book

at all.

01

5eSe/ca, 392.

Ryle,
72.

Philo and Holy

137, 198. Scripture, Introd., xxix.

tit.,

Ryle, op.

349, 350, 700.

5

617.
58.

See Stahlin, Clemens Alexandrinus

und die

Scptuaginta,

170
circulation, 1 attached.

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

though hardly as one to which much authority Thus, to some extent, he supports Melito s omission of Esther from the Canon. With these reservations the Old Testament was for Clement what it had been, through the greater part of the
century, for
heritage
as
all

Hellenistic Judaism. whole, and selected

He
from

took over the

served his purposes.

of the Synagogue, as

it what best His Canon, so far, was the Canon the Church had accepted or appro

priated

it.

of the

however, another question. Did the Canon acknowledged books agree with the Jewish not in what it included, but also in the books that rule, only it shut out ? More particularly, was Clement s attitude to

Here

arises,

Church

Apocrypha of the Old Testament identical with that of Judaism ? The question is rendered more complicated by
the
it is extremely difficult to define the amount of which Judaism did attach to the Apocrypha. In authority

the fact, that

probability this varied considerably, Alexandria giving these writings a higher place than Palestine, and the second century, on the whole, paying them more honour than the
all

even by Alexandrian Judaism they were never strictly canonised, nor must Philo s complete neglect of the Apocrypha be treated as a merely inconclusive silence. On
first.

Still,

the fringe of the

Canon were

these doubtful books,

some

Hebrew
name,

in origin, some claiming the prestige of a great all gaining a greater vogue and influence through the

On the whole, the Church made more use of them than the Synagogue did. 2 The Christian teacher, especially in Alexandria, was more prone to appropriation than to and he could be criticism, hardly expected to guard the Old
LXX.
1

3922

the

first

In the Church of Origen s time "the Old Testament Apocrypha formed stage in Bible reading," Harnack, Bible Reading, p. 73.

THE APOCRYPHA

171

Testament Canon from encroachment with the jealousy that was natural in a Jew. Clement illustrates this tendency. For he makes con siderable use of the Apocrypha, and will introduce quotations from Ecclesiasticus or the Book of Wisdom by formulae identical with those which he places before passages from Prophecy or the Law. Thirteen times is the former book cited as it is a channel Scripture through which the
"

"

divine

Instructor

speaks
is
"

it

is

described
the
"

frequently as

"Wisdom."

Similar
"

his
;

estimate of
"

Wisdom
it is

of

some Scripture These two books he uses most fre but he knows Judith also, and directly quotes the quently Book of Tobit. 2 Thus his Canon of the Old Testament is
;

Solomon

it is

divine

it is

in

sense authoritative. 1
;

that he

not easy to define with complete accuracy. cannot say would ever have been prepared to dispute the finality

We

and the Prophets. His estimate of the Psalms and of the Proverbs is almost equally clear.
these limits his views have less precision. Probably, a Hellene not a Clement was not and Rabbi, being greatly concerned as to the technical canonicity of the less important

of the Jewish settlement. has been claimed for Moses

To

the full he accepts

all

that

Beyond

books.

He

found a larger measure of truth

the

in Sirach

than

in Ecclesiastes, in

Book

of

Wisdom
is

of

Songs.

Into further questions he

than in the Song not concerned to

It was no part of his task to amend the list of inquire. Had he ever set his hand ancient and inspired Scriptures. to such an undertaking the result would have been interest

As it is, ing. Possibly Plato would have been canonised. he estimates his Old Testament sources largely by the spiritual value of their contents, claiming considerable freedom of
judgment whenever he passes outside the area of Law and Prophecy.
1

specially sacred

See Stahlin, Cl Al. und die LXX.,

45, 46.

503.

172

THE HOLY
From
the

SCRIPTURES.

Old Testament we turn to the New, which, approximately speaking, Clement quotes, or refers to, twice 1 There is no question as to his familiarity with as often. the great majority of the books in the New Testament Canon with few exceptions, they are all directly quoted.
;

The

only portions about which any doubt arises are four of the Epistles, that of Saint James, 2 Peter, 3 John, and the In the case of the first two of these Epistle to Philemon.
the evidence
is

uncertain.

Eusebius
"

states

that

Clement

the Epistle of Jude and the dealt in the Hypotyposeis with 2 remaining Catholic Epistles," and this statement is sup As they both knew the contents of the ported by Photius.
Hypotyposeis well,
at
it is

difficult to resist the conclusion, so far,

cerned, that

Epistle of James and 2 Peter are con Clement knew them and regarded them as This receives some support from certain passages Scripture. in his extant works. Once, at least, he seems to betray

any

rate, as the

3 unquestionable acquaintance with the Epistle of Saint James, and a similar deduction as to 2 Peter may be drawn from

another place in his writings. 4

in

some
1

other references, while cases reaching probability, are more doubtful. 5

The

In Dr Stahlin s edition there are about 1300 references to the Old Testament, about 2400 to the New. In many cases Clement has Scripture in mind, but cannot be said actually to quote the text. Several parallel passages, especially of course in the Synoptic Gospels and in the Pentateuch, are frequently cited in connection with one passage in Clement. But, substantially, the proportion of one to two in the references to the two 2 Testaments holds good. H.E., vi. 14. 3 The combination of 0ao-i\iK6s with aya-rrav seems 825. Cp. James ii. 8.
to

me
4 6

871.

to prove the reference, in spite of Stahlin s Cp. 2 Peter i. 10.

;

"

vielleicht."

ment
is

Credner, Geschichte des N. T. Canon, p. 382 Harnack, Das Neue Testa um das Jahr 200, p. 85 ; Westcott, Canon of N.T., ed. 1896, p. 364 Kutter, Clemens Alex, und das Neue Testament, pp. i and 100, think there

no evidence of the use of James and 2 Peter. Zahn, Supplementum Clementinum, pp. 151-3, finds traces of the influence of James, not of 2 Peter Hort and Mayor think both are quoted, pp. 115, 117 Stahlin, iii. 48, takes
;

the

same

view.

The

other possible references to the Epistle of

James are

THE NEW TESTAMENT

173

So far as the third Epistle of Saint John is concerned, It the statement of Eusebius has still to be borne in mind.

would

"

certainly be

among
But

the

"

Catholic Epistles
possible
1

when

quotation in his reference while extremely doubtful, pages of the Apostle seems to elsewhere to the longer Epistle

Eusebius

wrote.

the

one
"

Clement

is

"

suggest that, after the manner of the Muratorian Canon, he knew of only two. 2 There is no reference to the Epistle The brevity of this charming letter, which to Philemon. saved it from Marcion s criticisms, is perhaps responsible He might have found its purport for Clement s neglect.
congenial and suggestive, when he had occasion to refer to To sum up these doubtful points, the probabilities slavery.
are that the Epistles of James and 2 Peter were known to him, but that 3 John, and perhaps Philemon the only two

private letters in the New Testament and both addressed to laymen were not recognised portions of his collection.

John 3, must be

at

any

rate,

seems definitely excluded

Philemon

left in

doubt.

As
in

in the case of the

Old Testament,
it

so,

and even more

difficult to set

the case of the

New,
list

is

exceedingly

limits to

Clement

of Sacred Books.

His Canon was

not authoritatively defined ; indeed, it is probable that in Alexandria at his date there had been no final settlement
of the matter made.
It
is

true

that

Clement recognised
3
:

a certain pre-eminence as belonging to the four Gospels it is true also that he allowed special weight to all that could
"

claim

"

Apostolic

impossible to show

But it is quite authority and origin. that all the books of the Canon, as we

have
to

it,

formed
in
;

for

him

a distinct

and separate body of

be found
1

124
foi

(dirc/cur/fleWes is

a very doubtful reference, but see Zahn),

613, 707, 872

203.
2

to 2 Peter in 83, 115, 955.

cp. 3
3

flp-fivn

John

1 5.
"

fv rrf neiCovi eVtorr^Ar?, 464.

The Muratorian Canon has

4

Johannis duas
127-35.

"

epistolas.

553-

See Kutter,

op.

cit.,

174
inspired of the

THE HOLY
writings.
"

SCRIPTURES.
of
"

He knew

other Gospels, notably

and of that Gospel according to the Hebrews Another similar Scripture to the Egyptians." "according
of Matthias? Again, he makes con of the subapostolic age. the siderable use of writings The Shepherd of Hermas is with him a book of great The Stromateis open with a quotation from this account.

was the

Traditions

work, and the appeal to it is always made as to an authority. Hardly lower is his estimate of the Epistle of Barnabas, Barnabas a work naturally much in vogue in Alexandria. 2 and it is constantly implied is Apostle," quoted as an
"

that quotations
"

from

his Epistle carry weight.

Clement of

Rome, too, our writer s namesake, is also termed an 3 and his Epistle to the Corinthians is quoted Apostle," 4 It is written." The Didache with the significant formula, 6 Clement calls Scripture." Finally, there were the
" "

Preaching and the Apocalypse of Peter, as to the apostolic authorship of which Clement does not appear to have been 6 What are we to say, in general, of our in any doubt.
writer s attitude to all this literature, which, after much contention and debate, has finally been placed by the Church outside the Canon of her Sacred Books ?

"

Leaving on one side the question as to the existence of a New Testament Canon in Alexandria at this time a in passing, it may be remarked which, question depends much for its answer on the way in which the term 7 an examination of Clement s use is defined Canon
"

of his authorities leads to the conclusion that his estimate

1

The use he makes

s

of these works

may be
2
,
<t>r\(riv,

best seen by consulting

445. 609. 677, of Barnabas.
3

E. Preuschen
4 6

Antilegomena, pp. 2-15.

764, of the

613.
377.

So

Preuschen, op. cit., 87 sqq. ; Kutter, op. cit., 89-91. 7 Harnack and Zahn, for instance, use this term in senses which differ See the references to Leipoldt s view in the Journal of considerably. Theological Studies, ix. 606 sqq.

efyTjrai, 6

Shepherd

DOUBTFUL BOOKS
of their value and importance is one which descends from the four Gospels to the Pauline Epistles, and then on to

other books, with

many nuances and

gradations, but with

no final and rigid lines. He would never have admitted books written in his own day to a place of equal authority with the earlier Christian Scriptures. So far his list is closed
against
all

further additions.

But,

among

its

lower items,
title

this list contained

many works

as to

whose

Clement

has no
"

final decision.
"

In other words, the conception of a

Canon

of the

New

collection of the Scriptures, andrine father than it is

Testament, as a definite and settled is far less clear in the Alex

in

Irenaeus,

fragment, possibly 1 The two covenants, Melito, so far as our information goes. in Clement s use of the term, are modes of revelation rather
than
fixed

Muratorian

even

in

Tertullian, the the scheme of

collections of

books. 2

His

rule

or

canon

is

something other than a list of authoritative writings, and to a very large extent his strong preferences and affinities
determine his use of the Church
s

literature, rather

than any

decision of authority from without. Thus, while it is quite clear that Clement attached less weight to the Epistle of

Barnabas than he did to the Epistles of Saint Paul, it would be going beyond our evidence to declare that this was because the latter were canonical and the former not.

The grounds
explicitly

declared.

for the different degrees of authority are not What the Lord had said was of

primary weight.

What

could claim

to

be

"Apostolic"

came next in order. These distinctions were unquestioned and sufficient. Beyond them, lay a domain where some
questions were
still

undecided or unrecognised.

The

extensive use which Clement

1

makes

of Scripture

See Harnack, Hist Dogm., ii. 43. See infra, pp. 204-5. 5ia077/cai, 761, 8oo.

76

THE HOLY
many

SCRIPTURES.

has induced
as to

what books he recognised

scholars to inquire with interest, not only as sacred, but also as to the

It particular text with which, in each case, he was familiar. s own text has been that Clement is brought only recently

into anything like its final form, but, now that the result of Dr Stahlin s labours is available, there is no obstacle to the

patient investigator, who will work out the correspondences and deviations which appear in Clement s writings, when their numerous quotations and references are compared with

the

MSS.

most

of the Septuagint and the New Testament. important work in the case of the LXX. has been
Stahlin himself,
1

The

by Dr

in

the case of the

New

by the Rev. P.

M.

Barnard. 2

The

result in

done Testament the one instance

may be

regarded as disappointing, in the other as surprising. Before considering, however, the outcome of these inquiries, the reader may be invited to pay some little attention to
the serious drawbacks which beset Clement
ancient texts.
familiarity with Scripture has been in this connection a hindrance. knew the Bible so well, that
s

testimony to

His extreme

He

he could
suited

make use

of

it

by

allusion or

by reference,

as

it

purpose, without the labour of finding and Thus, in proportion as he transcribing the actual words. held a book to be important and was consequently familiar
his

with

its

contents, his verbatim use of

it

decreases and his

less exact allusions

become more numerous. Clement makes about the same amount

:

For example,
of

use

of

the

But Epistle to the Galatians as he does of Ecclesiasticus. the former was more familiar to him consequently his
actual

about half as Epistle numerous as his quotations from the Old Testament work. On the other hand, his allusions and less exact references
quotations
the
are
1

from

In Clemens Alexandrinus

und die

Septuaginta.
in

The Biblical Text of Clement of Alexandria,

Texts and Studies,

v.

CLEMENT S EVIDENCE FOR THE TEXT

are

177

Thus, if there were correspondingly more frequent. doubtful readings to settle, Clement would be less available as a witness for the Galatians than for Ecclesiasticus. In
connection with
the

Gospels

this

consideration

becomes

specially important.

In many passages, again he quotes from memory. which are more than mere allusions, and fully justify the
inverted

Then

commas

in

which they stand

in the Berlin edition,

the quotation was certainly made without immediate refer This is suffi ence to any copy of the book in question. from from the evident deviations ciently many unimportant
all

known MSS., and

"

not less from his habit of introducing

"

a certain prophecy says," a passage by such a formula as in some such words." or the Spirit says somewhere," or
"

Often, indeed, the passages are too lengthy and the quota
tions too accurate for us to account for them, except by the supposition that the papyrus roll was actually before his

The same conclusion holds in the many instances which he does not transcribe a passage in full, but com after which the down mences it, and then adds
eyes.
in
"

to,"

concluding

sentence

stands.

shorter quotations are

But the majority of his from memory, 3 and if the scholar of

modern days is frequently tantalised by his inaccuracy, we must hardly on that account refuse the admiration due to
Clement s truly remarkable mastery of his resources. On the whole, he quotes Plato more accurately than the Bible, though, to judge Clement by the standards of his time,
78 (Stahlin asks
131
2
;

"woher?");

\fyei 5e irov rb
7rpo07jTO>j/,

Uav\os
xal
TO.

a>8e

TTUS ypdficav,

17; cp.

els

ruv

5o65e/ca

557.

4|r?y

writer to
93,

make
I.

524 ews alone, 501. frequent use of this abbreviation.

eus, 430, 451,
;

He

is

the

first

Christian

See Zahn, Suppl. Clem.)

n
3

4-

Dindorf,

xxi.

It is

"satis

non inspectos ab
VOL.
II.

eo,

sed locos memoriter allatos

novimus."

manifestum codices quibus utebatur ssepe fuisse, quod alios quoque

12

ecclesias Patres saepissime fecisse

178
this

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

does not imply that he thought Plato the more important It is a question of some nicety to say, in any of the two.

given case of variation, whether Clement had really a different text before him, or whether he deviates from the authorities

On the whole, the rule laid simply through misquotation. accepted as regards his evidence for Consentientibus inter se of the text Scripture generally,
down by Zahn may be
"

huic uni reliquis testibus,

non

facile

credideris."

But there

still

remains a further limitation.

Clement

will adapts Scripture with considerable freedom. he alter tense, number, person, and the like, to suit his

Not only

context, he will also add words, or omit, or change, when it fits his purpose so to do. This may be made clear by one
for a camel to It is easier," he says, or two examples man to be a a rich of a needle than for the eye go through
" "

philosopher"

Christianity being in Clement s eyes the true last phrase is not an unnatural equivalent the philosophy, enter into the kingdom of to write in place of the words,
"

But it is in the Synoptic Gospels. a intentional not different an So, variation, reading. clearly 3 whether there in quoting i Cor. xiii. 8, he substitutes for
God,"

which stand

"

cures are be knowledge, it shall vanish away," the words Not even Saint Paul s authority will left behind on earth."
"

induce Clement to say that knowledge, Gnosis, shall vanish

He would rather risk giving offence to the whole away. medical College of Alexandria, of whom many perhaps were
his personal friends.
4

So the text of Saint Paul

in

accordingly. Scripture

Thus,
in

spite

of

all

and

assertion

of

its

is adapted he says in praise of authority, he has few

scruples about
1

making minor

alterations in

its

text to suit
ed.),
I.,

pt.

ii.,

Gebhardt, Harnack, and Zahn, Patrum Apostol Opera (1876 Prolegomena, xxviii.
3
I

2 4

440.

956.

So
ii.

0Jj8y,
2,

Pet.

iii.

2, is

changed

to \6y(?,

292

KO! ^VXIKOVS is

added

in

Phil.

604.

See Kutter,

op. cit., 32 sqq., for other instances.

DEFECTS OF HIS TESTIMONY

his purpose.

179
1

Philo before him had done the

like,

and the

Jews, if we may trust Justin, amended, or even altogether 2 Such an attitude omitted, awkward passages in the LXX. to of slavish veneration of the letter, be that preferable may

but

it is

easy to see
for

how

it

diminishes the value of Clement

textual
criticism.

purposes handling of the Scriptures was quite natural in a Greek father, but our more scientific modern scholarship can see
value, albeit for of the Rabbis.
its

evidence

of

Such

freer

own

reasons, in the jealous scrupulosity

These and similar causes, partly due to Clement s own and temperament, partly to the common literary practice of his time, have made his abundant use of Scrip ture less valuable and conclusive for the reconstruction of the LXX. and New Testament texts than, from the number
habits

of the cited passages, might have been expected to be the Such results, however, as have been obtained, are not case.

unimportant, and more

may

by

investigation Epistles, and by a detailed comparison of his New Testament For the present the following, text with that of Origen.

the

of

his quotations

yet be gained, perhaps especially from Saint Paul s

among

other points, seem clear. Considerable interest was taken in Clement

day

in the

Greek Versions of the Old Testament. For about a century the Christian Church had in the main used only the LXX. translation, and Clement accepts without question the
its origin, believing, apparently, in its 3 as in the inspiration of its ideas. as well verbal accuracy It was, in short, the Hellenic equivalent of "Prophecy,"

common

tradition of

and

Clement knew no Hebrew and could make no use of those copies of Old Testament writings in their original
as
1

2
3

Ryle, Philo and Holy Scripture, xxxv. sqq. Dial. Trypho, 71 sqq. 409-10. Note the force of oi ras Siavolas /col ras \e

eis

cp. 807.

180

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

tongue, which the Library of the Serapeum is known to have contained, 1 he might have been expected to pay the
greater
attention
to

the

accuracy

of

his

Greek

texts.

Moreover, he must have known that such questions were discussed, for already in Justin s day there was controversy over the reliability of LXX. renderings, 2 and such topics were always sure of their full measure of consideration in
Alexandria.

Two
and
latter

of his contemporaries,

Symmachus

the

Samaritan,

Theodotion the

Judaism, had made their

own

Ephesian proselyte to versions of the Old Testa

ment, the
true

being a revision of the

LXX.

by fresh

comparison with the original.

Thus

the question of the

Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Scriptures was one of recognised importance, though it would hardly have been in keeping with Clement s genius to devote to it the minute and laborious attention, which made the work of his greatest
pupil so justly famous.
It
is

different

probable that Clement possessed or had access to versions of at least some portions of the Old
;

Testament
Prov.
8
i.

and that of the

LXX.

version he was acquainted

with more than one

MS.

copy.

He

quotes, for example,

;

7 33,* and other passages, in different forms and the difference is more naturally accounted for by sup posing him to have been familiar with various renderings
i.

and

of the original, than by setting the variation down to mere inaccuracy. Certainly, in the case of a considerable passage
of Ezekiel (xviii. 4-9), which is quoted twice, the differences are such as to point to distinct translations as their source. 5

In the case of the Pentateuch,

1

more
2

especially in reference
131.

Tertullian,
3 6

ApoL,

18.

Dial Trypho,

143, 446, 448, 874. 154, 501

"ist
;

cp. Stahlin,

Clem.

AL

zweimal citert und zwar verschiedene Ubersetzungen zu grunde liegen probably Theodotion s.
4-9,

449, 502, 632. und die LXX,, 68 sqq. Ezek. xviii. in so verschiedener Form, dass zwei
miissen."

One

version was

VERSIONS OF
to Genesis

THE OLD TESTAMENT

it

181

and Deuteronomy,

is

more

difficult to

draw

any such inference,

as his familiarity

with these books was

greater, and variations his practice of quoting

is

may more naturally be set down to from memory. Clement s acquaintance with Theodotion s version, which clear from the form in which he quotes several other
1

books, is specially important in his citations of the prophecy 2 of Daniel. Here he is mainly, if not entirely, dependent

on

Theodotion s rendering was accepted in Carthage in Cyprian s time, and its adoption, as the standard text for the Greek version of this prophecy, became later on universal. If the date of Theodotion s
version

In this point he subsequent practice of the Church.

this version.

is

in accordance with the

be rightly located in Clement s acquaintance with

the reign of
it

Commodus,

may be an

interesting

evidence

as to the rapid circulation of religious literature

in his age.

further point of interest is the evidence to be derived from Clement s quotations as to the reliability of the extant If the Vatican Codex, B," manuscripts of the Septuagint.
"

"

on the whole presents the version of the Septuagint in its 4 look for some relatively oldest form," we might naturally close similarity between the quotations of a writer of Clement s date and this important manuscript. The results of investigation do not, however, entirely accord with this How the case actually stands, and upon what expectation. s strangely conflicting evidence the reconstruction of Clement
also Isai. ix. 7, as quoted, ; as quoted, 154. 2 These, six in number, are given in Stahlin, CL AL und die LXX., Stahlin dissents from Swete s view that sprinkling of LXX. 71 sqq. readings can be found." He thinks Clement used Theodotion s text alone.
1

See the passage of Ezekiel referred to above

Isai. xlviii. 22,

112

"a

See F. C. Burkitt,
5018.

art.

"Text

and

Versions,"

Encyclopedia Biblica,
Greek,

iv., col.
4

Hort, quoted by Swete,

An Introduction to the

Old Testament in

486-7.

82

THE HOLY
in

SCRIPTURES.

Old Testament

Greek depends, may best be seen by

definite examples.

four books of the Pentateuch (Genesis is almost Vatican MS. and so best left out of account) wanting are either quoted or referred to by Clement about 300 times.
last

The

in the

From
to,

which Clement

these passages 47 cases of variation may be taken, in s text either coincides with, or approximates

Vaticanus) as against (Codex Alexandrinus), is this as against B. or to support distributed ? In 22 cases Clement s version favours B, in 25 it is nearer

B (Codex

How

the comparison be restricted to the more notable significant variations, the result is 7 for B as against 10 From such figures very few conclusive deductions for A.
to A.
If

and

can be drawn.

Another example may be taken. The prophecy of is quoted or referred to about 170 times, more than twice as frequently as any other prophetical book. The citations contain 54 instances in which support may be claimed for B or for A, with which latter Codex the Sinaitic These 54 variations tell 28 times in frequently agrees. favour of B, 26 times in favour of A or A N. But the more
Isaiah
8 times, B It important differences support only 4. may be noticed that Clement s use of passages from Isaiah gives clear evidence of his acquaintance with the versions of

Symmachus and Theodotion.

results are not conclusive.

But

in

this

book, again,

For a third instance, the book of Ecclesiasticus may be

considered.
It
is

about 66 times.
in the case of this

Here 32

used, almost always in direct quotation, variations may be noticed and,

more important of these variations 5 fall which is as usual often reinforced B, 3 A, by N. his the whole of use of Ecclesiasticus there runs Throughout
to
to

the other way. Of the only 13.

book, the preponderance of evidence goes Clement s text supports B 19 times, A

CODICES B AND A
a

183
still

similarity with the Latin version, which complicates the problem for the textual critic.

marked

further

From

these three
:

representative

books the aggregate

69 times, however, 2 1 fall

results are as follows

Clement

text supports

64 to A,

of the
1

more important
It

variations,

6 to B.

may

great divergence from the

be said that these figures show no results of the same kind of test

when

1 In 60 cases Philo applied to Philo s quotations. B as the other authorities, in 52 the evidence supports against

of his text goes the opposite way. The balance of the testimony in Clement s case falls, no doubt, on the side of as against B, but the difference is not great enough to be

conclusive.
"

It

is

probably an overstatement to

say that

ment

the one result which emerges all through the Old Testa is the continuous antipathy of Clement for the text
B."

2 His support is rather so evenly dis represented by tributed that indifference, more than antipathy, characterises

B no clear predominance of for other is such evidence text. there any readings, neither B is deposed, so far as our author determines the question, from the position of superiority which has been sometimes claimed for it. But Clement places no other Codex or version in the vacant place. Thus the critics have good
"

his attitude.

If there

"

is

reason to complain that for the Greek text of the Old Testament he is negative and disappointing. 3
to consider the New Testament in the fresh considerations s citations, several Clement light demand our notice. To begin with, the Lord s teaching was for Clement the most authoritative and important element in the whole collection of the Scriptures. It is,

When we come
of

therefore, antecedently probable that his familiarity with the

1

Swete, Introduction to O.T., 375

2

xxxix. sqq.
3

Ryle, Philo and Holy Scripture, pp. Journal of Theological Studies, v. 140.
;
;

See Stahlin s summary of the

results of his inquiry

op.

cit.,

75-7.

84

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

its highest, and his tendency to quote memoriter consequently more pronounced than elsewhere. This is borne out by the fact that his quotations from the

Bible will here be at

Gospels (and these are mainly quotations of teaching inci dents are referred to but rarely in the ipsissima verba of the in accordance with the MSS. than text) are less closely
:

In quoting quotations from other New Testament books. 1 he referred to have for the Acts, example, appears usually
to his Codex, and his citations from Saint Paul s Epistles are often in entire correspondence with the text, as the principal It is different with the Gospels. authorities represent it.

The

citations here are far less exact.

is still

And the whole question further complicated by the fact of the parallelism of
:

the Synoptic Evangelists

his citations

from one Gospel are

frequently coloured by his reminiscences of the phrases peculiar to another, so that his text is not uncommonly of

somewhat similar case arises the Old Testament, where are in found Leviticus and Deuteronomy. parallel regulations But the Synoptic parallelism is, of course, more marked and more important.
a
"

"

conflate

character.

in connection with his use of

Perhaps the best way to enable the reader to understand the kind of problem which Clement s New Testament quotations offer to the textual critic, will be to give one or

two concrete examples. Final results in such matters can only come from the minute investigations of the specialist ; yet the impression left by an examination of a few particular instances is probably sufficiently near the truth to be worth
tentative consideration.
1

See The Biblical Text of Clement of Alexandria, Texts and Studies,

v. 62.
2

Compare,

e.g.,

the passage quoted in 570 (Stahlin,

ii.

with St Matt. xix. 29, and with St evayy(\iov from the second Gospel ;
first.

Mark
/col

x.

29.

Clement takes

255, lines 18-20) ei/e/cej/ TOU

rov ovdpards nov substantially

from the

NEW TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

(I.)

185

longest quotation from the Gospels is 1 It is the account of the given in the Quis Dives Salve fur. Rich Young Ruler s interview with the Lord and forms the

Clement

text of the

Sermon.

Gospel,
that
"

x.

1731.
is

The passage is taken from Saint Mark s The extract is prefaced by the remark
"

2 nothing like hearing again the actual words and we are told, at the conclusion of the passage, that these

there

"

that the narrative

things are written in the Gospel according to Mark," and is given in all (sic) the other recognised

Gospels, with occasional verbal differences. Clearly, it would be said, Clement means to give an exact quotation from Saint Mark s text, with full consciousness that the parallel
accounts did not entirely coincide. What is the condition of the text of these fifteen verses
of the second Gospel, as we find them in Clement s sermon ? It is impossible to produce a fouler exhibition of the
"

"

Such was the trenchant observation of Dean For if Clement s it is and fully justified by the facts. Burgon, quotation, as given in Dr Stahlin s edition, be placed side by side with the passage as given in Westcott and Hort s Greek Testament, the following results arise. There are 265 words
passage.

Verse 25 (15 words), part of verse 27 of verse 29 (8 words), or 31 words in all, are (8 words), part best omitted from detailed comparison, because the deviations
in the quotation.

in these verses are too considerable for

such a method to

the remaining 234 words in Clement s found in the Gospel, as Westcott those text 25 differ from and Hort present it ; 20 words are added ; there are 2 1

be employed.

Of

The influence both of omissions, and 8 changes of order. s to a less Saint Luke Saint Matthew s Gospel, and of degree, s version of Saint Mark s text. is in Clement For apparent
at least

10 of the above-named differences there

1

is

other

937-8. ovScv 70p

olov

avruv alQts aKovffat

r<av

foray, 937.

86

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

authority of considerable weight, but, even deducting these as doubtful, we have as the net outcome of the com
parison 64 deviations from the best evidenced text of Saint Mark in a total of 234 words. The proportion of diver

MS.

gence,
like
i

if it

can be estimated numerically, rises to something

In addition to this, difference for every 4 words. the three passages left out of account because of their even
1

greater deviation (3

words) must be borne in mind.

It is

extremely
data.

difficult to

draw conclusions from these strange

his

Clement may have been peculiarly careless in copying Or he may have been sufficiently familiar papyrus.

with Saint

Mark
"

from memory.
been
in

the

Gospel to give the passage, as we find it, Or his own copy of the Gospel may have foul condition which scandalised Dean
s
"

Burgon.

On

any hypothesis there

is

much

to puzzle the

us take, at haphazard, nine passages from the other three Gospels, of an average length There are 401 words in all. If these 401 of 45 words.

inquiring student. (II.) Leaving Saint

1

Mark,

let

words
pared

in

Dr

Stahlin

edition of

Clement

text are

com

with the corresponding passages in Westcott and the differences in all are 71. This total is made up Hort, 6 words of of 34 order, 9 words added, changed, changes For 19 of these changes there is some good 22 omitted.
it is right therefore to deduct them from of the the total variations ; the figure 7 1 is thus reduced to in a total of 401 words is almost differences But 52 52.

MS.

evidence

not so high a proportion as was found in the passage of Saint Mark previously considered. Still, it if is with Westcott and s Hort dictum compared very high,
i

in 8.

This

is

that
1

"

the words in our opinion

xxiii.
xii.
;

still

subject to doubt can

;

22-4, 27, 231

xvii.

xxv. 34 sqq. 307 St Luke 37-9, 145 35-7, 218; xvi. 19-21, 232-3; St John 21-3, 140; xvii. 24-6, 140.

St Matt,

vi.

29, 307

xii.

viii.

32-6, 440;

TEXT OF GOSPELS AND EPISTLES

New
More
Testament."
1

187

hardly amount to more than a thousandth part of the whole

Clement was

indeed"

a bad

quoter."

regard to accuracy must not be demanded of him than the standard of his age prescribed, but it is easy to see
is

that for critical purposes the value of his abundant quotations not a little deceptive. It is worthy of note that, in the

nine passages considered, the variations in the case of Saint

John s Gospel are very slightly over half the proportion found in the quotations from the Synoptists.
(III.)

ditions here are very different. Bible of which, in proportion to

Let us turn to the Pauline Epistles. The con There is no book in the
its

length,

Clement makes

such frequent use as he does of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Its 155 verses are quoted or referred to about no times. The first Epistle to the Corinthians comes next, being

quoted or referred to almost

its

as frequently in proportion to

length.

Then

stands Saint

Matthew

Gospel, whose

thousand and odd verses are quoted or referred to over 500 times, though in this case the frequent difficulties of assigning a citation or a reference to any one of the Synoptic Gospels must be borne in mind. The Epistle to the Ephesians was thus in some sense Clement s favourite work. The nine longest quotations from it amount to 556 words. 2 In these there are 37
This
deviations from the text as given in Westcott and Hort. total is made up of 17 words changed, 3 differences
of order, 5

words added, 12 omitted.

There

is,

however,

authority for 5 of these variants, which should accord be deducted, leaving the total amount of divergence ingly 32 in 556 words. This proportion of i difference to 17
1

MSS.

The

New

Testament in Greek, small

>

edition, 565.
;
-

iv.

Ephes. iv. 11-13, 624 iv I3~i5 Io8 iv 17-19. 69-70; 20-4 (bis), 524 iv. 24-9, 371 iv. 25-8, 31, and v. 1-2, 308
;

iv.
;

20-4, 262
1-4,

v.

524

vi.

1-4, 7-9, 308.

88
is

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.
i

words

an evident contrast to the

in

which resulted
tell

in the case of the Gospels.

The

figures

us

much

as

to the excellent preservation in

which Saint Paul s letters had been kept. No doubt they had been copied far less fre quently, and, highly as Clement valued Saint Paul, he still appears to have referred usually to his copy for purposes
of quotation.

(IV.) Still more striking are the results, when we apply the same tests to an Epistle with which Clement was less
familiar, the

second Epistle to the Corinthians.

The

seven

1 longest passages found in his works amount to 197 words. There is i word changed. There are 3 words omitted. One deviation to every 50 words is a singularly low proportion in a writer whose literary standard and habits were those

of Clement.

No part of (V.) Let us make one other comparison. the Bible was better known to Clement than the Prologue to Saint John s Gospel no other passage in the (i. 1-18)
:

Scriptures of similar length exerted an influence comparable to that of this profound exordium upon his theology. On
certain points of interpretation, interesting to all students of this Gospel, it is worth while to ascertain the bearing of

Clement

s quotations. In verses 3-4 Clement quite definitely supports the (a) division of sentences which is given in the margin of the

without him was not anything made. That which hath been made was life in him." That Clement understood the passage in this sense is placed beyond doubt by his manner of quoting it. Origen and the other Ante-

Revised Version

"

Nicene fathers are here generally

1

in

2 agreement with him.

vi.

2 Cor.
x.

iv.

5395
2

3-5,588;

7-9, 623; v. 10, 539; x. 15-16, 826.

eV.
t>

vi.

4-7, 623-4;

14-16, 539;

vii. i,

%wpJs avrov fyevfro ouSe

yeyovev eV
t>

avT<p

o>r)

fy K.T.\.

This punctlia-

tion,

yeyovev, is confirmed by Clement, placing a stop before, not after, 114, 769, 787, 803, 812, 968, and elsewhere (thirteen passages in all).

PROLOGUE TO THE FOURTH GOSPEL

(b)

189

gives, perhaps to our regret, no support to the interesting suggestion in regard to verse 9, which is also to The be found in the margin of the Revised Version.
"

He

true light, which lighteth every man, was coming into the world" is a possible rendering, and has its clear affinities

with Clement

favourite doctrine of the varied and universal

action of the Logos.

interpretation,

But he takes his side with the older which makes the clause "coming into the
"

world

"

every man." qualify is the doubtful Then there reading in verse 18. (c) Three Are we to read tmovoyevys 9eo$ or /movoyevfa vt6$ ?

times out of five Clement supports the former reading. Thus Both renderings were evidently his evidence is inconclusive.
well

known
2

to

Clement, and both

find support

in

his

theology.

These

instances of the relation of

Clement
illustrate

to the text of the

New

Testament

quotations the kind of

When he differs from all evidence which his pages offer. No other authorities, he is practically certain to be wrong.
critical

scholar

would admit
s

had only Clement

authorities
differ,

to his text a reading which Where other evidence to support it. his testimony has considerable value on

one side or the other. But, on the whole, when we recollect that he is a man of learning, writing in a great centre of culture, and that the importance of textual questions was by no means unrecognised in his day, it is disappointing to find how largely his numerous citations of the New Testa

ment

are disqualified, as evidence,

is

by

careless

and inaccurate

reproduction.
Finally, however, there
1

one

really

important result
sis

i\v

rb

</>&>s

rb aX^Biv^f & (puTifci irdvTa &v9pvirov ipx&U.evov

participle with foSpcoirov, not with
novoyev))s v!6s, 422, 968.

rbv
is

That Clement connected the from 439, 979.

2

<*,

evident

/jiovoyfv^s Oe6s, 695, 956, 968 of the two readings in 968.

Note the proximity

190

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

which has been derived from the study of Clement s New Testament text. The Rev. P. M. Barnard has made a
detailed examination of the relation of this father
tions
s

quota

from the four Gospels and the Acts to the extant 1 Now, it is generally recognised by modern Manuscripts. textual scholars, that the two fourth-century MSS., Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, represent a tradition of far higher authority than the Antiochene presentation, which passed B This later into the Textus Receptus of the Church. text can be traced back in Egypt as far as the middle of the but what of third century, and in particular to Origen s master ? If of lies at the this which text, Origen type basis of Westcott and Hort s edition, is to be securely con
"

"

it

nected with Apostolic times, or with the original documents, must be traced backwards, from Origen, through Clement

source. But the trail is lost in the earlier Clement s quotations from the Gospels and the Acts give no clear support to the tradition. N B Again and again we find him take sides against N B with the Western text, as represented in Codex Bezae (D) and the Latin version. Let the reader examine Clement s text in some of the passages quoted previously in this chapter, and he will find certain notable correspondences between Clement and these Western sources, as against the agreement of N B and other MSS. 2 Other similar instances are to be found in Saint Luke vi. 31 ix. 62 or Acts xvii. 2y. 3 The adnotatio critica in Professor Souter s Greek Testament is sufficient to show how frequently Codex D and the quite oldest Latin versions have Clement on their side. It is generally recognised that the more recent tendency of criticism has raised the authority of the Western text, and it

towards
father
;

its

for

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

*6ff<f

E.g. St Mark M aXAov, 231.

The Biblical Text of Clement of Alexandria, Texts and Studies, x. 22, xp^M^o for K-Hj/iara, 938. St Luke xii. 24,
3

v.
ot>x

for

304, 889, 372.

BARNARD

RESULTS

191

has even been claimed that the testimony of our Alexandrian witnesses becomes more and more Western, the earlier they are. The examination of Clement s quotations from the

The

Gospels and the Acts gives definite support to this contention. authorities with which he agrees are no doubt found in

very various combinations, and occasionally, though rarely, he will side with N B against the Western text, 1 but the

which runs throughout his quotations from the Gospels and the Acts, leads undoubtedly to the conclusion that his New Testament, in its five longest books, was closer to the Western text than to that of Origen.
strongly
line

marked

of affinity,

Inquiry here
result.

has

given us

a
2

fairly

assured and definite

facts

drawn from the with which Clement has supplied us, and whether in
exact deductions
are to be

What
the

particular
"

textual critic

is

to accept
"

the invitation to

come out

of

the land

of

Egypt

and betake himself

instead to Carthage and Edessa, the future developments of If only this delicate and interesting science alone can show.

the papyri that were his most intimate friends, could have foreseen the questions which his pages were to be asked to solve in after years

Clement, sitting

in

his library

among

E.g. Eph.
d7rrj\7rt/crfT6s

iv.
:

19.

have
2

70.

St

Clement reads airrjA^/e^Tes with X B D and Latin Luke vi. 45, Clement omits avrov with N B, 944.
:

It

is,

for example, questioned

1

how

far the

text

in

A.D.
s

80 proves

its

originality.

See

Von

prevalence of a particular Dobschiitz s review of

7.

Mr

Barnard

monograph, TheoL Litteraturzeitung, 1900, No.

CHAPTER

XVIII

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AUTHORITY AND EXEGESIS

WE
teristic feature

have already had occasion to recognise it as a charac of Clement s nature, that he accommodates
tendencies in his thoughts with a happy uncon

different

sciousness of their incompatibility. notable instance of this confronts us in his use of Scripture. At times, in his

treatment of the Bible, he will follow his own bent with marked independence at other times he will accept without
:

criticism or hesitation the prevailing opinion of the Church. His general attitude towards the Bible is thus a strange

fusion of freedom and dependence. be as bold in exegesis as the heretics

closely to

He
;

will,

on occasion,
grateful

or he will again keep

the

pathways

of

tradition

with

and
rises,

unquestioning docility. Constantly the question Did this occur to the Stromatist, sitting in solitude
his books, as a

among

thought of

his

own

or was

opinion

derived

from the older

?

teachers,
It is

a theory or or current in
it

Christian circles in Alexandria

freedom or dependence prevails

Scripture, the

mind

is

hard to say whether on the whole, in his use of the mind of Clement, in spite of his
;

obvious indebtedness.

which all his teaching, whether on minute points of conduct or on the deeper problems of theology, is thrown, proceeds from his unBiblical

The extremely

form

into

192

SUPREMACY OF SCRIPTURE

193

questioning recognition of Scripture as a final authority. All truth, all sure guidance, came from the Divine Logos, and, while the methods of his instruction are manifold and
varied, the teaching of the Scriptures stood first and pre eminent among them. In the Lord, as guides us

He

through

Prophets, Gospel, and Apostles,

principle of instruction,

we have

the source and

beyond which no inquiry can be made. 1 Scripture is thus the criterion and test of truth. Given the right interpretation, no further question arises as to its authority. Clement held what would to-day be The wise regarded as an extreme view of inspiration.
"

prophet, or rather the

Holy
is

Spirit in

him, reveals
"

God."

The power which

"the

speaks
"the

variously

named
the

the

Word,"

Instructor,"

Spirit,"

employ

human

writer

as their

instrument
in

3
:

it

is

the truth and will of

God

through are known.

s

Moses
:

or Jeremiah that This is the funda

mental

principle

Clement

theory

Scripture

is

the

and most obvious among them the distinction between the Bible and other books. Highly as he prized the Greek philosophy,
first

medium or embodiment of divine truth. From this follow certain consequences, and

he draws the contrast without abatement. The truth of is different from truth as we know the Greeks," he says,
"
"

though it shares the same name it differs in its range of knowledge, in the authority of its proof, in its divine power, and in similar ways. For the divine instruction is with us, who are trained in the truly sacred writings by the Son of 4 Thus a convert from philosophy, whatever his God." previous stage of attainment, was still in need of the higher
it,
;

lessons of Scripture
1

5
:

the sufficiency of Plato

is

never once

890.
3
;

66.

rb irveC/io, 149 ; Sto is used in each E.g. \6yos, 129 Trcudaywyts, 227 ; fab Mwo-ewy, a\\a case of the writer. Cp. The Law was given Sta Mwo-ews Cp. 22$, ^2O. p.v rov \6yov, 5io Maxrews 5e K.T. \. 134
oi>xl
V7rJ>

376.
II.

So

fleiai

ypa<j>ai

are distinct from

<ro(pia

KofffiiK^j

257.

347, 786.

VOL.

13

94

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

admitted, however great and welcome his services as an

ally.
It is a

second result or aspect of Clement

proof from Scripture is final and difficult to determine the true meaning of a passage, but, He who believes this can be done, cadit quaestio."
" "

principle, that incontestable. It may be

s
if

in

the divine Scriptures and is possessed of sure judgment, receives as incontrovertible demonstration the voice of God

who bestowed

suppose our method of inasmuch as it is derived from the divine Scriptures, even from the sacred writings and the wisdom which, in the Apostle s phrase, is taught of God. It is from the warrant of the Almighty that
the
"

Scriptures."

demonstration alone

is

certain,

the authority of the written Word proceeds, and upon this 8 basis a structure of demonstrated certainty can be erected.

There

are

many

references

to

the

certain,

reliable,

and

demonstrative character of this proof. It is a primary conviction with Clement, nor does he ever seem to have
suspected the extent to which his extraordinary latitude of
interpretation nullified
its

practical value.

Clement never attempts

to give reasoned demonstration

of this far-reaching doctrine of inspiration. as axiomatic and, for Christians, as uncontested.

He

regards it But, while

not primarily dependent on evidence, this estimate of the

Scriptures is still fortified by subsidiary support of a more concrete character. Clement took over from other writers

strange theory that the Hebrew Scriptures were the source of all the better elements in Greek philosophy. Justin had said the same thing before him, and the assertion the
of Aristobulus.
1

can be traced back, through Philo, to the uncertain authority 4 Clement knew the work of Aristobulus on
2

433.
4

454.
i.

3 e

av0evTcias iravTOKparopiKys, 564

i.

Cp. 888.

Justin,

Scheck,

De

See Drummond, Philo JudcEus, Fontibus dementis Alexandrini, 29 sqq.

ApoL,

44.

242 sqq.

P. A.

THEFTS OF THE GREEKS

195

the Mosaic law, and may have been considerably influenced by it. In any case, however suggested, this clumsy theory occupies a place of considerable prominence in his pages.

With

He
to

laborious calculation he proves the antiquity of Moses. quotes repeatedly the Lord s saying, "All that ever
its

came before me were

prove

thieves and robbers," and is at pains reference to the teachers and masters of other
"

These thefts consisted in lands, in particular of Greece. the unacknowledged appropriation of their. noblest doctrines
"

from Hebrew sources,

1
us."

or, as

Clement boldly

"

says,

from

With a certain sly satisfaction he quotes, too, Plato s own words to justify the assertion of the priority of the O Law. The Egyptian priest says in the Timteus, Not a Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are ever children. Hellene is really old. You have no learning that is hoary with time." 2 The question of the relative antiquity of Hebrew and Egyptian wisdom, Clement discreetly forbears
"

to raise

meantime, the passage does good service

"

in

sup

barbarian culture is general thesis, that anterior to that of Greece. So Plato had borrowed from

porting

the

"

Moses, and Numa had derived his wisest the Law. 3 The dicta of the Seven Wise

legislation

from

Men

had

in like

It manner the wisdom of Solomon for their source. 4 becomes an emphasised and laboured commonplace in Clement s pages, and nowhere is he more open to criticism

than in his constant use of

his

it.

It

own

favourite

thesis

of

the

fundamentally contradicts universal education of

humanity by the Logos, and ties him down to a narrow conception of revelation, which is quite alien to the general
trend of his religious views. It would be interesting to
1

know what

impression was

752.

466. the tactics of Miltiades were learned from Moses, 418.

;

So of Heraclitus, 442

3 359. TimcBUS, 22, quoted 356 and 426. the Peripatetics, 705. Orpheus, 692
;

Even

196
left

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

on the mind of an educated Hellene by Clement s long diatribes on Greek plagiarism, even when tempered by the
admission that,
1
"

if

possess attracted
race,

it."

The more thoughtful

they stole the truth, at any rate they can hardly have been

by this novel claim for the law of an unpopular which incidentally involved the denial of the grace of

originality in Plato. weakness of the theory,

On

and

the other hand, the very intrinsic its plain dissonance with so much

Clement s other teaching, only bring into clearer pro minence the intention and motive to which its adoption on Clement s part was due. He will break, it seems, with no current view, so long as it serves to exalt the Scriptures. He will not abandon even a needless claim, when it is made on behalf of the venerable Hebrew Law. Rarely, perhaps, in the course of its long history has a greater sacrifice been made in the Bible s honour, than in the days when a Greek father, steeped in the thought of the Platonic and Stoic schools, was constrained for the moment to abandon his Hellenism and his universalism, and to expose himself, consciously or not, to criticism and retort, with the single aim of asserting in the most uncompromising terms the original and final supremacy of the written Word. This authoritative revelation is conceived by Clement as
of
a

unity

with
"

recognised
"

distinction

in

its

elements.

technical

the

New

of Scripture, particularly in regard to Testament, was, as we have seen, at that time in

Canon

Alexandria only in process of formation. That is to say, the area of assured inspiration was not yet finally determined.

had so far advanced that it was possible, in to and the Lord s speak of general terms, Scripture 2 as a whole. Thus our Scriptures contrast Scriptures
this process
"

But

"

"

"

"

"

as a unified collection with other writings. 3

Or an argument
3

may
1

be supported by going
2

through the Scriptures and

583t

377-

e.g.

786, 890.

UNITY AND DIVERSITY

1 selecting a string or series of quotations.

197
the heretics

When

rejected the Pastoral Epistles they were shutting out what

had
"

been

included and
"

in Scripture each case the primary reference, at least, is to the Old His use of the term is not Testament. 3 Scripture indeed completely defined, so that too much must not be
all
"

and

"

accepted. the whole of

Clement speaks Scripture," though

"

of

made

to
is

depend upon the term

still

4
;

but Clement

sense of

its

unity sufficiently apparent, and forms, indeed, the background against which the distinction of the various

elements stands out.

the Scriptures, or Scripture, form a single body of truth and yet contain diverse elements, each with its separate
characteristics,
is expressed when Clement says that music may be taken as a figure of the harmony of the Church, as this is to be discovered in the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles,

How

and the Gospel. 5

The

recognition of these four principal

elements as constituting a harmonious whole, and as standing

in the closest relation to the teaching

and authority of the

for example, explicitly it is so fundamental

Church, was not a new theory

taught
in in the Epistle
s
to

it is,

Diognetus? thought, that we can hardly better analyse his conception of the Bible than by considering how he both connects and distinguishes these several elements, which are included in the unity of the whole.

But

Clement

Between the Law and the Prophets Clement is not They had stood side by 7 side in the Jewish Church for at least four hundred years, and Christianity sought for no contrasts where the order of
concerned to draw distinctions.
s,

564
1st

Cp.

K\ey6fMVoi, 802.
Wegweiser,"

457.

664, 753.

kein

Harnack, Das Neue Testament urn das

6 xi. 6.

Jahr 200,
5
7

p. 41.

784.

In Alexandria

"

the canonicity of the Prophets

B.C."

had been accepted since

p. 108.

the beginning of the second century,

Ryle, Canon,

198

THE HOLY
of the

SCRIPTURES.
In

II

Providence had secured agreement.

our time

fuller

knowledge
into
light,

Old Testament has brought

the
Priestly

differences

and

and Prophetic

present their constant antitheses to every

modern

standpoints student.

Clement was untroubled by any sense of

this contrariety.

The

discovery of the
its

Law
1

in Josiah s reign stirs for

"

him no
"

question of

antiquity.
2

All

the ancient

Scriptures

were anterior, he believed, to the date of Ezra and even to

that of the Captivity.

What
is

is

evident in this connection

from Clement

heightened importance of Prophecy in the Church as compared with the Synagogue. The limitation of Philo s interest to the Pentateuch was
s

pages,

the

but Clement quotes the Prophets freely, 3 and to the whole of Prophetic Scriptures applies the term 4 Moses is a "Prophet," as well as the Old Testament.
significant
;
"

"

David and Solomon come into the same The Old Testament authors as a body are category. described as "Prophets," and the common tendency to discover hints and anticipations of the Christian dispensation,
"

"

embodied Law
5

even

in the details of the

Law,

facilitated the
"

treatment of

the whole of the ancient Scriptures as Thus prophetic." Clement tends to minimise rather than to emphasise the
distinction

between Prophecy and the Law.

He,

of course,

employs both terms, and knows they

habitually distinguished. to dwell upon the differences.

stand

for

things

But

it

is

foreign to his purpose

more vital and momentous question arose, when he passed on to consider the relation of the Gospel to the
far
1

390-1.

410.

Comparing the Pentateuch with the Prophets, his quotations or references

stand in the proportion of 5 to 3. Genesis in the one case, Isaiah in the other, are used most frequently, the use made of these two books being about equal. 4 The Law was given eV rif (nduari ruv irpo^rS>v 439. 65, 467.
t

386, 421, 753.

LAW AND PROPHETS

Old Testament.
their

199

Clement and his contemporaries, in assert harmony and connection, had to face a twofold ing opposition, proceeding, curiously enough, from the extreme champions and from the extreme assailants of the ancient The extreme champions were, of course, the Scriptures. Jews, who claimed Moses and David as peculiarly their own, and whose resentment of the Church s appropriation of their spiritual heritage seemed natural enough to independent 1 The extreme assail observers such as Celsus and his like. ants were Marcion, Tatian in his later days, and their company who set the Law and the Gospel in their sharpest antithesis, often discarding the Old Testament and denying the identity of its Deity with the God and Father in heaven, whom Jesus Christ revealed. Many Greeks in Alexandria were ready to follow Marcion in his depreciation of the Law. The double attack is in Clement s mind, as he makes the constant claim that the differences between the Law and the Gospel do not invalidate their fundamental unity, as phases
;

in a single revelation. First, as against the Jews,

he claims unhesitatingly the Testament. From continuity of the Gospel with the Old divine same the the Christian standpoint Logos, the same watchful Educator, spoke through the Law and the Gospel. Moses and the Apostles might be contrasted, but they

rendered service to the same

"

was easy to draw distinctions between the Old Testament and the more 3 the Saints," the point at issue was recent revelation to
"Word."

If

it

one of degree only, the truth revealed being identical, only It was one salva the measure of its manifestation various.
tion in Christ, that belonged to the righteous men of ancient them. 4 The days and to the Christians who came after

Lord, as He said Himself, came not to destroy but to fulfil ; and Love, the distinctive grace of the New Covenant, had
1

Origen,

c.

Celsum,

2
ii.

4.

30?-

682

4
-

9-

200

THE HOLY
1

SCRIPTURES.

II

been claimed by an

earlier Christian

than Clement as the

The Old Testament was only fully fulfilling of the Law. intelligible in the light of the New, since the hidden signi
ficance of ancient rites

needed the
its

life

and

still

more the

teaching of the

with

much

In such manner, Lord conviction and a kind of sense that the times
for elucidation.

were with him, does Clement assert, as against the Jews, the harmony of the Gospel and the Law. The fulfilment of
ancient predictions in the circumstances of the Lord s life is not overmuch elaborated and the identity of the power at work in the old and new dispensations is asserted, in such
;

manner

that the reader

feels

it

is

rather the intelligent

Hellene than the hostile Jew that Clement has in mind. 2 Still the Christian claim, that the Old Testament belonged to those who had given welcome to the new revelation, was
a crucial one,

and though Clement feared the Jews

less than

the heretics, they are never for very long entirely absent

from his thoughts. But then, in the second

with, it still claim to the

portion in

the Jew had been dealt remained to answer Marcion. Suppose the Old Testament made good, and the Church s the books of Israel proved, was this indeed a
place,
if

gain

Their harsh law, their stern, just, unloving deity

said

we do not want,
priate

Marcion

much

as

from

a different

standpoint the Christian of to-day might hesitate to appro

the passionless and unforgiving God of Science. Clement s answer to Marcion was not final perhaps, in some form or other, Marcion s views will survive so long as
:

men
world
is

are confronted
;

with the sombre contrarieties of the but in one important particular he proves his case

against the

The sternness of the Law great heresiarch. not really cruel. In so far as it is severe, its severity may be loving and beneficial. There is no necessary incompati1

532, 614-

See esp. 429.

HARMONY OF LAW AND GOSPEL

bility

201

words, between the characteristic principles of the old covenant and of the new. These things had been set in opposition, but there
in other

between Justice and Love,

was no

"

real conflict

"

continuity
s

was a truer word. 1

stern
at

Just

as a physician

by treatment, which must be often

good, so the

and
s

rigorous, seeks his patient

Law

aims

man

highest welfare, even removing altogether

in the interest of

others the cases proved incurable. 2 The heretics made of the text, "By the law is the knowledge of sin." 3
the

much
But
it.

Law, replies Clement, does not cause

from being
irrational,

sin,

it

reveals

Its fears, so far

may be

the beginning

of wisdom, and with all its sternness it is a veritable gift of God, ancient grace," not alien from that everlasting grace which came by Jesus Christ. 4 And often we are led from
"

the

domain

of an inward law, written

of external ordinances to the Biblical conception upon the heart, and rising into its
as

highest

forms

conscience and the

love

of

God. 5

In

controversy Clement is not always convincing or at his best, but he meets those who would have discarded the Old Testament for its harshness, with admirable sanity and a
clear recognition of the spiritual value of restraint. never a legalist, but he would have approved, perhaps,

He

is

had
"

he lived in later days, of Wordsworth

the philosopher
s

Ode

to

Duty, or of
imperative

view that the

"

categorical

wonderful as the starry heavens. is the harmony of the Gospel with the Law and There is the Prophets maintained against various attacks. variety in the manner of revelation, but its source and aim
as

was

Thus

are one,

and no element in the scheme is properly intelligible from all the rest. And yet there is a difference when apart we pass from the Old Covenant to the New. In the former,
1

ov

Si) (jLdx fral

r V fvayye\ltf
3

& vdpos,

507
4

>

cp. 549-

V a.KO\ov6ia T(OV Sia

5

894;
2

cp. 550.

422-3.

447.

133-4, 448.

85, 307.

202

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.
:

II

crucial question.

the authority centres in the book what is written In the latter, the stress lies on the
teaching, and on the
fact that
:

is

the
s

Lord

the

Lord

authority
is

any given doctrine could claim only secondarily is it important that

this teaching is

recorded in certain books.

The

distinction,

of course,
tion.

Even

not complete, but one of emphasis and propor in the case of the Old Testament the per

sonality and authority of the teacher still counted for much, as is made clear by the epithets Clement applies to Moses.

Genesis and

Deuteronomy

may commanded
writer.

claim his name.

attention

are of authority because they a less degree other Scriptures because Solomon or Isaiah was the

To

And, conversely, the term Scripture is frequently to the Lord s sayings and to the writings of Saint applied
"

"

Paul.

"

Still,
is

a certain difference

is

there.

"

It is

written
"

that

Lord Clement mainly quotes from and actual words of the Lord.
count for
less,

the final authority in the Old Testament. 2 there is the equivalent in the New. said it
"

The What

the

Gospels is the teaching Incidents and environment

and sometimes surprise has been expressed

that he valued the mainly narrative records of Saint Mark as highly as he did. seem, as it were, to catch in the

We

pages of our Stromatist the

of the

last

Son of Man. The book appears when we find, for example, such a formula as The Lord in the Gospel uses certain lan 4 3 or and the voice when scripture of the Lord guage,
the
"

echoes of the living voice transition from the teacher to

"

"

"

are

combined,

or the

four

authoritative
It

Gospels distin

guished from other records.

distinction too far.
1

would be easy

Its

interest lies in
yeypcnrrai,
;

to press this the glimpse which,

"

E.g. 294, 440, 773, etc.

Cp. Kutter, Clemens gar nicht sagen, class
habe."

So
1.

2
.

und

523 ytypaQdai, 366. das Neue Testament\ p. 105

Man kann

Clemens
890
;

die Evangelien als Schriften so sehr

gewertet
3

246, 684.

cp. the

use of $uvl\ in 329, 543, 698,

etc.

APOSTOLIC WRITINGS
incidentally,
it

203

affords into

one of the many processes by

"

which the Bible

is

as we know it attained its recognition. the main elements in Clement s Scriptures the Apostolic. What could claim the authority of the

The

last of

"

Apostles was important, because they were the immediate Clement does not recipients of the teaching of the Lord.
formally draw any distinction within their
Peter,
"

James, John, Paul, are mentioned together as of great 1 2 and when a all the perfect," authority Apostles were
:
:

number

truth could claim

"

apostolic

need be

raised.

Thus

support, no further question in theory all their writings stood upon

is

"

the same level.

prominence again he is quoted

" "

In practice, however, there assigned to the Apostle Paul.

as
"

an evident

Again and
"

the

Apostle."

The

blessed,"

divine,"

noble

"

Apostle are terms frequently

employed

in his

honour. 3
is

the appeal

In the important discussion on marriage constantly to his teaching, and, save for the

4 comparatively recent date at which he lived, Clement will Much is made of hear nothing to his disparagement.

Saint Paul s relation to the Old Testament, which perhaps in some measure compensated for the fact that he could not His directly have received the instruction of the Lord.
inspiration, Clement remarks, was largely derived from the older Scriptures, with which he was in close agreement, and in the interpretation of which he was an acknowledged
5 When it is remembered that the importance authority. of Saint Paul s teaching had only recently been recognised, and that such recognition had come from heretical, before

it

came from orthodox, sources, Clement s marked admira tion for this great innovator does credit to his judgment. No doubt he saw that the Church could not afford to let
the heretics appropriate so valuable an asset as the Pauline
1

774-

625.
6

57, 69, 374, etc.

625.

134, 550, 625

cp. 730-

204

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

Epistles, but his veneration for their author is not the less genuine, because it was also politic. The Apostolic writings

stand, no doubt, somewhat below the Gospels in authority, and they are not very clearly marked off from the group of other Scriptures (Barnabas, Hermas, and the like), to which the previous chapter has referred. But they are an element in Clement s Bible, and also in his theology, of consider In his estimate of Saint Paul we are often able moment. reminded that he himself resembled the Apostle in claiming to be in close accordance with past tradition, while really delivering a message of almost revolutionary novelty. Such were the phases and sequence of Revelation.

There were great

scheme.

diversities,

yet

an

essential

unity

of

The varied and unfading Scriptures were like the bright pattern of flowers on the ideal robe that adorns 1 the Lord, and yet the robe was single and seamless, and must not be torn or severed by alien or heretic hands.
Clement did not grasp the whole problem which the Scriptures present, and the remark is true. But in its main features his conception of their origin and is a and noble not one, purpose great unworthy of the
It
is

said that

master of Origen.

There are three terms of constant occurrence in his writings, which are worthy of notice, if we would under stand his views on the authority of the Bible. They are the familiar terms Covenant or Testament," Canon,"
"

"

"

"

did he understand by each of these ? In the main Clement adheres to the Biblical conception of the Covenant as an agreement or compact between God
"

Tradition."

What

and man, with the implied

qualification that

God

enters into

the relationship of His grace and goodness, 2 man in the He speaks frequently of the spirit of duty and obedience. two covenants, that under the Law and that under the
1

238.

Cp.

i)

Kara ras

SiaO-fiKas 86015,

850.

THE TERM COVENANT

205

Gospel, once correcting himself to add that these are in 1 The reality one covenant, transacted at different periods.
the

Old and the New Covenants are frequently mentioned, and word is often hardly distinguishable in meaning from
"

the other term the conception

"

Dispensation."
is

the idea of

relationship with Himself. is the highest covenant,"

"

The dominant element in God bringing man into a moral God Himself," Philo had said,
2

and

Clement uses

similar

language, when he says that Moses used this term of the Lord and did not mean anything in writing. 3 Thus the word has not finally in Clement the definite meaning we attach to
the term
"

Testament

"

as a collection of books.

But

it is

the sense of spiritual compact or relationship passed over into that of the Scriptures, in which these were embodied and expressed. When Clement says that what Saint

easy to see

how

4 Paul wrote depended on the old Covenant or Testament we have come very near to the Old Testament" in our The word SiaOrjKr] is translated Testa sense of the term.
"

"

ment
its

"

in

one passage by Hort and Mayor.

"

Latin equivalent

Testamentum,"

Thus, like the Greek term was

end of the second century in a fluid or transitional 6 state. Incidentally Clement s use of it illustrates the in the Bible is not the fact, that what he values primarily mere littera scripta. Behind it are spiritual verities and These give the written book its value relationships. these it is the function of the letter to express and In this sense he stands far apart from the guarantee.
at the
:

literalist.

More
takes
i

difficult is

his
its

use of the term

"

Canon."
"

He
or

the

word

in

primary

sense

of

"

rule

899.

3
iii.

427.
8.

2 De mutatione nominum, 8. Clement also speaks of four covenants, 666, 1001

cp.

Irenseus,

u,
4

625, 669

See Westcott

cp. 682. s Hebrews,

894.

298 sqq.

Lightfoot

Galattans, 141.

206
"measure"

THE HOLY
that
to

SCRIPTURES.
any given
or

II

which

material

should

Hence it is the standard ideal, by which He applies the we may determine values or defects. term in many different connections, but his central idea and in is that the Church had her own rule in conduct
conform.
ecclesiastical canon could be used doctrine, and that this to This rule to settle any appeal. applied subjects as varied as the manner of celebrating the Eucharist, the
"
" "

"

control of the desires, or the virtues of the Gnostic char 1 acter, but also and especially to the interpretation of the Kavovietv ryu aXriOeiav means to understand Scriptures
:

the scheme and proportion of truth, as from the Scripture by true exegesis. 2

it

is

to be learned
"

The
till

canon

"

in

Clement

use of the term

is

thus never a

collection

of

books, a sense the word did not acquire It is the rule of Christian truth, not so

a century later. much in the form

of an objective formula or creed, as rather an inner principle 3 The Bible is to be explained of consistent interpretation. and understood according to the rule of truth. 4 The
heretics,

who

had

"

stolen the

did this in a perverse and arbitrary manner, Church s rule." 6 The true principle lay

in the

various

harmonious and concordant interpretation of all the elements in Scripture. 6 Such interpretation was

not to be learned so

much by independent study

"

as

by the

venerable rule authority of the past, and thus we have a of tradition," 7 handed down from earlier days, and of great No doubt the importance in Clement s scheme of truth.
"

"

rule

is

also

to

be

sought through inward

guidance

"

the canon
"

of

itself
1

is

must be learned from the Truth dictum which must be understood according
truth
2

3
4 5
7

375, 543, 608, 806, 836, etc. Or even of Christian conduct. 802, 803, 826. 897.
325.
6 8

818.

&

navbv

TTJS irio-rewy in

607 has this sense.

See esp. 803.

890.

CANON AND TRADITION

to his favourite doctrine of
is

207

a clear connection

inward illumination, but there between the rule and tradition,"

"
"

and thus we pass to the third of these important terms. Clement s high estimate of Tradition is a particular
"

Few are the equals aspect of his veneration for the past. of our fathers," and no commendation of a doctrine or
"

practice
It
is

is

no surrender of

so convincing as the demonstration of its antiquity. this principle for him to trace all

tradition to the teaching of the Lord during his earthly life, for this teaching did but bring to clearer light the truths

established before the foundation of the world, but reserved 1 as hidden secrets till the Incarnation. From the Lord

himself proceeded a line of tradition, handed on through

the Apostles, and then to the successive generations, and still accessible to those who could understand. Of this the

contents were various.

The

selection of the four Gospels

2
:

as of special authority was matter of tradition the test of true doctrine as distinct from false was the continuity of its
tradition.
3

Much

that

was inherited

in this

manner was

the

common

property of the whole Church, and thus the Church s tradition could be contrasted with the novel and invented

assertions

Clement
esoteric,

But more usually Tradition, as heresy. of an element of secrecy. had It was it, thought
of

imparted to

the

few who were

its

chosen and

recipients, and comparable in its nature to the heathen Mysteries. 6 Especially was this the case in regard to that large element in the body of Tradition, which dealt

qualified

The Gnosis that with the interpretation of the Scriptures. was only for the minority consisted very largely in a deeper
and exegesis. 6 This unwritten, limited, teaching was it is a kind distinct from Scripture, yet closely related to it of key by which the stores and treasures of the written Word
insight
; 1

682.

Cp.

T]

893, 8 9 6. 890. rwy ypa^wv Trapd6effis re KO.\ 8{ottj, 454. 553.

771, 845, 865.

208
are

THE HOLY
opened
to those

SCRIPTURES.

II

the gift of insight. 1 Clement s Tradition is notably different from that of Roman Catholic theology, because it depends not on authority so much as on the illuminated intelligence. characterises it as divine,"

who have

He

"

the Scriptures it brings prominently to our notice the fact that, when the last word has been said about the authority of the Bible, there
"
"

sure,"

and

mystic."

In

relation to

remains the hardly less important question of inter must not leave the subject without examin pretation.
still

We
s

ing Clement

teaching from this point of view. Properly speaking, the selection of certain

books or

passages of Scripture as specially important, is a phase of It implies that the littera scripta is not taken interpretation.
It is written simply as it stands, and that the argument must be in one case emphasised, in another ignored. For the selection will be made upon some avowed principle, or
"
"

in

accordance
;

with

the

tendencies

of

the

interpreter

theology
the

in either case a standard of exegesis distinct

mere written text comes into operation. Now can, on occasion, say hard things of the heretics for their manipulation of Scripture. They do not, he complains, use the whole Bible, nor do they even accept and employ all 3 the contents of their favourite books. They pick out and select what suits their purpose, and their Bible becomes little 4 No doubt the charge better than a piece of patchwork. was true enough. But is Clement himself wholly beyond
such criticism
?

from Clement

can hardly acquit him, when we examine his use of Indeed, he himself speaks frankly of Scripture. selecting 5 He commends those who elaborate dogmas testimonies."
" "

We

by a which
1

selection
is

appropriate passages." thus admitted carries us a long way.

2 6

of

The
3

principle

Throughout,
891.
e
883>

321, 786, 806, 897.

528.

768, 804, 896. 802.

EXEGESIS BY SELECTION
he
is
"

209

indeed very far from letting the Bible speak for itself," and this is evidenced not least by his obvious preference for
historical

books and passages. With the narrative or purely element in both Testaments he has little concern. The Books of Kings and the Acts of the Apostles are only quoted infrequently on the other hand, the Psalms and the Pauline Epistles are in constant use. There are very few references to our Lord s eschatological teaching there is little tendency to dwell on the sterner aspects of the New Testa
certain
;

ment doctrine

of Sin

there

is

similar disinclination to deal

s

with the notable antitheses of Saint Paul

theology.

In the
s

"Wisdom Literature" Ecclesiastes is rarely

quoted, and Job

problem never faced. On the other hand, the kindlier teach ing of the Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon and of the Son
of Sirach, are in constant use. The frequent references to the the of fourth Gospel have been previously noted. Prologue

The well-known

in our phrase from the book of Genesis l to after of invaluable our was, likeness," course, image, The Clement, as to Philo and every other Biblical Platonist.
"

text in the Synoptic Gospels is naturally used 2 Seek and ye shall find," several times, while the saying, was of considerable service against those who feared all 3 in all this selection of books and passages, inquiry. with its alternate emphasis and diminution, a definite tendency

most Johannine

"

Now

of thought is at work. Clement, like other men, brings to the Bible his own affinities, and he takes from its pages such

claim to interpret Scripture by Scripture, and to find demonstrative proof in the text ; but his reader never remains unaware for long that, dependent

elements as respond.
4

He may

Clement may be upon Biblical resources, the material from this plentiful storehouse is selected with considerable In effect he says to his reader, predilection and discretion.
as
1

Gen.
II.

i.

26.

2
4

I.e.

St Matt.

xi.

27,

quoted

10, 109, 425, 697.

E.g. 650.

891.

VOL.

14

THE HOLY
"

SCRIPTURES.

II

This and this and this element in Scripture are important And this con that and that and that may be passed
by."

stitutes a

kind of exegesis.
is

But there

We consequence. Given the passage, what is its meaning ? come here upon a large question, in regard to which Clement
takes his place as Philo s follower and Origen s master, and as against is a true representative of Alexandrian principles,

a further stage in this process, of even greater

For all the teachers the greater literalism of other Churches. of this school it is a fundamental rule that the Scriptures The written Word is conceal their most important truths.
a veil, a parable, a symbol ; the true or below. One thing is said, another
lies

meaning
is

lies
;

beyond
therein

intended

The insistence on this the whole theory of Allegorism. The fifth book of s pages. principle is constant in Clement
the Slromateis
cealment."
1

is

mainly a defence of
are

this doctrine of

"

con
in

We

reminded
;

that

truth

lies

hidden

the secret recesses of the shrine

that poets

and philosophers
in riddles
;

have time after time expressed themselves

that

the pathway to assured knowledge lies through the under that the Lord intended this, when standing of dark sayings
;

He

likened the

Kingdom
is

of

God

to leaven.

the key of Scripture, but it unlocks The Hieroglyphics of Egypt, the other doors as well.

This principle

Gnomic

utterances of the Wise, the teaching of Plato and

3

the Pythagoreans, have all this deeper esoteric significance, so that when a mystic meaning is assigned to the Cherubim or the candlesticks or the High Priest s robe, Clement only
deals with Scripture as he
is

prepared to deal with other

"

books.

"

The

Word,"

he says,

loves

concealment."

The

sacred books, like the Blessed Virgin, are pregnant, con 5 He speaks once of a fourfold signitaining hidden truth.
s,

656,

and frequently.
4

659, 676, 694.

657-8, 680.

iro\vKfve^s 6 \6yos, 806.

889-90.

ALLEGORY
ficance of the

211

elsewhere he recognises a mystical (or typical), a parabolic, and a fully revealed mode in the Lord s teaching of his Apostles. 2 Here he is clearly s But preparing Origen way. usually the various distinctions
;

Old Testament

of

meaning

assertion of an external
tells us,

drawn he is content with the and an inward sense as Joshua, he saw two Moses, one among the Angels, the other by
are not so finely
; ;
;

3 The bodily Moses stood upon the mountains. for the body and letter of the Moses in glory Scripture with the Angels is the inner meaning which underlies the words. So we must understand the Bible in the great 4 sense we must rise to the height of its argument, pene 5 trate to the recesses of its truth. When we fail to do this,

the ravines

"

;"

we

interpret the Scripture in an unspiritual manner, or in a merely human sense ; we resemble the Jews, who believe in

the bare

word of the Law

or the heretics,

who

take literally

what was spoken in parable. 6 Thus the real meaning lies behind the veil, and this veil adds dignity to the hidden truth, and protects it from vulgar intrusion. 7 Only the few are
within the Holy Place. There is real insight remark that what appears to be the simplest teaching often demands our closest attention. 8 This allegorical principle, of which Clement makes such constant use, is clearly connected with his distinction between For the simple Christian, the different classes of believers. who does not pass beyond the domain of Faith, the plain 9 But the possession of Gnosis implies, meaning may suffice.
fitted to pass

in his

indeed to a large extent consists

1

in,

the power to penetrate

424985.
I

take

ffa.<j><as

revelation, all the

the sense as
Platonists,
6

"literal,"

Kal yvfj.vas to denote the final stage of full and clear hidden meaning being brought into light. Bigg gives apparently taking the terms differently. Christian
3

p. 57, n.

806-7.

897.

938, 946, 950.

ffapKiKcas,
7

467

ffapKivas, avOpooirivuS)
8

938

^.451,
9

5 2 8.

665, 679-80.

938.

309.

212

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

through the text to the deeper sense.

So the Bible has

its

grades of truth, appropriate to the different stages of the And the reason which mainly induces Christian Way.

Clement to set such store by his principle of concealment and allegory, is the peculiar support which it lends to his Thus he differs in his motive from exaltation of Gnosis. Philo used allegory others who had used the same method. The to explain away the difficulties of the Old Testament.
had employed it in order to purge the old mythology It was the readiest, if not of its crude anthropomorphism. the only, available solution of the problem which arose, when a purer religious consciousness was confronted with the But Clement teaching and legends of an immaturer time. these difficulties. is not concerned with They had greatly
Stoics

been dissolved so often that they retained little substance, and he is free to use his method with a positive rather than an apologetic aim. The crudities of the ancient tales no

His mind dwells upon the stores of longer trouble him. and Gnosis have to offer to the which Revelation meaning,
favoured children of the truth.
It would be tedious and hardly profitable to follow Clement through the whole range of his allegorical inter But a few examples from the Old and the New pretation. Testaments may serve a useful purpose in illustrating the method of exegesis, upon which he set such store. He and delights, for example, to see great significance in names,

in this could claim, of course, the older Scriptures as well as contemporary practice for his support. The single letter

added

when

"

Abram

"

was
"

"

symbolised the patriarch s God he is no longer a of sound," or an elect intelligence, productive of reason or 1 The explanation is not very convincing, but it the Word.
;
1

Abra[h]am," changed to knowledge of the one and only high father," but a chosen father
"

648.

See Stahlin in

loc. for

the references to Philo.

ALLEGORY THE OLD TESTAMENT

is

213

drawn from Philo, though without any acknow So Jerusalem is "the vision of peace" x Isaac, ledgment. the laughter or delight or the playful spirit which may exist
largely
;

the upright iota in the name Jesus 3 is the In another connection abiding goodness of the Lord. the land of Egypt and the people of Canaan are taken as
in the divine

nature

types of passions and vices, of deceits and worldly follies, with which the Christian must have no dealing. 4 So when
it is

said

"

the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the

sea,"

"

meaning is that the impulsive passions bring nature into the turbulent waves of worldly disorder. 5 Earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord," is an appeal to the senseless and unbelieving, who are earthly in their

the real

man

nature.

Even

The

three

the details of the law are full of significance. measures, which form the ephah, stand for
7

sensation, furniture

The reason, intelligence, in human nature. and carved work in the tabernacle had a symbolic

8 Animals which value, even in their minutest arrangements. failed to chew the cud were types of the heretics ; those

divide the hoof, of the Jew. 9 The pro hibition to yoke ox and ass together was a secret intimation of the danger of imparting advanced truth indiscriminately

which

failed to

lesson on the virtue of simplicity extracted from the story of the golden calf ; a reproof of the clean shaven from the ointment upon Aaron s beard. 11
to
is
fit

and

unfit minds.

10

The tying of the colt to the vine of God with the divine Logos
by Abel
s

is
;

the union of the children

the

Logos

is

also typified

blood and by

many
is

other figures.

12

Finally, the

Queen
332.
2

in a vesture of

gold
.
.

the Church, as Clement would

Compare Homer s
6
10

IIO

II.

O0T7J

r]

Ofia iraiSta

avrrj

T\

/uuo-nK?) iratSio.

laughter
3
7

among

the

Gods
4 8

of Olympus.
453.
7845

148-9.
455246, 289.
11

677-8. 900-1-

640.

478-9-

12

106-7, 126.

2i 4
like to

THE HOLY
1

SCRIPTURES.
in

II

have seen her, arrayed

is

the

robe

of

elaborate

culture.

Such
the

his

Law and

method of extracting the inner meaning from For his principles and for his the Prophets.
is

greatly indebted to Philo, and in all this exegesis there is scant recognition, as De Faye remarks, of Yet Clement can also employ his the rights of authorship.

examples he

this naturally

method with considerable independence and originality, and becomes more evident, when we turn to his Here it was no interpretation of the New Testament.

longer possible to follow Philo in details, though there were many Christian or half Christian exegetes already at work, and we can never say what exact proportion of his suggestions

was due to the teaching of Pantaenus. But, whether derived or original, there are not a few happy and appropriate pieces of exegesis in Clement s treatment of the Gospels and
Epistles.

Of them, and

of others less

commendable, the
s

following shall serve as

examples.

He

mentions the

woman who
2

anointed the Lord

s

feet

with precious ointment. to allow this to stand

It

did not suit Clement

a
justification
literal

purpose
use of

as

of

the the

unguents, so he apologises for the

;

sense

woman

was still a sinner she brought what she thought was best and passes on to discover in the ointment a hint of the

Lord s suffering, or of His teaching. The anointed feet are the Apostles, the woman s tears are our sinful selves, her Or it may even loosened hair the renunciation of finery.
be that the ensnaring ointment
is

a hint of the treachery of

possibilities

So varied and abundant are the Judas. we get away from the letter. Again, the
;

when

five barley loaves stand for the Law, which is earlier than and inferior to the the two small fishes are Greek true wheat of the Gospel

philosophy, born
1

in

the waters of the Gentile world and

2

786.

205-6.

ALLEGORY THE NEW TESTAMENT

swept about by
its

215

The tares sown in Church are naturally the heresies. 2 If we are to leave father and mother for the Gospel s sake, this is no literal injunction, but our mother stands for our 3 for and our father the State s laws. The country of incivism naturally suggests itself, but Clement charge is of the Foxes who have thinking higher claims of God. holes are wealthy mineowners. 4 is abstention from Fasting
uncertain currents.
the field of the
"

"

"

"

"

"

evil

deeds. 5
6

The
s

pearl
a figure

of

great

price

is

the

"

pure

diaphanous
bent.

Jesus,"

The Lord

quite congenial to his docetic is the robe variegated beauty of long

the divine Scriptures. 7 The thorns which form His crown other signify, among things, the once unfruitful lives now
8 And so examples brought closer to the Church s head. might be multiplied, as in his discursive way Clement leads us on to discern in the lamps of the five wise virgins a type of the few enlightened souls, in bread and fishes a monition

of

simple

fare,

in

"two

or three gathered
9

together"

His allegory is a very suggestion of the Christian home. He elastic principle and gives us very various results.
applies
it

Old.

The
their

just as readily to the New Testament as to the Gnostics also had done so, and he is not far

from

company.

The interpretations easy to criticise this method. Its results to which it leads are "altogether arbitrary."
It is

are

"

visionary and
sober."

futile."

It

is

an

"

excellent

means of
is
it

finding what
"

you already
10

possess."

Sometimes only

relatively

Two
3

defects, in particular, lie patent

to every
1

modern
2

reader, of

which the more important

570.

is its

787.
4 6

887.
6

Cp.
238.

how he
8

explains
9

away

nurt?, 948.

57710

79i-

24i-

214.

172, 541-2, 655.

See Farrar, History of Interpretation, 182-7; E. de Faye, 228; M. Denis, quoted in Bigg s Christian Platonists, 148 ; Renan, Marc-Aurele^ 164. Renan speaks of Les docteurs orthodoxes, avec leurs interpretations allegoriques et typiques tout a fait arbitrages."
"

216

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

Not the complete disregard of the literal, historic sense. on the Clement and but the words, sense," pleads strength of this principle he reads the most remote and diversified
"

significance into passages wholly innocent, in their original does not seem able intention, of any such meaning.

He

we might do, between the fact or meaning which was present to the writer s mind, and the various extended applications in which the applied principle might be said to hold good. Thus, when he deals with the
to distinguish, as

golden
sense
:

calf,

or with the

Lord

command

to the

young

ruler,

his exegesis leads

into violent treatment of the original even the familiar camel of the East must not be
1

him

Through regarded as a literal camel, it is fatnjXorepov ri. out we are kept far away from the facts and miss the balance
and sanity of view which their influence should secure. This indifference to the historic and the concrete was due in part to the Alexandrian tradition, but it is clearly also a
personal quality in Clement. in his view of the Incarnation.
contact with

We
It

have noticed
is

it

before

his principal point of

the Gnostics, as may be evidenced by the of difficulty deciding whether any given fragment of exe in the Excerpta proceeds from Theodotus or his com gesis
:

mentator. Yet even here opposite tendencies affect him witness his insistence on the historical antiquity of Moses, and his surprising appreciation of the Gospel according to
Saint
It

Mark.
is

second defect
with

that,

when he employs
identities.

he

is

content

such

trivial

allegory, Parabolical

teaching in Scripture conserves in the main a true parallelism between the symbolised principle and the illustrative tale.
are real elements of identity. Even when the Lord the Parable as a the of correspondence measure veil, employs remains considerable ; and the same is true of Plato s myths.

There

246, 937, 950.

CRITICISMS OF
But allegory knew
If the
little

ALLEGORY

217

three measures which

three elements in

man

and limitations. form the ephah really denote nature, then there is no reason why
of such canons

not be the symbol of anything, for an of If equivalent point identity could usually be found.

anything should
the
"

strange

woman
1

"

of the Proverbs

is

really a figure of

then a system of typology is established which demands only that it shall be possible to apply a
secular culture,

common

epithet to

either

side

of

the

parallel.

Origen

complained not infrequently of the violent and arbitrary 2 but he must have heard character of Heracleon s exegesis ;

much similar exposition from his own master. It is true that even the sober Irenaeus was convinced that the treasure
Old Testament, 3 and it may be urged that in this regard also Clement was If it pleased him to fancy that the a man of his own age. of into which Lot s unhappy wife was turned, salt, pillar
hid in the field meant Christ hidden in the

denoted the power which savours and seasons the souls of those who have the gift of spiritual vision, we must not too

The results, it severely condemn his arbitrary exegesis. has been truly said, are often better than the method. And, with all its obvious defects, allegory had as well
its

enabled Clement to accept the Scriptures without surrender of his broad and universalistic outlook. It was the best available via media between
merits and
its

service.

It

literalism

and the abandonment of the Church

sacred

We may feel that many of the parallels which Clement discovers or adopts between Plato, Homer, the dramatic poets, and the Scriptures, are remote and uncon
books.
vincing.

We may have difficulty in reconciling the judg ments which speak of him as more Biblical than Origen
"

"

332.
2

See the remarks of A. E. Brooke, Texts and Studies,

,

i.

p.

48
I.

cp.

ib.

53

<r$f5pa

aTraoeuT^TWj, ib. 69.

iv.

26,

2i 8

THE HOLY
"more

SCRIPTURES.
Christian."

II

and

philosopher than

But under these

divergences lies the important fact that he could retain, without conscious contrariety, the best of the Hellenic
heritage and yet accept both the

Hebrew and

the Christian

Testaments.
him.

The
s

Saint Paul

particularism of the Jew did not trouble attitude to wisdom and philosophy raises

no great

difficulty.

The

details

of

the

Law

are not an

He can harmonise all these limitations and antagonisms with something of the wide outlook, which
intolerable burden.

made

the ideal Hellenic philosopher a

all
existence."
l

"

spectator

of

all

time and

He

could

not

do

this

by the

methods and principles which are

could
not

available

for us.

He

apply fearlessly to Scripture such wide ideas as were certainly his own. But allegory regulative There was no contradiction, because resolved the difficulty. the wider meaning could always be read into the narrower

even

So Moses and Saint Paul and the Lord Himself come harmony with Hellenism, and Christianity becomes What is particular becomes universal, the true philosophy. and the special precepts of an age or a people reveal hidden meanings, which are valid for every man, or at least for
letter.

into

every enlightened Christian.

the Church from becoming
also, at least in
"

Allegory, says Harnack, saved 2 the religion of the book." It

Alexandria, enabled the Church to retain

her book.

Allegory also solved the difficulty which arose within the sacred books, when the Old Testament was contrasted The obvious differences in the two phases with the New. of revelation had already induced Marcion to abandon the
older Covenant, and even the Letter of Ptolemy to Flora takes the position that, though the Law was not given by

Greek con the devil, it certainly was not given by God. inclined to stumble at verts to Christianity were naturally
1

Plato, Republic,

vi.

486.

Hist. Dogm.,

ii.

65.

DIFFICULTIES SOLVED BY ALLEGORY

the

219

Law, and sometimes

as

this criticism

was dangerous and

Clement, seen, asserts unhesitatingly the fundamental unity of the two covenants. will have no dealings with Marcion and his kind the Law and the
effective.

we have

He

Gospel proceed from one source. an easy one to defend, he justifies

This position, not wholly in detail through allegory.

The

older covenant was symbolical. Its secret meanings, of are the Gnosis, interpreted by prophetic of the Lord. key All that appears to be anthropomorphic in the teaching of
the

Old Testament about God

prohibition which
2

nature,

The

forbids a

man

really allegory. to wear a woman s

a

is

garment must be taken

In this

spiritually, as

protest

against

way whatever seems harsh or stern or effeminacy. unreasonable in the Law is toned down or illuminated. For all the ordinances of Moses there were hidden reasons
:

we must not be deceived by

the apparent absence of ground 3 for his prohibitions. Thus, like Saint Paul, though by other methods, he praises and abandons the Law. It is declared

no inherent contrariety to the Gospel, but then, on Clement s interpretation, it is hardly any longer recognisable But the gain is surely greater than as the code of Moses. Clement would have fallen from his own com the loss. Moses and the Prophets prehensive principle had he expelled retain them, and be he could That from his sanctuary. untroubled by any discord between things old and new, is method of exegesis. largely the result of his elastic survived Clement s use of have In such of his works as
to have

One text suggests characteristically discursive. recall a saying from the will of line or a another, Thus the Stromateis retain their miscellaneous
4

Scripture

is

Homer
s

Prophets.
nature,

and
1

their

author

favourite
2

quotations
3

on the

687.

47 Cp. esp. the long discussion of the term Eph. iii. 10 Heb. i. i.
:

175TroTs,

104 sqq.

220

THE HOLY
of

SCRIPTURES.

II

variegated character of the divine

Wisdom, and on

the

many

modes and measures

principles for his

own

Revelation, are taken as guiding But at times he literary practice.

could venture on more continuous work.

men

Once, as a speci of Gnostic interpretation, he devotes a whole chapter

to the exegesis of the Decalogue. And there still survive a few fragments from the considerable commentary, eight

books

in length,

which was known

tells

as the Hypotyposeis,

and

which, Eusebius

canonical Scriptures.

us, contained expositions of all the glance at each of these will add
s

something to our

knowledge of Clement

powers and
l

limitations as an interpreter.

His summary exposition of the Decalogue the remark that ten is a sacred number.
properties
lie

starts

with

Its

mystical

in the nature of things, for there is a physical decalogue in the heavens, another in the earth, His interest in number another in the nature of man.

deep

two tables again appears in his comments on the they stand for the two covenants, or the ruling and the subject spirits, or for the dual activities of thought and deed.
"

"

six is

Similar are his remarks on the seventh day s rest. That number of is shown the work properly completed by
s

the sun

motion from

solstice to solstice in six

months, by the

history of the human embryo, or by Pythagorean reckonings. But seven holds the position of honour, for the whole created

world
says
;

"

revolves in sevens

"

the Pleiades are seven

so he

moon
man,

has seven phases

as

there are seven sense organs on the human face ; the there are seven ages in the life of ;

Solon
"

elegies declare.

the Sabbath, This is It is curious to reflect, as we read all this, that the seventh day of the week was probably quite unobserved in the

So he says with David of the day which the Lord hath made."

Alexandrian Church.

But Clement was

1

living

among

his

807 sqq.

EXPOSITION OF THE DECALOGUE

books, and indeed

221

the whole section may be largely de on So great was the Jewish-Alexandrine sources. pendent interest in the mystical properties of number the Church found room for Pythagoras as well as Plato. The bare
:

seemed to denote some inward correspondence or affinity, and the ingenious inter preter might discern such parallels as he pleased. There is more permanent value in Clement s remarks, in
parallel

of

numerical

similarity

reference to the fourth

tion
is

commandment,
;

that the order of crea

properly not an order in time, but an order in the divine and that God s rest is the rest, purpose, anterior to time
not of inactivity, for
inviolable order.

He

could not cease to do good, but of

We
"

are to

honour father and mother

"

What Father clearly means God, Father, Creator, Lord. essence from which we of our Mother ? Is it the
"

"

are sprung, or the Church, or the divine wisdom and know the mother so Clement says ledge called by Solomon of the righteous ? Surely the latter, says Clement, the
"
"

knowledge

that

is

desirable

for

its

own

sake

and

that

proceeds, like all else that is fair and venerable, from God through the Son. It is a characteristic piece of interpreta
tion.

Adultery, of course,

is

to desert the

Church

true

Murder is to teaching for the foreign novelties of heresy. do away with the true doctrine of God and immortality.
Theft
is

either the
their

"making"

divine prerogative the true philosophy by teachers to

of the artist or sculptor, who, in claim the paintings or statues, seem to of creation, or else the appropriation of

work

whom it did not properly a reference, somewhat with The chapter ends belong. to the remotely connected with the prohibition to covet, universal Providence, which originates with God and works
down through secondary
life.

causes to the individual details of

This mystical exegesis leads us a very long way from The indifference to the natural and original the Decalogue.

222
sense of

THE HOLY
its

SCRIPTURES.

II

The Lord Himself, prohibitions is complete. had a wider and recollect, given spiritual significance to the Law. Clement s more literary exposition, though not without its elements of value, suffers by comparison. This chapter on the Decalogue is inserted in the
we
Stromateis as a to connect
poseis,
it

of

specimen of Gnostic exegesis. It is natural with the far larger undertaking of the Hypotywhich sufficient remains survive to afford an

insight into the character of the commentary some mention has

1

work

as a whole.

Of
it

this

already been made

in

previous chapter.
sisted mainly of

The

reader
"

may

recollect that
"

con

remarks or scholia from various books of both Testaments

on passages taken
that
it

incorporated

also certain traditions about the Apostles, some of which are of considerable interest ; and that, in addition to the

Greek fragments which have survived,

continuous passage
as
is

a larger and more extant in the Latin translation known

the Adumbrationes.
2

Beyond
8

and Photius work, the latter saying much about its heretical tendencies, though he thinks there may have been interpolations. Our
both Eusebius
present purpose is to give from these scanty remains further examples of Clement s interpretation.

the fragments themselves afford us information about the

some

woman

is

to

be veiled

"

because of the

angels."

The

angels, Clement explains, mean righteous and virtuous men, who must not be tempted into sin. They that are
"

"

have crucified the flesh not, of course, in a literal The sense, but by the surrender of passion and desire. due time at which the Lord was manifested was the The care period in which men were ready to believe.
Christ
s
"

"

See vol. i. pp. 194 sqq. Cod. 109-11 (Stahlin, I., xiv. sgq.} This and the following passages quoted
iii.

H.E.,

vi.

14.

may be

best seen in Stahlin s

edition,

195-215.

THE HYPOTYPOSEIS
"

223

"

the

is especially for those of his own house really a care for inner economy of the soul, where passion is to be

eradicated.

The

"

"

many

witnesses

are the

testimony of

the

Law and

commentary.

the Prophets. Such is the character of the Even in the longer fragments which survive

in Latin, the annotations are of the

things "reported the Gospel," are

same brief nature. The unto you by them that have preached
the

ancient

symbolical
"

actions

of

the
"

Prophets, never understood by the world at large, only now revealed by the Gospel. Christians are a royal priesthood because they are called into the Kingdom a royal
;
"

"

"

priesthood
"

ing,

To
"

"

because of their oblation of prayer and teach quibus adquiruntur animae, quae offeruntur Deo." speak evil of dignities is to abuse the angels. The
" "

"

clouds without water

are souls bereft of the divine

"sit

and

fertilising Word. in the place of honour.

To

on the right

hand"

is

to rest

The comments on
"

the Johannine
"

On Epistles are some of the most interesting. was from the beginning Clement s comment
tionem tangit sine principio
filii

that
"

which

is

generaexstantis."

cum

patre simul

Here
lator
"

is

the doctrine of eternal generation, unless the trans no darkness at In God has modified the text.
"is

all

for

He

no harbouring of evil is, no anger, no passion, He ruins none in His nature finds place any man, The Spirit, the water, and the gives salvation to all.
;

that

blood

stand for

life,
fear,"

love casteth out

Perfect regeneration, knowledge. for love, Clement comments, is the

"

perfection of the believer. As we read the dozen pages which have survived from this lengthy work of exegesis, perhaps our first impression
is

to say that

we

feel little surprise that the greater part of

its

contents has perished.

;

Many
which

of the

comments seem

to

us obvious

many seem

far fetched.
is

Only here and there

of abiding value.

do we

find an interpretation

But

224

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

so harsh a judgment is probably undeserved. It is the commentator s office to bring the permanent text of Scripture into relation with the ideas and intellectual environment of his day. As these perpetually shift and alter, we must the recognise consequence, that most commentaries are

Of valuable only for the conditions of their own period. the works of many greater and later exegetes than Clement, it may be said that, if they survive to-day at all, it is mainly
manner
in the library, on the shelf. According to his light and the of his age, Clement helped his contemporaries to

realise that the value of Scripture lay not in the mere letter, and that we must bring to the Bible our best knowledge and intelligence, if we would receive its treasures for our own. We need not altogether regret that the Hypotyposeis have perished nor need we doubt that they did good service for their day and generation. They mark a stage in We have passed beyond it. But who will say exegesis. that even here finality is yet attained ? Before leaving the difficult and interesting subject of Clement s attitude to the Scriptures, it may be well to consider, as a concrete example, the use he made of one
:

particular work.

Many
for

books
such

in

both Testaments readily

suggest themselves

examination.
;

His use

of

Deuteronomy,
the
first

or of the Psalms
;

his

special liking for the

Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus

selects

his

Gospel from the Epistle

;

or the

manner
to the

abundant quotations from in which he judiciously

as

Romans such elements

of thought,

can be fitted into his

own scheme

might well

Or we might find a link with repay detailed consideration. the present in ascertaining why the Epistle to the Ephesians,
perhaps the most modern book in
to
its

all

the Bible,

is,

in

pro

portion length, more frequently used by Clement But perhaps the most natural book to than any other. select is the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is always

THE

EPISTLE TO

THE HEBREWS
What
is
is

225
to
s
?

recognised as more or less akin in style and thought

the Alexandrian type of Christianity. view of this writing ? To what extent

Clement he indebted to it

Stahlin finds between ninety and a hundred quota tions or allusions to this Epistle in Clement s extant works.

Dr

About one-third

of

these

may be

"

called

"

quotations

references or allusions account for the remaining sixty. It l is that he a makes only rarely sometimes, long quotation
:

when he
the

requires a passage of any length, he merely gives

"

down to opening words, adds according to his 2 and then the practice, appends concluding sentence. By
"

far the greater part of his use of the Epistle consists of short texts or single phrases, which occur to him

and make

readily, his familiarity with the Epistle clear. With the central lines of its teaching Clement has much evident

affinity.

The

typological interpretation of the

its

Old Testa
its

ment, alike of
is

laws,

its

ritual, its

persons, and
his

exactly in

accordance

with

one of

own

events, favourite

Moreover, the principles. in the taught Epistle, even

other

Logos doctrine is though the subject,

definitely as in the
is

New

elaborated.

Testament books which contain it, Here was a further point of contact.
"

not

Then

the recognition of the value of the Law, albeit the law makes nothing perfect," is a further point of clear similarity. Yet it would hardly be true to say that the book was one

upon which Clement

of
its

sympathy with many dominant ideas and draws from it much which is apt
relied.
is

He

in

and serviceable, but he does not employ it, though he might have done so, as a weapon against Marcion. His use of
the Epistle for purposes of controversy is notably less than his use of certain other Epistles against the Carpocratians.

And,
1

generally, he
But Heb. x. 32-9 So 434-5, 501.
;

is

more indebted
36-xii.
I,

to

particular
C
>

texts

xi.

are quoted, 608-9

P>

434~5-

VOL. n.

15

226

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

or ideas than to the fundamental thought of this treatise as a whole.

siderable.

But, in this lesser manner, his obligations are con The remarkable and illuminating phrase with
this
1

which
pages.
"

Epistle opens,

occurs constantly in Clement

With few

sympathy
in

Scriptural ideas is he more entirely in than with the conception of God s self-revelation

many

degrees and in

many
the
is

modes."

ception entered within the veil, distinction beween those

of the

Lord

as

great High 2 The of frequent recurrence. who need infant s diet and those
the reference to those

So, too, the con Priest, who has

who can assimilate strong meat, and who have their senses exercised,"
"

to

the teacher

of

Christian

are naturally congenial Gnosis, and the passage is

3 The well-known definition of quoted more than once. 4 the con faith, and the splendid chapter on its heroes 5 of Moses the faithful as servant, and that typically ception
;

of Melchisedech as the king of peace ; the Christian lot as 7 the spiritual dangers of that of strangers and pilgrims ; 8 the significance of the veil ; 9 the sin after knowledge ;
belief in angels and ministering spirits n of God and incisive power of the
10
;
"

the penetrating

Word

discerning

fire,"

as

he

calls it

account.

borrowed by him and turned to good Twice he employs the book in a more hortatory
are
all
12

fashion, to encourage faith or to hearten in persecution. And there are frequent minor adoptions of its language, as
his

thought

falls

Clement held the Epistle

al
iro\vTp6ira>s y

without effort into the Scriptural phrases. to be of Pauline authorship this,

;

331,

and

in five other passages.

3 6

iroXvrp6irus

alone in two.
2

The thought
666, 833.
i,

recurs constantly.

6 9
12

Heb. Heb. Heb. Heb.

69

iv. 14,
xi.

Heb

v I3 _ I4j 3
iii.

^ ^6
3

g 5j g

29>

432-3, 609.
7

Heb.
554.

5,

423, 831.
8

vii. 2,

637.

ix. 3,

656.

10

Heb. Heb.

xi. 13,
i.

14, 986.

Heb. Heb.

x. 26,
iv.

459.

12, 851.

sgq.)

608 sqq.

CLEMENT S USE OF THIS EPISTLE

227

indeed, was the usual view in the Church of Alexandria, which differed here from the Churches of Rome and He believed it to have been written by the Carthage. in and translated by Saint Luke into Greek Hebrew Apostle hence the similarity of style between this Epistle and the
;

Acts.

But the work

is

of the translator
as Saint
in

was
Paul

a
s.

minor point

the Epistle

When

regularly quoted the various passages

which Clement makes

use of this Epistle are put together and compared, several The readiness, with points seem to call for special notice. which any apt or suitable quotation occurs to him, betrays

student of Scripture. His blending of the of the with ideas drawn from other sources teaching Epistle for the as, example, High Priest of the Jewish Law seems
the constant
to coalesce with the
"

sharp and piercing

"

High Priest of Egyptian ritual, and the word of God blends with the wise
"

"

fire

of the

attitude
affinities.

the outcome of his comprehensive and a good instance of his keen perception of
Stoics
is

entire neglect of all the Epistle has to say on the subject of sacrifice, especially on the sacrifice of the Cross, combined with his quick appreciation of its more

His

congenial elements, proves

how

fully he retained his

freedom

his professed dependence of thought, in spite of upon the written Word. And, finally, the really religious spirit of the man comes out, as he follows the Biblical writer
all

in pleading that his readers will not neglect God s call, in reminding them that their true country is not on earth, in
his recurrence to the figure of the faithful servant,

and

in

his continual recognition of the world which lies beyond and within the veil of sense. Such was Clement s Bible and such was the use he made

of

it. The study of his text of Scripture leaves the modern student with more problems than certainties. His Canon
l

Tlav\os

TOIS E&paiois

ypfywv, 771.

See, too, H.E.,

vi. 14.

228 was
still

THE HOLY
indeterminate.

SCRIPTURES.
His fundamental

II

principles

of

The exegesis belonged to his own city and his own age. all in of least are so far, results, mainly negative. Perhaps this important element of his work, can we appropriate his
guidance
to

and

his

methods
the

for

ourselves.
of

Yet even

in

Scripture regard Alexandrian Father

reader

to-day

may
his

find

the

not

wholly

without

services.

Interesting primarily in its historical associations,

Clement

treatment of Scripture
value.

has also suggestions of

rate, the crucial

permanent

He

illustrates, at

any

importance of the

It is to little purpose that the authority right to interpret. of the Book is demonstrated, unless the exegesis also can be

controlled.

was as easy for Clement to discover Platonism in the Bible, as it was for later schools of thought to discern When the material Catholicism or Calvinism in its pages. is so varied and so abundant, it can be constructed by adaptation and selection into systems of extreme diversity. Hence the old saying, the Church to teach, the Scripture
It
"

to

prove,"

leaves

the

settlement

really

in

the

Church

power.
lies

For what we prove from Scripture depends largely what we attempt to prove. The determining element upon

not so much in the text as in the mind of the exegete. There may, no doubt, be interpretation so extravagant that
sure, sooner or later, to be corrected, just as Alexandrine Allegorism was corrected by other interpreters, who re
it is

asserted the value of the historical element in the Bible.

But this leaves the ment rests in the

limits

wide, within which the settle He can quote interpreter s control.

still
"

Scripture to his purpose," and decide its meaning, till rival or successor convinces the world of a better way.
the

some

In the later centuries, and already in some Churches in second century, this right to interpret rested with
authority.

official

The debated

clauses of the Creeds were

IMPORTANCE OF EXEGESIS

229

mainly so determined, and even to Irenaeus the succession of the Episcopate was valuable principally as a guarantee of sound doctrine. But Alexandria stood for a different
principle, for the place of the scholar, the doctor, the lectureroom, in determining Christian truth. Pantaenus, Clement s

master, had probably been a layman, and his pupil, though he was in Holy Orders, hardly contradicted the saying that
"

le

docteur

est tres

souvent

la

fque."

Pressure and

opposition from heretics and self-willed amateurs compelled the Church to concentrate her authority and to restrict The liberty of prophesying underwent an exegesis.

Within the Society extravagance of became too exegesis dangerous to be tolerated. So the scholar surrendered his rights to the Bishop, and when the Bishop was also a scholar, all went well. When he was not, the surrender, though inevitable, had its dangerous Under modern conditions there seems some consequences.
inevitable restriction.

probability that learning will regain

its

old
"

influence,

if

and has not already done so. The doctor," even the lay doctor, exert through their books an influence
indeed
it

which

is

position

in

independent, to a large extent, of their official the Christian society. As we look back to

Clement and follow him through

his exegesis, we are able to appreciate the great value of this freedom, and also the In dangers of its abuse in incompetent or careless hands.
all

the main, with

light,

his mistakes,

he stands for the cause of

and sound learning, and the spirit which is prepared to follow wheresoever the argument or the Word may lead.
Finally,

we

shall

not

underestimate

his

enthusiastic

appreciation of the Bible.

No

epithets are too strong for

them to its great writers. His own discursive in the manifold variety intelligence found abundant delight Nor does his learning altogether rob him of of Scripture.

him

to apply

Renan, Marc-Aureh, 431.

230

THE HOLY

SCRIPTURES.

II

that simple and receptive attitude towards its teaching, which never forsakes characterises so much of true religion. his old friends, Homer, Plato, and the rest. But they do

He

not stand for him on the same level as Moses, David, the Within his "blessed and the Lord Himself. Apostle,"

no discord between the Hebrew and the are at one in Christ. Joyfully accepting the things written for our learning, he derived, by those methods which his age allowed, such comfort, hope, illumination, from the Scriptures, as sufficed not only to direct him on his own pathway, but made him
spirit

there
;

is

Hellene

these different elements

also the valued guide of other souls.

CHAPTER XIX

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

MUCH
and
truth
lies in

Goethe
lost

saying that

"Thought

widens

lames."

Many men, who have pondered

have

over the

issues of
sides in

life,

its

contest.

The

does not always make

thereby the power to take active philosopher, when he is crowned, the best of Emperors. Nor is it an

uncommon thing in seats of learning for great knowledge So to prove itself inimical to the spirit of Christian love. s mind interests out and drive the devotion, piety of may
heart shrink and fade before the advance of intellect, while the simple believer, in spite of his imperfect life and lack of

knowledge,

may

find the entrance into the

Kingdom more

readily than the learned Rabbi who has no common sins. Of our several human faculties we may develop one or

another, as personal choice or circumstances may lead the way ; but most advances involve suppression or limitation
that inspiration and reflection do not go hand in hand, that the best critic is the worst leader, that Saint Paul betrayed no admiration for the sculptures and architecture of Athens, and that the man who

elsewhere.

Hence

it

comes

lives in
life.
"

a theological library

Qui

often far from the saintly is a multo peregrinantur raro sanctificantur

is
"

similar saying

from the Imitatio. Clement was a man of books and thought and learning his he had been a traveller and he loved retirement
;

231

232

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

profession gave him academic interests and surroundings ; he was blessed with comfortable means ; he cared for ideas

more than

facts.

Here

and again have stifled Churchman, and to fail

are the very conditions which again Moreover, he was a broad piety.
in devotion

has been the constant

That these various influences did of his school. liability not rob him of the spirit of true piety is therefore a fact, which all who have regard for his memory will delight to
recognise.
religion. his spirit.

His learning qualified without abating his Thought widened his view without "laming"

Not

forgetting Athens, he can

"

still

pray that the

1

to my Jerusalem." spirit of Christ may give him wings to fly Perhaps the Church has had few teachers in whom the
characteristics of the Philosopher

combined

intimately and him of draws to a close, we may recall some of the study features of his learned piety. Previous chapters have already
so
in

and of the Christian have the like degree. As our

dealt with these to

some extent
2 4

the Christian

life

the ideal of the Christian

the reasonable sobriety of home ; 3 the

the higher life, with its bliss of perfect right use of wealth ; 5 These vision, had all their elements of religious value. or recalled in a more be may supplemented general survey.

We

may

begin by reverting once again to the instinct

for unity, which lay so deep in

Clement

nature.

More

than once

we have seen him harmonise

tendencies which

set in opposition. He sees relationship where others discern antithesis, and blends in his personality, not less than in his teaching, factors which are far more often

were usually

contrasted than combined.

He

refuses,

for

example, to

separate Religion and Philosophy, Faith and Knowledge, Thought and Action. For Clement, each term demands

the

other.

The
2

distinctions

are

recognised,
4

but

the

synthesis counts for more.

1

642.

Chap.

viii.

Chap.

ix.

Chap.

x.

Chap.

xiv.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

233

Philosophy, which for Clement meant Greek philosophy as he knew it, was, like the Law, a preparation for Chris
tianity.

was from above, heaven sent, a gift as well as a 2 discovery, and its true enterprise was the quest for reality.
It

Even
it

the strange alternative explanation of

its

origin, that

was truth stolen from the divine revelation, is never allowed to depreciate in any serious measure its real value, and all criticisms of particular schools, all allusions to
the sophistries of its unworthy exponents, count for little as against the reiterated assertion that philosophy is a part of the divine education of the world. But it is inadequate

and incomplete. It needs the complement of religion. 3 For all its excellence, it failed by a twofold infirmity, first, because its range of vision and knowledge was too limited
for the full apprehension of the truth, and, secondly, because 4 it was weak in action. Hence the necessity for the fuller

and the stronger motive power. Philosophy is the preliminary to the Christian life, as childhood is the 5 preliminary to the maturity of our powers ; and its intrinsic
revelation

value can never outweigh its ulterior service as the guide or avenue to complete attainment. It achieved more by its
ministry to religion than it had ever done by its absolute claims. From the other side of this partnership there is an
equally
explicit

acknowledgment.

Not only was

Christi

anity indebted to philosophy for its preparation of the road, but even afterwards it stood in need of the services of

Hellenic wisdom.

By

such means alone could false teaching

be distinguished from true, the corrupt from what was sound. Nor was there any other method available for the defence of truth from the clever attacks of subtle adver
saries.
6

In the face

of

considerable opposition

Clement

defends with emphatic conviction this holy alliance between Reason and Revelation. For culture within the Church he
1

335, 366.

453, 77i-

770.

366.

347-

377-

234

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

1

pleads abundant justification.

And though

with a certain

he will, on occasion, speak of of the condiments or accessories one philosophy merely 2 to the spiritual feast of life, this is very far from being his
diplomatic
depreciation
as

true

and serious estimate of

is

its

value.

With Clement

so essential an element in true religion, that philosophy he will apply the term without hesitation to the teaching of The one is the Old Testament and to Christianity itself.
"

barbarian

philosophy,"

and the barbarians were older

Gospel,
or slave,
is
"

than the Greeks.

philosophy,"

The other, the and the woman, child,

the true

who becomes

a Christian,

is potentially a philosopher, and, though far from has at least come over into the light. 3 attainment, perfect They are on the way to the knowledge of God and of

was the common goal of Plato and the Saints. in Clement s view is the connection be tween Philosophy and Religion. It is a common criticism to say that he does not really blend the two, but that he converts the Gospel into an intellectual system and attains
reality,

and

this

So intimate

harmony by suppressing
doubt
his interest lies

its

No

more

distinctively religious elements. in knowledge and in vision

than in feeling and in action, and every man will tend to interpret Christianity in terms of his predominant interest.

not the less true that Clement had, in personal experi ence, found something in Christianity which he had never
It is

discovered in the philosophic schools, and that, with obvious pleasure and conviction, he delights to reconcile the two.

blends the Gospel with the best results of Hellenic wisdom, and it is as true to say that his philosophy is
religious as
786.
4

He

it is

that his religion

3

is

philosophic.
3
1

Alexandria, esp. pp. 265, 315 sqq., seems to me to estimate Clement more fairly and correctly than Merk, Clemens Alexandrinus in seiner Abhangigkeit von der griechischen
<?

In this connection

De

824 ;#. 377Faye, Clement

15, 563-

Philosophie.

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE

Similar
is

235

his attitude

towards the contrasted powers of

Faith and Knowledge. What were for Clement the exact connotations of these terms, and how the one was related to

much discussed by his interpreters. His language is not always strictly consistent, and the problem is complicated by the fact that in each domain he Without repeating what recognises varieties and degrees.
the other, are points has been said in a previous chapter, 1 it may be observed that Clement does not usually employ the term faith in the

sense of

of our whole unto the care and power of God. As an act or experience of the religious life he is quite familiar with
"

an

unreserved self-committal

"

nature

trust in the divine power is the very process his of groundwork thoughts and confidence ; but he does not commonly denominate this as Faith." Though it is
:
"

such a

the mother of the virtues, and involves the will, and is the way to salvation, and is possible for the unlearned, Faith is also not unfrequently a more narrowly defined activity,

being identified in

many

cases with the

is

mind

initial

assent

to the appeal of religion. It 3 part to revelation on God s.

thus the response on

man

Or, in a figure,

it is
4

the key

that unlocks the gateways of the realm of vision. Thus it is never of the final the religious life, or, at properly stage most, it is only so for those whose inward or external
limitations

prevent their
to search

must lead on
above
all,

full spiritual development. It to experience, to the exercise of demonstration,

and quest. 5 For Faith must seek, and so in its higher and more advanced stages it issues in dis covery and knowledge and certitude of apprehension, and
last into that fullest phase of vision, in which our whole spiritual and intellectual nature closes in unbroken intimacy with the supreme reality which is its object. Faith

thus passes at

See supra^ pp. 75

9-10.

sqq.
6

44 172, 3 2
7>

442.

650.

236

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

in this

and Knowledge the earliest and

way involve one

another.

Alike in

in the final stages of the process,

reasoning are out of place.

character.

Supposition, as
its

it

proof and blends with

unrelated

Reason and with Knowledge, loses

isolated,

foundations of Faith and the superstructure 2 of Knowledge are seen to be one harmonious fabric. The assent, which originally involved venture and effort, becomes

The

welcome and necessary certainty, and so experience is Clement did not unified, and the soul finds rest and peace. have it in his power to say the last word on this deep subject. But the outlines of his thought are sufficiently clear for us to
a

the eventual concord, which he discerns between Faith and Knowledge. To appreciate the beauty
realise

how

perfect

is

of this reconciliation at
that Gnosticism

its

true worth,

we must remember

and the simple Orthodoxy of the Church

were

alike proclaiming at the time its entire impossibility. Hardly less pronounced is his determination to admit

as

no severance between Thought and Action. The Gnostic, we have seen, is no academic theorist, but one in whom outward conduct accords perfectly with the inner life 3 In the oTo? o Ao yo? roios 6 j3ios is a favourite maxim.
:

preparatory stages of the Christian

is

life

the good foundation

by right conduct and by right instruction ; and the perfection of our salvation comes in view, there are still the two ways, which are not two in reality, the way
laid alike

when

of deeds and the

for

4 way of knowledge.

For

right action

is

man

in this present life inseparably

;

linked with advanced

knowledge the body

deeds follow knowledge, as its shadow follows illumination must never be dissociated from
s

obedience, nor the martyr corroboration of his life. 6

436.
2

testimony in word lack the

We
3

may remember
4
<r/mfc

that

among

660, 683. 531, 893. 318, 581. 6 eeupias nal \4yov, Plotinus, too, called action 454, 531, 570, 882. but with a different implication. Enn,, iii. 8, 4 Inge, Christian Mysticism,
;

96 [ed. 1912].

THOUGHT AND ACTION

237

the characteristics of the Christian Gnostic are his liberality, his habit of doing good, his prayer for others, above all, his

ready delight in the teacher

stress

ministry.

The measure

of

the
is

throughout upon active beneficence, as of complement spiritual insight and interior attainment, really noteworthy and forms a protest, all the more
is

which

laid

proceeds from a centre of libraries and lecture-rooms, against every severance of knowledge from It is like Saint John s teaching that he who active service.
striking because
it

like Saint Paul s refusal to praise It was no doubt where knowledge" charity is wanting. a cause of this happy association of thought with action, of words with deeds, that Clement in his own personal life had combined the two. Once again we are reminded of the correspondence, so often discernible, between his abundant teaching and our scanty acquaintance with his history. And it is a consequence of this same association that, in spite of all he says about the transcendent remoteness and isolation of God, he can still not infrequently remind us of the active benevolence of Deity. For, being good, if He were ever to cease doing good, He would cease also to be God, a thing one should not even say." There is another element in Clement s piety, difficult to define, but of recognised importance, in virtue of which he
wills to
"all

do

shall

know

"

has close affinities with the Mystics, though he never belongs

wholly and properly to their company. The attempt to locate him with any precision in this connection gives rise at once to a number of problems, on which there is little How much did he unanimity among his interpreters.

borrow from the Hellenic Mysteries, whose vogue was so What was the true increasingly considerable in his time ? nature of his relationship to Neoplatonism ? At what point does he separate himself from other teachers, of whose title

238

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

been any doubt
?

to be Mystics proper there has never

All

these inquiries confront us,

when we attempt

to estimate this

element in his teaching.

Perhaps elaborate and thorough

"

discussions of the subject would not carry us much further than Bigg s conclusion that, though the father of all the

the no Mystic himself," never entering enchanted garden which he opened for others." 1 We may indicate briefly what constitutes his affinity with Mysticism also what ultimately marks his deviation from a school or tendency with which he has so much in common.

Mystics, he

"

is

It is

strikes

the

probably in terminology that his indebtedness first Alike in reference to rites and to reader.

doctrine, his use of the language of the Mysteries is con 2 stant. is familiar with the three great stages of the

He

Mystic

life,

Purification, Initiation, Vision

and these terms

are frequently employed thinks of the Divine Word as the true

in reference to Christianity.
"

He

Mystagogue," quite

as readily as under the other figure of the great High Priest. And if his indebtedness to Neoplatonism is far less clear

than his obligation to the Mysteries of Eleusis, this by no means rules out all relationship between the Christian father

and the fellowship of Plotinus. It only means that the connection was not one of direct appropriation, in particular that, on chronological grounds, Clement can hardly have reckoned Ammonius Saccas among his teachers. 3 But there can be very little doubt that the tendencies, which afterwards resulted in Neoplatonism, were actively at work in Clement s mind. They never take him so far as Ecstasy. They never lead him to open depreciation of understanding and intelli But there is a certain tinge of emotion in Clement s gence. highest stages of spiritual vision. Something which is not
1

2 3

Christian Platonists, 98. See the list of terms in Hort and Mayor,

lv., Ivi.

cp. supra, pp. 157 sqq.

Merk,

op.

cit.,

35, n.

MYSTICISM IN CLEMENT
the

239

dry light of reason enters in. He draws near to a country, into which he does not venture, where thought,
after finally suppressing the desires and the senses, seems to become that passionate consciousness of union with its

led

Object, in which feeling reasserts its claim. So far is Clement by the forces which create the mystic nature. He is

conscious of the spirit s trend to that which lies beyond. He discerns inner meanings and values, delights in allegory

and symbols. He will write at times of the Beatific Vision with a glow of genuine emotion. To behold the face of God is, for him, the equivalent of absolute tranquillity and The inward things with him are ever the entire content. and the Does not all this once and really precious. highest
Mystic s name ? So far, yet not completely. For, though it is probably true that the religious element is stronger and more deter minative in Clement s nature than the intellectual, and that
finally

make good

his title to the

more

ties of affinity

unite

him with

the Mystics than with

the Rationalists, still he carries over his intellect into his religion, his reason into the visions of his soul, in a manner which is alien to the true mystic disposition. No doubt it
is

as difficult to define

Mysticism

as

it

is

to define

Gnos

ticism,

and Clement

where we
"

the mystic all believers in

relative position must depend upon locate or discover the central spiritual factors of Sometimes it is spoken of as including nature.
s

whom

the emotional element predominates

l

largely over the are led to dwell

intellectual."
"

Sometimes

its

interpreters

the hopelessly irrational character upon on the doom of the true inteland of all great religions," is obliged in the end to adopt some form lectualist, who
"

of sceptical
1

philosophy."

Bigg, op.

cit.,

99, n.
defini

Evelyn Underbill, Mysticism, pp. 17, 20. See, too, the various tions of Mysticism collected in Inge, op. cit,, Appendix A.

2 4o

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

Now such statements, and much more of the language which is current in the literature of the school, take us into an atmosphere which would have been alien and disquieting It would never have been natural to to Clement s spirit.
him
"

for his soul

"to

divest herself of
a

all

form,"

or to
soul
s

employ habitually such

mystical
marriage,"

symbol

as

that
it

of
is

the

so characteristic as
life.

of the dis

tinctive experience of this interior

So

far as
"

experience had never led Clement through the of the Soul," and his even temperament would have been
steadily

we know, Dark Night

are

averse to

those alternations
"

of

mood which

implied in the
spiritus."

well-known maxim,
the last he
is

gyrans gyrando vadit

To
;

the true Hellene, loving form

and sanity and balance and control. Reason he knows, but he will possess his soul and understand it, not rapture
but he will not
the range of his outlook takes his thoughts to those far confines of the world of experience, where logic and definitions seem to fail, and the realities to be too great for human measurement, this
let
it
2

go.

And though

is still with Clement always a goal and a prospect, rather than a phase of personal history. Hating vagueness, and there fore accepting or loving limitations ; never quite trusting

the soul without the

mind

at heart a

man

of Athens, even

when

Oriental tendencies were most operative in his environ ment, he thus stops short of that line of demarcation which
so far as such separation may or must be the drawn, typically mystic temperament from that of the religious philosopher, who finds the goal of the spirit s
separates, in

achievement

knowledge of Reality and these two elements may fuse and God. intimately be united, no one who has understood the Fourth Gospel is
in

the

conscious

How

Quoted by Inge,
This
is

op.

cit.,

97.

generally true, in spite of

iwippfyai/jLcv

lavrobs

els

rb

XptffTOV, 689.

PHILOSOPHER OR MYSTIC
ever likely to forget.

241

Clement,
first,

who owes

so

much

to the

Fourth Gospel,
retain their

reflects its synthesis

things of the spirit stand

yet the

and combination. The mind and the reason

own.

In some fashion every teacher in the activities. domain of things spiritual must deal with this fundamental problem, which underlies the familiar contrasts of Grace and Works, Providence and Freedom, the Cosmic Order and the Individual Life, God s Sovereignty and the Responsi Clement was familiar with both terms of bility of Man. this antithesis, partly by his philosophical training, in which he had learned both the self-sufficiency of the sage and the
universality of the providential order ; partly, too, by his acquaintance with Christianity and the Scriptures, where the duty of initiative and the sense of dependence are so closely

we human

pass to a different aspect of Clement s piety when come to consider how he reconciles the divine and the

We

intertwined.

He had

not thought out

all

the questions that

are involved, and he hardly felt the full stress of the problem of moral evil, but he succeeded in combining a genuinely

high estimate of
of the

human

universality pressed the two to the point of incompatibility may stand as a charge against his logic, but not surely against his piety.

of the divine order.

nature with a very clear recognition That he never

For man,
1
plant."

as
is

He
all

Clement thinks of him, is heavenly lovable on his own account, the fairest
"a
"

element in

the range of divine workmanship, a being 2 By nature man is a lofty and naturally dear to God. the majestic creature, bent on attaining excellence, as being

3 Though he is not born workmanship of the only God." so and though essential virtuous, he is born to become kinship of nature between man and God is explicitly denied,
;

this

is
1

only said to save the formal principle of the incom22, 80.

II.
2

101-2, 135.

276.
1

VOL.

242

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

"

municable character of absolute Deity. 1 We remember how 2 the advanced Gnostic is a god while moving in the flesh." This he holds true of man at his best. Like many other
philosophers
that which

he means by humanity idealised humanity,

man in the perfection of all his faculties would or that which he had become once in the single become, 3 instance of the Lord. Fundamentally, in his estimate of
human nature, Clement is an aristocrat. His standard of measurement is the highest and the best, and here lies the secret and the reconciliation of his wide sympathies and of his intolerance of the crowd. Sometimes there seems no limit to his generous comprehensiveness. All manner of Old barriers persons are made welcome in his Church. seem to have vanished. Salvation is for all alike. The slave and the retail trader and the simple believer have their The doctrine place equally with the wise and the learned. of Christian fraternity, and God s choice of the weak things of this world, seem taught here to the full. But elsewhere he writes in such a different tone. He has no real trust of the multitude. They need the whole some discipline of fear and the Law. The quality of their faith is lax and unreliable. Their mood is fickle and variable
as the weather.

wise

man

will

never try to please them,

and
is

to set before

to invite ridicule
s

them the esoteric teaching of Christianity and to cast pearls before swine. 4 This

philosopher
at first

impatience of the unlearned does not harmonise sight with the Christian love of the brotherhood, but
is

no fundamental contradiction. Clement has placed absolutely beyond doubt his wide range of sympathy, his willingness to love and serve and welcome every brother and sister in the Lord. But no less clear is his determina
perhaps there
tion to refuse to see the final

growth of human character

he knew him.
4

and knowledge
1

in the average Christian as

a

467-8, 788.

894.

156.

144, 341, 348, 566, 753, 789.

CLEMENT S VIEW OF MAN

243

This brother s title to admission and to welcome confers on him no right to bind the ideal and to restrict the type. And so Clement s mind moves far beyond the average and normal standard of the mixed multitude, with whom he was associated in the common Name, and with all his generosity he insists on the highest. The fullest knowledge, the clearest purity of nature, the most entire alienation from lower interests, the most perfect resemblance to God this is what he understands by Man this is that perfect man
"

"

of the Apostle, towards which all character must slowly develop, till the finality of completion is attained. Perhaps
it

was a philosopher

ideal,

but that

is

only an adverse

criticism for those

who

wrong
It

in his fusion of religion in accordance with is

achievement

that

Clement was and philosophy. this high view of human Clement insists so frequently on the
are prepared
to say

Freedom

of

the Will.

Choice

is

a gift,

and,

though a

bad man might well deem it a blessing to be rid of so dangerous a prerogative, it remains an inalienable posses sion, for otherwise praise and blame could have no mean 2 For men, after all, are not mechanical puppets ing. the alternatives, and each, individually, is know they 8 for his choice. We may choose or reject responsible
;

The acquirement of knowledge lies in our own power. 5 Our use of our possessions depends upon our will. 6 On the one hand alienation from God, on the other all attainable excellence, are contingent upon our
the

good

life.

decisions.

Even

belief in a lie

the plea of delusion will not hold, for may be voluntary, and the mind s assent, as

choice.

well as purposed action, are said to be within the area of 8 It is God s will that our salvation should be from
"
"

ourselves
1

this

is

fundamental principle with Clement.

3
8

994943-

2 T

368, 481.

207, 434.

149.
9

468.

60S. 620, 940.

437-8, 458.

601, 788.

244

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

In this sense he
is

ama

eXo/mevov

Oeos

fond of quoting the Platonic maxim, Virtue for him, it is often avalrios.
as
it

said, consists

in

knowledge,

did for Socrates.

traditional

sometimes he
view
as to

will so far depart

from the

But Greek

push back the source of

human
is

virtue behind
said to
"

the intelligence to the will, and on choice rather than choice

knowledge on knowledge.

depend

A
"

fixed

* In all decision has great effect upon our knowledge." For the reasoning powers matters the will takes the lead. 2 are by nature the ministers of the will." It can hardly

be

said

that

he

has

fully

thought out the relationship

initiative faculties in

between the cognitive and the

nature.

man

Philosophy influences

him more

in his treatment

than the Scriptures, and his philosophy was so eclectic that a certain inconsistency not unnaturally resulted. But in

any case he

will

have no determinism.

Whether such

teaching comes from the materialist or from the Gnostic, it is The power of choice must be as equally intolerable.
jealously defended as even the greatest of the
virtues, love.
3

Christian

nise

any

risks

Characteristically, Clement does not recog or drawbacks in making these wide claims

for

human freedom.

Side by side with all this discussion of the idealised possibilities of man s nature and of his liberty to achieve the

highest

if

he

will,

there runs through

all

Clement
is

teach
less

ing
of

different

and

insistent than his assertion of

complementary man s freedom

strain.

Not

his doctrine

Saint Paul, Philo, and the Stoics offences in his eyes are so serious as to question this cardinal religious truth. Newman once said that Providence and the Future Life were the two
s

God

Providence.

Here

are alike with him.

Few

religious doctrines in
1

which the average Englishman

2

really

433pAvov rb irpoaiperiKitv nal ryv ayair^v

469ff(pfa/j.ev t

623.

FREEDOM AND PROVIDENCE

believed.

245

might have been equal truth, that it was normally held by all serious and educated persons in the Graeco-Roman world of Clement s day. It was the crowning scandal of the Epicureans that they denied Providence, and they were a marked community. Lucian knew that this charge was a most serious and dangerous accusation. 1 Clement himself
it

And

of the former of these

said

with

thinks of

requiring punishment rather than argument. This theory, on which the philosophic schools had, with
it

as

the one notorious exception, attained so entire a unanimity, harmonised exactly with Clement s conception of the office
of the Logos, and also with the doctrine of the love and care of

more distinctively Christian God. Church and World

"

had here a point of agreement. All good things, whether 3 they belong to the Hellenes or to might with con fidence be referred to this source. Many of Clement s
us,"

observations

on this subject are extremely interesting. Providence has its origin with God, who rules his world, and with it his goodness stands or falls. 4 But it operates
in a

gradually descending series of secondary causes, till it finally determines the most immediate and particular events.

There
its

fragment of the world s order which escapes as pervasive, he says, in a figure which sounds quaint to modern ears, as the ointment on Aaron s
is

no

least
5

influence.

It is

beard.

The individual life, the life of the community, the movement of the universe, are all alike determined by its action. Even chance and contingency are not outside its
7

range.

It is

good and

it

is

sovereign.
his assertion

It is just

another

aspect of the control of

all

cosmic process by the

to
10 good ends.

Word.
gives a
4, 17.

There

is

interest, too, in

that Providence

overrules even
1

wrong deeds
4

He
6

E.g. Calumnies
646.
3 8

non temere credendum,

602.
4239

14

Juppiter Tragadus,
833. 367. 820.

2 7

331.
373-

10

831-2.

246

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

" .

facts

glance in such statements at the difficulty of reconciling all with the theory of a universally beneficent order. If God cares for you," people asked him, why are you per
"

secuted and put to death ? but, for the most part, without probing the riddle too deeply, he is content to discern one

"

admitted fact that out of

actions,
1

of the greatest achievements of the divine Providence in the evil, out of bodily disease and base

some good and useful end may triumphantly be

brought.

And

in

another passage, too, there

is

a reflection

worth our

notice,

when he remarks

that

it

is

through the

lives of gifted

men, great as leaders, great as teachers, that the activity of Providence has its most signal demonstration. 2 Often, too, Clement will give to these philosophical con

ceptions a

more definitely religious tone, and in place of the abstract idea of a regulative order we hear of the philan thropy of God, of the Father s love for his children, of the
unceasing care of the Saviour and Physician of humanity, of Good Shepherd, of the loving Father, whose saving 3 There is hardly any part of his creed activity never stays.
the

which he found more genuine and unqualified delight. This recognition of divine goodness as ordering all side by things well, is one cause of Clement s optimism side with it we must rate his singularly happy disposition as another. Few men of thought have had so serene an outlook upon the world few have been so happily untroubled by its contrasts and its discords few have known so little of the amari aliquid^ which in general
in
:

vexes the
action.
in

man

of

"many

books"

more than the man

"

of

But Clement possessed the secret of rejoicing neither critics nor heretics nor perse Lord," and cutors seem ever to have robbed him of it. Existence he 4 definitely held to be a blessing. Being was better than not being. 6 Greek poets might speak as they would on
the
1

369.

822.

75.

532.

819.

CLEMENT S OPTIMISM
the sadness of
life,

247

but they never convinced him ; x and when he once remarks that man cannot fundamentally be

one substance with God, so evident is the confusion and evil of our life, the words strike the reader at once as 2 exceptional, and at variance with Clement s general tone. He will have no dualism 3 it is a good world, God s and not the Devil s. Creation is the outcome of goodness.*
of
"

"

"

Gnosis,"
"

Existence, Nature, Angels, Powers, Souls, Law, Gospel, are all parts of one good scheme, depending on

Genesis,"
5

without which the

If

Cosmos could not hold

"

together.
6

there

it.
flict."

If flesh
7

and

suffering, goodness spirit are in conflict, it is

is

triumphs over a useful con

death comes, it is not really an evil. 8 How can the Word be Lord and Saviour, unless He is Lord and Saviour of all ? 9 All the constant process of change, which
If

we see in seasons, crops, and elements," is an onward movement towards the better state and, under the power
"

which administers all things well, the cosmic order, from the Christian standpoint of interpretation, is an unceasing, 10 He is not wholly a stranger to the undeviating advance.

and struggle of existence, but he could have felt as confident as our modern poet that it was never aimless,
toil
"

always

co-operant to an

end."

This general and pervading optimism expresses itself which were at least his own even if His attitude towards Nature, his not were original. they
in particular opinions,

view of the world unseen,

his theory of punishment, his serene disregard of the darker elements of human experi One by ence, are all phases of this enviable temperament.
briefly consider

one we may
It
1

them.
"Nature,"

can hardly be said that

2

in

the
xiii.
5

modern

516 sqq.
Ofbs
.
.

467-8.
/cal

526, 993

cp.
10

Chap.

supra.
559-

ayaObs fy,
7

8ia

TOVTO Kal
9

Sij/j.tovpy6s,

150.

587.

591.

568.

833.

554, 640, 819-20, 993.

248

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

prominent subject in Clement s pages. one of books and cities, rather than the forest Moreover, his interest, whenever he displays
is

sense of the term,

His world is and the field.

it,

is

more akin

to

the

scientific

than

to the poetic or

religious view.
ing,

Still, his occasional references are interest

and when he speaks of the mount of salvation, of the sea of blessings, of the many streams which flow into the

or, again, when he refers to hunting or ; or to a country estate or to a close-grown thicket or fishing 1 to a trim garden, his language shows him not to be wholly

river of truth

devoid of that

more
within

feeling for Nature," which belongs so much to modern than to ancient times. Sometimes, it is
"

clear, the

conscious admiration of Creation, or of some element his spirit. He would be lifted it, would lay hold of

2 The beauty of up by the contemplation of the stars. flowers would prompt his praise of the Creator. 3 The

song of the birds in spring-time had not fallen upon his 4 The joyous life of all young creatures ears unheeded.
6 and, in happy ignorance of the gave him special delight from result which the struggle for existence, he privations
;

speaks of the unfailing supply of food for the wants of

all

God
way
that

creatures.
7

beauty.
"

in

had their grey Also he had pondered, with Ecclesiastes, on the which the bones do grow in the womb of her
that
hairs
8
child."

He knew

is

with

The

sea

and the welcome

safety of a

great harbour are specially well known to him. Perhaps he did not wholly discredit the theory that the rage of

demons or bad angels brought the hailstorm and the 9 But this, in any case, was an exception, for, in tempest.
the Orphic poems which saw God the Lord rejoiced in His handi in all nature were right fair world with wonder, work, and man could accept this
general,
it

was

all

good

10

"

"

3, 86,

331, 736, etc.

2
7

780.
263.

s
8

211. 225.

4 9

221.

6
10

173-

754.

io$sqq. 724
.

REFERENCES TO NATURE
reverence, and thanksgiving.
for
1

249

So there
If

discords, conflicts, difficulties.

as

no critical eye They do not trouble

is

Clement,

they troubled Origen.

he notices them at

all, they are accepted without anxiety, as the diverse notes which make up the ultimate concord. 2 The whole creation

does not
so

"groan
"

and

"

travail

as

it

did for Saint Paul

as she has

nor
to

did Nature

lend him evil

dreams,"

done

many modern souls. It His optimism, if somewhat

Moreover,

is

world and very good. superficial, is characteristic and

s

God

sincere.
it is far reaching, and extends beyond the His to the world beyond and to references order. present the last things are not very numerous, and possibly they

are not always very consistent ; certainly they came from various origins. They are usually hopeful, rarely sombre.

Like the Apologists, Clement held the theory of conditional 3 The soul is not naturally immortal. 4 This immortality.
is

promised on certain conditions, dependent on the in right use of our opportunities and on our advance Gnosis, identical, in other words, with our participation in
a gift,

the eternal

life

of

God. 5

"

point is thus only a robe of immortality

has here no

Death from the Christian stand the change and a new beginning
:

"

is

assumed, and the

is is

soul, which

proper
6

country,
this
is

abiding polity.
attained.

But

formally enrolled in its only for those who have

object Immortality towards which man may direct his aim and will. Now Clement has nowhere worked out in detail the future
1

an acquired privilege, an

431.
2

Ka\bs

KOtr/zos,

839

C$. 631.
3

Harnack, Hist. Dogm., ii. 213-4. Hinc apparet quoniam non est naturaliter anima incorruptibilis," For an early anticipation of the doctrine, also from Frag., Stahlin, iii. 203. an Alexandrian source, cp. the epigram of Callimachus ending QV^O rovs ayaOovs. Mackail, Select Epigrams, iii., 67.
581.
4
"

423,

575>

953-

ii?, 278, 450, 583, 599, 774-

250

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

Judgment and future

of the soul that does not attain.

punishment are part of his eschatology, but he knows nothing of an eternity of pain. Explicitly he never teaches annihila but he could not tion, consistently reject it ; for something

would be involved, if his scheme were set out as a complete theory. Thus, negatively, his conditional view of eternal life helped his optimism. The sombre of irae do his shadows the Dies not fall upon pages, and no
of the kind

thought of the suffering of the

bliss of

lost spoils

the unruffled has no Judas

fit

those

who

see

God

face to face.

He

or Ardiaeus upon his hands, for

habitation.
life is

permanent the one thing worth winning and the one thing which it is disastrous to lose, at least he is saved by his theory from the task of reconciling an eternal penalty with absolute Goodness. This is his eschatological optimism on his negative side. Positively also his teaching is wide and
hopeful, though
it is

whom to find a And though he knows that

and

eternal

never lax or sentimental.

The

process

of salvation goes on, as he believes, both in time and beyond 1 it. It cannot, therefore, be limited by any historic event,

not even by the Incarnation, for the Gospel must be uni

This brings him to the common topic of the Lord and His Apostles preaching to the Departed in Hades. This curious article of early belief is used by Clement for a very noble purpose. He will admit no favouritism in the divine order. Hence, if some souls did not have their chance of salvation on earth, they must have it else where. The dispensation in the other world is the same as here. Man is in God s universe," even when he is in another place." he says, with a touch of indigna For,"
versal.
2
"

"

"

tion, as

would

utter impartiality of God, it have been an act of no ordinary unfairness for those
"

he vindicates the

who
1

departed hence before the coming of

irefvTws crcpfi TIVO.S fv T
r<?

the Lord, but

2

XP^ y V

*v

Te r V a-lwi, 332.

763.

THE WIDER HOPE

who had never heard

251

the Gospel, nor of themselves incurred responsibility by their faith or their unbelief, to share either It could not surely be right for salvation or punishment.
these to be
lived after

condemned without trial and only those who 1 So the Advent to share the divine justice."
another world, as in this one, and our destiny He speaks sometimes of the our deserts.
departed souls,
2

God

is fair

in

accords with
ministries
of

sometimes of
of
"

their

varied
"

is many mansions resting-places. in and for there are to him, degrees glory, congenial stages unto the one advance after another, till we grow at last Thus the varied ranks and services of the perfect man."
"

The thought

Church on earth are really a reflection of corresponding grades and offices in heaven, where there are different
proportionate to the deserts of the believer. So clearly does he teach the great hope of spiritual progress He would have no narrowing down of in another world.
"

mansions,"

the
here.

soul

limits of experience capacity to the level and "We are no judges of our future destiny and attain
s
3

good man might "bless for human errors and as and God for departure," from Clement that his great frailties, it must have been that God had not done pupil learned the bold conviction,
ments."

In

this

confidence a
4

his

with Pharaoh

when

He

drowned him. 5
this

Closely connected with

doctrine of

the future

is

is generally recog theory of Punishment, which 6 The main prin than rather nised as Platonic Scriptural.

Clement

ciple is that all

it is

punishment

is

form of education.

If

we

employing
1

the general has a good end in suffer, doctor a similar purpose in the and maintaining discipline, Schoolsevere remedies, so it is with the divine
for our gain.

As

"

7653
4

755, 794-8.
fffA/j.(.6a t

rivtav

Teu<t>/jLC0a

Kal ri
6

otx

rj/J.f is

Kpirai,

Dindorf,
c

Hi.

506.

640.

De

Principiis, HI.,

i.

14.

Cp. esp. 138.

252

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

all

master."

justice,

imposed.

fear, correction, the most impartial secure the good of those on whom they are Thus, in reality, there was no harshness in the

Reproof,

Law.
yoke

Even
of the

the Flood was a salutary training, and the

He
God
and

"

a kindly yoke, borne with drives each of us to our salvation."

Lord

good results, as There is no

state.
"

different character in the

s
"

punishments of the future

even there, penalties are salutary and educative the souls that have been blind to his goodness on earth
2

even against their will, to acknowledge Him here Once, indeed, he speaks of fruitless repentance and requital in another state, but even in this passage he adds a reference to the knowledge that comes by pain
learn,
after.
:

TraOwv Se re W/TT/O?

eyi/o).

Thus

the primary and essential

character of punishment is remedial, instructive, purificatory. It has secondary aims, such as the warning that comes by

example, and the protection of society from evil-doers, but its true nature is only understood when we regard it as an element in the divine education of the world. Even
4 Judgment has no more important end.

theory rejects, or at least Clement deliberately excludes everything of the ignores. nature of revenge from the Divine Nature. God takes no
this

Let us observe how much

vengeance, for vengeance

is

repayment of

evil.

Clement any scheme of abstract justice, with its legal equivalents as between the offender and the offended Judge. The Church would have been saved much forensic and unprofitable discussion in her doctrine of the Atonement, had she kept the Alexandrine strain of teaching more There is a very wide gap between constantly in her mind. Clement s theory of divine government and the conception which underlies Michel Angelo s great picture in the
Sistine Chapel.
1

Nor has demand of

And
2

yet with
3

all

his
4

optimism the
5

earlier

495, 766.

763-4, 879.

74.

634, 999.

140, 895.

PUNISHMENT
master
is

IS

EDUCATION

253

us to think that the

never careless or easy in his standards, never leads Ten Commandments do not matter,
"

never allows his favourite principle of "accommodation

to

blur spiritual distinctions, or to qualify the exacting rule that only by purity of heart is the vision of God attained.

We
as a

may

dismiss his theory of

punishment with one

further illustration.

From

time to time he refers to Fire

reforming agency, and the different references are well worth notice. Once, in connection with a passage of pro phecy, he mentions incidentally the fiery destruction in store
for

those

who

refuse salvation.
of
fire

Elsewhere he connects
theory of future

the

discipline

with
"

the general

punishment, and says poets and philosophers derived their from the barbarian philosophy." 2 teaching on this point

The
term
"

familiar to

Stoic theory of fire as the productive force in nature is him ; 3 so, of course, is the Scriptural use of the But there are as an emblem of the name of God.

more important

We

say that

fire

In one he writes, references, notably two. flesh the victim but the of not purifies
fire

not the vulgar and devouring fire but the discerning flame, which penetrates the soul 4 In the Ec/og^e 5 he writes that passes through the fire."
sinful souls,

meaning by

conceived as a good and mighty force, destroying the worse and preserving the better elements.
"

similarly

Fire

is

Consequently
In the same

this fire is called

discerning

by the
s

Prophets."

"

saying that He had come to cast fire on the earth, he observes that fire is evidently a force which purifies the saints, and, as our
passage, referring to the

Lord

73-4701.

The

fiery rivers of the

nether world are

among

the

708.

851.

or preventive discipline of this $$&vip.ov

6

See the valuable note of Hort and Mayor in loc. The remedial irvp is also mentioned, 280.

995-6-

254

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

say, destroys, as

opponents
material
all
is

we

say, educates, the

hylic

or

In other words, fire purifies and preserves If the chaff is consumed, this that can so be dealt with.
natures."

but a normal part of the process. 1 It is a sane and reason able view of God s remedial methods of discipline, blending wholesome severity with the wider hope.

Matthew Arnold
From

says of

Wordsworth
human

that his

eyes avert their Icen

fate,"

half of

the implication being that the sweet calm of his serenity

would have been otherwise impossible. Perhaps Clement s optimism must also lie open to the charge that he averts from a good many of the darker realities of the his eyes
"
"

never, for example, discusses the Fall ; and the divine scheme, as he sometimes describes it, seems so con

world.

He

tinuous that
tion in

it

is

difficult
2

to find place for

the sequence.

We

any interrup have had occasion to remark

previously that Clement never really faced Marcion s pro blem, and that he seems unconscious of the cruel side of

Nature.

Sin, too, as he

thought of

it, is

a negative rather

than a positive

evil, a hindrance

and

a failure rather than a

he can hardly be said to spiritual tragedy. realised all the gravity of the world s contradictions.

And

have

They

are mentioned as a topic familiar to the philosophers and to Marcion s followers, 3 but his own discussion of them, like
that of

many

other

awkward problems,
first

"

is

deferred

till

we

undertake the

treatment of

principles."

He knew

the tares came to be sown among the wheat, and that matter, ignorance, and irrational forces, had all been assigned as the real origin of 4 Evil. But a glance and a reference to these problems is enough. They never trouble or arrest him. Without doubts,
1

there were various theories as to

how

148.

E.g. 156.

3520.

526, 837.

CLEMENT S HAPPY BLINDNESS

255

without antagonisms, without too keen a penetration, with out any of the weariness that comes upon intellectualism when divorced from the affections and the soul, he retains
faith and hope and glad has not ness, and, philosophy explained all things that are in heaven and earth, it has at least left us a memorable

throughout

his

dominant note of

if

his

example of Christian serenity and high trust in goodness, knowledge, and the power of love. How great in his own spirit s life was Clement s debt to Christianity, how seriously he is misunderstood by all who ignore the religious element in his pages, is apparent when we compare him in point of tone and outlook with some of his well-known contemporaries. Two comparisons of this nature may be suggested. Marcus Aurelius died about the time of Clement s arrival in Alexandria. He must have been the older man by about thirty years, though it is probable that a much
shorter interval separated the composition of the Emperor s Meditations from the period of Clement s literary activity.

In any case they both belong to the latter half of the second century, and, when all allowance is made for the difference
of
their

positions
in

and

their surroundings, the

two men
their

retain

much

common.

Both have revealed

own

natures and convictions with singular frankness in docu ments which survive. Both were greatly indebted to the

philosophic teachers of their younger days and have freely acknowledged their obligations. Both derived some of their

most fundamental ideas from the later Stoicism. Both, under this guidance, had come to hold ex ammo the belief in Providence and Nature, the supreme value of the inner from the world. life, the ascetic doctrine of detachment Both spent their most important years in great cities, the one in the imperial capital, the other in its only possible alternative, and both disliked their crowds, their excitement,

256
and

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

their noise.

ment

of the multitude.

Both, philosopher-like, distrusted the judg Both men loved little children, could

admire old age, and had felt the spell of the starry heavens Both were by nature religious, disinterested, majesty.
sincere.

Both,

in

theory at

a faith in the unity With so much in

maintained throughout and the goodness of the world.

least,

common
"

the pages of the two writers

afford us, when comparatively estimated, some may clue as to the of the Christian standpoint. differentia

well

"

It is

other

some extent divergence may arise from must not forget that Marcus was a Roman, Clement to the core a Greek nor that the Emperor
true that to
sources.

We

wrote under the burden of heavy responsibilities and failing health, while the Christian philosopher put together his

voluminous memoirs in the quiet of a library. Still, in the main, what the Stromateis possess and the Meditations lack, will largely coincide with the elements which Christianity had the power to add to Stoicism, Religion to Philosophy.
the distinctive feature of the Gospel is The old Gnostics called the seen in the Cross of Christ.
"

Most commonly
{

Cross Horos, the Boundary or Dividing Line. The Gnostics were a curious people, but they were right here." 1 But this would hardly have held good for our present comparison.

The

not prominent in Clement s teaching, and On the other perhaps his teaching suffers because of this. taken their have cross few men hand, up daily and borne it
"

Cross

"

is

with greater devotion than the Imperial philosopher, even though he did not consciously bear it after Jesus or call it

by any name. Thus the distinctive feature of Christianity, as between Marcus and Clement, did not lie here. But we do find in Clement s pages a sense of the love of God, and
a

hope for the future, which in degree beyond the thoughts or faith of Marcus.
1

at

any

rate

go

far

Bigg, The Church s Task, xv.

CLEMENT AND MARCUS AURELIUS

It is

257

knows no

true that for the Emperor, Providence rules, Nature evil, the Gods have charity even for the bad and
"

stupid, and, if they have counsel for the individual life, they take counsel well, for a god of ill counsel one can scarce 1 is The order imagine." good. The welfare of the world-

and what is good for the city must be good 2 for the citizen. But this universal mind and order is the needs of the individual soul. remote from strangely There is little of what the Christian understands by fellow ship and communion, in spite of the all-pervading immanence of the divine reason and in spite of the bidding to "live with the gods." Will his soul ever attain to the peace of divine fellowship, asks the Emperor in one of the later
city
is

secure,

books. 3

There
like

lacks the personal element in his divinity

"

It shall be
like to

Face

my

face that receives thee

a
"

Man

me,

Thou

shalt love

and be loved by,

for ever

There is hardly more love and care for that note. the individual in the splendid order of the Stoic Cosmos Contrast all this with than there is in modern Science.

we miss

Clement s chapters on the office of the P<edagogus^ or with the divine appeals made to humanity in the Protrepticus and the Quis Dives Salve tur, or with the Gnostic s relations to

in God as personal personal, not in the sense that He is limited by the infirmities inherent in human personality, but that He is capable of entering into personal relations

God, as the seventh book of the Stromateis portrays them. Something has been added by religion, and it is the belief

with

the

individual

human
differ
vi.

soul.

Therein
fair,

does

the

Christian love of
1

God
;

from the
ix.

beneficent, but

2
4

/.,

Meditations^ ii. 3 v. 22 x. 33.

;

ii.

17

44

u.
3

x. i.

On

this point see C. C. J.

viii.

Webb, Problems

in the Relations of

God and

Man,

chap.

VOL. u.

17

258

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

Renan
1

irresponsive cosmic order, faith in which, as

"

said,

may

fortify,

but cannot

console."

So with the Future open question.

Life.

With Marcus,

at best,

it is

an

The wider hope is far stronger in the Phado than in the Meditations^ and the Mysteries of Eleusis do not seem to have left any permanent conviction on the mind of
their imperial visitor. Throughout the Emperor s pages comes the constant reference to the two possibilities. At the end of life s voyage we step out, for another life perhaps,
if

not,

all

consciousness

is

at end.

Serenely

we

are to await

our end, be it extinction or transmutation. 3 Perhaps the soul 4 is reabsorbed into the seminal reason. Quite towards the
close of the Meditations^ probably towards the close of the

Emperor s own life, he raises the question, Why do not the good renew their being ? He can only answer, that if 5 be do it must best. The sentiment is that of so not, they
"
"

Huxley

epitaph
"

And
is

if

an endless sleep

He

wills, so

best."

outlook of hope, only the undiscovered country. Serenely greet the journey s end, as an olive falls when it is ripe." It was thus that old Job expected
clear
"

So there

no

to be gathered to his fathers, Like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season," but that was in the days before
"

deeper and sadder experience had shown him the inadequacy of this creed. And with Marcus, too, the creed is inade
feel the strain and the effort, the painful resolve quate. to believe that all is well in either case, the deeper trouble

We

that
still

underlies the serenity, which, without insincerity, is Contrast professed and taught rather than attained.
s

Clement
1

Hereafter a great assurance, and

Marc-Aurele, 271.
/.,
v. 33.
4

standpoint, with Death but a transition, and the many stages of progress
2

3 6

/.,

iv. 14.

Meditations^ /., xii. 5.

iii.

3.

Id., iv.

48

cp.

Job

v.

26

xxix. 18.

MAN S DOUBTFUL FUTURE

259

Contrast his confident expecta awaiting the departed soul. tion, with all the crude materialism of the Chiliasts refined

away, of spiritual development and fuller Gnosis and at last the conscious and abiding rest in God.. Truly the doctrine
of the interior
life, is
life,

divorced from the doctrine of the future

scant support for the and natures for which ages

human
it

spirit.

There have been

may come

again

alone was possible. Such ages such natures still exist. Let them read
;

it has and re-read the Meditations been called the De Imitatione of Paganism, and it deserves the name. But no one who has understood the outlook of the imperial Stoic and compared it with that of the philosophic Christian doctor, will ever rate the belief in the world to come as

a negligible addition
a time in

to

equanimity narrow down the range of

Philosophy or contemplate with which the Christian religion should

;

its

message to

this present world,

so marvellous, so varied, so beautiful, yet so incomplete, so disappointing, so inadequate to the spirit s claims.

From

the constrained seriousness of the

Emperor

to the

kindly cynicism of Lucian, the laughing sceptic of Samosata, Lucian s his contemporary, is a considerable transition.
literary activity

Clement
later, in

must have partially coincided with that of the two men may have met either in Athens or,

Alexandria, for Lucian held a lucrative office in

and though he preferred to reside in Athens and discharge his duties mainly by deputy, there no doubt were occasions when his actual presence in the Egyptian So the two, both men of letters, capital was necessary. both lovers of books, both blessed with geniality and ease of temperament, may conceivably have known one another
that city,
;

the

contrast

between

their

estimates

of

human

life

is

instructive.

The Dialogue
typical of

Charon, or The Spectators, may be taken as Lucian s sceptical gaiety. It has all the charm

260

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

which, from Koheleth to Heine, so often graces the literature of pessimism, and a further element of humour which is the

own. Charon has obtained permission to leave his ferry and spend a day in this upper world, to learn what are its attractions and why his passengers are so greatly troubled
writer
s

at leaving

it.

He

falls in

with Hermes,

whom

with some

he persuades to defer business, which he has in If they are to view for Zeus, and to act as his guide. the world in a day, it must be done from some exalted
difficulty

hand

Hermes hits upon the Homeric plan of the mountains, Pelion and Ossa, upon Olympus, and piling Mount CEta thrown in as an addition, crowning with then,
eminence, and

Charon, with some risk, and never curiosity safety go together," is assisted to seated on the two peaks of the the summit, and there, mountain and endowed with the power of distant vision, the grim Ferryman and his guide survey the ways of men. All the futility and vicissitudes of life are pointed out to Charon, as, in a kind of historic parable, Herodotus had
the whole erection with Parnassus.
"

for

long ago
attack
gifts

see Cyrus preparing to expressed them. Sardis, Croesus discoursing with Solon, the royal

We

to

the

oracle for

its

delusive

utterances,

Tomyris
"Q

beheading Cyrus, and the madness of Cambyses. 7roXXov yeXeoTo?, cries Charon as the story ends laughter
;

and mockery are all the tale deserves. Then Polycrates of Samos, the typical tyrant with his typical reverse, comes in and after him all the varied occupations and unrest review in which each one has of life, with cities like hives of bees his own sting and stings his neighbours and over all, dim and hovering, the crowd of human hopes and fears and follies and pleasures and greed and rage and hate and all their like. Higher still, just discernible as Charon strains
;
"
"

his

eyes, are the Fates spinning off for each his slender Hermes dwells on the folly of life, its thread of existence.

LUCIAN
efforts,
its
its

CHARON
its

261

hopes cut short,

in
its

reverse, whimpers insecurity, its ironies, as one eagerly builds his house and leaves it to his heir without taking a single meal under its roof, another rejoices in the birth of a son who dies ere he

wilful

carelessness in prosperity, ignorance of its own

seven years old, others dispute for property, others gather wealth, only to be summoned hence without time to enjoy their own. And Charon wonders what, indeed, is the
is

attraction of such a

life.

commoners

fare worse.

It

Even kings have no security, and seems that human life is just

like the succession of bubbles

on the surface of the water, some larger and longer lived than others, but broken every one at last. He would like to address to them a spectator s
counsel
"

fools,

why

Cease your toils, you we admire here is lasting a man can take nothing away So he would admonish them, but with him when he Hermes says that it would be useless their ears are so stopped that we could not open them with a drill, and the few, who do know and see, live apart and laugh at the crowd,
;

take these things so seriously ? will not live for ever ; nothing that

dies."

never popular and always glad to take leave of life. And the Dialogue closes with a panorama of elaborate tombs, and ruined cities, and fierce contests for territory, on the part
of

men who

will scarce

be allowed a foot

space by .^Eacus

below.

The Greeks were a clever and often a happy people, But and they were delightful even in their pessimism. not meet all the needs of the human spirit, at could they any rate not in the second century. Lucian, the one man
of his age who had the right to smile at the world s follies, brings into relief by what he lacks some of the gains that
1

were due to Christianity. Clement s conviction that even his patience and tenderness with this life was worth while
; 1

See Kenan

estimate, Marc-Aurtle, 372-3.

262

THE PIETY OF AN INTELLECTUAL MAN

;

much human weakness

things

his

sense of

value

in

ordinary
his

such

as

farming,
is

certainty that this world

marriage, money, books ; not a jest and a game but a

way

leading somewhere, and a school where knowledge may his own personal freedom from the disease of be gained
;

tedium vite

his insistence that

you could not estimate the

value of the part without a knowledge of the whole ; and, above all, his assurance that at the heart of all things Love and Reality, not Laughter and Vanity, prevail, are missing

and delightful pages. For Lucian was a pessimist with all his charm the Alexandrian master was an optimist, who in large measure owed his optimism to his creed. Such are some of the aspects of Clement s many-sided
elements in Lucian
s

brilliant

piety.

The modern

reader

who

will take the

trouble to

penetrate behind his discursive prolixity, his literary in debtedness, his doctrinal peculiarities, until he comes into
contact with the real spirit of the master,

from such companionship.

his limitations,
faith

gain much Clement had his mistakes and

may

but his religion had the great qualities of and hope and love. He believed in truth and know He had no theological bitterness. He welcomed ledge. all good things as he found them. He found joy in
believing.

He

valued

ideals.

He

sought

light,

truth,

discerned and taught the breadth and of the of God. With such natures it is good variety ways
purity, service.
to dwell.

He

CHAPTER XX

THEN AND NOW

desires to trace the delevopment of Christian from the sub-apostolic age to the Council of Nicaea thought or to mark the various phases and tendencies of the Church s or, more particularly, to gradually formed organisation see how Christian men and women of various orders thought and felt in Alexandria towards the close of the second century, is not likely to undervalue what Clement has to offer. Previous chapters in this book have
;
;

WHOEVER

attempted to make more accessible his varied stores of information and to portray in some degree his life, his
character,
his

relations

to

his

own

time.

It

remains

to

bring into clearer prominence a further question, of which hints and suggestions have already presented themselves to
the reader.

Apart from Clement

interest to the student

of the past, has he any value for those who are confronted by the claims and problems of to-day ? Thucydides wrote
his history

and believed that

it

might prove

"an

eternal

because he expected events, like or parallel to possession," 1 those he was about to narrate, would surely occur again.

he did not regard the course of this world exactly as a the past cycle, at least he held that men could so far carry
If

with them

down the ages, as to draw upon its resources for the ever varying yet ever similar demands of life. May the modern Christian teacher apply this principle to patristic
1

Thuc.
263

i.

22.

264
studies,

THEN AND NOW

and hope
in particular that the

somewhat laborious enterprise of an intimate acquaintance with Clement s writings will yield him guidance and suggestions for the discharge of his difficult office amid the actual conditions of our own time ? To what extent may he derive from the
second century lessons which will not be wholly out of date the twentieth, and feel, after conversing in spirit with the old Alexandrine father in his library, that he comes
in

away
or
Si

qualified vTTo/uLvri/uLdTcov, to

better

to

men

speak, whether TT/DO? Tra/aoVra? who are living to-day s life in

Oxford, or Liverpool, or London ? Whoever resolves to risk his time and pains in approach ing Clement with this purpose, may find several encourage

ments for

his quest.

Not

least

among

these will be the

very general consensus of opinion among modern interpreters of Clement, as to his peculiar value for the Church of later
days.

So
of

far

preface
travail

his

back as 1859 the Abbe Cognat wrote in the book on the Alexandrine father, Notre
"

Cest pour repondre

n est done pas une ceuvre de pure erudition historique. a des besoins presents, pour resoudre
1

des questions contemporaines."

"

Similar

is

the view ex

pressed by E. de Faye in his singularly valuable study, Ce qui rend le siecle de Clement d Alexandrie si interessant,

c est

qu

il

est,

comme

le notre,

une epoque de
2 1 avenir."

transition

ou

fermentent

les

germes feconds de
"

And

Professor

Clement s conception of Chris tianity, in its relation to the whole field of human thought, is one that has an especial value for our own times, and
Swete writes
in a like strain,

promises to be increasingly useful in the present

1

century."

CUment

d? Alexandrie, sa

doctrine et sapolhnique, Preface,

p. 3.

Preface, 1-2. 3 Patristic Study, p. 48. So Westcott, Dictionary of Christian Bio their peculiar graphy, art. Clement of Alexandria," says his writings have interest in all times of change." See, too, Gwatkin, The Knowledge of God,
" "

ii.

89 sqq.

PRESENT VALUE OF CLEMENT S WORK

With such day may make
sanctions the Christian teacher of our
his

265

own

journey across the ages, and sojourn for a while in Clement s world, much as the typical teacher of

would travel and stay for a season in one city or where the voice of wisdom might be heard. The another, similarities between the two ages, Then and Now, will not
that day
fail

to present themselves. Again and again the parallelism the old suggest question, whether present history is In some such terms not, after all, a repetition of the past.
will

our supposed traveller from the modern world to the ancient might tell the tale of what he saw, and then be puzzled to find that his account of the second
as the following

century might, in its essential features, be said to hold good for the twentieth as well.

around me," we could imagine him to say, a civilisation which has stood for many centuries and has survived many vicissitudes, yet shows evidence that it has Old traditions, old sanctities are called in passed its prime. is an There question. increasing tendency to break away from the past, without as yet any certainty or guarantee for the future. Outside its area are other nationalities
"

see

"

prominence, held for many previous generations of slight account, but now threatening a possible Principles of humanity, and of challenge for the future.
rising

slowly into

the love of

man

as

man, are taught by

all

the finer spirits

of the time, yet the lot of the unfortunate remains little The children who are born come sometimes into altered.

world where there is little welcome for them, and popula tion, as the few observers w ho understand know well, tends to decline among the races whose achievements have been most marked. Many methods of reconciling old forms
a
r

and

tendencies are suggested ; many influ ences altogether novel in aim and character are at work ; to say yet no man may so read the signs of the times as
faiths with

new

266

THEN AND NOW

with any certainty in what quarter the supreme and dominant influence of the future must be sought.
"

different

One

of such a shifting and uncertain environment come to take possession of the human spirit. of these, hardly amounting to actual pessimism, is the

Out

moods

acquiescent recognition that great days have been, shall be, but are not now ; the resolute surrender of many dreams

and ideals, accompanied often by the loyal discharge of such minor duties as are clear. In this spirit many follow life s roadway with a certain sense of tedium," under dim skies, and with no knowledge of its destination, but with the sure With no certain abiding fact that the road at least is there.
"

sincere spirits pass through life s stages in this But some temper, without great hopes or noisy murmurs. times the result of this environment is rather the interior

vision

many

of quest. Doubting the value, under the prevailing of a conditions, public career, and conscious that much of external religion had lost its significance and validity for those who know, many a man has turned within, and sought

mood

there for the realities

On
and

this
it is

upon which he may stay his soul. inward pathway of mystic quest advance is slow

the few
is

who

find.
in

But,

when

the value of external

achievements

called

sought elsewhere. For way is an alternative, and few

question, the treasure must be those who can tread it the inward

who

start

upon

it

ever finally

turn back. Religion so reclaims her proper sanctuary, and there awaits the advent of the New Age, in which she may
issue forth into the world again for fuller activities of service. For the rest, many barriers are breaking down, many
"

clearness

landmarks no longer separate. Systems are losing their of outline, and eclectics learn in many schools.
are many books, there are many ideas, many teachers ; but their very abundance is both token and cause of the change and uncertainty that prevail. Men travel with ease

There

THE PRESENT
and security
rich
:

IN

THE PAST

267

they develop the material resources of earth

with singular success

beyond
:

their

they have a heritage from the past power of appropriation they have abun
: :

dantly elaborated the conveniences and apparatus of exist ence they are so far freed from convention that any

be raised, any theory criticised. Yet their their into other men s labours, freedom, entry leaves them in need of some new thing, of which they can
question

may

wealth, their

neither the source, nor the nature, nor the manner of coming. Only they are aware that the old powers no longer rule, and that of the many new claimants for dominion
tell
its

none has yet succeeded in finally making his title clear. The world has arrived, not so much at the Parting of the Ways, for that implies the possibility of immediate decision, but rather at the Cross Roads, where several courses are open, and there are no signposts to guide, and hesitation
falls

upon the

traveller."

such lines as these might some modern spirit read the present in the past. Sometimes resemblances of detail,

On

atmosphere and tone, would remind and the parallel, encourage him in his effort to Yet he appropriate ancient wisdom for to-day s problems. would reflect, too, that, if there is approximation, there is For history does not really repeat itself, also divergence. and the world is not, as the old Stoics thought, a cycle, but It remains so for us, even a process and an evolution.

sometimes

similarities of

him

of

though the goal be altogether beyond man s range of vision. Hence arises the danger of being misled by partial similari ties and the need of vigilance in any utilisation of the For there is, in reality, no going back, ancient stores.
neither to Alexandria, nor
"

even, in

the

common
to be.

phrase,
as
this

back to

Christ,"

which must ever be

to the Christ
it

interpreted

meaning Forward,
general

who

is

And

truth, following, as

necessarily

does, from the

268
dynamic,
as

THEN AND NOW

opposed to the
static principle in religion, to the observer of the twentieth century,

would come home

who,
to
in
spirit,

should reside for a season in the second, through various particular divergences. It is only needful

name

a few.

He

would note

especially that for the age of

Clement

there was no Social Question, in the sense in which our own age is conscious of it. Property, slavery, marriage were
not, of course, wholly forgotten ; the Alexandrian father himself had something to say on each. But the regenera then the tion of the individual was primary concern of Christianity, and outward conditions were only indirectly

The Church was more conscious of God s changed. inward presence, than of the possibility of higher ideals
for

Caesar s kingdom. So, perhaps because it could not have been otherwise, her standard was open to the charge of incivism she was content to make saints instead of ;
"

"

attacking slavery. In our own time

it

is

very different.

We

start

with
;

we the conditions and treat character as the consequence think that we must first build the City of God, and then
consider

how

to produce the

angels.

Christianity

is

ex

ploited by those whose real convictions are economic or social rather than religious, and in a somewhat facile con
"

tempt for the old-fashioned

the

"

other-worldliness

we seek

Kingdom

of

Social Order.

God The

in a

minimum wage and

an amended

trend of the time draws our leaders

of truth in theology to the

more and more from the quest

Whether quest of righteousness in economic conditions. the pendulum have not swung too far from the error of
incivism towards a purely

mundane

Christianity,

whether

the Gospel of social progress can really be proved identical with the message of Jesus, are questions beyond our present It is enough to note that the purpose. Christianity of the

POINTS OF CONTRAST

269

second century was predominantly individual, while that of the twentieth is predominantly social. Certain deductions are, of course, to be made on either side of the antithesis, but in
the main

holds good and it is a contrast of great moment. There is another difference, hardly less important. In
it

both centuries, then and now, religious thought

in

singularly fluid into various moulds. Then a man could be a together Stoic and a Christian. he may be a Christian and

solution.

Ideas are

found and can be run

is

Now

a Hegelian, or,

solution or
is

But this perhaps, a Christian Agnostic. of in so far as thought, fluidity Christianity

its

involved as one of

constituent elements, differs

in

it was in Clement s were derived from liquidation ancient Philosophies, from Eastern Religions, from Nature Cults, or the Mysteries, or the hoar antiquity of Egypt. Into the ferment, as the latest added element, its potency,

one important respect to-day from what

time.

Then

the

ideas

in

its

assimilative

powers wholly unsuspected, was thrown

result
is

known. To-day, with is found the ourselves, again no less varied, no less complex, are elements component But Christianity is in their subtle action and reaction. It this time, not the latest, but the oldest of them all. It characteristics. has and has acquired properties crystal
Christianity.

The

well

the condition of

solution

lised into shapes,

which may be soluble, but which may only if first they are crushed and capable and the of broken. elasticity of youth vitality Something The tremendous heri it has lost inevitably with the years. its history is also, in certain aspects, an obstacle and of tage
be
of

assimilation

a limitation.

Only

partially can

we

enter into other

men

labours.

Our

observer

may

note in the second century a

score of points in which the Christianity of the twentieth But in one respect, a respect of primary has the advantage.

importance in a transitional time, the preference

lies

with

270
the early Church.

THEN AND NOW

less

It was more free, just because it was so to the past. Therein lay a committed deeply second contrast, this also of great moment. Beyond these two divergences, our imaginary visitor to Clement s age and city would notice others of hardly less

much

significance.
in

The
of

the

mode
and

years have brought an obvious change interpreting the Scriptures. Allegory is

The Prophecy is more truly understood. Demons are no more. The belief that all non-Christian stolen their truth has vanished also. teachers must have
gone,
"

"

doctrine of the Logos, in spite of Saint John s Prologue, was not preserved and developed as it might have been. The Quartodeciman has been succeeded by other contro
place of the ancient pride in higher the modern spirit is painfully conscious spiritual Gnosis, of the limitations which beset man in his search for reality.
versies.

The

And,

in

These and many other differences would come into the mind of one who should try to blend old and new as
;

afterthoughts,
larity

when

the

first

impression of notable simi

said

had given place to further reflection. It has been by one well qualified to judge, that "At every turn

we

are constrained to feel that

we

can learn to good effect

from the Apostolic Age only by studying its principles and 1 What is true of the ideals, not by copying its precedents."
other ages of the Chris tian Ecclesia," even of one presenting so many parallels with our own as that of Clement in Alexandria.

Apostolic

Age

is

also true of

many

"

But, after all, principles and ideas are of more value than precedents of detail. And when there has been deducted from Clement s work that very large element

which had only transient interest and

the

modern
1

teacher
full,
F.
J.

has made, in

and when Clement s school the whole abatement which his religious
validity,

who would

learn in

A. Hort, The Christian Ecclesia,

p. 169.

PRINCIPLES

NOT DETAILS

271

and didactic standpoint, as distinct from one purely his torical, must involve, there remain still certain characteristic elements in the Alexandrian Master which are of permanent worth for whose effective operation the world renews its especial gratitude whenever the days of spiritual transition recur. Let us take leave of Clement by gathering together such abiding contributions as a fellow spirit, under latter-day conditions, might appropriate from his abundant diversity.
;

He has to offer us, before all else, a great example of the synthetic attitude of mind. Again and again we have found him noting similarities rather than points of difference, The great claiming alliance rather than scolding error.
scheme of
his
tripartite

work was one

of

far-reaching

synthesis, never fulfilled, because his comprehensive spirit It is the same tendency we outran his intellectual powers.

have observed in his delight to reconcile Plato with the

Gospels
;

in
;

his readiness, unlike Tertullian, to see value

in culture

in his wish,

unknown
is

to Irenaeus, to understand

no lover of contrasts or of He Rather he finds the catastrophes or of rifts or of barriers. one Divine Word everywhere at work, and builds on this faith a great habitation, in which the simple and the learned, the Greek and the Jew, Past and Present, Church and
the best in Gnosticism.

Cosmos, Saint and Philosopher, may meet

he
stands

to be at one.

So

his kind, with Homer, Shakespeare, than with jEschylus, Paul, Luther, rather Erasmus, Goethe, Milton. 1 Like the ideal philosopher of his loved Plato he

among

was

o-woTTTf/co?,

inconsistences of
affinities,

with the faults of his qualities and all the but with an eye for spiritual liberality,
us,

which reminds

though the surroundings

differ,

of the insight of the

1

Lord Himself.
art.

For the contrast between these two types of mind, see E. Caird s
Republic,
vii.

Hibbert Journal, October 1903.

2

537, c.

272

THEN AND NOW

This attitude,
this orientation,

though

it

ever needs

its

complement
other minds,
ditions which

in the critical, analytical, antithetic

is

temper of

perhaps singularly appropriate to the con confront the modern Christian teacher.

He

has

to

factors

recognise Science, Criticism, and Democracy, as in to-day s world too powerful to be He ignored.

not refuse, if he is honest, to allow elements of value other great religions than his own. He is unwise, if fails to watch he carefully the emergence of new ideals, or to listen to the voices which call traditional and accepted

may

in

Moreover, in spite of all visions of question. Under unity, he sees the fact of a divided Christendom. such conditions must he deliver his message or write his
books.

values in

Where

so

many

diverse

elements are

still

in

condition of competitive ferment, he may well warn himself of the risk of premature synthesis, and refuse to accept any particular adjustment of detail as certain to survive in the
final

harmony.
teacher
s

But he can hardly be wrong

office

in conceiving

of

the

to-day

as

Reconciliation.

Many

streams,
lies

fundamentally one of he may well claim, in

Clement
value
its

words, flow into the river of truth.

The
s

tragedy of

Christendom

in the

Church

spiritual inability to
;

beyond its points of difference which great common truths, which should have been the potent bonds of unity, have been permitted The Modernists to lapse into ineffective commonplace. fail to maintain their in position may theology, and the Christian Socialists may be proved guilty of many economic errors, but at least these attempts to reconcile criticism with
in the ease with

points of agreement

democracy with the Church, are evidence of the character of our present task. The truly wonderful thing in the history of the second and third centuries is the assimilative power of Christianity. The world in East and West had few possessions worth
faith,

THE PROBLEM OF RECONCILIATION

claiming,

273
hands.
in

upon which the Church did not

is

lay

its

The outcome

rightly described as

"Syncretism,"

which it is by no means easy to distinguish the original and distinctive elements. Neither in Clement s age, nor in our own, have men ever won general assent when they have set out to answer the question, "What is Chris
Yet, however this may be defined, and even the true answer be that it is a thing so spiritual though that it is best left nameless, without definition, at least it
tianity
?
"

had the power

in the

early centuries to unite with a large

concrete and recognisable factors, and so to gather unto itself that body of media and materials with out which, in the main, the spiritual forces are impotent to
of
affect

number

our human

life.

How

an ancient Christian teacher

ministered with special ability to this end, and fused, in one notable instance of synthesis, the Christian spirit with

elements that had origin elsewhere, For our reader of the Stromateis.
truly said, that the

may own

be seen by every time it has been

permanence of the triumph of Chris

tianity depends not only on its power to free itself from the obsolete adjuncts, which were appropriate enough in their time, but also on its power to unite itself to fresh

In that phrase of Harnack s, which is surely true answer to the same brilliant writer s complaint of the
coefficients*
"

"

secularisation

of

Christianity, lies

critical
itself,

and pressing duty. And whether now or in any after age, the future of the Christian religion becomes largely dependent upon the labours of those wide-minded teachers, who have the power
to discern affinities

the suggestion of a whenever this task presents

and

to greet the ally in disguise.

2 in the saying, twice quoted by Clement, the is both Saviour Preaching of Peter to the effect that the

There

is

Harnack, Mission,
v6p.ov KO!

i.

318.
irpoffe iircV)

\dyov T^V Kvptov

4^5

>

^P 4^71

VOL.

II.

274
"

THEN AND NOW

"

Law

and the

"

Word."

the diverse

constituents

of

In these two terms are expressed Christianity, the one derived

from Hebraic, the other from Hellenic sources.

extent the Hellenic element
is

To what

discoverable in the teaching

and mind of Jesus may be regarded, for the present, as a but there is no doubt as to the com question in debate bination of Law and Logos in the case of either Saint Paul or The characteristics of Hebraism and Hellenism Saint John. are widely different, and it is sometimes questioned whether the two have ever really been so intimately fused as to form a unity. Be this as it may, the phases of theology and the minds of individuals tend usually in the one direction or the other, for the Prophet and the Philosopher
;

are not

naturally akin.

Clement, with

all

his genius for

synthesis,
lenic.

and with
is

all

his sincere appreciation of the ancient

Scriptures,

predominantly and representatively Hel His philosophy never drove out his piety, but his
still
is

piety throughout

such as the Greek

spirit

could entertain.
universal

Through

Christianity the world became for

him one

Hellas, one comprehensive Athens. Divine means more for him than

The
its

rationality of the

Sovereignty.

His

personal need

is

for Illumination, rather than for Pardon.

The
of

highest grace possessed by his ideal Christian is that Knowledge. He holds ideas of more moment than

events.

In

all

this

he

Hellenism.
stands

Trait by revealed. He

expresses to us his fundamental trait, feature by feature, the Greek

never forgets
s

Moses, but neither

of

does

he forget Philo

interpretation

him.

Can

this

aspect of

Clement suggest anything to our imaginary

to his lecture-room
?

visitor

from the twentieth century

Huxley used
the Greeks
l

and the preference of light saying implies, was natural enough in

1

to say that the real chosen people were to heat, which the
a

man

of Science.

Life

and Letters,

ii.

426

(ed. 1900).

HEBRAISM AND HELLENISM

But
is
it is

275

has value.

not for Science alone that the Hellenic standpoint There are few religious needs of which our age
it

so conscious, as mediaeval dread of

is

of
is

its

desire for Light.

is

The

old

there any which men need fear in the of a Future thing really discipline State. The legal conception of Christianity convinces us

God

happily gone, nor

no longer

this debt, at least, Faith owes to Evolution. be said that our day is really lacking in the power of responsive enthusiasm for high causes. But our vision is not certain, our light falls in meagre radiance, and
;

Nor

can

it

beyond the brilliantly illuminated circle of the scientific knowledge of nature lies the dim, surrounding region, with its great ultimate problems of God, Freedom, and the
an age of quest rather than conviction, when the Prophet frequently fails because he cannot in reality convince himself. He would do well

Destiny of the Soul.

It

is

sometimes
"

if,

like Isaiah s

Watchman, he confessed uncer

The morning cometh and also the night," but tainty. whether the present dimness be the twilight of evening or the dawn of a new day that is very near, it were wiser to In either case men wait and watch for leave time to show. the light, not greatly concerning themselves whether it shall
break inwardly upon the soul, or outwardly like a new eastern sunrise, but surely the stronger and more resolute in their patience for every record, such as Clement notably
affords, of

an

earlier day,

when

veritable illumination

made

the

was

way plain for the traveller, The clearly discerned.

modern need,
his
"

and the land of far distances Greek spirit had been no

since the ancient

stranger to our

Homeric
and

hero had
"

up prayer, became the accepted equivalent to behold the daylight of all that was worth possessing in the common human lot.
Perhaps more distinctively Hellenic
is

lifted

ev Se ^aei KOI oXecro-ov,

the readiness to
of

consider

new

suggestions,

certain

elasticity

mental

276

THEN AND NOW

temperament, a certain capacity to view the question from No power degenerates more easily, a different standpoint. to none is more open criticism, than this dangerous facility Saint Paul failed in Athens ; it is no difficult of the Greeks.
matter to contrast his depth of conviction with the super either to tell, or to of men who were ever ready ficiality The realities of the spirit are too hear some new thing."
"

precious to be Moreover, with

made
all

the playthings of intellectual agility. his gifts, the Greek was brilliant rather

than reliable, and could raise problems more easily than he On similar grounds will our could bring peace of mind.

modern teacher hear many warnings as to the perils of an He will be bidden avoid Alexandrian type of Christianity.
the society of Clement and his kind, on the ground that the Church wins more by intransigeance than by accommo
1

on the ground that essentials are not open discussion, on the ground that, while great verities are
dation,

to
in

are debate, the souls of the common folk may starve. of all familiar with the arguments religious conservatism,

We

and the
felt

liberal minded fail in sympathy, if they have never the force and the pathos of its sincere appeal. And yet, by the side of those whom the movement of

the age has not robbed of their Hebraic certitude, or of their Latin rigidity of view, a place is open for the ministry of the Hellenic type of mind. Such a mind knows well the
It has the peculiar gift variety and multiformity of truth. It can suspend judgment what of adjusting differences.

prophet ever could

It

can discern a true tendency under

It can recognise the suspicious or unwelcome associations. wisdom of timely surrender. It is conscious, often painfully

conscious, of the flux and

is

movement

of cosmic process.

It

fundamentally unable to hold religion isolated and apart.

1

Perhaps the significant omission of Clement and Origen from the Library of the Fathers is worth mentioning once again.

QUALITIES OF
It is

THE GREEK
of education
is

SPIRIT

277

conscious that different difficulties confront different

minds, and that

for
all.

God

mode

not the same

mitted
static,

the Christian religion be a Deposit, once to the keeping of a Divine Society, rigid,
If

com
final,

unique, absolute in character, then it is sufficiently evident that the Greek mind has little right to deal with
it.

the

Having supplied the form and vehicle of its expression, Greek should have departed and left the Latin and the
in control.
if

Hebrew
But

Christianity is the life of the human spirit in its highest yet attained expression, manifested in the Saviour, and through Him communicated for its realisation and

perfection to the Race ; and if, further, like all other forms of life, it is only secure by its perpetual adjustment to the
conditions,
intellectual, physical, economic, of its then there can be little question of the world s environment, indebtedness to those teachers of Hellenic temper, who prize
social,

clearness

of mind, who suspect theological sweet reasonableness in honour, and who violence, have the special ability to help their fellows in the hours of

and

fairness

who hold

change. They are rarely proclaimed as heroes, and often beyond their range to deal with a soul s tragedy.

it

is

On

the other hand, in addition to their other distinctive powers of service, they have frequently the special gift of recog nising, while they discharge their own appointed task, that
there are other orders of labourers, under the same Master, So, like Clement, they occupied in the same great field. minister to the cause of charity, as well as to that of truth.

There
to the

is

modern

yet another service which Clement may render In every age of Christianity it is teacher.

hold, but also in what proportion they distribute their serious atten tion among the various items of their professed creed.

important to ascertain not only what beliefs

men

For

stress

and emphasis

fall

very variously

in

different

278

THEN AND NOW

faith.

times upon the several aspects or elements of Christian One age has given prominence to the Atonement,

another to the

Day

of

of the Scriptures.

one generation,
seasons

God

to the sufficiency God s Sovereignty has come home to There have been s Love to another.

Judgment, another

marked

by the vigour of

Christian

enterprise,

others by the value set on Contemplation and the Interior Life. Making the same profession, and appealing to the same authorities, the Church of different ages, and the
individuals
of
differently

constituted

natures,

have thus

manifested remarkable variety in virtue of their different distributions of value and insistence. Clement has his

own marked
in little
fall.
1

features in this regard.

as to

He

leaves his readers

doubt

where
in

his

emphasis and interest mainly

of the
"

faith

proportion of can him most follow spirit closely. This will be specially evident in relation to the Articles
It is

perhaps

his estimate

"

that the

modern
In

of

the

Creed.

whatever manner the

interpret

Church may
doctrines of

eventually agree to
the

or

restate

the

Resurrection, the Ascension, the hardly be questioned that, for the present, considerable difficulties beset their literal and concrete presentation. True as principles, they raise many

Virgin

Birth,

the

Future Judgment,

it

will

questions

if

we

treat

them

as

events.

Hence

it

is

not

surprising that present-day

tion,

even when

it

Theology shows most seriously maintains

to venture

little

inclina

their historic

character, to build

upon them, or

its

conclusions

upon
it is

their stability.

The
lie

of thought, does not

different.

there.

emphasis, in our present stage But with the Incarnation

a doctrine far

Here we have
has
little
it

more capable
and, philo

of relation to the present.

dominant ideas and convictions of the

quarrel with sheds light on
it,

Science

sophically interpreted,
1

many

problems.

See supra^ pp. 240-1.

THE PROPORTION OF FAITH

279

It is a principle singularly fruitful for existing conditions of religious thought, and involving far less effort of adjust ment than, for example, the traditional theory of the Atone

Herein there is the closest correspondence between present tendencies and Clement s interpretation of Christian For he says little of Sin, Reconciliation, or thought. Judgment. He lays no stress on the Virgin Birth, and he
ment.
tends, like the Gnostics, to spiritualise the Resurrection. But the doctrine of God s highest or nearest act of selfmanifestation in a Human Life on earth, the extension

and implications of this principle in the Church and in Humanity, the unity of the one spiritual Power in all the many forms of its self-expression, are dominant conceptions in his theology and may be applied, with a minimum of
modification, to

many

So

it is, if

we

questions of to-day. consider the transcendent and immanent

Clement has both, for he is aspects of the Godhead. Platonist and Stoic at once, and his critics have found fault
with him both for banishing the divine to excessive distance, and also for bringing it into too intimate relations with

mankind.
to-day
is

In
in

any case he holds the two, and theology

some sense reverting to his position. God s Sovereignty, God s Government, God s Law have in many ages seemed to monopolise religious thought, but our more
recent guides speak to us of the Indwelling Deity. thought of divine immanence, incomplete as it is, and

The how
well

ever liable

it

may

be to

pantheistic exaggeration,

is

worth recovering, and we may gather suggestive expressions Whoever to-day would school of it from the Alexandrians. himself to recognise the Divinity, which pervades and inspires both Cosmic Order and Nature s Beauty and Human History and Individual Lives, may have his vision quickened and his heart made glad by the study of Clement s numer
ous references to the immanent operation of the Word,

280

THEN AND NOW

really there, and,
if

The source of his happy optimism lay we could recover his sense of the divine
be more likely to share his optimism. Sovereignty is never abandoned.

nearness, we should Yet the transcendent

result is reached if we consider Christianity three as involving elements, spiritual, intellectual, institu are tending more and more to rate these in tional.

The same

We

the foregoing order, to lay stress on inward experience, to minimise the institutional apparatus, to acknowledge the barrenness of the intellect if it be isolated and alone. There

no question that, for Clement, the Institution comes last, though we have already observed how real was his apprecia But it is, no doubt, tion of the Church and its order.
is

possible to take different views as to his relative valuation of the Spirit and the Intelligence. Authorities debate whether religion or reason, the mystic or the philosopher,
is

really the

dominant element

in

his

nature.

We

must

the subject, beyond saying that if our has been a true one, it is religion, Clement of interpretation piety, the things of the spirit, the inward fellowship, the

not here reopen

Whoever, then, in our own mystic principle that prevail. of the increased conscious significance of the mystical day,
element

mere

in Christianity, takes note of the reaction from the intellectualism of much of our traditional theology, and,
"

Non in dialectica reminder of Saint Ambrose, 1 complacuit Deo salvum facere populum suum," or Harnack s The intellect can produce nothing similar admission that
recalling the
"

of religious value," 2 recognises that the fundamental demand is always for religion rather than theology, for life more than for understanding ; whoever, with this fully recognised,

goes on to realise that reason, thought, intelligence, are essential co-operants, though they are not the spirit s
so
that
1

still

life,

philosophy, metaphysic,

and theology can never,

2

De

Fide,

I.,

5.

Hist.

Dogm.,

ii.

327, n.

SPIRIT,

INTELLECT, INSTITUTION

281

save at the peril of disastrous loss, be eliminated from the scheme of religion, since the inward and spiritual significance of Christianity must be perpetually expressed according to
of age and environ two elements so secured at whoever, their true valuation, passes on to the remaining factor of Civitas Church, Society, Brotherhood, Dei, Ecclesiastical with all its mechanism of rite, creed, Polity, necessary

the changing

modes and conceptions

with
these

ment

custom, form, buildings, membership, so

as

infinitely valuable
life,

the

means and organs

of

spiritual

so

infinitely

dangerous when they

end

whoever

are over-esteemed as treasure, goal, and desires that in his personal contribution as a

Christian teacher he

may

conserve these three elements in

their several values, without violence to the proportion of faith, and scans the ages of religious history in the quest for

a kindred spirit who has served God with a like ideal such a man may well find fellowship in the company of our

Alexandrian father, who had so much to say on the inward converse of the soul with God, and pleaded so earnestly the cause of philosophy within the Church, and also had so high an estimate of ecclesiastical tradition and the pastor s cure of
souls.

one further lesson to be derived from Clement s example, by which the teacher under modern conditions may

There

is

gain something for his task.

In every centre of religious

in
"

thought, and
"

more

especially

Learning
are apt to

is

in the air,

New ages when any the claims of the simple majority

more
"

come

into collision with the needs of the

thoughtful few.

The

"

"

Orthodoxasts

and the
"

"

Gnostics

come

prominence again with every movement of Parochial Christi the interests of discussion ; religious are set in contrast with the Professor s claim for anity"
into
"

freedom and with the restless intellectual s desire to re Mother Church, in the main, concile the old and the new.
"

282
has

THEN AND NOW

cared
especially for

her simpler

children.

She has

valued their docility, their devotion, their indifference to She has been angry, rightly angry, the awkward questions.
with those

who would put stumbling

blocks in their lowly

pathway, or trouble with needless problems the serenity of Hence often her strange their service and their faith.
harshness to the inquirer, her lack of sympathy with those who felt the old home had grown narrow, her unwise habit
of scolding doubt. Remembering what the Lord said about of offence in the way of children, but occasions placing

forgetting

that

He

had

also

welcomed Nicodemus

and

appreciated the sincerity of Thomas, she has only too often sought to conserve the welfare of the many by ignoring the
claims and difficulties of the few.

The

conditions which are liable to occasion this error

were once prevalent in Alexandria, and they are not unknown Clement s work is an abiding protest against all to-day.
ecclesiastical neglect

of the

hesitating minority.

Faith

is

and more productive of

harder for them than for others, but it is less conventional results. So he faced, for their sakes,

the charge of being an intellectual aristocrat and even of economising truth. Whoever, in our age of numbers and
religious competition, seeks to minister to the questioning few who can be won to listen from the borderlands of faith ;
is prepared, if it must be so, to be criticised and misunderstood by every sincere obscurantist of his time whoever, knowing the risks of the way, and not forgetting

whoever

how

easily the claim for liberty of teaching

may become

the

hard, contentious, illiberal, assertion of individual whims, still takes his stand by conviction on the side of wider in
terpretation, of greater generosity towards those \vithout, of larger spiritual freedom, and of sympathy for uncertain souls,

may be encouraged by recollecting with what tact, with what kindly care for narrower susceptibilities, yet also with

OUR FAREWELL TO CLEMENT

what
clear intention

283

and with what quiet courage, the cause thoughtful minority was once maintained in an Alexandrian lecture-room, about which in certain Christian circles there were doubtless great searchings of heart.
of

the

"

There, then,

foncierement

pedagogue,"

in his lecture-

room, among his pupils, in the place that was peculiarly his own, we leave this learned, happy, and wide-minded inter Those of us to whose lot it has preter of the Gospel. fallen to serve God within the ancient Church of the English People, may remember that Clement has his affinities with one of our own divines 1 that in his distrust of extremes, in his love of peace, in his reverent and sober piety, he antici
;

pates

some

of the best religious characteristics of our race.

like ours,

His Church,
the

had

its

middle way,

distinct

from

type of Catholicism, diverse from the emotional It had, too, its subjectivity of the Phrygian Montanists. peculiar similarities, a like estimate of the Orders in the
Ministry, a like regard for
like
"

Roman

sound

learning."

Its mission,

our own, was to win men for Christian ideals in the midst of a busy commercial environment, and to prove the possibility of the Christian standpoint for educated people
in times of change.

these purposes Clement s life was devoted, and our knowledge of him justifies us in remem bering him as among the Saints, even though his namesake,

To

Pope Clement
list.

VIII.,

removed

his

name from

the

official

nor need
or their

Christian Liberalism has had few worthier exponents ; we deal unfairly either with Victor or Tertullian

set an especial latter-day successors, because we value upon that different type of Christianity which was

own. Alone, by itself, this type would be as a leaven and an element within ineffective and unstable the whole it renders noble service, for charity and fairness and intelligence and peace of mind and the reasonable

Clement

He was

"

not unlike our

own Jeremy

Taylor."

Bigg, Origins, 404.

284
temper are among
is

THEN AND NOW

its

qualities.

Therefore

well that

some men should

in every age it learn, either in Clement s

standpoint, as

the Alexandrian one by one we make our several fragmentary contributions to that great unknown consummation, so assured yet so remote, which lies hidden in the mysterious purposes of God.

school or in any other, to reappropriate

CHAPTER XXI

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

HITHERTO the reader has been invited to consider the substance of Clement s statements and opinions, rather than his actual words. Quotations, even in the notes, have not
been numerous. In this concluding chapter the ipsissima verba of our author are given, in the belief that some, who have not time for a fuller study, may be glad in this minor degree to come into direct contact with Clement s writings. Some of these extracts are worth remembering for their intrinsic interest ; most of them illustrate or confirm what has been said in the foregoing pages.
The figures
in brackets refer to the

volume, page,

and

lines

of

Dr

Stahlins edition.

i.

DIVINE TRANSCENDENCE
0a>i/j/y

yap TWV
-iraa-av

oXcov $eo? 6 virep Tracrav

ypa(f>fj

Kal irav

v6*]/u.a

KCLI

evvoiav OVK av Trore

irapaSoOeit], apprjros &v Swapei

T$ avroO.

685

(ii.

369. 26-28).

of the universe, Who is above all speech and all to writing, being all and reasoning, cannot be committed thought ineffable in His power.

The God

2.
"Q&ov

MAN S
SvvajULei
KOLV

INABILITY TO DESCRIBE
aV$/oa>7ro?,

GOD
/cai

yap

Oeov XetVerat

TOOTOVTOV

6 Ao yo?

CWTOU ega&Oevei,
XoyofavOevrjs

Oeov,

aXXa
o
285

irepi

Oeov Ae y# KOI rov Oelov

yap

(jtva-ei

avOpwTreios

Xoyo?

Kal

aSvvaros

286
tfrpdcrai

SAYINGS
a\\a

AND EXTRACTS
yap TOVTO
826
5
J

Oedvi ov TOUVOJULO. \eyco (KOIVOV

ov
(/>i\o<r6<f>a)v

fjiovov 6voju.deiv,

KOI TroitjTCOv) ovSe Trjv ovarlav (aSuvarov ya/o),

6eov.
(ii.

aXXa

Ttjv SvvcLfttv KOI

ra epya TOV

7*

7~ 2 3)-

For

as
is

man

God language of of but the attributes and of the divine Word. God Himself, For the language of man is in its nature weak and incapable of I do not mean the mere name, for the use of the expressing God name is common not only to philosophers, but also to poets ; nor do I mean the essence, for that is impossible but I mean the power and the works of God.
weak and
3.
Tct

in his potentialities falls short of God, so too his faltering, even in speaking not of

How GOD
rj
<$e

MAY

BE

KNOWN
rj

Trpo?
Oeov.

yap Xeyojmeva CK TCOV TrpocrovTGOv avTois prjrd eamv e/c ri;? TOVTCOV \a/3eiv olov re irep\ TOV aXX^Xa crxeVeoo?, ovSev aXX ovSe eTna-TYi/my \ctiuL/3dveTai Tfl diroSciKTiKy avrrj yap
Xe/Trerat
voeiv.
Srj

CK TTporepcov Kal yvwpijJLwrepwv crvvia TaTai,

TrpovTrapx^i-

TOV Se ayevvrjTOv ovSev Oela xdptTi Kal JULOVO) TW Trap avTOv Xoyw
1

TO ayvuxTTOv

6956

(ii.

381. 38).

Things admit of being expressed in words either from their attributes or from their relation to one another. But we can lay hold of nothing of this nature in the case of God. Neither is He apprehended by demonstrative knowledge, for this is made up of prior and better known elements, but nothing has prior existence to the Uncreated. So, then, it is only by divine grace and solely through the Word which proceeds from Him, that we can
apprehend the Unknowable.

4.
A.dBoifjiv S
CTTOTTTIKOV
ava\V<TGi)$,

THE METHOD
7Tl

OF ABSTRACTION

av TOV /u.v KaQapTLKov Tpdirov o/xoXoy/a, TOV Se

TtJV

ava\V<Tl,

7TpU)Tt]V

VOt](TlV

T(X)V VTTOKei/ULeVWV

aVTW Tt
Tro/or^ra?, TrepfeXoVre? ^e Ttjv ei$ TO

/u.ev

TOV

(Tto/xaro?

ra?

(j>V(riKd?

/BdOos Sido-Tacriv, etra TY\V

ju.t]KO$

e*V

TO

TrXaro?, Kal eirl TOVTOIS Ttjv ei$

<TTI,

TO

TO yap
fo

V7ro\i<j>0ev

artj/metov

fjiovds

d)?

eiireiv
el

Oeariv

edv

TrepteXcofjLcv

TY\V

Oea-iv,

voeiTai

/u.ovd?.

TOIVVV,

SAYINGS
a<j)\ovTe$

AND EXTRACTS
<ro)/xa<7(i/

287

iravTa ova Trpove&Ti TO??

KOI TOI? Xeyo/xeVot?

i<s

TO peyeOos TOV X/ofcrrov eirippL^ai^ev TO agaves dyiOTijTi irpotoiimev, T{J TOV iravTOeavrovs
e*V
vori<Ti

a[j.fl

ye

TT#

7rpo<rdyotfJLv

av,
r]

ovx o evTtv, o Se
crrac-iv
1

IJLYJ

CGTI
rj

yvwpi(ravTe<s

(rxni^a de Kal

KLvrjariv

rj

Opovov

rj

TOTTOV

Seia
KOI

rj

apiarrepa TOV TWV o\wv Trar/oo?

ovS"

oXco? evvoyTeov, KULTOI

TavTa yeypaTTTai

a\\

o /3ov\Tat $t]\ovv

avT&v

e/cacrroi/,

KaTa TOV
OITIOV,

OIKCIOV eTTiSeixOrjcreTai TOTTOV.

OVKOVV ev TOTTW TO TrpwTOV

voijcrecos.

aXX virepdvw

Kal TOTTOV Kal \povov Kal oVo/xaro? KOI

-689 (ii. 374. The stage

4-20).
of purification

we may

attain

by confession, that

of vision by an analytic process, as we advance towards the primary make our start in this process conception by this means. from the inherent properties, and strip away from body its physical

We

qualities,

removing from

it

the

breadth, then as well that of length.

dimension of depth, then that of The residuum is a point, a

If

monad,

so to say, having position.

we remove

its

position, the

If then we strip away all conception of the monad remains. properties of bodies and of things called incorporeal and cast our selves upon the magnitude of Christ and thence advance by holiness
to infinity, we should in some sort draw near to the conception of the Almighty, understanding not what He is but what He is not. Form and motion and position or a throne or localisation or

Father right or left we must in no wise conceive as belonging to the of the Universe, though indeed these terms are used in Scripture. However, the sense intended by each of them will be made clear Thus the First Cause is not in space, but is in the proper place.

beyond both space and time and name and thought.

5.

THE UNIVERSALITY
>;y,

OF THE IDEA OF
ovSe

GOD
vo/maScoV)
Tfl

Teyo? S
ovSe

ovSev ovSa/mov TWV yewpyovvTdw

/mtj

aXX
TOV

TWV TroXiTiKwv SvvaTai

7TLCTTt.

7rpoKaT6t\inuL/ULevov

SlO

TTOLV /J^V e OvOS

eWWV)

TTciv

Se

(T7rpl(aV (XTTTO-

ijovwv, /Bopeiov

re KOI

TO.

7ry>09

TW

VOTW, iravTa jmiav ex^i Kai

ei

avTrjv TrpoXrj^iv Trepl

l
TO<

TOV

KaTacrTycra/ULevov Tyv yyefj-oviav,

ye
CTT

KaOoXiKurraTa TGOV evepyrjiuLaTWv avTOV

Sia7re<f>otTtiKV

TraVra.

729-30

(ii.

417. 2-8).

288

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

No race anywhere of tillers of the soil, or of nomad tribes, no, nor of civic communities, can live without being prepossessed by the conviction of the Supreme Power. Therefore every nation which reaches to the shores of East or West, the North, and all who dwell towards the South, have one and the same precon
ception concerning Him who holds established sovereignty, since the most universal of His operations pervade all the world alike.
6.

THE DIVINE SCHEME

TCOV

Oi/Vw?
Trorrpo?

ctTrdvTcov

dyaOcov

9e\riju.aTi

TOV

am 09
Sia

6 vi 09

/ca$/<rTarcu,

aXj/TTTO?

ai(T0i](rei.

ov

yap

yv,
TJ;?

TrpwTovpyos TOVTO aHpOrj TO??

cra/o/co?,

xcoptj(rai

/J.ij

Swa/u.voi$

TY\V

dcrOevciav

aicr9t]Tr]V Se

dva\aj3wv

TO
<>iKTO.

OVVO.TOV
VVGLIJUS

dv9pu)7roi<}

Kara

Ttjv

vTraKoyv

TWV

ei>TO\u)v

ovv TTdTpiKr]

V7rpx<*>v

paa)?

TrepiyiveTCii

av

ovSe TO /ULtKpoTaTOv

a7roXe/7rft)i^
avru>

r^9 eavrov

SioiKrja-ews d(j)pov-

TKTTOV
S\
o?/>ia*,

ovSe

yap

dV eri

fjv
rj

TO o\ov

ev eipyavjuievov.
fJ-^

T?? yueyiVr?;?
Si

irdvTwv TWV /mepwv KOI

TOLTOU

TTpOY)KOV<Ta

OLKpl/Beia?

^Ta(n^,

TTCLVTCOV

f?

TOV TTpOOTOV

TGOV b\(iov

K OeX^yUaTO? 7raT/3O9 KvfiepvwvTOL TY\V

eTepcov
v<f>

a(j>opu)VT(av,

erepou? yyovjuicvovs
apxiepea.

<TT

av ri?

eir\

TOV

fjieyav

d<j>iKr]Tai

833

(iii.

8.

417).

Thus by
manent

the will of the Almighty Father the Son is the per He is the initial activity of all cause of all good things.

to sense. For it was not in His real by those who were incapable of such comprehension by reason of the weakness of their flesh, but He took upon Him a sensible body and came to reveal what man had power to receive through obedience to the commandments. Being then Himself the Power of the Father, He easily prevails in whatever He wills. He leaves not even the least item of His administration without His care, for otherwise His conduct of the universe would no longer be entirely good. And I regard His minute and accurate scrutiny of all the parts, extending to the tiniest

movement, inapprehensible

nature that

He was

seen

atom,

as evidence of the greatest power, while all turn their eyes to the high Administrator of the universe, as He pilots the world s salvation by the Father s will, rank stationed under rank in pre

cedence, until

we

reach the great High Priest.

SAYINGS
7.

AND EXTRACTS

289

ALL THINGS PUT UNDER HIM

etV

Ov yap

e^/orrara/ TTOTC r^? aurov TrepHDTrfjs 6 vios TOV Oeov, ov

TOTTOV,

ju,pi6/uLvo?, OVK aTroTejULvojuievos, ov jULTa/3alv(*)v CK TOTTOV

Se wv irdvTOTe Kal
,

fjir]Sdju,fl

TrepiexojuLevo?,

0X09

1/01*9,

0X09 00)?

0X09 o^OaX/uid^, irdvTa opwv, trdvTa CLKOVCOV, eiSw Travra, TOVTW Trava viroreraKrai crr/oar/a Swd/mei T9 Svvdju.ei$ epevvwv.
ayye\w>v

re

/ecu ^ecoi/,

TCD

\6ya)

TU>

iraTpiKWTrjv

ay lav

oiKOVOfuav avaSe-

"

Sey/ULevq)

^fa TOJ^ v7roTaavTa" Si ov KOI irdvTes avTOv oi avOpcairot,

"

a\\
ft>9

oi

jJiev

Kar

7rtyv(jocriv"oL
<w?

Se ovSeTrco, Kal oi

/u.ev (09
(iii.

<pi\oi,

oi Se

oiKTCti TTfcrro/, ot Se

ct7rXa)9 oiKCTai.

831

5.

256.

7).

never leaves His watch-tower, never divided, He exists never dissevered, never migrating from place to place.

The

Son of

God

He is everywhere and at all times and is nowhere circumscribed. all mind, all light of the Father, all eye ; He sees all, hears all, knows To Him every regiment and tests the Powers by His power. all, of Angels and of Gods is subject, even to the Word of the Father, Who has been entrusted with the holy dispensation by reason of
"

Him who
to

Him,

them hath subjected but some according to

"

through Whom also all men

belong
;

"

knowledge,"

as friends,

some

as faithful servants,

some

others not as yet as servants simply.

some

8.
"Qvirep

THE

ALL-SEEING EYE
aXXa
Kal
Sia

yap

rpotrov 6 77X409 ou JULOVOV TOV ovpavov Kal TOV o\ov

ytjv

Koo-fjiov

<po)Tiei

re Kal OdXao-crav

e7nXa/x7ra>y,

o?/cov? aTrocrreXXet 6vplS(*)v Kal lULiKpas oirfjs 717)09 TOi/9 ju.vxaiTaTOv$

TYJV

avynv,

oi/ra)9

o Xoyo9 TrdvTfl Kexv^evos Kai

ra

ar/xf/c/oorara
2).

TWV

TOV

/3iov Trpdgewv e7ri/3\e7rei.

840

(iii.

15. 28-16.

Sun not only illumines the heaven and the whole world with the light that shines on land and sea, but also sends his crannies into the inmost recesses rays through windows and through

Even

as

the

of our homes, so the Word, shed everywhere abroad, beholds even the minutest details of our life.

9.

MAN
/

THE

WORK

OF THE

WORD

Amo9
yap
VOL.
II.

ev Oew), Kal

yovv 6 Xo yo9, o X/ofcrroV? Kal TOV elvai irdXai }/xa9 (tjv TOV ev elvai vvv Sy e Tre^dvtj avOpwTrois airro9
I

2 9o

SAYINGS AND EXTRACTS

aV$/oa>7ro9,

OVTOS 6 Xo yo?, o fidvos a/A0(0 9 6eo? re KOI

ct

amo?

aya$a)y*

Trap

o5 TO ev
(i.

f//i>

eKSiSao-Kojmevoi

elg

aiSiov

7ra/oa7re/x7roVe#a.

6-7

7.

17-21).

even Christ, was the cause both of our first being And now this self God), and of our well-being. same Word, Who alone is both God and man in one, the cause of all things good to us, has revealed Himself personally unto men. Learning from Him how to live aright, we are helped upon the way
(for

The Word, He was in

to life eternal.

10.
MaX*<TTa

THE TRUE SHRINE

ayaX/xa Oeiov KOI
Oeu>

OF THE

WORD

yap
Tr/oocre/x^e/oe?

avOpcoTTOV SIKOLIOV
Te/u.VieTai>

^vxn,

ev

{i

Sia Ttjs

TWV TrapayyeX/uLarwv
Ovrjrwv re
/cat

vTraKofj?

KOI eviSpverai 6 TTOLVTWV

rjye/uiuiv

aOavarwv,

TC KOI yevvYjTWp TCOV AcotXwj/, vo/mos cov OVTWS Kai Oecrfjios KOLI KOI Koivy Trdcriv eT? cov <ram//o. Xo yo? aiwvios, iSia re ouro? KOI TravroKparopo? 6 TW OVTL fj.ovoy 6^/79, 6 T^? TOu 7Ta,u/3a<7(Xe
3a.(ri\ev$
eKa<TTOi<s
ft>9

reXeiav Qewpiav KOLT eiKOva

eiKOva TYJV
oarrj

T>JV

eavrov,

co?

elvai TpiTrjv qSt] rrjv Sclav

Suva/At? e^ojULOiovjuievrjv 7Tyoo9

fco/xei/ T*JV

TO SevTepov a lTioV)

TT/OO?

Tyv OVTWS fayv, oY ^V

yvwcriv yivofjxvov
amo-T/oe^oyaej/oi/.

aXrjOrj

a)>ji/,

olov aTroy/oa^o^Te? TOV

y/u.tv,

irepl TO. /3e/3aia /cat xai^TeXoo?

(iii.

avaXXolcora

837-8

12. 14-26).

P or, above

all
"

else, the soul of the righteous

man

is

God

own

resemblance, effigy

divine."

formed, by obedience to the commandments, the holy Him who is ruler of all mortal and immortal and beings, King Originator of every excellence, veritable Law and Ordinance, and Everlasting Word, the one Saviour of every individual and of all the race. He is the true "Only-begotten," the express image of the glory of the Sovereign and Almighty On the mind of the Gnostic he sets the stamp of perfect Father.
In this soul
is

place and shrine of

vision, after His own image, so that the Gnostic is the divine image in the third degree, through the closest attainable likeness to the

second Cause,

who

is

the Life indeed.

Through

this Life

we

live

SAYINGS
the true
life,

AND EXTRACTS

291

making

a sort of

ledge unto us, and

unalterable.

who

copy of Him who was made know hath converse with things sure and altogether

ii.

THE PURPOSE

OF THE INCARNATION
7rXa<rcu

Ka/

/ULOI

SOKCI airro? OVTO$

imev

TOV avOpwirov
f

etc

avayevvrjorai Se voaTi^ avtj(rai Se

elg

Trvev/uLctTi)

TraiSaycoyrjcrai Se
iva

prf/
Srj

vioOecriav KOI (rwrrjpiav ay/cu?

eWoXaf? KarevOvvwv,
e/c
"

TOV

ytjyevfj ei? ayiov KOI eTrovpdvLOv /xeraTrXacra?

TTOV,

7Tyoocr/3acrea>9

avOpco-

KLVt]V

TtJV

OeiKfJV

JUl.d\L(TTa

TrX^yOCOCT^

(JXJCIV^V

TTOl^<TU)/ULV

avQpwirov /car

CIKOVO. Kai

KaO

OJULOLOXTIV

^/JLWV^

KCU

Stj

yeyovev 6

X/HCTTOS TOVTO TrX^/06?, OTTCp

KCLTGL jULOvyv voeirai Tr\v

e lptJKCV

6 OeO?, 6 Se OtXXo? CLvOpCDTTOS

eUova.

15

(i-

148.

18149.

i).

was He, I think, who fashioned man from the dust, and regenerated him by water, and fostered his growth by the Spirit, and instructed him by His Word, and directed his course by It was His purpose, holy commandments to sonship and salvation.
It

"

by drawing near to him, to transform the child of earth into a holy and heavenly man, and to fulfil that most divine of sayings Let us make man in our image after our likeness." Now Christ was the perfect fulfilment of that which God hath said. But
the rest of humanity
alone.
is

to be regarded as possessing the

"

"

image

12.

THE EDUCATIVE

OFFICE OF THE

WORD

(TTIV 6

2o0/a $e ouro? etpiyrai TT/OO? airavrwv TWV TrpofprjTwv, OVTOS TWV yevrjTwv cnrdvTWv &acr/caXo9, o eriV/^oiAo? TOV Oeov
TO. TTOLVTa
"

TOV

TTpOCyVCOKOTO^

6 Se avwOeV
"

K TTpCOTtJS
KO.I

KOCT/ULOV

TroXiyr/ooTTO)? Kal TroXy^te/oaJ?

TreTratSevKev re

769

(ii.

461. 11-14).

He
of
all.

all

He is the teacher is named Wisdom by all the Prophets. foreknew the children of men, the Counsellor of God, And He that is from above, from the first foundation of the

Who
at

world, hath been training us and making us perfect

"

sundry times

and in divers

manners."

292

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

13.

SYMBOLISM ENDS WITH THE ADVENT (On

loosing the latchet of the

Lord]
? jj/xa?

KOI Trjv TeXevraiav

,

TOV

(TWTrjpos

evepyeiav, TV\V

Xeyet, Tr]v Sia

cuY/y/utcm*
*V
<j>avepov

Trj<s

Trapova-ias,

eTriKpvTTTO/ULevtjv

TW

r/79

yap

Sia

Trj<s

avTO^ias

TW

9e<T7rioiu.evov

TroppwOev
Trepag

ooevov<rav

/jufivvaras

rJKOv<rav

Trapov-

eXvcrev

TO

TWV Xoy/cov r^9

of/co^o/x/a?, e/c/caXJ^a?

ewoiav rwv

crvfJL/3o\(tii>.

679

(ii.

363. 20-25).

But perhaps he (the Baptist) means the last activity of the Saviour for our sakes, the nearer activity of His Advent, which is For by pointing out for concealed in the riddle of Prophecy.
eyes to see

Him who

which had been long upon

indeed arrived. of the Dispensation by revealing the meaning of their symbols.

had been foretold, he declared that the Presence, its way towards manifestation, had now So he veritably unloosed the thread of the oracles

14.
"Q<T7re/o

THE EXTENSION
TOV (rw/xaro? o
Sid
*]

OF THE INCARNATION
crcoTtjp
V\)V

Sta

eXaXe* KOI faro, OVTOX;

SlO.

KCLI

TTpOTCpOV

/ULV

TWV TT/OO^TO)! ,

TCOV OL 7rOO TO\COV Kdl TCOV

SiSaarKoXwv
evftev

e/c/cA^cr/a

yap
xal

virtjpeTei

Tfl

Kal

TOT
TOV

av9po)7rov
Trar/oo?-

aveXafiev, tva
TTCLVTOTC

Si

TOV Kvplov evepyela, avTOV virripeTYj^n TOJ

6
JULCV
<pi\dv9p(*)Tro$

avOptOTrov

Oeo?

e*V T?]V

avQpwiruiv (rcoTypiav, TrpOTepov

roy?

ra?, vvv Se Trjv

e/c/cX>;o-/ai/.

TO yap

O/JLOIOV TO) OJULOLW e

/caraXX^Xoi/

TT/OO? TY\V 6ju.olav crcoTyplav.

994-5

(iii.

143.

41 1).

so

through the body the Saviour spake and healed, aforetime by the Prophets, and now by the For the Church is the minister of the Apostles and Teachers. of Lord for which cause He took upon Him at that the ; activity time the nature of man, that He might be thereby the minister of Thus at all times, in His love for man, doth God His Father s will. put on man s nature for his salvation ; aforetime the Prophets, now That like should minister unto like accords with the the Church.

For even
also

as

did

He

like

nature of salvation.

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS
"OF

293

15.

HUMAN NATURE NOT

Oeo$ Se ovSejULtav
e xei

ONE

SUBSTANCE"

WITH
TWV
el e

THE DIVINE

O
i/X>79

TT/OO?

J/yua?
e/c

(pva-iKtjv arxecrtv, cos

/mrj

01

aipecrecov

KTivTai 6e\ovariv, (OVT

el

OVTWV
rj

Troiolt]

OUT

Stjuiovpyoirj, cTrel

TO

fJLev

ovS

oXeo? ov,

Se /cara iravTa ere /oa

OIULOOV<TIOVS

TOV Oeov)
\eyeiv

ei imrj

TI$ /u.epo?

avTOv KOI

y/Jias

ra>

Kai OVK old OTTCD? ave^eTal

ei$

TI<S

eTraicw

TOVTOV

Oeov eyvcoKW?, airiScov

/ca/cof?

TOV
o

/3lov
1

TOV

^yue repoy, ev 00-019

Oejuu?, /uLepiKO)$

<f>vp6fJ.e6a

e lrj

yap
TO,

av

oi/ra)?,

jULyo"

eiTreiv

ajj.apTO.vwv o

Oeo?, e i

ye

/m.epr]

TOV o\ov
ovSe

jmept)

KOI

arv/J,Tr\r]pu>TiKa

TOV oXou,
"

ei

Se
cov

]u.r)

(ru/X7rXi7/oo)T//ca,
eXew"

imeptj e irj av.

aXXa yap

<j>v<rei

TrXovario?
rjjmwv yurjre

6 6eo$ ev

Sia Tr\v avTOv ayaOoTJJTa KqSeTai

/uir}Te (fivo-ei

uoptwv OVTCOV avTOv

TKVCOV.

4678

(ii.

152.

617).

God has no natural relationship with us, as the founders of the This is true, whether He created us from Heresies try to prove. non-existence or fashioned us out of matter, since the one has no being whatever and the other is different in every way from God. Otherwise one must dare to say that we are a part of Him and of
I know not how a man who hath know one substance with God. to give ear to this, when he has regard endure could of God ledge For in that case (though unto our life with all its evil and confusion. to say it is blasphemy) God would partially be involved in sin, since the parts are parts of the whole and complementary of the whole,

But God, who by at all. and, if not complementary, are not parts rich in mercy," has care for us because of His goodness, nature is nor by nature His children. though we are neither parts of Him,
"

6.

ALL

MEN
KaOo
ov

BELONG TO
8iKaio<;

GOD
ov
Siafapei, eav re
TTOLVTCOV
/ULOVCDV,

A//CCUO? TOLVVV SiKaiov

VO/UUKOS
fl

earTiv

eav

re

"EXX^y"

yap

ILovSaitov

Se

Se TCOV eyvwKOTWV TraTtjp. avSpwTTCOv 6 6eos Kvptos, Trpoa-exea-Tepov

764

(ii.

455. 19-21).

Now
differ

one righteous man in point of righteousness does not from another, whether he be under the Law or a Greek.

294

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

is

For God is Lord of all men and not of the Jews alone, though He more intimately the Father of those who know Him.

17.

THE MANY WAYS

<T

OF

GOD
Oeo<f

yap avOpwTrwv
)

6 TravTOKpdrwp KtjSofievof
01/9

TOU?

TOVS Se aTrctXais, ecFTiv

eTrayyeXlai?
e7rtarTpe<f>i

crrj/ULtoi$

Tpa<TTioi$,

Se

riiriois

717)09

(TCDTrjpiav.

753

(**

444

10-13).

salvation

God, the Almighty, in His care by commandments, some by

for

threats, others

mankind, turns some to by signs and

portents, and yet others

by tender promises.

8.

THE MINISTRY
fj

OF

HEALING
6

ayaOo? TraiSayooyos, Stj/uuovpyri(ra$ TOV avQpunrov, o\ov

IOO-I

Se

aro<j>La,

KrjSeTai

Xoyo9 TOV Trar/ooy, o TOV TrXacryuaros KOI

1

crw^ta Kal i/^i/x^ aKefrat avrov o TravaKrjg r^9 avOpaoTTOTtiTOs iaTpos.

(i.

93. 16-19).
Instructor,

Our good

Wisdom,

the

Word

Creator of man, cares for His entire handiwork and, physician of humanity, heals both body and soul.

of the Father, the as the all-healing

19.

PROVIDENCE
(rooTriptav

yap
i

Trjv

TOV o\ov

TW

TCOV oXcov

Kvpiw
(iii.

TTOVTOL

SiaTTay/meva KOI KaOoXov KOI

eirl /u.epov$.

835

9.

2628).

Lord of the universe with

All things, both universally and in particular, are ordered by the a view to its welfare.

20.

FAITH

IN

THE DIVINE ORDER

avwOev
el$

Ilai/ra /mev ovv oiKOVojUieiTai

Ka\6v.

3^9

("

55-

15-16).
All things are administered from above for good.

SAYINGS
21.

AND EXTRACTS

295

THE PERVADING ENERGY

Trpoare\<TTepov
Y\

T#
l*.evu)v

KaOoXiKfl

TOV Oeov irpovola oia T&V

KIVOV-

KaO

viro/Baa-iv ei$

ra

eirl yue/oof?

SiaSiSorat

SpacrriKr) evepyeia.

817

(ii.

508. 18-20).
the
universal

In

Providence of

God

the action of force

is

successively transmitted through the things in particular.

more immediate motions on

to

22.

GOD
136

GOODNESS
ovSev

To
7rcu>Ta

Se ayaOov,

jj

ayaOov

ecrTtv,
(i.

aXXo

TTOICI

y OTL

<*)</)\ci.

apa

(txpcXei 6 Oeo?.
is

127. 1315).

That which
than beneficent.

good, by virtue of its goodness, cannot be other God, consequently, is the Benefactor of all.

23.
ju.v

PHILOSOPHY A GIFT
o 6ed$,

yap amo? TWV Ka\wv

r?? re
a)9

aXXa

rcov /mev
vecu?,

Kara
Se

a>?

SiaOijKr]?

r^9 TraXam? Kal r^?

TWV

KO.T eTraKoXouOtj/ma

r>79

0fXoiTO0/a?.
irplv
rj

ra\a

Se KOI Trpoyyov/mevcos

eSoOrj

rore

TOV

Kvpiov KoiXecrai KOI TOU?

cTraiSaywyei
?

yap

Kal avTtj TO

EiXXyviKov

a)?
rj

VO/ULO^

TOV<}

XyoicrroV.

7rpO7rapa(j-Kvd^i

TO LVVV
33 l

<pi\ocro<j>ia

TrpooSoTTOiovara TOV VTTO XptcrTOv TeXeiovimevov.

1

1
("

7-

35~

8. 5).

Now God
some, such
intention
ends.
;

is

the author of
the

all

as

Old Covenant and the New,

it

good things, but in the case of it is by primary

it is

in the case of others, such as Philosophy,

for

secondary

was even by primary intention that Philosophy was given to the Greeks, before the call of the Lord had been extended to them. For it was the Schoolmaster of the Greek race, So as the Law was the Schoolmaster of the Hebrews, unto Christ. then Philosophy is preliminary and preparative, giving him whom
Christ trains unto perfection a start upon the road.

Yet perhaps

296

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

24. CORRECTION, BUT

"E-TreTcu

NEVER VENGEANCE, COMES FROM GOD

#
<j>v(rei

6*e

ro>

aya$<w,

dyaOd?

eo-Ttv,

fj

njucroTrovypia.
(rj

Sto KOI KoXd^etv pel/

7r

avTov av
/ecu

OjULoXoyija-at/uLi

row? aTno-rov?

ayaOw

eir

a)0eXe/a TOV KoXao/u.evov,

/u.r) /3ovXe<r6ai.

e<TTi

yap yap

avTiTeivovTOs), Ti/uwpeia-Oai Se
Se
<TTIV

Ti/mcopta
crv/u.<j>epov

avraTrdSocns

KUKOV ewl TO TOV Tt/juapovimevov

eTTiOvjULijcrete

OVK av Se

Ti/mcopcicrOai
/.

o 3
1

vircp

TU>V

14

(i

4~ 10 )*

from the very nature of goodness, is inseparable For this reason I should admit that God good. For the punishes unbelieving, but not from a wish to retaliate. punishment is for good and for the benefit of the person punished, But retaliation since it is the correction of one who is refractory. is the requital of evil, inflicted for the advantage of him who retaliates.
Hatred of from one who
evil,
is

He who

teaches us to pray for those

retaliate.

who

use us despitefully could

never desire to

25.

REPENTANCE IN ANOTHER PLACE

rou?

Toim yap
/cora?
ev
7r\r)/uL/ULe\r]6ei(n

eTrpeirev Tfl Oela oiKOVo/u.lq

/ecu
TT/O 01770 UyUeVo?

aiav

/u.a\\ov
CTTI

rx7~
TO??

SiKaioa-vvfl

/Be/SittiKOTas

re

fjLeTavevotjKOTa^ KU.V ev

aXXw TOTTW Tvywcriv

-

eo/u.o\oTtjv

youjmevoi,

ev

TOIS

TOV Oeov

oi/ra?

TOV iravTOKpaTOpos /cara

oiiceiav eicda-TOv yvuxriv a-coOrjvai.

7^3 ( n 454* 2 3~~ 2 7)-

It

was

in

accordance with the divine scheme that those

who had

attained merit in righteousness, and had lived lives of excellence, and had repented of their sins, should find salvation, each according to
his

own

grade of knowledge, even though

it

did

made

their confession in another place.

They

happen that they were all within the

range of

God

Almighty power.
26.

GOD

IMAGE IN
Tt]V eiKOva

MAN
7rept<j>epovT$

Hyuer? yap, tyue??

TO)
OOVTI

e(rju.ev 01

TOV Oeov
TOO

ev

Kai

Kivov/mevu)

TOVT(p ayaXuaTi,
<TVV(TTIOV,

avOputTrw, CTUVOIKOV

eucova9
avdOrj/uLa

a-v/uL/3ovXov,

a-vvo/miXov,
TU>

arv/uiTraOrj,
(i.

yeyovajmev

Oew VTrep

Xpi<TTOv.

52

46.

1519).

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

297

it is, we, who in this living and moving figure, Man, bear about the image of God, an image that seems to share our homes, our counsels, our intimate thoughts, our hearths, our affections, itself affected for our sakes. are made a votive unto God for

We

We

image

Christ

sake.

27.

THE WRITING WITHIN THE SOUL

TOV Oeov aOdvctTOs avOpwiros,
TO. SiKaioarvvfl oiKoSo-

Ka\O9
,

VJULVO?

ev
ev

a>

\dyia

TW

aXrjOeia?

eyKeyap a/era i.
;

TTOV

yap
;

ar^povi V^Xtf

SiKaioavvtjv eyypaTTTeov
;

TTOV o.yairv]v

aiSca Se TTOU

TrpaoTtjTa Se TTOV

Tairra?,

ol/ut.a.1,

ra? 0e/a?
cro<j)ia.v

va7roa (f>payL<Ta/jivovs XP*1 TO??

efi OTIOVV

Tfl

^ uXtl KaXov afaTijpiov

yue/oo?,
Si*
f}v

TOV

/3lov

Tpaireia-i
vo/u.ieiv

op/mov

re r^v
IJLGV

avrrjv

cLKVjULOva

o-fOT^p/a?
TTCLTpt

aro<t>iav

ayaOol
oi

Trare /oe?

TCKVWV

OL TO)

7r/oocr(5e^|Oa/x>y/coTe9,

ctyaOol Se yovevcriv vloi oi

jULjULvr]fjLvoi

TOV vlov vevorjKOT$, ayaOol Se avope? yvvaiKwv

vv/u.(plov, ayaOol \e\VT put /mevoi. 84

TOV

Se
(i.

OIKCTUIV

Sea-TTOTai
2).

OL

r79 ecrxaT*;?

SovXeia?

76.

2377.
is

A
where
or love

noble

hymn
in

of

God

ness, with

the oracles of truth

man, immortal, built up in righteous For engraven upon his nature.

else, save
?

or reverence

the wise soul, can righteousness be engraven ? These surely are the divine or gentleness r ?

Scriptures which we must grave and seal upon the soul, deeming such wisdom a fair port of departure for whatever quarter of life the So shall course is set, and no less a haven of peace and safe arrival. and they who have run unto the Father be good fathers of children, to sons be the Son learned to know who have parents, good they and they who remember the Bridegroom be good husbands to wives, and they who have been ransomed from uttermost slavery good masters of servants.

28.

MAN BORN
]U.r]V

TO BECOME VIRTUOUS
expw,
K

ET
7T/00?

Traari v eiSevai

CIVTOVS KOLKelvo
CO(TT
u>

on

(j>vcrei

/mev

yeyovapev
TTpO?

GLpeTljV,

OV

\LV

CLVTW

yVTtj$, a\\a

TO

KTr/cratrOai

eTTiT^Seioi.
rj/JLlv^

\6yta \veTai

TO

TT/OO?

cnropovuevov

TTOTepov re AefO?

eirXaarOr]

A&V

r\

areXr/?

298
aXX
1

SAYINGS
ei

AND EXTRACTS
TO epyov KOI
evro\a<s ;

[lev
>

ctTeX>?9,

THW? reXelov Oeov areXe?

TTO)?

jULaXiarra

avOpcoTros

el

Se TeXeto?,

7rapa/3aivei

ra<s

aKovarovTai

yap
TT/OO?

/ecu

Trap fj/nwv ori reXeio?

Kara ryv

KaracrKevrjv OVK eyevero,

Sia(f>epei

Se

TO avaSea(T0ai

rtjv

aperrjv eTrtrrfSeios

TTOV Girl ryv apeTrjv yeyovevai eTrirriSeiov

Trpo? Trjv

yap KTWLV

fly

(3ov\Tai

crw^ecrOai.

Above

all,

are born for virtue, not so as to possess

they should bear in mind the fact that by nature we it from our birth, but with
its

an aptitude

for

acquisition.

By

this consideration

we

can solve

the dilemma of the Heretics, whether Adam was formed perfect or If imperfect, say they, how could the work of God, imperfect.

who

is

perfect, be imperfect, especially such a

if perfect,

how comes

his transgression of the

work as man ? commandments ?

But

We,

not created constitutionally per fect, but only with an aptitude for the reception of virtue. Certainly, for the pursuit of virtue, it makes all the difference to be born with
too, will

make

reply that

man was

an aptitude for its acquisition. originate our own salvation.

And

it is

God

will that

we

should

29.

TRUE BEAUTY
u>ov

To yap
elvai
/ecu

e/cacrTOf KOI (fivrov /ecu

/caXXo? eV ry e/cacrTOf apery

/ecu

<rvjUL/3e/3r)Kv.

av0pu)7rov Se apery SiKaLoarvvt]

/caXo?

c
/ecu

avSpeia KOI eiW/3aa.

apa avOpcoTros o Si/caio?

/ecu <riAX??/36V

o ayaOos, ovx o 7r\ovcrio$.

243

(i.

230. 11-15).
its

The

beauty of every plant and animal must be found in

particular excellence.

Man

excellence

perance and courage and piety. man who is righteous and temperate, and, in one word, good
to

righteousness and tem Beauty, therefore, belongs to the

is
;

not

him who has wealth.

30. IN PRAISE OF
Ta/u.tjrOi>

MARRIAGE
ei/e/ea /ecu
rjjj.iv
r*j<f

ovv

Trai/Tft)? /ecu rrj?

irarplSos
e</>

rwv

Trcu

cW
7rel

SiaSoxns Koi T^9 TOV /eoVyuof

Kal

TO ovov
01

<Tvvre\ei(x)(recD$,

yauov riva otKreipowiv

rov
"

Trottjrat

"^/xtTeX^"

KOI

aircuSa,

ficucapl Covert 6V

ajUL<pt6a\fj."

at

Se o-co/mariKal vocroi jma\i(rra

SAYINGS
TOV
ya.iJ.Qv

AND EXTRACTS
y
e/c

299

avayKaiov &eiKvvovcnv
fj

yap
TU>V

TW
777

yvvaiKos
<f>i\a)v

Kdi Ttjs Trapajuiovr]?

e/creVem ra?

aXXcov OIKCICOV KOI

a-vfjLTraOela
TO>

eolKev vTrepriOea-Oai Tr/oocr/ca/are/o^crei?,

KGLI

6Va>

Sia^epeiv
OVTL /caret

TrpOGeSpeveiv /xaXfcrra TTO.VTWV TrpoaipeiTai) KGU

"

ypa<pr]v

avayKaia

/3orj96$.

504

(ii.

190.

1523).

By all means we should marry, for the sake of our country, for the succession of children, and for the completion of the world s order so far as that depends on us. The poets speak in pity of the sort of marriage that is incomplete and childless, but give their And bodily ailments are the fruitful." blessing to one that is
"

For the affection of a proof of the necessity of marriage. wife and the zeal of her solicitude seem to surpass the assiduities of all other kinsfolk and friends. Her sympathy gives her the will So indispens to do more than the rest in the way of attentive care.
best able
is
"

she,

an help meet for

him,"

as the Scripture says.

31.
Se auro?

THE

EVILS OF POVERTY
KCU avrt] TCOV ai/ay/ccuW,
cnraarxoXeiv /Bidfa rai

Xoyo?
KOI

/ecu Trepl Trey/ay, eTrel

Ae
?

ya>

r>/9

Ka9apa$

aya/xa/OT7<na?,

Trepi
Si

TOV?

Tro/ofcr/xoi ?

SiaTpi/3eiv
TU>

avayKa^ov<ra

TOV

jmt]

oXov eavrov

ayaTrrjs ai/areOeiKora

0a).

573

n>

2 57

2226).

The

same consideration
its

the soul to withdraw

This, too, compels applies to poverty. interest from things that are needful, from

It drives the man, who contemplation, I mean, and sinless purity. has not entirely dedicated himself to God through love, to spend his time over ways and means.

32.
J/

ASTRONOMY
vu>

E/c

re av

Trjf aorTpovo/j.ia$ yfjOev aicopovfjLcvo? TCO

(rvvvifscoOri-

crerat

ovpavw

KOI T{J TrepK/topa

<TV/u.7repnro\riart)

tcrro/oaji/

aei

ra

deia Kal rr]v

TT/OO?

aXX^Xa

arv/mtytwiav.

7^

u<

47

Im

2 7~ 2 9)-

and he

a man s mind shall be lifted up from earth, dwell in heavenly altitudes, and move around with the revolution of the spheres, for ever contemplating the works of God

Through astronomy
shall

and the harmony of

their relations.

300

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS
LIFE

33.
Ke/or0a>

THE CHRISTIAN
et$

6V

(rot

TrdvTa

6eov Kal epya Kal Xo yot, KOI

TTVKVCO? eiri

dvd<j>pe

XyofcrTa) TO. cravTOv, KO.I

Oeov TpeTre

TV\V
TO>

Kal

TO

vdrj/ma eTrepetSe rfj

Xpicrrov Swd/mei uxnrep

dvaTravojmevov
7roXXa/c/9
CLTTO
JULCV

ev \iju.evt TLVL

Beta)

<PWT\

TOV
KOL

(T(0Tijpo$
1

7rda"r)$

XaAta? Te

KOLL

TT/aafea)?.

/mcO"

y/uepav

dv9pco7roi$
OJULOICOS

KOLVOV rtjv
>i/u-epa

creavTOv
fjir]

6ea) Se CTTI
<t>p6vri<riV)

Tr\i(TTOv ev VVKT\

Kal ev
ev\(*)v

yap

i/TTi/o? ere

7riKpaTiT(*) TTO\VS

rwv

TT/OO?

Oeov

re Kal

VJU.VCDV

Oavdrw yap
TOV

6 /xa/c/oo9 I/TT^O? e^a/xfXXo?.

TY\V

/xeroxo? X/ofcrrou

ael

KaOlcrracro

Oelav

avytjv /caraXa/x7ro^TO9 e

ovpavov

V<ppO(ruvr]

yap

earTO)

VOL

SirjveKrjs

KOI aVauo-TO? o XyOfcrro?Kal

Xue TOV r^? ^v\rj^ TOVOV ev

TU>

V(jo\ia

TTOTW

dveorcL,

LKavov 3e rjyov

o-co/maTi

TO x/ow(5e9.

(iii.

222. 13-25).

Let thy whole life, deeds and words alike, be dedicated unto God, and commit all thy aftairs to Christ. Turn thy soul frequently to God. Stay thy mind upon the power of Christ, finding a haven of rest from all talk or action in the divine light of the Saviour. By day share thy thoughts oftentimes with men, but most of all with God, by night and by day alike. Too much slumber must not master thee, to stay thy prayers and hymns to God, for long sleep is the match and mate of death. Have thy sure share in Christ, Who sends from heaven the divine radiance. For Christ must be Do not slacken the strings of thy thy constant and unceasing joy. soul by feasting and drinking without restraint, but be satisfied with
sufficient for thy

body

wants.

34.

THE SPREAD

OF THE GOSPEL
rj

Td\i
Oe iKrj
ov

fJ>ev

Srj

dvvTreppXqTW evvola re evTrpocriTW

Svvaju.t$

rj

7Ti\dju.\/sa(Ta Ttjv

yyv (rcoTypiov cr7rep/uaro9 eyeVX^cre TO

irdv.

yap

av

oi/Tft>9

ev 6\iy(*)
o^/sei

^pdvw TO&OVTOV epyov dvev

9ela$ KOfJuorjs

e^vvaev 6 Kupios,

KaTa<ppovov/u.evo<?)

epyw

TrpocrKvvov/uievos,

KaOdpcrio? Kal crooTripios Kal

ovT(*)$ 6eo$)
"

/u.ei\lxio?, 6 6eio$ Xoyo9, 6

fjv

(f>avepa>TaTOs

o Tip Sea TroTf) TWV o\wv e^iarcoOei^^ OTI

vlos

avTOV Kal

o Xoyo9 %v ev

TW

v
$ea>,

ovO ore TO irpcoTov

SAYINGS
Oei$,

AND EXTRACTS
rfjs

301

ouO ore TO avQpwirov

TT po<T(tiTrelov

avaXa/3a)v Kal crapta avcnrXa-

Gra/xeyo9

TO

crcoTrjpiov

Spa/ma

yvYivios

yap yv aywvKTTW

avOpoDTroTrjTOf VTTCKplveTO, ayvorj6et$ KOI rov TrXaa-yuaro? o-vvaycovicm is, Ta\L(rra

e

Sc

6*9 Trai/ra?

avOpwirov? SiaSoOelg OCLTTOV %\iov

/3ofX>7<Tea>9>

aur^? ayare/Aa?

TJ/9
tjv

TTCLTpLKrjS

patTTO.

jJ/XO/

7T\a/UI,\l^

TOV OeOV, oOeV T

7rapa<TTrj(ra/u.vo$,

auro9 Kal o?

?i/,

Si

wv eSiSaev KOI eveSeL^aro,

<T7rovSo<f>6po$

Kal

eiptjviKrj

7rl TTCLV

SiaXXaKTW ^al (rwrrjp rj/j.S)v Xoyo9, Trrjyrj fwoTrotoV* TO Trpoa-cojrov r^9 y^9 x e ei/o & ov 0)9 6x09 aVe^
<>V
?>

ra

Trai/ra

?(5>;

7reXayo9 yeyop

ej/

ayaOwv.

856

(i.

78.

824).

swiftness unsurpassed, and sped with favouring good-will, the Divine Power poured light upon the earth and filled the world

With

with the seed of Salvation. For never without divine co-operation would the Lord have in so short time achieved so mighty a result. He was despised in appearance, but He was worshipped in deed and He was Purifier, Saviour, the Most Gracious, the Divine Word, act. most evident and veritable God, made equal to the Sovereign of the universe, for He was His Son, and the Word was in God." Neither were the first prophecies of Him disbelieved, nor, when He took upon Him the person of man and fashioned His being in flesh to
"

play out the drama of humanity s salvation, did He pass unrecognised. He was the true champion and confederate of His handiwork, the

boon

so

rapidly distributed to

all

mankind,

rising

more

swiftly than

And with ease did He the sun from the very will of the Father. bring to us the light of God, convincing us of His origin and His
He is the sacred Herald and nature by His teaching and His signs. Reconciler and our Saviour Word, a life-giving Fount, a source of Peace, shed abroad upon all the face of the earth. Through Him the
universe has

now become,
35.

so to say, a very sea of good.

LIGHT AND UNITY

"

"

A/coiArare ovv
TIVCLS 6

"

61

fj.aKpdv"

a/couVare

ol

eyyvs

OVK cnreKpv&ri
ovSel?

Xoyo9

</>a)9

ecrrt KOLVOV, eViXa/uTre* Tracrfi/ avOpcoTrois

anrevcrwiuiev ei$

Kiju,/u.piog ev
9 /miav

\oya)

crwTiipiav,

e-jri

TY\V TraXiyyevecriav

ayaTTtjv crvvaxO^vat OL TroXXot /cara Trjv r^9 /u.ovaSiK*js overtax

evwviv

crTrevo-wiuiev

ayaOoepyovfJLevot avaXdyws evoTtjTa

rj

&avcft>
/

uei

v
l

CK^TOVVTC^ novaSa.
Sia<T7ropas

Se

K TTO\\(JOV evwari?
OCLK^V
/a/a

K TTO\V-

ap/jLOviav

\a/3ovcra

302
cvl

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS
Aoyo>

XP

VTtl Ka 1 SiSaarKoXta rw
A./3/3a"

Ttjv aXrfOeiav ava7ravoiu.vii,"

\eyova-a

"6

Tra-ny/o"*

o $eo9 Ttjv

<f>a)vr}v

Ttjv aXtjOivtjv ao-Traferat

TTpWTtJV Kap7TOVfJLVO$.

- J2

wapa TWV

O.VTOV

(I.

65. 2 $-66. 3).

j

Hearken ye that are far none is the Word hidden.

oft

hearken ye that are near.

is

He

the universal light.

From Upon all

men

His radiance

darkness.
haste in

falls. In the Word none knows Cimmerian Let us haste unto salvation, unto regeneration. Let us our numbers to the one assembly of the Feast of Love, in

accordance with the unity of the single Substance. Conformably to our blessings let us follow after unity, making quest of the good Monad. So the combination of many elements gathers a divine harmony from various scattered voices, and becomes one concordant strain, directed by one conductor and teacher, even the Word, and coming to rest upon the very note of truth, saying Abba, P ather." This is the true- cry, which God welcomes as the first-fruits of the His children. lips of
"

36.

THE SYMBOLISM
ama?

OF SCRIPTURE
TOV vovv
at
y/>a</>a/,

A/a 7roXAa9 Toivvv

TrpwTOV

eTTiKpijTrrovrai

/mev iva frryTiKoi

virdpywiJiev KOI Trpoa-aypvTrvw/uLcv ael

T#

TWV
rjv

(TWTrjplwv
ft)?

Ao yajy

evpecrei, eTreira
eTe/oa)?

OTI

/mrjSe

rof? aVaov TrpovrjKOV

voelvt

/my

/3\apiev

K8e^a/j.evoL TO. VTTO

TOV aylov

Trvev-

/xaro? crooTtjpiws

eiprjjuieva.

Sio dy TOI$

K\eKToi?

TU>V

TC CK

7r/<7Tew9

ef?

yvuxTiv eyKpiTOi?

T>jpovju.va

TO.

avOpwTrcw TOI$ qdyia TWV

Trpo</>

Teiwv /uLVcrTvpia

Tal<s

Trapa/SoXais eyKa\v7TTTai

7rapa/3o\iKos

yap

6 \apaKTt]p virapyei
a)? Koar/ULiKO? e/9

TWV

ypacfrwv, SIOTI
ij\6ev.

ical
(ii.

6 Kvpios, OVK

cov KOcrfJLiKOf,

avOpwTrov?

803

495* 1826).

For many reasons the Scriptures conceal their meaning ; primarily, with the aim of making us diligent and unresting in our study of the words of salvation, and, secondly, because it is not in the province of all men to examine their meaning, lest they should
receive hurt through a mistaken interpretation of words uttered by For this reason the sacred Mysteries the Holy Spirit for salvation.

of Prophecy are veiled in parables, and so reserved for chosen men and for those who are selected for higher knowledge from the grade For the fashion of the Scriptures is essentially parabolic, of faith.

SAYINGS
since even the Lord, though

AND EXTRACTS
He was
not of the world, came

303
among

men

as

though

He were

of the world.

37.

THE
TOL vir

DIFFICULTIES OF SIMPLE TEACHING

avrov TOV Kvplov SOKOVVTO. yTrXwa-Oai
ovSev rJTTOvos,
TT/OO?

Kou yap
TWV
eri KOI vvv

rou?

flViyjJLevwg vireipr]/ui.GVWv
7ri(TTd<r(*)$

aXXa
$e

TT Act 01/09

Ttj<?

evpi<TKTai
avrot<;

fied/meva Sid Tt]v

VTrep/BdXKOI
TO,

\ovo-av

rfjg

<f>povv<T(tis

ev

VTrep{3o\r)v.
6<TW

OTTOV

vo/u.io[jLva VTT ciVTOv Sioix@ai TO??

Kal
L

OLVTol<s

rots T^? /3aoTfXe/a?

TrAe/oi/o?,
/ULtjSe

TGKVOIS UTT avTOv KaXov/mevois eri XPf]

i>povTi$o$

TTOU

yLteW 7T/309

ye Ta So^avTO. TWV

/mev

aTrXw? e^evyvexOat
?

KO.L

Sia

TOVTO
CLVTO

ClKOV(TaVT(lOV,

O\OV

(5e

TO TeXo?

T^
Siavola?

Sia</>6povTd,

eV/ceTracTyUeVa

^e

9avju.a(TT(p KOI

virepovpaviu)

/3d9ei, OVK eTTtTToXa/a)?

Sex^^Oai raF? a/coa^ Trpocr^ei/, aXXa KaOte

TTVeVjULCl

TOV VOVV
.

7T

- 938-9

O.VTO

TO
(lli.

TOV

<Tft)T^/OO?

/COf

TO T/9

163. 20-31).

Indeed, the apparently simple teaching given by the Lord Himself to His disciples, by reason of the surpassing measure of its wisdom, is found to need not less but greater study than the truths And if teaching which we regard as fully symbolically suggested. explained by Him to the inner circle and to the true "children of the kingdom," as He called them, still makes demands on thought far more must we refuse a superficial hearing to those utterances which were apparently simple and therefore did not lead the hearers
;

to inquire further, for they make all the difference to the supreme end of our salvation, albeit their truth is hidden in the marvellous Rather must our mind fathom the and heavenly depths of wisdom. of His meaning. the secret and Saviour the of very spirit

38.

TRADITION
Si8a<TKa\ia,

M/a yap

TrdvTwv yeyove TWV airovToXtov coarwep

e KOI TrapdSocri?.

900

(iii.

76. 22--24).

The

tradition of

all

the Apostles, like their teaching, has been

always one.

304

SAYINGS
39.

AND EXTRACTS
MARTYRDOM
/ULCTO.

*]&OIKV ovv TO /mapTvpiov aTTOKaOapcris elvai ajmapTicov 596 (ii. 281. 25-6).

Martyrdom then may be regarded

with glory.

as

cleansing

away of

sins

40.
EtVJ

MANY MANSIONS
KOI
juLiarOol

yap Trapa Kvptw

579
Lord
(ii.

KOI /moval TrXe/oi/e? /car ava-

\oyiav

/3icov.

264. 12-13).

With
sponding

the

are

many rewards and many

mansions, corre

to the character of our lives.

41.

I,

YET NOT

AXXa
Oeiov

KCU ai TCOV evapeTCov avOpcoTrwv eTrivoiai

TTOO?

KCITO,

cwivoiav

Oeiav yiyvovTat, SiaTtOe/mevw

T^? tyv\ri$ KOI SiaSiSo/mevov TOV

ev
/mepei

OeX^/xaro?

ra? avOpcDTrlvas ^v^a^-) TWV

?

Oeioov

\eLTOvpywv

<rv\\ajUL/3avoju.V(jov

ra?

Toiavra?

SiaKOVia?.

822

(ii.

513. 2-5).
thoughts of good
in

The
God,

men

correspond with the thoughts of

some way receives an influence and the Divine Will permeates the souls of men, God s particular ministers mean
as the soul

time co-operating in such service.

42.

ON DRAWING NEAR
$aXarT#
Se
eKelvrjv

TO

GOD
\KOV<TI

Ka$ct7re/Q ovv ol ev
ju.v Tt]v

airo ay/cupa? TOVOV/ULCVOL

7ria"7ru)VTat,

ayKVpav, OVK
ovrw<s

aXX

CCLVTOVS eirl Ttjv

TOV yvwcrTLKOv fiiov eTTLo-TrwjULevoi TOV Oeov ayKvpav, eXaOov eaurou? 7rpO(ray6ju.evoi TT/OO? TOV Oeov Oeov yap 6 OepaTrevwv eavTOV OepaTrevei. ev ovv e OewprjTiKW /3iw eavTOv
ol /cara
TU>
TI<S

OprjcTKevGov

TOV Oeov Kal Sta T^?

ay/co?.

iSlas eiXi/cpivov?

KaOdp
2)

TOV Oeov ayiov

633

(ii.

315* 2 7~3 ID

As men
not draw
it,

riding at anchor

on the sea pull at the anchor, but do but draw themselves towards the anchor, so they who

SAYINGS
in the
selves

AND EXTRACTS

305

Gnostic

life

more near

to

draw upon God, do unconsciously bring them God. For he who does God service serves

himself.
his

So in the contemplative life a man careth for himself in devotion to God, and by the purity and sincerity of his own nature has the holy vision of God s holiness.

43.

WITHOUT AND WITHIN

TO
crooywa)

TOVT
TJ7?
19

(sc.

ecmv
*Lv

e^coOev
el?

wiv

7rpi/3e/3\rjiu.vov

KOO-^OV irapoSov 7rpo(pacri,

ei<re\9eiv

TO KOIVOV TOVTO
evoiKei 6

TrcuoVu-

Tripiov
KGtl

SwrjOoD/mev

aXX

evoov

K/OUTTTO?

Trarrjp

6 TOVTOV
(iii.

Tret??

6 V7rep

rjfjLwv

a7ro6avcov KOI JUL0

rjjuiwv ai/acTTce?.

954

182. 12-16).

The body is an outward form thrown around us to facilitate our entrance into the world, so that we may be able to find admission But within us the Father has His to this common school-house. secret abode, and His Son, Who died for us and rose again with us.
44.

THE KINGDOM TAKEN

ecrriv

BY FORCE
elvai /3ia6ju.e6a,

Toy

etvoLL

KaXol KCU ayaOoi eveKa Xpicmavol

"

ori lULaXicrra
KOI

/3ta<TTU>v

fj /3a<ri\eia,"

e/c

fyrria-etos

KOL /xaO^oreo)?

arvvaa-KYicrew
(ii.

re\eia<s

TO

yevecrOai

/3acrtXea

KapTrovjuievcov.

818

509. 5-8).
virtue and goodness

For the sake of

to be Christians.

we

are

drawn with violence

"

For the kingdom belongs

specially to

the

men

of

from quest and reap the fruit of kingly character violence," of and training. perfectness learning

who

45.

THE WELCOME
0X1??

Ilaim yap
TT/oo?

TO>

/xer aX^Oe/a? e

r^9 KapSia?

TOV Oeov avewyaa-iv at Ovpai KCU S^crai

jmeTCtvoovvTa.

Tpi<rd<TV.evo<s

vlov

a\r]6u>$

957

"5*

I4"

1
")*

To every one who turns in sincerity with all his heart to God, the doors are thrown open and the Father with threefold joy welcomes His truly repentant son.
VOL.
II.

20

306

SAYINGS
46.

AND EXTRACTS
AMARANTH
ra>

yap
($

/caXo?

7re7TO\lTVIULV(p

Toy a^apavTOv arre^avog aTro/cetrat TO aV0O$ TOVTO yrf /ScKTTafclV OV Ke^WprjKev

eTr/crraraf ovpavos.
is

JULOVOV

avTO

Kap7ro<j>opeiv

214

(i.

2O2. 69).

up Earth has not the power to bear alone knows the secret of its growth.
noble
life.

The

fair

crown of amaranth

laid

for the

man

of

fair

and

this flower.

Heaven

47.
E*>7

PERFECT PEACE
rj

av

YI

T\eia

eiprjvo7rolri(ri$

eir\

Travrl

TW>

crvjui/BatvovTi

arpeiTTOv

<f>v\a<T(rov(Ta

TO

eipqviKOV, ay lav

re Kal Ka\tjv
TT

Trjv

Xeyovcra, ev
Si
rj<s

eTricrTfj/mu Oeiaov

Kal avOpcoTrlvcw

pay /ULOLTWV

/ca^
Ka\\i<TTr]v

ra?

eV

rw

/coV/xw evavTLOTrjTas ap/JLOvlav

/cr/crea)?

i.5 81

u 266. 15-19). (
the perfection of
"

That would be

"

peacemaking

which should

preserve our peace undisturbed at any accident, and esteem the world as a holy and beautiful scheme, and rest in understanding of things divine and human, whereby it can regard the contrarieties in the world s order as the admirable harmony of creation.

48.

SAYING OF THE LORD

e(0$

Ou

TrauVeTCU

rjT(*)Vi

av

evpfl

evpow

<Se

6a/u./3r]6ria

Tai)
("

6a/ui/3r]6el?

Se /BaariXevcrei,

/3a<ri\v<Ta$

Se eTravaTrarjffCTai.

74

389. 14-16).

He who
shall

seeks shall not stay until he find.

;

When
j

wonder
have

when he wonders he

shall reign

when he

he finds he reigns he

shall

rest.

49.
"

THE GATES
y
Ovpa"
<pt](ri

OF REASON
TTOV
rjv

Eyo>

yap

eijun

cKjULaOetv Set

vor\<rai

Qe\Yi<racri

TOV Qeov,

OTTCD?

q nlv a6poa$ TWV ovpavwv avaireTaa-^ ra?

TrvXay"

\oyiKal
(i.

yap

at

TOV \6yov

TrvXai, Tr/crrea)?

avoiyvvjmevai

K\iSi.g-io

10. 12-15).

SAYINGS
"

AND EXTRACTS

307

am

the

door,"

He

understand God,

we must

This door, if we would says somewhere. learn to know, that He may throw open

to us abundantly the gates of

are gates of Reason,

For the gates of the Heaven. and they open by the key of Faith.

Word

50.

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE INSEPARABLE

TIV\

IL(TT/ TOLVVV rj yvwvis, yvuxTTr] Se rj iriams 9eia TC KOI avTaKO\ov6la ylverai. 436 (ii. 121. 7 8).

aKO\ov6la

So by a divine sequence and counter-sequence knowledge becomes matter of faith and faith matter of knowledge.

51.
r

THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

TOU euayyeX/ou yvwcris e&ytja-is
(ii.

yap

19

X/ofo-roi/ TriarTts /ecu y

eo-Tt

TOU

VOJULOV

Kcu

7r\rip(jo<ri$.

625

307. 33-34).

For

faith in

are the interpretation

Christ and the higher knowledge of the Gospel and fulfilment of the Law.

52. ovv

PROPORTION

TO SovXov

o)?

Kvpiov

KCU.

qyejuLovci rfyua,

cr<f>dX\eT(u

r^?

769

(ii.

460. 16-18).
deals

Whoever

with the particular

is

and esteems that which

slave as

as though it were universal, Lord and Master, misses truth.

53.

KNOWLEDGE

Kal

IJ.YI

yap
soul

SvvdjULei? rfjs

rvyx^vei Xoyi/c^? ei? TOVTO aOavaaiav Iva Sia T?? yya)crea>9 eV re KOI opfj.rj. 774 ( u 4^- l I I 4J*}

yvacris iSuofJLa

^v\^

e7riypa<j>ij.

a^w

V^^XW

yvuxri?

take

it

that

knowledge

is

a characteristic of the reasonable

prepared for it by discipline, so that through knowledge it may be entered on the lists of immortality. For knowledge and impulse are both faculties of the soul.

when

308

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

54.
<&i\o<TO(pla

PHILOSOPHY, FAITH, KNOWLEDGE

tie
Y]

IStXXrjviKrj

otov TrpoKaOalpei KOI Trpoe6lei rrjv

rrjv yvaxriv eiroiKoSo^ei
tj

tyvxyv

el<s

TrapaSoxyv

Tr/crrea)?,

e^ #

aXrjueia.

839
tion

(iii.

14. 20-22).

is a kind of preparatory cleansing and habituaof the soul for the reception of faith, and upon that "the erects the fabric of knowledge. Truth

Greek philosophy
"

55.

THE QUEST

OF

TRUTH
evroway
cr^aX-

Ae
\earOai

<5

otyuaf,

TW

TJJ?

aXtjOeias epa(rrfj ^t/X**?^

yap
(iii.

avdyKr] /mey terra TOU? /xey/a-rof?

eyxetpovvras

Trpdy/uLaariv.

890

67. 3-5).

P or of surety the lover of truth needs a well-knit soul. are liable to undertake the who greatest enterprises necessity they the greatest disasters.

Of a

56.

THE UNITY
Travrl TO.

OF
fjLepij

TRUTH
(rvjULTravra, KOLV

Ara/o KOI
ovv

ev

ra>

KOCT/ULO)

Siafapqrai
ovru)<s

TTpos a\\r]\a, ryv TT/OO?

r\

TO o\ov OLKeiorrjra Sia^vXdrrei.

</>i\o(ro(pia

re /3dp/3apo$

r\

re EAAjym:^

ryv aiSiov d\t]6eiav

(TTrapay/uiov riva, ov r??

oi/ro? ael

AfcWerou yaf^oXoy/a?,
6 Se

rrjs Se

rov \6yov rov

crvvOel?

6eo\oyla$

TreTroirjrai.

ra

Siypri[j.eva

avOt?

KOI

evo7roiii<Ta$

reXeiov rov \6yov

aKivSvv(*)<j

ev

i<r&

ori Karo^serai

rrjv aXijOeiav.

349

(ii.

36. 27-37.

2).

the parts, even though differing from one In the universe Thus it is that their maintain another, congruity to the whole.
all

the Barbarian

memberment

and the Greek philosophies have made a sort of dis of the eternal truth, not of the Dionysus of mythology, He who but of the divine knowledge of the ever-existing Word. reunites the several fragments and perfectly unifies the Word shall
l

surely without

fail

behold the truth.

1

Sc.

Old Testament.

SAYINGS
57.
AJJTLKOL CK

AND EXTRACTS
?
"

309

KNOWLEDGE OR SALVATION
TOV Oeov
Tip
croi

Trpocrcoirov
Sworco

Kvpiw \e\KTai
vov"

eurocrat

Trap

CJULOV

Kai

eOvy Ttjv K\r)povoiu.iav

aireia-Oai
T*\V

a iTt]/ma TO
crcoTrjpiav

ftaa-i\iKWTaTOv
f

SiSdarKcw
y/u.ei$

TWV dvOpwTrwv
KTr]oru)fj.eOa

iva

Stj

KXrjpovojUL^arco/uiev KOI
eveicev,

yap XP e
yevrjTai,

TWOS

T%

eTncTTtyU^

<pi<rOai

TOV Kvpiov. Iva JJLOI ToSe yevrjTai KOI ToSe jm.r] r^? Trep] TOV Oeov OVK iSiov yvcoa-rj

TiKOV) OLTro^pr]

S* otuTft) OLITIOI

T^? Oewpias

yvuxTts

avTri"

ToXyU^cra?

yap
voeiv

e tTroiju.

civ,

ov Sia

TO

(rcp^ecrOai j3ov\ea-9ai

T^V yvuxriv aipecreTai

6 Si avTyv Trjv Oeiav

CTricrTij/uiyv

/meOeTrcov Trjv yvuxriv

TO

jmev

yap

K crvvacTK^crea) }

ei$

TO

act voeiv CKTeiveTat,

aoia<TTaTOV

TO Se

aei voeiv, ovcria

TOV yivuxTKOvTO?
Oeoopia,

/caret

avaKpaariv
el

yevojmevr) Kat

didio?

fwcra VTrocTTaa-ig imevei.

TW
ev

yvaxTTiKa))

TTOTepov

yovv \(r6ai BovXoiTO,

Tf?

KaO

vTrdOea-iv TrpoOeitj

Tt]V yvuxriv

TOV Oeov

r]

TY\V crcDTrjpLav Tr\v aiwviov, e it] Se

TavTa

Kex^pto-fJLeva (TTOLVTO? ju.a\\ov

TavTOTrjTi OVTO), ovSe KaO^ OTIOVV Sta-Tacras

Oeov, 01
avTrjv
aipeTrjv

\OIT dv Tyv yvwcriv

TOV

Kpivas eTvai Trjv eTrava/3e/3r]Kviav Ttjg

Tr/a-rea)? Si

dyaTryv

el? yvuxriv iSioTtjTa.

625-6
"

(ii.

308. 16-33).

Ask of me and I represented as saying to the Lord, the heathen as thy inheritance," teaching us that it was the most royal request for Him to ask without price for the find the Lord our heritage and our so that we salvation of

God

is

will give thee

men,

may

the other hand, it is no mark of the Gnostic to "that I may knowledge of God for some advantage, itself is of him For that." higher knowledge gain this or avoid For I would make bold to say, a sufficient motive for contemplation. the desire of salvation that he, who follows that it will not be
possession. desire the

On

through

after

itself, knowledge for the sake of the divine of contemplation is expanded knowledge his choice. For the act and this state, becoming by practice into the state of contemplation,

science

will

make

the very being of the Gnostic and through indissoluble intercourse at last his living and abiding forms a constant activity of vision,

At any rate, if we imagine anyone propounding to the Gnostic which of the two things he would choose, the knowledge of God or eternal salvation, and these two things were distinct without a moment s hesitaidentical though in reality they are
personality.

310
tion he

SAYINGS

AND EXTRACTS

would choose the knowledge of God, deeming the distinctive character, that results from faith and rises through love into higher knowledge, on its own account desirable.

58.

THE CHARACTER

OF THE GNOSTIC
ai/ef//ca/co?,

QOev

riiJLepos

KCU Trpao? ae/, evTrpoariTO?, euaTrai/T^ro?,

av<TTt]p6$

evvvveioriTOs,
e*V

ovros
e/9

rumiv

avcrnipos
(ovSafifl

OVK

TO

aSid(j>9opov

JULOVOV,

a\\a

KCU

TO aireipacrTOV

yap

evS6(Ti/JLOV

ovSe aXwa-fyUOV jjSovy re KOI XUTT^ rrjv eav

6

^vyyv
/u^(5

TraplcrTrjcnv),

Xo yo?

Ka\r],

aK\ivt]<}

yev6/u.vos

OTIOVV Tof?
TropevecrOai
TTCLVTCL

yUeTao-TCtTft)?

TretyvKev

TO SIKCUOV

ev /xaXa Tray/caXco? StoiKi(r9at

ra

KOI

TO

afAeLvov

aei Tr\v TrpOKOirrjv Trpotevai

1

TCII?

av
a)? eiireiv

eTr

avTO

a<piKO)VTai

TO ayaOov,

"

apeTrjv eXojmevais w
eirl

irpoOvpois
yevo/mevai.

TOV TraTpo? Trpoa-exw TW /xeyaXa) ap\iepel

34. 7-17).

858

(iii.

is always kindly, gentle, accessible, courteous, forbearing, a of good heart and clear conscience and rigorous life, so rigorous that we find him beyond the reach not only of corruption, but even

He

man

of temptation, keeping his soul at every point unyielding and At the bidding of the Word impregnable to pleasure or to pain. he is an unbending Judge, making no concessions whatever to the passions or the feelings, walking with sure steps along the path of He is surely convinced that the universe nature s righteousness. is admirably administered, and that for the souls who have chosen virtue the course of life is a continuous advance towards better
the absolute goodness, arriving at things, till they reach at length the vestibule of the Father, in proximity to the Great High Priest.

59.
imev

His PRAYERS

ovv yv(tiarTiKO$
GTOI/ULOS
rj

Si

V7rep/3o\r)v 6arioTt]TO$
ev~xy

/J.YJ

CUTOV/JLCVOS Tv\eiv.

yap

ctTra? Kal OfJLtXia TT/OO? Oeov, KO.V

KaBapo$

jj

a/xayoT^ctTft)^, TTOLVTCOS ov

/3ov\Tai TevgcTai.

875-6

(iii.

52. 21-24).

By

reason of his surpassing holiness the Gnostic would rather

SAYINGS
pray

AND EXTRACTS
without

311

without
life
is

whole
sin

receiving than receive prayer and converse with

God, and

if

For his praying. he be free from

he

shall surely receive

what he

desires.

60.

WHAT WE

SHOULD ASK IN PRAYER

Teve<r6ai

A.VTIKO. ovSe ev^eTai rvx^iv TCOV TflSe 6

TreTrefOTxeVo?

rwv

OVTCOS ayaOcov, exetrOai Se ael rns

Tni/36\ov KOI Kara p6 tor iKrjs

a>?

TT/o-reft)?.

Kai Trpo?

TOia-Se

Tra/XTro XXou?

OTL fMaXiarra

O/ULOIOVS

avrw
TCLl

yevearOai ev^erai^ eis

(Tft)T>}/OfO9

S6av TOV
TW
a-OOTrjpl

6eov,

37

/car eirlyvaxriv reXeiov-

ya/3 Ti9 O

o/J.OlOV/ULVO$ 9 6/9

OVOV avOpCD-

(fivcrei

\a>pria-ai

rrjv eiKova

6efJii$ 9
5"

aTrapaSdrcos ra Kara ra?

cov.

77^

u<

47-

11 )-

He who is persuaded that he will find the true good will not pray to find earthly blessings, but rather for the preservation of his
correct and effectual faith.
possible

He

will pray, besides, that as

many

as
is

may become

like

himself to the glory of God, which

by our fuller knowledge. For he who is acquir ing the Saviour s likeness, in so far as human nature is suffered to receive this image, has himself something of the Saviour in him,

made

perfect

never deviating from

the

right

life

which

is

according

to

the

Commandments.
61. LIFE A FESTIVAL
"A??

Se o /3/o? avrov Travriyvpi?

life is

ay la.

860

(iii.

37. 2-3).

All his

a holy Festival.

62.

THE

STABILITY OF GNOSTIC CHARACTER

TrepiVTao-ews
e^ireSo^
e7nc7T??/A>7

Tavry

ovSe-n-ore

yevo^v^
Kal

rfjs

iSiag
*}

e^eo)?

yvcoa-TiKo? egia-Tarai.
r^o"t9,

yap
J
-

Kal ayuera^X^ro?

TOV ayaOov
-jrpay^arwv

9elu>v

av6pu>7Tia)v

874

(Hi.

5-

2 7-5

O-

his

Thus no outward own habit and

is

disposition.

circumstance ever deflects the Gnostic from For the scientific possession of
in

and unalterable, consisting of things human and divine.

Goodness

fixed

the understanding

3 i2

SAYINGS
63.

AND EXTRACTS
S

THE LORD

DAY
Stair pa^djmevo? KVptaKtjv

Gyro? evToXyv

rrjv

Kara TO evayyeXiov

GKeivrjv T*IV rjfjiepav Trotei, orav a7ro/3aXX# (pavXov vorjjuia KCU yvcocrriKov 877 (iii. 7T/ooo-Xa/3fl, rrjv ev CLVTW TOV Kvplov avdarTaartv Sod(av.

54. 17-20).
a character, in performance of the precept of the Gospel, the regards day on which he repels a thought of evil or receives a deeper truth as a true day of the Lord," giving glory to the
"

Such

resurrection of the

Lord within him.

64.
"

STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS

"

Arex^w?

^eVo?

yap

Kal TrapeiriStj/uLOs

ev

TW

/3/o>

Travrl Tray

OVTOS, O? 7r6\lV OIKWV TCOV KaTOL T*JV 7TO\tV

9av/uLaoju,V(tii>,

KaT(pp6vrj<TV

Trap CL\\O19
fj.rj

Kal KaQairep ev eptj/mia Tfl TroXei /3ioi, iva

r\

6 TOTTO?
(iii.

avrov avayKa^fl, aXX*

4-8).

Trpoalpearis

Seucvvfl SiKatov.

878

55.

all his life. stranger and pilgrim a he in those features of life which are so despises city Living city In the city he lives as in a wilderness, admirable to other eyes.
is

Truly such an one

but a

"

"

admitting not the mastery of the place, but letting

his will declare

him

just.

65. RESULTS
/LAW

Trovos

TrapfjXOev,
<Se

fjievei

Se

TO KaXov, KOL TO 792

(ii.

/u.ev

ySv

/caraXe/Trerat, ai/a/xao-crerat

TO al^xpov.

484. 9-10).
is

The

labour

passes, the
is

prize abides.

That which

sweet

remains, that

which

foul

is

wiped away.

66.

OUR DESTINY
ecru

AXX

eKTTovei KOI /my a-TroVa/xye*

yap

olo? OVK eXTr/fet? ovS

eiKaarat Svvaio av.

157

49- 22

23).
shalt

on and grow not weary, for thou hast neither hope nor power to fancy.

Work

be such as thou

SAYINGS
67.

AND EXTRACTS
OF LIFE
/3aSioi>Ta$

313

THE JOURNEY

Ov
Set,

Set Se

dpOevras /merareOrjvai, a XXd

T^? (rrevw SteWovra?
6Sov.

d(f>iKe(T0ai

ol

Sia

Tracrrjs

627

(ii.

309. 18-19).

our journey s end, may not be taken up and transported to the whole distance of on thither travel but must foot, traversing the narrow way.

We

APPENDIX
THE PERSECUTION OF

A.D.

202-3

IT is generally allowed that the persecution of the Church under Severus in the years A.D. 202-3 was the cause of Clement s departure from Alexandria. It will be well to examine somewhat in detail the
the events which so suddenly interrupted Clement s conduct of the Catechetical School; drove him, never to return, from the city in which he had found or made his opportunity ; and, possibly,

character of

brought the Stromatds to their incomplete termination.

Persecution, varying in degree and intensity, depending more on conditions than on imperial policy, seems to have gone on throughout the reign of Severus. The measures taken in A.D. 202-3
local

were not so much a new departure, or a special outbreak, as rather an aggravation of conditions which existed previously and continued
afterwards.
(a) Before A.D.

wrote his

Ad Martyres^ Ad
Christians
are

202 we have the following evidence. Tertullian Nationes, and Apologeticus about A.D. 197.

These

all

imply that conditions of persecution were prevalent.

said
to
.

The

imprisoned

escape, at
.
.

least

temporarily, the

greater violence outside: praestat career Christiano,

"vacas

jam

et

a persecutione.
subituri estis
"

Hoc
2).

quod eremus
"

Prophetis."

(Ad Mart.,

They must expect The existing laws

"Christianum

to suffer

bonum agonem
(Ad Nat
.,

(#., 3).
:

against unauthorised religions were set in motion

leges"
i.

puniunt

6).

The

"Name"

alone

was a

sufficient accusation:

"nomen in

causa

est"

(#., 3).
"prima

Sometimes
obstinatio

the further charge of disloyalty would be added:

est,
. .

quod

irreligiosi

dicamur

in

Caesares"

(#.,

17).

Provincial

governors were pressed

by the populace to condemn those accused:

THE PERSECUTION OF
"

A.D.

202-3

sed hoc agite, boni prsesides, meliores multo apud populum, si illis immolaveritis Some governors, however, (Apol.^ 50). were themselves actively hostile Vigellius Saturninus, who held office
Christianos
"

in Africa in
3).

A.D.

Clement
:

hie gladium in nos egit" (Ad Scap., in the Protrepticus^ possibly written early in the reign of

198,

"primus

Severus, or even before, speaks of the hostility of the crowd to Christian teachers rov avOpoHrov TOV #eov SIWKOVCTIV </>iA.av#pw7ra)? Kar^ovvra
. . .

The activity of Herminianus aTravOpwTrus eTrt^etpovcrtv (82). in Cappadocia, stimulated as it was by the conversion of his wife, may
a,7roo-<aTTeiv

perhaps belong also to this period.

it

Tertullian

(Ad

Scap., 3)

seems to

of Byzantium in A.D. 196. There is only late place evidence (Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, i. 27) that Irenaeus died as a martyr about this time. It is far more probable that he fell
before the
fall

a victim, though not for his faith, in the common vengeance which Severus exacted from the city of Lyons after his victory over Albinus
in A.D.

romain^

Aube, Les Chretiens dans V empire 7, 7: been suggested, too, that Victor, Bishop of Rome, was a martyr about this date (Fuchs, Severus, 75), but there is
197 (Herodian, It has p. 98).
in.,

no direct evidence to justify the and Victor out of account, it is

supposition. Leaving, however, Irenaeus sufficiently clear that in the earlier years of Severus, particularly about A.D. 197-8, there was persecution, inter mittent, local, uncertain, arising mainly from the hostility of the populace

or the attitude of the Governor.

s

It is

not directly associated with the

Emperor action before the year A.D. 202, but the number of victims must have been considerable to judge by Tertullian s language in his
Apologeticus.

Plures efficimur, quoties metimur a vobis" (50) implies more than an occasional martyr. So far as general causes were at work, we may reckon the rapid growth of Christianity under Cornmodus (H.E., v. 21); the removal of Marcia from the imperial court; and the generally troubled condition of the Empire until Severus had
"

made

his position secure. the () After A.D. 202-3, as before,

amount

of persecution seems

considerable.

It is Tertullian s Scapulam may one condemned had he action s the already ; occasioned by governor More victims the to of Mavilus amphitheatre. Adrumetum, Christian, were clearly to be expected. The same writer s De Fuga in Persecutione It may be as early as A.D. 203, or as late as is very variously dated.

Ad

be dated A.D. 212.

In any case it relates to a period in which persecution was Christians had to flee from one constant, though not specially acute. Some could escape by flight. other the on another hand, to they ; city Christianus pecunia salvus est could safety purchase too, times, they
213.
"

"

316
(De

APPENDIX

Fugci) 12), though the stricter sort thought this an unworthy evasion. In Cappadocia, or some other eastern province, Alexander, Clement s pupil, seems to have been kept in prison for several years (H.E., vi. u). In Alexandria several pupils of Origen suffered the extreme penalty (#., 4) and their execution must be dated some time later than

instruction from

meanwhile Origen had recommenced the catechetical which Clement had been driven, and had evidently gathered a considerable number of pupils around him. Thus the conditions after A.D. 202-3 are much the same as before. There is no entire cessation of persecution ; on the other hand, it is not Christians with an ambition for martyrdom could specially acute. always attract attention, but there was no need to "leap upon death" or to "challenge the wild beast" (cp. Clem., 571, 598; and the words
A.D. 202-3, since

of Arius Antoninus, governor of Asia, w SeiXoi ct fleXere a7ro$vjo-/civ, Kp>7/Avovs rj [3po\ov<s ^T, Ad Scap.) 5). But neither in this nor in the
,

earlier period is there

any direct reference

to the will or

command

of

Severus as the cause of such measures as were actually taken.

II

From
no
clearly

these general conditions, which show great local variety but marked difference as between one year and another, there

does, however, emerge the special attack of the authorities in the year The A.D. 202-3, which is usually set down to the initiative of Severus.

evidence with regard to this is as follows (a) Spartian, writing of the period at the close of the Emperor s Parthian campaign, states that Severus, naming Caracalla as his
:

colleague, entered

upon the consulship (A.D. 202) in Syria: "post hoc In itinere dato stipendio cumulatiore militibus Alexandriam petiit. fieri sub Palaestinis plurima jura fundavit. Judaeos gravi poena vetuit. Idem etiam de Christianis sanxit. Deinde Alexandrinis jus bouleutarum
dedit,"

etc.

(b}

Eusebius
:

(Severus Imperator, 16, 17). sets down the persecution

8c Kal
^J3rjpo<:

to

the

direct

action

of

Severus
fjiv
TO>V

Os
vTrep

8i(oy/xov

Kara

TOJV eKKXrycriuiv IfCivct,

Xa/j-rrpa

evcre/^ctas d^Xr/Tcov
ITT

Kara travra TOTTOV aTrcreXetTO

TOJV
air

//.dXicrra 8

(TrXrjOvfv

AXe^avSpeta?
CTTI
a><77T/)

AiyvTrrov Kal
cov
/

aTracTTys d/otcrTtvSryv
<rra8ioi/
.
. .

avroOi

//.eytcrTov

d#X??Ta>v

SCKUTOV

ftev

yap

tTret^e

2e^po?

rrj<s

/?aoriXei as ero?,

Se
rrjv
VI.

AXcai Speias
7ri(TKO7rr)v
I,

Kal TI}S XOITT??? Alyvirrov Aarros, raiv 8e avroOi

vewort TOTC /xera

lovXiavov Ary/x^rpios

vTretX^ei (H.E.,

2).

THE PERSECUTION OF

A.D.

202-3

31?

(f) Sulpicius Severus, writing half a century later than Eusebius, reckons this as the sixth persecution, though he does not attribute the responsibility for it so directly to Severus: "sexta deinde Severo imperante Christianorum vexatio fuit ; quo tempore Leonidas,

Origenis
Sacra,

pater,
ii.

sacrum

in

martyrio

sanguinem

fudit,"

etc.

(Historia

32).
(d)

A.D.

Hippolytus probably wrote his DC Antichristo shortly before 202-3, an d his Commentary on Daniel soon after this date (see Harnack, Geschich. der altchr. Lit., n. (ii.), 215, 250). Both these works

were written during a time of persecution, though this was apparently more severe at the date of the latter work. The end of all things seems to the writer to be near ; the judgment is at hand ; the eschatological
outlook
is marked tSw/zei/ rotVw TO, o-v/x/^oro/xeva (de Antic., 29) ; the writer expects TT)V iir^p-^o^v^v 8ia TTV/OOS Kpta-Lv (Com. Dan., iv. 60). All such statements, even if less lurid than those of the Apocalypse, are
:

and danger. afforded us Eusebius (e) by (H.E., vi. 7) with regard to the historian Judas, who brought his narrative to a close at the tenth year of Severus and clearly shared the expectation that the
entirely in keeping with a period of special stress

Similar evidence

is

end of

Eusebius says of him, 05 /cat rrjv things was at hand 6pv\\ovfJi^vrjv TOV AvTt^ptcrTOU TrapoiKTiav 77877 TOT TrA^cria^eiv OKTO* ourw
all
cr<o8pu>s

17

TOV

KO,$ 77/x,wv

TOT

Siwy/xov

KiVr/crts

ras TWV

7roAA.a>v

a,j/Tapa,TTe

Stay otas.

not, however,

(/) Potamisena (H.E., vi. 5) was one of the martyrs of this period, till some time after the outbreak of the persecution, for

Laetus was governor of Alexandria

Christians
cp. ib.,

(g)

when the movement against the commenced, whereas Aquila had succeeded him (H.E., vi. 5 2) when Potamisena suffered. Perpetua, Felicitas, and the other members of their company
;

suffered

203. They seem, unlike to converted Christianity, and recently therefore were more directly affected by the order of the Emperor, which forbade the Church to add to its membership. (Note fieri in

martyrdom

in Africa
all

early in A.D.

Potamisena, to

have been

Spartian

account and compare Tertullian

Apol., 18).

"

Fiunt,

non nascuntur

Christiani,"

in A.D. 203, wrote to a (h} Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, who died certain Domninus, who sought to escape persecution by lapsing from

Eusebius describes him as eKTreTrrw/cora Christianity to Judaism. CTU TT)V Trapa TOV rot) Siooy/xov Katpoi/ aTro TT/S ets Xpi<rrov TrurTeoos
(H.E.,
vi.

rim

12).

318

APPENDIX
III

It is evident from the foregoing facts, all of which rest upon good evidence, that the general conditions which prevailed throughout the reign of Severus became specially adverse to the Church in A.D. 202-3.

How

far

was

this

due

to the direct action of the

Emperor ?

Many considerations lead us to suppose that it was no deliberate policy on the part of Severus to set in motion any such general and
widespread persecution, as those which are connected with the names
In of Marcus Aurelius before him and of Decius at a later period. the in facts of his action the extent A.D. following 202-3, estimating

should be borne in mind. (a) Tertullian mentions no edict issued by Severus against the Not the Caesars but the provincial governors are the Christians.
persons whose
far to
fair

treatment he

is

anxious to secure.

His

Ad Scapulam

that throughout the reign the governors were impelled goes to persecute, but left free to be lenient or command no by imperial severe towards Christianity, according as their individual sympathies or

show

judgment might suggest. Dion Cassius and Herodian are (ti)

to

any

edict.

If they

knew anything

of the

as silent as Tertullian in regard Emperor s attitude towards

Christianity, they did not, at any rate, regard it as sufficiently important The treatment of the Christians under Severus to be placed on record.
in their eyes, as Aube remarks (p. 81), not a matter of imperial policy but an affair for the police. of importance, (c) Tertullian also states (Ad Scap., 4) three facts cured by a Christian physician, viz. that Severus had once been

was

calla

had surrounded Caraand that on some occasion Severus had protected well-born men and women, known to be Christians, from the anger of the crowd. This may quite possibly have been in Carthage, when Severus was legatus of the Proconsul of Africa, about A.D. 174 Fuchs, p. 7). Or it may have been in Rome we (see Spartian, 2
Proculus Torpacion
in
;

that Christian influences

his

childhood;

cannot

In any case it is probable that all these events occurred But they are sympto several years before Severus became Emperor. with an attitude of consistent and matic, hostility to Christianity. hardly
say.

The prohibition which forbade the Jews to admit further converts by circumcision, is not difficult to account for, since it was the re-enactment of a similar order of Antoninus Pius (see evidence in
(<t)

Aube,

p. 74),

and no doubt was occasioned by the

fact that the

Jews had
rival

taken sides with Niger.

Indeed, Severus punished their aid to his

THE PERSECUTION OF
"

A.D.

202-3

319

with sufficient severity to justify the Senate decreeing to Caracalla a Jewish Triumph." But the Christians had taken no sides in the civil war, "Nunquam Albiniani, nee Nigriani inveniri potuerunt
. .

Christiani"

(Ad

Scap.,

2).

They had even

Emperor s armies took Byzantium.

No

rejoiced when the considerations of imperial

policy existed to suggest harsh measures against them ; the most that could be said was that they declined to pay certain kinds of honour to
Caesar.

Of

itself this

from the Emperor:

authorities.
(e)

it

was hardly sufficient to call for vigorous action was a matter rather for the subordinate

"idem etiam Directly after the issue of the order of A.D. 202-3 sanxit" whatever its exact nature may have been, Severus returned to Rome (Herod., iii. 10, T), where he mainly spent the The whole of this period falls within the episcopate years A.D. 203-8.

de Christianis

of Zephyrinus. During these years the Church in Rome was much over internal Callistus and Hippolytus come occupied questions. into prominence. The Monarchian movement claims attention.

Doctrine and discipline are much discussed. Such interests in a time of special persecution would have been in abeyance. The evidence thus leads to the conclusion that external dangers did not specially menace the Roman Church in the first half of Zephyrinus episcopate.
"

Die romische Kirche hatte

leiden
"

auch unter ihm

(sc.

Severus) nicht

sonderlich zu while
still

in the east,

But if Severus, (Langen, Geschichte, 201). had determined on any special policy of active

hostility

made

towards the Church, this decision would certainly have been evident on his return to Rome. He had sufficient leisure then

had he intended to persecute, would The peace of the have persecuted relentlessly and with method. Church in Rome during the years A.D. 203-8 must prevent our inter preting Spartian s expression as a statement of general and determined
to attend to internal affairs, and,

Severus usually carried out his policy on the part of the Emperor. But Tertullian says of him intentions with unremitting pertinacity.
"

Christianorum
(/)
It
is,

memor

fuit."

besides, generally recognised that Severus had interest in maintaining the traditional religion, so far as the
his

no

special
in

Empire

Motives which impelled day possessed one, against Marcus Aurelius to persecute had no influence with him. By birth an
innovations.

African, by conviction a believer in oriental astrology, by culture and experience acquainted with many phases of religion, and by marriage

associated with Julia

Domna

press Christianity in the interests of the

he was hardly the type of Caesar to sup gods of Rome. Had he really

320

APPENDIX

suspected the Christians of disloyalty to his own regime, he might have The prohibition to make new converts taken determined action.

would have been a quite inadequate penalty for the graver offences of and there is no other ground on which Severus is likely to "majestas," have resolved on vigorous measures. This general improbability that he would be among the persecutors, inconclusive in itself, gains
importance when we notice can be ascertained.
its

congruity with such particular facts as

IV
So far then the following points seem clear, (i) Persecution went on, in varying degrees, during the reign of Severus, both before and 2 the last-named years it became more after A.D. 202-3. ( ) During
insistent

and

intense, the
in

severity being of longer duration in

some

provinces than
settled resolve
tianity

others.
it

activity of the authorities,

(3) Whatever the cause of the special does not seem to have proceeded from any

on the part of Severus to push the suppression of Chris throughout the Empire to extremes. Sulpicius statement that
"Severo
.

persecutions occurred, truth than the Sc^pos

imperante,"

is

probably more near the

CKIVCI

of Eusebius.
Christianissanxit,"

Spartian

account,

"idem

etiam de

must then be

understood not as a statement of general and considered policy em bodied in an edict, but as a local and incidental order or permission,
probably given to one particular governor and occasioned by special Is it possible to suggest the circumstances under which considerations.
it

was issued ?

The evidence associates this decree, or rescript, if it is to be so Eusebius states that described, somewhat directly with Alexandria. the persecution was specially severe there, and mentions the name of the
prefect Laetus in a
s

manner which suggests

first

Spartian issued while Severus was

account seems at

was specially active. that the prohibition was imply travelling through Palestine, from Antioch to
sight to
die allgcm. Kirchc,
. .

that he

Alexandria.
1

But Neumann (Der rom. Staat und

6 1)

is

probably right in regarding the statement,

"idem

sanxit,"

as

suppose the time of this order parenthetical. to have been exactly identical with the issue of the Jewish law. There could hardly be special reasons for the issue of such an order against
is

There

no need

to

the Christians in Palestine, nor does it appear that the episcopate of Narcissus in Jerusalem was ever directly troubled by imperial action.

Spartian

mention of

"Alexandria"

just

before,

and of the

"Alex-

THE PERSECUTION OF
andrini
"

A.D.

202-3

321

immediately

after,

the statement quoted

may

thus be taken

to support the probability that the proclamation against the Christians was issued in Alexandria.

Nothing

is

more

likely

than that

this

should have been the case.

Severus seems to have gone out of his way to please the citizens of this second metropolis. Alexandria had sided with Niger. Six years before
the

Emperor had

dealt

severely
"

enough with Antioch

iratior fuit
.

for
.

espousing
ademit"

his rival s cause.

Antiochensibus

similarly rnulta his

But in Alexandria he accepted the (Spartian, Severus^ 9). 1 explanation of an awkward inscription in Niger s honour, though he must have seen through its trickery ; gave them a local He Senate, and extended their privileges in many other respects.
citizen
s
it

could afford to do these things now that his rule was established, and was true policy to keep the city, upon whose harbours Rome depended so largely for daily bread, in a loyal and contented mood. Moreover,
Severus was delighted with Egypt, explored
its

attention to

divinities,

and

antiquities, paid special clearly spent his time there as a visitor

its

ready to please and to be pleased. both leave this impression.

"

Spartian

and Dion

accounts

probable

All this renders the suggestion, first made by Milman, extremely The hour of imperial favour was likely to be seized by
:

mastery, and to wreak their foreign religion, which was making such rapid progress throughout the province" (Hist, of Christianity, ii. 208-9). Whether it was the priests of Serapis, or whether, as may be more

the Egyptian priesthood to obtain the

revenge on

this

new

likely,

it

was the professors

that

in the

Museum,

it is

in either case a

most

the recently rapid growth of Christianity supposition should have prompted one section or another of its opponents to induce the Emperor, while in the mood to grant favours, to inform
natural
Laetus, the prefect, that the further progress of this religion

must be

checked.
local in

The proclamation would, on this supposition, be principally character, however much the activity of the governors in other

It is stimulated by their knowledge of it. any case, that the exact order of Severus was at once exceeded both in Alexandria and elsewhere. Neither Leonides, nor Potamisena, nor Domninus were converted after its issue, yet two of them fell as victims, and the life of Domninus was evidently in danger.

provinces

may have been

to be noticed, in

order or edict, limited in its original intention, thus became the cause of considerably wider activity on the part of the subordinate

The

authorities.
1

See

vol.

i.,

p.

103.

VOL.

II.

2I

322

APPENDIX

if

The main point of interest in relation to Clement is to notice that, the before-mentioned probabilities hold good, Severus action must
in

have been directly called forth by the work of the Catechetical School,

and
This

some sense

directed against

Clement

own

activities as a teacher.

was compelled to leave the city and work was so soon recommenced by Origen, and Demetrius, the Bishop, in all probability never left Alex Such direct relation between the career of Clement and andria at all. the action of Severus cannot, it is true, be clearly proved from the avail But no other theory accords more fully with such facts able evidence.

may in part explain why he to give up his work, though the

as are

known, and

with probabilities that

in all that regards Clement s personal history we must often rest content.

it is

One
view.

references to

further point of interest arises, when we ask whether Clement s martyrdom have the events of A.D. 202-3 specially in

There is one passage which is usually taken to have been directly occasioned by the events which followed Severus edict. Clement has quoted, quite incidentally, Zeno s remark, that the sight of one Indian being roasted alive outweighed all arguments about endurance. Then
he adds,
fjfuv Se
a</>$ovo6

/xaprv/awi/ Trrjyal eKao-rr/s ^/iepas

ei>

o<$aA./xots

i^/xaiv

^cojpov/Aevat TrapoTTTW/xe^wv dvafTKii/SvXcuo/xevwv ras

K(/>aAas

TOVTOVS Travra? 6 Trapa TOV vo/xov (faopos eis Xpicrrov TO evA.a/?es /ecu 6Y at/xara)^ evSeiKvvcrOcu (494). Two points are here to be noticed. First,

7raioaya>y?7<ras

common, not

of special, experience.

Clement is speaking of Martyrdom, he says, is an every

This does not point to a sharp, short outbreak of He has in his special severity, such as that described by Eusebius. mind what is a normal element in the Christian life of the period

day spectacle.

(note (rwrjovo/o-e
describing).

it

is

not a sudden and unexpected situation he

is

The second point is this. Are we to suppose it probable that in a period of special persecution, possibly, as we have seen, arising from the very success of the Catechetical School with which he was connected,
Clement would have been allowed, peacefully and leisurely, with uninterrupted access to his books, to go on composing his Memoirs," while the tide of martyrdom flowed by before his eyes? He would have been one of the first victims to in had he remained fall, probably
"

Alexandria, for

it

is

evident from Eusebius that for a period diligent

THE PERSECUTION OF
"

A.D.

202-3
. . .

323

Tre/xTro/xeVwv,

search for important personages was made (N.B. dpto-TtVSr/v TrapaH.E., vi. i ; it is the opposite of Conquirendi non sunt
"

in Trajan

answer to Pliny).

Prima

facie,

Clement appears
similar to

to write, with

some touch perhaps of

found in Tertullian s Apology of the normal experience of Christians in the period, and to write, too, from a position of personal security. This interpretation of a passage, which more than any other is
rhetorical emphasis

that

usually interpreted as a reference to the persecution of A.D. 202-3, receives some support from Clement s language in regard to martyrdom

and persecution elsewhere.

There is no hint in these passages of any Throughout the Stromateis, in the prohibition of further conversions. later as well as the earlier books (cp. SeXe ara, 902), he writes with the
evident desire to gain further accessions of the intelligent to Christianity. No trace emerges of any knowledge on Clement s part that Severus had
directly prohibited such

augmentations of the faith. On the other hand, he has frequently in view the common facts and possibilities of martyrdom, constant rather than acute, an element in the general
situation rather than a special

and unusual

crisis.

Thus, for example, Clement makes it clear that the Christian teacher was always liable to suffer through the ignorant opposition of The Church was full of men and the crowd (cp. 82, quoted above).

women
death
:

alike

who had always looked forward

ovv
ira<ra

/xecrr^ /xev
ei?

17

eK/cXr/o^ta

TU>V

to the glory of a martyr s jUcXcT^o-avrwv rov a>o7rotov

$aVarov
ywat/cwj/

Xptcrrov

o-a)c/>p6Vwv
:

usual penalty

KO.V

/3ov Ka^aVep avSpcov oimo Se /cat Death, however, was the extreme, not the (590). TC rts Trept/SaXX?/ TOUTOV (sc. the Gnostic) drt/xta
Trap

oXov TOV

</>vy#

eXewepta? The nobility and courage of confessors had come to be /c.T.X. (587). a recognised influence in strengthening and enlarging the Church
/cat Sry/xeixret /cat CTTI Tracrt
:

0avara), OVK aTrocrTrao-^crcTat Trore T^S

8o0??o-Tat Se Ticrtv, eav o-uyw^epr/,

Sia re r^5
fKK\Y)a-Lav,

a7roA.oyrJ<racr0ai,

iva Sta TC rr/s /xaprvpta?

ol

a7roA.oyta? ax^cXwvTai
OavndovTC<s

ot

jravre?,

8e

/cat ets TT KTTIV iu7rayo/x,evot ot e

ur^upOTTOtOVfifVOi ptv e^voiv rr)V crwr^ptav

KO.T

7roXv7rpay/xov>jo-avT5,

ot XOITTOI 8e VTT
;

escape was usually possible and Clement had little tolerance

(cp. 6 eavrov Trpoo-aywv
TO>

there was

But eK-rrX^ews Kar^xofJ-evoi (596). no inevitable necessity to suffer,

which courted death
eavrovs rots /aj/oYe7rippi7rrovo-ti/

for the fanaticism

St/caomypta),

597

vots,

871). He had failed, it may be vi. 2). /caretxe i/^X^" H.E., (cpws TOO-OVTOS /xaprvptov r^v fiptyeVovs The martyrs, it seems, are not sought out by the authorities they had is a themselves to seek death (eTrwnjSav T 0avara>, 571). Martyrdom
. .
: :

noticed, to teach this lesson to Origen

3 24

APPENDIX

subject which, apart from special circumstances, a Christian writer of d/<oAov0ov this time might naturally be expected to discuss 8r/ otfuu
:

Trcpl fjiaprvpLov StoXa/Jetv K.T.A. (563).

with

officials,

Persecution did not always originate but often from educated opponents of Christianity
:
TO>V

JZXXrjvfDV /xa^ovTtov

...

(I)S

dvoo-tcos

rov

@eo<f>L\r}

SICOKOVTCS ao-ffioixrw (736)

more

7rpo<f>avf)

often from the ignorant hostility of the TOV KwBvvov Sio, rov r^v TroAAaV tfiXov

crowd

ru>

ovn

di/8/oetos,

These are the

familiar.

They

X WV K.T.A. (871). features of persecution with which Clement was most are characteristic of a period in which the liability to

and even death constantly and normally beset the But they do not accord with a time in profession of Christianity. which the authorities were aggressively and vigorously hostile. In other words, it is improbable that Clement wrote with the events of
loss

and

suffering

A.D.

202-3 specially

in

mind.

His conditions rather approximate to

those under which Tertullian wrote his Apology. The conclusions, then, to which the probabilities lead us are

That persecution, in varying degrees, went on throughout the of Severus. reign

(1)

202-3 persecution was specially severe. was not due to any settled policy of hostility on the part of the Emperor. (4) But that such direct action as Severus took in the matter should be set down to special circumstances, and with some reason may be connected with his visit to Alexandria. (5) That in his references to martyrdom and kindred subjects, Clement has not the special attacks of A.D. 202-3, Dut tne normal
(2) (3)

That That

in A.D.

this severity

condition of Christian experience during the period in view.

APPENDIX
ON THE ORDER AND DATE

II

OF CLEMENT

WORKS

WHAT books Clement wrote, and where and in what order he wrote them, are questions almost as complicated as those which arise when we ask what books he read and how he used them. The attempt will
be

made

in this

Appendix

to set out in greater detail the evidence for

the views suggested in Chapter

VI

of this work.

The

opinions of

De

ORDER AND DATE OF CLEMENT S WORKS

325

Faye, A. Harnack, C. Heussi, and P. Wendland should be carefully considered by any who desire to understand the points at issue.

The
Hermas

Stromateis^

publication.

They opened
.
. .

(Vis., v. 5),

seems, were the first work Clement wrote for with a passage, quoted from the Shepherd of to justify such literary enterprise. The recurrence
it
. . .

ypauj/ov ypcu/reis y/oai/rai, no doubt included in the missing portion of the quotation, is to be noted. Clement adduces, If besides, the following considerations in the opening section
"

of the words

Epicurus and Archilochus

(316) ing the
:
"

"Writing

and
:

write books, surely a Christian may" the living voice are only different ways of preach

may

Word"

Some

"An author must look to his motives" (319): which a preacher or lecturer possesses are not opportunities

(318)

open

to a

writer"

(320)

"What I

not venture to
his attitude in

write"

(324),

and much
justify

hesitated to say in teaching, I shall else in a similar strain. Thus

is

commencing the new departure and wishes to

Stromateis
it.

that of one

who

is

making
316-28,

The whole

section,

has only point and significance on the supposition that the writer is making, with considerable hesitation, the transition from oral teaching This seems to be the to the different method of the published book.

most certain
to
it.

fact in

connection with the problem of Clement

s literary

undertakings, and other probabilities should be estimated in relation

The
this

Stromateis were evidently not

commenced

till

the death of

Commodus

in A.D.

192.

Sufficient time

some time after had elapsed for

event to be already a recognised terminus ad quern in chronological

calculations (aXXot Se p.tXP l T^ s KoftoSov reAeirn}? apifyojo-avTes K-T.A.., In Alexandria, with its known interest in such matters, this 409). interval need not have been long, but in any case Book I of the

Stromateis can hardly be dated earlier than A.D. 195.

It is clear that

Clement had done much in the collection of his material before he there began to write, and the actual composition of the Stromateis may fore have been somewhat rapid.
II

But

if

Strom.,

i.,

is

Clement

earliest

work

for publication

and was

not written before this date, what becomes of the statement in the Victor Little Labyrinth (H.E., v. 28), that he wrote books before The ? or i.e. before A.D. 189 of passage runs 190 became

Bishop

Rome,

326
as follows
XpoVtoi/,
:

APPENDIX
/cat
dSeA<a>v

II
TOJV

Se Ttvtov

e<m

ypd/x/jtara

7rpeo-/?i>repa

BtKropos
/cat

a eKetvot Kat

Trpos

ra
Se

e^vry

vrrep TT}? dXg0cta$,

/cat

/cat

Trpos ras TOTC

atpeWts Zypatyav

Aeya>

loutrTtVov

MiArtdSov Kat Tartavov

KA?7yu,evTOS /cat erepcov TrAetoVoov

ev ots aVao~t $eoAoyeirat 6 Xpto-ros.

earlier

most naturally met by supposing that Clement s not originally intended for publication. were The writings common practice of the time was for an author to read his book aloud to an audience. Lucian, for example, says, TO /xev ovv TreptvocrrowTa vvv
difficulty is

The

JAW

A.6r)vaiOL$, vvv Se
/Aepet,

v raj

epywSe?

more

directly to

dvayti/wcr/cctv rj Apyetbts rj Aa/ceSat/xovtots Kat jma/cpov ^yetro {Herodotus^ i.) also, referring / his own experience, a 8 to-ropta Sta/xapravovo-t, ra
;

Koptv$t ots

rotavra
/xaXtora

av
-^v

evpots
O/TTCUTLV

eTrtrrypajj/,

ota

/cd/xot

TroXXd/cts

d/cpow/Aevo)

eSo^e,

Kat

scribenda,

vii.). manuscript to be copied and find its way into the booksellers shops. The case of Galen presents an interesting parallel to that of Clement. Many of Galen s works were written only for his pupils or his friends. Some

avrols di/a7TTdcr^s TO, aira (Historia It was a further stage for the original

quomodo

con-

even originated as notes of his lectures, taken down verbatim by his pupils, much as Arrian took down the lectures of Epictetus. Galen, in the De ordine librorum suorum c. I. (ed. Kiihn, xix. 49 sqq.\ remarks
t

to Eugenianus, in reference to his books,

BerjQevTiDV lypdfyr) rrys
<t(rayo/x,eVot9

TO,

/xev

yap

c/>t

A.an>,

cos

our^a,

e/cet vtov

//.ovov

ee<os

(rro^a^o/xeva, rtva 8k /xetpa/aois

/JLOV

VTrrjyoptvOr),

CTKOTTOV CTT

ovScrcptov e^ovros
;

StaSo^vat rots
C. II.

dv^ptOTTOts avra,
xix.

(f>v\a^6^vat

T<S

/xer e/xc \pova)

-^/xcTepwi/

again, in

(Kiihn,

53),

^it

yaev

ovv

^Sc TWV
dvSpwv,

VTro/xv^/xdrtoi/
<^vo"t

eo~Ttv

dp^?y T^S
a.\rj&ta<s

dvayi/coo-ecos

e/cetVots

raiv

oo~ot

Kat

o~wTOt Kat

ratpot.

It would therefore entirely accord with the practice of the times, if Clement s earlier works were primarily written for use in his lectureroom, without any ulterior purpose of making them accessible to the world at large. A literary propaganda was not at this time any part of his plan. Certain terms and phrases in the Protrepticus and in the Padagogus support this theory, e.g. the following He uses the second K.T.A. (8) person, as one addressing an audience, OUK dVoTrov, w
:

c/>tAot

(77)j rara He of not of reading V/JLLV Trapart^e/xat (256-7). speaks hearing^ TO.? aKoas V/AOJV (24); aKodo-at (66); aKouo-arc (77) , aKovtre (116); CTT and there are other similar <oc/)eAeta rail/ aKouoi/Tcov ovoynd^etv (225)
fM]

7ro\v7rpayfj.ovLT
. .

(10)

7rio-Teuo-aT

(rwcjjpovrjarjTf

expressions.
dSatuv,

Word, and the Hymn, o-ro /xtov TrwAwi/ with which the Pcedagogus closes, are also more appropriate to
to the
to a treatise intended for private reading.

The Prayer

an address than

ORDER AND DATE OF CLEMENT S WORKS

327

The Protrepticus, indeed, is in form a sermon or a lecture rather than a book, and similar characteristics belong, in a less marked degree, to the Padagogus. Thus the statement in Eusebius need not conflict with
the fact that Clement had written nothing before the Stromateis for
publication.

Ill

Clement s intention was originally to make the third portion of his whole enterprise similar in form to the first two. The Master, The three are AtScxo-KaXos, was to have been addressed to his pupils. regarded as successive stages in one continuous course of oral instruc
tion
:

TT)

KaXrj (rvy^prJTOLL oi/covo/u a 6 Trdvra

<<Aav0/oo>7ros

Aoyos, TrporpeTrajv

avwOev,

7mra

7raiSayu>yaji>,

errt Tracriv

listened to the

Padagogus are

later

His pupils having on to hear the Master /ecu SYJ wpa

e/<SiScur/<a)V

(99).

aKpoacrOai rov SiSa(7/caAov ye the like and the Padag&gus, was Thus the Master, Protrepticus (309). It appears to me that to have been addressed TT/DOS Trapovras (320).
7re7ra{;cr$ai T?}S TTttiSayouyias, v/Jias Se e/xol /ACI/

De Faye has conclusively shown that Clement did intend the third part of his work to be entitled the Master, and that the Stromateis are a

A series of published miscellanies deviation from his earlier purpose. took the place of lectures or instructions composed for oral delivery.
The
reasons which

may have

led to this modification of Clement

in

scheme have been suggested

further discussed here.

the sixth chapter and need not be

IV
But, as against the way for the Master, it seems to purely preliminary work, preparing me that Heussi s view that the Stromateis are the Master, in so far as Such of Clement s project was ever realised, holds good. this
part alteration as

De Faye s

contention that the Stromateis are a

he made
its

in his

scheme did not

one of

from one and method of

leave
little

of three divisions to

third portion.

consist in its enlargement concerned only ths form but four, The passages to which Heussi refers

doubt on this point. The higher Gnostic teaching is con as may be seen bysuch tained, however sporadically, in the Stromateis,
language as the following
TO, rr}?
:

oi

crrpw/xaras

rfj

TroXv^aOfa
J

yi/wcrews /SovAovTcu crTrep/xaTa (327)

ey/caTeo-Trap/xeV^v

Covert
re
eis

TTJV

aXtjOeiav

(348)
.

a
. .

elev
.

av

&7rvpa,

rai

yvuxriv
;

CTrmjSeMO
d>s

Trpos

TO
/cat

iJiJTi7<ris

ye^o-erai (736)
r^ys

a-rropdSrjv,

vTT^xW^a,^

TWV

aXyOovs yvwo-ews eyicaTaoTrctpavTCS Soy/xarwi/

328
(901). project of a

APPENDIX
How

II

it comes that at the end of the seventh book the great scheme of higher teaching is still in so large a measure un accomplished (/xertco/xev, he must Still say, eTrt rrjv V7rotrp(ecrtv TCOV ^775 air aXXys apx*? ? Troirjo-o/jLtOa rov Adyov, 9012), is a question which has already received some consideration.
:

Failing evidence to the contrary, that the three portions of Clement s

it

would be natural

to

suppose

work, Protrepticus, Pcedagogus, Sirornateisi were composed in the order in which we possess them. "Es steht auch fest, dass Klemens die einzelnen Teile in der

Reihenfolge geschrieben hat, in welcher

"

sie

sich

zu

einem Ganzen

Litt., ii. 38). (Bardenhewer, zusammenfiigen The reasons advanced for believing that Clement wrote the Pcedagogus

Gesch.

der

aitkirch.

after Strom., i.-iv. (this is held

by Harnack, Heussi, Wendland) are as

(i) There are no references to the Protrepticus and the Pcedagogus in Strom. i.-iv. (2) There are passages in the Pcedagogus which refer to the discussion on marriage in Strom., ii.-iii. (502-62)

follows:

as already written.

But the

first

of these reasons

is

an argument from

silence.

This

is

specially precarious in dealing with a writer those of Clement. Many authorities, for

whose

literary habits

were

example, hold that the written before the were Stromateis, though the Stromateis Hypotyposeis do not refer to them. Those who are so convinced must at least allow
that it may be held with equally good reason that the absence of references to the Protrepticus and the Pcedagogus in Strom., i.-iv., does

not disprove their prior existence. As to the discussion on marriage, the evidence

is

very complicated.

Three passages
follows
(i.)
:

in the Pcedagogus

have

to

be considered, which run as

ei?

Ka$dAoi>

fJLev

ovv
/cat

rj

yaurjreov
ra>

17

ya/xov

TO Trai/reAcs KaOapf.vrf.ov

(eXerat yap
(ii.)

r)Tr]<T<j><s

TOVTO), iv
/3a$vTe/oa>

AietA^a/Aev 8e
Trept

Tlepl ey/c/oaTtag rjfjuv SeS^Aarrai (226). Adya) ws apa cure tv rot? ovo/xacriv ovSe /x-^v
rrj

ev rots

<rwov<Jia<TTiKOts

fJLOpioLS

/cat

Kara ya/xov
ov

(rv/XTrAo/cTry,
17

KaO*

tov

Ketrai

ra ovoyaara ra
"OTTOUS

rrjv

(rvvrjOetav

reT/ai/x/jteya,

TOV OVTCOS atcr^pov

Trpoa-rjyopLa rdrrcrai (199).

//ev ovv O-V/X/?IO>TCOV dvSpt rty ywaiKa /cat 7Tpl avrovpyias Kat OIKCTCOV ^/J^o-cco?, Trpos 8e /cat r^s wpas TOV yayixov /cat raiv oi/covptas
(iii.)

/cat

oo~a yvvat^tv a/3/xd^t, ev

The

first

TW ya/xt/cai 8te^t/x,ev Adya) (278). of these passages tells in favour of the supposition that

ORDER AND DATE OF CLEMENTS WORKS

329

Strom., ii.-iii., were already written. The question of the advisability of marriage is certainly discussed in Strom., ii. 502 sqq. (p-ofyiev fe ct Ttov K.T.X.). And neither Eusebius nor other authorities mention ya

treatise by Clement on marriage. the other hand, the second passage refers to a statement which is not found in Strom., ii.-iii. It therefore affords no reason for believing that this section was already in existence.

any separate

On

The

third passage refers to a projected work.

Siei/*ev is future (cp.

/xcTi/xev in

564; Zahn, Suppl. Clem., 38; Bardenhewer, op. cit., ii. 53). This seems to imply that Clement, so far, had not had occasion to
discuss the subject of marriage, i.e. that Strom., ii.-iii., were not yet written. Moreover, the subjects he proposes to consider,
oi/covpia,

OIKCTWV xP^o-, wpa TOV ya/xov, are not dealt with in the Stromateis and therefore were probably treated, if at all, in some separate and inde pendent work. It is difficult to draw any sure conclusions from such
conflicting data.

But, apart from these references to the treatise on marriage, there

is

a further point to be considered. If when Clement wrote the Padagogus he had already written Strom., i.-iv., and so determined the

character of this portion of his work, it is extremely improbable that he would have spoken in the P&dagogus of the Master as he has done.

The
and
that

his actual execution of

difference between his intention as expressed in the Pcedagogus it as found in Strom., i.-iv., is so marked,

we can only suppose that he first expressed his intention and subsequently adopted a different scheme, i.e. wrote the Pcedagogus
before

commencing
is

the Stromateis.

Finally, there

the further consideration that the fragment given

iii.,

in Stahlin s edition,

p.

228,

11.

some

treatise

on marriage, does not occur

13-15, which clearly comes from in the Stromateis, and there

fore also points to the work, Ilepi eyKparei as or Aoyos ya/xiKos, having been a separate and independent treatise. It does, indeed, directly mention one of the subjects Trept r/Js wpa? rot) ya/xov which Clement proposed

(see 278, quoted above) to discuss.

VI
suppose that Clement wrote which they stand, are we to suppose There is a marked that they were written in Alexandria or elsewhere ? tendency on the part of later critics to place the most important period Harnack says of the Padagogus that of his authorship after A.D. 202.
If there
is

sufficient reason, then, to

his three

main works

in the order in

330
it

APPENDIX
in

II

of Strom.,

any case not written in Alexandria and that the composition v.-vii., may have extended beyond the first decade of the third century. Barden hewer would place even the Protrepticus as late as A.D. 199 (op. cit. ii. 39). The earlier dates are maintained by Zahn. This view, as against the general tendency of recent authorities, may be supported by the following considerations.
(a) The Protrepticus is the address of a teacher, speaking in settled circumstances, to an audience with whose character he is thoroughly familiar. These conditions are those of Clement during his residence

was

in Alexandria, but

we have no evidence
life.

that they held

good

for

any

other portion of his

(b)

largely

The many references to luxury in the Pcedagogus, however drawn from literary sources, would be out of place in any but a wealthy city, in which rich people were coming over to Christianity.
be noted that the writer s circumstances are evidently he forms plans for the further instructions of his pupils (97-99, 309) he has no special occasion to encourage them to face He sometimes makes statements which exactly accord persecution. with our knowledge of life in Alexandria, c.g. ov o-ax^poveu/ ^TJO-CU/A av
It is also to
:

settled

ras

TroAeis, als KCU

TO TTCU^CIV (nrouSd^crai (299).

These considerations

favour of the theory that the Padagogus was written for converts in Alexandria.
tell in
(c)

The

Stromateis,
It
is,

it

is

usually

allowed,

were

Alexandria.

however, often urged that in Strom.,

ii.

commenced in 494, we have

a reference to the persecution of A.D. 202-3, and that the later portions must consequently have been written after Clement had fled from the
city.

This passage, together with the other references to martyrdom, If the view has, however, been discussed in the previous Appendix. there taken of their significance be correct, they point not to the special
attack

upon the Church

in A.D.

202-3, but to the conditions normally

The passage in question would in that prevalent during the period. case afford no ground for believing that Clement must have left Alexandria at an early date after he had written it.
(d) Again, it is difficult to suppose that Clement wrote the important passage (Strom., vi. 827) on the inability of Emperors, Governors, and mobs to hinder the spread of Christianity, after he had left Alexandria in consequence of the persecution under Severus. If the authorities

had succeeded

in driving

him from

his school

and

his library,

and so

brought the greatest work of his life to an abrupt termination, it would hardly have been natural for Clement to reply with the exulting boast
that Christianity
"flourishes

all

the

more."

Tertullian, in his fierce

ORDER AND DATE OF CLEMENT S WORKS

331

way, might have said this, but it was hardly Clement s manner. He would have recognised the actuality of the check. In other words, the close of Strom., vi., can hardly have been written after he left
Alexandria.
(e)

Whatever

"public"

Clement had

in view

when he commenced
aXyOcias
is

the Stromateis, were

still

in his

mind
(900
;

at the

end of the seventh book.

:

The
by

(jfuAo^cct/jioves

T^S

eKAcA>7<rias

so

MS.

rrjs

suggested

Stahlin), the few for yi/oio-is

<jf>iAo7rovoi

KCU evpen/fot (902), correspond exactly to the

whom

who have
(afjLvrjroi,

is appropriate (et Se /X.T) Travrcov 17 yj/axris, 317) and the ability to hear (TOV otoi/ re d/<otW, 320). The uninitiated 901) and those who blamed Clement for going beyond the

Scriptures (829) are identical with the TroAAot (323), the i/woSeets (326), the <iAy*A?j/xovs (327), who were so much in his thoughts when he began to write. Moreover, the literary conditions are the same. In
vii., the writer has access to books, just as he had in earlier Such evident similarity of conditions, combined portions of his work. with the complete absence of any hint in the Stromateis of a violent

Strom.)

change

in the writer
is

contrary

shown, that

circumstances, leads us to suppose, until the Clement s environment, when he wrote Strom.,

In other vi. and vii., was the same as when he wrote Strom., i. and ii. words, we may assign the composition of the whole of the Stromateis to the period of his residence in Alexandria.

VII
then, it is at least possible that all three portions of Clement s Trilogy are to be dated before A.D. 202-3, what is to be said of his
If,

other works, particularly of the Hypotyposeis ? The evidence, on the whole, seems to favour the supposition that they were written after the It is difficult to suppose that in all the seven books of the Stromateis.

Stromateis there would have been no reference to this work of exegesis,

No doubt this is an argument from already been in existence. been it has and admitted, are specially precarious such, already silence, In this connection, however, the absence of all in Clement s case.
had
it

mention can hardly be other than

to Scripture are specially frequent, to an expository treatise of his own,

s references significant, for Clement allusion some of them in and many

have been evidently natural. the Decalogue (807 sqq.\ he

had such already existed, would for example, Clement expounds is engaged on much the same kind of task as occupied him in the Hypotyposeis and would probably have mentioned such a passage as them, had they been written before. Or consider

When,

332
the
following
:

APPENDIX
r&v
,

II
TOV

Se

Xe^ewv
TOV?

TO>V

Trpo^-rjriKwv

CTTI

Traporros
TCUS

OVK

Kara

eTri/caipovs

TOTTOVS

va-repov

ypa<cus

The language seems almost incompatible with (829). Such the supposition that the Hypotyposeis preceded the Stromateis. not no are More certain evidence conclusive. doubt, considerations,

may be derived from the fact, that Clement expressly states that he undertook the Stromateis as an aid to memory for his later years and
as a record of the precious teaching of his masters.

The Hypotyposeis can hardly have been in existence when this statement was made, for It is known they must themselves have largely fulfilled this purpose.
(H.E.,
v.

n)

that

Clement referred

to Pantaenus in the Hypotyposeis,

and, quite apart from this, it is improbable that he could have written eight books of exegesis without incorporating in them many of the The seeds" (323) he had derived from the Elders. "apostolic

opening passage of the Stromateis seems, in other words, to afford clear probability that the Hypotyposeis had not as yet been written.

VIII

As

to

character.

Clement There

s
is

other writings, the evidence is of a more general a passage in the Quis dives salvetur, on the

interpretation of the term "camel" in the Gospels, which runs as follows o-7p:aiveTw ^kv ovv TL KOI vif/rjXorcpov 17 /ca/x^Aos Sia errors 6Sov KCU Te^Ai/A/xeVr;? (frOdvovcra TOV TrAovo-iov, oVcp iv rfj Trept dp^wv Kat
:

$eoA.oyias e^yrycret

fjLva-T-tjpLov

TOV

(rtor/ypos VTrap^et [JLaOelv

In spite

of

what von

me some already known and published work, with which Clement s hearers were familiar. Could he otherwise have said of a definite piece of interpretation,
the passage appears to
then, the Stromateis are rightly regarded as Clement s earliest published work, the treatise mentioned in the Quis dives, and also the
If,

13) has to be a reference to

(p.

Arnim

said

(95)on this point,

must have been written later. The work entitled was dedicated to Alexander, Clement s pupil, and probably written fairly late in Clement s own lifetime (see supra, vol. i. The various pastoral works attributed to p. 204; also Zahn, p. 175). Clement suit the circumstances of his later years, so far as we know them, better than his period of residence in Alexandria. It is to be noted that the statement, "Multa et varia conscribit," of the Eusebian
Quis dives
itself,

Canon

ecclesiasticus

Chronicle applies to a date (A.D. 204) subsequent to his departure from

that city.

ORDER AND DATE OF CLEMENT S WORKS

In any attempt to assign dates and
localities to

333
written

Clement

works, probability, in default of better evidence, is often our only guide. The one assured fact in the whole intricate inquiry is that Clement had
written

no book

for publication before

he undertook the composition of

the Stromateis.

Appendix Clement wrote his great Trilogy during his years in Alexandria, and that But it was to other works that his later literary activity was devoted. I fully recognise that many recent authorities would invert this order.

Starting from this evidence, I have tried in this short to show that something may still be said for the theory that

INDEX
The reader may also consult the summaries of the chapters at the commencement of each volume. The figures refer
to the

pages of the first volume, unless otherwise

stated.

Abgar, King of Edessa, 140.

Adultery, 294. Adviser, a spiritual, 138, 320.

Agape, 283;

151 sqq. Albinus, Clodius, 100. Alexander, Bp., 20, 204.

ii.

Alexander, letter of, 23. Alexandria, 31-63; ii. 40, 103, 119, yiosqq., 329. Alexandrine Codex, ii. 182 sqq. Allegory, ii. 18, 210 sqq.
Alogi, the, 359.
"

Arnold, M., 176, 239; ii. 254. Art, 90, 215, 266 ii. 120. Asceticism, 266, 280 ii. 89. Astrology, 106, 144. Astronomy, 43, 129 ii. 299. Athanasius, ii. 20 sqq. Athenagoras, 12, 296. Athens, 3 sqq. Athens, church of, ii.
;
;

Attic dialect, the, 3. Augustine, Saint, 13

ii.

92-93.

Authorship, motives
119.
;

of, 183.

Amazonius (of Commodus), Ambrose, Saint, 155 ii. 280.

"

Ammonius

Saccas, 41

ii.

238.

Bacon, Essays of, 272, 281. Banquet, description of a, 249-251.

Baptised, an Address to the, 201. Baptism, ii. 135-147.

Amos, commentary

on, 197.

Amphitheatre, the, 90, 258. Anagnia, inscriptions at, 122. Angels, On, a treatise, 199. Anselm, ii. 23 sqq.
Anthologies, 155.

Baptism, sin after, 320 Bardaisan, 139-148.

;

ii.

125.

Bardenhewer, O., 163 Barnabas, Epistle of, 44

Barnard, P. M., 201
;

ii.
;

328.
ii.

174.

Anthony, Saint, 325.

Antinous, 215. Antitheses of theology,
;

ii.

190.

ii.

29.

Basilides, ii. 37, 52 sqq. Baur, F. C., ii. 35, 63.

Apathy, 267, 312 ii. 45, 86 sqq. Apocrypha, the, ii. 170 sqq. Apollonius of Tyana, 83 ii. 85. Apologists, the, 155, 183, 223 sqq. Apostolic element in Scripture,
;

Bigg, C.,

1 86, 78, 238, 239.

246,

362

ii.

24, 35,

Book of
The,
ii. i

the

Laws of
s

the Countries,

$9 sqq.

Books,

Clement

written
ii.

or
326.

pro

203.

Apulems, 5, 78, 232, 300. Arabarch or Alabarch, 36.

Aristobulus, 160;
ii. 194. Aristotle, 154, 169, 299, 331
;

jected, 195 sqq. Books, ancient, 151 sqq. Browning, R., ii. 257.
ii.

98.

Arnim,

J.

von, 194, 200, 203.

334

Brucheum, the, 37. Bull, Bp., 341, 347. Byzantium, 97, 100

ii.

315.

INDEX
Caesareum, the, 57 Caesars, cult of, 79
Cairo, 62. Caligula, 56.
;

335
99.

ii.
ii.

119.
4.

Didius Julianus, 97,

Diels, H., 156. Dindorf, edition of

168 sqq., 205 sqq. Canon Ecclesiasticus, the, 198, 204. Caracalla, 50, 102, 290. Carpocrates, Carpocratians, 275 sqq. ii. Celsus, 77, 85, 230, 241 5, 165. Charity, 318, 326 sqq.

Canon, 87

ii.

Clement Dion Cassius, 97, 120. Dion Chrysostom, 59 sqq.

;

by, 209.
81, 231,

Dionysius, Bp.
181.

of Alexandria,

155,

Charon, Lucian s, 259 sqq. Childhood, 288 sqq. Chronology, 160; ii. 121. Church, the, 44, 84-93, 33
ii.
5

Dionysius, Bp. of Corinth, ii. Dionysius of Syracuse, 215.

Discipline, ecclesiastical,
ii.

123.

Divorce, 293 sqq.

ii-

IO2 ~

134,213Cities, Christianity in, 31.

Docetism, ii. 10, 19, 24, 215. Dualism, ii. 51, 57 sqq. Dynamic view of Christianity,

365.

Clemens, Titus Flavius, consul A.D.

J
95>

Clement of Alexandria, 1-30. summaries of chapters.]

Cognat,
ii.

[See

Easter, 88, no sqq., 198 ii. 121. Ecclesiasticus, 260; ii. 176, 182. Eclecticism, 7, 77 sqq., 124, 138;
;

ii.

Comedy, Commerce, 39, 249, 33-333Commodus, 75, 103, 120-122,

205
148.
;

264. 174.

269, 308.

Eclectus,
132,

19.

Ecloga Propheticcz,
Edessa, 139. Education, 5
sqq.
,

the, 202.
sqq., 268,

ii.

325.
5,

sqq.,

239

353

Contemporaries of Clement,

96-

ii.

291, 305.
to the,

Elders, Clement s references

14, 179,

Cosmology, ii. 41, 51, 61 sqq. Cosmopolitan tendencies, 66.

Courtesan, the, 254.

273

ii.

332.

Covenant or Testament,
; ;

ii. 204 sqq. Creed, the, 87 ii. 115 sqq., 278-279. Cross, the, 259 ii. 21, 140, 256. Cumont, M., 79. Cur Dens Homo, the, ii. 23-26.

Emotion, 266, 301. [See Apathy.] Empedocles, 167. Empire, the Roman, 33, 38, 55-57,
64-76, 97-109, 117-123; 130, 265-267, 314-324ii.

128-

English Church, the, ii. 283. Ephesians, the Epistle to the,

224.

ii.

187,

Custom, influence

of,

218.

Ephrem
Date of Clement
ii.

Syrus, 139, 147.

;

s writings,

204-206

324-333.

Days, observance of, ii. 122,220, 312. Decadence, periods of, 93. Decalogue, the, ii. 220 sqq.
Deinocrates, 33. Demetrius, Bp., 20, 44, 48 ; ii. 113. Demiourgos, or Creator, 277, 351 ii. 57 sqq.

Epicureanism, 167, 266, 281 ii. 128. Epiphanes, 166, 275 ii. 38. Epiphany, the, ii. 122. Episcopate, the, 87, 109-117; ii. 113. Epitaphs, 43, 286. Eschatology, ii. 116, 249 sqq., 296. Esther, 286 ii. 169.
;

Democntus, 167. Demonax, 5, 272. Demons, the, 127, 213

250.

Eucharist, the, 184; ii. 147-164. Euodias, 122. ii. 119. Euripides, 173 Eusebius, 44, 75, no, 117, 143, 196, 201, 204, 306; ii. 127, 227, 316
;

sqq.

ii.
ii.

144. 115,

sqq.

Departed, preaching to the,

Diagoras, 213. Didache, the, 329;

Excerpta ex Theodoto,
ii.

the, 146, 202

159.
ii.

Exegesis,
ii.

208-230.
ii.

122, 151.

Exhomologesis,

125.

336

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
;

Faith, 12-13, 219-223 235, 307-308. Fall, the, 11. 20, 25, 254.

ii.

75

sqq.,

Herodian, 121 Herodotus, 171

ii.
;

315 sqq.
260.

ii.

Fasting, On, a homily, 201. Favorinus, 158, 161. Faye, E. de, 163, 184, 189, 203, 246
ii.

Hesiod, 174. Heussi, C., 190 ii. 327. Hippocrates, 136, 273. Home life, 270-302.
;

91, 214, 264, 327.

Homer,
ii.

128,

i74-i?5>

2I
7>

220, 279

Fire, 170; ii. 253. Flaccus, 38, 57.

275.

Flavia Domitilla, i. Fop, the, 251 sqq. Forgiveness, 13 ii. 143, 305. Freedom, 310 ; ii. 51-56, 243. Future life [see Immortality].
;

Homily, the, ii. 148. Homoousios, 345 ii. 293.

;

Horse-races in Alexandria, 60. Huxley, T. H., 363 ii. 258, 274. Hyacinthus, 118, 120.
;

Hymns,

ii.

150.
the,

Hymn
ii.

of the Soul,

140-143
ii.

Gabrielsson, J., 161. Galen, 69, 130-139, 163 ; Gellius, Aulus, 5. Gentleman, the true, 264. Geta, 102-108.

44.
172,

ii.

326.

Hypotyposeis, the, 196,346; 222 sqq., 331.

Idols, 126-127, 214-215, 230-231.

Gnosis, Gnostics, Gnosticism (hereti cal), 46, 91-92, 139-148, 166, 181, ii. 1 183, 240, 275-280, 338 8, 33, 35-71, 127-128, 159-162, 215, 271.
;

Image and
ii.

Illumination, ii. 145-147. likeness (Gen.

30, 209, 291, 296.
ii.

i.

26),

343

Immanence,
364-5
;

Gnosis (orthodox), 21, 25, 193, 242,

; 8, 72-101, 109, 10, 178, 281, 307-312. God, doctrine of, 335 sqq. ; ii. 29-31 90-92, 257, 285-287. Gods, the pagan, 41, 77~79> 125-127,

divine, 170, 30, 279, 290.

ii.

216,

234,

341

ii.

Immortality, 220; 145, 155, 249, 258-259, 296. Incarnation, the, ii. 1-34, 278, 288292, 301.
ii. ; 312. Inscriptions, 34, 43, 49, 83, 98, 103, 108, 122, 286.

Incivism, 69, 267, 299, 331

212-217. Goethe, 266 ii. 164, 231. Governors, provincial, 38, 73 sqq.
;

Instruction, oral, 19-20, 45 sqq., 179

ii.

3I4-SWGwatkin, H. M., 116, 270, 278;

ii.

325-327-

ii.

28, 43-

Interpolators, 159.

Jewish

Alexandrine,
of, 161.
ii.

Inventions, catalogues

Harbours of Alexandria, 34-35, 49. Harnack, A., 31, 41, 44, 45, 73, 112, 163, 357, 360; 43, 9 2 1I 7,
!9>
>

Irenasus, 88, 112, 154; 127, 217,315. Isaiah, ii. 182.

Isis, 40, 79,

17-20,41,

218,273,280,325^?. Hebrews, Clement s use of the Epistle

to,
ii.

231.

224-227.

Hellenism and Hebraism, ii. 274. Heptastadium, the, 35, 54.

Heraclas, 18. Heracleon, ii. 38, 217.
Heraclitus, 166. Heresies, the, 91-93 [See Gnosticism.]
;

James, Epistle of, 303 ii. 172-173. Jerome, Saint, 154 ii. 69, in. ii. 46, 168, Jews, the, 36, 56-57, 295
;
;
;

199, 316.

John, Saint, and the

321.
ii.

Young Robber,

126-128.
ii.

Hermas, Shepherd
325-

of,

183;

174,

John, Gospel of, 187-189. Judaisers, the, 198. Julia Domna, 97-108, 285. Justin Martyr, 13, 45, 78, 223-225,
ii.

Herodes Atticus,

5,

69, 275, 286.

349

ii.

38, 165.

INDEX
Keble, J, 234. Kiss of Peace,
Melito of Sardis, 198
ii.
;

337
ii.

150.

Knowledge

Kom

[see Gnosis]. el Chougafa, 42.

Milk and honey, Milman, ii. 321.

Ministry, the, 20

167, 175.

ii.

141.

Laetus,

prefect

of

Egypt,

23

ii.

ii. 1 1 1 ; sqq. 78, 224, 231. Miscellanies, literary, 187.

Minucius Felix, 316 j?. Langen, ii. 319.

Missions, 227-229, 235 sqq.

ii.

131,

Mithraism,

Law,

the,

ii.

197, 219, 274.

Mommsen,

79, 98, 293. Th., 33, 122.

Learning, Clement s, 155-164. Learning, place of, in the Church, 29 ii. 229, 283. Leonides, 22, 305 ii. 317. Libraries, 43, 133, 149-151. Literature, Clement s use of, 7, 149;

Monotheism, 77, 126; ii. 5. Montanism, 114, 197, 296. Motherhood, in the divine nature,

Museum
61.

287, 319.
in Alexandria, the, 43, 55,

177.

Liturgies, the, ii. 137-139, H9Logos, the, 261, 334-366 ; ii. I sqq., 154 sqq., 274, 288-291. Lord, sayings of the, 278, 320 ; ii. 306. Love (divine), 220, 354; ii. 15, 290295.
sqq. ; Lucian, 5, 81, 152, 234, 330; 11. 259-261, 326. Luxury, 39, 247 sqq.

Music, 49, 211, 250; ii. 301-302. Musonius, 245. Mysteries, mysticism, 8 sqq., 193*

213,232; ii. 145, 157,237^. Mythology, 125, 230-231.

Narcissus, Bp., 23 ii. 320. Nature, 134-135* 282 ii. 247 sqq.
;
;

Love (human), 300

ii.

80.

Nau,
327,

F., 146.
ii.

305,

Neumann,

320.

Niger, 100, 103.

Lyons, 100

ii.

315.

Oblation,

ii. ii.

148, 152.

Macedonians, 37. Mahaffy, J. P., 264. Man, Clement s view

296-297. Manners, 239-269.
sqq.,

246 sqq., 262, 294-295. Origen, 15, 20, 154, 294, 301, 305; ii. 13,94, 141, 190,217,249,251.

Optimism,

of,

ii.

91, 241,

Orphic poems, 172.

Orthodoxasts, 181
;

ii.

110, 133, 281.

Manuscripts of Clement, 208.

Marcia, 1 17-123. Marcion, 166, 277
200.
P<zdagogus,
;

the,

189,

239-269

ii.

ii.

38,

50, 56-60,
ii.

326 sqq. Paganism, 176, 212

ii.

sqq.,

230 sqq.

Marcus Aurelius,
sqq.

5, 9,

65, 132

255

3.

Palut, Bp., 141.

;

Mark, Saint, 44 Mark, Gospel

sqq., 202.

ii.

103.

Paneum,
ii.

the, 50.
;

of,

308;

32,

185

Marriage, 141, 270-302. Marriage, a treatise on,

201
;

190,

195,

Pantaenus, 14 sqq., 207 ii. 166. Papyri, ancient, 1 52 sqq. Passion, iraQos, ii. 15. Pastoral office, the, 20, 200, 206,

ii.

328.
;

306;
ii.

ii.

114.
ii.

Martyrdom, 75
31 4 sqq.

47, 53 sqq., 304,

;

Patriarchate of Alexandria, the,

in.
Pauline Epistles, Paul, the heretic, Pentateuch, the,
ii.
ii.

Master, the, 4, 189 ii. 327 sqq. Matthias, Traditions of, ii. 37, 174. Maximus of Tyre, 123-130. Mediation, theories of, 337-33 8 345Medicine, 43, 131 sqq., 273. VOL. II.
>

187, 203.
36. 182.

ii.

Pergamum,

130, 151.
;

Persecution, 71, 316

ii.

13,
22

3 J 4 sqq.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
Person, personality, 342,347-351
257.
; 203. Peter, Saint, 2 Epistle of,
;

ii.

Quadratus, Bp., n.

Quartodeciman controversy,
183, 198
ii.
;

85,

10,

Pertmax, 99, 133. Peter, Saint, 315

ii.

121.
;

ii.

172.
ii.

Quest, spiritual, 82 ii. 266. Qui s Dives Salvetur, the, 305-333

ii.

Pharos, 34, 55. Philo, 56 sqq., 69, 165, 353;

213-

332.

212ii.

Philosophy,

7,

82, 126, 216,

234;

Reason, 360-1.

[See Logos.]

233, 29511. ii. Photius, 346 Piety, Clement s 219-223, 306 sqq.
;

Renan,

231-262, 285-313. Pindar, 172.

ii.

108, 117, 224, 304, 327, 362 ; ii. 39, 42, 102, 229. Renunciation, acts of, 324. Repentance, angel of, 321. Reserve in teaching, 188.
31,

Plato, 1 68, 216, 260, 262, 331 120, 177, 195)251. Plautianus, 101. Pliny, 161 ; ii. 123.

ii.

3,

Resurrection, ii. 45, 122, 278, 312. Resurrection, a treatise on the, 199.
Reville,
J.,

233, 285.

Plutarch, 69, 83, 171, 231, 264, 275, 286.

Poetry, 126, 172 sqq., 217. Polycrates, Bp., in.

"Pompey s
Pillar,"

Rhetoric, 6, 171. Riches, sermon on, 303 sqq. Robber, story of the young, 321. Roman Church, 15, 109-117, 141, ii. 60. 276, 305
;

41, 62.
of,

Populace, hostility
323-

56-57, 74

ii.

[see Empire]. 117, 205. Ruler, the young, 306 sqq.

Roman Empire
faith,
ii.

Rule of

Population of Alexandria, 36. Potter, edition of Clement by, 208.

Poverty, 311, 328
150. Praxeas, 113.
;

Sabellianism, 113, 345.

ii.

299.

Praise,

ii.

Sacraments, 301, 325 ii. 135-164. ii. Sacrifice, 214 155, 227.
; ;

Prayer, 128 ii. 92-93, 149, 310-311. Prefects of Egypt, 38, 74; ii. 316;

317.

Presbyters, 20; ii. 112. Pre-Socratic philosophers, 166 sqq., 216. Priest, the great High, 350; ii. 100,
227, 310. Principles, On, a treatise, 61

200

ii.

Saviour, 50 ii. 13-14. School, the catechetical, 19, 45-48, 185 ii. 166, 322. Schools, other, 140-141, 167 ; ii. 39. Science, 133, 273, 363. ii. 18, Scripture, 47, 162, 308, 325 148, 165-230, 270, 302-303. Second century, 64 sqq. ii. 265-267. Seneca, 152, 286, 290. Septuagint, 43 ii. 179-183.
;
;

Serapeum,

40, 50, 151.

;

Probst,

ii.

138.

Serapion, Bp., 360

ii.

137, 142, 149.

ii.

Prophecy, ii. 197. Prophecy, a treatise on, 197. Protrepticus, the, 210-238;
sqq.

Serapis, 41, 161, 215, 231.

ii.

326

Severus, Sept., 22, 98-109, 133 314-324Shelley,

ii.

87.

Providence, n. 53-55, 2 44 sqq., 257. Providence, a treatise on, 199.

Ptolemies, the rule of, 33. Punishment, ii. 53-54, 251-254, 296.
Pupils,

Shepherd [see Hennas].

Ships, 40, 129-130. Sibylline verses, 172. Simplicity, 256, 283 ; ii. 300, 310. Sin, 13; ii. 86, 115, 304. Slander, On, a homily, 201.
Slaves, 254, 291-293 Social question, the, Socrates, 128, 161.
;

Clement and
354
ii.
5
"

his, 19,

210

sqq.,

239

sqq.,

283.

Purification,

84, 143.

ii.

108.

Puteoli or Dicaearchia, 39, 62.

ii.

268.

Pythagoras, 167.

INDEX
Son, the [see Logos]. Song of Songs, the, ii. 169. Sophocles, 173, 300. Soul, On the, a treatise, 199.
"Sources,"

339
ii.

Traditions of Matthias, the,

174.

37,

Tragedy, 173. Transcendence, divine, 363

285.

ii.

279,

Clement
359-360;

s,

156-164, 245,
116.
sqq.
;

262.
Spirit, the,
ii.

Travels, Clement
ii.

s,

14.
;

Spread of Christianity, 225

;.

Trinity, the, 318, 359 Tyre, 123.

ii.

115, 140.

300, 330. n. 176. Stahlin, Dr, 209 Stoics, the, 169, 216. 234, 357 ; ii. 86-89, 256, 279. Strabo, 54-56. Stromateis, the, 186-194, 202, 205 ;
ii. 322, 325-331. Style, literary, 206.

Umidius Quadratus,

118.

Unction, ii. 140-141. Unguents, 246, 251-257.

Valentinus, 166, 202
167.

Valentinians, 141-146, ii. 37 sqq., 53, 159-161,

ii.
;

Substance, of one, 345 ii. 293. Swete, ii. 125, 181-183, 264. Symbolism, 188 ii. 292, 302. [See
;

Vatican Codex, Vergil, 34, 290

181-191.
85, 144.
;

ii.

Allegory.]

Victor, Bp., 88, 109-117, 120,204

ii.

Symmachus,

ii.

180.
;

Syncretism, 41, 51, 77, 260, 357 269-271, 308.

ii.

325-326. Virgin birth, the,

278. Vision,
ii.

ii.

12,

115,

210,

83, 97, 309.

Tatian, 16, 159, 166, 277 ; ii. 166. Taylor, Jeremy, 274 ii. 283. Teachers, Clement s, 14. [See Elders.]
;

Wagner, W.,

242.
;

Teleology, 134.

Tennyson, 348, 363, 365.

Tertullian, 70, 72, 74, 85, 113, 154 295 ii. 47, 103, 115, 151, 175;

Watch-tower, 50/129, 362 Wealth, 39, 33-333Week, days of the,ii. 122.

ii.

289.

Wendland,

P., 165,

245
s

ii.

325.
n.

Westcott, Bp., 333.

Testament, ii. 204 sqq. Text of Clement, 208. Text of Scripture, ii. 175-191.
Theatre, 258.

Westcott and Hort

Greek Test,

Theodas, ii. 37. Theodotion, ii. 180. Iheodoto, Excerpta ex, 146, 202
159.

185 sqq. Women, 252-258, 270-302. Word, the [see Logos]. Worship, ii. 147 sqq., 166.
;

ii.
|

Xenophon,

287, 331.
of,
ii.

Theodotus of Byzantium,
Theophilus, 117. Therapeutse, 56; Thucydides, 171
Tiresias, 222.
ii.
;

113.

Year, seasons

121-122.

119.

ii.

263.

Zahn, O., 14, 196-205, 346-347 174, i78,330-333Zeus, 12, 125, 231.

Tradition,

ii.

207, 303.

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CO., LTD.,

EDINBURGH.