Sophia Scriptura

Excerpts from Theodotus 74.2

Clement of Alexandria · Excerpts from Theodotus · ca. 200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The new star at Christ's birth abolished the old order of the stars; Christ moves believers from Fate to his providence.

Greek text · Stählin 3:130

»εἰρήνη ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις.« διὰ τοῦτο ἀνέτειλεν ξένος ἀστὴρ καὶ καινὸς καταλύων τὴν παλαιὰν ἀστροθεσίαν, καινῷ φωτί, οὐ κοσμικῷ λαμπόμενος, ὁ καινὰς ὁδοὺς καὶ σωτηρίους τρεπόμενος, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἀνθρώπων ὁδηγὸς ὁ κατελθὼν εἰς γῆν, ἵνα μεταθῇ τοὺς εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πιστεύσαντας ἀπὸ τῆς Εἱμαρμένης εἰς τὴν ἐκείνου πρόνοιαν.

English · Claude translation

“Peace on earth and glory in the highest.” That is why a strange and new star rose, abolishing the old arrangement of the stars, shining with a new light, not of this world, turning to new and saving paths, as the Lord himself, the guide of men, who came down to earth to transfer those who believed in Christ from Fate to his providence.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:130 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Extrabiblical texts
  • Ign. Eph. 19.2 (To the Ephesians) · echo, high confidence
Topics
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • Compare Ign. Eph. 19.2–3, where the star's appearance ends magic and the old order.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 74.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/74/2/).

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Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 74.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/74/2/).

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