The Instructor 1.6.32
Summary: Using his opponents' own language of “straining,” Clement says baptism strains away sin; God reveals himself to infants, those born again and clothed with Christ.
Greek text · Stählin 1:108–109
Οὐκ ἄτοπον δὲ καὶ τοῖς αὐτῶν ἐκείνων συγχρήσασθαι ῥήμασιν, οἳ διυλισμὸν μὲν τοῦ πνεύματος τὴν μνήμην τῶν κρειττόνων εἶναί φασιν. διυλισμὸν δὲ νοοῦσιν τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπομνήσεως τῶν ἀμεινόνων τῶν χειρόνων χωρισμόν· ἕπεται δὲ ἐξ ἀνάγκης τῷ ὑπομνησθέντι τῶν βελτιόνων ἡ μετάνοια ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἥττοσιν· αὐτὸ γοῦν τὸ πνεῦμα ὁμολογοῦσι μετανοῆσαν ἀναδραμεῖν. τὸν αὐτὸν οὖν τρόπον καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις μετανενοηκότες, ἀποταξάμενοι τοῖς ἐλαττώμασιν αὐτῶν, διυλιζόμενοι βαπτίσματι, πρὸς τὸ ἀίδιον ἀνατρέχομεν φῶς, οἱ παῖδες πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. »ἀγαλλιασάμενος γοῦν ἐν τῷ πνεύματι Ἰησοῦς, ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, φησίν, ὁ θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἀπέκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν, καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις·« νηπίους ἡμᾶς ὁ παιδαγωγὸς καὶ διδάσκαλος ἀποκαλῶν τοὺς τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ σοφῶν ἐπιτηδειοτέρους εἰς σωτηρίαν, οἳ σοφοὺς σφᾶς ἡγούμενοι τετύφωνται. καὶ ἐπιβοᾶται, ἀγαλλιώμενος καὶ ὑπερευφραινόμενος, οἱονεὶ συντραυλίζων τοῖς νηπίοις· »ναί, ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου.« διὰ τοῦτο τὰ κεκρυμμένα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν τοῦ νῦν αἰῶνος ἀπεκαλύφθη τοῖς νηπίοις. νήπιοι ἄρα εἰκότως οἱ παῖδες τοῦ θεοῦ οἱ τὸν μὲν παλαιὸν ἀποθέμενοι ἄνθρωπον καὶ τῆς κακίας ἐκδυσάμενοι τὸν χιτῶνα, ἐπενδυσάμενοι δὲ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα καινοὶ γενόμενοι, λαὸς ἅγιος, ἀναγεννηθέντες ἀμίαντον φυλάξωμεν τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ νήπιοι ὦμεν ὡς βρέφος τοῦ θεοῦ κεκαθαρμένον πορνείας
English · Claude translation
It is not out of place to use the very words of those people, who say that the remembrance of better things is a straining of the spirit. By “straining” they mean the separation of worse things that comes from the recollection of better; and repentance for lesser things necessarily follows for the one who has recalled the better; indeed they admit that the spirit itself, having repented, runs back up. In the same way we too, having repented of our sins, renouncing our failings, strained clean by baptism, run back to the eternal light, children to the Father. “Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, God of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.” The Instructor and Teacher calls us infants, who are better suited for salvation than the wise of the world, who, thinking themselves wise, are puffed up. And he cries out, rejoicing and exceedingly glad, as if lisping along with the infants: “Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before you.” For this reason what was hidden from the wise and understanding of this age has been revealed to infants. Rightly, then, the children of God are infants: those who have put off the old man and stripped off the tunic of wickedness, and put on the incorruption of Christ, so that, having become new, a holy people, born again, we may keep the human being undefiled, and be infants as a newborn of God, cleansed of sexual immorality …
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Straining” (διυλισμός, as through a filter) is a Valentinian term; Clement turns it to his own use.
- The quotations are Luke 10:21 (Matt 11:25–26); the allusions are Eph 4:22–24 (Col 3:9–10), 1 Pet 2:9, and 1 Pet 2:2. The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/32/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/32/).
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