The Instructor 1.6.37
Summary: No one, not even the Gnostics, knows now what “eye has not seen”; we boast only in Christ, the milk of the flock, and milk and solid food are the same Word.
Greek text · Stählin 1:112
τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ὀψόμεθα. πῶς δέ, εἰ ἐκείνη ὄντως ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγήν, »ἣν ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν οὐδὲ ἐπὶ νοῦν ἀνθρώπου [οὐκ] ἀνέβη,« εἰδέναι φασὶν οὐ πνεύματι ἐννενοηκότες, ἀλλὰ ἐκ μαθήσεως παρειληφότες »ὃ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσέν ποτε« ἢ μόνον ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐν τρίτῳ ἁρπασθὲν οὐρανῷ; ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνο ἐχεμυθεῖν ἐκελεύετο τότε. εἰ δὲ ἀνθρωπίνη σοφία ἐστίν, ὅπερ ὑπολείπεται νοεῖν, ἡ μεγαλαυχία τῆς γνώσεως, ἄκουε τὸν νόμον τῆς γραφῆς· »μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ σοφὸς ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ καυχώμενος ἐν κυρίῳ καυχάσθω.« ἡμεῖς δὲ »θεοδίδακτοι« καὶ τῷ Χριστοῦ ὀνόματι καυχώμενοι. πῶς οὖν οὐ ταύτῃ νοεῖν τὸν ἀπόστολον ὑποληπτέον τὸ γάλα τῶν νηπίων, εἴ τε ποιμένες [ἐσ]μὲν οἱ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν προηγούμενοι κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ποιμένος, τὰ δὲ πρόβατα ἡμεῖς. μὴ οὐχὶ καὶ γάλα τῆς ποίμνης τὸν κύριον λέγοντα τὴν ἀκολουθίαν φυλάττειν ἀλληγοροῦντα; καὶ δὴ τὸ ῥητὸν αὖθις τῇ διανοίᾳ ἐφαρμοστέον· »γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα, οὐ βρῶμα· οὔπω γὰρ ἐδύνασθε,« οὐκ ἄλλο τι παρὰ τὸ γάλα τὸ βρῶμα ὑπολαμβάνοντος, ταὐτὸν δὲ τῇ οὐσίᾳ· ὡσαύτως γὰρ καὶ ὁ λόγος ὁ αὐτὸς ἢ ἀνειμένος καὶ ἤπιος ὡς
English · Claude translation
(… face to face.) But if that promise truly comes after our departure from here, “which eye has not seen, nor has it entered into the mind of man,” how do they claim to know, not having understood by the Spirit but having received it by learning, “what ear has never heard,” except that which was caught up to the third heaven? But even that he was commanded to keep silent about at the time. And if the boasting of knowledge is human wisdom, which is what remains to be understood, hear the law of Scripture: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength; but let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” But we are “taught by God” and boast in the name of Christ. How, then, should we not suppose that the apostle understood the milk of infants in this way? And if those who lead the churches are shepherds in the image of the Good Shepherd, and we are the sheep, should we not suppose that the Lord, speaking allegorically, keeps to the sequence by calling himself the milk of the flock? And the saying is again to be fitted to the meaning: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able,” not supposing that the solid food is something other than the milk, but the same in substance. For the same Word is either loosened and gentle like
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 Cor 2:9, 2 Cor 12:2–4 (Paul caught up to the third heaven), Jer 9:23–24 (1 Cor 1:31), and 1 Thess 4:9; the allusion is John 10:11.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): βη, « → βη,«; θε, « → θε,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/37/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/37/).
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