The Instructor 3.12.98
Summary: The Instructor hands us over to the Teacher; the church is the school and Christ the Bridegroom its only Teacher, the propitiation for the world's sins, whom we know by keeping his commandments.
Greek text · Stählin 1:289–290
καὶ δὴ ὥρα γε ἐμοὶ μὲν πεπαῦσθαι τῆς παιδαγωγίας, ὑμᾶς δὲ ἀκροᾶσθαι τοῦ διδασκάλου. παραλαβὼν δὲ οὗτος ὑμᾶς ὑπὸ καλῇ τεθραμμένους ἀγωγῇ ἐκδιδάξεται τὰ λόγια. διδασκαλεῖον δὲ ἡ ἐκκλησία ἥδε καὶ ὁ νυμφίος ὁ μόνος διδάσκαλος, ἀγαθοῦ πατρὸς ἀγαθὸν βούλημα, σοφία γνήσιος, ἁγίασμα γνώσεως· »καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστι περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν,« ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἰωάννης, ὁ ἰώμενος ἡμῶν καὶ σῶμα καὶ ψυχήν, τὸν ἀίδιον ἄνθρωπον, Ἰησοῦς, »οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνον ἁμαρτιῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου. καὶ ἐν τούτῳ γιγνώσκομεν ὅτι ἐγνώκαμεν αὐτόν, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηρῶμεν. ὁ λέγων ὅτι ἔγνωκα αὐτόν, καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ μὴ τηρῶν, ψεύστης ἐστί, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν· ὃς δʼ ἂν τηρῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἀληθῶς ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ τετελείωται. ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσμεν· ὁ λέγων ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν ὀφείλει καθὼς κἀκεῖνος περιεπάτησεν καὶ αὐτὸς περιπατεῖν.«
English · Claude translation
And now it is time for me to cease from instructing, and for you to listen to the Teacher. He will receive you, reared under good training, and will teach you the oracles. This church here is the school, and the Bridegroom is the only Teacher, the good will of the good Father, genuine wisdom, the sanctuary of knowledge. “And he is the propitiation for our sins,” as John says, he who heals both our body and soul, the eternal man: Jesus, “and not for our sins only, but also for the whole world. And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, ‘I have known him,’ and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought himself to walk just as he walked.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- There is a play in the Greek on ἰώμενος (“healing”) and Ἰησοῦς (“Jesus”). The quotation is 1 John 2:2–6; “the only Teacher” echoes Matt 23:8, 10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on αὐτὸς; stray space before the closing quotation mark): καὶ αὐτός περιπατεῖν → καὶ αὐτὸς περιπατεῖν; ῶν, « → ῶν,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.98 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/98/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.98 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/98/).
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