Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 3.8.42

Clement of Alexandria · The Instructor · ca. 190–200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Some are saved by being taught, others by seeking themselves: Abraham sought God and was called friend; the apostles obeyed the Word and proclaimed him.

Greek text · Stählin 1:261

παραφυλάττοντες δʼ οὖν τὴν ἐκείνων ἀσχημοσύνην, ὡς μὴ περιπέσοιεν αὐτοὶ ταῖς ὁμοίαις καταγνώσεσιν, ἐπαιδεύοντο τῷ ἐπονειδίστῳ τῶν μεθυόντων εἰς τὸ ἑαυτῶν ἀναμάρτητον ὠφελούμενοι. τῶν γὰρ ἀνθρώπων οἳ μὲν διδαχθέντες ἐσώθησαν, οἳ δὲ αὐτοδιδάκτως· ἢ ἐζήλωσαν ἢ ἐζήτησαν ἀρετήν. κεῖνος μὲν πανάριστος, ὃς αὑτῷ πάντα νοήσῃ· οὗτός ἐστιν Ἀβραὰμ ὁ ζητήσας τὸν θεόν· ἐσθλὸς δʼ αὖ κἀκεῖνος, ὃς εὖ εἰπόντι πίθηται· οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ μαθηταὶ οἱ πεισθέντες τῷ λόγῳ· διὰ τοῦτο ὃ μὲν ἤκουσεν φίλος, οἳ δὲ ἀπόστολοι, ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν θεὸν ὃ μὲν πολυπραγμονῶν, οἳ δὲ κηρύσσοντες, ἐσθλοὶ δὲ ἄμφω· ἀμφοῖν δὲ τούτοιν οἱ ἀκροαταί, ὃ μὲν ὠφελούμενος διὰ τὴν ζήτησιν, ὃ δὲ σῳζόμενος διὰ τὴν εὕρεσιν.

English · Claude translation

Watching the others' indecency, so that they themselves would not fall into similar condemnation, they were trained by the disgrace of the drunkards, benefiting from it for their own sinlessness. Of human beings, some are saved by being taught, others by teaching themselves; they either emulated or sought virtue. “That man is best of all who understands all things for himself”: this is Abraham, who sought God. “And good too is he who obeys one who speaks well”: these are the disciples, who obeyed the Word. That is why the one was called friend, the others apostles: the one searching for the one and the same God, the others proclaiming him; and both are good. Hearers of both are the one who benefits by seeking and the other who is saved by finding.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:261 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 12. 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), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Extrabiblical texts
  • Hesiod, Op. 293–295 (Hesiod, Works and Days) · quotation, high confidence

Notes

Translation notes

  • The verses are Hesiod, Works and Days 293 and 295. Abraham as “friend” recalls Jas 2:23.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.8.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/8/42/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.8.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/8/42/).

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