Exhortation to the Greeks 10.110
Summary: The divine Word, equal to the Father, took flesh and in a short time filled the world with salvation, becoming a sea of good things.
Greek text · Stählin 1:78
γενόμενοι ἀπέρριψαν. τάχει μὲν δὴ ἀνυπερβλήτῳ εὐνοίᾳ τε εὐπροσίτῳ ἡ δύναμις ἡ θεϊκὴ ἐπιλάμψασα τὴν γῆν σωτηρίου σπέρματος ἐνέπλησε τὸ πᾶν. οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὕτως ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ τοσοῦτον ἔργον ἄνευ θείας κομιδῆς ἐξήνυσεν ὁ κύριος, ὄψει καταφρονούμενος, ἔργῳ προσκυνούμενος, ὁ καθάρσιος καὶ σωτήριος καὶ μειλίχιος, ὁ θεῖος λόγος, ὁ φανερώτατος ὄντως θεός, ὁ τῷ δεσπότῃ τῶν ὅλων ἐξισωθείς, ὅτι ἦν υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ »ὁ λόγος ἦν ἐν τῷ θεῷ«, οὔθʼ ὅτε τὸ πρῶτον προεκηρύχθη, ἀπιστηθείς, οὔθʼ ὅτε τὸ ἀνθρώπου προσωπεῖον ἀναλαβὼν καὶ σαρκὶ ἀναπλασάμενος τὸ σωτήριον δρᾶμα τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὑπεκρίνετο, ἀγνοηθείς· γνήσιος γὰρ ἦν ἀγωνιστὴς καὶ τοῦ πλάσματος συναγωνιστής, τάχιστα δὲ εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους διαδοθεὶς θᾶττον ἡλίου ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀνατείλας τῆς πατρικῆς βουλήσεως, ῥᾷστα ἡμῖν ἐπέλαμψε τὸν θεόν, ὅθεν τε ἦν αὐτὸς καὶ ὃς ἦν, διʼ ὧν ἐδίδαξεν καὶ ἐνεδείξατο, παραστησάμενος, ὁ σπονδοφόρος καὶ διαλλακτὴς καὶ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν λόγος, πηγὴ ζωοποιός, εἰρηνική, ἐπὶ πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς χεόμενος, διʼ ὃν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τὰ πάντα ἤδη πέλαγος γέγονεν ἀγαθῶν.
English · Claude translation
… when they become men. With unsurpassable speed and approachable goodwill the divine power has shone on the earth and filled the universe with the seed of salvation. For the Lord could not have accomplished so great a work in so short a time without divine care: he who was despised in appearance but is worshiped in deed, the purifier, the savior, the gentle, the divine Word, truly the most manifest God, made equal with the Master of the universe, because he was his Son and “the Word was with God.” When he was first proclaimed he was not disbelieved; and when he took on the mask of a human being and was fashioned in flesh, and acted out the saving drama of humanity, he was not unrecognized. For he was a true contender, and a fellow contender with his creature. Spread most swiftly to all people, rising more quickly than the sun from the Father's very will, he most readily lit up God for us, showing, by what he taught and demonstrated, where he came from and who he was: the Word, the bearer of the covenant, the reconciler, our Savior, a life-giving and peaceful spring poured out over all the face of the earth, through whom, so to speak, everything has now become a sea of good things.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Mask” and “drama” (προσωπεῖον, δρᾶμα) are theatrical images for the incarnation; they do not imply that his humanity was unreal, since Clement says he was “fashioned in flesh.” The quotation is John 1:1; the allusion “made equal” recalls Phil 2:6 and John 5:18.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text, which splits the sentence): τάχει μὲν δὴ. ἀνυπερβλήτῳ → τάχει μὲν δὴ ἀνυπερβλήτῳ.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.110 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/110/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.110 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/110/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text