Exhortation to the Greeks 11.117
Summary: The Word, who regenerates human beings and makes them God's temple, calls them to purify that temple and offer themselves to God.
Greek text · Stählin 1:82–83
Ὢ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ μακαρίας ταύτης δυνάμεως, διʼ ἧς ἀνθρώποις συμπολιτεύεται θεός. λῷον οὖν καὶ ἄμεινον τῆς ἀρίστης τῶν ὄντων οὐσίας μιμητὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ θεραπευτὴν γενέσθαι· οὐ γὰρ μιμεῖσθαί τις δυνήσεται τὸν θεὸν ἢ διʼ ὧν ὁσίως θεραπεύει οὐδʼ αὖ θεραπεύειν καὶ σέβειν ἢ μιμούμενος. ὅ γέ τοι οὐράνιος καὶ θεῖος ὄντως ἔρως ταύτῃ προσγίνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὅταν ἐν αὐτῇ που τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ ὄντως καλὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου λόγου ἀναζωπυρούμενον ἐκλάμπειν δυνηθῇ· καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ἅμα τῷ βουληθῆναι γνησίως τὸ σωθῆναι συντρέχει, ὁμοζυγούντων, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, προαιρέσεως καὶ ζωῆς. τοιγάρτοι μόνη αὕτη ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας προτροπὴ τοῖς πιστοτάτοις ἀπείκασται τῶν φίλων μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς παραμένουσα καὶ παραπομπὸς ἀγαθὴ ὅλῳ καὶ τελείῳ τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς πνεύματι τοῖς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀπαίρουσι γενομένη. τί δή σε προτρέπω; σωθῆναί σε ἐπείγομαι. τοῦτο Χριστὸς βούλεται· ἑνὶ λόγῳ ζωήν σοι χαρίζεται. καὶ τίς ἐστιν οὗτος; μάθε συντόμως· λόγος ἀληθείας, λόγος ἀφθαρσίας, ὁ ἀναγεννῶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰς ἀλήθειαν αὐτὸν ἀναφέρων, τὸ κέντρον τῆς σωτηρίας, ὁ ἐξελαύνων τὴν φθοράν, ὁ ἐκδιώκων τὸν θάνατον, ὁ ἐν ἀνθρώποις οἰκοδομήσας νεών, ἵνα ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἱδρύσῃ τὸν θεόν. ἅγνισον τὸν νεών, καὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς καὶ τὰς ῥᾳθυμίας ὥσπερ ἄνθος ἐφήμερον καταλίμπανε ἀνέμῳ καὶ πυρί, σωφροσύνης δὲ τοὺς καρποὺς γεώργησον ἐμφρόνως, καὶ σεαυτὸν ἀκροθίνιον ἀνάστησον τῷ θεῷ, ὅπως οὐκ ἔργον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ χάρις ᾖς τοῦ θεοῦ· πρέπει δὲ ἄμφω τῷ Χριστοῦ γνωρίμῳ, καὶ βασιλείας ἄξιον φανῆναι καὶ βασιλείας κατηξιῶσθαι.
English · Claude translation
O this holy and blessed power, by which God shares citizenship with human beings! It is better, then, and nobler to become at once an imitator and a servant of the highest of all beings; for no one will be able to imitate God except by serving him in holiness, nor to serve and revere him except by imitating him. The heavenly and truly divine love comes to human beings in this way, when somewhere in the soul itself the truly beautiful, rekindled by the divine Word, is able to shine out; and, greatest of all, salvation runs together with the genuine wish for it, will and life being, so to speak, yoked together. Therefore this exhortation of truth alone is likened to the most faithful of friends, remaining with us to our last breath, and becoming a good escort for the whole and perfect spirit of the soul as it departs for heaven. Why then do I exhort you? I am eager that you be saved. This is what Christ wills; in a single word he grants you life. And who is he? Learn in brief: the Word of truth, the Word of incorruption, who regenerates the human being, bringing him back to the truth; the goad of salvation, who drives out corruption, who chases away death, who has built a temple in human beings, so that he may set up God in human beings. Purify the temple; leave your pleasures and idleness to wind and fire like a short-lived flower, and wisely cultivate the fruits of self-control; and dedicate yourself to God as first fruits, so that you may be not only a work but also a grace of God. Both befit the friend of Christ: to be seen worthy of the kingdom, and to be deemed worthy of it.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are 1 Pet 1:23 (regeneration by the word), 1 Cor 3:16–17 (the temple), Jas 1:10–11 (the fading flower), and 2 Thess 1:5.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.117 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/117/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.117 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/117/).
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