Sophia Scriptura

Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 3.5

Clement of Alexandria · Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? · ca. 190–210 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The rich believer should neither exclude himself from salvation nor expect it without effort.

Greek text · Stählin 3:161

οὕτως τις καὶ τὴν ἐπίγειον ταύτην περιβεβλημένος περιβολὴν μήτε τὴν ἀρχὴν ἑαυτὸν τῶν ἄθλων τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐκκηρυσσέτω, πιστός γε ὢν καὶ τὸ μεγαλεῖον συνορῶν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας, μήτε μὴν αὖθις ἀνάσκητος καὶ ἀναγώνιστος μείνας ἀκονιτὶ κἀνιδρωτὶ τῶν στεφάνων τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἐλπιζέτω μεταλαβεῖν·

English · Claude translation

So too let one who is clothed with this earthly wealth neither shut himself out from the start from the Savior's contests, if he is a believer and perceives the greatness of God's love for mankind, nor again hope to share in the crowns of incorruption while remaining untrained and without contest, without dust and without sweat.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:161 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 17. 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), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); 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
Topics
Ethics, Eschatology

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Without dust and without sweat” (ἀκονιτὶ κἀνιδρωτί) are athletic terms: winning without a fight.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 3.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/3/5/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 3.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/3/5/).

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