Sophia Scriptura

Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.18

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

Summary: Whoever repents now will not regret it at death or fear the judgment; whoever refuses forgiveness has only himself to blame.

Greek text · Stählin 3:190–191

ὁ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸν ἄγγελον τῆς μετανοίας προσιέμενος οὐ μετανοήσει τότε, ἡνίκα ἂν καταλίπῃ τὸ σῶμα, οὐδὲ καταισχυνθήσεται, τὸν σωτῆρα προσιόντα μετὰ τῆς αὑτοῦ δόξης καὶ στρατιᾶς ἰδών· οὐ δέδιε τὸ πῦρ· εἰ δέ τις αἱρεῖται μένειν ἐπεξαμαρτάνων ἑκάστοτε ἐπὶ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς καὶ τὴν ἐνταῦθα τρυφὴν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς προτιμᾷ καὶ διδόντος τοῦ σωτῆρος ἄφεσιν ἀποστρέφεται, μήτε τὸν θεὸν ἔτι μήτε τὸν πλοῦτον μήτε τὸ προπεσεῖν αἰτιάσθω, τὴν δὲ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἑκουσίως ἀπολουμένην.

English · Claude translation

For whoever welcomes the angel of repentance here will not repent then, when he leaves the body, nor will he be ashamed when he sees the Savior coming with his glory and his army; he does not fear the fire. But if someone chooses to remain, sinning again and again for pleasures, and prefers luxury here to eternal life, and turns away when the Savior offers forgiveness, let him no longer blame God, or wealth, or his fall, but his own soul, perishing willingly.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:190–191 · 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
Extrabiblical texts
  • Herm. Vis. 5.7 (Shepherd of Hermas: Visions) · echo, medium confidence
Topics
Eschatology, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • “The angel of repentance” recalls Hermas (Vis. 5.7; Mand. 12.4.7). The Savior coming with his glory and army is Matt 25:31 (16:27).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 42.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/42/18/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 42.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/42/18/).

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