Miscellanies 1.11.50
Summary: Worldly wisdom is folly with God, and boasting belongs only in knowing the Lord; when Paul warns against “philosophy and empty deceit,” he means not all philosophy but the Epicurean, which denies providence.
Greek text · Stählin 2:32–33
Αὕτη οὖν ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου μωρία παρὰ θεῷ ἐστιν, καὶ τούτων τῶν σοφῶν κύριος γινώσκει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς ὅτι εἰσὶ μάταιοι. μηδεὶς τοίνυν καυχάσθω ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ προανέχων διανοίᾳ. εὖ γάρ τοι ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ γέγραπται· μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ σοφὸς ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι αὐτοῦ, καὶ μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ πλούσιος ἐν τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἢ ἐν τούτῳ καυχάσθω ὁ καυχώμενος, συνιέναι καὶ γινώσκειν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ ποιῶν ἔλεος καὶ κρίμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἐν τούτοις τὸ θέλημά μου, λέγει κύριος. ἵνα μὴ πεποιθότες ὦμεν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ ἐγείροντι τοὺς νεκρούς, ὁ ἀπόστολός φησιν, ὃς ἐκ τηλικούτου θανάτου ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς, ἵνα ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν μὴ ᾖ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλʼ ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ. ὁ γὰρ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει πάντα, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται. ἐπαΐω δὲ κἀκείνων αὐτοῦ· ταῦτα δὲ λέγω, ἵνα μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς παραλογίζηται ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ μηδὲ ὑπεισέρχηται ὁ συλαγωγῶν. καὶ πάλιν· βλέπετε οὖν μή τις ἔσται ὑμᾶς ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ Χριστόν; φιλοσοφίαν μὲν οὐ πᾶσαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν Ἐπικούρειον, ἧς καὶ μέμνηται ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν τῶν ἀποστόλων ὁ Παῦλος, διαβάλλων, πρόνοιαν ἀναιροῦσαν καὶ ἡδονὴν ἐκθειάζουσαν, καὶ εἰ δή τις ἄλλη τὰ στοιχεῖα ἐκτετίμηκεν μὴ ἐπιστήσασα τὴν ποιητικὴν αἰτίαν τούτοις, μηδὲ ἐφαντάσθη τὸν δημιουργόν.
English · Claude translation
This “wisdom of the world,” then, “is foolishness with God,” and of these wise “the Lord knows the reasonings, that they are futile.” So let no one boast, priding himself on human thought. For it is well written in Jeremiah: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his riches; but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord who does mercy and judgment and righteousness on the earth; for in these is my will, says the Lord.” “So that we may not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,” says the apostle, “who delivered us from so great a death, so that our faith may not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” “For the spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is judged by no one.” I also hear those words of his: “I say this so that no one may deceive you with persuasive speech,” nor may the one who carries off as spoil creep in. And again: “See that there be no one who carries you off as spoil through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.” He does not mean all philosophy, but the Epicurean, which Paul also mentions in the Acts of the Apostles, disparaging it, since it abolishes providence and deifies pleasure; and any other that has honored the elements without setting the efficient cause over them and has not even imagined the Creator.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 Cor 3:19–20, Jer 9:23–24, 2 Cor 1:9–10, 1 Cor 2:5, 1 Cor 2:15, Col 2:4, and Col 2:8; the allusion is Acts 17:18. This is Clement's key interpretation of Col 2:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent on οὖν): Αὕτη οὗν ἡ σοφία → Αὕτη οὖν ἡ σοφία.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.11.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/11/50/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.11.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/11/50/).
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