Miscellanies 1.19.91
Summary: Paul at the Areopagus approved what Greek poets said well, quoting Aratus, and taught that the “unknown god” the Greeks honored is the Creator, who must be known through the Son.
Greek text · Stählin 2:58–59
Ὅτι οὖν μαρτυροῦνται ἀληθῆ τινα δογματίζειν καὶ Ἕλληνες, ἔξεστι κἀντεῦθεν σκοπεῖν. ὁ Παῦλος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀναγράφεται λέγων πρὸς τοὺς Ἀρεοπαγίτας· δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ. διερχόμενος γὰρ καὶ ἱστορῶν τὰ σεβάσματα ὑμῶν εὗρον βωμὸν ἐν ᾧ ἀνεγέγραπτο· ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ. ὃν οὖν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, τοῦτον ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν. ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὑπάρχων κύριος οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ οὐδὲ ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θεραπεύεται προσδεόμενός τινος, αὐτὸς δοὺς πᾶσι ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν καὶ τὰ πάντα· ἐποίησέ τε ἐξ ἑνὸς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ παντὸς προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ὁρίσας προστεταγμένους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς ὁροθεσίας τῆς κατοικίας αὐτῶν, ζητεῖν τὸ θεῖον, εἰ ἄρα ψηλαφήσειαν ἢ εὕροιεν ἄν, καίτοι οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντος· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθʼ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν· τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν. ἐξ ὧν δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ποιητικοῖς χρώμενος παραδείγμασιν ἐκ τῶν Ἀράτου Φαινομένων δοκιμάζει τὰ παρʼ Ἕλλησι καλῶς εἰρημένα καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἀγνώστου θεοῦ τιμᾶσθαι μὲν κατὰ περίφρασιν πρὸς τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὸν δημιουργὸν θεὸν ᾐνίξατο, κατʼ ἐπίγνωσιν δὲ δεῖν διʼ υἱοῦ παραλαβεῖν τε καὶ μαθεῖν.
English · Claude translation
That the Greeks too are attested to teach some truths can be seen from this as well. Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles, is recorded as saying to the Areopagites: “I see that you are very religious. For as I passed through and looked at the objects of your worship, I found an altar on which was inscribed: To an unknown god. What you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. And he made from one every race of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their habitation, to seek the divine, if perhaps they might feel after it or find it, though it is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being, as some of your own poets have said: For we are also his offspring.” From this it is clear that, using poetic examples from the Phaenomena of Aratus, he approves what was well said among the Greeks, and hinted that through the unknown god the Greeks honored, by a roundabout way, God the Creator, but that one must receive and learn him with full knowledge through the Son.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Acts 17:22–28, with Aratus, Phaenomena 5.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word repeated in the digital text): κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ ἐπὶ παντὸς → κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ παντὸς.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.19.91 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/19/91/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.19.91 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/19/91/).
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