Miscellanies 1.2.20 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Philosophy is not a corrupter of life but a clear image of truth, a divine gift to the Greeks; comparing doctrines strengthens faith and leads to knowledge, and the Stromata hide its seeds in learning.

Greek text · Stählin 2:13–14

ἀξιόπιστος δὲ ἡ τοιαύτη ψυχαγωγία, διʼ ἧς κεκαλυμμένην οἱ φιλομαθεῖς παραδέχονται τὴν ἀλήθειαν, πρὸς τὸ μήτε αὐτοὺς δοκεῖν τὴν φιλοσοφίαν λυμαίνεσθαι τὸν βίον, ψευδῶν πραγμάτων καὶ φαύλων ἔργων δημιουργὸν ὑπάρχουσαν, ᾗ τινες διαβεβλήκασιν, ἀληθείας οὖσαν εἰκόνα ἐναργῆ, θείαν δωρεὰν Ἕλλησι δεδομένην, μήτε ἡμᾶς ἀποσπᾶσθαι τῆς πίστεως, οἷον ὑπό τινος ἀπατηλοῦ τέχνης καταγοητευομένους, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, περιβολῇ πλείονι χρωμένους, ἁμῇ γέ πῃ συγγυμνασίαν τινὰ πίστεως ἀποδεικτικὴν ἐκπορίζεσθαι. ναὶ μὴν καὶ ἡ συναφὴ τῶν δογμάτων διὰ τῆς ἀντιπαραθέσεως τὴν ἀλήθειαν μνηστεύεται, διʼ ἧς ἐξηκολούθηκεν ἡ γνῶσις, οὐ κατὰ προηγούμενον λόγον τῆς φιλοσοφίας παρεισελθούσης, διὰ δὲ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς γνώσεως καρπόν ἡμῶν βέβαιον λαμβανόντων πεῖσμα τῆς ἀληθοῦς καταλήψεως διὰ τῆς τῶν ὑπονοουμένων ἐπιστήμης. σιωπῶ γὰρ ὅτι οἱ Στρωματεῖς τῇ πολυμαθίᾳ σωματοποιούμενοι κρύπτειν ἐντέχνως τὰ τῆς γνώσεως βούλονται σπέρματα.

English · Claude translation

Such attraction is trustworthy, by which lovers of learning receive the truth veiled; so that they do not think philosophy ruins life as a maker of false things and base deeds, as some have slandered it, when it is a clear image of the truth, a divine gift given to the Greeks; and so that we are not drawn away from the faith, as though bewitched by some deceitful art, but, so to speak, using a wider circuit, may at the same time provide a certain joint exercise of faith that is demonstrative. Indeed, the connection of doctrines through comparison woos the truth, and knowledge follows from it; not that philosophy came in as the primary reason, but because of the fruit that comes from knowledge, as we receive firm persuasion of true apprehension through the understanding of what is hinted at. I say nothing of the fact that the Stromata, embodied in wide learning, wish artfully to hide the seeds of knowledge.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:13–14 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 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 (1906–1909); 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) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Topics

Scripture and canon

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.2.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/2/20/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.2.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/2/20/).