Miscellanies 2.18.81
Summary: God is without need or passion; we, subject to passion, need self-control to become like him and need little; the law forbidding men to wear women's clothing teaches manliness in endurance, even to martyrdom.
Greek text · Stählin 2:155
τοῦτο δέ ἐστι δίκαιον καὶ ὅσιον μετὰ φρονήσεως γενέσθαι. ἀνενδεὲς μὲν γὰρ τὸ θεῖον καὶ ἀπαθές, ὅθεν οὐδὲ ἐγκρατὲς κυρίως· οὐ γὰρ ὑποπίπτει πάθει ποτέ, ἵνα καὶ κρατήσῃ τοῦδε· ἡ δὲ ἡμετέρα φύσις ἐμπαθὴς οὖσα ἐγκρατείας δεῖται, διʼ ἧς πρὸς τὸ ὀλιγοδεὲς συνασκουμένη συνεγγίζειν πειρᾶται κατὰ διάθεσιν τῇ θείᾳ φύσει. ὁ γὰρ σπουδαῖος ὀλιγοδεής, ἀθανάτου καὶ θνητῆς φύσεως μεθόριος, τὸ μὲν ἐνδεὲς διά τε τὸ σῶμα διά τε τὴν γένεσιν αὐτὴν ἔχων, ὀλίγων δὲ διὰ τὴν λογικὴν ἐγκράτειαν δεῖσθαι δεδιδαγμένος. ἐπεὶ τίνα λόγον ἔχει τὸ ἀπειπεῖν τὸν νόμον ἀνδρὶ γυναικὸς ἀμπεχόνην ἀναλαμβάνειν; ἢ οὐχὶ ἀνδρεΐζεσθαι ἡμᾶς βούλεται μήτε κατὰ τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὰ ἔργα μήτε κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐκθηλυνομένους; ἠρρενῶσθαι γὰρ τὸν ἀληθείᾳ σχολάζοντα ἔν τε ὑπομοναῖς ἔν τε καρτερίαις κἀν τῷ βίῳ κἀν τῷ τρόπῳ κἀν τῷ λόγῳ κἀν τῇ ἀσκήσει νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν καί, εἴ που μαρτυρίου διʼ αἵματος χωροῦντος ἐπικαταλάβοι χρεία, βούλεται.
English · Claude translation
And this is to become just and holy with prudence. For the divine is without need and without passion, which is why it is not, properly speaking, self-controlled; for it never falls under a passion, so as to master it. But our nature, being subject to passion, needs self-control, by which, being trained to need little, it tries to draw near in disposition to the divine nature. For the good man needs little, standing on the boundary between immortal and mortal nature: he has need because of the body and because of birth itself, but has been taught by rational self-control to need few things. For what reason does the law forbid a man to put on a woman's clothing? Is it not that it wishes us to be manly, not becoming effeminate either in body and actions or in mind and speech? For it wishes the one who gives himself to the truth to be manly in endurance and patience, in life, manner, speech, and discipline, night and day, and if ever the need should arise of a martyrdom that goes as far as blood.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Deut 22:5. The opening words quote Plato, Theaetetus 176b (likeness to God is “to become just and holy with prudence”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words repeated in the digital text): ἡ δὲ ἡ δὲ ἡμετέρα φύσις → ἡ δὲ ἡμετέρα φύσις.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/81/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/81/).
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