Miscellanies 3.4.36
Summary: Christ commands reconciliation and good works, not defiance and display of vice; if the Opposers truly defied the lawgiver, why only in matters of self-control, and not by overturning the seasons like Xerxes?
Greek text · Stählin 2:212
ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ αὐτός, ᾧ πείθεσθαι ἀξιοῦσιν μόνῳ, τὸ μισεῖν καὶ τὸ λοιδορεῖν κεκώλυκεν καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου βαδίζων φίλος αὐτοῦ πειράθητι ἀπαλλαγῆναι φησίν. ἢ τοίνυν καὶ τὴν Χριστοῦ παραίνεσιν ἀρνήσονται ἀντιτασσόμενοι τῷ ἀντιτεταγμένῳ, ἢ φίλοι γινόμενοι τούτῳ οὐκ ἀντιδικήσουσιν. τί δέ; οὐκ ἴστε, ὦ γεννάδαι (ὡς πρὸς παρόντας γὰρ εἴποιμʼ ἄν), ὅτι ταῖς καλῶς ἐχούσαις ἐντολαῖς μαχόμενοι τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἀνθίστασθε σωτηρίᾳ; οὐ γὰρ τὰ διαγορευθέντα χρησίμως, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτοὺς καταστρέφετε. καὶ ὁ μὲν κύριος τὰ ἀγαθὰ ὑμῶν ἔργα λαμψάτω ἔφη, ὑμεῖς δὲ τὰς ἀσελγείας ὑμῶν ἐκφανεῖς ποιεῖτε. ἄλλως τε εἰ τὰς ἐντολὰς καταλύειν τοῦ νομοθέτου θέλετε, τί δήποτε τὸ μὲν οὐ μοιχεύσεις καὶ οὐ παιδοφθορήσεις καὶ ὅσα εἰς ἐγκράτειαν συμβάλλεται, καταλύειν ἐπιχειρεῖτε διʼ ἀκρασίαν τὴν σφῶν, οὐ καταλύετε δὲ χειμῶνα τὸν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γενόμενον, ἵνα θέρος ποιήσητε μεσοῦντος ἔτι τοῦ χειμῶνος, οὐδὲ γῆν πλωτήν, βατὴν δὲ θάλασσαν ἐργάζεσθε, καθάπερ οἱ τὰς ἱστορίας συνταξάμενοι τὸν βάρβαρον ἐθελῆσαι Ξέρξην φασίν;
English · Claude translation
Indeed the Savior himself, whom alone they claim to obey, has forbidden hating and reviling, and says: “When you go with your adversary, try to be released from him as his friend.” Either, then, they will deny Christ's exhortation by opposing the Opposer, or, becoming friends with him, they will not contend against him. What then? Do you not know, noble sirs (for I would speak as to those present), that by fighting against the good commandments you resist your own salvation? For you overturn not what was usefully enjoined, but yourselves. And the Lord said, “Let your good works shine,” but you make your licentious acts shine forth. Besides, if you wish to destroy the lawgiver's commandments, why do you try to destroy “You shall not commit adultery” and “You shall not corrupt boys” and whatever contributes to self-control, because of your own lack of self-control, but do not destroy the winter made by him, so as to make summer in the middle of winter, nor make the land navigable and the sea walkable, as the historians say the barbarian Xerxes wished to do?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Luke 12:58 (Matt 5:25, a free form) and Matt 5:16. Xerxes cut a canal through Athos and bridged the Hellespont (Herodotus 7.22–24, 34–36).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing on ὑπʼ): χειμῶνα τὸν ὐπʼ αὐτοῦ → χειμῶνα τὸν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.4.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/4/36/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.4.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/4/36/).
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