Miscellanies 4.13.90
Summary: Valentinus called the Creator an image of the true God, fashioned by Wisdom, and taught that a distinct spiritual seed was breathed into the elect unknown to the Creator, reading Genesis's creation of man in this sense.
Greek text · Stählin 2:287–288
τίς οὖν αἰτία τῆς εἰκόνος; μεγαλωσύνη τοῦ προσώπου παρεσχημένου τῷ ζωγράφῳ τὸν τύπον, ἵνα τιμηθῇ διʼ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ· οὐ γὰρ αὐθεντικῶς εὑρέθη μορφή, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὄνομα ἐπλήρωσεν τὸ ὑστερῆσαν ἐν πλάσει. συνεργεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀόρατον εἰς πίστιν τοῦ πεπλασμένου. τὸν μὲν γὰρ Δημιουργὸν ὡς θεὸν καὶ πατέρα κληθέντα εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ θεοῦ καὶ προφήτην προσεῖπεν, ζωγράφον δὲ τὴν Σοφίαν, ἧς τὸ πλάσμα ἡ εἰκών, εἰς δόξαν τοῦ ἀοράτου, ἐπεὶ ὅσα ἐκ συζυγίας προέρχεται, πληρώματά ἐστιν, ὅσα δὲ ἀπὸ ἑνός, εἰκόνες. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ φαινόμενον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἐκ μεσότητος ψυχή, ἔρχεται τὸ διαφέρον, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔστι τὸ ἐμφύσημα τοῦ διαφέροντος πνεύματος, καὶ καθʼ ὅλου ὃ ἐμπνεῖται τῇ ψυχῇ, τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ καθόλου τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ λεγόμενα τοῦ κατʼ εἰκόνα γενομένου, ταῦτʼ ἐν εἰκόνος αἰσθητῆς μοίρᾳ ἐν τῇ Γενέσει περὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπογονίαν προπεφητεῦσθαι λέγουσι. καὶ δὴ μετάγουσι τὴν ὁμοιότητα καὶ ἐφʼ ἑαυτούς, ἄγνωστον τῷ Δημιουργῷ τὴν τοῦ διαφέροντος ἐπένθεσιν πνεύματος γεγενῆσθαι παραδιδόντες.
English · Claude translation
“What, then, is the cause of the image? The majesty of the face, which provided the painter with the model, so that it might be honored through his name. For the form was not found authentically, but the name filled up what was lacking in the formation. And the invisibility of God also cooperates toward faith in what has been formed.” For he called the Demiurge, who was called God and Father, an image of the true God and a prophet, and Wisdom the painter, whose work is the image, to the glory of the invisible one; since whatever proceeds from a pair are fullnesses, but whatever from one are images. But since what appears of him is not the soul from the middle, the distinctive element comes, and this is the inbreathing of the distinctive spirit; and in general what is breathed into the soul, into the image of the spirit, and in general what is said about the Demiurge who was made according to the image, they say was prophesied in Genesis in the form of a sensible image concerning the creation of man. And they transfer the likeness to themselves, handing down that the insertion of the distinctive spirit was unknown to the Demiurge.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation of Valentinus continues; the rest is Clement's summary of Valentinian doctrine, which is obscure. The allusion is Gen 1:26–27; 2:7.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.13.90 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/13/90/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.13.90 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/13/90/).
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