Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.22.137

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The perfect man does good constantly for its own sake, not for glory or reward, becoming like the Lord, good to just and unjust; his flesh has died, and his body, once a tomb, is now a holy temple.

Greek text · Stählin 2:308–309

αὕτη τοίνυν ἡ πρώτη ἀγαθοποιία τοῦ τελείου, ὅταν μὴ διά τι χρειῶδες τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν συντεινόντων γίνηται, κρίναντος δʼ ὅτι καλὸν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποιεῖν, ἐκτενῶς ἡ ἐνέργεια φερομένη ἐν πάσῃ πράξει ἀγαθύνηται, οὐκ ἐφʼ ὧν μέν, ἐφʼ ὧν δʼ οὔ, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἕξει εὐποιίας καταστᾶσα μήτε διὰ δόξαν ἔτι ἤ, ὥς φασιν οἱ φιλόσοφοι, τὴν εὔκλειαν μήτε διὰ μισθὸν εἴτε παρὰ ἀνθρώπων εἴτε καὶ ἐκ θεοῦ· κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ κυρίου τὸν βίον ἐκτελοίη. κἄν πως ἀγαθοεργοῦντι αὐτῷ ἐναντίον τι ἀπαντήσῃ, ὡς ἀγαθὴν τὴν ἀντιμισθίαν ἀμνησικάκως προήσεται, ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους δίκαιος καὶ ἀγαθὸς γινόμενος. τοιούτοις τισὶν ὁ κύριος λέγει· γίνεσθε ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν τέλειος. τούτῳ τέθνηκεν ἡ σάρξ, ζῇ δὲ αὐτὸς μόνος ἀφιερώσας τὸν τάφον εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον κυρίῳ, τὴν παλαιὰν ἁμαρτητικὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιστρέψας πρὸς θεόν.

English · Claude translation

This, then, is the first beneficence of the perfect man: when it is done not for any need of what contributes to himself, but, he having judged that doing good is good, the activity, intently carried on, does good in every action; not in some things and not in others, but established in a state of beneficence, no longer for glory or, as the philosophers say, good repute, nor for reward either from men or from God; he would complete his life according to the image and likeness of the Lord. And if, while he does good, something adverse should meet him, he will let the recompense go without resentment as a good thing, becoming just and good toward the just and the unjust. To such people the Lord says: “Be as your Father is perfect.” For such a man the flesh is dead, and he alone lives, having dedicated the tomb as a holy temple to the Lord, having turned the old sinful soul to God.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:308–309 · 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.
Scripture
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations and allusions are Gen 1:26, Matt 5:45, 48, and 1 Cor 6:19.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.22.137 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/22/137/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.22.137 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/22/137/).

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