Miscellanies 5.14.141 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: God's goodness and justice toward all are everlasting and without beginning; each person shares in them as he chooses, and so ends the fifth book of the Miscellanies.

Greek text · Stählin 2:421

ἤδη μὲν οὖν δῆλον ἡμῖν ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων ὡς ἀίδιος ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐποιία τυγχάνει καὶ εἰς πάντας ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀνάρχου ἴση ἀτεχνῶς ἡ φυσικὴ δικαιοσύνη, κατʼ ἀξίαν ἑκάστου γένους γενομένη, οὐκ ἀρξαμένη ποτέ· οὐ γὰρ ἀρχὴν τοῦ κύριος καὶ ἀγαθὸς εἶναι εἴληφεν ὁ θεὸς ὢν ἀεὶ ὅ ἐστιν, οὐδὲ μὴν παύσεταί ποτε ἀγαθοποιῶν, κἂν εἰς τέλος ἀγάγῃ ἕκαστα. μεταλαμβάνει δὲ τῆς εὐποιίας ἕκαστος ἡμῶν πρὸς ὃ βούλεται, ἐπεὶ τὴν διαφορὰν τῆς ἐκλογῆς ἀξία γενομένη ψυχῆς αἵρεσίς τε καὶ συνάσκησις πεποίηκεν. Ὧδε μὲν οὖν καὶ ὁ πέμπτος ἡμῖν τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀληθῆ φιλοσοφίαν γνωστικῶν ὑπομνημάτων Στρωματεὺς περαιούσθω.

English · Claude translation

It is already clear to us from what has been said that God's beneficence is everlasting, and that his natural justice is, from a beginning without beginning, simply equal toward all, given according to the worth of each race, never having begun. For God did not take a beginning of being Lord and good, being always what he is; nor will he ever cease doing good, even though he brings each thing to its end. And each of us partakes of his beneficence as far as he wills, since it is the choice and the diligent practice of a soul that has become worthy that has made the difference in election. Here, then, let the fifth Miscellany of our notes of knowledge according to the true philosophy be brought to an end.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:421 · 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

Ethics

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.141 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/14/141/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.141 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/14/141/).