Miscellanies 6.12.104
Summary: As Moses' face shone from converse with God, so divine goodness marks the righteous soul with light; the knower becomes like God as far as humans may, for God himself is not idle but blessed in unceasing doing of good.
Greek text · Stählin 2:484
ναὶ μὴν καθάπερ τῷ Μωυσεῖ ἐκ τῆς δικαιοπραγίας καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸ συνεχὲς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν λαλοῦντα αὐτῷ ὁμιλίας ἐπίχροιά τις ἐπεκάθιζε τῷ προσώπῳ δεδοξασμένη, οὕτως καὶ τῇ δικαίᾳ ψυχῇ θεία τις ἀγαθωσύνης δύναμις κατά τε ἐπισκοπὴν κατά τε τὴν προφητείαν κατά τε τὴν διοικητικὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐγχριπτομένη οἷον ἀπαυγάσματος νοεροῦ καθάπερ ἡλιακῆς ἀλέας ἐναποσημαίνεταί τι, δικαιοσύνης σφραγῖδα ἐπιφανῆ, φῶς ἡνωμένον ψυχῇ διʼ ἀγάπης ἀδιαστάτου, θεοφορουμένης. ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἐξομοίωσις ἡ πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα θεὸν ἀνακύπτει τῷ γνωστικῷ, εἰς ὅσον ἀνθρωπίνῃ θεμιτὸν φύσει, γινομένῳ τελείῳ ὡς ὁ πατήρ, φησίν, ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ εἰπών· τεκνία, ἔτι μικρὸν μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ θεός, οὐχ ᾗ φύσει ἀγαθός ἐστι, ταύτῃ μένει μακάριος καὶ ἄφθαρτος, οὔτε πράγματʼ ἔχων οὔτε ἄλλῳ παρέχων ποιῶν δὲ ἰδίως ἀγαθά, θεὸς ὄντως καὶ πατὴρ ἀγαθὸς ὤν τε καὶ γινόμενος ἐν ἀδιαλείπτοις εὐποιίαις, ἐν ταὐτότητι τῆς ἀγαθωσύνης ἀπαραβάτως μένει. τί γὰρ ὄφελος ἀγαθοῦ μὴ ἐνεργοῦντος μηδὲ ἀγαθύνοντος;
English · Claude translation
Indeed, just as from righteous action and continual converse with God who spoke to him a certain glorified color settled on Moses' face, so also on the righteous soul a certain divine power of goodness, touching it by oversight, by prophecy, and by governing activity, imprints something like an intellectual radiance, as it were the sun's warmth, a visible seal of righteousness, a light united to the soul through undivided love, a soul that bears God. Here the likeness to God the Savior emerges for the one who knows, as far as is permitted to human nature, as he becomes perfect “as the Father,” it says, “who is in heaven.” It is he who said, “Little children, I am with you yet a little while.” For God too does not remain blessed and incorruptible insofar as he is good by nature, “neither having trouble nor causing it to another,” but by doing good in his own proper way; being truly God and a good Father, and being and becoming so in unceasing beneficence, he remains unchangeably in the sameness of his goodness. For what is the use of a good that does not act or do good?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Exod 34:29–35, Matt 5:48, and John 13:33. “Neither having trouble nor causing it to another” is Epicurus, Principal Doctrines 1, on the gods' idle blessedness, which Clement rejects. “Oversight” (ἐπισκοπή) may hint at the bishop's office alongside prophecy and governing.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.12.104 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/12/104/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.12.104 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/12/104/).
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