Miscellanies 6.15.122
Summary: The finding of the search for God is the Son's teaching, confirmed by prophecy, by witnesses at his birth, and by his powers after the ascension; the question is how to live so as to know God and be saved through right conduct and knowledge taught by the Lord.
Greek text · Stählin 2:493
Τῆς τοίνυν περὶ θεοῦ ζητήσεως εὕρεσις μὲν ἡ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ διδασκαλία, σημεῖον δὲ τοῦ εἶναι τὸν σωτῆρα ἡμῶν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ αἵ τε προηγούμεναι τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ προφητεῖαι, τοῦτον κηρύσσουσαι, αἵ τε συνυπάρξασαι τῇ γενέσει αὐτοῦ τῇ αἰσθητῇ περὶ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίαι, πρὸς δὲ καὶ αἱ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν κηρυσσόμεναί τε καὶ ἐμφανῶς δεικνύμεναι δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ. τεκμήριον ἄρα τοῦ παρʼ ἡμῖν εἶναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν τὸ αὐτὸν διδάξαι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ· εἰ γὰρ περὶ πᾶν ζήτημα καθολικὰ ταῦτα εὑρίσκεται πρόσωπόν τε καὶ πρᾶγμα, ἡ ὄντως ἀλήθεια παρʼ ἡμῖν δείκνυται μόνοις, ἐπεὶ πρόσωπον μὲν τῆς δεικνυμένης ἀληθείας ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ πρᾶγμα δὲ ἡ δύναμις τῆς πίστεως ἡ καὶ παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν ἐναντιουμένου καὶ αὐτοῦ ὅλου ἐνισταμένου τοῦ κόσμου πλεονάζουσα. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τοῦτο ἀνωμολόγηται βεβαιωθῆναι ἐν αἰωνίοις ἔργοις καὶ λόγοις καὶ πέφηνεν ἤδη κολάσεως, οὐκ ἀντιρρήσεως ἄξιος ἅπας ὁ μὴ νομίζων εἶναι πρόνοιαν καὶ τῷ ὄντι ἄθεος, πρόκειται δʼ ἡμῖν, τί ποιοῦντες καὶ τίνα τρόπον βιοῦντες εἰς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ ἀφικοίμεθα καὶ πῶς τιμῶντες τὸ θεῖον σφίσιν σωτηρίας αἴτιοι γινοίμεθα, οὐ παρὰ τῶν σοφιστῶν, ἀλλὰ παρʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ γνόντες καὶ μαθόντες τὸ εὐάρεστον αὐτῷ, τὸ δίκαιον καὶ ὅσιον δρᾶν ἐγχειροῦμεν. τὸ σῴζεσθαι δʼ ἡμᾶς εὐάρεστον αὐτῷ, καὶ ἡ σωτηρία διά τε εὐπραγίας διά τε γνώσεως παραγίνεται, ὧν ἀμφοῖν ὁ κύριος διδάσκαλος.
English · Claude translation
Of the seeking after God, then, the finding is the teaching through the Son; and the signs that our Savior is that very Son of God are the prophecies that preceded his coming and proclaimed him, the testimonies about him that accompanied his birth in the flesh, and besides these the powers of his that have been proclaimed and plainly shown after his ascension. The proof, then, that the truth is with us is that the Son of God himself taught it. For if in every inquiry these general things are found, a person and a matter, the real truth is shown to be with us alone, since the person of the truth shown is the Son of God, and the matter is the power of faith, which prevails over every opponent whatever and over the whole world set against it. But since this is agreed to have been confirmed in everlasting works and words, and since everyone who does not believe that there is providence has already been shown to deserve punishment rather than refutation, and to be truly godless, what lies before us is this: by doing what, and living in what way, might we arrive at the full knowledge of God Almighty, and how, by honoring the divine, might we become the cause of our own salvation, as we undertake to do what is just and holy, having learned what pleases him not from the sophists but from God himself? Our being saved pleases him, and salvation comes through right conduct and through knowledge, of both of which the Lord is the teacher.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Clement applies the rhetorical distinction of person and matter (πρόσωπον and πρᾶγμα) to the Christian claim to truth.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.122 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/122/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.122 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/122/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text