Miscellanies 6.15.123
Summary: As Plato says, truth comes only from God or his offspring, and Christians are taught by the Son; philosophy speaks of God only in outline, and heretics who invent another God and misread Christ speak in outline too.
Greek text · Stählin 2:493–494
Εἴπερ οὖν καὶ κατὰ Πλάτωνα ἢ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ παρὰ τῶν ἐκγόνων τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐκμανθάνειν μόνως οἷόν τε, εἰκότως παρὰ τῶν θείων λογίων τὰ μαρτύρια ἐκλεγόμενοι τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐχοῦμεν ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, προφητευθέντων μὲν τὸ πρῶτον, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ σαφηνισθέντων· τὰ συνεργοῦντα δὲ πρὸς τὴν εὕρεσιν τῆς ἀληθείας οὐδὲ αὐτὰ ἀδόκιμα. ἡ γοῦν φιλοσοφία, πρόνοιαν καταγγέλλουσα καὶ τοῦ μὲν εὐδαίμονος βίου τὴν ἀμοιβήν, τοῦ δʼ αὖ κακοδαίμονος τὴν κόλασιν, περιληπτικῶς θεολογεῖ, τὰ πρὸς ἀκρίβειαν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ μέρους οὐκέτι σῴζει. οὔτε γὰρ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ οὔτε περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν πρόνοιαν οἰκονομίας ὁμοίως ἡμῖν διαλαμβάνει· οὐ γὰρ τὴν κατὰ τὸν θεὸν ἔγνω θρῃσκείαν. διόπερ αἱ κατὰ τὴν βάρβαρον φιλοσοφίαν αἱρέσεις, κἂν θεὸν λέγωσιν ἕνα κἂν Χριστὸν ὑμνῶσι, κατὰ περίληψιν λέγουσιν, οὐ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν· ἄλλον τε γὰρ θεὸν παρευρίσκουσι καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν οὐχ ὡς αἱ προφητεῖαι παραδιδόασιν, ἐκδέχονται. ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε τὰ ψευδῆ τῶν δογμάτων αὐτοῖς, ἔστʼ ἂν ἐναντιῶνται τῇ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀγωγῇ, καθʼ ἡμῶν ἐστιν.
English · Claude translation
If, then, according to Plato too, it is possible to learn the truth only from God or from the offspring of God, we are right to boast, when we select testimonies from the divine oracles, that we are taught the truth by the Son of God, what was first prophesied being afterward made clear. And the things that contribute to the discovery of the truth are not themselves to be rejected either. Philosophy, at any rate, proclaiming providence, and the reward of the happy life and the punishment of the unhappy, speaks of God in outline, but it does not preserve precision and particulars. For it does not treat of the Son of God as we do, nor of the dispensation according to providence; for it did not know the worship according to God. That is why the heresies within the barbarian philosophy, even if they say that God is one and even if they hymn Christ, speak in outline, not truly; for they invent another God, and they do not understand Christ as the prophecies hand him down. But their false doctrines, insofar as they oppose the teaching that accords with the truth, do not count against us.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The Plato reference is Timaeus 40d. “Barbarian philosophy” is Clement's name for the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures; the heresies “within” it who “invent another God” are probably Marcionites and Valentinians.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.123 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/123/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.123 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/123/).
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