Miscellanies 6.8.70
Summary: Where others admit things beyond comprehension, the one who knows grasps them, trusting that nothing is hidden from the Son of God, who suffered for us and withholds no knowledge.
Greek text · Stählin 2:466–467
καίτοι φασί τινες τὸν σοφὸν ἄνθρωπον πεπεῖσθαι εἶναί τινα ἀκατάληπτα, ὡς καὶ περὶ τούτων ἔχειν τινὰ κατάληψιν, καταλαμβάνοντος, ὅτι ἀκατάληπτα ἔσται τὰ ἀκατάληπτα. ὅπερ ἐστὶ κοινὸν καὶ τῶν ὀλίγον προορᾶσθαι δυναμένων· βεβαιοῖ γὰρ ὁ τοιοῦτος εἶναί τινα ἀκατάληπτα. ὁ γνωστικὸς δὲ ἐκεῖνος, περὶ οὗ λέγω, τὰ δοκοῦντα ἀκατάληπτα εἶναι τοῖς ἄλλοις αὐτὸς καταλαμβάνει, πιστεύσας ὅτι οὐδὲν ἀκατάληπτον τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅθεν οὐδὲ ἀδίδακτον· ὁ γὰρ διʼ ἀγάπην τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς παθὼν οὐδὲν ἂν ὑποστείλαιτο εἰς διδασκαλίαν τῆς γνώσεως. γίνεται τοίνυν αὕτη ἡ πίστις ἀπόδειξις βεβαία, ἐπεὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ παραδοθεῖσιν ἀλήθεια ἕπεται. εἰ δὲ καὶ πολυπειρίαν ποθεῖ τις, οἶδεν τὰ ἀρχαῖα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα εἰκάζει, ἐπίσταται στροφὰς λόγων καὶ λύσεις αἰνιγμάτων, σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα προγινώσκει καὶ ἐκβάσεις καιρῶν καὶ χρόνων ὁ τῆς σοφίας μαθητής.
English · Claude translation
And yet some say that the wise man is persuaded that there are some things incomprehensible, so that he has a kind of comprehension even of these, comprehending that the incomprehensible things will remain incomprehensible. This is common even to those who can see only a little ahead; for such a person affirms that there are some incomprehensible things. But the one who knows, of whom I speak, himself comprehends what seems incomprehensible to others, believing that nothing is incomprehensible to the Son of God, and therefore nothing is beyond teaching; for he who suffered out of love for us would hold back nothing in the teaching of knowledge. This faith, then, becomes a firm demonstration, since truth follows what has been handed down by God. And if anyone longs for wide experience, the disciple of wisdom “knows the things of old and conjectures the things to come; he understands the turns of speech and the solutions of riddles; he foreknows signs and wonders and the outcomes of seasons and times.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The closing quotation is Wis 8:8.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.8.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/8/70/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.8.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/8/70/).
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