Miscellanies 7.15.90
Summary: Others' breaking of faith is no reason to abandon the truth; we keep the church's rule and its confession; as the sick do not refuse doctors because medical schools disagree, so heresies are no excuse, and they exist so that the approved may be recognized.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Μή τι οὖν, εἰ καὶ παραβαίη τις συνθήκας καὶ τὴν ὁμολογίαν παρέλθοι τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, διὰ τὸν ψευσάμενον τὴν ὁμολογίαν ἀφεξόμεθα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ἡμεῖς; ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀψευδεῖν χρὴ τὸν ἐπιεικῆ καὶ μηδὲν ὧν ὑπέσχηται ἀκυροῦν. κἂν ἄλλοι τινὲς παραβαίνωσι συνθήκας, οὕτως καὶ ἡμᾶς κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν παραβαίνειν προσήκει κανόνα· καὶ μάλιστα τὴν περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ὁμολογίαν ἡμεῖς μὲν φυλάττομεν, οἳ δὲ παραβαίνουσι. πιστευτέον οὖν τοῖς βεβαίως ἐχομένοις τῆς ἀληθείας. ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὡς ἐν πλάτει χρωμένοις τῇδε τῇ ἀπολογίᾳ ἔνεστι φάναι πρὸς αὐτούς, ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἰατροὶ ἐναντίας δόξας κεκτημένοι κατὰ τὰς οἰκείας αἱρέσεις ἐπʼ ἴσης ἔργῳ θεραπεύουσιν. μή τι οὖν κάμνων τις τὸ σῶμα καὶ θεραπείας δεόμενος οὐ προσίεται ἰατρὸν διὰ τὰς ἐν τῇ ἰατρικῇ αἱρέσεις· οὐκ ἄρα οὐδὲ ὁ τὴν ψυχὴν νοσῶν καὶ εἰδώλων ἔμπλεως, ἕνεκά γε τοῦ ὑγιᾶναι καὶ εἰς θεὸν ἐπιστρέψαι, προφασίσαιτο ἄν ποτε τὰς αἱρέσεις. ναὶ μὴν »διὰ τοὺς δοκίμους« φησὶν »αἱ αἱρέσεις«. δοκίμους ἤτοι τοὺς εἰς πίστιν ἀφικνουμένους λέγει, ἐκλεκτικώτερον προσιόντας τῇ κυριακῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, καθάπερ τοὺς δοκίμους τραπεζίτας τὸ ἀκίβδηλον νόμισμα τοῦ κυρίου ἀπὸ τοῦ παραχαράγματος διακρίνοντας, ἢ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πίστει δοκίμους ἤδη γενομένους κατά τε τὸν βίον κατά τε τὴν γνῶσιν.
English · Claude translation
Shall we, then, if someone breaks agreements and goes back on the commitment he made to us, abstain from the truth ourselves because of the one who has been false to his commitment? Rather, as the good man must not lie or annul any of his promises, even if others break agreements, so it befits us in no way to transgress the church's rule; above all, we keep the confession about the most important matters, while they transgress it. One must believe, then, those who hold firmly to the truth. And, making broader use of this defense, one may say to them that physicians too, though they hold opposite opinions according to their own schools, heal equally well in practice. Does anyone, then, who is sick in body and needs treatment refuse a physician because of the schools in medicine? Neither, then, would anyone sick in soul and full of idols ever make the sects a pretext against becoming healthy and turning to God. Indeed, “it is because of those who are approved,” it says, “that there are heresies.” By “approved” he means either those who are coming to faith, approaching the Lord's teaching with more discernment, like approved money-changers who distinguish the Lord's genuine coin from the counterfeit, or those who have already been approved in the faith itself, both in life and in knowledge.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is 1 Cor 11:19. The image of approved money-changers alludes to the saying “Be approved money-changers,” often cited by early writers as a word of the Lord not found in the Gospels.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period and accent: grave on οἳ; stray period in the digital text): Μή τι οὖν. εἰ καὶ → Μή τι οὖν, εἰ καὶ; τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς. διὰ → τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, διὰ; παραβαίνωσι συνθήκας. οὕτως → παραβαίνωσι συνθήκας, οὕτως; ἡμεῖς μὲν φυλάττομεν. οἵ δὲ → ἡμεῖς μὲν φυλάττομεν, οἳ δὲ; εἰς θεὸν ἐπιστρέψαι. προφασίσαιτο → εἰς θεὸν ἐπιστρέψαι, προφασίσαιτο; ἀφικνουμένους λέγει. ἐκλεκτικώτερον → ἀφικνουμένους λέγει, ἐκλεκτικώτερον.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.15.90 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/15/90/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.15.90 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/15/90/).
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