Miscellanies 7.3.19
Summary: The servant of God obeys the commandments willingly, but the friend of God is pure in heart out of knowledge itself; virtue is not innate or picked up by habit, nor does knowledge come from trades or ordinary schooling.
Greek text · Stählin 2
ταύτῃ καὶ μεταδοτικὸς ὧν ἂν ᾖ κεκτημένος φιλάνθρωπός τε, μισοπονηρότατος ὢν κατὰ τὴν τελείαν ἀποστροφὴν κακουργίας ἁπάσης. μαθεῖν ἄρα δεῖ πιστὸν εἶναι καὶ ἑαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς πέλας καὶ ταῖς ἐντολαῖς ὑπήκοον. οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν »ὁ θεράπων τοῦ θεοῦ« ὁ ἑκὼν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς ὑπαγόμενος. ὁ δὲ ἤδη μὴ διὰ τὰς ἐντολάς. διʼ αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν γνῶσιν »καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ«, »φίλος« οὗτος »τοῦ θεοῦ«. οὔτε γὰρ φύσει τὴν ἀρετὴν γεννώμεθα ἔχοντες. οὔτε γενομένοις. ὥσπερ ἄλλα τινὰ τῶν τοῦ σώματος μερῶν. φυσικῶς ὕστερον ἐπιγίνεται (ἐπεὶ οὐδʼ ἂν ἦν ἔθʼ ἑκούσιον οὐδὲ ἐπαινετόν) οὐδὲ μὴν ἐκ [τῆς] τῶν συμβάντων καὶ τῆς ἐπιγινομένης συνηθείας, ὃν τρόπον ἡ διάλεκτος, τελειοῦται ἡ ἀρετή (σχεδὸν γὰρ ἡ κακία τοῦτον ἐγγίνεται τὸν τρόπον)· οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐκ τέχνης τινὸς ἤτοι τῶν ποριστικῶν ἢ τῶν περὶ τὸ σῶμα θεραπευτικῶν ἡ γνῶσις περιγίνεται· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐκ παιδείας τῆς ἐγκυκλίου· ἀγαπητὸν γὰρ εἰ παρασκευάσαι μόνον τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ διακονῆσαι δύναιτο.
English · Claude translation
In this way he is also generous with whatever he possesses and loving toward humanity, while hating wickedness intensely in his complete turning away from all wrongdoing. One must learn, then, to be faithful both to oneself and to one's neighbors, and obedient to the commandments. For this is “the servant of God,” the one who willingly submits to the commandments. But the one who is “pure in heart,” no longer because of the commandments but because of knowledge itself, is a “friend of God.” For we are not born with virtue by nature, nor does it grow on us naturally after birth, as some parts of the body do (since then it would no longer be voluntary or praiseworthy); nor is virtue perfected from circumstances and the habit that follows them, in the way language is (for it is roughly in this way that vice comes in). Nor again is knowledge acquired from some art, either from those that provide a livelihood or from those that care for the body; nor even from the ordinary round of education, for it is enough if that can only prepare the soul and serve it.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Num 12:7 / Heb 3:5 (servant of God), Matt 5:8, and Jas 2:23 (friend of God). The opening words are garbled in the digital text and are read as “whatever he possesses” (ὧν ἂν ᾖ κεκτημένος).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled in the digital text): οὗν (??)ν ᾖ → ὧν ἂν ᾖ.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.3.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/3/19/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.3.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/3/19/).
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