Miscellanies 7.3.21
Summary: Our part is to obey God gladly and please him; the Savior counts good done to believers as done to himself, and harm done to them as dishonor to himself; like the sun, the Word sees even the smallest acts.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Τὸ ἄρα ἀνθρώπειον ἔργον εὐπείθεια θεῷ σωτηρίαν κατηγγελκότι ποικίλην διʼ ἐντολῶν, εὐαρέστησις δὲ ὁμολογία. ὁ μὲν γὰρ εὐεργέτης προκατάρχει τῆς εὐποιίας, ὁ δὲ μετὰ τῶν δεόντων λογισμῶν παραδεξάμενος προθύμως καὶ φυλάξας τὰς ἐντολὰς πιστὸς οὗτος, ὁ δὲ καὶ εἰς δύναμιν ἀμειβόμενος διʼ ἀγάπης τὴν εὐποιίαν ἤδη φίλος. μία δὲ ἀμοιβὴ κυριωτάτη παρὰ ἀνθρώπων, ταῦτα δρᾶν ἅπερ ἀρεστὰ τῷ θεῷ· καὶ καθάπερ ἂν ἰδίου γεννήματος καὶ κατά τι συγγενοῦς ἀποτελέσματος ὁ διδάσκαλος καὶ σωτὴρ ἀναδέχεται τὰς ὠφελείας τε καὶ ἐπανορθώσεις τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς ἰδίαν χάριν τε καὶ τιμήν, [καθάπερ καὶ τὰς εἰς τοὺς πεπιστευκότας αὐτῷ βλάβας ἰδίας ἀχαριστίας τε καὶ ἀτιμίας ἡγούμενος. (τίς γὰρ ἄλλη ἅπτοιτʼ ἂν ἀτιμία θεοῦ;) διόπερ ἄλλην τοσοῦδε οὐδὲ ἔστιν ἀμοιβὴν κατʼ ἀξίαν σωτηρίας ἀποδιδόναι πρὸς τὴν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ὠφέλειαν. ὡς δὲ οἱ τὰ κτήματα κακοῦντες τοὺς δεσπότας ὑβρίζουσι, καὶ ὡς οἱ τοὺς στρατιώτας τὸν τούτων ἡγούμενον, οὕτως τοῦ κυρίου ἐστὶν ἀνεπιστρεψία ἡ περὶ τοὺς καθωσιωμένους αὐτῷ κάκωσις. ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον ὁ ἥλιος οὐ μόνον τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ὅλον κόσμον φωτίζει γῆν τε καὶ θάλασσαν ἐπιλάμπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ θυρίδων καὶ μικρᾶς ὀπῆς πρὸς τοὺς μυχαιτάτους οἴκους ἀποστέλλει τὴν αὐγήν, οὕτως ὁ λόγος πάντῃ κεχυμένος καὶ τὰ σμικρότατα τῶν τοῦ βίου πράξεων ἐπιβλέπει.
English · Claude translation
The human task, then, is ready obedience to God, who has proclaimed a manifold salvation through commandments; and pleasing him is agreement with him. For the benefactor takes the lead in doing good, and the one who has received it eagerly, with the right reasoning, and has kept the commandments is faithful; while the one who also repays the kindness through love, as far as he can, is already a friend. And the one most proper repayment from human beings is to do what is pleasing to God. And as if it were his own offspring and a work in some way akin to himself, the Teacher and Savior receives the benefits and improvements of human beings as a favor and honor to himself, just as he regards injuries done to those who have believed in him as ingratitude and dishonor to himself. (For what other dishonor could touch God?) Therefore there is no other repayment one can make worthy of so great a salvation for the benefit received from the Lord. And as those who damage property insult its masters, and those who harm soldiers insult their commander, so ill-treatment of those consecrated to the Lord is disregard of him. For as the sun not only lights heaven and the whole world, shining on land and sea, but also sends its ray through windows and a small opening into the innermost rooms, so the Word, poured out everywhere, looks upon even the smallest actions of life.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The edition opens a bracket at “just as he regards” that is not closed in the digital text; the words are translated. The thought echoes Matt 25:40 and Heb 2:3 (“so great a salvation”).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.3.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/3/21/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.3.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/3/21/).
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