Recognitions 1.20–1.44

Early next day Zacchaeus came in to us and, after greeting us, said to Peter: “Simon postpones the day of the contest to the eleventh of the present month, which is seven days from now; for he says he will then have more free time for disputing. And to me his adjournment seems necessary for us too, so that more may gather to be either hearers or judges of our disputation. However, if it seems good to you, let us in the meantime discuss among ourselves first the things we think may come into controversy, so that each of us, knowing what is to be proposed and what answered, may consider with himself whether they are sound, or whether the adversary can find anything to object or by which to frustrate our objections. And if it becomes clear that what we are to say is fortified on every side, then at last let the inquiry be begun with confidence. My opinion is this: that before everything we should ask what is first of all, or what is immediate, which must also be shown to be the cause of all things that are; then, concerning all things that are, whether they were made, and by whom, and through whom or for whom; whether they received their substance from one, or from two, or from many; and whether they were taken and fashioned from nothing existing, or from some things; then whether there is any power in the highest things or in the lowest; whether there is something better than all, or inferior to all; whether there are any motions, or none; whether these things that are seen always were and always will be; whether they came into being with no one at work, and will pass away with no one dissolving them. If, I say, the disputation begins from these, I think that the questions inquired into, discussed with careful examination, will easily become clear. And when these have become clear, the knowledge of what follows will be readily found. I have put forward what I think; do not hesitate to say what seems right to you as well.”

To this Peter said: “Tell Simon meanwhile to do as he pleases, sure that, by the gift of divine Providence, he will always find us ready.” And Zacchaeus went out to report to Simon what he had heard. But Peter, looking at us and perceiving that I was saddened by the postponement of the contest, said: “One who believes that the world is governed by the providence of the supreme God ought not, my friend Clement, to take amiss any particular thing that happens in whatever way, being sure that the justice of God directs to a timely and fitting outcome even what seems superfluous or contrary in any affair, especially toward those who worship him more intimately. And therefore one who is sure of these things, as I said, if anything happens contrary to his expectation, knows how to drive grief from his mind on that account, holding it plain by his better judgment that by the governance of the good God even what is thought contrary is turned to the better. Therefore, Clement, do not let even this postponement by Simon Magus sadden you. For I believe it has been brought about by the providence of God for your benefit, so that in this seven days' adjournment I may set out to you without any disturbance, in order and consecutively, the account of our faith according to the tradition of the true Prophet, who alone knows the things that have happened as they happened, the things that are happening as they happen, and the things that will be as they will be. These things were indeed spoken plainly but not written plainly, so much so that when they are read they cannot be understood without an interpreter, because of the sin that has grown up with men, as we said above. For this reason, then, everything will be explained to you by me, so that in what has been written you may clearly recognize what is the mind of the lawgiver.”

When he had said this, he began to explain to me one by one the chapters of the law that seemed to be in question, from the beginning of creation up to the time when I came to him at Caesarea, telling me that Simon's postponement had made it possible for me to learn everything in order. “At other times,” he said, “as the occasion of the discourse brings them up, we shall discuss more broadly each of the things we have now spoken of more briefly, so that, as I promised you, you may learn about everything more fully and perfectly. Since, then, today still remains to us of the days granted by the delay, I wish to go over briefly again what has been said, so that it may be better recalled to your memory.” And thereupon he began in this way to renew in my mind what he had said: “Do you remember, my friend Clement, the account I gave you of the eternal age that knows no end?” Then I said: “I shall never retain anything, Peter, if I can omit or forget that.”

And Peter, gladly receiving this answer of mine, said: “I congratulate you on answering so, and on declaring, not that you can easily speak of those things themselves, but that you remember them; for the highest things wish to be honored with silence. Yet, to give proof of what you remember about the ineffable things, tell what you retain of what we said in the second place, which can easily be uttered, so that, seeing the tenacity of your memory, I may readily point out to you the things I wish, and gladly open them.” Then I, when I noticed that he rejoiced in the memory of his hearers, said: “I remember not only your definition, but also that preface which was placed before the definition; and of nearly everything you expounded I keep the sense entire, even if not all the words, because what you said has become as it were native and inborn to my soul. For you held out a most sweet cup to me when I was exceedingly thirsty. And lest you think that I am occupying you with words while forgetful of the matter, I will now recall what was said; in this the order of your disputation helps me greatly. For because what you say proceeds consecutively and is arranged in balance, it is easily recalled to memory along the lines of its order. The order of what is said helps much toward remembering; for when you begin to recall each thing in sequence, wherever something is missing, the mind at once searches for it, and when it finds it keeps it, or at least, if it cannot track it down, it will not be reluctant to ask the teacher. But so as not to delay in giving back what you ask of me, I will briefly go over again what you taught about the definition of truth.”

“There always was, and is, and will be that from which the first will, begotten from everlasting, subsists; and from the first will, again a will. After this, the world; from the world, time; from this, the multitude of men; from the multitude, the choice of friends, from whose unanimity the peaceful kingdom of God is built up. The rest, which ought to follow this, you promised to tell me another time. After this, when you had explained the creation of the world, you made known the decree of God which he declared of his own will in the presence of all the first angels, and which he established as an eternal law for all; and that he set up two kingdoms, I mean that of the present time and that of the future, and appointed times for both, and determined that a day of judgment, which he himself has fixed, should be awaited, on which a separation of things and of souls is to be made, so that the wicked will be handed over to eternal fire for their sins, but those who have lived according to the will of God the Creator, having received a blessing for their good works, shining with brightest light, brought into the eternal abode, and continuing in incorruption, will receive the eternal gifts of ineffable good things.”

As I was going through these things, Peter, filled with joy and exulting as if over a son, and lest I should perhaps falter in remembering the rest and be put to shame before those who were present, said: “Enough, Clement; for you have set these things out more clearly than I myself had expounded them.” And I said: “A liberal education has given me the ability to narrate in order and to set out more lucidly what the matter requires. If we use it in the errors of antiquity, we fall into the ruin of life through the beauty and sweetness of words; but if we bring the learning and grace of speech to the assertion of truth, I think that no little benefit is gained from it. But, my lord Peter, how great a joy, do you think, lifted me up, both in everything else and especially at the statement of that teaching in which you say: There is one God, whose work the world is, and who, because he is righteous in every way, will repay each according to his deeds. And after this you added: For the assertion of this doctrine countless thousands of words are brought forward; but in those to whom the knowledge of the true Prophet has been granted, that whole forest of words has been cut down. And for this reason, by handing on to me the discourse about the true Prophet, you strengthened me with all firmness of assertion.” Then at last, when I had noticed that the sum of all religion and piety consists in this, I at once answered: “You have set it out excellently, Peter; therefore from now on, as to one who knows what the foundations of faith and piety are, expound without hesitation the traditions of the true Prophet, who alone, it has been plainly proved, must be believed. But keep that exposition which needs assertions and arguments for unbelievers, to whom you have not yet judged it right to entrust the undoubting faith of prophetic grace.” And when I had said this, I said: “You promised both: to hand on to me in due time both this simple exposition, free of all error, and that which is unfolded through each of the questions that will be raised. And after this you set out in order the sequence of events from the beginning of the world to the present time; and if you please, I can go over it all again from memory.”

To this Peter said: “I am greatly delighted, Clement, that I entrust words to so safe a heart; for to remember what is said is a sign of having the faith of works at hand. But the one from whom the evil demon steals the words of salvation and snatches them from memory cannot be saved even if he wishes; for he loses the way by which one comes to life. Therefore let us all the more repeat what has been said and confirm it in your heart: that is, how and by whom the world was made, so that we may strive for the friendship of the Creator. And friendship is gained by living well and obeying his will, and that will is the law of all living beings. So let us briefly go over these same things again for the sake of firmer memory.”

“In the beginning, when God had made heaven and earth as one house, the shadow cast by the bodies of the world gave darkness from itself to the things that had been shut inside. But when the will of God had brought in light, that darkness which had been made from the shadow of the bodies was at once swallowed up; then the light is assigned to the day, the darkness to the night. Now the water which was within the world, in the middle of the space of that first heaven and earth, is spread out as if congealed by frost and made solid as crystal; and by such a firmament the middle spaces of heaven and earth are, as it were, shut off; and the Creator called this firmament heaven, naming it with the word for that older one. And thus he divides the whole fabric of the world, though it was one house, into two regions. The reason for the division was this: that the upper region should provide a dwelling for angels, and the lower for men. After this, at the command of the eternal will, the place of the sea and the chaos that had been made received what remained of the waters below; and as they flowed down into the deep and hollow places, the dry land appeared, and the gatherings of the waters became seas. And after this the earth that had appeared brought forth various kinds of plants and shrubs; it also produced springs and rivers, not only on the plains but on the mountains too; and so all things were prepared, so that the men who would dwell on it might be able to use all these things at their discretion, that is, whether they wish to use them for good or for evil.”

“After this he adorns this visible heaven with stars. He also places in it the sun and the moon, so that the day might enjoy the light of the one and the night that of the other, and at the same time that they might be signs of things past, present, and future. For they were made for signs of seasons and of days; they are seen indeed by all, but understood only by the learned and intelligent. And when after this he had commanded living creatures to be brought forth from the earth and the waters, he made paradise, which he also named a place of delights. After this … granted for his service and given over to the uses of his dwelling.”

“So, when all things in heaven and on earth and in the waters had been completed, and the human race too had multiplied, in the eighth generation righteous men who had lived the life of angels, enticed by the beauty of women, turned aside to promiscuous and unlawful intercourse; and from then on, doing everything indiscriminately and against order, they changed the state of human affairs and the order of life handed down by God, so that they compelled all men, by persuasion or by force, to sin against God their Creator. Then in the ninth generation the giants are born, those whom the fables of the Greeks tell of … but produced with immense bodies, whose bones of immense size are still shown in some places as evidence. But against them the just providence of God brought a flood upon the world, so that the earth might be washed clean of their contagion, and every place turned into sea by the destruction of the wicked. Yet one righteous man was found then, by name Noah, who, delivered in the ark with his three sons and their wives, after the waters … and with the seeds, became the inhabitant of the world.”

“In the twelfth generation, when God had blessed men and they had begun to multiply, they received a commandment not to taste blood; for it was on account of this too that the flood had come. In the thirteenth generation, when the middle one of Noah's three sons had done his father an injury, he brought upon his posterity, through the curse, the condition of slavery. Meanwhile his elder brother received as his lot the dwelling in the middle of the earth, in which is the region of Judaea; the younger obtained the eastern quarter, and he himself received the western. In the fourteenth generation someone of the cursed progeny first set up an altar to demons for the sake of the magic art, offering the honor of blood. In the fifteenth generation men for the first time set up an idol and worshiped it; and until that time the Hebrew language, given to the human race by God, held sole sway. In the sixteenth generation the sons of men moved from the east, and, coming to the lands of their fathers, each marked the place of his lot with his own name. In the seventeenth generation Nimrod first reigned in Babylonia and built a city, and from there migrated to the Persians and taught them to worship fire.”

“In the eighteenth generation walled cities were made, armies organized and armed, judges and laws established, temples built, and the princes of nations were worshiped as gods. In the nineteenth generation the descendants of the one who was cursed after the flood, going beyond their own borders, which they had received by lot in the western parts, drove those who had been allotted the middle of the earth into the eastern lands, chased them as far as Persia, and themselves wrongfully took over the places of those expelled. In the twentieth generation, on account of the crime of incest, a son for the first time died before his father.”

“In the twenty-first generation there arose a certain wise man, of the race of those who had been expelled, of the seed of the firstborn of Noah's sons, by name Abraham, from whom our Hebrew race is descended. When the whole world was again oppressed by various errors, and on account of the enormity of its crimes a speedy destruction was being prepared for it, no longer by water but by fire, and the stroke, beginning from Sodom, was already threatening the whole earth, he, because of the friendship by which he was intimate with God, whom he had pleased well, rescued the whole world from perishing likewise. From the beginning, however, while all others were in error, he, being an astrologer by art, was able from the reckoning and order of the stars to recognize the Creator, and understood that all things are governed by his providence. Hence also an angel, standing by him in a vision, taught him more fully about the things he was beginning to perceive. He also showed him what was due to his race and posterity, and promised that these lands were not so much to be given to them as restored.”

“So when Abraham desired to know the causes of things and was pondering this intently in his mind, the true Prophet appeared to him, who alone knows the hearts and purposes of men, and opened to him all that he desired. He taught him the knowledge of the Godhead, made known the origin and likewise the end of the world, showed him the immortality of the soul and the rules of life by which God is pleased, and declared that the dead will rise, that there will be a judgment to come, the reward of the good and the punishment of the wicked, all governed by just judgment; and when he had taught him all things duly and sufficiently, he withdrew again to the invisible abodes. But while Abraham was still in ignorance, as we told you before, two sons were born to him, of whom one was called Ishmael, the other Eliezer. From the one descend the barbarous nations, from the other the peoples of the Persians. Some of these followed the way of life and the institutions of their neighbors the Brahmans; others settled in Arabia, and of their descendants some were dispersed even into Egypt. From these, indeed, some of the Indians and of the Egyptians learned to be circumcised and to keep a purer observance than the rest, though in the course of time very many of them turned what was the proof and sign of chastity into impiety.”

“Yet, since he had received these two sons at the time when he was still living in ignorance of things, after he had gained the knowledge of God he asked of him, because he was righteous, that he might be found worthy to have offspring from Sarah, who was his lawful wife, though she was barren; and he received a son, whom he named Isaac, from whom was born Jacob, and from Jacob the twelve patriarchs, and from these twelve, seventy-two. When famine arose, these came into Egypt with all their household, and within four hundred years, multiplied by the blessing and promise of God, they were afflicted by the Egyptians. And when they were afflicted, the true Prophet appeared to Moses, and struck the Egyptians, who resisted the departure of the Hebrew people and their return to their native land, with ten plagues from heaven; and he led the people of God out of Egypt. But those of the Egyptians who survived, conspiring with the animosity of their king, pursued the Hebrews; and when they had overtaken them on the seashore and were planning to kill and destroy them all, Moses poured out prayer to God and divided the sea into two parts, so that the water was held on the right and on the left as if congealed by frost, and the people of God passed through as on a dry road, while the Egyptians who rashly entered in pursuit of them were killed. For when the last of the Hebrew people came up, the last of the Egyptians went down into the sea; and at once the waters of the sea, which had been held bound as if by frost, released by the command of him who had bound them, regained the freedom of their nature and took vengeance on the wicked people.”

“After this Moses, at the command of God who foresees all things, led the Hebrew people into the desert; and leaving the shortest road, which leads from Egypt to Judaea, he led the people through long windings of the wilderness, so that by the discipline of forty years he might abolish, through the novelty of a changed way of life, the evils that had grown into them by long custom from the habits of the Egyptians. Meanwhile they come to Mount Sinai, and there the law is given to them with heavenly voices and visions, written in ten commandments, of which the first and greatest was that they should worship God himself alone, and set up for themselves no other likeness or form to worship. But when Moses had gone up the mountain and was staying there forty days, the people—though they had seen Egypt struck with ten plagues, the sea split and crossed on foot, manna given them from heaven for bread, and drink supplied from the rock that followed them (and that kind of food was turned by the power of God into whatever flavor each desired), and though, being placed under the hotter quarter of the sky, they were shaded by a cloud by day lest they be scorched by the heat, and by night were lit by a pillar of fire, lest the horror of darkness be added to the vastness of the wilderness—while Moses, I say, was delaying, they made a golden calf's head after the likeness of Apis, whom they had seen worshiped in Egypt, and worshiped it; and after so many and such great wonders as they had seen, they could not file away and wipe off from themselves the filth of old custom. And for this reason Moses, leaving the short road that leads from Egypt to Judaea, drove them about through the immense circuit of the wilderness, to see whether he could, as we mentioned above, shake off the evils of old custom by the change of a new way of life.”

“Meanwhile Moses, that faithful and wise steward, seeing that the vice of sacrificing to idols had grown deeply into the people from their association with the Egyptians, and that the root of this evil could not be cut out of them, allowed them indeed to sacrifice, but permitted this to be done to God alone, so that he might cut away, as it were, one half of the deeply ingrained vice, and reserve the other half to be corrected by another and at another time—namely by him of whom he himself said: ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me; hear him in all things that he says to you. Whoever does not hear that prophet, his soul shall be destroyed from among his people.’”

“Besides this he also appointed a place in which alone it was lawful for them to sacrifice to God. All this was done with this in view: that when the fit time had come and they had learned through the Prophet that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, they might see him who would teach them that the place chosen by God, in which it is fitting that victims be offered to God, is his Wisdom; and might hear that this place, which seemed chosen for a time, often troubled by enemy incursions and destructions, was at last to be utterly destroyed. And in proof of this, even before the coming of the true Prophet, who was to reject the sacrifices together with the place, it was often plundered by enemies and burned with fire, and the people were carried into captivity among foreign nations and then, when they took refuge in the mercy of God, were brought back, so that they might be taught by this that a people offering sacrifices is driven out and delivered into the hands of enemies, but one doing mercy and righteousness is freed from captivity without sacrifices and restored to its native land. But very few happened to understand this. For most, even if they could perceive and notice these things, were nevertheless held by the irrational opinion of the crowd. For right judgment with freedom belongs to few.”

“So Moses, having arranged these things and having set a certain man named Auses over the people to bring them back to their native land, himself went up a certain mountain at the command of the living God and died there; yet his death was such that to this day no one has found his burial place. When, then, the people reached their native soil, by the providence of God the inhabitants of the wicked nations were put to flight at their very first entrance, and they received their ancestral inheritance with the lot as judge. Then for some time, governed by judges, not kings, they continued in a quieter state. But when they sought for themselves tyrants rather than kings, then also, in the place which had been destined for them for prayer, they built a temple out of royal ambition; and so, as wicked kings succeeded one another in turn, the people too sank into greater impieties.”

“But when the time began to be at hand for what we said was lacking in the institutions of Moses to be fulfilled, and for the Prophet whom he had foretold to appear, who would first warn them, through the mercy of God, to cease from sacrifices, then, lest they should perhaps think that with the cessation of victims there was no remission of sins for them, he instituted for them baptism by water, in which, at the invocation of his name, they would be set free from all sins, and, following a perfect life thereafter, would continue in immortality, purified not by the blood of cattle but by the cleansing of the Wisdom of God. Finally, this too is set forth as a clear sign of this great mystery: that everyone who, believing in this Prophet foretold by Moses, is baptized in his name will be kept unharmed from the destruction of the war that threatens the unbelieving nation and the place itself, while those who do not believe will be made exiles from their place and kingdom, so that even against their will they may understand and obey the will of God.”

“These things being thus foreordained, he who was expected is present, bringing signs and wonders as marks by which he would be made manifest. But not even so did the people believe, though they had been trained for so many ages to believe these things; and not only did they not believe, but they added blasphemy to unbelief, saying that he who had come for their salvation was a glutton and a slave to his belly, and was driven by a demon. So strong is wickedness through the ministry of the evil ones that, had the Wisdom of God not been present to those who love the truth, impious error would have enveloped almost all at once. So he first chose us twelve, who believed in him, whom he named apostles, and afterwards seventy-two other most approved disciples, so that, at least in this way, recognizing the image of Moses, the multitude might believe that this is he whom Moses foretold as the prophet to come.”

“But perhaps someone may say that anyone can imitate a number; and what will he say of the signs and miracles which this one did? For Moses had done miracles and cures in Egypt. He too, whom Moses foretold would rise up as a prophet like himself, though he healed every disease and every infirmity among the people, worked innumerable miracles, and preached eternal life, was driven to the cross by the wicked; yet this deed was turned to good by his power. Indeed, when he suffered, the whole world suffered with him; for the sun was darkened, the mountains were split, the graves were opened, and the veil of the temple was torn, as if lamenting the destruction threatening the place. And yet, though the whole world was moved, they themselves are even now in no way moved to inquire into such great things.”

“But since it was necessary that the Gentiles should be called in place of those who remained unbelieving, so that the number which had been shown to Abraham might be filled up, the saving preaching of the kingdom of God is sent into the whole world. On this account the worldly spirits are disturbed, who always oppose those who seek freedom, and who look for engines of error to destroy God's building; so that those who strive toward the glory of salvation and freedom, resisting them and sweating out no small contests against them, are made stronger and come to the crown of salvation not without the palm of victory. Meanwhile, when he had suffered, and darkness had pressed upon the world from the sixth hour to the ninth, as soon as the sun was restored and things were set back in order, even the wicked, their fear ceasing, returned to themselves and to their own ways. For some of them, who had guarded the place with every precaution, called him a magician, since they could not prevent him from rising again; others pretended that he had been stolen.”

“Nevertheless the truth prevailed everywhere. For as a sign that these things were being done by divine power, we who had been very few became in the course of days, with God's help, far more numerous than they, so that the priests at one time were afraid lest perhaps, by the providence of God and to their confusion, the whole people should come over to our faith. They frequently sent to us and asked us to discourse to them about Jesus, whether he was the Prophet whom Moses foretold, who is the eternal Christ. For on this point alone does there seem to be a difference between us who have believed in Jesus and the unbelieving Jews. But while they frequently asked about this, and we were looking for a fitting time, a week of years from the passion of the Lord was being completed; and the church of the Lord established in Jerusalem was growing, multiplied most abundantly, governed with most upright administration by James, who was ordained bishop in it by the Lord.”

“When we twelve apostles had come together on the day of the Passover with a vast multitude and had entered the church of the brethren, each of us, at James's request, briefly set out in the hearing of the people what had been done by us in each place. Meanwhile Caiaphas the high priest sent priests to us and asked us to come to him, so that either we might teach him by reasoning that Jesus is the eternal Christ, or he might teach us that he is not, and so the whole people might agree on one faith or the other; and he frequently entreated us to do this. But we often put it off, always looking for a more fitting time.” And I, Clement, answered to this: “I think that this very question, whether he is the Christ, contributes much to the grounding of faith; otherwise the high priest would never ask so often to learn or to teach about Christ.” And Peter said: “You answered rightly, Clement. For as no one can see without eyes, nor receive hearing without ears, or smell without nostrils, nor take taste without a tongue, or handle anything without hands, so it is impossible without the true Prophet to know what pleases God.” And I answered: “That the true Prophet is himself the Christ I have already learned from your teaching; but what this very word 'Christ' means, or why he is so called, I should like to learn, so that my knowledge of so great a matter may not be vague and uncertain.”