2 Clement 17.1

Anonymous · 2 Clement · ca. 100–150 · place unknown · Read in context

Summary: If we must win pagans, how much more must we not lose believers.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:156

Μετανοήσωμεν οὖν ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας, ἵνα μή τις ἡμῶν παραπόληται. εἰ γὰρ ἐντολὰς ἔχομεν ἵνα καὶ τοῦτο πράσσωμεν, ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων ἀποσπᾶν καὶ κατηχεῖν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ψυχὴν ἤδη γινώσκουσαν τὸν θεὸν οὐ δεῖ ἀπόλλυσθαι;

English · Claude translation

Let us, then, repent with our whole heart, so that none of us may perish needlessly. For if we have commandments to do this also, to draw people away from idols and instruct them, how much more ought a soul that already knows God not to perish?

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:156 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 128–161 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.

Notes

Translation notes

“Perish needlessly” (παραπόληται): perish through neglect, when it could have been prevented.
“Instruct” (κατηχεῖν): teach new converts, the root of “catechize.”

Cite this passage

2 Clem. 17.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/17/1/).

Plain text

2 Clem. 17.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/17/1/).

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