The Instructor 1.6.28
Summary: Baptism removes sin like a cataract, freeing the spirit's eye to see God; the believer is already in the light, while the fulfillment of the promise awaits the resurrection.
Greek text · Stählin 1:106–107
ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ τὸν ὕπνον ἀποσεισάμενοι εὐθέως ἔνδοθεν ἐγρηγόρασιν, μᾶλλον δὲ καθάπερ οἱ τὸ ὑπόχυμα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν κατάγειν πειρώμενοι οὐ τὸ φῶς αὑτοῖς ἔξωθεν χορηγοῦσιν, ὃ οὐκ ἔχουσιν, τὸ δὲ ἐμπόδιον ταῖς ὄψεσι καταβιβάζοντες ἐλευθέραν ἀπολείπουσι τὴν κόρην, οὕτως καὶ οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι, τὰς ἐπισκοτούσας ἁμαρτίας τῷ θείῳ πνεύματι ἀχλύος δίκην ἀποτριψάμενοι, ἐλεύθερον καὶ ἀνεμπόδιστον καὶ φωτεινὸν ὄμμα τοῦ πνεύματος ἴσχομεν, ᾧ δὴ μόνῳ τὸ θεῖον ἐποπτεύομεν, οὐρανόθεν ἐπεισρέοντος ἡμῖν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος· κρᾶμα τοῦτο αὐγῆς ἀιδίου τὸ ἀίδιον φῶς ἰδεῖν δυναμένης· ἐπεὶ τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ ὁμοίῳ φίλον, φίλον δὲ τὸ ἅγιον τῷ ἐξ οὗ τὸ ἅγιον, ὃ δὴ κυρίως κέκληται φῶς· »ἦτε γάρ ποτε σκότος, νῦν δὲ φῶς ἐν κυρίῳ.« ἐντεῦθεν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν ἡγοῦμαι κεκλῆσθαι φῶτα. ἀλλʼ οὐδέπω, φασίν, ἀπείληφεν τὴν τελείαν δωρεάν. σύμφημι κἀγώ, πλὴν ἐν φωτί ἐστιν καὶ τὸ σκότος αὐτὸν οὐ καταλαμβάνει· φωτὸς δὲ ἀνὰ μέσον καὶ τοῦ σκότους οὐδὲ ἕν· ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν πιστευόντων ἀπόκειται τὸ τέλος· τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἄλλου τινός ἐστι μεταλαβεῖν ἀλλʼ ἢ τῆς προωμολογημένης ἐπαγγελίας τυχεῖν. μὴ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἅμα ἄμφω συνίστασθαί φαμεν, τήν τε πρὸς τὸ πέρας ἄφιξιν καὶ τῆς ἀφίξεως τὴν πρόληψιν· οὐ γάρ ἐστι ταὐτὸν αἰὼν καὶ χρόνος οὐδὲ μὴν ὁρμὴ καὶ τέλος, οὐκ ἔστιν· περὶ ἓν δὲ ἄμφω καὶ περὶ ἄμφω ὁ εἷς καταγίνεται. ἔστι γοῦν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ὁρμὴ μὲν ἡ πίστις ἐν χρόνῳ γεννωμένη, τέλος δὲ τὸ τυχεῖν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας εἰς αἰῶνας βεβαιούμενον. αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ κύριος σαφέστατα τῆς σωτηρίας τὴν ἰσότητα ἀπεκάλυψεν εἰπών· »τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ θεωρῶν τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πιστεύων ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν
English · Claude translation
So those who have shaken off sleep are at once awake within; or rather, as those who try to remove a cataract from the eyes do not supply them from outside with light, which they do not have, but by removing the obstruction from the eyes leave the pupil free; so we who are baptized, having wiped away by the divine Spirit the sins that darken us, like a mist, have the eye of the spirit free, unobstructed, and full of light, by which alone we behold the divine, as the Holy Spirit flows into us from heaven. This is a blending of eternal radiance, able to see the eternal light; since like is dear to like, and the holy is dear to him from whom the holy comes, who is properly called light: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” That is why, I think, the human being was called by the ancients phōs (“man,” also “light”). “But he has not yet received the perfect gift,” they say. I agree; yet he is in the light, and the darkness does not overtake him; and between light and darkness there is nothing. The end is reserved for the resurrection of those who believe; and it is not the receiving of something else, but the obtaining of the promise already made. For we do not say that both exist together at the same time, the arrival at the goal and the anticipation of the arrival. For eternity and time are not the same, nor are the beginning and the end; but both concern one thing, and the one Lord is concerned with both. Faith, so to speak, is the beginning, born in time; the end is the obtaining of the promise, secured forever. The Lord himself revealed most clearly the equality of salvation, saying: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on …
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The poetic word φώς (“man”) is written like φῶς (“light”); Clement plays on the two.
- The quotations are Eph 5:8, John 1:5, and John 6:40; the quotation continues in the next section.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/28/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/28/).
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