The Instructor 1.6.52
Summary: Butter fuels the lamp as the Word enlightens; those who call themselves perfect “gnostics” should learn from Paul, who did not claim to have attained perfection.
Greek text · Stählin 1:121
ὃ δὴ βούτυρον καλοῦσιν, καταχρῶνται εἰς λύχνον, τὸ πολυέλαιον τοῦ λόγου διʼ αἰνίγματος ἀριδήλου σαφηνίσαντες, ὡς μόνου τοῦδε ἐνδίκως καὶ τρέφοντος καὶ αὔξοντος καὶ φωτίζοντος τοὺς νηπίους. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἡ γραφὴ περὶ τοῦ κυρίου λέγει »ἐψώμισεν αὐτοὺς γενήματα ἀγρῶν, ἐθήλασαν μέλι ἐκ πέτρας καὶ ἔλαιον ἐκ στερεᾶς πέτρας, βούτυρον βοῶν καὶ γάλα προβάτων μετὰ στέατος ἀρνῶν« καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γέννησιν τοῦ παιδίου ὁ προφητεύων »βούτυρον« φησὶν »ἔδεται καὶ μέλι«. ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ θαυμάζειν ἔπεισιν ὅπως σφᾶς τελείους τινὲς τολμῶσι καλεῖν καὶ γνωστικούς, ὑπὲρ τὸν ἀπόστολον φρονοῦντες, φυσιούμενοί τε καὶ φρυαττόμενοι, αὐτοῦ ὁμολογοῦντος τοῦ Παύλου περὶ ἑαυτοῦ· »οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον ἢ ἤδη τετελείωμαι, διώκω δὲ εἰ καὶ καταλάβω, ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ κατελήφθην ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ. ἀδελφοί, ἐγὼ ἐμαυτὸν οὔπω λογίζομαι κατειληφέναι· ἓν δέ, τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενος, τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος, κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.« καὶ τέλειον μὲν ἑαυτὸν ἡγεῖται, ὅτι ἀπήλλακται τοῦ προτέρου βίου, ἔχεται δὲ τοῦ κρείττονος, οὐχ ὡς ἐν γνώσει τέλειος, ἀλλʼ ὡς τοῦ τελείου ἐφιέμενος· διὸ καὶ ἐπιφέρει »ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι, τοῦτο φρονοῦμεν«, τελείωσιν δηλονότι λέγων τὸ ἀποτετάχθαι ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις καὶ εἰς πίστιν τοῦ μόνου τελείου ἀναγεγεννῆσθαι, ἐκλαθομένους τῶν κατόπισθεν ἁμαρτιῶν.
English · Claude translation
which they call butter, for their lamps, making plain by a clear riddle the abundant oil of the Word, since he alone rightly nourishes, increases, and enlightens the infants. That is why Scripture says of the Lord: “He fed them with the produce of the fields; they sucked honey from the rock and oil from the solid rock, butter of cattle and milk of sheep with the fat of lambs,” and the rest that he gave them. And the one who prophesies the birth of the Child says, “Butter and honey shall he eat.” I am amazed how some dare to call themselves perfect and “gnostics,” thinking themselves above the apostle, puffed up and snorting with pride, when Paul himself confesses about himself: “Not that I have already obtained it or am already perfect; but I press on to see if I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ. Brothers, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus.” He considers himself perfect because he has been set free from his former life and holds to the better one, not as perfect in knowledge but as longing for the perfect. So he adds, “Let those of us who are perfect think this way,” clearly calling perfection the renouncing of sins and being born again to faith in the only Perfect One, forgetting our past sins.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Deut 32:13–14, Isa 7:15, and Phil 3:12–15.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/52/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/52/).
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