The Instructor 1.8.63

Clement of Alexandria · The Instructor · ca. 190–200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Since God hates nothing he has made, he loves the human being above all, and being good he benefits and cares for him, as his instruction through the Word shows.

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Greek text · Stählin 1:127

εἰ δὲ οὐ μισεῖ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γενομένων οὐδέν, λείπεται φιλεῖν αὐτό. πολὺ δὴ πλέον τῶν ἄλλων ἀγαπήσει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰκότως, τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ δημιουργηθέντων καὶ φιλόθεον ζῷον. φιλάνθρωπος ἄρα ὁ θεός, φιλάνθρωπος ἄρα ὁ λόγος. ὁ δὲ φιλῶν τι ὠφελεῖν αὐτὸ βούλεται, τὸ δὲ ὠφελοῦν τοῦ μὴ ὠφελοῦντος πάντως ἄν που κρεῖττον εἴη, τοῦ δὲ ἀγαθοῦ κρεῖττον οὐδὲ ἕν, ὠφελεῖ ἄρα τὸ ἀγαθόν· ἀγαθὸς δὲ ὁ θεὸς ὁμολογεῖται, ὠφελεῖ ἄρα ὁ θεός. τὸ δὲ ἀγαθόν, ᾗ ἀγαθόν ἐστιν, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ποιεῖ ἢ ὅτι ὠφελεῖ· πάντα ἄρα ὠφελεῖ ὁ θεός. καὶ οὐ δήπου ὠφελεῖ μέν τι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ κήδεται αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ κήδεται μέν, οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπιμελεῖται αὐτοῦ. κρεῖττον μὲν γὰρ τὸ κατὰ γνώμην ὠφελοῦν τοῦ μὴ ὠφελοῦντος κατὰ γνώμην, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ κρεῖττον οὐδέν. καὶ οὐκ ἄλλο τί ἐστι τὸ κατὰ γνώμην ὠφελεῖν, ὅτι μὴ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι [τοῦ ἀνθρώπου]· κήδεται ἄρα καὶ ἐπιμελεῖται τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁ θεός. τοῦτο δὲ ἐνδείκνυται ἔργῳ παιδαγωγῶν αὐτὸν λόγῳ, ὅς ἐστι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας συναγωνιστὴς γνήσιος.

English · Claude translation

If he hates nothing of what he has made, it remains that he loves it. Much more than the rest, naturally, he will love the human being, the most beautiful of his creatures and a creature that loves God. God, then, loves humankind; the Word, then, loves humankind. And the one who loves something wishes to benefit it; what benefits is surely better than what does not benefit; and nothing is better than the good; so the good benefits. God is acknowledged to be good; so God benefits. And the good, insofar as it is good, does nothing else than benefit; so God benefits all things. And surely he does not benefit the human being without caring for him, nor care for him without taking care of him. For what benefits intentionally is better than what does not benefit intentionally, and nothing is better than God. And benefiting intentionally is nothing else than taking care [of the human being]; so God cares for and takes care of the human being. This he shows in deed by instructing him through the Word, who is the true fellow champion of God's love for humankind.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 1:127 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 12. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Scripture

Gen 1:31 · echo, low confidence

Notes

Translation notes

The argument is a chain of syllogisms in Stoic style. The bracketed words are marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.8.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/8/63/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.8.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/8/63/).

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