The Instructor 1.8.64
Summary: Justice is itself a good; so the good God can also be just, and his anger and punishment serve the right training of his children.
Greek text · Stählin 1:127–128
τὸ δὲ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι οὐ τῷ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἔχειν ἀγαθὸν εἶναι λέγεται, καθὸ καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἀγαθὸν εἶναι λέγεται οὐ τῷ ἀρετὴν ἔχειν (ἀρετὴ γάρ ἐστιν αὐτή), ἀλλὰ τῷ αὐτὴν καθʼ αὑτὴν καὶ διʼ αὑτὴν ἀγαθὴν εἶναι. λέγεται δὲ καὶ κατʼ ἄλλον τρόπον ἀγαθὸν τὸ συμφέρον, οὐ τῷ τέρπειν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὠφελεῖν. ἃ δὴ πάντα ἡ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ ὡς ἀρετὴ καὶ ὡς διʼ αὐτὴν αἱρετὴ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὡς οὐ τέρπουσα· οὐ γὰρ πρὸς χάριν κρίνει, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κατʼ ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ ἐστὶν ἀπονεμητική, ἕπεται δὲ τῷ συμφέροντι τὸ ὠφέλιμον. κατὰ πάντα ἄρα τὰ μέρη, καθʼ ἃ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐξετάζεται, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη χαρακτηρίζεται, τῶν ἴσων ἐπʼ ἴσης ἀμφοῖν μετεχόντων· τὰ δὲ τοῖς ἴσοις χαρακτηριζόμενα ἴσα τε ἀλλήλοις καὶ ὅμοια· ἀγαθὸν ἄρα ἡ δικαιοσύνη. πῶς οὖν, φασίν, εἰ φιλάνθρωπός ἐστι καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὁ κύριος, ὀργίζεται καὶ κολάζει; ἀναγκαῖον οὖν καὶ περὶ τούτου ὡς οἷόν τε διὰ βραχυτάτων ἐπεξελθεῖν· ἐπεὶ λυσιτελής πως ἡ τοιάδε οἰκονομία πρὸς τὴν ὀρθὴν τῶν παίδων ἀγωγήν, ἀναγκαίου βοηθήματος ἔχουσα τάξιν. θεραπεύεται δὲ πολλὰ τῶν παθῶν τιμωρίᾳ καὶ προστάξει αὐστηροτέρων παραγγελμάτων καὶ δὴ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐνίων θεωρημάτων διδασκαλίας.
English · Claude translation
The good is not said to be good by having virtue, just as justice is not said to be good by having virtue (for it is itself virtue), but by being good in and of itself. In another sense, what is advantageous is also called good, not by giving pleasure but by benefiting. Justice is all these: it is good both as virtue and as desirable for its own sake, and as not giving pleasure; for it does not judge to win favor, but assigns to each what he deserves, and benefit follows what is advantageous. In all the respects, then, in which the good is examined, justice too is characterized, both sharing equally in the same qualities; and things characterized by the same qualities are equal and alike to one another; so justice is good. “How then,” they say, “if the Lord loves humankind and is good, is he angry and does he punish?” We must deal with this too, as briefly as possible. For such a plan is in some way profitable for the right upbringing of children, holding the place of a necessary aid. Many passions are healed by punishment, and by the enjoining of sterner precepts, and also by the teaching of certain principles.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The argument that justice and goodness are the same is directed against the Marcionite separation of the “just” God from the “good” God.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.8.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/8/64/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.8.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/8/64/).
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