The Instructor 1.8.70
Summary: God seeks repentance even in his threats; he punishes to correct, but does not seek vengeance, since he teaches us to pray for our enemies.
Greek text · Stählin 1:130–131
ἐπεστρέψατε πρός με, λέγει κύριος.« ὁρᾶτε πῶς ὁ θεὸς τὴν μετάνοιαν ὑπὸ φιλαγαθίας ζητεῖ ἐνδείκνυταί τε παρὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς ἀπειλῆς ἡσυχῇ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον τὸ ἑαυτοῦ. »ἀποστρέψω«, φησί, »τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ δείξω τί ἔσται αὐτοῖς.« οὗ γὰρ τὸ πρόσωπον κυρίου ἐπιβλέπει, εἰρήνη καὶ ἀγαλλίασις, οὗ δὲ ἀπέστραπται, παρείσδυσις γίνεται πονηρίας. οὐ βούλεται οὖν ἐφορᾶν τὰ κακά· ἀγαθὸς γάρ ἐστι· παρορῶντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἑκοντί, διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην γένεσιν ἴσχει κακία. »ἴδε οὖν«, φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος, »χρηστότητα καὶ ἀποτομίαν θεοῦ· ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς πεσόντας ἀποτομίαν, ἐπὶ δὲ σὲ χρηστότητα, ἐὰν ἐπιμείνῃς τῇ χρηστότητι,« τουτέστι τῇ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστει. ἕπεται δὲ τῷ ἀγαθῷ, ᾗ φύσει ἀγαθός ἐστιν, ἡ μισοπονηρία. διὸ καὶ κολάζειν μὲν αὐτὸν ἂν ὁμολογήσαιμι τοὺς ἀπίστους (ἡ γὰρ κόλασις ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ καὶ ἐπʼ ὠφελείᾳ τοῦ κολαζομένου, ἔστι γὰρ ἐπανόρθωσις ἀντιτείνοντος), τιμωρεῖσθαι δὲ μὴ βούλεσθαι. τιμωρία δέ ἐστιν ἀνταπόδοσις κακοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ τιμωρουμένου συμφέρον ἀναπεμπομένη. οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἐπιθυμήσειε τιμωρεῖσθαι ὁ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ἡμᾶς προσεύχεσθαι διδάσκων.
English · Claude translation
you did not turn back to me, says the Lord.” You see how God, out of love for the good, seeks repentance, and quietly shows his love for humankind alongside the plan of threatening. “I will turn my face away from them,” he says, “and show what will become of them.” For where the face of the Lord looks, there is peace and rejoicing; but where it has turned away, wickedness creeps in. He does not wish to look on evils, for he is good; but when he willingly overlooks them, wickedness comes to be through human unbelief. “See, then,” says Paul, “the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but kindness toward you, if you continue in his kindness,” that is, in faith in Christ. Hatred of wickedness goes with the good, since he is good by nature. So I would admit that he punishes the unbelieving (for punishment is for the good and benefit of the one punished, being correction of one who resists), but not that he wills to take vengeance. Vengeance is a repaying of evil directed to the advantage of the one taking vengeance. He who teaches us to pray for those who mistreat us would not desire to take vengeance.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Clement distinguishes κόλασις (corrective punishment, for the good of the one punished) from τιμωρία (retribution); the definition of τιμωρία follows Aristotle (Rhetoric 1.10.17).
- The quotations are Amos 4:11 (end), Deut 32:20, and Rom 11:22; the allusion is Matt 5:44 (Luke 6:28).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): τι, « → τι,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.8.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/8/70/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.8.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/8/70/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text