Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 2.1.6

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

Summary: The law hangs on love of God and neighbor; the church's supper is a sign of love, not love itself, for God's kingdom is not food and drink.

Greek text · Stählin 1:157

Ταύτης ὅλος ἀπήρτηται τῆς ἀγάπης ὁ νόμος καὶ ὁ λόγος· κἂν ἀγαπήσῃς κύριον τὸν θεόν σου καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου, ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐστιν αὕτη ἡ ἐπουράνιος εὐωχία, ἡ δὲ ἐπίγειος δεῖπνον κέκληται, ὡς ἐκ τῆς γραφῆς ἀποδέδεικται, διʼ ἀγάπην μὲν γινόμενον τὸ δεῖπνον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀγάπη τὸ δεῖπνον, δεῖγμα δὲ εὐνοίας κοινωνικῆς καὶ εὐμεταδότου. »μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ἡμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ βρῶσις καὶ πόσις«, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἵνα τὸ ἐφήμερον ἄριστον νοηθῇ, »ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνη καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ χαρὰ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ.«

English · Claude translation

The whole law and the Word depend on this love; and if you love the Lord your God and your neighbor, this is the heavenly feast in heaven. The earthly one is called a supper, as has been shown from Scripture: a supper that takes place because of love, but the supper is not love; it is a sign of sharing and generous goodwill. “Let not your good, then, be spoken evil of. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink,” says the apostle, so that the daily meal may be understood, “but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:157 · 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
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions and quotations are Matt 22:37–40 and Rom 14:16–17.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.1.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/1/6/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.1.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/1/6/).

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