The Instructor 3.11.82
Summary: A kiss is not love, for love of God is keeping his commandments; greetings should be quiet and inward, and one should turn away from gazing at women.
Greek text · Stählin 1:281
ἦ οὐκ ἴστε ὅτι καὶ τὰ φαλάγγια προσαπτόμενα μόνον τῷ στόματι ὀδύναις ἐπιτρίβει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, φιλήματα δὲ πολλάκις ἐνίησιν ἰὸν ἀκολασίας; σαφὲς τοίνυν ἡμῖν γεγένηται ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν ἀγάπη τὸ φίλημα· »ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστίν.« »αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ,« φησὶν Ἰωάννης, »ἵνα τὰς ἐντολὰς τηρήσωμεν,« οὐχ ἵνα σαίνωμεν ἀλλήλους ἐν τῷ στόματι, »καὶ αἱ ἐντολαὶ αὐτοῦ βαρεῖαι οὐκ εἰσίν.« ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ οἱ κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς τῶν ἀγαπητῶν ἀσπασμοὶ παρρησίας ἀνοήτου γέμοντες καταφανῶν τοῖς ἐκτὸς εἶναι βουλομένων οὐδὲ ἐλαχίστης μετέχουσι χάριτος. εἰ γὰρ »ἐν τῷ ταμιείῳ« μυστικῶς »προσεύχεσθαι« τῷ θεῷ δίκαιον, ἑπόμενον ἂν εἴη καὶ »τὸν πλησίον«, ὃν δεύτερον ἀγαπᾶν κελευόμεθα, ὁμοίως τῷ θεῷ καὶ μυστικῶς φιλοφρονεῖσθαι ἔνδοθεν ἐξαγοραζομένους τὸν καιρόν· τὸ γὰρ »ἅλας τῆς γῆς« ἡμεῖς, »ὃς δʼ ἂν εὐλογῇ«, φησί, »φίλον τὸ πρωΐ μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ, καταρωμένου οὐδὲν διαφέρειν δόξει.« Δοκεῖ δὲ ὑπὲρ πάντα τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν ὄψεως ἀπεστράφθαι.
English · Claude translation
Do you not know that spiders, merely touching the mouth, torment people with pains, and kisses often inject the poison of licentiousness? It has become clear to us, then, that the kiss is not love; “for love is from God.” “And this is the love of God,” says John, “that we keep his commandments,” not that we fawn on one another with the mouth, “and his commandments are not burdensome.” Moreover, greetings given to loved ones in the streets, full of foolish boldness by those who wish to be conspicuous to outsiders, have not the least grace. For if it is right to “pray” to God mystically “in the inner room,” it would follow that we should also greet “our neighbor,” whom we are commanded to love second, like God, mystically and indoors, “redeeming the time.” For we are “the salt of the earth.” “Whoever blesses a friend in the morning with a loud voice,” it says, “will seem no different from one who curses.” It seems that above all one should turn away from the sight of women.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 John 4:7, 1 John 5:3, Matt 6:6, Matt 22:39, Eph 5:16 (Col 4:5), Matt 5:13, and Prov 27:14. The last sentence begins the discussion continued in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): οῦ, « → οῦ,«; εν, « → εν,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/82/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/82/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text