Exhortation to the Greeks 12.120
Summary: The true mysteries: the Lord initiates, illumines, and seals the believer; Jesus, the eternal High Priest, calls all humankind to incorruption and to his easy yoke.
Greek text · Stählin 1:84–85
Ὢ τῶν ἁγίων ὡς ἀληθῶς μυστηρίων, ὢ φωτὸς ἀκηράτου. δᾳδουχοῦμαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἐποπτεῦσαι, ἅγιος γίνομαι μυούμενος, ἱεροφαντεῖ δὲ ὁ κύριος καὶ τὸν μύστην σφραγίζεται φωταγωγῶν, καὶ παρατίθεται τῷ πατρὶ τὸν πεπιστευκότα αἰῶσι τηρούμενον. ταῦτα τῶν ἐμῶν μυστηρίων τὰ βακχεύματα· εἰ βούλει, καὶ σὺ μυοῦ, καὶ χορεύσεις μετʼ ἀγγέλων ἀμφὶ τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἀνώλεθρον καὶ μόνον ὄντως θεόν, συνυμνοῦντος ἡμῖν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. ἀίδιος οὗτος Ἰησοῦς, εἷς [ὁ] μέγας ἀρχιερεὺς θεοῦ τε ἑνὸς τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ πατρός, ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων εὔχεται καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἐγκελεύεται »κέκλυτε, μυρία φῦλα«, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅσοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων λογικοί, καὶ βάρβαροι καὶ Ἕλληνες· τὸ πᾶν ἀνθρώπων γένος καλῶ, ὧν ἐγὼ δημιουργὸς θελήματι πατρός. ἥκετε ὡς ἐμέ, ὑφʼ ἕνα ταχθησόμενοι θεὸν καὶ τὸν ἕνα λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ μὴ μόνον τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων πλεονεκτεῖτε τῷ λόγῳ, ἐκ δὲ τῶν θνητῶν ἁπάντων ὑμῖν ἀθανασίαν μόνοις καρπώσασθαι δίδωμι. ἐθέλω γάρ, ἐθέλω καὶ ταύτης ὑμῖν μεταδοῦναι τῆς χάριτος, ὁλόκληρον χορηγῶν τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, ἀφθαρσίαν· καὶ λόγον χαρίζομαι ὑμῖν, τὴν γνῶσιν τοῦ θεοῦ, τέλειον ἐμαυτὸν χαρίζομαι. τοῦτό εἰμι ἐγώ, τοῦτο βούλεται ὁ θεός, τοῦτο συμφωνία ἐστί, τοῦτο ἁρμονία πατρός, τοῦτο υἱός, τοῦτο Χριστός, τοῦτο ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, βραχίων κυρίου, δύναμις τῶν ὅλων, τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός. ὦ πάλαι μὲν εἰκόνες, οὐ πᾶσαι δὲ ἐμφερεῖς, διορθώσασθαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς τὸ ἀρχέτυπον βούλομαι, ἵνα μοι καὶ ὅμοιοι γένησθε. χρίσω ὑμᾶς τῷ πίστεως ἀλείμματι, διʼ οὗ τὴν φθορὰν ἀποβάλλετε, καὶ γυμνὸν δικαιοσύνης ἐπιδείξω τὸ σχῆμα, διʼ οὗ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀναβαίνετε. »δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς· ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν· ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν
English · Claude translation
O truly holy mysteries! O pure light! I am led by torchlight to behold the heavens and God; I become holy by being initiated. The Lord is the hierophant, and he seals the initiate, giving him light, and commends to the Father the one who has believed, to be kept forever. These are the Bacchic rites of my mysteries. If you wish, be initiated too, and you will dance with the angels around the unbegotten and imperishable and only true God, while the Word of God joins us in the hymn. This eternal Jesus, the one great High Priest of the one God, who is also Father, prays for human beings and exhorts them: “Hear, you countless tribes,” or rather, all of humankind who are rational, both barbarians and Greeks. “I call the whole human race, whose creator I am by the will of the Father. Come to me, to be ranked under one God and the one Word of God; and not only do you surpass the irrational animals by reason, but I grant you alone of all mortals to enjoy the fruit of immortality. For I will, I will to give you a share in this grace too, supplying the benefit in full: incorruption. And I grant you the Word, the knowledge of God; I grant you myself, complete. This is what I am, this is what God wills, this is the symphony, this is the harmony of the Father, this is the Son, this is Christ, this is the Word of God, the arm of the Lord, the power of the universe, the will of the Father. O you who of old were images, but not all resembling the original, I want to restore you to the archetype, so that you may become like me. I will anoint you with the ointment of faith, by which you cast off corruption, and I will show you the naked form of righteousness, by which you ascend to God. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Seals” (σφραγίζεται) and “giving light” (φωταγωγῶν) are baptismal terms; Clement turns the language of the pagan mysteries (torchlight, hierophant, initiation) to Christian baptism.
- The quotations and allusions are Heb 4:14 and 3:1 (High Priest), Rom 8:34, Homer, Iliad 17.220 (“Hear, you countless tribes”), Isa 53:1 (“the arm of the Lord”), Gen 1:26, and Matt 11:28–30.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misspelling in the digital text): καρπώσασθαι δίωμι → καρπώσασθαι δίδωμι.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.120 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/120/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.120 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/120/).
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