Miscellanies 1.5.28
Summary: Before Christ, philosophy was given to the Greeks for righteousness, as the law was to the Hebrews: a schoolmaster to lead them to Christ; now it is a useful preparation for faith.
Greek text · Stählin 2:17–18
Ἦν μὲν οὖν πρὸ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίας εἰς δικαιοσύνην Ἕλλησιν ἀναγκαία φιλοσοφία, νυνὶ δὲ χρησίμη πρὸς θεοσέβειαν γίνεται, προπαιδεία τις οὖσα τοῖς τὴν πίστιν διʼ ἀποδείξεως καρπουμένοις, ὅτι ὁ πούς σου φησὶν οὐ μὴ προσκόψῃ, ἐπὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν τὰ καλὰ ἀναφέροντος, ἐάν τε Ἑλληνικὰ ᾖ ἐάν τε ἡμέτερα. πάντων μὲν γὰρ αἴτιος τῶν καλῶν ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν κατὰ προηγούμενον ὡς τῆς τε διαθήκης τῆς παλαιᾶς καὶ τῆς νέας, τῶν δὲ κατʼ ἐπακολούθημα ὡς τῆς φιλοσοφίας. τάχα δὲ καὶ προηγουμένως τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐδόθη τότε πρὶν ἢ τὸν κύριον καλέσαι καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας· ἐπαιδαγώγει γὰρ καὶ αὕτη τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν ὡς ὁ νόμος τοὺς Ἑβραίους εἰς Χριστόν. προπαρασκευάζει τοίνυν ἡ φιλοσοφία προοδοποιοῦσα τὸν ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ τελειούμενον. αὐτίκα τὴν σοφίαν ὁ Σολομὼν περιχαράκωσον φησίν, καὶ ὑπερυψώσει σε· στεφάνῳ δὲ τρυφῆς ὑπερασπίσει σε, ἐπεὶ κἂν σὺ τῷ θριγκῷ ὑπεροχυρώσας αὐτὴν διὰ φιλοσοφίας καὶ πολυτελείας ὀρθῆς ἀνεπίβατον τοῖς σοφισταῖς τηρήσαις.
English · Claude translation
Before the Lord's coming, then, philosophy was necessary to the Greeks for righteousness; and now it becomes useful for godliness, being a kind of preliminary training for those who reap faith through demonstration. For “your foot will not stumble,” it says, if you refer good things to providence, whether they are Greek or ours. For God is the cause of all good things, but of some primarily, like the old and the new covenant, and of others consequentially, like philosophy. And perhaps it was given primarily to the Greeks at that time, before the Lord called the Greeks too; for it too was a schoolmaster to bring the Greek mind to Christ, as the law was for the Hebrews. Philosophy, then, is a preparation, paving the way for the one who is being perfected by Christ. Thus Solomon says, “Fortify wisdom, and it will exalt you; and it will shield you with a crown of delight”; since you too, having fortified it with a wall through philosophy and right expenditure, may keep it unassailable by the sophists.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- This is one of Clement's best-known statements on philosophy as a preparation for the gospel. The allusions are Prov 3:23, Gal 3:24 (the law as schoolmaster), and Prov 4:8–9 (LXX).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.5.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/5/28/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.5.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/5/28/).
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