Miscellanies 1.6.34
Summary: Prayer and the care of the soul need knowledge: goodness comes by learning, not by nature alone; the gifted can fall through neglect, the less gifted rise by education; God made us sociable and just.
Greek text · Stählin 2:22–23
Εἰ δὲ ἐν τῷ ταμείῳ εὔχῃ, ὡς ὁ κύριος ἐδίδαξε, πνεύματι προσκυνῶν, οὐκέτι περὶ τὸν οἶκον εἴη ἂν μόνον ἡ οἰκονομία, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὴν ψυχήν, τίνα τε ἐπινεμητέον αὐτῇ καὶ ὅπως καὶ ὁπόσον, τίνα τε ἀποθετέον καὶ ἀποθησαυριστέον εἰς αὐτήν, καὶ ὅτε ταῦτα προκομιστέον, καὶ πρὸς οὕστινας. οὐ γὰρ φύσει, μαθήσει δὲ οἱ καλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ γίνονται, καθάπερ ἰατροὶ καὶ κυβερνῆται. ὁρῶμεν γοῦν κοινῶς οἱ πάντες τὴν ἄμπελον καὶ τὸν ἵππον, ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν γεωργὸς εἴσεται, εἰ ἀγαθὴ πρὸς καρποφορίαν ἢ κακὴ ἡ ἄμπελος, καὶ ὁ ἱππικὸς ἄθυμον ἢ ταχὺν διακρινεῖ ῥᾳδίως. τὸ δʼ ἄλλους παρʼ ἄλλους εὖ πεφυκέναι πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδεύματα μέν τινα τῶν οὕτω πεφυκότων παρὰ τοὺς ἑτέρους ἐνδείκνυται, τελειότητα δὲ κατʼ ἀρετὴν οὐδʼ ἡντινοῦν τῶν ἄμεινον φύντων κατηγορεῖ, ὁπότε καὶ οἱ κακῶς πεφυκότες πρὸς ἀρετὴν τῆς προσηκούσης παιδείας τυχόντες ὡς ἐπίπαν καλοκἀγαθίας ἤνυσαν, καὶ αὖ τὰ ἐναντία οἱ ἐπιτηδείως φύντες ἀμελείᾳ γεγόνασι κακοί. φύσει δʼ αὖ κοινωνικοὺς καὶ δικαίους ὁ θεὸς ἡμᾶς ἐδημιούργησεν.
English · Claude translation
If you pray in your inner room, as the Lord taught, worshiping in spirit, your management would no longer be of the house only, but also of the soul: what must be given it, and how and how much; what must be laid up and stored in it; and when these must be brought out, and to whom. For people become noble and good not by nature but by learning, like physicians and pilots. We all see the vine and the horse alike, but the farmer will know whether the vine is good or bad for bearing fruit, and the horseman will easily distinguish the spiritless horse from the swift. That some are better suited by nature to virtue than others shows that those so gifted have certain aptitudes compared with others, but it does not prove perfection in virtue in any of those better endowed, since those badly suited to virtue, when they receive the fitting education, have generally attained excellence, and on the other hand those naturally fit have become bad through neglect. But by nature God created us sociable and just.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Matt 6:6 and John 4:23–24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text; wrong accent on καὶ): μόνον ἡ οἰκονομία. ἀλλὰ καὶ → μόνον ἡ οἰκονομία, ἀλλὰ καὶ; καἰ ὅτε ταῦτα → καὶ ὅτε ταῦτα.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.6.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/6/34/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.6.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/6/34/).
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