Miscellanies 1.9.43
Summary: Some want bare faith without learning, like expecting grapes without tending the vine; but Christ, the vine, must be cultivated; the educated believer gathers what is useful from every study to defend the faith.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Stählin 2:28–29
Ἔνιοι δὲ εὐφυεῖς οἰόμενοι εἶναι ἀξιοῦσι μήτε φιλοσοφίας ἅπτεσθαι μήτε διαλεκτικῆς, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ τὴν φυσικὴν θεωρίαν ἐκμανθάνειν, μόνην δὲ καὶ ψιλὴν τὴν πίστιν ἀπαιτοῦσιν, ὥσπερ εἰ μηδεμίαν ἠξίουν ἐπιμέλειαν ποιησάμενοι τῆς ἀμπέλου εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοὺς βότρυας λαμβάνειν. ἄμπελος δὲ ὁ κύριος ἀλληγορεῖται, παρʼ οὗ μετʼ ἐπιμελείας καὶ τέχνης γεωργικῆς τῆς κατὰ τὸν λόγον τὸν καρπὸν τρυγητέον. κλαδεῦσαι δεῖ, σκάψαι, ἀναδῆσαι καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ποιῆσαι, δρεπάνου τε, οἶμαι, καὶ μακέλλης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀργάνων τῶν γεωργικῶν πρὸς τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τῆς ἀμπέλου χρεία, ἵνα ἡμῖν τὸν ἐδώδιμον καρπὸν ἐκφήνῃ. καθάπερ δὲ ἐν γεωργίᾳ οὕτω καὶ ἐν ἰατρικῇ χρηστομαθὴς ἐκεῖνος ὁ ποικιλωτέρων μαθημάτων ἁψάμενος, ὡς βέλτιον γεωργεῖν τε καὶ ὑγιάζειν δύνασθαι, οὕτω κἀνταῦθα χρηστομαθῆ φημι τὸν πάντα ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀναφέροντα, ὥστε καὶ ἀπὸ γεωμετρίας καὶ μουσικῆς καὶ ἀπὸ γραμματικῆς καὶ φιλοσοφίας αὐτῆς δρεπόμενον τὸ χρήσιμον ἀνεπιβούλευτον φυλάσσειν τὴν πίστιν. παρορᾶται δὲ καὶ ὁ ἀθλητής, † ὡς προείρηται, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν σύνταξιν συμβαλλόμενος.
English · Claude translation
Some, thinking themselves naturally gifted, think they should touch neither philosophy nor dialectic, nor even learn the study of nature, but demand faith alone and bare, as if they expected to gather grapes right from the start without taking any care of the vine. The Lord is allegorized as the vine, from whom the fruit is to be gathered with care and the art of husbandry according to reason. One must prune, dig, tie up, and do the rest; there is need, I think, of the pruning hook and the mattock and the other tools of husbandry for the care of the vine, so that it may show us its edible fruit. And as in farming, so in medicine, the one who has acquired a variety of studies is well educated, so as to be better able to farm and to heal; so here too I call the well-educated person the one who refers everything to the truth, so as to gather what is useful from geometry, music, grammar, and philosophy itself, and to guard the faith against attack. The athlete too is looked down on, as has been said, though he contributes to the arrangement.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is John 15:1. The last sentence is corrupt (dagger).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.9.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/9/43/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.9.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/9/43/).
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