Miscellanies 2.18.96
Summary: The farming law teaches us to prune away sins until faith is firm; the fourth year signifies the four virtues offered to God; God gives the strength and gifts that we, as ministers of grace, pass on to others.
Greek text · Stählin 2:165–166
εἴη δʼ ἂν οὗτος ὁ τῆς γεωργίας τύπος διδασκαλίας τρόπος, διδάσκων δεῖν τὰς παραφύσεις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἐπικόπτειν καὶ τὰς συναναθαλλούσας τῷ γονίμῳ καρπῷ ματαίας τῆς ἐννοίας πόας, ἔστʼ ἂν τελειωθῇ καὶ βέβαιον γένηται τὸ ἔρνος τῆς πίστεως. τῷ τε γὰρ τετάρτῳ ἔτει, ἐπεὶ καὶ χρόνου χρεία τῷ κατηχουμένῳ βεβαίως, ἡ τετρὰς τῶν ἀρετῶν καθιεροῦται τῷ θεῷ, τῆς τρίτης ἤδη μονῆς συναπτούσης ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου τετάρτην ὑπόστασιν. Θυσία δὲ αἰνέσεως ὑπὲρ ὁλοκαυτώματα. οὗτος γάρ σοι, φησί, δίδωσιν ἰσχὺν ποιῆσαι δύναμιν. ἐὰν δὲ φωτισθῇ σοι τὰ πράγματα, λαβὼν καὶ κτησάμενος ἰσχὺν ἐν γνώσει ποίει δύναμιν. ἐμφαίνει γὰρ διὰ τούτων τά τε ἀγαθὰ τάς τε δωρεὰς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ χορηγεῖσθαι καὶ δεῖν ἡμᾶς, διακόνους γενομένους τῆς θείας χάριτος, σπείρειν τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ εὐποιίας καὶ τοὺς πλησιάζοντας κατασκευάζειν καλούς τε καὶ ἀγαθούς, ἵνα ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα ὁ μὲν σώφρων τοὺς ἐγκρατεῖς, ὁ δὲ ἀνδρεῖος τοὺς γενναίους συνετούς τε ὁ φρόνιμος καὶ δίκαιος τοὺς δικαίους ἐκτελῇ.
English · Claude translation
This figure of farming would be a way of teaching, teaching that we must cut off the outgrowths of sins and the vain weeds of thought that spring up with the fruitful crop, until the shoot of faith is perfected and made firm. For in the fourth year, since time is needed for the one being instructed to be firmly established, the tetrad of the virtues is consecrated to God, the third stage now joining on to the fourth, the Lord's own reality. “A sacrifice of praise is better than burnt offerings.” “For he,” it says, “gives you strength to do mighty things.” And if matters have been made clear to you, having received and acquired strength in knowledge, do mighty things. For by these words he shows that good things and gifts are supplied by God, and that we, having become ministers of divine grace, must sow God's benefits and make those who come near us noble and good; so that, as far as possible, the self-restrained may make others self-controlled, the courageous make them noble, the prudent make them understanding, and the just make them just.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ps 50:14, 23 (49:14, 23 LXX; a free form; compare Ps 51:16–17) and Deut 8:18. The “tetrad of virtues” is courage, self-restraint, prudence, and justice. “The third stage … the fourth” is obscure.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): οὗτος γάρ σοι, φησί. δίδωσιν → οὗτος γάρ σοι, φησί, δίδωσιν.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/96/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/96/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text