Miscellanies 2.9.44
Summary: Hermas says the apostles, after death, preached to the righteous dead and gave them the seal of baptism, so that they too were built into the tower; Gentiles who keep the law by nature are a law to themselves.
Greek text · Stählin 2:136
φησὶ γοῦν τοὺς ἀποστόλους καὶ διδασκάλους τοὺς κηρύξαντας τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κοιμηθέντας τῇ δυνάμει καὶ τῇ πίστει κηρῦξαι τοῖς προκεκοιμημένοις. εἶτα ἐπιφέρει· καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔδωκαν αὐτοῖς τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ κηρύγματος. κατέβησαν οὖν μετʼ αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πάλιν ἀνέβησαν. ἀλλʼ οὗτοι ζῶντες κατέβησαν καὶ πάλιν ζῶντες ἀνέβησαν· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οἱ προκεκοιμημένοι νεκροὶ κατέβησαν, ζῶντες δὲ ἀνέβησαν, διὰ τούτων οὖν ἐζωοποιήθησαν καὶ ἐπέγνωσαν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ συνανέβησαν μετʼ αὐτῶν καὶ συνήρμοσαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου καὶ ἀλατόμητοι συνῳκοδομήθησαν· ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ γὰρ ἐκοιμήθησαν καὶ ἐν μεγάλῃ ἁγνείᾳ, μόνην δὲ τὴν σφραγῖδα ταύτην οὐκ ἔσχον. ὅταν γὰρ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιῶσιν, οὗτοι νόμον μὴ ἔχοντες ἑαυτοῖς εἰσι νόμος κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον.
English · Claude translation
At any rate he says that the apostles and teachers who preached the name of the Son of God and fell asleep preached, in power and faith, to those who had fallen asleep before them. Then he adds: “And they gave them the seal of the preaching. They went down with them, then, into the water and came up again. But these went down alive and came up again alive; while those who had fallen asleep before went down dead, but came up alive. Through these, then, they were made alive and came to know the name of the Son of God. That is why they also came up with them and were fitted into the building of the tower, and were built in with them without being hewn; for they had fallen asleep in righteousness and in great purity, and lacked only this seal.” For “when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,” according to the apostle.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Hermas, Sim. 9.16.5–7, and Rom 2:14. The seal is baptism.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.9.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/9/44/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.9.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/9/44/).
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