Miscellanies 4.7.45
Summary: Many sins lead to Hades; poets mock mortal frailty, but Christ says the spirit is willing though the flesh is weak; Paul shows the body is dead through sin yet the Spirit gives life, and present sufferings are nothing beside the coming glory.
Greek text · Stählin 2:268–269
οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν κατὰ τὸν Αἰσχύλου Τήλεφον νοεῖν ἁπλῆν οἶμον εἰς Ἅιδου φέρειν, ὁδοὶ δὲ πολλαὶ αἱ ἀπάγουσαι, ἁμαρτίαι πολυπλανεῖς. τούτους, ὡς ἔοικε, τοὺς ἀπίστους διακωμῳδῶν Ἀριστοφάνης ἄγετε (φησίν), ἄνδρες ἀμαυρόβιοι, φύλλων γενεᾷ προσόμοιοι, ὀλιγοδρανέες, πλάσματα κηροῦ, σκιοειδέα φῦλα, ἀμενηνοί, ἀπτῆνες, ἐφημέριοι. καὶ ὁ Ἐπίχαρμος αὕτα φύσις ἀνθρώπων, ἀσκοὶ πεφυσημένοι. ἡμῖν δὲ ὁ σωτὴρ εἴρηκεν· τὸ πνεῦμα πρόθυμον, ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής· διότι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρα εἰς θεὸν ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐξηγεῖται, τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται· οἱ δὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ὄντες θεῷ ἀρέσαι οὐ δύνανται. καὶ ἐπεκδιηγούμενος ἐπιφέρει, ἵνα μὴ ὡς Μαρκίων ἀχαρίστως ἐκδέξηταί τις τὴν δημιουργίαν κακήν· εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, τὸ μὲν σῶμα νεκρὸν διʼ ἁμαρτίαν, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωὴ διὰ δικαιοσύνην. πάλιν τε αὖ· εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· λογίζομαι γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς, εἴπερ συμπάσχομεν, ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν, ὡς συγκληρονόμοι Χριστοῦ.
English · Claude translation
It is not possible, then, to think, as in Aeschylus's Telephus, that “a single path leads to Hades”; the ways that lead there are many, sins that wander in many directions. Aristophanes, it seems, mocking such unbelievers, says: “Come, you men of dim life, like the generation of leaves, feeble, figures of wax, shadowy tribes, powerless, wingless, creatures of a day.” And Epicharmus: “This is the nature of men: puffed-up wineskins.” But to us the Savior has said: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That is why the apostle explains that “the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” And explaining further, so that no one, like Marcion, should ungratefully take creation as evil, he adds: “But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.” And again: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.” “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him, as fellow heirs of Christ.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Aeschylus, Telephus (fragment 239 Nauck; also Plato, Phaedo 108a), Aristophanes, Birds 685–687, Epicharmus (fragment), Matt 26:41, Rom 8:7–8, 10, 13, 18, 17.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.7.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/7/45/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.7.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/7/45/).
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