Miscellanies 5.1.4
Summary: Abraham believed and was counted righteous before Christ's coming, disproving salvation by nature; and if, as Marcion says, the Creator saved Abraham, the “good God” came late, imitating him and saving by force or stealth, which is not goodness.
Greek text · Stählin 2:328
ὁ γοῦν Ἀβραὰμ διʼ ἀκοῆς πιστεύσας τῇ φωνῇ τῇ ὑπὸ τὴν δρῦν τὴν ἐν Μαμβρῇ ἐπαγγειλαμένῃ σοὶ δίδωμι τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ἤτοι ἐκλεκτὸς ἦν ἢ οὔ; ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν οὐκ ἦν, πῶς εὐθέως ἐπίστευσεν οἷον φυσικῶς; εἰ δὲ ἦν ἐκλεκτός, λέλυται αὐτοῖς ἡ ὑπόθεσις, εὑρισκομένης καὶ πρὸ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίας ἐκλογῆς καὶ δὴ καὶ σῳζομένης· ἐλογίσθη γὰρ αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην. ἐὰν γάρ τις τολμήσας λέγῃ Μαρκίωνι ἑπόμενος τὸν δημιουργὸν σῴζειν τὸν εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύσαντα καὶ πρὸ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίας ἐκλογῆς καὶ δὴ καὶ σῳζομένης τὴν ἰδίαν αὐτοῦ σωτηρίαν, παρευδοκιμηθήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ δύναμις, ὀψὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν εὐφημούμενον δημιουργὸν ἐπιβαλλομένη σῴζειν καὶ αὐτὴ ἤτοι μαθήσει ἢ καὶ μιμήσει τούτου. ἀλλὰ κἂν οὕτως ἔχων σῴζῃ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ὁ ἀγαθός, οὔτε τοὺς ἰδίους οὔτε μετὰ τῆς γνώμης τοῦ πεποιηκότος τὴν κτίσιν ἐπιχειρεῖ τὴν σωτηρίαν, βίᾳ δὲ ἢ δόλῳ. καὶ πῶς ἔτι ἀγαθὸς ὁ οὕτως καὶ ὕστερος; εἰ δὲ ὁ τόπος διαφέρει καὶ ἡ μονὴ τοῦ παντοκράτορος λείπεται ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ μονῆς, ἀλλʼ ἡ τοῦ σῴζοντος βούλησις οὐκ ἀπολείπεται τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἥ γε προκατάρξασα.
English · Claude translation
Abraham, at any rate, who believed through hearing the voice that promised under the oak in Mamre, “To you I give this land and to your seed,” was he elect or not? If he was not, how did he believe at once, as though by nature? But if he was elect, their hypothesis is undone, since an election is found even before the Lord's coming, and indeed a saved one: “for it was counted to him as righteousness.” For if someone should dare to say, following Marcion, that the Creator saves the one who believes in him even before the Lord's coming, his own salvation, the power of the Good One will be surpassed by him, attempting to save late and after the Creator they praise, and that by learning from him or imitating him. But even if, being so, the Good One saves according to them, he undertakes salvation neither of his own nor with the consent of the one who made the creation, but by force or by deceit. And how is one who is so, and later, still good? And if the place differs and the dwelling of the Almighty falls short of the dwelling of the good God, yet the will of the one who saves does not fall short of the good, since it came first.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Gen 13:15 (12:7) and Gen 15:6. The digital text repeats a phrase from the previous sentence (“an election … a saved one”) within the Marcion clause; it is not translated twice.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word repeated in the digital text): ἐὰν γάρ τις τις τολμήσας → ἐὰν γάρ τις τολμήσας.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.1.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/1/4/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.1.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/1/4/).
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