Miscellanies 5.13.87
Summary: Salvation comes by learning the truth through Christ, even for those trained in Greek philosophy; all right-thinking people had a natural perception of the one God, and humans received God's breath at creation.
Greek text · Stählin 2:383–384
δεῖ τοίνυν διὰ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἀλήθειαν μεμαθηκότας σῴζεσθαι, κἂν φιλοσοφήσαντες τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν φιλοσοφίαν τύχωσιν· νῦν γὰρ ἐδείχθη ἐναργῶς, ὃ ἑτέραις γενεαῖς οὐκ ἐγνωρίσθη τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, νῦν ἀπεκαλύφθη· θεοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἔμφασις ἑνὸς ἦν τοῦ παντοκράτορος παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι πάντοτε φυσική, καὶ τῆς ἀιδίου κατὰ τὴν θείαν πρόνοιαν εὐεργεσίας ἀντελαμβάνοντο οἱ πλεῖστοι, οἱ καὶ μὴ τέλεον ἀπηρυθριακότες πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν. καθόλου γοῦν τὴν περὶ τοῦ θείου ἔννοιαν Ξενοκράτης ὁ Καλχηδόνιος οὐκ ἀπελπίζει καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις, Δημόκριτος δέ, κἂν μὴ θέλῃ, ὁμολογήσει διὰ τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῶν δογμάτων· τὰ γὰρ αὐτὰ πεποίηκεν εἴδωλα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσπίπτοντα καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις ἀπὸ τῆς θείας οὐσίας. πολλοῦ γε δεῖ ἄμοιρον εἶναι θείας ἐννοίας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὅς γε καὶ τοῦ ἐμφυσήματος ἐν τῇ γενέσει μεταλαβεῖν ἀναγέγραπται, καθαρωτέρας οὐσίας παρὰ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα μετασχών.
English · Claude translation
It is, then, by learning the truth through Christ that people must be saved, even if they happen to have practiced Greek philosophy. For now it has been shown clearly: “what was not made known to the sons of men in other generations has now been revealed.” For there was always a natural perception of the one God, the Almighty, among all right-thinking people, and most people, those who had not entirely lost their shame before the truth, laid hold of his everlasting beneficence according to divine providence. At any rate, Xenocrates of Chalcedon does not wholly despair of a conception of the divine even in irrational animals; and Democritus, even if unwilling, will admit it by the consequence of his doctrines; for he has made the same images, coming from the divine being, fall upon human beings and upon irrational animals. Far indeed is man from having no share in the conception of the divine, since he is recorded in Genesis to have received the in-breathing as well, partaking of a purer essence than the other animals.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Eph 3:5 and Gen 2:7. The views ascribed to Xenocrates and Democritus are known only from reports such as this one; their sources are unidentified.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.13.87 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/13/87/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.13.87 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/13/87/).
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