Miscellanies 6.10.83
Summary: The one who knows studies the liberal arts and philosophy as secondary aids, using for good what heretics misuse; the full truth, like the sun, exposes every sophistry.
Greek text · Stählin 2:473
οὐκ ἀπολειφθήσεται τοίνυν τῶν προκοπτόντων περὶ τὰς μαθήσεις τὰς ἐγκυκλίους καὶ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν φιλοσοφίαν, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ τὸν προηγούμενον λόγον, τὸν δὲ ἀναγκαῖον καὶ δεύτερον καὶ περιστατικόν· οἷς γὰρ ἂν πανούργως χρήσωνται οἱ κατὰ τὰς αἱρέσεις πονούμενοι, τούτοις ὁ γνωστικὸς εἰς εὖ καταχρήσεται. μερικῆς οὖν τυγχανούσης τῆς κατὰ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐμφαινομένης ἀληθείας, ἡ τῷ ὄντι ἀλήθεια, ὥσπερ ἥλιος ἐπιλάμψας τὰ χρώματα καὶ τὸ λευκὸν καὶ τὸ μέλαν, ὁποῖον ἕκαστον αὐτῶν, διαδείκνυσιν, οὕτως δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ πᾶσαν ἐλέγχει σοφιστικὴν πιθανολογίαν. εἰκότως ἄρα προαναπεφώνηται καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν· ἀρχὰ μεγάλας ἀρετᾶς, ὤνασσα ἀλήθεια.
English · Claude translation
He will not, then, fall behind those who make progress in the general studies and in Greek philosophy, yet not as his primary aim but as something necessary, secondary, and dependent on circumstances. For what those who labor in the heresies use cunningly, the one who knows will use for good. Since, then, the truth that appears in Greek philosophy is partial, the real truth, like the sun shining on colors, white and black, shows what each of them is; so it too refutes every sophistic plausibility. Fittingly, then, it was proclaimed beforehand also among the Greeks: “Beginning of great virtue, queen Truth.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The closing line is Pindar (fragment 205 Snell–Maehler).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.10.83 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/10/83/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.10.83 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/10/83/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text