Miscellanies 6.15.125
Summary: Christ spoke all things in parables, including the law and prophets, which are understood by the church's rule, the harmony of the two covenants; knowledge leads to prudence and then self-restraint, and the perfect man's righteousness comes from love of God.
Greek text · Stählin 2:494–495
λέγουσιν γοῦν οἱ ἀπόστολοι περὶ τοῦ κυρίου, ὅτι πάντα ἐν παραβολαῖς ἐλάλησεν καὶ οὐδὲν ἄνευ παραβολῆς ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς. εἰ δὲ πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν, καὶ ἡ προφητεία ἄρα καὶ ὁ νόμος διʼ αὐτοῦ τε ἐγένετο καὶ ἐν παραβολαῖς ἐλαλήθησαν διʼ αὐτοῦ· πλὴν ἅπαντα ὀρθὰ ἐνώπιον τῶν συνιέντων, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, τουτέστι τῶν ὅσοι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ σαφηνισθεῖσαν τὴν τῶν γραφῶν ἐξήγησιν κατὰ τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν κανόνα ἐκδεχόμενοι διασῴζουσι· κανὼν δὲ ἐκκλησιαστικὸς ἡ συνῳδία καὶ ἡ συμφωνία νόμου τε καὶ προφητῶν τῇ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίαν παραδιδομένῃ διαθήκῃ. γνώσει μὲν οὖν ἕπεται φρόνησις, σωφροσύνη δὲ τῇ φρονήσει· εἰρήσθω γὰρ τὴν μὲν φρόνησιν ὑπάρχειν γνῶσιν θείαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς θεοποιουμένοις, τὴν δὲ σωφροσύνην θνητὴν καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις εἶναι φιλοσοφοῦσιν, οὐδέπω σοφοῖς. αὐτίκα, εἴπερ ἀρετή τέ ἐστιν θεία, καὶ γνῶσις αὐτῆς· ἡ σωφροσύνη δὲ οἷον ἀτελὴς φρόνησις, ἐφιεμένη μὲν φρονήσεως, ἐργατικὴ δὲ ἐπιπόνως καὶ οὐ θεωρητική, καθάπερ ἀμέλει ἡ δικαιοσύνη, ἀνθρωπίνη οὖσα, κοινόν, ὑποβέβηκε δὲ τὴν ὁσιότητα, θείαν δικαιοσύνην ὑπάρχουσαν. τῷ τελείῳ γὰρ οὐκ ἐν συμβολαίοις πολιτικοῖς οὐδὲ ἐν ἀπαγορεύσει νόμου, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἰδιοπραγίας καὶ τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἀγάπης ἡ δικαιοσύνη.
English · Claude translation
The apostles, at any rate, say of the Lord that he spoke all things in parables and spoke nothing to them without a parable. And if “all things came to be through him, and without him not one thing came to be,” then prophecy and the law too came to be through him and were spoken through him in parables. “But all things are straight before those who understand,” says Scripture; that is, those who receive the interpretation of the Scriptures made clear by him and preserve it according to the church's rule. And the church's rule is the concord and harmony of the law and the prophets with the covenant handed on at the Lord's coming. Knowledge, then, is followed by prudence, and prudence by self-restraint. For let it be said that prudence is divine knowledge and exists in those who are being made divine, while self-restraint is mortal and exists in human beings who philosophize but are not yet wise. For if virtue is divine, so is the knowledge of it; and self-restraint is like an imperfect prudence, desiring prudence but laboriously practical and not contemplative; just as righteousness, being human, is common, but ranks below holiness, which is divine righteousness. For the perfect man, righteousness does not lie in civil contracts or in the prohibitions of law, but comes from doing his own work and from love toward God.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Matt 13:34 (Mark 4:34), John 1:3, and Prov 8:9. “Doing his own work” (ἰδιοπραγία) recalls Plato's definition of justice (Republic 433a).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.125 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/125/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.125 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/125/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text