Miscellanies 6.17.149
Summary: Greek philosophers name God but do not know or worship him; philosophy caught its spark from Scripture, like a burning glass, and most people chase opinion rather than truth, whereas Christians strive through learning and discipline to become truly good.
Greek text · Stählin 2:508–509
Ἀλλʼ, ὡς ἔοικεν, οἱ φιλόσοφοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων θεὸν ὀνομάζοντες οὐ γιγνώσκουσιν, ἐπεὶ μὴ σέβουσι κατὰ θεὸν τὸν θεόν. τὰ φιλοσοφούμενα δὲ παρʼ αὐτοῖς κατὰ τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα ὡς διὰ πολλῶν δὴ γλώσσης ἐλθόντα ματαίως ἐκκέχυται στομάτων, ὀλίγον τοῦ παντὸς ἰδόντων. ὡς γάρ που τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φῶς διʼ ὑελοῦ σκεύους πλήρους ὕδατος μεθοδεύει ἡ τέχνη εἰς πῦρ, οὕτω καὶ ἡ φιλοσοφία ἐκ τῆς θείας γραφῆς τὸ ἐμπύρευμα λαβοῦσα ἐν ὀλίγοις φαντάζεται. ναὶ μὴν ὡς τὸν αὐτὸν ἀέρα ἀναπνεῖ τὰ ζῷα ἅπαντα, ἄλλα δὲ ἄλλως καὶ εἴς τι διάφορον, οὕτως δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν μετίασιν οἱ πλείους, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸν περὶ ἀληθείας λόγον. οὐ γὰρ περὶ θεοῦ τι λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἑαυτῶν πάθη ἐπὶ θεὸν ἀνάγοντες ἐξηγοῦνται. γέγονεν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁ βίος τὸ πιθανὸν ζητοῦσιν, οὐ τὸ ἀληθές· ἐκ μιμήσεως δὲ ἀλήθεια οὐ διδάσκεται, ἀλλʼ ἐκ μαθήσεως. οὐ γὰρ ἵνα δόξωμεν εἶναι χρηστοί, εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύομεν, καθάπερ οὐδὲ εἰς τὸν ἥλιον ἕνεκά γε τοῦ φαίνεσθαι μόνον ἐν ἡλίῳ ὄντας παρερχόμεθα, ἀλλʼ ἐνταῦθα μὲν τοῦ ἀλεαίνεσθαι χάριν, ἐκεῖ δὲ τοῦ εἶναι καλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἕνεκα Χριστιανοὶ εἶναι βιαζόμεθα, ὅτι μάλιστα βιαστῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία, ἐκ ζητήσεως καὶ μαθήσεως καὶ συνασκήσεως τελείας τὸ γενέσθαι βασιλέα καρπουμένων.
English · Claude translation
But, it seems, the philosophers of the Greeks, though they name God, do not know him, since they do not worship God as God. And what is philosophized among them, as Empedocles says, “having come through the tongues of many, has been vainly poured out of mouths, of those who have seen little of the whole.” For as art directs the light from the sun through a glass vessel full of water to produce fire, so philosophy too, having taken its spark from the divine Scripture, shows itself in a few. And indeed, as all animals breathe the same air, but some in one way and some in another and for different ends, so also most people pursue the truth, or rather the account about truth. For they say nothing about God, but explain their own passions, attributing them to God. For their life has been spent seeking the plausible, not the true. Truth is taught not by imitation but by learning. For we do not believe in Christ so as to seem good, just as we do not go into the sun only in order to appear to be in the sun: in the one case we go to be warmed, in the other we force ourselves to be Christians in order to be noble and good; since the kingdom belongs above all to the violent, who reap the fruit of becoming kings from inquiry, learning, and perfect training together.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Rom 1:21 and Matt 11:12. The verse combines Empedocles, fragments B 39 and B 2 (Diels–Kranz). “Christ” (Χριστός) and “good” (χρηστός) are a wordplay.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.17.149 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/17/149/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.17.149 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/17/149/).
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