Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 6.18.163

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The Greeks must learn from the law, the prophets, and Paul to worship one God and to see that no idol can picture him, nor even the invisible souls of those they honor, whose bodies are only their instruments.

Greek text · Stählin 2:516

Τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων τοὺς Ἕλληνας χρὴ διὰ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ἐκμανθάνειν ἕνα μόνον σέβειν θεόν, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα παντοκράτορα, ἔπειτα διὰ τοῦ ἀποστόλου διδάσκεσθαι τοῦτο· ἡμῖν δὲ οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ, ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ἀπεικόνισμα τοῦ θεοῦ οἷόν τε ἐν γενητοῖς εἶναι, προσεπιδιδάσκεσθαι δὲ ὡς οὐδὲ τούτων ὧν σέβουσι τὰ ἀγάλματα εἶεν ἂν αἱ εἰκόνες· οὐ γάρ πω τοιοῦτον κατὰ τὸ σχῆμα τὸ τῶν ψυχῶν γένος ὁποῖα διαπλάσσουσιν Ἕλληνες τὰ ξόανα. ψυχαὶ μὲν γὰρ ἀόρατοι, οὐ μόνον αἱ λογικαί, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων, τὰ δὲ σώματα αὐτῶν μέρη μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδέποτε γίνεται τῶν ψυχῶν, ὄργανα δὲ ὧν μὲν ἐνιζήματα, ὧν δὲ ὀχήματα, ἄλλων δὲ ἄλλον τρόπον κτήματα.

English · Claude translation

Since this is so, the Greeks must learn through the law and the prophets to worship one only God, the one who is truly Almighty; then be taught by the apostle this: “But to us there is no idol in the world,” since no likeness of God can exist among created things; and be further taught that the statues of those whom they worship would not be images of them either. For the race of souls is not at all of such a shape as the Greeks mould their wooden images. For souls are invisible, not only the rational ones but also those of irrational animals; and their bodies never become parts of the souls themselves, but instruments: for some, seats; for others, vehicles; for others, possessions of some other kind.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:516 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.
Scripture

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is a free form of 1 Cor 8:4; compare Deut 6:4 and Exod 20:4.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.18.163 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/18/163/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.18.163 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/18/163/).

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