Miscellanies 7.11.60
Summary: The one who knows begins from wonder at creation, believes in God and providence, and eagerly learns, receiving the realities behind the words and understanding the commandments in a deeper sense.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ὅλων ἀληθῶς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς διείληφεν, ὡς ἂν θείαν χωρήσας διδασκαλίαν. ἀρξάμενος γοῦν ἐκ τοῦ θαυμάζειν τὴν κτίσιν, δεῖγμα τοῦ δύνασθαι λαβεῖν τὴν γνῶσιν κομίζων οἴκοθεν, πρόθυμος μαθητὴς τοῦ κυρίου γίνεται. εὐθέως δὲ ἀκούσας θεόν τε καὶ πρόνοιαν ἐπίστευσεν ἐξ ὧν ἐθαύμασεν. ἐνθένδε οὖν ὁρμώμενος ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου συνεργεῖ πρὸς τὴν μάθησιν. πάντʼ ἐκεῖνα ποιῶν διʼ ὧν λαβεῖν δυνήσεται τὴν γνῶσιν ὧν ποθεῖ (πόθος δὲ κατὰ προκοπὴν πίστεως ἅμα ζητήσει κραθεὶς συνίσταται), τὸ δʼ ἐστὶν ἄξιον γενέσθαι τῆς τοσαύτης καὶ τηλικαύτης θεωρίας. οὕτως γεύσεται τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ γνωστικός· οὐ γὰρ τὰς ἀκοάς, ἀλλὰ τὴν ψυχὴν παρίστησι τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν λεγομένων δηλουμένοις πράγμασιν. οὐσίας τοίνυν καὶ τὰ πράγματα αὐτὰ παραλαβὼν διὰ τῶν λόγων εἰκότως καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπὶ τὰ δέοντα ἄγει. τὸ »μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, μὴ φονεύσῃς« ἰδίως ἐκλαμβάνων ὡς εἴρηται τῷ γνωστικῷ, οὐχ ὡς παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑπείληπται.
English · Claude translation
About the universe, then, he has formed a true and magnificent conception, as one who has received divine teaching. Having begun, at any rate, from wonder at creation, and bringing from his own resources proof that he is able to receive knowledge, he becomes an eager disciple of the Lord. As soon as he heard of God and providence, he believed, because of what he had wondered at. Starting from there, then, he cooperates in every way toward learning, doing all those things by which he will be able to gain knowledge of what he longs for (and longing arises as faith advances, blended with inquiry), that is, to become worthy of so great and so lofty a contemplation. So the one who knows will taste the will of God; for he offers not his ears but his soul to the realities that the words point to. Receiving, then, the essences and the realities themselves through the words, he reasonably leads his soul to what is needful. He takes “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill” in a special sense, as spoken to the one who knows, not as it is understood by others.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Wonder as the beginning of philosophy echoes Plato, Theaetetus 155d. The commandments are Exod 20:13–14 (as quoted in Matt 5:21, 27); Clement does not spell out the special sense here (compare 7.12.72 on killing oneself by not cutting out passion, and 7.14.88 and 7.16.105 on fornication and adultery against the church and the truth).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): κομίζων οἴκοθεν. πρόθυμος → κομίζων οἴκοθεν, πρόθυμος; οὐ γὰρ τὰς ἀκοάς. ἀλλὰ → οὐ γὰρ τὰς ἀκοάς, ἀλλὰ; »μὴ μοιχεύσῃς. μὴ φονεύσῃς« → »μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, μὴ φονεύσῃς«; ὡς εἴρηται τῷ γνωστικῷ. οὐχ ὡς → ὡς εἴρηται τῷ γνωστικῷ, οὐχ ὡς.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.11.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/11/60/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.11.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/11/60/).
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