Miscellanies 7.16.95
Summary: Whoever rejects the church's tradition for heresy becomes like Circe's beasts, while whoever returns to the Scriptures is made godlike; the Lord speaking in Scripture is the first principle, grasped by faith, and his voice is the surest proof.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Καθάπερ οὖν εἴ τις ἐξ ἀνθρώπου θηρίον γένοιτο παραπλησίως τοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς Κίρκης φαρμαχθεῖσιν· οὕτως τὸ ἄνθρωπος εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πιστὸς τῷ κυρίῳ διαμένειν ἀπολώλεκεν ὁ ἀναλακτίσας τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν παράδοσιν καὶ ἀποσκιρτήσας εἰς δόξας αἱρέσεων ἀνθρωπίνων. ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆσδε τῆς ἀπάτης παλινδρομήσας, κατακούσας τῶν γραφῶν καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον ἐπιτρέψας τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, οἷον ἐξ ἀνθρώπου θεὸς ἀποτελεῖται. ἔχομεν γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας, τὸν κύριον διά τε τῶν προφητῶν διά τε τοῦ εὐαγγελίου καὶ διὰ τῶν μακαρίων ἀποστόλων »πολυτρόπως καὶ πολυμερῶς« ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος ἡγούμενον τῆς γνώσεως. τὴν ἀρχὴν δʼ εἴ τις ἑτέρου δεῖσθαι ὑπολάβοι, οὐκέτʼ ἂν ὄντως ἀρχὴ φυλαχθείη. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ πιστὸς τῇ κυριακῇ γραφῇ τε καὶ φωνῇ ἀξιόπιστος εἰκότως ὡς ἂν διὰ τοῦ κυρίου πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίαν ἐνεργουμένῃ· ἀμέλει πρὸς τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων εὕρεσιν αὐτῇ χρώμεθα κριτηρίῳ· τὸ κρινόμενον δὲ πᾶν ἔτι ἄπιστον πρὶν κριθῆναι. ὥστʼ οὐδʼ ἀρχὴ τὸ κρίσεως δεόμενον. εἰκότως τοίνυν πίστει περιλαβόντες ἀναπόδεικτον τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐκ περιουσίας καὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις παρʼ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀρχῆς περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς λαβόντες, φωνῇ κυρίου παιδευόμεθα πρὸς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας. οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἀποφαινομένοις ἀνθρώποις προσέχοιμεν ἄν, οἷς καὶ ἀνταποφαίνεσθαι ἐπʼ ἴσης ἔξεστιν. εἰ δʼ οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μόνον ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν τὸ δόξαν, ἀλλὰ πιστώσασθαι δεῖ τὸ λεχθέν, οὐ τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀναμένομεν μαρτυρίαν, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ κυρίου φωνῇ πιστούμεθα τὸ ζητούμενον, ἣ πασῶν ἀποδείξεων ἐχεγγυωτέρα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἣ μόνη ἀπόδειξις οὖσα τυγχάνει· καθʼ ἣν ἐπιστήμην οἱ μὲν ἀπογευσάμενοι μόνον τῶν γραφῶν πιστοί, οἱ δὲ καὶ προσωτέρω χωρήσαντες ἀκριβεῖς γνώμονες τῆς ἀληθείας ὑπάρχουσιν, οἱ γνωστικοί, ἐπεὶ κἀν τοῖς κατὰ τὸν βίον ἔχουσί τι πλέον οἱ τεχνῖται τῶν ἰδιωτῶν καὶ παρὰ τὰς κοινὰς ἐννοίας ἐκτυποῦσι τὸ βέλτιον.
English · Claude translation
Just as, then, if someone were to turn from a human being into a beast, like those bewitched by Circe, so the one who has kicked against the church's tradition and bolted off into the opinions of human heresies has lost being a man of God and remaining faithful to the Lord. But the one who has run back from this deceit, listening to the Scriptures and entrusting his life to the truth, is, as it were, made complete, from a human being into a god. For we have as the first principle of our teaching the Lord, who through the prophets, through the gospel, and through the blessed apostles, “in many ways and in many parts,” leads to knowledge from beginning to end. And if anyone were to suppose that the first principle needs something else, it would no longer truly be kept as a first principle. He, then, who of himself believes the Lord's Scripture and voice, which works through the Lord for the benefit of human beings, is reasonably worthy of trust; indeed, we use it as the criterion for discovering things. Everything that is judged is still not trustworthy before it has been judged, so that what needs judging is not a first principle. Reasonably, then, having grasped by faith the first principle, which cannot be demonstrated, and receiving in abundance the demonstrations about the first principle from the first principle itself, we are trained by the voice of the Lord for full knowledge of the truth. For we would not pay attention to human beings who simply make assertions, since others are equally free to assert the opposite. And if it is not enough simply to state one's opinion, but what is said must be confirmed, we do not wait for testimony from human beings; we confirm what is being sought by the voice of the Lord, which is more reliable than all demonstrations, or rather is the only demonstration. By this understanding, those who have only tasted the Scriptures are believers, while those who have gone further are exact judges of the truth, those who know; for even in the affairs of life craftsmen have something more than laymen, and shape what is better beyond common notions.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Circe's transformation of men into beasts is in Homer, Odyssey 10.233–243. The quotation is Heb 1:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text; word split in the digital text): ἐπιτρέψας τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. οἷον → ἐπιτρέψας τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, οἷον; τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας. τὸν κύριον → τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας, τὸν κύριον; εὐερ γεσίαν → εὐεργεσίαν; τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀναμένομεν μαρτυρίαν. ἀλλὰ → τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀναμένομεν μαρτυρίαν, ἀλλὰ; ἐχεγγυωτέρα. μᾶλλον → ἐχεγγυωτέρα, μᾶλλον; γνώμονες τῆς ἀληθείας ὑπάρχουσιν. οἱ γνωστικοί → γνώμονες τῆς ἀληθείας ὑπάρχουσιν, οἱ γνωστικοί.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.16.95 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/16/95/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.16.95 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/16/95/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text