Miscellanies 7.3.13
Summary: The souls of those who know rise beyond every heavenly rank to see God face to face forever; on earth the one who knows converses with God through Christ, shapes himself into God's likeness, and serves others.
Greek text · Stählin 2
»Τὰ δʼ ἄλλα σιγῶ«, δοξάζων τὸν κύριον. πλὴν ἐκείνας φημὶ τὰς γνωστικὰς ψυχάς. τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῆς θεωρίας ὑπερβαινούσας ἑκάστης ἁγίας τάξεως τὴν πολιτείαν. καθʼ ἃς αἱ μακάριαι θεῶν οἰκήσεις διωρισμέναι διακεκλήρωνται, ἁγίας ἐν ἁγίοις λογισθείσας καὶ μετακομισθείσας ὅλας ἐξ ὅλων, εἰς ἀμείνους ἀμεινόνων τόπων τόπους ἀφικομένας, οὐκ ἐν κατόπτροις ἢ διὰ κατόπτρων ἔτι τὴν θεωρίαν ἀσπαζομένας τὴν θείαν, ἐναργῆ δὲ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα καὶ ἀκριβῶς εἰλικρινῆ τὴν ἀκόρεστον ὑπερφυῶς ἀγαπώσαις ψυχαῖς ἑστιωμένας θέαν. ἀιδίως ἀίδιον εὐφροσύνην [ἀκόρεστον] καρπουμένας εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας, ταυτότητι τῆς ὑπεροχῆς ἁπάσας τετιμημένας διαμένειν. αὕτη τῶν »καθαρῶν τῇ καρδίᾳ« ἡ καταληπτικὴ θεωρία. αὕτη τοίνυν ἡ ἐνέργεια τοῦ τελειωθέντος γνωστικοῦ, προσομιλεῖν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ μεγάλου ἀρχιερέως, ἐξομοιούμενον εἰς δύναμιν τῷ κυρίῳ διὰ πάσης τῆς εἰς τὸν θεὸν θεραπείας, ἥτις εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων διατείνει σωτηρίαν κατὰ κηδεμονίαν τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς εὐεργεσίας κατά τε αὖ τὴν λειτουργίαν κατά τε τὴν διδασκαλίαν κατά τε τὴν διʼ ἔργων εὐποιίαν. ναὶ μὴν ἑαυτὸν κτίζει καὶ δημιουργεῖ, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐπαΐοντας αὐτοῦ κοσμεῖ ἐξομοιούμενος θεῷ ὁ γνωστικός, τῷ φύσει τὸ ἀπαθὲς κεκτημένῳ τὸ ἐξ ἀσκήσεως εἰς ἀπάθειαν συνεσταλμένον ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἐξομοιῶν, καὶ ταῦτα »ἀπερισπάστως« προσομιλῶν τε καὶ συνὼν τῷ κυρίῳ. ἡμερότης δʼ, οἶμαι, καὶ φιλανθρωπία καὶ μεγαλοπρεπὴς θεοσέβεια γνωστικῆς ἐξομοιώσεως κανόνες.
English · Claude translation
“The rest I pass over in silence,” glorifying the Lord. But I say this of those knowing souls: surpassing, by the grandeur of their contemplation, the way of life of each holy order, according to which the blessed dwellings of the gods have been marked out and allotted; reckoned holy among the holy, and carried over wholly from wholes, arriving at better places from better places, no longer embracing the divine contemplation in mirrors or through mirrors, but feasting on the vision, as clear as can be and precisely pure, of which souls that love beyond nature never have their fill; enjoying everlastingly an everlasting gladness to endless ages, they remain, all honored alike with the same pre-eminence. This is the comprehending contemplation of the “pure in heart.” This, then, is the activity of the perfected one who knows: to converse with God through the great High Priest, being made like the Lord as far as possible through all his service toward God, which extends to the salvation of human beings, by care in the benefaction toward us, by public ministry, by teaching, and by doing good through works. Yes indeed, the one who knows creates and fashions himself, and moreover adorns those who listen to him, being made like God: as far as possible he makes what has been disciplined into freedom from passion by training like the one who has freedom from passion by nature, and he does this while conversing and being with the Lord “without distraction.” Gentleness, I think, love for humanity, and magnificent godliness are the rules of the likeness that belongs to knowledge.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The opening words are Aeschylus, Agamemnon 36. The allusions are 1 Cor 13:12 (mirrors), Matt 5:8, Heb 4:14 (great High Priest), and 1 Cor 7:35 (“without distraction”). The bracketed second “insatiable” is marked by Stählin for deletion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): ἡμερότης δʼ. οἶμαι → ἡμερότης δʼ, οἶμαι.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.3.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/3/13/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.3.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/3/13/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text