Clement of Alexandria · a new plain-English translation from the original language
...so that you may read them at hand and be able to guard them. But should writings be left behind not at all, or only for some? And if the former, what is the use of letters? And if the latter, for the earnest or for those who are not? It would be ridiculous, surely, for one who rejects the writing of the earnest to accept those who compose for the unearnest. But then shall we permit Theopompus and Timaeus to compose myths and blasphemies, and further Epicurus, the originator of atheism, and still further Hipponax and Archilochus to write so shamefully, while the herald of truth alone should be barred from bequeathing something useful to posterity? It is good, I think, also to leave behind good children for those who come after. Children indeed are of the body, but words are offspring of the soul. At once we call those who have catechized us fathers, and wisdom is communal and loves mankind. Solomon says accordingly: "Son, if you receive the word of my commandment and hide it within yourself, your ear shall listen to wisdom." He signifies that the word, once sown, is hidden as in earth, in the soul of the learner, and this is a spiritual planting.
Wherefore he adds: "And you shall incline your heart to understanding, and you shall incline it to admonition for your son." For soul, I think, joined to soul, and spirit to spirit, in accordance with the sowing of the word, causes what has been cast down to grow and brings it to life; and every son is one who is instructed in obedience to the one instructing him. "Son," he says, "do not forget my ordinances." But if not all have knowledge, writings are, as those fond of proverbs say, "an ass to a lyre" for the many. Swine indeed delight in mud rather than in clean water. This is why the Lord declares, "To them I address parables, for though they look, they fail to see, and though they listen, they neither hear nor comprehend" — not implying that the Lord causes their ignorance (for it is not lawful to think so), but rather that he has prophetically exposed the ignorance already present in them, and has declared that they would be unable to understand what is said.
Already the Savior himself makes this plain from abundance, according to the capacity of the one who receives, which must be increased through practice — having distributed his possessions to his servants, and returning again to settle accounts with them. When he had accepted those who had increased his silver, those faithful in a little, and had promised to set them over much, he commanded them to come and share in their master's gladness. But to the one who hid the silver entrusted to him instead of lending it out, and returned it idle just as he had received it, he said, "Wicked and slothful servant, you ought to have put my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own." For this the useless servant will be cast into the outer darkness. "You, then, my child," Paul likewise urges, "be made strong by the favor found in Christ Jesus, and what you learned from me before many witnesses, hand these on to trustworthy men, competent in turn to instruct others." And again: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a workman unashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
If then both alike herald the message — one through the pen, the other through the voice — why should not both be welcomed, since they have made faith active through love? God is not to blame for the fault of the one who does not choose the best. At once, for the one it is a task to lend out the word; for the other, to test it and either accept it or not. The judgment is decided within themselves. But the skill of proclaiming is already in a way angelic, whichever way it operates, whether through the hand or through the tongue, since it benefits — "because he who sows unto the spirit shall reap eternal life from the spirit"; "and let us not grow weary in doing good." It contributes indeed the greatest things to the one who encounters it, according to divine providence: a beginning of faith, eagerness for right conduct, an impulse toward the truth, a searching movement, a trace of knowledge. In sum, it gives occasions of salvation. And those who are nourished genuinely on the words of truth, having received provisions for eternal life, take wing to heaven. Most admirably, then, the apostle says: "commending ourselves in everything as ministers of God," "as beggars who make many rich, as men with nothing who yet own everything"; "toward you our lips stand open." And, writing to Timothy, he says: "I solemnly charge you, in the sight of God, Christ Jesus, and his chosen angels, to guard these instructions free of bias, acting with favor toward none."
It is necessary, then, that both parties examine themselves — the one, whether he is worthy to speak and to leave behind written records; the other, whether he is fit to listen and to read. In this connection some have even distributed the thanksgiving, as is customary, allowing each of the people to take his own portion. For conscience is best for exact choice and avoidance, and its sure foundation is an upright life together with fitting learning, and the following of others already tested and set right is best both for understanding of the truth and for the practice of the commandments. So that whoever partakes of the loaf and drinks from the Lord's cup in an unfit state stands accountable for the body and blood of the Lord. Let each person put himself to the test, and only then may he taste the loaf and drink from the cup.
It would then be consistent for one who has undertaken the benefit of his neighbors to consider whether he has not leapt into teaching rashly and out of rivalry with certain others, whether the sharing of the word is fond of glory, whether he reaps this reward alone — the salvation of those who listen — and whether he who speaks through writings escapes both speaking to please and the charge of taking bribes. "For we were never found using words of flattery, as you know," says the apostle, "nor as a pretext for greed, God is witness, nor seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from others, though we could have been burdensome as apostles of Christ; but we became gentle among you, as a nurse cherishes her own children." In the same way one must also watch those who partake of the divine words, whether they come to this out of mere curiosity, to inspect it as they would the buildings of cities, or whether they approach for the sake of sharing in worldly goods, having learned that those devoted to Christ are generous with what is fitting. But as for the hypocrites, let them be left alone; but if anyone wishes not merely to seem righteous but to be so, it is fitting for him to be conscious in himself of what is most excellent.
If then the harvest is great but the workers few, it is truly fitting that we should pray that as great an abundance of workers as possible may come to us. Farming is twofold: the one unwritten, the other written. In whichever way the Lord's worker sows the noble wheat and makes the ears grow and reaps them, he will truly show himself a divine farmer. "Labor," says the Lord, "not for the food that perishes, but for that which remains unto eternal life." Food is taken both through solid nourishment and through words. And truly blessed are the peacemakers, who teach anew those here in life who are warred upon by ignorance and error, and lead them over into the peace that is in word and in life according to God, and who feed those who hunger for righteousness by the distribution of the bread. For there are also souls that have their own proper food, some growing by knowledge and understanding, others feeding on Greek philosophy — of which, just as of nuts, not the whole is edible. Both the one who plants and the one who waters, being ministers of him who gives the increase, are one in their ministry; and each will get back a wage matching his own toil. For we are co-laborers of God; you are God's field under cultivation, God's edifice under construction, as the apostle says.
It is therefore not to be permitted that hearers make the test by comparison, nor should the word be handed over exposed to examination by those trained in all sorts of verbal arts and in the power of swollen arguments, whose souls are already preoccupied and not first emptied out. But when someone chooses to be feasted out of faith, this person is secure for the reception of divine words, having faith as a reasonable judgment. From this follows for him persuasion out of abundance. And this, indeed, was that prophetic saying: "Unless you believe, you shall not understand." Since then we have opportunity, let us work good toward all, but most of all toward those bound to us by shared faith. And let each such person, offering gratitude as blessed David once did, sing: "Purge me with hyssop-branch and I shall be pure; wash me and I shall outshine snow in whiteness. Let me catch the sound of joy and cheer; let the bones you crushed leap for gladness. Look away from my transgressions, and wipe every guilt from me. Fashion in me a heart made clean, O God, and set a steadfast spirit fresh within me. Do not banish me far from your presence, nor take your holy breath away from me. Give back to me the gladness of your rescue, and uphold me with a willing spirit."
The one, then, who speaks to those present both tests them over time and judges by decision and distinguishes from the rest the one capable of hearing, watching their words, their manners, their character, their life, their movements, their bearing, their look, their tone of voice, the crossroads, the rock, the trampled path, the fruit-bearing earth, the region running wild with brush, the fertile and good and cultivated ground, capable of multiplying the seed. But the one who speaks through writings dedicates these things to God, crying out in writing that it is not for gain, nor for the sake of empty glory, nor to be overcome by attachment, nor to be enslaved by fear, nor to be lifted up by pleasure, but only to enjoy the salvation of those who encounter his words — a salvation of which he does not even now himself partake, but awaits in hope the reward that will certainly be repaid by the one who has promised to give the workers their wage according to merit. But neither ought one who is enrolled among men to desire a countervailing reward. For it is not that the one who boasts of a good deed has received his reward through renown, while the one who does what is fitting for the sake of a countervailing reward — whether as a benefactor hastening to receive it back, or as an evildoer avoiding the reward — is he not likewise bound by worldly custom? One must, as far as possible, imitate the Lord. And this would be the one who serves the will of God, having received freely and giving freely, receiving as his worthy wage the very way of life itself. "The hire of a harlot shall not enter into the holy place," it says.
It is forbidden, then, to offer at the altar the price of a dog. But whoever has had the eye of his soul dulled toward its own proper light by bad nourishment and bad teaching, let him go to the truth that in writing makes clear the things unwritten: "You who thirst, go to the water," says Isaiah, and "drink water from your own vessels," Solomon exhorts. In the Laws, indeed, the philosopher out of the Hebrews, Plato, commands the farmers neither to irrigate nor to take water from others, unless, having first dug on their own land as far as the so-called virgin soil, they find the earth waterless. For it is not just to supply for want, but neither is it good to provision idleness — for which reason Pythagoras said it is reasonable to help load a burden together, but not fitting to help take it down together. Scripture kindles the spark of the soul and stretches its own eye toward contemplation, perhaps at times even implanting something, as does the grafting farmer, and at other times stirring up what already exists within. "For many among us," according to the divine apostle, "are weak and sick, and a good number sleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged."
Now this treatise before us is no writing contrived for display; rather, notes are being stored up by me for old age, a remedy against forgetfulness, plainly an image and a sketch in outline of those vivid and living discourses and men I was deemed worthy to hear — blessed and truly notable men. Of these, one was in Greece, the Ionian; others were in Magna Graecia (of these, one was from Coele-Syria, the other from Egypt); others were in the East — of these, one belonged to the region of the Assyrians, the other, a Hebrew, was in Palestine from the start. And having met the last of these (though in power he was first), I found rest — having hunted him out, hidden away, in Egypt. Truly a Sicilian bee, culling blossoms from the meadow of prophets and apostles, he planted within the souls of those who heard him a pure treasure of knowledge.
But these men, preserving the true tradition of the blessed teaching directly from Peter and James, John and Paul, the holy apostles — son receiving it from father (though few are like their fathers) — have come, by God's will, even to us as well, to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds.
And I know well that they will rejoice — not, I say, delighted by the manner of expression here, but only by the preservation according to the underlying meaning. For, I think, the soul that longs to keep the blessed tradition safe from escape needs just such an outline as this. "The father of a man who loves wisdom shall rejoice." Wells that are drawn from give forth clearer water, while that which no one draws from turns to corruption. And use keeps iron cleaner, while disuse breeds rust upon it. In short, exercise produces a healthy condition both for spirits and for bodies. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but sets it on a lampstand, so that it gives light to those deemed worthy of the same feast. For what benefit is there in wisdom that does not make wise the one able to understand? Moreover the Savior saves continually and works continually, as he sees the Father doing. One who teaches learns the more, and one who speaks often learns along with those who listen to him; for there is one teacher of both the speaker and the hearer, he who wells up both the mind and the word.
Wherefore the Lord has not forbidden us from good † to keep sabbath, but has granted the sharing of the divine mysteries and of that holy light to those able to receive it. At once, he did not reveal to many things that were not for many, but to the few for whom he knew it was fitting, to those able to receive them and be shaped by them; but the secret things, like God himself, are entrusted by word, not by letter. And if anyone should say it is written, "there is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest, nor covered that shall not be uncovered," let him hear from us as well that he has by this very oracle foretold that to the one who understands secretly the hidden thing shall be made manifest, and to the one able to receive what is handed down in veiled fashion, the veiled thing shall be shown, as is the truth; and what is hidden from the many shall become manifest to the few. Given this, why does the truth escape everyone's knowledge? And why was uprightness left unloved, if it is meant for all alike? The mysteries, however, are transmitted in a mystical way, so that they rest on the lips of both the one declaring and the one being told — or rather, not on the lips at all, but within the intellect. And God has appointed within the assembly some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and instructors, so as to equip the holy ones fully, to carry forward the work of service, and to raise up the body of Christ.
As for the writing of these notes of mine, it is, I know well, weak when set beside that graced spirit whom we were counted worthy to obey; yet it would be an image reminding him who has been struck by the thyrsus of the archetype. "Speak to a wise man," it says, "and he will be wiser still, and to him who has, more will be added." It does not profess to interpret the ineffable things adequately — far from it — but only to remind, whether when we might forget, or so that we might not forget at all. I know well that much has slipped past us, unwritten, through length of time. Hence, to lighten the weakness of my own memory, and to provide for myself a saving reminder by a systematic exposition of the chief points, I have of necessity made use of this sketch. There are indeed some things which we did not even commit to memory (for great was the power in those blessed men), and there are also things which have remained unrecorded by time and have now escaped us, while other things were being extinguished, fading inwardly within the soul itself, because a task of this sort is not simple for those who are not yet tested; and rekindling these by means of notes, some things I willingly pass over, selecting with knowledge, fearing to write what I was also careful not to say — not at all from grudging (for that is not lawful), but fearing on behalf of those who might read, lest they somehow stumble elsewhere, and lest we be found, as those who speak in proverbs say, holding out a knife to a child. For it is not possible that things written should fail to get abroad, even though they remain unpublished, so far as I am concerned. Rolling about, and making use always of one voice alone, the written one, they answer him who questions further with nothing more than what has been written; for they need of necessity a helper, either the one who wrote them, or someone else who has stepped into the same track.
There are also things which my writing will only hint at, and to some it will set them forth plainly, but of others it will only speak, and it will try to say things even while concealing them, and to disclose while hiding, and to point while remaining silent. It will set forth the doctrines held by the notable heresies, and against these it will argue everything that ought to be laid down beforehand for the knowledge that comes by the contemplative vision — knowledge which will advance for us according to the glorious and solemn rule of the tradition, proceeding from the origin of the world, setting out beforehand the things that must necessarily be treated first in natural contemplation, and clearing away in advance the obstacles standing in the way of the sequence, so that the ears may be ready for the reception of the gnostic tradition, the ground having been cleared beforehand of thorns and of all grass, in farmer's fashion, for the planting of a vineyard. For it is a contest, and a preliminary contest, and mysteries before the mysteries; nor will our notes hesitate to make use of philosophy and the rest of preparatory education, taking what is best from them. For it is not only for the sake of the Hebrews and those under the law that it was reasonable, according to the apostle, to become a Jew, but also for the sake of the Greeks, to become a Greek, that we might gain all. And in the letter to the Colossians it is written that every person should be warned and instructed with complete understanding, so that each one might be brought forward mature and complete in Christ.
It suits the sketch of these notes, in another way too, that there be elegance of exposition. At once the abundance of useful learning is, as it were, a kind of seasoning interwoven with the food of the athlete — not of one given to luxury, but of one who takes a good appetite through eagerness for honor. Singing, then, the high note of solemnity, we let it down tunefully from time to time. And just as those who wish to address a people through a herald often do this so that what is said may be heard the more, so also here (for our discourse, before the tradition itself, is addressed to many) we must set forth the customary opinions and the sayings that are cried out on every occasion among them, by which the hearers will the more be turned. And, to put it concisely (for amid a multitude of tiny pearls there is that single one, and within a vast haul of fish the finest catch stands out), in time and with labor the truth will shine forth, a good helper being at hand; for through men, from God, are supplied the most of benefits.
All of us, then, who make use of our eyes, behold the things that fall before them, but different people for different purposes. For instance, the butcher and the shepherd do not look at the sheep in the same way; the one is concerned whether it is fat, the other watches for its breeding. Let one person draw milk from the flock, should he be in want of nourishment; let another shear its wool, if he needs covering. So too, let the fruit of Greek learning serve my purposes. For I do not think any writing so fortunate as to have no one speak against it; rather, that must be reckoned reasonable against which no one reasonably speaks. And so too, both a course of action and a school of thought must be accepted, not the one that is blameless, but the one that no one will reasonably blame. It is not immediately the case that, if someone does not act in a leading way, he acts merely under compulsion of circumstance; rather, he will act while managing something in a God-wise manner and adapting himself. For neither does the one who has virtue still need the road toward virtue, nor does the healthy man need to be restored. And just as farmers first irrigate the earth, so too do we first irrigate, with the drinkable waters of the Greek discourses, the earthy part of them, so that they may receive the spiritual seed that is cast down and be able to nourish it easily.
The Stromateis will contain the truth mingled with the doctrines of philosophy, or rather covered over and concealed, as the edible part of the nut is by its shell; for it is fitting, I think, that the seeds of truth be kept safe for the farmers of faith alone. Nor has it escaped me that certain ignorant and timid people keep repeating that one must busy oneself only with the most necessary things, those that hold the faith together, and pass over the things that are external and superfluous, since they wear us out in vain and detain us over matters that contribute nothing to the goal. And some think that philosophy has even crept into life for evil, to the ruin of men, by the invention of some wicked discoverer. Yet across the entire span of these Miscellanies I will demonstrate that wickedness possesses a wicked nature and could never in any way become the farmer of anything good, hinting in some way or other that philosophy too is a work of divine providence.
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