Clement of Alexandria · a new plain-English translation from the original language
This sixth—and together with it the seventh—Stromateus of our Gnostic memoranda according to the true philosophy, having sketched out, as far as possible, the ethical account brought to completion in the preceding books, and having set forth what sort of person the Gnostic would be in his manner of life, now proceeds to demonstrate to the philosophers that in no way is he without reverence for the divine, as they had assumed, but rather is truly devout toward God, setting out in summary the manner of the Gnostic's worship, so far as it is safe to inscribe such things in a written memorandum meant only to jog recollection; for the Lord commanded us to labor for the food that remains unto eternal life, and somewhere the prophet says: Blessed is he who sows upon every water, where the ox and the ass tread — the people gathered out of the Law and out of the nations into the one faith. But he who is weak eats vegetables, according to the noble apostle. Our Paedagogue, already completed and divided into three books, has set forth the upbringing and nourishment of children from their earliest years, that is, the manner of life which, growing up from catechetical instruction together with faith, prepares beforehand the soul of those being enrolled among men to be virtuous, for the reception of Gnostic knowledge. Since, then, the Greeks will learn plainly from what is about to be said through these books how impiously they themselves act in irreligiously persecuting the one beloved of God, then, as the memoranda proceed according to the character proper to the Stromateis, we must resolve the further difficulties raised against us by both Greeks and barbarians concerning the coming of the Lord.
Just as in a meadow the flowers bloom in variety, and in a garden the planting of fruit trees is not separated species by species from those of a different kind (in the same way certain lovers of learning have, plucking a variety of blossoms, composed collections which they call Meadows, and Helicons, and Honeycombs, and Embroidered Robes), so too our sketch of the Stromateis has been made variegated after the fashion of a meadow, out of things that came to memory as they happened to occur, arranged neither in order nor polished in expression, but deliberately scattered about intermixed. And being so disposed, these would serve as living sparks both for me as memoranda, and for anyone suited to knowledge, should he chance upon them, so that the search after what is beneficial and profitable might come about with sweat; for it is right to reckon that not only the toil for food, but far more the toil for knowledge, is fitting for those being escorted, by the narrow and constricted way that truly belongs to the Lord, toward eternal and blessed salvation. And our knowledge and our spiritual paradise is the Savior himself, into whom we are planted, having been transplanted and grafted out of our old life into the good earth; and this change of planting contributes to good fruit-bearing. The Lord, then, is light, and true knowledge, into whom we have been transplanted.
Knowledge is also spoken of, in another way, as twofold: the one common — that understanding and apprehension which appears alike in all men universally, according to the recognizing of each of the things that underlie perception, in which not only the rational faculties but perhaps also the irrational share, which I myself would never call knowledge at all, since it is by nature apprehended even through the senses; but the knowledge properly so called takes its character from judgment and reason, according to which alone the rational faculties become instances of knowledge, those which lay hold purely, by the soul's bare activity, upon the objects of intellect. A good man, says David, is he who has compassion on those perishing in error and lends, by sharing the word of truth — not indiscriminately, but rather he will manage his words with judgment, with deep calculation. This man has scattered abroad, he has given to the poor.
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