Introductory Note to The Second
Epistle of Clement
The first certain reference which is made by any early writer to
this so-called Epistle of Clement is found in these words of Eusebius Hist.
Eccl., iii. 38: “We must know that there is also a second Epistle of
Clement. But we do not regard it as
being equally notable with the former, since we know of none of the ancients
that have made use of it.” Several
critics in modern times have endeavoured to vindicate the authenticity of this
epistle, but it is now generally regarded as one of the many writings which
have been falsely ascribed to Clement.
The diversity of style clearly points to a different writer from that of
the first epistle.
This second epistle differs from the first in several
respects. The range of Scriptural
quotation is wider, the quotations of the first epistle being taken mainly from
the Septuagint version of the Old Testament.
The attitude of the writer is in accordance with this fact; it is
distinctively Gentile. For example,
Chapter 12 contains a report of words purporting to have been spoken by the
Lord; these, Clement of Alexandria states, are taken from the apocryphal Gospel
according to the Egyptians, not now extant.
The reference in Chapter 14 to the spiritual church is parallel to the Shepherd
of Hermas Vision 2.4. These passages
help to determine the date; for the quotation from the apocryphal Gospel would
not have been made after the four gospels of the New Testament obtained
exclusive authority – toward the close of the second century; while similarity
of idea and exposition would seem to make the second epistle and the Shepherd of
Hermas somewhat contemporaneous.
The conclusion of this epistle establishes the belief that it is a
homily to be read in churches.
The
Second Epistle of Clement[1]
Chapter
1: We Ought to Think Highly of Christ
Brethren, it is
fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God – as the Judge of the
living and the dead. And it does not
become us to think lightly of our salvation; for if we think little of Him, we
shall also hope but to obtain little [from Him]. And those of us who hear carelessly of these
things, as if they were of small importance, commit sin, not knowing whence we
have been called, and by whom, and to what place, and how much Jesus Christ
submitted to suffer for our sakes. What
return, then, shall we make to Him, or what fruit shall be worthy of that
which He has given to us? For, indeed,
how great are the holy benefits which we owe to Him! He has graciously given us light; as a
Father, He has called us sons; He has saved us when we were ready to
perish. What praise, then, shall we give
to Him, or what return shall we make for the things which we have received?
(Ps. 116:12). We were lame in
understanding, worshipping stones and wood, and gold, and silver, and brass,
the works of men’s hands, and our whole life was nothing else than death. Involved in blindness and being full of such
darkness in our sight, we have received sight, and through His will have laid
aside that cloud by which we were enveloped.
For He had compassion on us and mercifully saved us, observing the many
errors in which we were entangled, and having beheld us in much error and
destruction, and that we had no hope of salvation except it came to us from
Him. For He called us when we were not,
and willed that out of nothing we should attain a real existence (Hos. 2:23;
Rom. 4:17, 9:25).
Chapter
2: The Church, Formerly Barren, Is Now
Fruitful
‘Rejoice, you
barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, you that travailest not; for she
that is desolate has many more children than she that has an husband.’ (Isa. 54:1, Gal. 4:27). In that He said, ‘Rejoice, you barren that
bearest not,’ He referred to us, for our church was barren before that
children were given to her. But when He
said, ‘Cry out, you that travailest not,’ He means this, that we should
sincerely offer up our prayers to God, and should not cry out like women in
travail. And in that He said, ‘For
she that is desolate has many more children than she that has an husband,’
[He means] that our people seemed to be outcast from God, but now, through
believing, have become more numerous than those who are reckoned to possess
God. And another scripture says, ‘I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’ (Matt. 9:13, Luke 5:32). This means that those who are perishing must
be saved. For it is indeed a great and
admirable thing to establish not the things which are standing, but those that
are falling. Thus also did the Lord
desire to save the things which were already perishing, and has saved many by
coming and calling us when we were hastening to destruction (Matt. 18:11).
Chapter
3: The Duty of Confessing Christ
Since, then, He
has displayed so great mercy towards us, and especially in this respect, that
we who are living should not offer sacrifices to gods that are dead, or give
them worship, but should attain through Him to the knowledge of the truth,
whereby shall we show that we do indeed know Him, but by not denying Him
through whom this knowledge has been attained?
For He himself declares, ‘Whosoever shall confess me before men, him
will I confess before my Father.’ (Matt. 10:32). This, then, is our reward if we shall confess
Him by whom we have been saved. But in
what way shall we confess Him? By doing
what He says, and not transgressing His commandments, and by honouring Him not
with our lips only, but with all our heart and all our mind (Matt. 22:37). For He says in Isaiah, ‘These people
honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’ (Isa. 29:13).
Chapter
4: True Confession of Christ
Let us, then,
not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He says, ‘Not everyone that says to
me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that works righteousness.’ (cf. Matt. 7:21).
Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one
another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or
cherishing envy; but by being continent, compassionate and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another,
and not be avaricious. By such works let
us confess Him, and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear
men, but rather God. For this reason, if
we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord has said, ‘Even though you were
gathered together to me in my very bosom, yet if you were not to keep my
commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, “Depart from me; I know
you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity.”’ (cf. Matt. 7:23, Luke 12:27).
Chapter
5: This World Should Be Despised
Wherefore,
brethren, leaving [willingly] our sojourn in this present world, let us do the
will of Him that called us, and not fear to depart out of this world. For the Lord says, ‘You shall be as lambs
in the midst of wolves.’ (Matt. 10:16).
And Peter answered and said unto Him, ‘What, then, if the wolves shall
tear in pieces the lambs?’ Jesus said
unto Peter, ‘Let not the lambs fear the wolves; and in like manner, fear not
them that kill you, and can do nothing more unto you; but fear Him who, after
you are dead, has power over both soul and body to cast into hell fire.’
(cf. Matt. 10:28, Luke 12:4-5). And consider, brethren, that the sojourning
in the flesh in this world is but brief and transient, but the promise of
Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of
eternal life. By what course of conduct,
then, shall we attain these things, but by leading a holy and righteous life,
and by deeming these worldly things as not belonging to us, and not fixing our
desires upon them? For if we desire to
possess them, we fall away from the path of righteousness.
Chapter
6: The Present and Future Worlds Are Enemies to Each Other
Now the Lord
declares, ‘No servant can serve two masters.’ (Matt. 6:24, Luke
16:13). If we desire, then, to serve
both God and mammon, it will be unprofitable for us. ‘For what will it profit if a man gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?’ (Matt. 16:26). This world and the next are two enemies. The one urges to adultery and corruption,
avarice and deceit; the other bids farewell to these things. We cannot, therefore, be the friends of both;
and it behoves us, by renouncing the one, to enjoy the other. Let us reckon that it is better to hate the
things present, since they are trifling, transient and corruptible; and to love
those [which are to come], as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall
find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we
disobey His commandments. For thus also
says the scripture in Ezekiel, ‘If Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up,
they should not deliver their children in captivity.’ (Ezek.
14:14,20). Now, if men so eminently
righteous are not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, with
what confidence shall we hope to enter into the royal residence of God unless
we keep our baptism holy and undefiled?
Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of
holiness and righteousness?
Chapter
7: We Must Strive in Order to Be Crowned
Wherefore,
then, my brethren, let us strive with all earnestness, knowing that the contest
is [in our case] close at hand, and that many undertake to strive for a
corruptible reward; yet all are not crowned, but those only that have laboured
hard and striven gloriously. Let us
therefore so strive, that we may all be crowned. Let us run the straight course, even the race
that is incorruptible; and let us in great numbers set out for it, and strive
that we may be crowned. And should we
not all be able to obtain the crown, let us at least come near to it. We know that he who strives in the
corruptible contest, if he be found acting unfairly, is taken away and
scourged, and cast forth from the lists.
What then think ye? If one does
anything unseemly in the incorruptible contest, what shall he have to
bear? For of those who do not preserve
the seal undefiled, [the scripture] says, ‘Their worm shall not die, and
their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.’
(Isa. 66:24).
Chapter
8: The Necessity of Repentance While We Are on Earth
As long,
therefore, as we are upon earth, let us practise repentance, for we are as clay
in the hand of the potter. For as the
potter, if he make a vessel, and it be distorted or broken in his hands,
fashions it over again; but if he have before this cast it into the furnace of
fire, can no longer find any help for it: so let us also, while we are in this
world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh,
that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of
repentance. For after we have gone out
of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to
us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the
will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments
of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life.
For the Lord says in the gospel, ‘If you have not kept that which was
small, who will commit to you the great?
For I say unto you, that he that is faithful in that which is least, is
faithful also in much.’ (Luke 16:10-12).
This, then, is what He means: ‘Keep the flesh holy and the seal
undefiled, that you may receive eternal life.’
Chapter
9: We Shall Be Judged in the Flesh
And let no one
of you say that this very flesh shall not be judged, nor rise again. Consider in what [state] you were saved, in
what you received sight, if not while you were in this flesh. We must therefore preserve the flesh as the
temple of God. For as you were called in
the flesh, you shall also come [to be judged] in the flesh. As Christ the Lord who saved us, though He
was first the Word became flesh, and thus called us, so shall we also receive
the reward in this flesh. Let us
therefore love one another, that we may all attain to the kingdom of God. While we have an opportunity of being healed,
let us yield ourselves to God who heals us, and give to Him a recompense. Of what sort?
Repentance out of a sincere heart; for He knows all things beforehand,
and is acquainted with what is in our hearts.
Let us therefore give Him praise, not with the mouth only, but also with
the heart, that He may accept us as sons.
For the Lord has said, ‘Those are my brethren who do the will of my
Father.’ (Matt. 12:50).
Chapter
10: Vice Is to Be Forsaken, and Virtue Followed
Wherefore, my
brethren, let us do the will of the Father who called us, that we may live; and
let us rather follow after virtue, but forsake every wicked tendency which
would lead us into transgression; and flee from ungodliness, lest evils
overtake us. For if we are diligent in
doing good, peace will follow us. On
this account, it is not possible that man should find it [i.e. peace] who are
influenced by human terrors, and prefer rather present rest and enjoyment to
the promise which shall afterwards be fulfilled. For they know not what torment present
enjoyment recurs, or what felicity is involved in the future promise. And if, indeed, they themselves only aid such
things, it would be [the more] tolerable; but now they persist in imbuing
innocent souls with their pernicious doctrines, not knowing that they shall
receive a double condemnation, both they and those that hear them.
Chapter
11: We Ought to Serve God, Trusting in His Promises
Let us
therefore serve God with a pure heart, and we shall be righteous; but if we do
not serve Him, because we believe not the promise of God, we shall be
miserable. For the prophetic word also
declares, ‘Wretched are those of a double mind, and who doubt in their
heart, who say, “Long ago have we heard even in the times of our fathers; but
though we have waited day by day, we have seen none of them
[accomplished].” You fools! Compare
yourselves to a tree; take, for instance, the vine. First of all it sheds its leaves, then the
bud appears; after that the sour grape, and then the fully-ripened fruit. So, likewise, my people have borne
disturbances and afflictions, but afterwards shall they receive their good
things.’ Wherefore, my brethren, let
us not be of a double mind, but let us hope and endure, that we also may obtain
the reward. For He is faithful who has
promised that He will bestow on everyone a reward according to his works. If, therefore, we shall do righteousness in
the sight of God, we shall enter into His kingdom, and shall receive the
promises, which ‘ear has not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into
the heart of man.’ (1 Cor. 2:9).
Chapter
12: We Are Constantly to Look for the Kingdom of God
Let us expect,
therefore, hour by hour, the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, since we
know not the day of the appearing of God.
For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would come,
replied, ‘When two shall be one, that which is without as that which is within,
and the male with the female, neither male nor female.’[2] Now, two are one when we speak the truth one
to another, and there is unfeignedly one soul in two bodies. And ‘that which is without as that which is
within' means this: He calls the soul ‘that which is within,’ and the body ‘that
which is without.’ As, then, your body
is visible to sight, so also let your soul be manifest by good works. And ‘the male, with the female, neither male
nor female,’ this He says, that brother seeing sister may have no thought
concerning her as female, and that she may have no thought concerning him as
male. ‘If you do these things, says
He, “the kingdom of my Father shall come.”’ (1 Cor. 7:29).
Chapter
13: God’s Name Not to Be Blasphemed
Brethren, then,
let us now at length repent, let us soberly turn to that which is good; for we
are full of abundant folly and wickedness.
Let us wipe out from us our former sins, and repenting from the heart be
saved; and let us not be men-pleasers, nor be willing to please one another
only, but also [please] the men without, for righteousness’ sake, that the name
may not be, because of us, blasphemed.
For the Lord says, ‘Continually my name is blasphemed among all
nations,’ and ‘Wherefore my name is blasphemed; blasphemed in what? In your not doing the things which I wish.’
(Isa. 52:5). For the nations, hearing
from our mouth the oracles of God, marvel at their excellence and worth;
thereafter learning that our deeds are not worthy of the words which we speak –
receiving this occasion they turn to blasphemy, saying that our words are a fable
and a delusion. For, whenever they hear
from us that God says, ‘No thanks have you, if you love them which love you,
but you have thanks, if you love your enemies and them which hate you’
(Luke 6:32) – whenever they hear these words, they marvel at the surpassing
measure of their goodness; but when they see, that not only do we not love
those who hate, but that we love not even those who love, they laugh us to
scorn, and the name is blasphemed.
Chapter
14: The Church Spiritual
So, then,
brethren, if we do the will of our Father God, we shall be members of the first
church, the spiritual – that which was created before sun and moon; but if we
shall not do the will of the Lord, we shall come under the scripture which
says, ‘My house became a den of robbers.’ (Jer. 7:11). So, then, let us elect to belong to the
church of life, that we may be saved (1 Peter 2:1-25, 4:1-19). I do not think that you are ignorant that the
living church is the body of Christ (for the scripture says, ‘God created
them male and female,’ (Gen. 1:27, Eph. 5:22-23): the male is Christ, the
female the church) and that the books [i.e. the Old Testament] and the apostles
teach that the church is not of the present, but from the beginning. For it was spiritual, as was also our Jesus,
and was made manifest at the end of the days in order to save us (1 Peter
1:20). The church being spiritual was
made manifest in the flesh of Christ, signifying to us that if any one of us
shall preserve it in the flesh and corrupt it not, he shall receive it in the
Holy Spirit. For this flesh is the type
of the spirit; no one, therefore, having corrupted the type, will receive
afterwards the antitype. Therefore is
it, then, that He says, brethren, ‘Preserve the flesh, that you may become
partakers of the spirit.’ If we say
that the flesh is the church and the spirit Christ, then it follows that he who
shall offer outrage to the flesh is guilty of outrage on the church. Such a person, therefore, will not partake of
the spirit, which is Christ. Such is the
life and immortality which this flesh may afterwards receive, the Holy Spirit
cleaving to it; and no-one can either express or utter what things the Lord has
prepared for His elect (1 Cor. 2:9).
Chapter
15: He Who Saves and He Who Is Saved
I think not
that I counted trivial counsel concerning continence; following it, a man will
not repent thereof, but will save both himself and me who counselled (1 Tim.
4:16). For it is no small reward to turn
back a wandering and perishing soul for its salvation (Jas. 1:19-25). For this recompense we are able to render to
the God who created us, if he who speaks and hears both speaks and hears with
faith and love. Let us, therefore,
continue in that course in which we, righteous and holy, believed, that with confidence
we may ask God who says, ‘Whilst you are still speaking, I will say, “Here I
am.”’ (Isa. 58:9). For these words
are a token of a great promise, for the Lord says that He is more ready to give
than he who asks. So great, then, being
the goodness of which we are partakers, let us not begrudge one another the
attainment of so great blessings. For in
proportion to the pleasure with which these words are fraught to those who
shall follow them, in that proportion is the condemnation with which they are
fraught to those who shall refuse to hear.
Chapter
16: Preparation for the Day of Judgment
So, then,
brethren, having received no small occasion to repent, while we have
opportunity, let us turn to God who called us, while yet we have One to receive
us. For if we renounce these indulgences
and conquer the soul by not fulfilling its wicked desires, we shall be
partakers of the mercy of Jesus. Know
that the day of judgment draws nigh like a burning oven, and [be] certain that
the heavens and all the earth will melt like lead melting in fire; and then
will appear the hidden and manifest deeds of men (2 Peter 2:9, 3:5-10). Good, then, is alms as repentance from sin;
better is fasting than prayer, and alms than both; ‘love covers a multitude
of sins’ (1 Peter 4:4), and prayer out of a good conscience delivers from
death. Blessed is everyone that shall
be found complete in these; for alms lighten the burden of sin.
Chapter
17: Same Subject Continued
Let us, then,
repent with our whole heart, that not one of us may perish amiss. For if we have commands and engage in
withdrawing from idols and instructing others, how much more ought a soul
already knowing God not perish.
Rendering, therefore, mutual help, let us raise the weak also in that
which is good, that all of us may be saved and convert one another and
admonish. And not only now let us seem
to believe and give heed, when we are admonished by the elders; but also when
we take our departure home, let us remember the commandments of the Lord, and
not be allured back by worldly lusts, but let us often and often draw near and
try to make progress in the Lord’s commands, that we all having the same mind
may be gathered together for life. For
the Lord said, ‘I come to gather all nations [kindreds] and tongues.’ This means the day of His appearing, when He
will come and redeem us – each one according to his works. And the unbelievers will see His glory and
might, and, when they see the empire of the world in Jesus, they will be
surprised, saying, ‘Woe to us, because You were, and we knew not and
believed not and obeyed not the elders who show us plainly of our salvation.’
(Isa. 66:18). And ‘their worm shall
not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle
unto all flesh.’ (Isa. 66:24). It is
of the great day of judgment He speaks, when they shall see those among us who
were guilty of ungodliness and erred in their estimate of the commands of Jesus
Christ. The righteous, having succeeded
both in enduring the trials and hating the indulgences of the soul, whenever
they witness how those who have swerved and denied Jesus by words or deeds are
punished with grievous torments in fire unquenchable, will give glory to their
God and say, ‘There will be hope for him who has served God with his whole
heart.’
Chapter
18: The Author Sinful, Yet Pursuing
And let us,
then, be of the number of those who give thanks, who have served God, and not
of the ungodly who are judged. For I myself, though a sinner every whit and not
yet fleeing temptation but continuing in the midst of the tools of the devil,
study to follow after righteousness, that I may make, be it only some, approach
to it, fearing the judgment to come.
Chapter
19: Reward of the Righteous, Although They May Suffer
So then,
brothers and sisters, after the God of truth I address to you an appeal that
you may give heed to the words written, that you may save both yourselves and
him who reads an address in your midst.
For as a reward I ask of you repentance with the whole heart, while you
bestow upon yourselves salvation and life.
For by so doing we shall set a mark for all the young who wish to be
diligent in godliness and the goodness of God.
And let us not, in our folly, feel displeasure and indignation, whenever
anyone admonishes us and turns us from unrighteousness to righteousness. For there are some wicked deeds which we
commit and know it not, because of the double-mindedness and unbelief present
in our breasts, and our understanding is darkened by vain desires. Let us, therefore, work righteousness, that
we may be saved to the end. Blessed are
they who obey these commandments, even if for a brief space they suffer in this
world, and they will gather the imperishable fruit of the resurrection. Let not the godly man, therefore, grieve; if
for the present he suffer affliction, blessed is the time that awaits him
there; rising up to life again with the fathers he will rejoice for ever
without a grief.
Chapter
20: Godliness, Not Gain, the True Riches
But let it not
even trouble your mind that we see the unrighteous possessing riches and the
servants of God straitened. Let us,
therefore, brothers and sisters, believe; in a trial of the living God we
strive and are exercised in the present life, that we may obtain the crown in
that which is to come. None of the
righteous receives fruit speedily, but waits for it. For if God tendered the reward of the
righteous in a trice, immediately it would be commerce that we practised, and
not godliness. For it would be as if we
were righteous by following not after godliness but gain; and for this reason
the divine judgment baffled the spirit that is unrighteous and weighed heavily
the fetter.
To the only
God, invisible, Father of truth, who sent forth to us the Saviour and Author of
immortality, through whom He also manifested to us the truth and the heavenly
life, to Him be glory for ever and ever.
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.