Sophia Scriptura

Excerpts from Theodotus 19.4

Clement of Alexandria · Excerpts from Theodotus · ca. 200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The Son is the image of the invisible God and firstborn of creation, because, begotten without passion, he became the creator of all things.

Greek text · Stählin 3:113

δύναται δὲ τὸ »κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα« τὸ εἰς ὃ μέλλει τέλος προκοπῆς φθάνειν ὁ ἄνθρωπος μηνύειν ἐπʼ ἴσης τῷ »ἀπόλαβε τὸ εἰς ὃ ἐκτίσθης τέλος«· καὶ ἔτι σαφέστερον καὶ διαρρήδην ἐν ἄλλοις λέγει· »ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου·« εἶτα ἐπιφέρει· »πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως.« »ἀοράτου« μὲν γὰρ »θεοῦ εἰκόνα« τὸν υἱὸν λέγει τοῦ λόγου τοῦ ἐν ταὐτότητι, »πρωτότοκον δὲ πάσης κτίσεως«, ὅτι γεννηθεὶς ἀπαθῶς, κτίστης καὶ γενεσιάρχης τῆς ὅλης ἐγένετο κτίσεώς τε καὶ οὐσίας. ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν.

English · Claude translation

But “created according to God” may also indicate the end of advancement that man will reach, just like “receive the end for which you were created.” And he says it still more clearly and expressly elsewhere: “who is the image of the invisible God”; then he adds, “firstborn of all creation.” For he calls the Son of the Word in identity “image of the invisible God,” and “firstborn of all creation,” because, begotten without passion, he became the creator and originator of all creation and substance. For in him the Father made all things.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:113 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Col 1:15 and an unidentified saying (“receive the end for which you were created”); “in him the Father made all things” echoes Col 1:16.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 19.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/19/4/).

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Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 19.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/19/4/).

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