Sophia Scriptura

Excerpts from Theodotus 7.5

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

Summary: The Valentinians call the Creator (Demiurge) an image of the Only-begotten, so his works perish; Christ's raising of the dead was only an image of spiritual resurrection.

Greek text · Stählin 3:108

εἰκόνα δὲ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὸν Δημιουργὸν λέγουσιν. διὸ καὶ λυτὰ τῆς εἰκόνος τὰ ἔργα, ὅθεν καὶ ὁ κύριος εἰκόνα τῆς πνευματικῆς ἀναστάσεως ποιήσας τοὺς νεκροὺς οὓς ἤγειρεν, οὐκ ἀφθάρτους τὴν σάρκα. ἀλλʼ ὡς αὖθις ἀποθανουμένους ἤγειρεν.

English · Claude translation

They say that the Demiurge is an image of the Only-begotten. That is why the works of the image are also perishable; hence the Lord too, making the dead whom he raised an image of the spiritual resurrection, raised them not with incorruptible flesh but as people who would die again.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:108 · 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.
Topics
Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • The Demiurge (“craftsman”) is the Valentinian name for the lower creator god of the Old Testament.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 7.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/7/5/).

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Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 7.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/7/5/).

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