The Instructor 1.7.54
Summary: The Instructor, like a general or a pilot, steers the child through the storms of the world to the harbor of heaven.
Greek text · Stählin 1:122
Παιδαγωγία δὲ καλεῖται πολλαχῶς· καὶ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ ἀγομένου καὶ μανθάνοντος, καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἄγοντος καὶ διδάσκοντος, καὶ αὐτὴ τρίτον ἡ ἀγωγή, καὶ τὰ διδασκόμενα τέταρτον, οἷον αἱ ἐντολαί. ἔστι δὲ ἡ κατὰ τὸν θεὸν παιδαγωγία κατευθυσμὸς ἀληθείας εἰς ἐποπτείαν θεοῦ καὶ πράξεων ἁγίων ὑποτύπωσις ἐν αἰωνίῳ διαμονῇ. ὥσπερ οὖν κατευθύνει τὴν φάλαγγα ὁ στρατηγὸς τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν μισθοφόρων προμηθούμενος, καὶ ὡς ὁ κυβερνήτης οἰακίζει τὸ σκάφος σῴζειν προαιρούμενος τοὺς ἐμπλέοντας, οὕτως καὶ ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ἄγει τοὺς παῖδας ἐπὶ τὴν σωτήριον δίαιταν τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἕνεκεν κηδεμονίας· καὶ καθόλου ὁπόσα ἂν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐλόγως αἰτήσαιμεν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι, ταῦτα πειθομένοις τῷ παιδαγωγῷ περιέσται. ὅνπερ οὖν τρόπον ὁ κυβερνήτης οὐκ αἰεὶ τοῖς ἀνέμοις ὑπείκει, ἀντίπρῳρος δὲ ἔσθʼ ὅτε ὅλαις ἀνθίσταται καταιγίσιν, οὕτως ὁ παιδαγωγὸς οὐχὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τῷδε καταπνέουσιν ἀνέμοις ὑπείκει ποτὲ οὐδὲ ἐπιτρέπει αὐτοῖς τὸ παιδίον, ὥσπερ σκάφος, εἰς θηριώδη καὶ ἀσελγῆ προσρῆξαι δίαιταν, μόνῳ δὲ ἄρα τῷ ἀληθείας πνεύματι ἔπουρος ἀρθεὶς ἀντέχεται μάλα ἐρρωμένως τῶν οἰάκων τοῦ παιδός, τῶν ὤτων λέγω, ἕως ἂν ἀβλαβὲς καθορμίσῃ τὸ παιδίον εἰς τὸν λιμένα τῶν οὐρανῶν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πάτριον καλούμενον παρʼ ἀνθρώποις ἔθος ὅσον οὐδέπω
English · Claude translation
“Instruction” is used in many senses: for the one who is led and learns, for the one who leads and teaches, third for the guidance itself, and fourth for what is taught, such as the commandments. The instruction that is according to God is the right direction of truth to the contemplation of God, and a pattern of holy actions in eternal perseverance. As the general directs the phalanx, taking thought for the safety of his soldiers, and as the pilot steers the ship, choosing to save those on board, so the Instructor leads the children to a saving way of life, out of care for us; and in general, whatever we might reasonably ask God to grant us will be ours if we obey the Instructor. As the pilot does not always yield to the winds, but sometimes turns his bow into them and resists whole storms, so the Instructor never yields to the winds that blow in this world, nor lets the child, like a ship, be dashed against a beastly and licentious way of life; but, borne along by the favoring wind of the Spirit of truth alone, he holds very firmly to the child's rudders, I mean his ears, until he brings the child safely to anchor in the harbor of heaven. For what people call ancestral custom
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Contemplation” (ἐποπτεία) is the term for the highest vision in the mysteries. The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent): Παιδαγωγία δε καλεῖται → Παιδαγωγία δὲ καλεῖται.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.7.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/7/54/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.7.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/7/54/).
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