The Instructor 3.1.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Stählin 1:236–237

δὲ ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἄνθρωπος γίνεται, ὅτι βούλεται ὃ θεός. ὀρθῶς ἄρα εἶπεν Ἡράκλειτος· »ἄνθρωποι θεοί, θεοὶ ἄνθρωποι. λόγος γὰρ ωὐτός·« μυστήριον ἐμφανές· θεὸς ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος θεός, καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ μεσίτης ἐκτελεῖ· μεσίτης γὰρ ὁ λόγος ὁ κοινὸς ἀμφοῖν, θεοῦ μὲν υἱός, σωτὴρ δὲ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τοῦ μὲν διάκονος, ἡμῶν δὲ παιδαγωγός. δούλης δὲ οὔσης τῆς σαρκός, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Παῦλος μαρτυρεῖ, πῶς ἄν τις εἰκότως τὴν θεράπαιναν κοσμοίη προαγωγοῦ δίκην; ὅτι γὰρ δούλου μορφὴ τὸ σαρκικόν, ἐπὶ τοῦ κυρίου φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος· »ὅτι ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών«, τὸν ἐκτὸς ἄνθρωπον δοῦλον προσειπὼν πρὶν ἢ δουλεῦσαι καὶ σαρκοφορῆσαι τὸν κύριον.

English · Claude translation

because he wills what God wills. Rightly, then, Heraclitus said: “Men are gods, gods are men; for the reason is the same.” A manifest mystery: God in man, and man god; and the Mediator fulfills the will of the Father. For the Mediator is the Word, common to both, Son of God and Savior of human beings, servant of the one and Instructor of us. Since the flesh is a slave, as Paul too testifies, how could anyone reasonably adorn the handmaid like a procuress? For that the fleshly is the form of a slave, the apostle says of the Lord: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,” calling the outer man a slave before the Lord became a slave and bore flesh.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 1:236–237 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), 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), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.

Scripture

1 Tim 2:5 · allusion, high confidence
Rom 7:14 · allusion, medium confidence
Phil 2:7 · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Christology

Notes

Translation notes

Heraclitus, fragment 62 (in a form adapted by Clement). “Becomes god” expresses Clement's teaching of deification by union of will with God, not a change of nature. The allusions are 1 Tim 2:5, Rom 7:14, and Phil 2:7.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/1/2/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/1/2/).