Exhortation to the Greeks 10.100
Summary: The Lord is the narrow way to heaven; those who have heard the Word have no excuse, since the human being is made by nature for the knowledge of God.
Greek text · Stählin 1:72
πῶς οὖν ἀνέλθω, φησίν, εἰς οὐρανούς; »ὁδός« ἐστιν ὁ κύριος, »στενὴ« μέν, ἀλλʼ »ἐξ οὐρανῶν,« στενὴ μέν, ἀλλʼ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναπέμπουσα· στενὴ ἐπὶ γῆς ὑπερορωμένη, πλατεῖα ἐν οὐρανοῖς προσκυνουμένη. εἶθʼ ὁ μὲν ἄπυστος τοῦ λόγου συγγνώμην τῆς πλάνης ἔχει τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ὁ δὲ εἰς ὦτα βαλλόμενος [καὶ] τῇ ψυχῇ παρὰ τῆς γνώμης φέρει τὴν ἀπείθειαν, καὶ ὅσῳ γε φρονιμώτερος εἶναι δόξει, πρὸς κακοῦ ἡ σύνεσις αὐτῷ, ὅτι τῇ φρονήσει κέχρηται κατηγόρῳ τὸ βέλτιστον οὐχ ἑλόμενος· πέφυκε γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος οἰκείως ἔχειν πρὸς θεόν. ὥσπερ οὖν τὸν ἵππον ἀροῦν οὐ βιαζόμεθα οὐδὲ τὸν ταῦρον κυνηγετεῖν, πρὸς ὃ πέφυκε δὲ ἕκαστον τῶν ζῴων περιέλκομεν, οὕτως ἀμέλει καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τὴν οὐρανοῦ γενόμενον θέαν, φυτὸν οὐράνιον ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν παρακαλοῦμεν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξαίρετον καὶ ἰδιωματικὸν παρὰ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα κατειλημμένοι, αὔταρκες ἐφόδιον αἰώνων, θεοσέβειαν, παρασκευάζεσθαι συμβουλεύοντες.
English · Claude translation
How then, one asks, shall I go up to heaven? The Lord is “the way”: “narrow,” but “from heaven”; narrow, but leading up to heaven; narrow as it is despised on earth, broad as it is worshiped in heaven. Then again, one who has never heard of the Word has ignorance as an excuse for his error; but one into whose ears it has been poured, and into his soul, bears his disobedience by his own choice; and the more intelligent he seems to be, the more his understanding is to his harm, because he has his own wisdom as accuser for not choosing what is best. For as a human being he is by nature akin to God. Just as we do not force the horse to plow, or the bull to hunt, but lead each animal to what it is suited for by nature, so we call the human being, who was made to contemplate heaven, truly a heavenly plant, to the knowledge of God, having grasped what is proper to him, excellent and distinctive above the other animals, and we counsel him to provide himself with godliness, a sufficient provision for the ages.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are John 14:6, Matt 7:14, and John 3:13. “A heavenly plant” is from Plato, Timaeus 90a.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): ανῶν, « → ανῶν,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.100 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/100/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.100 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/100/).
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