Exhortation to the Greeks 8.81
Summary: The Psalms and Paul expose the vanity of worshiping creation instead of the Creator; the prophets foretell that heaven itself will pass away.
Greek text · Stählin 1:61–62
μακάριοι πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπʼ αὐτῷ.« ἤδη δὲ ὑπεροικτείρων ἡμᾶς ὁ κύριος τὸ σωτήριον ἐνδίδωσι μέλος, οἷον ἐμβατήριον ῥυθμόν· »υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἕως πότε βαρυκάρδιοι; ἵνα τί ἀγαπᾶτε ματαιότητα καὶ ζητεῖτε ψεῦδος;« τίς οὖν ἡ ματαιότης καὶ τί τὸ ψεῦδος; ὁ ἅγιος ἀπόστολος τοῦ κυρίου τοὺς Ἕλληνας αἰτιώμενος ἐξηγήσεταί σοι· »ὅτι γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν, ἀλλʼ ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα.« καὶ μὴν ὅ γε θεὸς οὗτος, ὃς »ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν·« σὺ δὲ τὸν μὲν θεὸν οὐ νοεῖς, τὸν δὲ οὐρανὸν προσκυνεῖς, καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἀσεβεῖς; ἄκουε πάλιν προφήτου λέγοντος »ἐκλείψει μὲν ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς σκοτισθήσεται, λάμψει δὲ ὁ παντοκράτωρ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται καὶ οἱ οὐρανοὶ εἱλιγήσονται ὡς δέρρις ἐκτεινόμενοι καὶ συστελλόμενοι« (αὗται γὰρ αἱ προφητικαὶ φωναί) »καὶ ἡ γῆ φεύξεται ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου.«
English · Claude translation
Blessed are all who trust in him.” And now the Lord, in his great compassion for us, strikes up the song of salvation, like a marching rhythm: “Sons of men, how long will you be heavy-hearted? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?” What then is the vanity, and what the falsehood? The holy apostle of the Lord, accusing the Greeks, will explain it to you: “Because, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and exchanged the glory of God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and served the creation rather than the Creator.” And indeed this is God, who “in the beginning made the heaven and the earth”; but you do not recognize God, and you worship heaven; how can you not be impious? Hear again the prophet saying: “The sun will fail and the heaven will be darkened, but the Almighty will shine forever; and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the heavens will be rolled up like a skin, stretched out and drawn together” (for these are the prophetic words), “and the earth will flee from the face of the Lord.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ps 2:12 (end), Ps 4:2 (4:3 LXX), Rom 1:21, 23, 25, and Gen 1:1. The prophetic passage is a combination of phrases from Isa 13:10, Isa 34:4, Ps 104:2 (the heavens as a skin), and Isa 2:19–21; it is not a single verse.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/81/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/81/).
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