Exhortation to the Greeks 9.85
Summary: The “today” of the divine call is an image of eternity; those who disbelieve, like the Israelites in the desert, miss the rest, while godliness holds promise for this life and the next.
Greek text · Stählin 1:64
ἀεὶ οὖν τῆς φωνῆς ὑπακούωμεν τοῦ θείου λόγου· ἡ σήμερον γὰρ ἀιδίου αἰῶνός ἐστιν εἰκών, σύμβολον δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς ἡ ἡμέρα, φῶς δὲ ὁ λόγος ἀνθρώποις, διʼ οὗ καταυγαζόμεθα τὸν θεόν. εἰκότως ἄρα πιστεύσασι μὲν καὶ ὑπακούουσιν ἡ χάρις ὑπερπλεονάσει, ἀπειθήσασι δὲ καὶ πλανωμένοις κατὰ καρδίαν ὁδούς τε τὰς κυριακὰς μὴ ἐγνωκόσιν, ἃς εὐθείας ποιεῖν καὶ εὐτρεπίζειν παρήγγειλεν Ἰωάννης, τούτοις δὲ προσώχθισεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀπειλεῖ· καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀπειλῆς αἰνιγματωδῶς ἀπειλήφασιν οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων πλανῆται· οὐ γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν λέγονται διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν, πρὶν ἢ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς κατακολουθήσαντας τῷ Μωυσέως διαδόχῳ ὀψέ ποτε ἔργῳ μαθεῖν οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως σωθῆναι μὴ οὐχὶ ὡς Ἰησοῦς πεπιστευκότας. φιλάνθρωπος δὲ ὢν ὁ κύριος πάντας ἀνθρώπους »εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας« παρακαλεῖ, ὁ τὸν παράκλητον ἀποστέλλων. τίς οὖν ἡ ἐπίγνωσις; θεοσέβεια· »θεοσέβεια δὲ πρὸς πάντα ὠφέλιμος« κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον, »ἐπαγγελίαν ἔχουσα ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης.« πόσου ὡμολογήσατε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, εἰ ἐπιπράσκετο σωτηρία ἀίδιος, ὠνήσασθαι ἄν;
English · Claude translation
Let us always, then, obey the voice of the divine Word. For “today” is an image of eternity, and the day is a symbol of light, and the Word is light for human beings, by which we are illuminated to see God. Naturally, then, for those who have believed and obey, grace will abound; but with those who have disobeyed and go astray in heart, and have not known the ways of the Lord, which John commanded to be made straight and prepared, with these God is angry and threatens them. And indeed the ancient wanderers among the Hebrews received the fulfillment of the threat in a figure: for they are said not to have entered into the rest because of their unbelief, until they followed the successor of Moses and learned at last, by experience, that they could not be saved otherwise than by believing as Jesus did. But the Lord, who loves humankind, calls all people “to the knowledge of the truth,” he who sends the Paraclete. What then is this knowledge? Godliness; and “godliness is profitable for all things,” according to Paul, “having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” How much, you people, would you have agreed to pay, if eternal salvation were for sale?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Joshua, the successor of Moses, is Ἰησοῦς in Greek; Clement plays on the identity of the name with Jesus (compare Heb 4:8).
- The quotations are 1 Tim 2:4 and 1 Tim 4:8; the allusions are Rom 5:20, Matt 3:3 (Isa 40:3), Heb 3:18–19, and John 14:16, 26.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.85 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/85/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.85 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/85/).
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