Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 16.3
Summary: The rich man who holds his wealth as God's gift for the sake of others, is not its slave, and could lose it calmly, is the “poor in spirit” whom Christ blesses.
Greek text · Stählin 3:170
ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἔχων κτήματα καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ οἰκίας ὡς θεοῦ δωρεὰς [καὶ] τῷ τε διδόντι θεῷ λειτουργῶν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν εἰς ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν καὶ εἰδὼς ὅτι ταῦτα κέκτηται διὰ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς μᾶλλον ἢ ἑαυτὸν καὶ κρείττων ὑπάρχων τῆς κτήσεως αὐτῶν, μὴ δοῦλος ὢν ὧν κέκτηται μηδὲ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ταῦτα περιφέρων μηδὲ ἐν τούτοις ὁρίζων καὶ περιγράφων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ζωήν, ἀλλά τι καὶ καλὸν ἔργον καὶ θεῖον ἀεὶ διαπονῶν, κἂν ἀποστερηθῆναι δέῃ ποτὲ τούτων, δυνάμενος ἵλεῳ τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν αὐτῶν ἐνεγκεῖν ἐξ ἴσου καθάπερ καὶ τὴν περιουσίαν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μακαριζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι καλούμενος, κληρονόμος ἕτοιμος οὐρανοῦ βασιλείας, οὐ πλούσιος ζῆσαι μὴ δυνάμενος·
English · Claude translation
The one who holds possessions, gold and silver and houses, as gifts of God, and serves God who gave them by using them for the salvation of others; who knows that he possesses them for the sake of the brethren rather than for himself; who is superior to their possession, not a slave to what he possesses, nor carrying them about in his soul, nor defining and limiting his life by them, but always laboring at some fine and divine work; and who, if he must ever be deprived of them, is able to bear their loss with a cheerful mind as calmly as their abundance: this is the one who is blessed by the Lord and called poor in spirit, a ready heir of the kingdom of heaven, not one who is unable to live as a rich man.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Matt 5:3. The bracketed word in the Greek is the editor's deletion.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 16.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/16/3/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 16.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/16/3/).
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