Sophia Scriptura

Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 26.3

Clement of Alexandria · Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? · ca. 190–210 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: There is no wrong in having earned a living before faith, or in being born by God's providence into a wealthy family.

Greek text · Stählin 3:177

τί γὰρ ἀδικεῖ τις, εἰ προσέχων τὴν γνώμην καὶ φειδόμενος πρὸ τῆς πίστεως βίον ἱκανὸν συνελέξατο; ἢ καὶ τὸ τούτου μᾶλλον ἀνέγκλητον, εἰ εὐθὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ τὴν τύχην νέμοντος εἰς οἶκον τοιούτων ἀνθρώπων εἰσῳκίσθη καὶ γένος ἀμφιλαφὲς τοῖς χρήμασιν [ἰσχῦον] καὶ τῷ πλούτῳ κρατοῦν;

English · Claude translation

For what wrong does someone do if, by applying his mind and being thrifty, he gathered a sufficient livelihood before coming to faith? Or, even more blameless than this, if from the start he was placed by God, who distributes fortune, in a household of such people, and in a family abounding in money and powerful through wealth?

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:177 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), 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), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The bracketed word in the Greek is the editor's deletion.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 26.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/26/3/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 26.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/26/3/).

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