Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.15

Summary: John assured him of Christ's forgiveness, kissed his right hand, and restored him to the church through prayer, fasting, and teaching: an example of true repentance.

Greek text · Stählin 3:190

ὃ δὲ ἐγγυώμενος, ἐπομνύμενος ὡς ἄφεσιν αὐτῷ παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος εὕρηται, δεόμενος, γονυπετῶν, αὐτὴν τὴν δεξιὰν ὡς ὑπὸ τῆς μετανοίας κεκαθαρμένην καταφιλῶν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπανήγαγε, καὶ δαψιλέσι μὲν εὐχαῖς ἐξαιτούμενος, συνεχέσι δὲ νηστείαις συναγωνιζόμενος, ποικίλαις δὲ σειρῆσι λόγων κατεπᾴδων αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην, οὐ πρότερον ἀπῆλθεν, ὥς φασι, πρὶν αὐτὸν ἐπιστῆσαι τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, διδοὺς μέγα παράδειγμα μετανοίας ἀληθινῆς καὶ μέγα γνώρισμα παλιγγενεσίας, τρόπαιον ἀναστάσεως βλεπομένης.

English · Claude translation

But John, pledging and swearing that he had found forgiveness for him from the Savior, begging, kneeling, kissing that very right hand as though cleansed by repentance, brought him back to the church. Interceding for him with abundant prayers, struggling with him in continual fasts, and charming his mind with varied spells of words, he did not leave, they say, until he had restored him to the church, giving a great example of true repentance and a great token of regeneration, a trophy of a visible resurrection.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 3:190 · 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, Prayer, Fasting

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 42.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/42/15/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 42.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/42/15/).