Miscellanies 1.17.82
Summary: Against critics who say God is the cause of evil because he did not prevent it, Clement argues that a cause acts, while the one who does not prevent does nothing; otherwise the shield, not the arrow, would be blamed for a wound.
Greek text · Stählin 2:53
Οἶδα πολλοὺς ἀδιαλείπτως ἐπιφυομένους ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ μὴ κωλῦον αἴτιον εἶναι λέγοντας· φασὶ γὰρ αἴτιον εἶναι κλοπῆς τὸν μὴ φυλάξαντα ἢ τὸν μὴ κωλύσαντα, ὡς τοῦ ἐμπρησμοῦ τὸν σβέσαντα τὸ δεινὸν ἀρχόμενον καὶ τοῦ ναυαγίου τὸν κυβερνήτην μὴ στείλαντα τὴν ὀθόνην. αὐτίκα κολάζονται πρὸς τοῦ νόμου οἱ τούτων αἴτιοι. ᾧ γὰρ κωλῦσαι δύναμις ἦν, τούτῳ καὶ ἡ αἰτία τοῦ συμβαίνοντος προσάπτεται. φαμὲν δὴ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸ αἴτιον ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν καὶ ἐνεργεῖν καὶ δρᾶν νοεῖσθαι, τὸ δὲ μὴ κωλῦον κατά γε τοῦτο ἀνενέργητον εἶναι. ἔτι τὸ μὲν αἴτιον πρὸς τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ ἐστί, καθάπερ ὁ μὲν ναυπηγὸς πρὸς τῷ γίγνεσθαι τὸ σκάφος, ὁ δὲ οἰκοδόμος πρὸς τῷ κτίζεσθαι τὴν οἰκίαν· τὸ δὲ μὴ κωλῦον κεχώρισται τοῦ γινομένου. διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν ἐπιτελεῖται, ὅτι τὸ κωλῦσαι δυνάμενον οὐκ ἐνεργεῖ οὐδὲ κωλύει. τί γὰρ ἐνεργεῖ ὁ μὴ κωλύων; ἤδη δὲ καὶ εἰς ἀπέμφασιν αὐτοῖς ὁ λόγος χωρεῖ, εἴ γε τῆς τρώσεως οὐχὶ τὸ βέλος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀσπίδα τὴν μὴ κωλύσασαν τὸ βέλος διελθεῖν αἰτιάσονται· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν κλέπτην, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὴ κωλύσαντα τὴν κλοπὴν καταμέμψονται.
English · Claude translation
I know that many continually attack us, saying that what does not prevent is a cause. For they say that the one who did not guard or did not prevent is the cause of the theft, as the one who did not put out the fire at its beginning is the cause of the burning, and the pilot who did not shorten sail is the cause of the shipwreck. Thus the causes of these are punished by the law; for to the one who had the power to prevent, the blame for what happens is attached. We say to them that the cause is understood in making, acting, and doing, but that what does not prevent is in this respect inactive. Further, the cause is concerned with the activity, as the shipbuilder with the ship coming to be and the builder with the house being built; but what does not prevent is separate from what happens. It is accomplished for this reason, that what could prevent does not act or prevent. For what does the one who does not prevent do? And their argument even leads to absurdity, if they will blame for the wound not the arrow but the shield that did not prevent the arrow from passing through; for they will blame not the thief but the one who did not prevent the theft.
About this passage
Notes
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing on εἶναι): ἀνενέργητον εἷναι → ἀνενέργητον εἶναι.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.17.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/17/82/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.17.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/17/82/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text