Miscellanies 1.18.89
Summary: Better to read Paul as denying that God made worldly wisdom foolish: unbelief is chosen, not caused by God; the wise are outshone by the gospel as a lamp by the sun; all are called, and those who obey are the called.
Greek text · Stählin 2:57
μή τι οὖν, ὅπερ καὶ ἄμεινον, ἀποφατικὸν ἡγητέον τὸ οὐχὶ ἐμώρανεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου ἐπʼ ἴσης τῷ οὐκ ἐμώρανεν, ἵνα μὴ ἡ αἰτία τῆς σκληροκαρδίας αὐτοῖς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ φαίνηται γενομένη, τοῦ μωράναντος τὴν σοφίαν· ἔμπαλιν γὰρ καίτοι σοφοὶ ὄντες ἐν μείζονι αἰτίᾳ γεγόνασι μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῷ κηρύγματι· ἑκούσιος γὰρ ἥ τε αἵρεσις ἥ τε τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκτροπή. ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν τῇ τῆς καταφρονουμένης καὶ ὑπερορωμένης βαρβάρου φιλοσοφίας ἀντιπαραθέσει καταλάμψαι φησίν, ὡς καὶ ὁ λύχνος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου καταλαμπόμενος ἀπολωλέναι λέγεται τῷ μὴ τὴν ἴσην ἐκτελεῖν ἐνέργειαν. πάντων τοίνυν ἀνθρώπων κεκλημένων οἱ ὑπακοῦσαι βουληθέντες κλητοὶ ὠνομάσθησαν. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἀδικία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. αὐτίκα ἐξ ἑκατέρου γένους οἱ πιστεύσαντες, οὗτοι λαὸς περιούσιος. κἀν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων εὕροις ἂν κατὰ λέξιν· οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν, οἱ δὲ μὴ θελήσαντες πείθεσθαι ἑαυτοὺς ἀπέστησαν δηλαδή.
English · Claude translation
Or should “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” rather (which is better) be taken as a denial, equivalent to “He did not make it foolish,” so that the cause of their hardness of heart may not appear to come from God, who would have made the wisdom foolish? On the contrary, though they were wise, they have come under greater blame by not believing the preaching; for both the choice and the turning away from the truth are voluntary. And by “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise” he means that it will be outshone by comparison with the despised and disdained barbarian philosophy, as a lamp outshone by the sun is said to be destroyed because it does not perform the same function. All human beings, then, having been called, those who were willing to obey were named “called.” “For there is no injustice with God.” Thus those from each race who believed are “a people for his own possession.” And in the Acts of the Apostles you might find word for word: “Those, then, who received his word were baptized”; but those unwilling to obey clearly withdrew themselves.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 Cor 1:20, 1 Cor 1:19, Rom 9:14, Titus 2:14 (Exod 19:5), and Acts 2:41.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing missing (crasis κἀν); stray period in the digital text): φαίνηται γενομένη. τοῦ μωράναντος → φαίνηται γενομένη, τοῦ μωράναντος; κὰν ταῖς Πράξεσι → κἀν ταῖς Πράξεσι.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.18.89 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/18/89/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.18.89 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/18/89/).
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