Miscellanies 3.14.94
Summary: Cassianus misreads Paul's warning about Eve's deception as saying birth came from deception; Christ came to those who had strayed in mind through disobedience, perhaps because Adam sought marriage before God's time.
Greek text · Stählin 2:239
Αὐτίκα βιάζεται τὸν Παῦλον ἐκ τῆς ἀπάτης τὴν γένεσιν συνεστάναι λέγειν διὰ τούτων· φοβοῦμαι δὲ μή, ὡς ὁ ὄφις Εὔαν ἐξηπάτησεν, φθαρῇ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁπλότητος τῆς εἰς τὸν Χριστόν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐπὶ τὰ πεπλανημένα ὁμολογουμένως ἦλθε, πεπλανημένα δὲ οὐκ ἄνωθεν εἰς τὴν δεῦρο γένεσιν (κτιστὴ γὰρ ἡ γένεσις καὶ κτίσις τοῦ παντοκράτορος, ὃς οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐξ ἀμεινόνων εἰς τὰ χείρω κατάγοι ψυχήν), ἀλλʼ εἰς τοὺς πεπλανημένους τὰ νοήματα, εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ σωτὴρ ἀφίκετο, ἃ δὴ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς παρακοῆς ἐφθάρη φιληδονούντων ἡμῶν, τάχα που προλαβόντος ἡμῶν τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου καὶ πρὸ ὥρας τῆς τοῦ γάμου χάριτος ὀρεχθέντος καὶ διαμαρτόντος, ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτήν, οὐκ ἀναμείνας τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ θελήματος.
English · Claude translation
He forces Paul, for example, to say that birth arose from deception, in these words: “But I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve, your thoughts may be corrupted from the simplicity that is toward Christ.” But the Lord admittedly came to those who had gone astray; gone astray, however, not from above into birth here (for birth is created, and the creation of the Almighty, who would never bring a soul down from better things to worse), but the Savior came to us who had gone astray in our thoughts, which were corrupted by disobedience to the commandments, because we loved pleasure; perhaps the first-formed man anticipated the time and desired the grace of marriage before the hour, and sinned; since “everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her,” not having waited for the time of the will.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 2 Cor 11:3 and Matt 5:28. The idea that Adam and Eve sinned by anticipating marriage is Clement's speculation (compare Protr. 11.111).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (space missing in the digital text): εἰς τὴν δεῦρο γένεσιν(κτιστὴ → εἰς τὴν δεῦρο γένεσιν (κτιστὴ.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.14.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/14/94/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.14.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/14/94/).
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