Miscellanies 3.4.34
Summary: Some claim the lower body was made by an inferior power, contrary to Christ, who said the same God made inner and outer man; the “Opposers” commit adultery to defy the lesser god who gave the law.
Greek text · Stählin 2:211
Ἐντεῦθεν ἄλλοι τινὲς κινηθέντες μιαροὶ καὶ οὐτιδανοὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὑπὸ διαφόρων δυνάμεων πλασθῆναι λέγουσι, καὶ τὰ μὲν μέχρις ὀμφαλοῦ θεοειδεστέρας τέχνης εἶναι, τὰ ἔνερθε δὲ τῆς ἥττονος, οὗ δὴ χάριν ὀρέγεσθαι συνουσίας. λέληθε δὲ αὐτοὺς ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἀνωτέρω μέρη τῆς τροφῆς ὀριγνᾶται καὶ λαγνεύει τισίν, ἐναντιοῦνται δὲ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ πρὸς τοὺς Φαρισαίους εἰρηκότι τὸν αὐτὸν θεὸν καὶ τὸν ἐκτὸς ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον πεποιηκέναι. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ὄρεξις οὐ τοῦ σώματός ἐστι, κἂν διὰ τὸ σῶμα γίνηται. Ἄλλοι τινές, οὓς καὶ Ἀντιτάκτας καλοῦμεν, λέγουσιν ὅτι ὁ μὲν θεὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων πατὴρ ἡμῶν ἐστι φύσει, καὶ πάνθʼ ὅσα πεποίηκεν ἀγαθά ἐστιν· εἷς δέ τις τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γεγονότων ἐπέσπειρεν τὰ ζιζάνια τὴν τῶν κακῶν φύσιν γεννήσας, οἷς καὶ δὴ πάντας ἡμᾶς περιέβαλεν ἀντιτάξας ἡμᾶς τῷ πατρί. διὸ δὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀντιτασσόμεθα τούτῳ εἰς ἐκδικίαν τοῦ πατρός, ἀντιπράσσοντες τῷ βουλήματι τοῦ δευτέρου. ἐπεὶ οὖν οὗτος οὐ μοιχεύσεις εἴρηκεν, ἡμεῖς, φασί, μοιχεύσωμεν ἐπὶ καταλύσει τῆς ἐντολῆς αὐτοῦ.
English · Claude translation
Moved by this, certain others, vile and worthless, say that man was formed by different powers: the parts down to the navel are of a more godlike craft, the parts below of an inferior one, and that is why he longs for intercourse. But they fail to notice that the upper parts too crave food and lust for some things; and they contradict Christ, who said to the Pharisees that the same God made both our outer and our inner man. Besides, appetite is not of the body, even if it arises because of the body. Certain others, whom we also call Antitactae (“Opposers”), say that the God of the universe is our Father by nature, and all that he made is good; but one of those who came from him sowed the tares, begetting the nature of evils, in which he also wrapped us all, setting us against the Father. “That is why we too oppose him, to avenge the Father, acting against the will of the second. Since, then, he has said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ let us,” they say, “commit adultery to destroy his commandment.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions and quotations are Luke 11:40, Matt 13:25, and Exod 20:14. The Antitactae are known only from Clement.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.4.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/4/34/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.4.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/4/34/).
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