Miscellanies 4.10.77
Summary: One who hands himself over to the court shares the guilt of his killer and helps the persecutor sin; we should not provoke persecution by conflict or litigation, but yield even our goods, lest we provoke blasphemy of Christ's name.
Greek text · Stählin 2:282–283
εἰ δὲ ὁ ἀναιρῶν ἄνθρωπον θεοῦ εἰς θεὸν ἁμαρτάνει, καὶ τοῦ ἀποκτειννύντος αὐτὸν ἔνοχος καθίσταται ὁ ἑαυτὸν προσάγων τῷ δικαστηρίῳ· οὗτος δʼ ἂν εἴη ὁ μὴ περιστελλόμενος τὸν διωγμόν, ἁλώσιμον διὰ θράσος παρέχων ἑαυτόν. οὗτός ἐστι τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ ὁ συνεργὸς γινόμενος τῇ τοῦ διώκοντος πονηρίᾳ, εἰ δὲ καὶ προσερεθίζοι, τέλεον αἴτιος, ἐκκαλούμενος τὸ θηρίον. ὡς δʼ αὕτως κἂν αἰτίαν μάχης παράσχῃ τινὰ ἢ ζημίας ἢ ἔχθρας ἢ δίκης, ἀφορμὴν ἐγέννησε διωγμοῦ. διὰ τοῦτʼ οὖν μηδενὸς ἀντέχεσθαι τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ προστέτακται ἡμῖν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ αἴροντι τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα προσδιδόναι, οὐχ ἵνα ἀπροσπαθεῖς διαμένωμεν μόνον, ἀλλʼ ὡς μὴ ἀντιποιούμενοι τοὺς ἐπιδικαζομένους ἐφʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἀγριαίνωμεν καὶ διʼ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος διακινῶμεν βλασφημίαν.
English · Claude translation
And if the one who kills a man of God sins against God, the one who presents himself to the court becomes guilty of the one who kills him; and such would be the one who does not avoid persecution, but by boldness offers himself to be caught. He, as far as it rests with him, becomes a fellow worker in the persecutor's wickedness; and if he also provokes him, he is wholly the cause, calling out the beast. Likewise, if he gives any cause for conflict, loss, enmity, or lawsuit, he has created an occasion for persecution. That is why we have been commanded to hold on to nothing in this life, but also to give the tunic to the one who takes the cloak, not only so that we may remain free from passion, but so that we may not, by laying claim, make those who sue us savage against us and through us stir them to blasphemy of the Name.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Matt 5:40. Clement condemns voluntary martyrdom (compare 4.4.17).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.10.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/10/77/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.10.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/10/77/).
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