Miscellanies 4.12.84
Summary: If martyrdom were punishment decreed by providence, denial would thwart providence, martyrs would deserve no reward, and providence would be unjust both to the righteous sufferer and to the sinner spared.
Greek text · Stählin 2:285
ἐρωτῶ τοίνυν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κρατηθέντος ὁμολογητοῦ, πότερον μαρτυρήσει καὶ κολασθήσεται κατὰ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἢ οὔ. ἀρνούμενος γὰρ οὐ κολασθήσεται. εἰ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἀποβάσεως καὶ τὸ μὴ δεῖν κολασθῆναι τοῦτον φήσει, τὴν ἀπώλειαν τῶν ἀρνησομένων ἐκ προνοίας ἄκων προσμαρτυρήσει. πῶς δὲ ἔτι μισθὸς ὁ ἐνδοξότατος ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀπόκειται τῷ μαρτυρήσαντι διὰ τὸ μαρτυρῆσαι; εἰ δὲ τὸν ἁμαρτητικὸν οὐκ εἴασεν ἡ πρόνοια ἐπὶ τὸ ἁμαρτεῖν ἐλθεῖν, ἄδικος γίνεται κατʼ ἄμφω, καὶ τὸν διὰ δικαιοσύνην εἰς κόλασιν ἑλκόμενον μὴ ῥυομένη, καὶ τὸν ἀδικεῖν ἐθελήσαντα ῥυσαμένη, τοῦ μὲν ποιήσαντος διʼ ὧν ἐβουλήθη, τῆς δὲ κωλυσάσης τὸ ἔργον καὶ μὴ δικαίως περιεπούσης τὸν ἁμαρτητικόν.
English · Claude translation
I ask him, then, about the confessor who has been arrested: will he bear witness and be punished according to providence, or not? For if he denies, he will not be punished. And if he says from the outcome that this man did not need to be punished, he will unwillingly bear witness that the destruction of those who deny comes from providence. And how is the most glorious reward still laid up in heaven for the martyr because of his martyrdom? And if providence did not allow the sinful man to come to sinning, it becomes unjust on both counts: in not rescuing the one dragged to punishment for righteousness, and in rescuing the one who wished to do wrong; he having done what he willed, and providence having hindered the deed and unjustly protecting the sinful man.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Matt 5:12.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.12.84 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/12/84/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.12.84 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/12/84/).
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