Miscellanies 4.14.96
Summary: Clement interprets Romans 8:38–39 phrase by phrase: no persecutor's death, life, fallen angel, satanic power, or worldly hope can separate us from God's love in Christ; this sums up the knowing martyr.
Greek text · Stählin 2:290
πέπεισμαι γὰρ ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος, ὁ κατʼ ἐπιφορὰν τῶν διωκόντων, οὔτε ζωή, ἡ κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον, οὔτε ἄγγελοι, οἱ ἀποστάται, οὔτε ἀρχαί (ἀρχὴ δὲ τῷ Σατανᾷ ὁ βίος ὃν εἵλετο· τοιαῦται γὰρ αἱ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἀρχαί τε καὶ ἐξουσίαι τοῦ σκότους), οὔτε τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, ἐν οἷς ἐσμεν κατὰ τὸν τοῦ βίου χρόνον, ὡς τοῦ μὲν στρατιώτου ἡ ἐλπίς, τοῦ ἐμπόρου δὲ τὸ κέρδος, οὔτε ὕψωμα οὔτε βάθος, οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα κατʼ ἐνέργειαν τὴν οἰκείαν ἀνθρώπῳ ἀντιπράττειν τῇ πίστει τοῦ προαιρουμένῳ (κτίσις δὲ συνωνύμως καὶ ἐνέργεια λέγεται ἔργον ἡμέτερον οὖσα)· ἡ τοιάδε ἐνέργεια οὐ δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. ἔχεις συγκεφαλαίωσιν γνωστικοῦ μάρτυρος.
English · Claude translation
“For I am persuaded that neither death,” that inflicted by persecutors, “nor life,” that in this life, “nor angels,” the apostate ones, “nor rulers” (and the rule of Satan is the life he chose; for such are the rulers and authorities of darkness under him), “nor things present,” in which we are during the time of life, such as the soldier's hope and the merchant's gain, “nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,” by its own activity working against the faith of the man who chooses (creation and activity are called by the same name, being our work): such activity “will not be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You have the summary of the knowing martyr.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Rom 8:38–39, with Clement's glosses.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing parenthesis and stray period in the digital text): ἐξουσίαι τοῦ σκότους. οὔτε τὰ ἐνεστῶτα → ἐξουσίαι τοῦ σκότους), οὔτε τὰ ἐνεστῶτα.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.14.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/14/96/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.14.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/14/96/).
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