Miscellanies 4.23.150
Summary: Empedocles says wise souls become gods; man is formed by nature, but each person is shaped by what he chooses; Adam was perfect in formation but was to attain perfection by obedience; his fall was his own choice, and God is not to blame.
Greek text · Stählin 2:314–315
φησὶ δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τῶν σοφῶν τὰς ψυχὰς θεοὺς γίνεσθαι ὧδέ πως γράφων· εἰς δὲ τέλος μάντεις τε καὶ ὑμνοπόλοι καὶ ἰητροὶ καὶ πρόμοι ἀνθρώποισιν ἐπιχθονίοισι πέλονται· ἔνθεν ἀναβλαστοῦσι θεοὶ τιμῇσι φέριστοι. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἄνθρωπος ἁπλῶς οὕτως κατʼ ἰδέαν πλάσσεται τοῦ συμφυοῦς πνεύματος· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνείδεος οὐδʼ ἀσχημάτιστος ἐν τῷ τῆς φύσεως ἐργαστηρίῳ δημιουργεῖται, ἔνθα μυστικῶς ἀνθρώπου ἐκτελεῖται γένεσις, κοινῆς οὔσης καὶ τῆς τέχνης καὶ τῆς οὐσίας, ὁ δέ τις ἄνθρωπος κατὰ τύπωσιν τὴν ἐγγινομένην τῇ ψυχῇ ὧν ἂν αἱρήσηται χαρακτηρίζεται. ᾗ καὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ τέλειον μὲν ὡς πρὸς τὴν πλάσιν γεγονέναι φαμέν· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν χαρακτηριζόντων τὴν ἀνθρώπου ἰδέαν τε καὶ μορφὴν ἐνεδέησεν αὐτῷ. ὃ δὲ ἐν τῷ γίνεσθαι τὴν τελείωσιν ἐλάμβανεν καὶ διʼ ὑπακοῆς ἐδικαιοῦτο, τοῦτο ἦν ἀπανδρούμενον τὸ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ κείμενον· αἰτίᾳ δὲ ἑλομένου, καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον τὸ κωλυθὲν ἑλομένου, ὁ θεὸς ἀναίτιος· διττὴ γὰρ ἡ γένεσις, ἣ μὲν τῶν γεννωμένων, ἣ δὲ τῶν γινομένων.
English · Claude translation
And Empedocles too says that the souls of the wise become gods, writing thus: “And at the end they become seers, singers, physicians, and leaders among earthly men; from there they spring up as gods, highest in honors.” Man in general, then, is formed according to the idea of the connate spirit; for he is not fashioned formless and shapeless in the workshop of nature, where the birth of man is mystically accomplished, the art and the substance being common; but a particular man is characterized by the impression formed in the soul by what he chooses. In this way we say that Adam too was perfect as regards his formation; for nothing that characterizes the idea and form of man was lacking to him. But in becoming he was to receive his perfection, and to be justified through obedience; this was what was to grow to manhood, what rested with him. The cause lies in the one who chose, and still more in the one who chose what was forbidden; God is not responsible. For birth is twofold: that of things begotten, and that of things that become.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Empedocles (fragment 146). “God is not responsible” echoes Plato, Republic 10.617e.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.23.150 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/23/150/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.23.150 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/23/150/).
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