Miscellanies 4.4.17
Summary: Clement condemns those who rush to death out of hatred for the Creator; such heretics die without true martyrdom, like the Indian ascetics who burn themselves; the body's health aids the mind.
Greek text · Stählin 2:256
ψέγομεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς τοὺς ἐπιπηδήσαντας τῷ θανάτῳ· εἰσὶ γάρ τινες οὐχ ἡμέτεροι, μόνου τοῦ ὀνόματος κοινωνοί, οἳ δὴ αὑτοὺς παραδιδόναι σπεύδουσι τῇ πρὸς τὸν δημιουργὸν ἀπεχθείᾳ, οἱ ἄθλιοι θανατῶντες. τούτους ἐξάγειν ἑαυτοὺς ἀμαρτύρως λέγομεν, κἂν δημοσίᾳ κολάζωνται. οὐ γὰρ τὸν χαρακτῆρα σῴζουσι τοῦ μαρτυρίου τοῦ πιστοῦ, τὸν ὄντως θεὸν μὴ γνωρίσαντες, θανάτῳ δὲ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδιδόασι κενῷ, καθάπερ καὶ οἱ τῶν Ἰνδῶν γυμνοσοφισταὶ ματαίῳ πυρί. ἐπεὶ δʼ οἱ ψευδώνυμοι οὗτοι τὸ σῶμα διαβάλλουσι, μαθέτωσαν ὅτι καὶ ἡ τοῦ σώματος εὐαρμοστία συμβάλλεται τῇ διανοίᾳ πρὸς τὴν εὐφυΐαν.
English · Claude translation
We too blame those who have leapt upon death; for there are some, not ours but sharing only the name, who hasten to give themselves up out of hatred for the Creator, the wretches, longing for death. These, we say, depart from life without martyrdom, even if they are publicly punished. For they do not preserve the character of faithful martyrdom, not having known the true God, but give themselves up to an empty death, like the gymnosophists of the Indians to a vain fire. And since these falsely named ones slander the body, let them learn that the harmony of the body too contributes to the mind's good disposition.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is 1 Tim 6:20 (“falsely named”). The Indian gymnosophist Calanus burned himself before Alexander (Strabo 15.1.68).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.4.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/4/17/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.4.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/4/17/).
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