Miscellanies 4.6.29
Summary: Some allegorize the rich man's “possessions” as passions, but God distributes goods justly, and the command is to despise them and follow Christ; the rich man lacked love of neighbor; one should come to Christ for the good itself, not fear or reward.
Greek text · Stählin 2:260–261
ὑπάρχοντα δέ φασί τινες αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι τὰ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἀλλότρια, καὶ πῶς τοῖς πτωχοῖς ταῦτα διανέμεται, οὐκ ἔχουσιν εἰπεῖν· ἀλλʼ ὁ θεὸς γὰρ πάντα πᾶσι μερίζει κατʼ ἀξίαν δικαίας οὔσης τῆς οἰκονομίας· καταφρονήσας οὖν, φησί, τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, ἃ ὁ θεὸς μερίζει, διὰ τῆς σῆς μεγαλειότητος, ἕπου τοῖς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ λεγομένοις, σπεύδων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνοδον, οὐκ ἀποχῇ κακῶν μόνον δικαιωθείς, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῇ κυριακῇ τελειωθεὶς εὐποιίᾳ. αὐτίκα τὸν καυχώμενον τελείως τὰ ἐκ τοῦ νόμου προστάγματα πεπληρωκέναι διήλεγχε μὴ τὸν πλησίον ἀγαπήσαντα· εὐεργεσίαν δὲ ἀγάπη ἐπαγγέλλεται ἡ κυριεύουσα τοῦ σαββάτου κατʼ ἐπανάβασιν γνωστικήν. δεῖν δʼ οἶμαι μήτε διὰ φόβον κολάσεως μήτε διά τινας ἐπαγγελίας δόσεως, διʼ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν προσεληλυθέναι τῷ σωτηρίῳ λόγῳ.
English · Claude translation
Some say that by “possessions” he meant the things foreign in the soul, and they cannot say how these are distributed to the poor. But God distributes all things to all according to worth, since his arrangement is just. “Despising, then,” he says, “the possessions that God distributes, by your greatness of soul, follow what I say,” hastening to the ascent of the Spirit, justified not only by abstaining from evils but also perfected by the Lord's beneficence. For example, he convicted the one who boasted of having perfectly fulfilled the commandments of the law of not having loved his neighbor; and love, which is lord of the Sabbath by a knowing ascent, promises beneficence. And I think one should come to the saving Word neither through fear of punishment nor through some promise of a gift, but for the sake of the good itself.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Matt 19:16–22 and Mark 2:28. Clement treats this passage at length in Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved?
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (space missing in the digital text): ἀλλʼ ὁ θεὸςγὰρ πάντα → ἀλλʼ ὁ θεὸς γὰρ πάντα.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.6.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/6/29/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.6.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/6/29/).
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