Miscellanies 4.6.40
Summary: In contemplation the knower becomes knowledge itself; the peacemakers are those who have subdued the war of the passions against reason and will be adopted as God's children; perfect peace sees the world's order as good and brings others to faith.
Greek text · Stählin 2:266
ὅταν τοίνυν ἐνδιατρίψῃ θεωρίᾳ, τῷ θείῳ καθαρῶς ὁμιλῶν, ὁ γνωστικῶς μετέχων τῆς ἁγίας ποιότητος, προσεχέστερον ἐν ἕξει γίνεται ταὐτότητος ἀπαθοῦς, ὡς μηκέτι ἐπιστήμην ἔχειν καὶ γνῶσιν κεκτῆσθαι, ἐπιστήμην δὲ εἶναι καὶ γνῶσιν. Μακάριοι τοίνυν οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί. τὸν ἀντιστρατηγοῦντα νόμον τῷ φρονήματι τοῦ νοῦ ἡμῶν, τοῦ θυμοῦ τὰς ἀπειλὰς καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τὰ δελέατα τά τε ἄλλα πάθη, ὅσα πολεμεῖ τὸν λογισμόν, τιθασεύσαντες καὶ ἐξημερώσαντες, οἱ μετʼ ἐπιστήμης ἔργων τε ἀγαθῶν καὶ λόγου ἀληθοῦς καταβιώσαντες εἰς υἱοθεσίαν ἀποκατασταθήσονται τὴν προσφιλεστάτην. εἴη δʼ ἂν ἡ τελεία εἰρηνοποίησις ἡ ἐπὶ παντὶ τῷ συμβαίνοντι ἄτρεπτον φυλάσσουσα τὸ εἰρηνικόν, ἁγίαν τε καὶ καλὴν τὴν διοίκησιν λέγουσα, ἐν ἐπιστήμῃ θείων καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων καθεστῶσα, διʼ ἧς τὰς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐναντιότητας ἁρμονίαν κτίσεως καλλίστην λογίζεται. εἰρηνοποιοῦσι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐνταῦθα πολεμουμένους τοῖς τῆς ἁμαρτίας στρατηγήμασι, μεταδιδάσκοντες ἐπὶ τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην μετιέναι.
English · Claude translation
When, then, the one who shares in the holy quality in the way of knowledge spends his time in contemplation, conversing purely with the divine, he comes more nearly into a state of passionless identity, so that he no longer has knowledge and possesses understanding, but is knowledge and understanding. “Blessed, then, are the peacemakers.” Those who have tamed and subdued the law that wars against the mind's intention, the threats of anger and the baits of desire and the other passions that make war on reason, who have lived with knowledge of good works and of true reason, will be restored to the most beloved adoption. Perfect peacemaking would be that which, in everything that happens, keeps the peaceful disposition unchanging, calling the government of the world holy and good, established in the knowledge of divine and human things, by which it reckons the oppositions in the world the most beautiful harmony of creation. And they also make peace for those here at war with the stratagems of sin, teaching them to go over to faith and peace.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Matt 5:9 and Rom 7:23.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.6.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/6/40/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.6.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/6/40/).
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