Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.7.42

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The one who denies Christ in persecution goes over to the devil and deceives his own hope; denying the Savior is denying one's own life; such people are faithless hypocrites; true self-love is loving the Lord and confessing salvation.

Greek text · Stählin 2:267

Εἶτα ὁ μὲν ψευσάμενος καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἄπιστον δείξας καὶ μεταστὰς εἰς τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου στρατείαν ἐν τίνι, οἰόμεθα, ἔστι κακῷ; ψεύδεται τοίνυν τὸν κύριον, μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διέψευσται ἐλπίδα ὃς οὐ πιστεύει τῷ θεῷ. οὐ πιστεύει δὲ ὁ μὴ ποιῶν ἃ ἐνετείλατο. τί δέ; οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἀρνεῖται ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν κύριον; οὐ γὰρ ἀφαιρεῖται τῆς κυρίας τὸν δεσπότην ὅ γε καὶ στερίσκων αὑτὸν τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον οἰκειότητος. ὁ τοίνυν ἀρνούμενος τὸν σωτῆρα ἀρνεῖται τὴν ζωήν, ὅτι ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς. ὀλιγοπίστους τούτους οὐ λέγει, ἀλλὰ ἀπίστους καὶ ὑποκριτάς, τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἐπιγεγραμμένους, τὸ δʼ εἶναι πιστοὺς ἀρνουμένους· πιστὸς δὲ εἴρηται καὶ δοῦλος καὶ φίλος. ὥστε εἴ τις ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπᾷ, ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κύριον καὶ ὁμολογεῖ τὴν σωτηρίαν.

English · Claude translation

Then the one who has lied and shown himself faithless and gone over to the devil's army, in what evil, do we think, is he? He lies to the Lord, or rather he has cheated his own hope, the one who does not believe God; and the one who does not do what he commanded does not believe. What then? Does not the one who denies the Lord deny himself? For he does not deprive the Master of his lordship, but deprives himself of his relationship to him. The one, then, who denies the Savior denies life, because “the light was life.” He does not call these people of little faith, but faithless and hypocrites, having the name inscribed on them but denying that they are faithful. And the faithful one is called both servant and friend. So if anyone loves himself, he loves the Lord and confesses salvation.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:267 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Martyrdom, Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions and quotations are Matt 10:33, John 1:4 (a free form), and John 15:15.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.7.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/7/42/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.7.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/7/42/).

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