Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.9.72

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

Summary: Heracleon notes that Christ says “confess in me” but “deny me”: those who are in him confess by their lives and can never deny him; those who deny are not in him.

Greek text · Stählin 2:280–281

καὶ καλῶς ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ὁμολογούντων ›ἐν ἐμοὶ‹ εἶπεν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀρνουμένων τὸ ›ἐμὲ‹ προσέθηκεν. οὗτοι γάρ, κἂν τῇ φωνῇ ὁμολογήσωσιν αὐτόν, ἀρνοῦνται αὐτόν, τῇ πράξει μὴ ὁμολογοῦντες. μόνοι δʼ ἐν αὐτῷ ὁμολογοῦσιν οἱ ἐν τῇ κατʼ αὐτὸν ὁμολογίᾳ καὶ πράξει βιοῦντες, ἐν οἷς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμολογεῖ ἐνειλημμένος αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐχόμενος ὑπὸ τούτων. διόπερ ἀρνήσασθαι αὐτὸν οὐδέποτε δύνανται· ἀρνοῦνται δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ μὴ ὄντες ἐν αὐτῷ. οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν ›ὃς ἀρνήσηται ἐν ἐμοί‹, ἀλλʼ ›ἐμέ‹· οὐδεὶς γάρ ποτε ὢν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀρνεῖται αὐτόν. τὸ δὲ ›ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ‹ καὶ τῶν σῳζομένων καὶ τῶν ἐθνικῶν δὲ ὁμοίως παρʼ οἷς μὲν καὶ τῇ πολιτείᾳ, παρʼ οἷς δὲ καὶ τῇ φωνῇ. διόπερ ἀρνήσασθαι αὐτὸν οὐδέποτε δύνανται· ἀρνοῦνται δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ μὴ ὄντες ἐν αὐτῷ.

English · Claude translation

And he said well of those who confess, ‘in me,’ but of those who deny he added ‘me.’ For these, even if they confess him with their voice, deny him, not confessing him by their action. Only those confess in him who live in the confession and action that accord with him, in whom he too confesses, having laid hold of them and being held by them. That is why they can never deny him; but those deny him who are not in him. For he did not say, ‘whoever denies in me,’ but ‘me’; for no one who is in him ever denies him. And ‘before men’ means both the saved and the Gentiles alike: before some by conduct, before others also by voice. That is why they can never deny him; but those deny him who are not in him.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:280–281 · 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.
Topics
Martyrdom, Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation of Heracleon continues. The last sentence repeats one earlier in the section, as printed in the edition.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.9.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/9/72/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.9.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/9/72/).

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