Miscellanies 4.9.73
Summary: Against Heracleon, Clement holds that confession by voice unto death proves genuine faith, and such martyrdom cuts off all passions at once, a sudden repentance; the Spirit bears witness in martyrs, whose defense strengthens the church and wins outsiders.
Greek text · Stählin 2:281
Ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Ἡρακλέων· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα φαίνεται ὁμοδοξεῖν ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν περικοπὴν ταύτην, ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὐκ ἐπέστησεν ὅτι εἰ καὶ μὴ πράξει τινὲς καὶ τῷ βίῳ ὡμολόγησαν τὸν Χριστὸν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τῷ μέντοι κατὰ φωνὴν ὁμολογεῖν ἐν δικαστηρίοις καὶ μέχρι θανάτου βασανιζομένους μὴ ἀρνεῖσθαι ἀπὸ διαθέσεως πεπιστευκέναι φαίνονται· διάθεσις δὲ ὁμολογουμένη καὶ μάλιστα ἡ μηδὲ θανάτῳ τρεπομένη ὑφʼ ἓν ἁπάντων τῶν παθῶν, ἃ δὴ διὰ τῆς σωματικῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐγεννᾶτο, ἀποκοπὴν ποιεῖται· ἔστι γὰρ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ βίου ἀθρόα κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν μετάνοια καὶ ἀληθὴς εἰς Χριστὸν ὁμολογία ἐπιμαρτυρούσης τῆς φωνῆς. εἰ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν ἡμῖν μαρτυρεῖ, πῶς ἔτι ὑποκριταί, οὓς φωνῇ μόνῃ μαρτυρεῖν εἴρηκεν; δοθήσεται δέ τισιν, ἐὰν συμφέρῃ, ἀπολογήσασθαι, ἵνα διά τε τῆς μαρτυρίας διά τε τῆς ἀπολογίας ὠφελῶνται οἱ πάντες, ἰσχυροποιούμενοι μὲν οἱ κατʼ ἐκκλησίαν, θαυμάζοντες δὲ καὶ εἰς πίστιν ὑπαγόμενοι οἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν τὴν σωτηρίαν πολυπραγμονήσαντες, οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ ὑπʼ ἐκπλήξεως κατεχόμενοι.
English · Claude translation
So far Heracleon. In other respects he seems to agree with us on this passage; but he did not notice this: that even if some did not confess Christ before men by action and life, yet by confessing with the voice in courts, and not denying him even when tortured to death, they show that they believed from the disposition. And a disposition that is confessed, especially one not turned aside even by death, makes a cutting off at once of all the passions that were begotten through bodily desire. For there is, so to speak, at the end of life a sudden repentance in action, and a true confession toward Christ, the voice bearing witness to it. And if the Spirit of the Father bears witness in us, how are they still hypocrites, those whom he said bear witness with the voice alone? And it will be given to some, if it is profitable, to make a defense, so that through both the witness and the defense all may be helped: those in the church strengthened, those from the Gentiles who have inquired into salvation marveling and led to faith, and the rest held by amazement.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Matt 10:20.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.9.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/9/73/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.9.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/9/73/).
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