Saturday, August 10, 2024

Cyril C. Richardson on 1 Clement 44:2

  

Now our apostles, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, knew that there was going to be strife over the title of bishop. It was for this reason and because they had been given an accurate knowledge of the future, that they appointed the officers we have mentioned. Furthermore, they later added a codicil to the effect that, should these die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry. (1 Clement 44:1-2, in Early Christian Fathers [trans. Cyril R. Richardson; New York: Collier Books, 1970], 63)

 

In this sentence and the one following there are a number of ambiguities in the Greek, which have given rise to three possible interpretations. (a) The apostles provide that, if they themselves should die, other approved men should succeed to the apostolic prerogatives. These men would take over the right to appoint the local presbyteries, and are the ones referred to by the phrase, “Others of the proper standing (b) The apostles provided that should their first converts (i.e., the first local presbyters) die, others should succeed them. This succession would be in the hands of the apostles and, later on, of “others of the proper standing,” i.e., men like Timothy and Titus with apostolic rank. (c) The apostles provided that should their first converts (.e., the first local presbyters) die, others should succeed them. This succession, begun by the apostles, would be continued by self-perpetuating presbyteries. In this view, the phrase, “Others of the proper standing,” would refer to the same class of persons as does the phrase, “The officers we have mentioned,” in the preceding sentence, i.e., the presbyters. The reader will observe that, while the titles “presbyter” and “bishop” appear to be synonymous in Clement, the first two interpretations favor the “episcopal” view of the early ministry, while the third favors the “presbyterian.” (Ibid., 63-64 n. 2)

 

 

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