Clement of Alexandria, Stromata Book 6, Chapter 18

The following is taken from Clement of Alexandria, Stromata Book 6, Chapter 18 (Migne, PG 9:396-97, 400-1):

 

Ὁ γνωστικὸς δ’ ἡμῖν ἐν ταῖς κυριωτάταις δεῖ ποτε διατρίβει· εἰ δέ που σχολῇ καὶ ἀνέσει καιρὸς ἀπὸ τῶν προηγουμένων, ἀντὶ τῆς ἄλλης ῥυθμίας καὶ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ἐφάπτεται φιλοσοφίας, οἷον τραγῳδῶν τι ἐπὶ τῷ δείπνῳ παρῃρμένος (5) οὐ τῶν κρειττόνων ἀμελήσας, προσλαμβάνων δὲ, ἐφ’ ὅσον πρέπει, καὶ ταῦτα, δι’ ἃς προεῖπον αἰτίας. Οἱ δὲ τῶν οὐκ ἀναγκαίων καὶ περιττῶν τῆς φιλοσοφίας δραχθέντες, καὶ μόνοις τοῖς ἐριστικοῖς προσανέχοντες σοφίσμασι, τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ κυριωτάτων (6) ἀπελήφθησαν, οἵ τε σκιασμῶς τῶν λόγων διώκοντες. Καλὸν μὲν οὖν τὸ πάντα ἐπίστασθαι· ὅσῳ δὲ ἀσθενεῖ ἐπεκτείνεσθαι ἡ ψυχὴ πρὸς τὴν πολυμαθῆ ἐμπειρίαν, τὰ προηγούμενα καὶ βελτίω αἱρήσεται μόνα· ἡ γὰρ τῷ ὄντι ἐπιστήμη, ἣν φάμεν μόνον ἔχειν τὸν γνωστικόν, κατάληψις (7) ἐστὶ βεβαία διὰ λόγων ἀληθῶν καὶ βεβαίων ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς αἰτίας γνῶσιν ἀνάγουσα. Ὁ δὲ ἐπιστήμων τοῦ ἀληθοῦς περὶ ὃ δοποιοῦν αὐτίκα καὶ τοῦ ψεύδους περὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐπιστήμην ὑπάρχει. Καὶ γὰρ (8) οὖν εὖ πως ἔχει μοι φαίνεται ὁ λόγος ἐκεῖνος, εἰ φιλοσοφητέον αὐτό· αὐτὸ γάρ τι αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖ· ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ μὴ φιλοσοφητέον (οὐ γάρ τις καταγωγὴ τινὸς μὴ τοῦτο πρότερον ἐγνωκότος) φιλοσοφητέον ἄρα. Τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων, τοῖς Ἕλλησι χρὴ διὰ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ἐκμανθάνειν ἕνα μόνον σέβειν Θεόν, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα παντοκράτορα. Ἔπειτα (9) διὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου διδάσκεσθαι· «Ἡμῖν (10) δὲ οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ»· ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ἀπεικόνισμα τοῦ Θεοῦ οἷόν τε ἐν γενητοῖς (11) εἶναι· προπεπαιδεύσθαι δὲ, ὡς οὐδὲ τούτων ὧν γέγονεν ἀγάλματα, εἴη ἂν αἱ εἰκόνες· οὐ γὰρ πω τοιοῦτον κατὰ τὸ σχήμα τὸ τῶν ψυχῶν γένος, ὁποῖα διαπλάσσουσιν Ἕλληνες τὰ ξόανα. Ψυχαὶ μὲν γὰρ, ἀόρατοι, οὐ μόνον αἱ λογικαί, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ τῶν ἄλλων (12) ζῴων· τὰ δὲ σώματα αὐτῶν μέρη μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδέποτε γίνεται τῶν ψυχῶν, ὄργανα δὲ ὧν μὲν ἐνσχήματα, ὧν δὲ ἀσχήματα, ἄλλων δὲ ἄλλον τρόπον σχήματα. Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τῶν ὀργάνων τὰς εἰκόνας οἷόν τε ἀπομιμήσασθαι ἐνεργῶς· ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον τις, ὡς ὁρίζεται, πλάσσειε, καὶ τὴν ἶριν τοῖς χρώμασιν ἀπεικάζεσθω· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἀπολείπωσι τὰ εἴδωλα, τότε ἀκουσονται τῆς Γραφῆς, «Ἐὰν μὴ πλεονάσῃ (13) ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλείον τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων,» τῶν κατ’ ἀποχὴν κακῶν (14) δικαιουμένων, σὺν τῷ μετὰ τῆς ἐν τούτοις τελειώσεως καὶ τῷ τὸν πλησίον ἀγαπᾶν, καὶ εὐεργετεῖν δύνασθε, οὐκ ἔσεσθε βασιλικοί (15). Ἡ ἐπίτασις γὰρ τῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον δικαιοσύνης τὸν γνωστικὸν δείκνυσιν. Οὕτω τις κατὰ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τοῦ οἰκείου σώματος τὴν κεφαλὴν τάξει, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρότητα τῆς πίστεως χωρίσας, τὴν γνῶσιν αὐτήν, περὶ ἣν πάντα ἐστὶ τὰ αἰσθητήρια, ἀκροτάτης ὁμοίως τεύξεται τῆς κληρονομίας. Τὸ δὲ ἡγεμονικὸν τῆς γνώσεως σαφῶς ὁ Ἀπόστολος τοῖς διαφέρειν δυναμένοις ἐνδεικνύεται, τοῖς Ἑλλαϊκοῖς ἐκείνοις γράφων Κορινθίοις οὕδε πως· «Ἔλπίδα δὲ ἔχοντες αὐξανομένης τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν ἐν ὑμῖν μεγαλυνθῆναι κατὰ τὸν κανόνα ἡμῶν εἰς περισσείαν, εἰς τὰ ὑπερέκεινα ὑμῶν εὐαγγελίσασθαι»· οὐ τὴν ἐπέκτασιν τοῦ κηρύγματος τὴν κατὰ τὸν τόπον λέγων· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν «Ἀγάπῃ» πεπλεονάκεναι τὴν πίστιν αὐτὸς φησίν. Φέρεται δὲ (16) καὶ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ ἐν «ταῖς Ἀθήναις» κηρύξας τὸν Λόγον· ἀλλὰ τὴν γνῶσιν διδάσκει, τελειωτὴν οὖσαν τῆς πίστεως, ἐπείκεινα περισσεύειν τῆς κατηχήσεως κατὰ τὸ μέγαλεῖον τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου διδασκαλίας, καὶ τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν κανόνα. Διὸ καὶ ὑποβάς, ἐπιφέρει· «Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ, ἀλλ’ οὐ τῇ γνώσει.» Πλὴν οἱ γε ἐπὶ τῷ κατεληφθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐχοῦντες τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἰπάτωσαν ἡμῖν παρὰ τίνος μαθηταὶ ἀλαζονεύονται. Παρὰ Θεοῦ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἂν φήσαιεν· παρὰ ἀνθρώπων δὲ ὁμολογοῦσι. Καὶ εἰ τοῦτο, ἢ τοιγε παρ’ ἐκείνων (17), οἵ τε ἐκμαθόντες, ὥσπερ ἄμελεῖ καὶ τετυφωμένοι τινὲς αὐτῶν αὐξοῦσιν, ἢ παρ’ ἑτέρων τῶν ὁμοίων. Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐχέγγυοι διδάσκαλοι περὶ Θεοῦ λέγοντες ἄνθρωποι, καθό ἄνθρωποι· οὐ γὰρ ἀξιόχρεώς γε, ἄνθρωπός τε ὢν, καὶ περὶ Θεοῦ τάλῃς λέγειν, ὁ ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐπίκηρος περὶ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου, καὶ ἀφθάρτου, καὶ τὸ ἔργον περὶ τοῦ πεποιηκότος. Εἴθ’, ὁ μὴ περὶ αὐτοῦ τάλῃς λέγειν δυνάμενος, ἄρ’ οὐ πλέον οὐδὲ τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ πιστευτέος; Ὅσον γὰρ δυνάμει Θεοῦ λείπεται ἄνθρωπος, τοσοῦτον καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ ἐξασθενεῖ, κἂν μὴ Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ περὶ Θεοῦ λέγῃ καὶ τοῦ θείου λόγου. Ἀσθενὴς γὰρ φύσει ὁ ἀνθρώπινος λόγος, καὶ ἀδύνατος φράσαι Θεόν· οὐ τοὔνομα λέγω· κοινὸν γάρ τοῦτο οὐ φιλοσόφων μόνον ὀνομάζειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ποιητῶν· οὐδὲ τὴν οὐσίαν· ἀδύνατον γάρ· ἀλλὰ τὴν δύναμιν καὶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ τοι ἐπιγεγραμμένοι θεῖον διδάσκαλον, μόνης εἰς ἔννοιαν ἀρκνοῦνται Θεοῦ, τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῖς συλλαμβανούσης εἰς πᾶσαν ἐπίγνωσιν· οἷον θέλημα (18) θέλημα, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα θεωρεῖν ἐθίζοντες· ὅτι πνεῦμα τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐρευνᾷ. Ψυχικὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Μόνη τοίνυν ἡ παρ’ ἡμῖν θεοδίδακτός ἐστι σοφία· ἀφ’ ἧς αἱ πάσαι πηγαὶ (19) τῆς σοφίας ἥρτηνται, ὅσαι γε τῆς ἀληθείας στοχάζονται. Ἄμει δὲ ὡς ἂν τοῦ Κυρίου ἤκοντος εἰς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ διδάξαντος ἡμᾶς, μυρίοι σηματόρες, καταγγελεῖς, ἑτοιμασταί, πρόδρομοι, ἄνωθεν ἐκ καταβολῆς κόσμου, δι’ ἔργων, διὰ λόγων προμηνύοντες, προφῆτεντες ἐλεύσεσθαι, καὶ ποῦ, καὶ πῶς, καὶ τίνα τὰ σημεῖα. Ἄμα τε προῤῥητὸν ὁ νόμος, καὶ προφήται. Ἔπειτα δὲ, ὁ πρόδρομος (20) δείκνυσι τὸν παρόντα· μεθ’ ὃν οἱ κήρυκες τῆς ἐπιφανείας τὴν δύναμιν ἐκδιδάσκοντες (21) μηνούσι μόνους, καὶ εἰδ’ αὐτοῖς ἅπασιν ἴσασιν, ἀλλὰ Πλάτων μὲν Σωκράτης, καὶ Ξενοκράτει Πλάτων, Ἀριστοτέλης Θεοφράστῳ (22), καὶ Κλέανθι Ζήνων· οἱ τοὺς ἰδίους μόνον αἱρετιστὰς ἐπεϊσσαν. Ὁ δὲ γε τοῦ διδασκάλου τοῦ ἡμετέρου λόγος οὐκ ἔμεινεν ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ μόνη, καθάπερ ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἡ φιλοσοφία· ἐχύθη δὲ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην, πεῖθων Ἕλληνας τε ὁμοῦ καὶ βαρβάρους, κατὰ ἔθνος καὶ χώραν, καὶ πόλιν πᾶσαν, οἴκους ὅλους καὶ ἰδίᾳ ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπαρχικῶν, καὶ αὐτῶν γε τῶν φιλοσόφων οὐκ ὀλίγους ἤδη ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν μεθισταίς. Καὶ τὴν μὲν φιλοσοφίαν τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν ἂν ὁ τυχὸν ἄρχων κωλύσῃ, αἴγεται παρακτῆμα· τὴν δὲ ἡμετέραν διδασκαλίαν ἔκτεσιν καὶ τῇ πρώτῃ καταγγελίᾳ κωλύουσιν ὁμοῦ βασιλεῖς καὶ τύραννοι, καὶ οἱ κατὰ μέρος ἄρχοντες, καὶ ἡγεμόνες μετὰ τῶν μισθοφόρων ἀπάντων, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀπείρων ἀνθρώπων, καταστρατευόμενοι τε ἡμῶν, καὶ ὅση δύναμις ἐκκόπτειν πειρώμενοι· ἡ δὲ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀνθεῖ· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἀνθρωπίνη ἀποθνήσκει διδασκαλία, οὐδ’ ὡς ἀσθενὴς μαραίνεται δωρεά· οὐδὲ μα ἄσθενὴς δωρεὰ Θεοῦ· μένει δὲ ἀκωλύτως, διωχθῆναι εἰς τέλος προσηνευθεῖσα. Ἔτι περὶ μὲν ποιητικῆς Πλάτων (23) «Κόσμον γὰρ τὶ χρῆμα καὶ ἱερὸν ποιητήν,» γράφει· «καὶ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὃς τε πρίν, πρὶν ἂν ἔνθεός τε καὶ ἔκφρων γένηται.» Καὶ ὁ Δημόκριτος ὁμοίως· «Ποιητὴς δὲ ὅσα μὲν ἂν γράψῃ μετ’ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ καὶ ἱεροῦ πνεύματος, καλά χαρὰ ἐστιν.» Ἴσμεν δὲ οἷα ποιηταὶ λέγουσι. Τοὺς δὲ τοῦ παντοκράτορος προφήτας θεοῦ οὐκ ἂν τις καταπλαγείη, ὄργανα (24) θείας γεγονότας φωνῆς! Καθάπερ οὖν ἀνδριάντα ἀποπλασάμενοι τοῦ γνωστικοῦ, μὴ μὲν ἐπεδείξαμεν ὡς ἐστι, μέγεθος (25) τε καὶ κάλλος ἦθους αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἐν ὑπογραφῇ, δηλώσαντες· ὁποῖος γὰρ κατὰ τὴν θεωρίαν ἐν τοῖς φυσικοῖς, μετὰ ταῦτα δηλωθήσεται, ἐπὴν περὶ γενέσεως κόσμου διαλαμβάνειν ἀρξώμεθα.

 

 

The true Gnostic ought sometimes to spend time on the most important matters; but if there is leisure and opportunity, apart from what has already been discussed, he also takes up Greek philosophy, just as someone who, after dinner, listens to a tragedy—without neglecting the better things, but taking up these too, as far as is appropriate, for the reasons I mentioned earlier. Those who have grasped only the unnecessary and superfluous parts of philosophy, and who attend only to contentious sophistries, have been deprived of what is necessary and most important, since they pursue only the shadows of words. It is, of course, good to know everything; but to the extent that the soul is too weak to extend itself into wide-ranging experience, it will choose the first and better things alone. For true knowledge, which we say belongs only to the Gnostic, is a firm grasp by means of true and sure arguments, leading to the knowledge of causes. The knower of what is true also has knowledge of what is false in relation to the same thing. And indeed that saying seems to me to hold well: one should philosophize about it, for something in it is connected with what follows; but even if one should not philosophize about it—since no one is led to this who has not first learned it—still one must philosophize after all.

 

Given these things, the Greeks should learn from the Law and the Prophets to worship one God only, the one who truly is, the Almighty. Then they should be taught by the Apostle: “For us there is no idol in the world,” since no image of God can exist among things that have come to be. They should also be instructed that even among the things that are made, the statues are not truly images of those beings, for the class of soul is not at all such as the Greeks’ carved images represent. Souls are invisible, not only rational souls but also those of other living creatures; and the bodies of these creatures are never parts of the souls themselves, but rather instruments—some shaped in one way, others in another. Nor can the images of these organs be effectively imitated: for even if someone were to fashion the sun, as it were, or depict the rainbow by colors, once the idols are gone, then Scripture will be heard: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,” those justified by mere abstinence from evil, together with the perfection found in these matters and the love of neighbor, and unless you are able to do good, you will not be royal. For the increase and intensification of righteousness according to the Law shows the Gnostic. Thus someone, arranging the head in relation to the ruling part of his own body, and separating it toward the excellence of faith, will obtain knowledge itself—about which all the senses are concerned—and will likewise obtain the highest inheritance. The ruling part of knowledge is clearly shown by the Apostle to those capable of discerning, when he writes to those Greek Corinthians: “Having hope that, as your faith increases among you, we may be magnified according to our rule, unto abundance, to preach the gospel to regions beyond you.” He is not speaking of geographical extension of preaching; for he also says in “Love” that their faith has abounded. The same thing appears in the Acts of the Apostles, and in Athens, where he preached the Word; but he teaches knowledge, the completion of faith, as something that should overflow beyond catechesis in accordance with the greatness of the Lord’s teaching and the ecclesiastical rule. Hence he adds, “Even if I am unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge.” Still, let those Greeks who boast that they have grasped the truth tell us from whom they learned it. They will not say “from God,” but from human beings they admit it. And if that is so, then from those others—or else from their own associates, as some of them do when they grow arrogant and puffed up, or from others like them. But human teachers who speak about God are not trustworthy simply because they are human; for a human being is not sufficiently credible, being human, to speak about God, the uncreated, the incorruptible, and the work of the Maker. Then, if one is unable to speak adequately about him, should one therefore trust even less what is said about God? For just as far as human beings fall short of the power of God, so far does their speech fail, even if they speak not of God himself but about God and about the divine Word. Human speech is weak by nature and incapable of expressing God—not his name, for that is a common usage among philosophers and poets alike, nor his essence, which is impossible—but his power and his works. And indeed those who bear the title “divine teacher” are directed by God alone in thought, with grace helping them toward all knowledge; and they train themselves to contemplate the Holy Spirit with the Holy Spirit, for “the Spirit searches the depths of God.” The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit. Therefore the wisdom among us is the only wisdom taught by God, from which all the springs of wisdom depend, so far as they aim at truth. Consider, too, how, since the Lord came among human beings and taught us, there were myriads of heralds, announcers, arrangers, and forerunners—foretelling from above, from the foundation of the world, by deeds and by words, that he would come, where, how, and what the signs would be. The Law and the Prophets had already foretold it. Then the forerunner points out the One who is present; and after him the heralds of the manifestation proclaim its power, announcing it not only to some but to all. Plato had Socrates as his own teacher, Xenocrates had Plato, Aristotle had Theophrastus, and Zeno had Cleanthes; these instructed only their own adherents. But the word of our Teacher did not remain in Judea alone, as philosophy did in Greece; it spread through the whole inhabited world, persuading Greeks and barbarians alike, in every nation and region, in every city, in every household, and in each individual within the provinces, and already moving not a few even of the philosophers themselves to the truth. And while the Greek philosophy can be blocked by any ruler who happens to interfere, our teaching is opposed from the very first proclamation by kings and tyrants, by local rulers and governors, with all their mercenaries, and by countless ordinary people, who are marshaled against us and try in every way to cut it down; yet it flourishes even more. For it does not die like a merely human teaching, nor fade like a weak gift; no weak thing is a gift of God. It remains unimpeded, having been persecuted even to the end. Plato also writes concerning poetry, “A certain thing is a cosmos and a sacred maker,” and “I do not know who, before he becomes inspired and out of his mind.” Democritus likewise says, “Whatever a poet writes with enthusiasm and a holy spirit is beautiful.” We know what poets say. But who would not be astonished at the prophets of God Almighty, who became instruments of a divine voice? So, just as in fashioning the Gnostic I have shown his stature and the beauty of his character, as it were in outline, I have indicated what he is like; for what he will be in the contemplation of natural things will be made clear afterward, when we begin to discuss the genesis of the world.