Chapter V.—He Proves by Several Examples that the Greeks Drew from the Sacred Writers.

Accordingly all those above-mentioned dogmas appear to have been transmitted from Moses the great to the Greeks. That all things belong to the wise man, is taught in these words: “And because God hath showed me mercy, I have all things.”384    Dan. ii. 27, 28.    The words of Jacob to Esau slightly changed from the Septuagint: “For God hath shown mercy to me, and I have all things”—οτι ἠλέησέ με ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ἔστι μοι πάντα (Gen. xxxiii. 11). And that he is beloved of God, God intimates when He says, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”385    Ex. xxxi. 2–5.    Ex. iii. 16. For the first is found to have been expressly called “friend;”386    Ex. xxxi. 6.    Jas. ii. 23. and the second is shown to have received a new name, signifying “he that sees God;”387    Ex. xxviii. 3.    So the name Israel is explained, Stromata, i. p. 334, Potter; [see p. 300, supra.] while Isaac, God in a figure selected for Himself as a consecrated sacrifice, to be a type to us of the economy of salvation.

Now among the Greeks, Minos the king of nine years’ reign, and familiar friend of Zeus, is celebrated in song; they having heard how once God conversed with Moses, “as one speaking with his friend.”388    Eph. iii. 10; Heb. i. 1.    Ex. xxxiii. 11. Moses, then, was a sage, king, legislator. But our Saviour surpasses all human nature.389    Ecclus. i. 1.    [This passage, down to the reference to Plato, is unspeakably sublime. One loves Clement for this exclusive loyalty to the Saviour.] He is so lovely, as to be alone loved by us, whose hearts are set on the true beauty, for “He was the true light.”390    Prov. ii. 3–5.    John i. 9. He is shown to be a King, as such hailed by unsophisticated children and by the unbelieving and ignorant Jews, and heralded by the prophets. So rich is He, that He despised the whole earth, and the gold above and beneath it, with all glory, when given to Him by the adversary. What need is there to say that He is the only High Priest, who alone possesses the knowledge of the worship of God?391    [A passage much reflected upon, in questions of Clement’s Catholic orthodoxy. See Elucidation VI., infra.]    The Stoics defined piety as “ the knowledge of the worship of God.” He is Melchizedek, “King of peace,”392    Heb. vii. 2. the most fit of all to head the race of men. A legislator too, inasmuch as He gave the law by the mouth of the prophets, enjoining and teaching most distinctly what things are to be done, and what not. Who of nobler lineage than He whose only Father is God? Come, then, let us produce Plato assenting to those very dogmas. The wise man he calls rich in the Phœdrus, when he says, “O dear Pan, and whatever other gods are here, grant me to become fair within; and whatever external things I have, let them be agreeable to what is within. I would reckon the wise man rich.”393    Socrates in the Phœdrus, near the end, [p. 279.] And the Athenian stranger,394    Introduced by Plato in The Laws, conversing with Socrates. finding fault with those who think that those who have many possessions are rich, speaks thus: “For the very rich to be also good is impossible—those, I mean, whom the multitude count rich. Those they call rich, who, among a few men, are owners of the possessions worth most money; which any bad man may possess.” “The whole world of wealth belongs to the believer,”395    Taken likely from some apocryphal writing. Solomon says, “but not a penny to the unbeliever.” Much more, then, is the Scripture to be believed which says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man”396    Matt. xix. 24. to lead a philosophic life. But, on the other hand, it blesses “the poor;”397    Matt. v. 3. as Plato understood when he said, “It is not the diminishing of one’s resources, but the augmenting of insatiableness, that is to be considered poverty; for it is not slender means that ever constitutes poverty, but insatiableness, from which the good man being free, will also be rich.” And in Alcibiades he calls vice a servile thing, and virtue the attribute of freemen. “Take away from you the heavy yoke, and take up the easy one,”398    Matt. xi. 28–30. says the Scripture; as also the poets call [vice] a slavish yoke. And the expression, “Ye have sold yourselves to your sins,” agrees with what is said above: “Every one, then, who committeth sin is a slave; and the slave abideth not in the house for ever. But if the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free, and the truth shall make you free.”399    John viii. 32–36.

And again, that the wise man is beautiful, the Athenian stranger asserts, in the same way as if one were to affirm that certain persons were just, even should they happen to be ugly in their persons. And in speaking thus with respect to eminent rectitude of character, no one who should assert them to be on this account beautiful would be thought to speak extravagantly. And “His appearance was inferior to all the Sons of men,”400    Isa. liii. 3. [That is after he became the Man of Sorrows; not originally.] prophecy predicted.

Plato, moreover, has called the wise man a king, in The Statesman. The remark is quoted above.

These points being demonstrated, let us recur again to our discourse on faith. Well, with the fullest demonstration, Plato proves, that there is need of faith everywhere, celebrating peace at the same time: “For no man will ever be trusty and sound in seditions without entire virtue. There are numbers of mercenaries full of fight, and willing to die in war; but, with a very few exceptions, the most of them are desperadoes and villains, insolent and senseless.” If these observations are right, “every legislator who is even of slight use, will, in making his laws, have an eye to the greatest virtue. Such is fidelity,”401    πιστότης. which we need at all times, both in peace and in war, and in all the rest of our life, for it appears to embrace the other virtues. “But the best thing is neither war nor sedition, for the necessity of these is to be deprecated. But peace with one another and kindly feeling are what is best.” From these remarks the greatest prayer evidently is to have peace, according to Plato. And faith is the greatest mother of the virtues. Accordingly it is rightly said in Solomon, “Wisdom is in the mouth of the faithful."402    Ecclus. xv. 10. Since also Xenocrates, in his book on “Intelligence,” says “that wisdom is the knowledge of first causes and of intellectual essence.” He considers intelligence as twofold, practical and theoretical, which latter is human wisdom. Consequently wisdom is intelligence, but all intelligence is not wisdom. And it has been shown, that the knowledge of the first cause of the universe is of faith, but is not demonstration. For it were strange that the followers of the Samian Pythagoras, rejecting demonstrations of subjects of question, should regard the bare ipse dixit403    Laertius, in opposition to the general account, ascribes the celebrated αὐτὸς εφα to Pythagoras Zacynthus. Suidas, who with the most ascribes it to the Samian Pythagoras, says that it meant “God has said,” as he professed to have received his doctrines from God. as ground of belief; and that this expression alone sufficed for the confirmation of what they heard, while those devoted to the contemplation of the truth, presuming to disbelieve the trustworthy Teacher, God the only Saviour, should demand of Him tests of His utterances. But He says, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” And who is he? Let Epicharmus say:—

Rating some as unbelievers, Heraclitus says, “Not knowing how to hear or to speak;” aided doubtless by Solomon, who says, “If thou lovest to hear, thou shalt comprehend; and if thou incline thine ear, thou shalt be wise.”405    Ecclus. vi. 33.

Πάντα τοίνυν τὰ προειρημένα φαίνεται παρὰ Μωυσέως τοῦ μεγάλου ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας διαδεδόσθαι δόγματα. πάντα μὲν οὖν τοῦ σοφοῦ ὑπάρχειν διὰ τούτων διδάσκει· καὶ διότι ἠλέησέν με ὁ θεός, ἔστι μοι πάντα. θεοφιλῆ δὲ αὐτὸν μηνύει λέγων· θεὸς Ἀβραάμ, θεὸς Ἰσαάκ, θεὸς Ἰακώβ. ὃ μὲν γὰρ φίλος ἄντικρυς κεκλημένος εὑρίσκεται, ὃ δὲ ὁρῶν τὸν θεὸν μετωνομασμένος δείκνυται· τόν τε Ἰσαὰκ ὡς καθωσιωμένον ἱερεῖον ἀλληγορήσας ἐξελέξατο ἑαυτῷ τύπον ἐσόμενον ἡμῖν οἰκονομίας σωτηρίου. παρά τε Ἕλλησιν ᾄδεται ὁ Μίνως ἐννέωρος βασιλεὺς ὀαριστὴς ∆ιός, ἀκηκοότων αὐτῶν, ὅπως ποτὲ μετὰ Μωυσέως διελέγετο ὁ θεός, ὡς εἴ τις λαλήσαι πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον. ἦν δ' οὖν ὁ μὲν Μωυσῆς σοφός, βασιλεύς, νομοθέτης· ὁ σωτὴρ δὲ ἡμῶν ὑπερβάλλει πᾶσαν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν· καλὸς μὲν ὡς ἀγαπᾶσθαι μόνος πρὸς ἡμῶν τὸ καλὸν τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἐπιποθούντων, ἦν γὰρ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, βασιλεὺς δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ παίδων ἀπείρων ἔτι καὶ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων ἀπιστούντων καὶ ἀγνοούντων ἀναγορευόμενος καὶ πρὸς αὐτῶν προφητῶν ἀνακηρυττόμενος δείκνυται· πλούσιος δὲ εἰς τοσοῦτον, ὡς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ γῆς καὶ ὑπ' αὐτὴν χρυσίον ὑπερηφάνησεν σὺν καὶ δόξῃ πάσῃ διδόμενα αὐτῷ πρὸς τοῦ ἀντικειμένου. τί δεῖ λέγειν, ὡς μόνος ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ὁ μόνος ἐπιστήμων τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ θεραπείας βασιλεὺς εἰρήνης Μελχισεδέκ, ὁ πάντων ἱκανώτατος ἀφηγεῖσθαι τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους; νομοθέτης δὲ ὡς ἂν διδοὺς τὸν νόμον ἐν τῷ στόματι τῶν προφητῶν τά τε πρακτέα καὶ μὴ σαφέστατα ἐντελλόμενός τε καὶ διδάσκων. τίς δ' ἂν τούτου εὐγενέστερος, οὗ μόνος πατὴρ ὁ θεός; φέρε δὴ καὶ Πλάτωνα τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιβάλλοντα παραστησώμεθα δόγμασιν· πλούσιον μὲν τὸν σοφὸν εἴρηκεν ἐν τῷ Φαίδρῳ, ὦ φίλε Πὰν λέγων καὶ ὅσοι ἄλλοι τῇδε θεοί, δοίητέ μοι καλῷ γενέσθαι τἄνδοθεν· ἔξωθεν δὲ ὅσα ἔχω, τοῖς ἐντὸς εἶναί μοι φίλα· πλούσιον δὲ νομίζοιμι τὸν σοφόν. καταμεμφόμενος δὲ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ξένος τῶν οἰομένων πλουσίους εἶναι τοὺς πολλὰ κεκτημένους χρήματα ὧδε λέγει· πλουσίους δ' αὖ σφόδρα εἶναι καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἀδύνατον, οὕς γε δὴ πλουσίους οἱ πολλοὶ καταλέγουσι· λέγουσι δὲ τοὺς κεκτημένους ἐν ὀλίγοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων πλείστου νομίσματος ἄξια κτήματα, ἃ καὶ κακός τις κέκτηται. τοῦ πιστοῦ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος τῶν χρημάτων, ὁ Σολομὼν λέγει, τοῦ δὲ ἀπίστου οὐδὲ ὀβολός. πειστέον οὖν πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῇ γραφῇ λεγούσῃ θᾶττον κάμηλον διὰ τρυπήματος βελόνης διελεύσεσθαι ἢ πλούσιον φιλοσοφεῖν· μακαρίζει δ' ἔμπαλιν τοὺς πένητας, ὡς συνῆκεν Πλάτων λέγων· πενίαν δὲ ἡγητέον οὐ τὸ τὴν οὐσίαν ἐλάττω ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὴν ἀπληστίαν πλείω. οὐ γάρ ποτε ἡ ὀλιγοχρηματία, ἀλλ' ἡ ἀπληστία, ἧς φροῦδος ὁ ἀγαθὸς ὢν καὶ πλούσιός γ' ἂν εἴη. ἐν τε τῷ Ἀλκιβιάδῃ δουλοπρεπὲς μὲν τὴν κακίαν προσαγορεύει, ἐλευθεροπρεπὲς δὲ τὴν ἀρετήν. ἄρατε, φησίν, ἀφ' ὑμῶν τὸν βαρὺν ζυγὸν καὶ λάβετε τὸν πρᾶον, ἡ γραφή φησι, καθάπερ καὶ οἱ ποιηταὶ δούλειον καλοῦσι ζυγόν. καὶ τὸ ἐπράθητε ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν τοῖς προειρημένοις συνᾴδει. πᾶς μὲν οὖν ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλός ἐστιν. ὁ δὲ δοῦλος οὐ μένει ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ἐὰν δὲ ὁ υἱὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλευθερώσῃ, ἐλεύθεροι ἔσεσθε, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς. καλὸν δ' αὖ εἶναι τὸν σοφὸν ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ξένος ὡδὶ λέγει· ὡς εἴ τις διισχυρίζοιτο εἶναι τοὺς δικαίους, ἂν καὶ τυγχάνωσιν ὄντες αἰσχροὶ τὰ σώματα, κατά γε τὸ δικαιότατον ἦθος ταύτῃ παγκάλους εἶναι, σχεδὸν οὐδεὶς ἂν λέγων οὕτω πλημμελῶς δόξειεν λέγειν· καὶ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἦν ἡ προφητεία προηγόρευσεν. Πλάτων δὲ βασιλέα τὸν σοφὸν εἴρηκεν ἐν τῷ Πολιτικῷ, καὶ πρόκειται ἡ λέξις. Τούτων δὴ ἐπιδεδειγμένων ἀναδράμωμεν αὖθις ἐπὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς πίστεως λόγον. ναὶ μὴν μετὰ πάσης ἀποδείξεως ὁ Πλάτων ὅτι πίστεως χρεία πανταχοῦ, ὧδέ πως παρίστησιν, ἐξυμνῶν ἅμα τὴν εἰρήνην· πιστὸς μὲν γὰρ καὶ ὑγιὴς ἐν στάσεσιν οὐκ ἄν που γένοιτο ἄνευ ξυμπάσης ἀρετῆς· μαχητικοὶ δὲ καὶ ἐθελονταὶ ἀποθνῄσκειν ἐν πολέμῳ τῶν μισθοφόρων εἰσὶν πάμπολλοι, ὧν πλεῖστοι γίνονται θρασεῖς καὶ ἄδικοι ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄφρονες, ἐκτὸς δή τινων μάλα ὀλίγων. εἰ δὴ ταῦτα ὀρθῶς λέγεται, πᾶς νομοθέτης, οὗ καὶ σμικρὸν ὄφελος, παρὰ τὴν μεγίστην ἀρετὴν ἀποβλέπων μάλιστα θήσεται τοὺς νόμους. αὕτη δέ ἐστι πιστότης, ἧς κατὰ πάντα καιρὸν χρῄζομεν ἔν τε εἰρήνῃ καὶ παντὶ πολέμῳ κἀν τῷ ἄλλῳ σύμπαντι βίῳ. συλλαβοῦσα γὰρ ἔοικε τὰς ἄλλας περιέχειν. τὸ δὲ ἄριστον οὔθ' ὁ πόλεμος οὔτε ἡ στάσις· ἀπευκτὸν γὰρ τὸ δεηθῆναι τούτων, εἰρήνη δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἅμα καὶ φιλοφροσύνη τὸ κράτιστον. ἐκ δὴ τούτων καταφαίνεται μεγίστη μὲν εὐχὴ τὸ εἰρήνην ἔχειν κατὰ Πλάτωνα, μεγίστη δὲ ἀρετῶν μήτηρ ἡ πίστις. εἰκότως οὖν εἴρηται παρὰ τῷ Σολομῶντι σοφία ἐν στόματι πιστῶν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ξενοκράτης ἐν τῷ Περὶ φρονήσεως τὴν σοφίαν ἐπιστήμην τῶν πρώτων αἰτίων καὶ τῆς νοητῆς οὐσίας εἶναί φησι, τὴν φρόνησιν ἡγούμενος διττήν, τὴν μὲν πρακτικήν, τὴν δὲ θεωρητικήν, ἣν δὴ σοφίαν ὑπάρχειν ἀνθρωπίνην. διόπερ ἡ μὲν σοφία φρόνησις, οὐ μὴν πᾶσα φρόνησις σοφία. δέδεικται δὲ τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἀρχῆς ἐπιστήμη πιστή, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπόδειξις εἶναι. καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον, τοὺς μὲν Πυθαγόρου τοῦ Σαμίου ζηλωτὰς τῶν ζητουμένων τὰς ἀποδείξεις παραιτουμένους τὸ αὐτὸς ἔφα πίστιν ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ ταύτῃ ἀρκεῖσθαι μόνῃ τῇ φωνῇ πρὸς τὴν βεβαίωσιν ὧν ἀκηκόασι, τοὺς δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας φιλοθεάμονας, ἀπιστεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντας ἀξιοπίστῳ διδασκάλῳ, τῷ μόνῳ σωτῆρι θεῷ, βασάνους τῶν λεγομένων ἀπαιτεῖν παρ' αὐτοῦ. ὃ δὲ ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω λέγει. καὶ τίς οὗτος; Ἐπίχαρμος εἰπάτω· νοῦς ὁρῇ [καὶ] νοῦς ἀκούει, τἄλλα κωφὰ καὶ τυφλά. ἀπίστους εἶναί τινας ἐπιστύφων Ἡράκλειτός φησιν, ἀκοῦσαι οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι οὐδ' εἰπεῖν, ὠφεληθεὶς δήπουθεν παρὰ Σολομῶντος, ἐὰν ἀγαπήσῃς ἀκούειν, ἐκδέξῃ, καὶ ἐὰν κλίνῃς τὸ οὖς σου, σοφὸς ἔσῃ.