▾
Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies
⎗←→⎘
▾
Book I Chapter I.—Preface—The Author’s Object—The Utility of Written Compositions.
Chapter III.—Against the Sophists.
Chapter IV.—Human Arts as Well as Divine Knowledge Proceed from God.
Chapter V.—Philosophy the Handmaid of Theology.
Chapter VI.—The Benefit of Culture.
Chapter VII.—The Eclectic Philosophy Paves the Way for Divine Virtue.
Chapter VIII.—The Sophistical Arts Useless.
Chapter IX.—Human Knowledge Necessary for the Understanding of the Scriptures.
Chapter X.—To Act Well of Greater Consequence Than to Speak Well.
Chapter XI.—What is the Philosophy Which the Apostle Bids Us Shun?
Chapter XII.—The Mysteries of the Faith Not to Be Divulged to All.
Chapter XIII.—All Sects of Philosophy Contain a Germ of Truth.
Chapter XIV.—Succession of Philosophers in Greece.
Chapter XV.—The Greek Philosophy in Great Part Derived from the Barbarians.
Chapter XVI.—That the Inventors of Other Arts Were Mostly Barbarians.
Chapter XVII.—On the Saying of the Saviour, “All that Came Before Me Were Thieves and Robbers.”
Chapter XVIII.—He Illustrates the Apostle’s Saying, “I Will Destroy the Wisdom of the Wise.”
Chapter XIX.—That the Philosophers Have Attained to Some Portion of Truth.
Chapter XX.—In What Respect Philosophy Contributes to the Comprehension of Divine Truth.
Chapter XXII.—On the Greek Translation of the Old Testament.
Chapter XXIII.—The Age, Birth, and Life of Moses.
Chapter XXIV.—How Moses Discharged the Part of a Military Leader.
Chapter XXV.—Plato an Imitator of Moses in Framing Laws.
Chapter XXVII.—The Law, Even in Correcting and Punishing, Aims at the Good of Men.
Chapter XXVIII.—The Fourfold Division of the Mosaic Law.
Chapter XXIX.—The Greeks But Children Compared with the Hebrews.
Book II. Chapter I.—Introductory.
Chapter II.—The Knowledge of God Can Be Attained Only Through Faith.
Chapter III.—Faith Not a Product of Nature.
Chapter IV.—Faith the Foundation of All Knowledge.
Chapter V.—He Proves by Several Examples that the Greeks Drew from the Sacred Writers.
Chapter VI.—The Excellence and Utility of Faith.
Chapter VII.—The Utility of Fear. Objections Answered.
Chapter VIII.—The Vagaries of Basilides and Valentinus as to Fear Being the Cause of Things.
Chapter IX.—The Connection of the Christian Virtues.
Chapter X.—To What the Philosopher Applies Himself.
Chapter XI.—The Knowledge Which Comes Through Faith the Surest of All.
Chapter XIII.—On First and Second Repentance.
Chapter XIV.—How a Thing May Be Involuntary.
Chapter XV.—On the Different Kinds of Voluntary Actions, and the Sins Thence Proceeding.
Chapter XVI.—How We are to Explain the Passages of Scripture Which Ascribe to God Human Affections.
Chapter XVII.—On the Various Kinds of Knowledge.
Chapter XIX.—The True Gnostic is an Imitator of God, Especially in Beneficence.
Chapter XX.—The True Gnostic Exercises Patience and Self-Restraint.
Chapter XXI.—Opinions of Various Philosophers on the Chief Good.
Book III. Caput I.—Basilidis Sententiam de Continentia Et Nuptiis Refutat.
Caput II.—Carpocratis Et Epiphanis Sententiam de Feminarum Communitate Refutat.
Caput IV.—Quibus Prætextibus Utantur Hæretici ad Omnis Genetis Licentiam Et Libidinem Exercendam.
Caput VII.—Qua in Re Christianorum Continentia Eam Quam Sibi Vindicant Philosophi Antecellat.
Caput X.—Verba Christi Matt. xviii. 20, Mystice Exponit.
Caput XI.—Legis Et Christi Mandatum de Non Concupiscendo Exponit.
Caput XIV.—2 Cor. xi. 3, Et Eph. iv. 24, Exponit.
Caput XV.—1 Cor. vii. 1 Luc. xiv. 26 Isa. lvi. 2, 3, Explicat.
Caput XVI.—Jer. xx. 14 Job xiv. 3 Ps. l. 5 1 Cor. ix. 27, Exponit.
Book IV. Chapter I.—Order of Contents.
Chapter II.—The Meaning of the Name Stromata or Miscellanies.
Chapter III.—The True Excellence of Man.
Chapter IV.—The Praises of Martyrdom.
Chapter V.—On Contempt for Pain, Poverty, and Other External Things.
Chapter VI.—Some Points in the Beatitudes.
Chapter VII.—The Blessedness of the Martyr.
Chapter VIII.—Women as Well as Men, Slaves as Well as Freemen, Candidates for the Martyr’s Crown.
Chapter IX.—Christ’s Sayings Respecting Martyrdom.
Chapter X.—Those Who Offered Themselves for Martyrdom Reproved.
Chapter XI.—The Objection, Why Do You Suffer If God Cares for You, Answered.
Chapter XII.—Basilides’ Idea of Martyrdom Refuted.
Chapter XIII.—Valentinian’s Vagaries About the Abolition of Death Refuted.
Chapter XIV.—The Love of All, Even of Our Enemies.
Chapter XV.—On Avoiding Offence.
Chapter XVI.—Passages of Scripture Respecting the Constancy, Patience, and Love of the Martyrs.
Chapter XVII.—Passages from Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians on Martyrdom.
Chapter XVIII.—On Love, and the Repressing of Our Desires.
Chap. XIX.—Women as well as Men Capable of Perfection.
Chapter XXI.—Description of the Perfect Man, or Gnostic.
Chapter XXIII.—The Same Subject Continued.
Chapter XXIV.—The Reason and End of Divine Punishments.
Chapter XXV.—True Perfection Consists in the Knowledge and Love of God.
Chapter XXVI.—How the Perfect Man Treats the Body and the Things of the World.
Chapter III.—The Objects of Faith and Hope Perceived by the Mind Alone.
Chapter IV.—Divine Things Wrapped Up in Figures Both in the Sacred and in Heathen Writers.
Chapter V.—On the Symbols of Pythagoras.
Chapter VI.—The Mystic Meaning of the Tabernacle and Its Furniture.
Chapter VII.—The Egyptian Symbols and Enigmas of Sacred Things.
Chapter VIII.—The Use of the Symbolic Style by Poets and Philosophers.
Chapter IX.—Reasons for Veiling the Truth in Symbols.
Chapter X.—The Opinion of the Apostles on Veiling the Mysteries of the Faith.
Chapter XII.—God Cannot Be Embraced in Words or by the Mind.
Chapter XIII.—The Knowledge of God a Divine Gift, According to the Philosophers.
Chapter XIV.—Greek Plagiarism from the Hebrews.
Chapter II.—The Subject of Plagiarisms Resumed. The Greeks Plagiarized from One Another.
Chapter III.—Plagiarism by the Greeks of the Miracles Related in the Sacred Books of the Hebrews.
Chapter V.—The Greeks Had Some Knowledge of the True God.
Chapter VI.—The Gospel Was Preached to Jews and Gentiles in Hades.
Chapter VII.—What True Philosophy Is, and Whence So Called.
Chapter VIII.—Philosophy is Knowledge Given by God.
Chapter IX.—The Gnostic Free of All Perturbations of the Soul.
Chapter X.—The Gnostic Avails Himself of the Help of All Human Knowledge.
Chapter XI.—The Mystical Meanings in the Proportions of Numbers, Geometrical Ratios, and Music.
Chapter XII.—Human Nature Possesses an Adaptation for Perfection The Gnostic Alone Attains It.
Chapter XIII.—Degrees of Glory in Heaven Corresponding with the Dignities of the Church Below.
Chapter XIV.—Degrees of Glory in Heaven.
Chapter XV.—Different Degrees of Knowledge.
Chapter XVI.—Gnostic Exposition of the Decalogue.
Chapter XVII.—Philosophy Conveys Only an Imperfect Knowledge of God.
Chapter XVIII.—The Use of Philosophy to the Gnostic.
Chapter II.—The Son the Ruler and Saviour of All.
Chapter III.—The Gnostic Aims at the Nearest Likeness Possible to God and His Son.
Chapter IV.—The Heathens Made Gods Like Themselves, Whence Springs All Superstition.
Chapter V.—The Holy Soul a More Excellent Temple Than Any Edifice Built by Man.
Chapter VI.—Prayers and Praise from a Pure Mind, Ceaselessly Offered, Far Better Than Sacrifices.
Chapter VII.—What Sort of Prayer the Gnostic Employs, and How It is Heard by God.
Chapter VIII.—The Gnostic So Addicted to Truth as Not to Need to Use an Oath.
Chapter IX.—Those Who Teach Others, Ought to Excel in Virtues.
Chapter X.—Steps to Perfection.
Chapter XI.—Description of the Gnostic’s Life.
Chapter XII.—The True Gnostic is Beneficent, Continent, and Despises Worldly Things.
Chapter XIII.—Description of the Gnostic Continued.
Chapter XIV.—Description of the Gnostic Furnished by an Exposition of 1 Cor. vi. 1, Etc.
Chapter XV.—The Objection to Join the Church on Account of the Diversity of Heresies Answered.
Chapter XVI.—Scripture the Criterion by Which Truth and Heresy are Distinguished.
Chapter XVII.—The Tradition of the Church Prior to that of the Heresies.
Book VIII. Chapter I.—The Object of Philosophical and Theological Inquiry—The Discovery of Truth.
Chapter II.—The Necessity of Perspicuous Definition.
Chapter III.—Demonstration Defined.
Chapter IV.—To Prevent Ambiguity, We Must Begin with Clear Definition.
Chapter V.—Application of Demonstration to Sceptical Suspense of Judgment.
Chapter VI.—Definitions, Genera, and Species.
Chapter VII.—On the Causes of Doubt or Assent.
“We know that we all have knowledge”—common knowledge in common things, and the knowledge that there is one God. For he was writing to believers; whence he adds, “But knowledge (gnosis) is not in all,” being communicated to few. And there are those who say that the knowledge about things sacrificed to idols is not promulgated among all, “lest our liberty prove a stumbling-block to the weak. For by thy knowledge he that is weak is destroyed.”996 1 Cor. viii. 1, 7, 9, 11. Should they say, “Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, ought that to be bought?” adding, by way of interrogation, “asking no questions,”997 1 Cor. x. 25. as if equivalent to “asking questions,” they give a ridiculous interpretation. For the apostle says, “All other things buy out of the shambles, asking no questions,” with the exception of the things mentioned in the Catholic epistle of all the apostles,998 Acts xv. 24, etc. “with the consent of the Holy Ghost,” which is written in the Acts of the Apostles, and conveyed to the faithful by the hands of Paul himself. For they intimated “that they must of necessity abstain from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, from which keeping themselves, they should do well.” It is a different matter, then, which is expressed by the apostle: “Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as the rest of the apostles, as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas? But we have not used this power,” he says, “but bear all things, lest we should occasion hindrance to the Gospel of Christ;” namely, by bearing about burdens, when it was necessary to be untrammelled for all things; or to become an example to those who wish to exercise temperance, not encouraging each other to eat greedily of what is set before us, and not to consort inconsiderately with woman. And especially is it incumbent on those entrusted with such a dispensation to exhibit to disciples a pure example. “For though I be free from all men, I have made myself servant to all,” it is said, “that I might gain all. And every one that striveth for mastery is temperate in all things.”999 1 Cor. ix. 19–25. “But the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.”1000 1 Cor. x. 26. For conscience’ sake, then, we are to abstain from what we ought to abstain. “Conscience, I say, not his own,” for it is endued with knowledge, “but that of the other,” lest he be trained badly, and by imitating in ignorance what he knows not, he become a despiser instead of a strong-minded man. “For why is my liberty judged of by another conscience? For if I by grace am a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God”1001 1 Cor. x. 28–31.—what you are commanded to do by the rule of faith.
Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν τὴν κοινὴν ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ τὴν ὅτι εἷς θεός· πρὸς πιστοὺς γὰρ ἐπέστελλεν· ὅθεν ἐπιφέρει· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ γνῶσις [ἡ] ἐν ὀλίγοις παραδιδομένη· εἰσὶ δὲ οἵ φασι τὴν περὶ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων γνῶσιν οὐκ ἐν πᾶσι ** φέρειν, μή πως ἡ ἐξουσία ἡμῶν πρόσκομμα τοῖς ἀσθενέσι γένηται· ἀπόλλυται γὰρ ὁ ἀσθενῶν τῇ σῇ γνώσει. κἂν φάσκωσι πᾶν τὸ ἐν μακέλλῳ πωλούμενον ἀγοράζειν δεῖ, κατὰ πεῦσιν ἐπάγοντες τὸ μηδὲν ἀνακρίνοντες ἐπ' ἴσης τῷ ἀνακρίνοντες, γελοίαν ἐξήγησιν παραθήσονται. ὁ γὰρ ἀπόστολος πάντα φησὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὠνεῖσθε ἐκ μακέλλου μηδὲν ἀνακρίνοντες, καθ' ὑπεξαίρεσιν τῶν δηλουμένων κατὰ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τὴν καθολικὴν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἁπάντων, σὺν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, τὴν γεγραμμένην μὲν ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων, διακομισθεῖσαν δὲ εἰς τοὺς πιστοὺς δι' αὐτοῦ διακονοῦντος τοῦ Παύλου· ἐμήνυσαν γὰρ ἐπάναγκες ἀπέχεσθαι δεῖν εἰδωλοθύτων καὶ αἵματος καὶ πνικτῶν καὶ πορνείας, ἐξ ὧν διατηροῦντας ἑαυτοὺς εὖ πράξειν. ἕτερον οὖν ἐστι τὸ εἰρημένον πρὸς τοῦ ἀποστόλου· μὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν; μὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν ἀδελφὴν γυναῖκα περιάγειν, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς; ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐχρησάμεθα τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ταύτῃ, φησίν, ἀλλὰ πάντα στέγομεν, ἵνα μὴ ἐγκοπὴν δῶμεν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἤτοι φορτία περιάγοντες, δέον εὐλύτους εἰς πάντα εἶναι, ἢ ὑπόδειγμα τοῖς θέλουσιν ἐγκρατεύεσθαι γινόμενοι, μὴ οἰκοδομουμένοις εἰς τὸ ἀδεῶς τὰ παρατιθέμενα ἐσθίειν καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ὁμιλεῖν τῇ γυναικί· μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς τηλικαύτην οἰκονομίαν πεπιστευμένους ὑπόδειγμα τοῖς μανθάνουσιν ἄχραντον ἐκκεῖσθαι προσήκει. ἐλεύθερος γὰρ ὢν ἐκ πάντων πᾶσιν ἐμαυτὸν ἐδούλωσα, φησίν, ἵνα τοὺς πάντας κερδήσω, καὶ πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται· ἀλλὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς. διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν οὖν ἀφεκτέον ὧν ἀφεκτέον. συνείδησιν δὲ λέγω οὐχὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, γνωστικὴ γάρ, ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ ἑτέρου, ἵνα μὴ κακῶς οἰκοδομηθῇ ἀμαθίᾳ μιμούμενος ὃ μὴ γινώσκει, καταφρονητὴς ἀντὶ μεγαλόφρονος γινόμενος. ἵνα τί γὰρ ἡ ἐλευθερία μου κρίνεται ὑπὸ ἄλλης συνειδήσεως; εἰ ἐγὼ χάριτι μετ έχω, τί βλασφημοῦμαι ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγὼ εὐχαριστῶ; πάντα οὖν ὅσα ποιεῖτε εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ ποιεῖτε· ὅσα ὑπὸ τὸν κανόνα τῆς πίστεως ποιεῖν ἐπιτέτραπται.