Clement of Alexandria · a new plain-English translation from the original language
It becomes clear, then, that Greek preparatory training, together with philosophy itself, has come to mankind from God, not by way of a leading purpose of its own, but in the manner that the rains fall down upon the good earth and upon the dung-heap and upon the housetops alike. Grass springs up in the same way, and so does grain, and a fig tree grows even on tombs, and whatever else of the less noble trees, and the things that grow up merely in outward form fall short of the true, because though they enjoyed the same power of the rain, they did not obtain the same grace as those that grew in rich soil, but either withered away or were plucked up. And here too the parable of the sowing which the Lord expounded proves useful. For there is one farmer of the earth that is in mankind, the one sowing the nourishing seeds from above, from the foundation of the world, who has rained down the Word as Lord at each season, but the seasons and the places receptive of it have produced the differences. Besides, the farmer sows not wheat alone (although even of this there are several varieties), but sows also further seeds — barley, beans, peas, vetch, garden herbs, and flowering plants; and of the same husbandry is also the cultivation of plants, working at whatever pertains to nurseries themselves and to gardens and to orchards and, in general, to the nature and nourishment of trees of every kind. Likewise, too, it is not shepherding alone, but also cattle-herding and horse-breeding and dog-breeding and bee-keeping — all these are arts, and, to put it concisely, herd-tending and animal-rearing generally, differing from one another in degree, yet all beneficial to life. By philosophy I do not mean the Stoic, nor the Platonic, nor the Epicurean and Aristotelian, but whatever has been well said in each of these schools, teaching righteousness along with a reverent knowledge — all this taken together as the eclectic whole I call philosophy. But whatever these men, cutting it off from human reasonings, have counterfeited, that I would never call divine.
Let us now also consider this: that if ever those who do not truly know still live rightly † to do good — for they have fallen in with beneficence, and some also hit the mark well through understanding in reasoning about truth — yet Abraham was justified not by works but by faith. There is therefore no advantage accruing to such people once life has ended, even supposing them to be doers of good in the present, unless they possess faith. For this reason the Scriptures were translated into the tongue of the Greeks, so that they could never at any time put forward the excuse of ignorance, since they were capable of hearing even the things among us, if only they were willing. One speaks of truth in one way, but truth interprets itself in another. Conjecture about truth is one thing, truth itself another; likeness is one thing, the very being itself another; and the one is attained by learning and practice, the other by power and by faith. For the teaching of reverence toward God is a gift, while faith is a grace bestowed. And it is through carrying out God's will that we arrive at knowledge of it. "Open ye," therefore, says Scripture, "the gates of righteousness, that entering by them I may make confession to the Lord." But the ways to righteousness, since God saves in many fashions (for he is good), are many and varied, and lead to the one sovereign way and gate. But if you seek the royal and authoritative entrance, this is what you shall hear: "This gate belongs to the Lord; it is by this that the righteous will pass in." Of the many gates thus opened, this one in righteousness was the gate in Christ, in which all are blessed who enter and direct their course in gnostic holiness. Thus Clement, in his letter to the Corinthians, says word for word, setting forth the distinctions among those approved in the church: "Let one be faithful, let one be able to declare knowledge, let one be wise in the discernment of words, let one be vigorous in deeds."
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