Clement of Alexandria · a new plain-English translation from the original language
The Gnostic, then, forms in himself the closest likeness — the very mind of the Teacher — that mind which he, understanding it, both commanded and counseled to the prudent and self-controlled, this mind the Gnostic comprehends, as the one who taught it wished, and having taken up for himself that magnificent understanding, taught worthily upon the housetops those able to be built up loftily, and himself took the lead in the practice of what was spoken, according to the pattern of his conduct as a citizen; for he commanded things possible, and truly the royal and Christian man must be a ruler and a leader, since we were appointed to be masters not only of the wild beasts outside us but also of the savage passions within ourselves. By watchfulness, then, as it seems, over the evil and the good in life the Gnostic is saved, understanding and acting more than the scribes and Pharisees. "Bend your bow and prosper and reign," David writes, for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness, "and your right hand shall guide you marvelously" — that is, the Lord. "Who, being wise, will grasp these matters? Who, being discerning, will come to know them?" "For the paths of the Lord are straight," says the prophet, showing that only the Gnostic is able to understand and to make clear the things spoken by the Spirit in a hidden manner; and "whoever has discernment at that season will hold his peace," says Scripture, plainly meaning toward the unworthy, that the Lord says: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," saying that it is not given to all to hear and to understand.
For instance, David writes of "dark water in clouds of the air"; "from the brightness before him the clouds passed through, hail and coals of fire," teaching that the holy words are hidden. And indeed he indicates that to the Gnostics they are sent down from God transparent and clear as harmless hail, but to the many they are dark, like coals quenched from the fire, which, unless someone kindles and rekindles them, will not burst into flame nor give light. "The Lord," then he says, "gives me a tongue of instruction, to know in season when it is necessary to speak a word" — not only with reference to testimony, but also to that which comes by question and answer; "and the instruction of the Lord opens my mouth." It belongs to the Gnostic, then, also to know how to use speech — both when and how and to whom.
Already the apostle too, speaking of those "according to the elements of the world and not according to Christ," hands down the Greek teaching as elementary, but that according to Christ as perfect, just as we have already shown before.
For instance, the wild olive is grafted into the richness of the cultivated olive and indeed grows in the same form as the domesticated olive trees; for the graft uses the tree into which it is planted in place of soil; but all plants alike have sprung up by divine command. Therefore even though the wild olive happens to be a wild shoot, it crowns the Olympic victors, and the elm, raising the vine on high, teaches it to bear good fruit. And we see already that the wild trees draw in more nourishment because they are unable to digest it. The wild trees, then, are less able to digest than the cultivated ones, and the cause of their being wild is a deficiency of digestive power.
The grafted olive, then, takes in more nourishment because it was planted while wild; but as it becomes accustomed to digest its food, it grows like in kind to the richness of the cultivated tree — just as the philosopher too, likened to the wild olive, having much that is undigested because he is inquisitive and quick to follow along and desirous of the richness of truth, if he receives in addition the divine power through faith, being planted into the good and cultivated knowledge, just as the grafted wild olive digests the nourishment handed over to it and becomes a fine olive tree. For grafting, by the art of farming and by gnostic knowledge, makes useless trees noble and forces the unfruitful to become fruitful.
They say, then, that grafting occurs in four ways: one, in which the graft must be fitted between the wood and the bark, just as the unlearned from among the nations are catechized, receiving the word superficially; another, when they split the wood and insert into it the noble plant, which happens in the case of those who have philosophized — for when their doctrines are cut apart, the recognition of the truth comes to be in them; and thus also for the Jews, when the old scripture is opened up, that noble young olive-shoot is grafted into it. The third kind of grafting concerns wild trees and heretics who are led by force into the truth; for having pared each wedge-shaped piece with a sharp sickle, until they lay bare the pith without wounding it, they bind them to one another. The fourth manner of grafting is what is called budding; for a bud is removed from a noble trunk, with the bark cut around it in a circle about a hand's-breadth in length, then the trunk is pared out at the bud equal to the outline, and thus the bud is inserted, being bound round with cord and smeared with clay, the bud being kept unharmed and unstained. This is a form of gnostic teaching, capable of examining matters thoroughly; and indeed this form proves especially useful in the case of cultivated trees.
Now the grafting spoken of by the apostle can occur into the fine olive tree, that is, Christ himself, the untamed and unbelieving nature being planted into Christ, that is, into those who put their trust in Christ; yet it is preferable that the faith of each be grafted into his own soul individually. For indeed the Holy Spirit is in some such way transplanted, being distributed without limit according to the measure proper to each. Concerning knowledge Solomon, discoursing, says the following: "Radiant and unfading is wisdom, and she is readily seen by all who cherish her; she comes forward to meet those wishing to recognize her. He who rises early for her shall not grow weary; for to think upon her is the perfection of prudence, and he who keeps watch for her shall quickly be free from care; because she herself goes about seeking those worthy of her" (for knowledge does not belong to all), "and in their paths she appears to them graciously" — the paths being the conduct of life and the manifold variety according to the covenants. At once he adds:
"And in every thought she meets them," being contemplated in various ways — clearly through the whole of instruction. Then he adds, setting forth the perfecting love, by a syllogistic argument and by true premises drawing a most demonstrative and true conclusion in some such way as this: "For the truest beginning of instruction is the desire for her" — that is, of knowledge — "and the care for instruction is love, and love means obeying her laws, and heeding those laws confirms incorruption, and incorruption brings one close to God. Desire for wisdom, then, mounts up toward a kingdom." For he teaches, I think, that true instruction is a kind of longing for knowledge, and the exercise of instruction lies in loving knowledge; and love means obeying the commandments that conduct one to knowledge, and obeying them confirms those very commandments, on account of which incorruption comes about, and incorruption makes one near to God. If, then, love of knowledge makes one incorruptible and leads the royal man near to God the king, one must therefore seek knowledge with a view to finding it. Now seeking is an impulse toward apprehension, discovering the underlying object through certain signs, while finding is the limit and the rest of the search, occurring in apprehension, which is knowledge. And this, properly speaking, is what finding is — knowledge, being the apprehension reached through search. And they say that a sign is that which precedes, or coexists with, or follows the thing.
Of the search concerning God, then, the finding lies in what is taught by way of the Son, and the sign that our Savior is that very Son of God consists both of the prophecies preceding his coming, which proclaimed him, and of the testimonies concerning him that coexisted with his sensible birth, and further of his powers proclaimed and manifestly displayed after his ascension. It is proof, then, that truth resides with us, in that the Son of God himself was its teacher; for if in regard to every question these universal marks are found — both a person and a matter — then true reality is shown to be with us alone, since the person of the truth that is shown is the Son of God, while the matter is the power of faith, which increases even though everyone opposes it and the whole world itself resists. But since it has been agreed that this has been confirmed by eternal works and words, and it has already become evident, everyone who does not think there is providence, and is truly godless, deserves punishment, not refutation; but it lies before us to determine what we must do and in what manner we must live so as to arrive at the knowledge of God the Almighty, and how by honoring the divine we may become causes of salvation for ourselves — learning and gaining understanding, not through the sophists, but directly from God, of what pleases him, and setting ourselves to act justly and in holiness. That we be saved pleases him, and salvation is achieved both through right conduct and through knowledge, and the Lord instructs us in each of these.
If, then, according to Plato too, it is possible to learn the truth thoroughly only from God or from the offspring of God, we reasonably boast that, choosing our testimonies from the divine oracles, we are taught the truth through the Son of God — the truths having first been prophesied and then afterward made clear; and the things that cooperate toward the discovery of truth are themselves not without value. Philosophy, at any rate, proclaiming providence and the reward of the happy life, and in turn the punishment of the wretched life, speaks of God in a summary way, but does not preserve accuracy and particulars. For it does not discourse about the Son of God, nor about the dispensation according to providence, in the same way we do; for it did not know the worship that is according to God. Therefore the sects within barbarian philosophy, even if they speak of one God and even if they hymn Christ, speak of him only in a summary way, not in accordance with truth; for they invent another god, and they do not receive Christ as the prophecies hand him down. But surely the false doctrines among them, so long as they do not oppose the way of life according to truth, are not against us.
For instance, Paul circumcised Timothy on account of those from among the Jews who believed, so that, while he was doing away with what had been assumed too carnally from the law, those catechized from the law might not fall away from the faith — knowing full well that circumcision has no power to justify; for he declared himself made all things to all men, preserving by his accommodation the essential points of doctrine, in order to gain all. And Daniel wore the golden collar before the king of the Persians, not disdaining lest the people be afflicted. Liars, then, in truth are not those who accommodate themselves for the sake of the dispensation of salvation, nor those who err in some particular matter, but those who fall away in the most essential matters and, as far as lies in them, set the Lord at nought, and deprive the Lord's true teaching, those who fail to interpret and hand down the writings as befits God and His Lord; for grasping and jointly practicing the reverent tradition, passed down through the apostles in accord with the Lord's teaching, constitutes a deposit rendered back to God. And "that which you hear whispered in the ear" (plainly denoting what is concealed and enigmatic, since such matters are figuratively described as whispered into the ear), "announce," it says, "from the rooftops" — receiving it with lofty thought and handing it down with elevated speech, and making clear the scriptures according to the rule of truth; for neither the prophecy nor the Savior himself uttered the divine mysteries so simply that they would be easy prey for whoever happened along, but spoke in parables.
The apostles at any rate say of the Lord that "he spoke all things in parables and spoke nothing to them without a parable." But if "all things came to be through him, and without him not one thing came to be," then prophecy too and the law came to be through him, and were spoken in parables through him; "yet all things are straight before those who understand," says Scripture — that is, before all who, receiving the interpretation of the scriptures made clear by him according to the ecclesiastical rule, preserve it; and the rule of the church consists in the agreement and mutual accord of the law and the prophets together with the covenant delivered at the Lord's coming. Prudence, then, follows knowledge, and self-control follows prudence; for let it be said that prudence is divine knowledge, existing also among those who are deified, while self-control is mortal and exists among men who philosophize, but are not yet wise. For instance, if virtue is divine, so too is knowledge of it; but self-control is, as it were, an imperfect prudence, aspiring to prudence, but laborious and active rather than contemplative — just as, indeed, righteousness too, being human, is common to all, but falls short of holiness, which is divine righteousness. For in the perfect man righteousness consists not in civic contracts nor in the prohibition of the law, but arises from his own proper conduct and from love toward God.
For many reasons, then, the scriptures hide their meaning: first, that we may remain seekers and stay continually alert toward uncovering the sayings that bring salvation; then also because it was not fitting that all should understand, lest, taking them otherwise, they be harmed by what was spoken for salvation by the Holy Spirit. Therefore the holy mysteries of the prophecies, kept for the elect among men and for those approved from faith unto knowledge, are veiled in parables; for the parabolic character belongs to the scriptures, because the Lord too, though not worldly, came to men as if worldly; for he bore the whole of virtue, and was destined to lead man, the fellow-inhabitant of the world, up to the things intelligible and essential through knowledge, out of one world into the other. Therefore he also employed a scripture that is metaphorical; for such is a parable — a saying from something not properly so called, but resembling that which is properly so called, leading the one who understands to the truth and to the essential thing — or, as some say, an expression that through other things presents with force the things properly meant.
Already too the entire dispensation concerning the Lord that was prophesied appears truly as a parable to those who have not come to know the truth, whenever anyone speaks of the Son of God, who made all things, as having taken on flesh and having been carried in the womb of a virgin — inasmuch as his sensible flesh was born — and consequently, inasmuch as this came to be, as having suffered and been raised; and those who hear this take it as "to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness," as the apostle says. But the scriptures, opened up and showing to those who have ears the very truth of that which the flesh suffered, which the Lord took on, proclaim the power and wisdom of God. And above all, the parabolic form of scripture, being most ancient, as we have shown, naturally abounded most among the prophets, so that the Holy Spirit could demonstrate how the Greek philosophers, along with the sages found among the other non-Greek peoples, remained ignorant of the future coming presence of the Lord, and of the mystical teaching that was to be handed down by him. Reasonably, then, prophecy, proclaiming the Lord, so as not to seem to some to blaspheme by speaking contrary to the opinions of the many, shaped what it signified in words that could also be led to other meanings. For instance, all the prophets who foretold beforehand the coming of the Lord, and along with it the holy mysteries, were persecuted, were put to death — just as the Lord himself, who made clear their scriptures, and his own disciples who proclaimed the word after him, likewise staked their lives.
Hence too Peter, speaking about the apostles in the Preaching, says: "But we, unrolling the books which we had of the prophets, who name Christ Jesus, some by parables, some by riddles, and some in a straightforward and literal fashion, found both his coming and his death and his cross and all the rest of the punishments which the Jews inflicted upon him, and his rising and his ascension into the heavens before Jerusalem was founded, just as it had been written, all that he must suffer and what would be after him. Recognizing these things, then, we believed in God through what has been written concerning him." And a little later he adds again, establishing that the prophecies came about by divine providence, as follows: "For we knew that God truly ordained all this, and apart from the Scripture we assert nothing."
The Hebrew dialect, then, like each of the other tongues, has certain peculiarities of its own, containing a certain quality that exhibits a national character. Indeed they define a dialect as speech brought to completion with a national character. But it is not to those dialects that prophecy is made familiar; for among the Greek dialects the so-called variations of "tropes," pursued as a craft, produce their concealments after the image of our own prophecies, being derived from them, except that the deviation from the straight is shown to occur willfully, in metrical or extemporaneous phrasing. The trope, at any rate, is a word written down as diverging from its proper sense to a sense not proper to it, for the sake of construction and for the sake of a useful turn of phrase within the discourse. Prophecy, however, does not at all pursue figures of diction for the sake of beauty of phrasing; rather, because the truth is not for everyone, it is concealed in many ways, dawning as light only for those initiated into knowledge, for those who through love seek the truth.
It is said, then, that one form of prophecy, according to the barbarian philosophy, is the proverb, and another is called the parable, and besides these the riddle. But indeed it is also called wisdom, and, as something distinct from it, instruction; and again words of prudence and turns of speech, and true righteousness, and again teaching how to direct judgment, and cunning that comes to the innocent through instruction, and perception and understanding that come to the newly catechized. "He who hears these," it says, "of the prophets, being wise, will become wiser, and the intelligent man will acquire the art of steering, and will grasp a parable together with its dark meaning, and the sayings of the wise, and riddles." But if it happened that the Greek dialects came to bear that name from Hellen, son of Zeus and surnamed Deucalion, it is easy to see, from the chronology we have already set forth, by how many generations the dialects among the Greeks are more recent than the Hebrew tongue.
As the writing proceeds, we shall note the aforesaid tropes employed by the prophet in each passage and set them forth, artfully exhibiting the gnostic method of guidance according to the rule of truth. For was it not also in the vision to Hermas that the Power, appearing in the figure of the Church, gave him the book to copy out, which she wished to be announced to the elect? And he, it says, copied it letter by letter, not being able to make out the syllables. This showed, I think, that the mere Scripture, when taken simply by its plain reading, is clear to everyone, and that such is the faith occupying the rank of the letters, and this is why also the reading according to the letter is allegorized; but the gnostic unfolding of the Scriptures, now that faith is already advancing, we understand to be figured by the reading according to syllables. And Isaiah the prophet too is bidden to take a new book and write certain things in it, the Spirit prophesying that the holy knowledge, through the exposition of the Scriptures, would come to be later, that knowledge which at that time was still unwritten because it was not yet known; for from the beginning it had been spoken only to those who understand. Presently, when the Savior had taught the apostles, the unwritten tradition of that which is written is handed down even to us also, inscribed upon new hearts according to the renewal of the book, by the power of God.
In this way the most learned among the Greeks consecrate to Hermes, whom indeed they say to be the Logos, the fruit of the pomegranate, on account of its interpretation; for the Logos is full of hidden depths. Fittingly, then, Joshua the son of Nun, when Moses was being taken up, saw him double: the one with angels, and the other, on the mountains among the ravines, being accounted worthy of burial. And Joshua saw this sight from below, being lifted up in spirit, together with Caleb also. But the two did not behold it in the same way; rather, the one came down more quickly, bringing with him much of the heaviness, while the other, coming down afterward, related the glory which he had beheld, having been able to gaze upon it more fully than the other, inasmuch as he had become purer. This history shows, I think, that knowledge is not for everyone, since some look upon the body of the Scriptures, the words and the names, just as upon the body of Moses, while others discern the meanings and what is signified by the names, busying themselves with the Moses who was with the angels. Indeed, of those who called upon the Lord himself, the crowd cried out, "Have pity on me, O Son of David," yet few recognized him as Son of God, as did Peter, whom he also called blessed, because flesh and blood had not revealed the truth to him, but rather his Father who is in the heavens — showing that the gnostic comes to know the Son of the Almighty not through his flesh, which was born, but through the very power of the Father. Not, then, only for those who happen upon it in a simple way is the acquisition of the truth difficult, but even for those to whom the discipline properly belongs, the history concerning Moses teaches that not even to them is contemplation given all at once, until, having become accustomed to look steadily, just as the Hebrews grew accustomed to the glory of Moses and the holy ones of Israel to the visions of the angels, so we too may become able to look steadily upon the flashing brightness of the truth.
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