THE SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT.259
CHAP. I.—_We ought to think highly of Christ._
Brethren, it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God,—as the Judge of the living and the dead. And it does not become us to think lightly of our salvation; for if we think little of Him, we shall also hope but to obtain little [from Him]. And those of us who hear carelessly of these things, as if they were of small importance, commit sin, not knowing whence we have been called, and by whom, and to what place, and how much Jesus Christ submitted to suffer for our sakes. What return, then, shall we make to Him? or what fruit that shall be worthy of that which He has given to us? For, indeed, how great are the benefits260 which we owe to Him! He has graciously given us light; as a Father, He has called us sons; He has saved us when we were ready to perish. What praise, then, shall we give to Him, or what return shall we make for the things which we have received?261 We were deficient262 in understanding, worshipping stones and wood, and gold, and silver, and brass, the works of men’s hands;263 and our whole life was nothing else than death. Involved in blindness, and with such darkness264 before our eyes, we have received sight, and through His will have laid aside that cloud by which we were enveloped. For He had compassion on us, and mercifully saved us, observing the many errors in which we were entangled, as well as the destruction to which we were exposed,265 and that we had no hope of salvation except it came to us from Him. For He called us when we were not,266 and willed that out of nothing we should attain a real existence.267
CHAP. II.—_The church, formerly barren, is now fruitful._
“Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for she that is desolate hath many more children than she that hath an husband.”268 In that He said, “Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not,” He referred to us, for our church was barren before that children were given to her. But when He said, “Cry out, thou that travailest not,” He means this, that we should sincerely offer up our prayers to God, and should not, like women in travail, show signs of weakness.269 And in that He said, “For she that is desolate hath many more children than she that hath an husband,” [He means] that our people seemed to be outcast from God, but now, through believing, have become more numerous than those who are reckoned to possess God.270 And another Scripture saith, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”271 This means that those who are perishing must be saved. For it is indeed a great and admirable thing to establish not the things which are standing, but those that are falling. Thus also did Christ desire to save the things which were perishing,272 and has saved many by coming and calling us when hastening to destruction.273
CHAP. III.—_The duty of confessing Christ._
Since, then, He has displayed so great mercy towards us, and especially in this respect, that we who are living should not offer sacrifices to gods that are dead, or pay them worship, but should attain through Him to the knowledge of the true Father, whereby shall we show that we do indeed know Him,274 but by not denying Him through whom this knowledge has been attained? For He himself declares, “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father.”275 This, then, is our reward if we shall confess Him by whom we have been saved. But in what way shall we confess Him? By doing what He says, and not transgressing His commandments, and by honouring Him not with our lips only, but with all our heart and all our mind.276 For He says in Isaiah, “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”277
CHAP. IV.—_True confession of Christ._
Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He saith, “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that worketh righteousness.”278 Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious. By such works let us confess Him,279 and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear men, but rather God. For this reason, if we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord hath said, “Even though ye were gathered together to280 me in my very bosom, yet if ye were not to keep my commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart from me; I know you not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity.”281
CHAP. V.—_This world should be despised._
Wherefore, brethren, leaving [willingly] our sojourn in this present world, let us do the will of Him that called us, and not fear to depart out of this world. For the Lord saith, “Ye shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves.”282 And Peter answered and said unto Him,283 “What, then, if the wolves shall tear in pieces the lambs?” Jesus said unto Peter, “The lambs have no cause after they are dead to fear284 the wolves; and in like manner, fear not ye them that kill you, and can do nothing more unto you; but fear Him who, after you are dead, has power over both soul and body to cast them into hell-fire.”285 And consider,286 brethren, that the sojourning in the flesh in this world is but brief and transient, but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of life everlasting.287 By what course of conduct, then, shall we attain these things, but by leading a holy and righteous life, and by deeming these worldly things as not belonging to us, and not fixing our desires upon them? For if we desire to possess them, we fall away from the path of righteousness.
CHAP. VI.—_The present and future worlds are enemies to each other._
Now the Lord declares, “No servant can serve two masters.”288 If we desire, then, to serve both God and mammon, it will be unprofitable for us. “For what will it profit if a man gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”289 This world and the next are two enemies. The one urges290 to adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit; the other bids farewell to these things. We cannot therefore be the friends of both; and it behoves us, by renouncing the one, to make sure291 of the other. Let us reckon292 that it is better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible; and to love those [which are to come,] as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. For thus also saith the Scripture in Ezekiel, “If Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up, they should not deliver their children in captivity.”293 Now, if men so eminently righteous are not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, how294 can we hope to enter into the royal residence295 of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of holiness and righteousness?
CHAP. VII.—_We must strive in order to be crowned._
Wherefore, then, my brethren, let us struggle with all earnestness, knowing that the contest is [in our case] close at hand, and that many undertake long voyages to strive for a corruptible reward;296 yet all are not crowned, but those only that have laboured hard and striven gloriously. Let us therefore so strive, that we may all be crowned. Let us run the straight297 course, even the race that is incorruptible; and let us in great numbers set out298 for it, and strive that we may be crowned. And should we not all be able to obtain the crown, let us at least come near to it. We must remember299 that he who strives in the corruptible contest, if he be found acting unfairly,300 is taken away and scourged, and cast forth from the lists. What then think ye? If one does anything unseemly in the incorruptible contest, what shall _he_ have to bear? For of those who do not preserve the seal301 [unbroken], [the Scripture] saith, “Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.”302
CHAP. VIII.—_The necessity of repentance while we are on earth._
As long, therefore, as we are upon earth, let us practise repentance, for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he make a vessel, and it be distorted or broken in his hands, fashions it over again; but if he have before this cast it into the furnace of fire, can no longer find any help for it: so let us also, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life. For the Lord saith in the Gospel, “If ye have not kept that which was small, who will commit to you the great? For I say unto you, that he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.”303 This, then, is what He means: “Keep the flesh holy and the seal undefiled, that 304ye may receive eternal life.”305
CHAP. IX.—_We shall be judged in the flesh._
And let no one of you say that this very flesh shall not be judged, nor rise again. Consider ye in what [state] ye were saved, in what ye received sight,306 if not while ye were in this flesh. We must therefore preserve the flesh as the temple of God. For as ye were called in the flesh, ye shall also come [to be judged] in the flesh. As Christ307 the Lord who saved us, though He was first a Spirit, became flesh, and thus called us, so shall we also receive the reward in this flesh. Let us therefore love one another, that we may all attain to the kingdom of God. While we have an opportunity of being healed, let us yield ourselves to God that healeth us, and give to Him a recompense. Of what sort? Repentance out of a sincere heart; for He knows all things beforehand, and is acquainted with what is in our hearts. Let us therefore give Him praise, not with the mouth only, but also with the heart, that He may accept us as sons. For the Lord has said, “Those are my brethren who do the will of my Father.”308
CHAP. X.—_Vice is to be forsaken, and virtue followed._
Wherefore, my brethren, let us do the will of the Father who called us, that we may live; and let us earnestly309 follow after virtue, but forsake every wicked tendency310 which would lead us into transgression; and flee from ungodliness, lest evils overtake us. For if we are diligent in doing good, peace will follow us. On this account, such men cannot find it [_i.e._ peace] as are311 influenced by human terrors, and prefer rather present enjoyment to the promise which shall afterwards be fulfilled. For they know not what torment present enjoyment incurs, or what felicity is involved in the future promise. And if, indeed, they themselves only did such things, it would be [the more] tolerable; but now they persist in imbuing innocent souls with their pernicious doctrines, not knowing that they shall receive a double condemnation, both they and those that hear them.
CHAP. XI.—_We ought to serve God, trusting in His promises._
Let us therefore serve God with a pure heart, and we shall be righteous; but if we do not serve Him, because we believe not the promise of God, we shall be miserable. For the prophetic word also declares, “Wretched are those of a double mind, and who doubt in their heart, who say, All these things have we heard even in the times of our fathers; but though we have waited day by day, we have seen none of them [accomplished]. Ye fools! compare yourselves to a tree; take, for instance, the vine. First of all it sheds its leaves, then the bud appears; after that the sour grape, and then the fully-ripened fruit. So, likewise, my people have borne disturbances and afflictions, but afterwards shall they receive their good things.”312 Wherefore, my brethren, let us not be of a double mind, but let us hope and endure, that we also may obtain the reward. For He is faithful who has promised that He will bestow on every one a reward according to his works. If, therefore, we shall do righteousness in the sight of God, we shall enter into His kingdom, and shall receive the promises, “which ear hath not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man.”313
CHAP. XII.—_We are constantly to look for the kingdom of God._
Let us expect, therefore, hour by hour, the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, since we know not the day of the appearing of God. For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would come, replied, “When two shall be one, and that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female.”314 Now, two are one when we speak the truth one to another, and there is unfeignedly one soul in two bodies. And “that which is without as that which is within” meaneth this: He calls the soul “that which is within,” and the body “that which is without.” As, then, thy body is visible to sight, so also let thy soul be manifest by good works. And “the male with the female, neither male nor female, this”315....
Footnote 259:
No title, not even a letter, is preserved in the MS.
Footnote 260:
Literally, “holy things.”
Footnote 261:
Comp. Ps. cxvi. 12.
Footnote 262:
Literally, “lame.”
Footnote 263:
Literally, “of men.”
Footnote 264:
Literally, “being full of such darkness in our sight.”
Footnote 265:
Literally, “having beheld in us much error and destruction.”
Footnote 266:
Comp. Hos. ii. 23; Rom. iv. 17, ix. 25.
Footnote 267:
Literally, “willed us from not being to be.”
Footnote 268:
Isa. liv. 1; Gal. iv. 27.
Footnote 269:
Some render, “should not cry out, like women in travail.” The text is doubtful.
Footnote 270:
It has been remarked that the writer here implies he was a Gentile.
Footnote 271:
Matt. ix. 13; Luke v. 32.
Footnote 272:
Comp. Matt. xviii. 11.
Footnote 273:
Literally, “already perishing.”
Footnote 274:
Literally, “what is the knowledge which is towards Him.”
Footnote 275:
Matt. x. 32.
Footnote 276:
Comp. Matt. xxii. 37.
Footnote 277:
Isa. xxix. 13.
Footnote 278:
Matt. vii. 21, loosely quoted.
Footnote 279:
Some read, “God.”
Footnote 280:
Or, “with me.”
Footnote 281:
The first part of this sentence is not found in Scripture; for the second, comp. Matt. vii. 23, Luke xiii. 27.
Footnote 282:
Matt. x. 16.
Footnote 283:
No such conversation is recorded in Scripture.
Footnote 284:
Or, “Let not the lambs fear.”
Footnote 285:
Matt. x. 28; Luke xii. 4, 5.
Footnote 286:
Or, “know.”
Footnote 287:
The text and translation are here doubtful.
Footnote 288:
Matt. vi. 24; Luke xvi. 13.
Footnote 289:
Matt. xvi. 26.
Footnote 290:
Literally, “speaks of.”
Footnote 291:
Or, “enjoy.”
Footnote 292:
The MS. has, “we reckon.”
Footnote 293:
Ezek. xiv. 14, 20.
Footnote 294:
Literally, “with what confidence shall we.”
Footnote 295:
Wake translates “kingdom,” as if the reading had been βασιλείαν; but the MS. has βασίλειον, “palace.”
Footnote 296:
Literally, “that many set sail for corruptible contests,” referring probably to the concourse at the Isthmian games.
Footnote 297:
Or, “Let us place before us.”
Footnote 298:
Or, “set sail.”
Footnote 299:
Literally, “know.”
Footnote 300:
Literally, “if he be found corrupting.”
Footnote 301:
Baptism is probably meant.
Footnote 302:
Isa. lxvi. 24.
Footnote 303:
Comp. Luke xvi. 10-12.
Footnote 304:
MS. has “we,” which is corrected by all editors as above.
Footnote 305:
Some have thought this a quotation from an unknown apocryphal book, but it seems rather an explanation of the preceding words.
Footnote 306:
Literally, “looked up.”
Footnote 307:
The MS. has εἷς, “one,” which Wake follows, but it seems clearly a mistake for ὡς.
Footnote 308:
Matt. xii. 50.
Footnote 309:
Literally, “rather.”
Footnote 310:
Literally, “malice, as it were, the precursor of our sins.” Some deem the text corrupt.
Footnote 311:
Literally, according to the MS., “it is not possible that a man should find it who _are_”—the passage being evidently corrupt.
Footnote 312:
The same words occur in Clement’s first epistle, chap. xxiii.
Footnote 313:
1 Cor. ii. 9.
Footnote 314:
These words are quoted (Clem. Alex. _Strom._ iii. 9, 13) from the Gospel according to the Egyptians, no longer extant.
Footnote 315:
Thus ends the MS., but what followed will be found in Clem. Alex. as just cited.
THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP.
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
The authenticity of the following epistle can on no fair grounds be questioned. It is abundantly established by external testimony, and is also supported by the internal evidence. Irenæus says (_Adv. Hær._ iii. 3): “There is extant an epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, most satisfactory, from which those that have a mind to do so may learn the character of his faith,” etc. This passage is embodied by Eusebius in his _Ecclesiastical History_ (iv. 14); and in another place the same writer refers to the epistle before us as an undoubted production of Polycarp (_Hist. Eccl._ iii. 36). Other ancient testimonies might easily be added, but are superfluous, inasmuch as there is a general consent among scholars at the present day that we have in this letter an authentic production of the renowned Bishop of Smyrna.
Of Polycarp’s life little is known, but that little is highly interesting. Irenæus was his disciple, and tells us that “Polycarp was instructed by the apostles, and was brought into contact with many who had seen Christ” (_Adv. Hær._ iii. 3; Euseb. _Hist. Eccl._ iv. 14). There is also a very graphic account given of Polycarp by Irenæus in his epistle to Florinus, to which the reader is referred. It has been preserved by Eusebius (_Hist. Eccl._ v. 20).
The epistle before us is not perfect in any of the Greek MSS. which contain it. But the chapters wanting in Greek are contained in an ancient Latin version. While there is no ground for supposing, as some have done, that the whole epistle is spurious, there seems considerable force in the arguments by which many others have sought to prove chap. xiii. to be an interpolation.
The date of the epistle cannot be satisfactorily determined. It depends on the conclusion we reach as to some points, very difficult and obscure, connected with that account of the martyrdom of Polycarp which has come down to us. We shall not, however, probably be far wrong if we fix it about the middle of the second century.