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| Chapter XII.—Continuation: with Texts from Scripture.
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Chapter XII.—Continuation: with Texts from Scripture.
I would counsel the married never to kiss their
wives in the presence of their domestics. For Aristotle does not allow
people to laugh to their slaves. And by no means must a wife be seen
saluted in their presence. It is moreover better that, beginning at
home with marriage, we should exhibit propriety in it. For it is the
greatest bond of chastity, breathing forth pure pleasure. Very admirably
the tragedy says:—
“Well! well! ladies, how is it, then, that among men,
Not gold, not empire, or luxury of wealth,
Conferred to such an extent signal delights,
As the right and virtuous disposition
Of a man of worth and a dutiful wife?”
Such injunctions of righteousness
uttered by those who are conversant with worldly wisdom are not to
be refused. Knowing, then, the duty of each, “pass the time of
your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that ye were
not deemed with corruptible things, such as silver or gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot.”1737
“For,” says Peter,
“the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the
will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess
of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.”1738
We have
as a limit the cross of the Lord, by which we are fenced and hedged about
from our former sins. Therefore, being regenerated, let us fix ourselves
to it in truth, and return to sobriety, and sanctify ourselves; “for
the eyes of the Lord are on
the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer; but the face of
the Lord is against them
that do evil.”1739
And who is he that will harm us, if we
be followers of that which
is good?”1740
—“us” for “you.”
But the best training is good order, which is perfect decorum, and
stable and orderly power, which in action maintains consistence in
what it does. If these things have been adduced by me with too great
asperity, in order to effect the salvation which follows from your
correction; they have been spoken also, says the Instructor, by me:
“Since he who reproves with boldness is a peacemaker.”1741
And if ye hear me, ye shall be saved. And if ye attend not to what is
spoken, it is not my concern. And yet it is my concern thus: “For
he desires the repentance rather than the death of a sinner.”1742
“If ye shall hear me, ye shall eat the good of the land,”
the Instructor again says, calling by the appellation “the good of
the land,” beauty, wealth, health, strength, sustenance. For those
things which are really good, are what “neither ear hath heard,
not hath ever entered into the heart”1743
respecting Him who is really
King, and the realities truly good which await us. For He is the giver
and the guard of good things. And with respect to their participation,
He applies the same names of things in this world, the Word thus training
in God the feebleness of men from sensible things to understanding.
What has to be observed at home, and how our
life is to be regulated, the Instructor has abundantly declared. And
the things which He is wont to say to children by the way,1744
while He conducts
them to the Master, these He suggests, and adduces the Scriptures
themselves in a compendious form, setting forth bare injunctions,
accommodating them to the period of guidance, and assigning the
interpretation of them to the Master.1745
| 1745 [Important foot-note, Kaye, p. 105.] | For
the intention of His law is to dissipate fear, emancipating free-will
in order to faith. “Hear,” He says, “O child,”
who art rightly instructed, the principal points of salvation. For I will
disclose my ways, and lay before thee good commandments; by which thou
wilt reach salvation. And I lead thee by the way of salvation. Depart
from the paths of deceit.
“For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, and
the way of the ungodly shall perish.”1746
“Follow, therefore,
O son, the good way which I shall describe, lending to me attentive
ears.” “And I will give to thee the treasures of darkness,
hidden and unseen”1747
by the nations, but seen by us. And the
treasures of wisdom are unfailing, in admiration of which the apostle
says, “O the depth of the riches and the wisdom!”1748
And
by one God are many treasures dispensed; some disclosed by the law,
others by the prophets; some to the divine mouth, and others to the
heptad of the spirit singing accordant. And the Lord being one, is the
same Instructor by all these. Here is then a comprehensive precept, and an
exhortation of life, all-embracing: “As ye would that men should do
unto you, do ye likewise to, them.”1749
We may comprehend the
commandments in two, as the Lord says, “Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength;
and thy neighbour as thyself.” Then from these He infers, “on
this hang the law and the prophets.”1750
| 1750 Matt. xxii. 37, 39, 40. | Further, to him
that asked, “What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal
life?” He answered, “Thou knowest the commandments?”
And on him replying Yea, He said, “This do, and thou shalt be
saved.” Especially conspicuous is the love of the Instructor set
forth in various salutary commandments, in order that the discovery may
be readier, from the abundance and arrangement of the Scriptures. We
have the Decalogue1751
| 1751
[See Irenæus, vol. i. p. 482, this series. Stromata,
vi. 360.] | given by Moses, which, indicating by an elementary
principle, simple and of one kind, defines the designation of sins in a
way conducive to salvation: “Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou
shall not worship idols. Thou shalt not corrupt boys. Thou shalt not
steal. Thou shall not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy
mother.”1752
And so forth. These things are to be observed, and
whatever else is commanded in reading the Bible. And He enjoins on us
by Isaiah: “Wash you, and make you clean. Put away iniquities from
your souls before mine eyes. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Deliver the
wronged. Judge for the orphan, and justify the widow. And come, and let
us reason together, saith the Lord.”1753
And we shall find many
examples also in other places,—as, for instance, respecting prayer:
“Good works are an acceptable prayer to the Lord,” says the
Scripture.1754
| 1754 Where, no one
knows. | And the manner of prayer is described. “If thou
seest,” it is said, “the naked, cover him; and thou shalt not
overlook those who belong to thy seed. Then shall thy light spring forth
early, and thy healing shall spring up quickly; and thy righteousness
shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall encompass thee.”
What, then, is the fruit of such prayer? “Then shall thou call,
and God will hear thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He will say, I am
here.”1755
In regard to fasting it is said, “Wherefore do
ye fast to me? saith the Lord. Is
it such a fast that I have chosen, even a day for a man to humble his
soul? Thou shall not bend thy neck like a circle, and spread sackcloth and
ashes under thee. Not thus shall ye call it an acceptable fast.”
What means a fast, then? “Lo, this is
the fast which I have chosen, saith the Lord. Loose every band
of wickedness. Dissolve the knots of oppressive contracts. Let the
oppressed go free, and tear every unjust bond. Break thy bread to the
hungry; and lead the houseless poor into thy house. If thou see the
naked cover him.”1756
About sacrifices too: “To what purpose
is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the Lord. I am full
of burnt-offerings and of rams; and the fat of lambs, and the blood of
bulls and kids I do not wish; nor that ye should come to appear before
me. Who hath required this at your hands? You shall no more tread my
court. If ye bring fine flour, the vain oblation is an abomination to
me. Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot away with.”1757
How, then, shall I sacrifice to the Lord? “The sacrifice
of the Lord is,” He says, “a broken heart.”1758
How,
then, shall I crown myself, or anoint with ointment, or offer incense to
the Lord? “An odour of a sweet fragrance,” it is said,1759
| 1759 Not in Scripture. [Irenæus,
iv. 17, vol. i. 444, this series.] | “is the heart that
glorifies Him who made it.” These are the crowns and sacrifices,
aromatic odours, and flowers of God.
Further, in respect to forbearance. “If thy
brother,” it is said, “sin against thee, rebuke him; and if
he repent, forgive him. If he sin against thee seven times in a day, and
turn to thee the seventh time, and say, I repent, forgive him.”1760
Also to the soldiers, by John, He commands, “to be content with
their wages only;” and to the publicans, “to exact no more
than is appointed.” To the judges He says, “Thou shalt not
show partiality in judgment. For gifts blind the eyes of those who see,
and corrupt just words. Rescue the wronged.”
And to householders: “A possession which is
acquired with iniquity becomes less.”1761
Also of “love.” “Love,”
He says, “covers a multitude of sins.”1762
And of civil government: “Render to Cæsar
the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things which
are God’s.”1763
Of swearing and the remembrance of injuries:
“Did I command your fathers, when they went out of Egypt,
to offer burnt-offerings and sacrifices? But I commanded them, Let
none of you bear malice in his heart against his neighbour, or love
a false oath.”1764
The liars and the proud, too, He threatens;
the former thus: “Woe to them that call bitter sweet, and
sweet bitter;” and the latter: “Woe unto them that are
wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.”1765
“For he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that
exalteth himself shall be humbled.”1766
And “the merciful” He blesses, “for
they shall obtain mercy.”
Wisdom pronounces anger a wretched thing, because
“it will destroy the wise.”1767
And now He bids us
“love our enemies, bless them that curse us, and pray for them
that despitefully use us.” And He says: “If any one strike
thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one take
away thy coat, hinder him not from taking thy cloak also.”1768
Of faith He says: “Whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”1769
“To the unbelieving
nothing is trustworthy,” according to Pindar.
Domestics, too, are to be treated like ourselves;
for they are human beings, as we are. For God is the same to free and
bond, if you consider.
Such of our brethren as transgress, we must
not punish, but rebuke. “For he that spareth the rod hateth
his son.”1770
Further, He banishes utterly love of glory,
saying, “Woe to you, Pharisees! for ye love the chief
seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.”1771
But He
welcomes the repentance of the sinner—loving repentance—which
follows sins. For this Word of whom we speak alone is sinless. For to
sin is natural and common to all. But to return [to God] after sinning
is characteristic not of any man, but only of a man of worth.
Respecting liberality He said: “Come to me,
ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world: for I was an hungry, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty,
and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and
ye clothed Me; sick, and ye visited Me; in prison, and ye came unto
Me.” And when have we done any of these things to the Lord?
The Instructor Himself will say again, loving to
refer to Himself the kindness of the brethren, “Inasmuch as ye
have done it to these least, ye have done it to Me. And these shall
go away into everlasting life.”1772
Such are the laws of the Word, the consolatory
words not on tables of stone which were written by the finger of the
Lord, but inscribed on men’s hearts, on which alone they can
remain imperishable. Wherefore the tablets of those who had hearts of
stone are broken, that the faith of the children may be impressed on
softened hearts.
However, both the laws served the Word for the
instruction of humanity, both that given by Moses and that by the
apostles. What, therefore, is the nature of the training by the apostles,
appears to me to require to be treated of. Under this head, I, or rather
the Instructor by me,1773
| 1773
δἰ
ἐμαυτοῦ.
The reading here adopted is found in Bod. and Reg. | will
recount; and I shall again set before you the precepts themselves,
as it were in the germ.
“Putting away lying, speak every man truth
with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Let not the
sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil. Let him
that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with
his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him
that needeth. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour,
and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye
kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in
Christ hath forgiven you. Be therefore wise,1774
followers of God, as dear children; and walk in
love, as Christ also hath loved us. Let wives be subject to their own
husbands, as to the Lord. And let husbands love their wives as Christ
also hath loved the Church.” Let those who are yoked together
love one another “as their own bodies.” “Children, be
obedient to your parents. Parents, provoke not your children to wrath;
but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants,
be obedient to those that are your masters according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling, in the singleness of your hearts, as unto Christ; with
good-will from the soul doing service. ye masters, treat your servants
well, forbearing threatening: knowing that both their and your Lord
is in heaven; and there is no respect of persons with Him.”1775
“If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the
Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another,
envying one another. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so
fulfil the law of Christ. Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Let us
not be weary in well-doing: for in due time we shall reap, if we faint
not.”1776
“Be at peace among yourselves. Now we admonish
you, brethren, warn them who are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded,
support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil
for evil to any man. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.
Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. Abstain from every
form of evil.”1777
“Continue in prayer, watching thereunto
with thanksgiving. Walk in wisdom towards them that are without,
redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with
salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”1778
“Nourish yourselves up in the words
of faith. Exercise yourselves unto godliness: for bodily exercise
profiteth little; but godliness is profitable for all things,
having the promise of the life which now is, and that which is to
come.”1779
“Let those who have faithful masters not
despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service,
because they are faithful.”1780
“He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity;
he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to
that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly
love, in honour preferring one another. Not slothful in business; fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer. Given to hospitality; communicating
to the necessities of the saints.”1781
Such are a few injunctions out of many, for the sake
of example, which the Instructor, running over the divine Scriptures,
sets before His children; by which, so to speak, vice is cut up by the
roots, and iniquity is circumscribed.
Innumerable commands such as these are written in the
holy Bible appertaining to chosen persons, some to presbyters, some to
bishops, some to deacons, others to widows,1782
| 1782 [Consult Bunsen’s Handbook, book
iv. pp. 75–82. Thus did primitive Christianity labour to uproot the
social estate of heathenism.] | of whom we shall have another
opportunity of speaking. Many things spoken in enigmas, many in parables,
may benefit such as fall in with them. But it is not my province, says
the Instructor, to teach these any longer. But we need a Teacher of the
exposition of those sacred words, to whom we must direct our steps.
And now, in truth, it is time for me to cease
from my instruction, and for you to listen to the Teacher.1783
| 1783 That is, he who undertakes
the instruction of those that are full-grown, as Clemens does in the
Stromata. [Where see his esoteric doctrine.] |
And He, receiving you who have been trained up in excellent discipline,
will teach you the oracles. To noble purpose has
the Church sung, and the Bridegroom
also, the only Teacher, the good Counsel, of the good Father, the true
Wisdom, the Sanctuary of knowledge. “And He is the propitiation
for our sins,” as John says; Jesus, who heals both our body and
soul—which are the proper man. “And not for our sins only,
but also for the whole world. And by this we know that we know Him, if
we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His
commandments, is a liar; and the truth is not in Him. But whoso keepeth
His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that
we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself to walk even
as He also walked.”1784
O nurslings of His blessed training! let
us complete the fair face of the church; and let us run as children to our
good mother. And if we become listeners to the Word, let us glorify the
blessed dispensation by which man is trained and sanctified as a child
of God, and has his conversation in heaven, being trained from earth,
and there receives the Father, whom he learns to know on earth. The Word
both does and teaches all things, and trains in all things.
A horse is guided by a bit, and a bull is guided
by a yoke, and a wild beast is caught in a noose. But man is transformed
by the Word, by whom wild beasts are tamed, and fishes caught, and birds
drawn down. He it is, in truth, who fashions the bit for the horse, the
yoke for the bull, the noose for the wild beast, the rod for the fish,
the snare for the bird. He both manages the state and tills the ground;
commands, and helps, and creates the universe.
“There were figured earth, and sky, and sea,
The ever-circling sun, and full-orbed moon,
And all the signs that crown the vault of heaven.”1785
| 1785 Iliad, xviii. 483–485;
spoken of Vulcan making the shield of Archilles. |
O divine works! O divine
commands! “Let this water undulate within itself; let this fire
restrain its wrath; let this air wander into ether; and this earth be
consolidated, and acquire motion! When I want to form man, I want matter,
and have matter in the elements. I dwell with what I have formed. If
you know me, the fire will be your slave.”
Such is the Word, such is the Instructor, the
Creator of the world and of man: and of Himself, now the world’s
Instructor, by whose command we and the universe subsist, and await
judgment. “For it is not he who brings a stealthy vocal word
to men,” as Bacchylidis says, “who shall be the Word of
Wisdom;” but “the blameless, the pure, and faultless sons
of God,” according to Paul, “in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation, to shine as lights in the world.”1786
All that remains therefore now, in such a celebration
of the Word as this, is that we address to the Word our prayer.
Prayer to the Pædagogus.
Be gracious, O Instructor, to us Thy children,
Father, Charioteer of Israel, Son and Father, both in One, O Lord. Grant
to us who obey Thy precepts, that we may perfect the likeness of the
image, and with all our power know Him who is the good God and not
a harsh judge. And do Thou Thyself cause that all of us who have our
conversation in Thy peace, who have been translated into Thy commonwealth,
having sailed tranquilly over the billows of sin, may be wafted in calm
by Thy Holy Spirit, by the ineffable wisdom, by night and day to the
perfect day; and giving thanks may praise, and praising thank the Alone
Father and Son, Son and Father, the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the
Holy Spirit, all in One, in whom is all, for whom all is One, for whom
is eternity, whose members we all are, whose glory the æons1787
| 1787 Αίῶνες,
“celestial spirits and angels.”—Grabe, in a note on Bull’s Defence
of the Nicene Creed. [I wish a more definite reference had been
furnished by the learned translator. Even Kaye’s reference
is not precise. Consulting Grabe’s annotations in vain,
I was then obliged to go through the foot-notes, where, at last
(vol. v. part i. p. 246.), I found in comparative obscurity Grabe’s
language. It may be rendered: “These words I think should be thus
construed—cujus gloria sunt sœcula—whose glory are the
heavenly spirits or angels. Concerning which signification of
τῶν
αἰώνων, note what I
have said among divers annotations on Irenæus, p. 32. ed.
Benedict.”] | are; for the All-good, All-lovely, All-wise,
All-just One. To whom be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
And since the Instructor, by translating us into
His Church, has united us to Himself, the teaching and all-surveying
Word, it were right that, having got to this point, we should offer to
the Lord the reward of due thanksgiving—praise suitable to His
fair instruction.
Composed
by St. Clement.1788
| 1788
[Elucidation III.] The translator has done what he could to render this
hymn literally. He has been obliged, however, to add somewhat to it
in the way of expansion, for otherwise it would have been impossible
to secure anything approaching the flow of English versification. The
original is in many parts a mere string of epithets, which no ingenuity
could render in rhymed verse without some additions. |
I.
Bridle of colts untamed,
Over our wills presiding;
Wing of unwandering birds,
Our flight securely guiding.
Rudder of youth unbending,
Firm against adverse shock;
Shepherd, with wisdom tending
Lambs of the royal flock:
Thy simple children bring
In one, that they may sing
In solemn lays
Their hymns of praise
With guileless lips to Christ their King.
II.
King of saints, almighty Word
Of the Father highest Lord;
Wisdom’s head and chief;
Assuagement of all grief;
Lord of all time and space,
Jesus, Saviour of our race;
Shepherd, who dost us keep;
Husbandman, who tillest,
Bit to restrain us, Rudder
To guide us as Thou willest;
Of the all-holy flock celestial wing;
Fisher of men, whom Thou to life dost bring;
From evil sea of sin,
And from the billowy strife,
Gathering pure fishes in,
Caught with sweet bait of life:
Lead us, Shepherd of the sheep,
Reason-gifted, holy One;
King of youths, whom Thou dost keep,
So that they pollution shun:
Steps of Christ, celestial Way;
Word eternal, Age unending;
Life that never can decay;
Fount of mercy, virtue-sending;
Life august of those who raise
Unto God their hymn of praise,
Jesus Christ!
III.
Nourished by the milk of heaven,
To our tender palates given;
Milk of wisdom from the breast
Of that bride of grace exprest;
By a dewy spirit filled
From fair Reason’s breast distilled;
Let us sucklings join to raise
With pure lips our hymns of praise
As our grateful offering,
Clean and pure, to Christ our King.
Let us, with hearts undefiled,
Celebrate the mighty Child.
We, Christ-born, the choir of peace;
We, the people of His love,
Let us sing, nor ever cease,
To the God of peace above.
We subjoin the following literal
translation of the foregoing hymn:—
Bridle of untamed colts, Wing of
unwandering birds, sure Helm of babes,1789
| 1789 Or, “ships:” νηῶν,
instead of νηπίων, has been
suggested as better sense and better metre. | Shepherd of royal
lambs, assemble Thy simple children to praise holily, to hymn guilelessly
with innocent mouths, Christ the guide of children. O King of saints,
all-subduing Word of the most high Father, Ruler of wisdom, Support
of sorrows, that rejoicest in the ages,1790
Jesus, Saviour of the human race, Shepherd, Husbandman, Helm, Bridle,
Heavenly Wing of the all-holy flock, Fisher of men who are saved, catching
the chaste fishes with sweet life from the hateful wave of a sea of
vices,—Guide [us], Shepherd of rational sheep; guide unharmed
children, O holy King,1791
| 1791
By altering the punctuation, we can translate thus: “Guide, O holy
King, Thy children safely along the footsteps of Christ.” |
O footsteps of Christ, O heavenly way, perennial Word, immeasurable
Age, Eternal Light, Fount of mercy, performer of virtue; noble [is the]
life of those who hymn God, O Christ Jesus, heavenly milk of the sweet
breasts of the graces of the Bride, pressed out of Thy wisdom. Babes
nourished with tender mouths, filled with the dewy spirit of the
rational pap, let us sing together simple praises, true hymns to
Christ [our] King, holy fee for the teaching of life; let us sing in
simplicity the powerful Child. O choir of peace, the Christ-begotten,
O chaste people, let us sing together1792
| 1792 The word used here is ψάλωμεν,
originally signifying, “Let us celebrate on a stringed
instrument.” Whether it is so used here or not, may be matter
of disupte. | the God of peace.1793
To the Pædagogus.
Teacher, to Thee a chaplet I present,
Woven of words culled from the spotless mead,
Where Thou dost feed Thy flocks; like to the bee,
That skilful worker, which from many a flower
Gathers its treasures, that she may convey
A luscious offering to the master’s hand.
Though but the least, I am Thy servant still,
(Seemly is praise to Thee for Thy behests).
O King, great Giver of good gifts to men,
Lord of the good, Father, of all the Maker,
Who heaven and heaven’s adornment, by Thy word
Divine fitly disposed, alone didst make;
Who broughtest forth the sunshine and the day;
Who didst appoint their courses to the stars,
And how the earth and sea their place should keep;
And when the seasons, in their circling course,
Winter and summer, spring and autumn, each1794
| 1794 [The hymn suffixed to Thomson’s Seasons might seem to have been suggested by this ancient example of praise to the Maker. But, to feel this hymn, we must reflect upon its superiority, in a moral point of view, to all the Attic Muse had ever produced before.] |
Should come, according to well-ordered plan;
Out of a confused heap who didst create
This ordered sphere, and from the shapeless mass
Of matter didst the universe adorn;—
Grant to me life, and be that life well spent,
Thy grace enjoying; let me act and speak
In all things as Thy Holy Scriptures teach;1795
| 1795 [The Scriptures are the rule of faith.] |
Thee and Thy co-eternal Word, All-wise,
From Thee proceeding, ever may I praise;
Give me nor poverty nor wealth, but what is meet,
Father, in life, and then life’s
happy close.1796
| 1796 [Kaye’s
careful criticism of M. Barbeyrac’s captious complains against
Clement, are specially instructive. p. 109.] | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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