plagiarism of the Greeks from Scripture. The views 0 a
CLEMENT'S VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN } AND VALUE theories, as can be seen from five passages of the Stromateis. In difference if Clement Strom. i.
(ii. 56. 1-6) Clement maintains that, among ; plagiarism of the Greek the philosophical doctrines, some have really been stolen from Justin by resorting direc the prophets, whereas some others have been discovered by the find already formed in philosophers themselves, who perhaps possessed a kind of azvedpa
] if he is inclined to cons aicbjcews. This statement is taken up again in Strom. vi. 55: 4
Enoch as another possi (ii. 459. 27-460. 3). In the well-known passage ofStrom. ii. 100. 3 i Clement, as well as for containing a eulogy of the Platonic formula dpotwos bed q stantial identity between Clement points out the close similarity between Plato's teaching ij doctrines and the teach and that of the Jewish law and, in order to explain it, says that the divine origin of Gre Plato either was by some chance in harmony with the law
| purpose of Clement ha through his own excellent nature, or was directly instructed scholars; they have, ho by the oracles of Scripture. The same idea appears in Strom. thus fallen short of poin v. 29. 3-4.
344. 23-3453): here Pythagoras, his disciples, ) decessors in this most i and Plato are first represented as closely dependent on Moses
(od8pa 7 vopobérn cipihnoar), and then regarded as inspired 2. The idea that Gre prophets who were able to attain a partial knowledge of the j ofthe Greek thinkers bu truth, In Strom. v. 10. 1-2 Clement promises to deal later on in | is expounded in many greater detail with the plagiarism of the Greeks from Scripture b | dealing systematically w as well as with the story ofthe fall of certain angels. This passage f first book: after mentio proves, beyond any doubt, that the second and third solutions
; sophical schools, he goe do not contradict each other; in the same way, the passages of | the oldest among them, y i i.
—4, and ii . 3 show that there ; Strom. 1. 87. 2, V1. 55+ 4, V293-45 and ii. 100 3 sk WI E | 1 My statement is of course is no conflict between the first and second solutions.
Nhat i a still possess. P. Wendland in t Molland has rightly said about the section of Strom. i. 94. 1-31 18 | 770, rightly observes: 'denn d .
: re | i lutions adopted | gesetzt, aber in den erhaltene equally true if referred to the three different so P however, have dealt with the pl by Clement. lost writings: Clement, Strom. y ' i ng But something more must be said. We should not be far from q much evidence in support of sg mange ae Kae ' find any contracomparison with the Greeks: 81
« the truth if we assume that Clement did not id a m= ' passage can refer only to so diction between these three theories just because his predecessors,
| as Wendland, loc. cit., is incli Philo and Justin, were indifferent whether they should attribute q have come down to us: see Ph se . pace | 2 See, for instance, Baur, 533, reek ivine Logos or to the { g. the origin of Greek philosophy to the divine Logos ¢ Phil { 189. The similarity between plagiarism of the Greeks from Scripture. The views 0 a ql origin of Greek philosophy a and Justin on the origin of Greek philosophy are substantially
Logos and mankind has occa ga 'A he © : it does not make much 107 and 113, and de Faye, op. the same as those adopted by Clement: it de out so far that the main featu 1 'The four possibilities... which Clement sketches out in Strom. i. 94 are not { (ic. the relationship between thought of as alternatives between which we have to choose, one excluding the q Greeks) are already present others. Clement is a most non-scholastic thinker who does not work with clear
H. A, Wolfson, Philo i. 160-1, distinctions and sharply elaborated alternatives. He will not make distinctions observed some similarities bet or separations where reality exhibits connexions and inseparability' (Molland, a | see also footnote 1, p. 20 abo art. cit.
75) . do not examine the question i CLEMENT'S VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN AND VALUE was much earlier.! The following chapter (the fifteenth) shows
} chapter (the last of the fir the barbarian origin ofmost of the Greek philosophers, who had \ of Timaeus 22 b, & Sdduv also learnt many doctrines from barbarian teachers,? and lays
« yepwr Sé 'EMijv strong emphasis on the fact that philosophy, before comingtothe | greater antiquity of the J Greeks, had flourished among many barbarian races.3 Chapter the opening of the secon XVI proceeds on the same lines, since it is mainly a survey of later on more evidence fo the discoveries made not by the Greeks but by the Barbarians.
Old Testament.? He rene In Chapter XVII Clement openly maintains that the Greek ; the fourth book, where he philosophers had stolen some parts ofthe truth from the prophets, s | deal with in the remainin and that not only had they not admitted their theft, but had is fulfilled in the fifth chapt even treated the doctrines they had borrowed from Scripture
J gorean ovpBoda are consi as their own discoveries.' This statement is taken up again at | ment, and in the last, lon the end of chapter XX.° The long chronological survey of ) at showing in detail the c chapter XXI (vol. ii. 64-92) aims at showing that Jewish philo- | the Greek philosophers a sophy was much older than any other philosophy.' In chapter ofthe sixth book provides XXII Clement mentions the Greek translation of the Old
| of the inclination of the G Testament which had been made under Ptolemy Philadelphus them: not only had they and quotes a fragment of a work by Aristobulus stating that ture, but also had not he Plato owed much to Moses, since he knew the Old Testament
) this is the underlying idea from a much earlier translation. Immediately afterwards he which shows the mutual quotes a sentence of Numenius of Apamea, ai ydp ort [Tdtwv
| The following chapter (t 7) Mwvoijs drriucilwv;8 chapters XXIII and XXIV are a eulogy the dependence of the Gre of Moses, in many sections of which Clement follows Philo
| is the last in which the t almost verbatim.® At the end of chapter XXIV the strategy of pounded at some length. some Greek generals such as Miltiades or Thrasybulus is traced
The reader who goes t back to the strategy of Moses.'° In chapter XXV Clement men- | may at first be led to thin tions again Plato's indebtedness to Moses in every branch of his
| topic because it provides philosophy. In chapters XXVI and XXVII the Jewish law is | playing his erudition and a warmly praised and considered as the source of the best Greek
| 5 Bloom © emawaeti legislations." At the beginning of chapter XXVIII a strong 3 Strom. iv, see eS emphasis is laid upon the similarity between the fourth branch of : Strom, y. 27. 1 (ii. 342. 20-1) Moses' philosophy, namely theology, and what in Greek philo- | ine a a detailed sophy was called metaphysics or dialectic.' In the twenty-ninth
| spy See especially Siro:Bt "Murry «omy cagéorepor 75 t Strom. i. 64. 5 (ii 41. 6-8).
2 Strom. i. 66. 1 (ii. 41. 23-4).
. Ts 442-35 see particularly St 3 Strom. i. 71. 3 (ii. 4519-21)- 4 Strom, i. 74.
) feet wo more detailed analyses 5 Strom. i, 87. 2 (ii, 56. 1-4).
6 Strom. i, 100.4 (ii, 64. 10-12).
; and ee miett of the Greeks' c 7 Strom. i. 101. 1 (ii. 64. 20-2). A summary of the main arguments contained in thee folland, op. cit. 52 -6 this chapter can be found in Molland, The Conception of the Gospel . ay 58-60.
Sean coh the Stromateis dea 8 Strom. i. 150. 4 (ii. 93. 11)- 9 See Stahlin's app. crit., vol. ii. 93 ff. which Cle au already compo 10 See especially Strom. i. 160. 1-164. 4 (ii. 100. 29-103, 7). ke nema Sill nt incorporated in 11 Strom, i. 170. 4 (ii. 106, 8-11).
12 Strom. i. 176, 1-2 (ii. 108. 24-30).
| a: been written (op, cit. 21
CLEMENT'S VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN | AND VALUE Str i ite chara er ¢ i imself hi S s ca Stromateis that composite chai acter at which he himself hints on L on the one hand, the sa some occasions.! Without underestimating this fact we must, howand consequently also of Hy '
: ever, point out that it cannot be regarded as the only reason relevant expression of t C4 | , 0) ac * that induced Clement to produce such a huge mass of material on the other hand, to dem in support of the thesis of the lack of originality in Greek philocould not be regarded as sophy and of its substantial dependence on the Old Testament. only as bad imitations of In the second century A.D. the growth ofa Christian theology both of them by showi . inion :
: y F was threatened by a twofold danger. On the one hand, the comfounders, Moses and Jesu pletely negative attitude ofmany uneducated Christians towards and a counterfeit of som Greek philosophy prevented Christianity from assuming @
| Greek philosophy. He m scientific and philosophical character, and thus limited greatly work to the demonstrati its chances of success; on the other hand, the pagan world did text of the 4Ay61)s Adyos w not refrain from attacking the new religion. Ifin chapters I-XIV aside especially its erudit and XVIII-XIX of the first book of the Stromateis Clement had theless enable us to reali faced the first danger and taken up the defence of Greek philothe dependence both ofJ sophy, in the sections of the Stromateis mentioned above he was} philosophical tradition. forced to reaffirm the originality of his religion and of the traditraced back to analogou tion on which it rested. Let us examine this question more closely.
' ditions of other races or In the second half of the second century A.D., about twenty-five iv. 41 the flood of which years before the appearance of the Stromateis, a non-Christian not as original but as der philosopher, Celsus, undertook in his work AAn6js Aéyos* the Celsus maintains that w ambitious task of destroying the philosophical foundations of © a misunderstanding of t the religion which, at that time, was dangerouslygrowing up. The tians are represented in t : ieee nea .
: only way to achieve this purpose was, 1n Celsus' opinion, to assert, ing the ancient doctrines , Kdopov pwpia rapa bed é * See especially Strom.iv. 4. 1 (ii, 249. 19-21), Strom, vi. 2. 1 (ii, 422. 24-423. 6) distinction, present in Gr and Strom. vii. 111. 1 (iii, 78. 23-7). the | sisi ; 2 It was written in A.v. 178 (see Andresen, Logos und Nomos, 309) ; on the other
} ag fe ince 38 in hand, the Stromateis were most probably written at the very beginning of the third humility an overty is r , hs ) ) : century A.D., i.e. between 200 (the year of the death of Pantaenus) and A.D. 203]
Plato had ma 9 es (the year of Septimius Severus' persecution, which compelled Clement to leave considen aaa ED Alexandria) : see T. Zahn, 173-4 and 176.
I entirely agree with the dating proposed S niger God as mvedua by Zahn and do not think that O. Bardenhewer, 66-7, is right in taking the year
Stoicism ;!° in vil. 5
58 the 202/3 as terminus a quo; it is true that Clement, in the Stromateis, hints at the peroffer the other cheek' is ae vitions ofthe Christians, but it does not follow from this that he must necessarily
: is r have thought of the persecution of A.p. 202/3% he may have thought of other pre- ! That these are the ee vious persecutions, It is far more likely that Clement should have composed the Aondiegenseee ae Sisomareis soon after the death of Pantaenus, when he was still teaching at the book Logos und Nomos, 108-238 catechetical school of Alexandria: the way in which he speaks of his teacher
* Cf. Andresen, on cit 32-3.
(Strom. i. 11. 2, ii, 8. 23-9. 3) seems strongly to suggest that the latter was 7] * Cf. Andresen, op. cit. 22-3 already dead when the former started writing the Stromateis; and the Stromateis
* GE Andresen, op. cit. s-an themselves seem to be closely connected with Clement's activity as director of the J * Cf. Andresen, op. eis catechetical school of Alexandria after the death of his teacher, since, as will be
® Cf. Andresen, op. cit. 163 scen later on (chapter III, footnote 4, p. 189 below) they are meant to be a kind * CE Andresen, op. cit. 155, of introduction to the study of the highest doctrines.
Gf. Andresen, op; cits'79r4 "'§ VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN AND VALUE , 4, eo Sa f the passages of Plato's Crito, in which Socrates maintains that rte. (724). Be pie gh Eee ld be repaid by another injustice; in the same
| had already read Celsu injustice "pay ee - "a clear that he who wishes to go on charges against Judais ee = ans sh could easily find further material in support
Stromateis. As wee Ady O wiaes mem a3 es Celsus does not limit himself to Justin's writings," in the of his thesis." In oe Tanne of doctrines of the zaAatds
| dealing with the topic stressing _ idea pate = td Christians (éraxovew, dapClement's intentions, th by he partof the jew:
" hich Celsus. a peed a i at i narticularly insists on is the misunderstanding which Celsus, on behal Bavew) ; Nie 'ae the corruption (S:apBeipew), and the dressed against it. Orige sane at ,) of hae doctrines, for which both be regarded as the first rfeiting (wapayapaTTew een Tey > 5 is sounte ; ' 'Christians make themselves responsible when actually, the Stromateis the Jews and the Ghristia And yet, in spite of they borrow Sane fore, if Clement felt the necessity ofanswer- | notice a close link betw vonder, therefore, if Clem ) : i f .
Wh ; Small C " rae fiack andiae producing as much material pagan philosopher. Wha ing back a ep £ th ctly opposite thesis: Judaism by their conception of could in support of the exactly :
A is Saat a, as he bad ac not, as Celsus maintained, a rough copy | philosophy in particular A see uh bi orl it was Greek philosophy that was , culture not as an origin iilosophy ; on the contrary, 1t wa rf | ; 'se R ofp phys -<h tradition, since the Greck philosophers had thing which they had i dependent on Jewis f th : Old Testament. It is important races, as the expression ny doctrines from the Old a .
] | ree ee stolen many his connection, that Clement retorts against the times: in other words, p to notice, in this c nea ? eeauntertele (napayapdrrew) j oriental peoples, such as philosophers the charges of 'counterle
Greek EE A tanuine! (03 cuvevat) which Celsus had adand the Egyptians, and and of 'misundersta Christi in Strom, i. 87. 2 (iis 56 | This view, which was w pecans te a apa aT the Greek philosophers of our era but also in the —F emen atter a @ e 'elsus .
2-5) id sae a their own the doctrines which they had stolen Celsus to build up his i ae on ys without acknowledging their indebtedness to sophical and religious d 1e prophets Ww. one a z 'divine' r: a "ai awe makes it clear that they had counterfeited them ] ind 'divine' races, and phew SOUrG Bae a av neon Ths GAnOetas ob Kar' erlyywow =| .
(rapa r&v EBpaixav mpopnT av mepn TIS : m . wk ' This has been clearly sh « NaBovres a ds Sia odereprodpevor Sdypara Kal Ta pev Tapa
307, 344-5» 347+ q : at the beginning of the second book he renews this | 2 See the material collecte xapdtavres) ; a F ns vuévous Kal mrapamégiste i. 19-44. Here I shall charge (7d kupuirara r&v doypdrwv oKevwpovj iat Diogenes Laertius, i. 1, and apdacovras), Strom. ii. 1. 1 (ii. 113. 7); and in Strom. v. 89. 2-4 translated by Festugiére, 19-2 ne 28.
=) he asserts that the Stoic doctrine that idenbetween the doctrines of Plat (ii. 384, 18-385. 5) he asserts tha (e ee eventing Was Brahamans, the Jews, the M tified God with the avedpa which pecmes . y om | Apamea was very interested i actually based on a misunderstanding of the passage of the Scripture allegorically also (f
77; dapoNumenius' thought H. CG. Puec pe wpet Sia TavTwv dia Thy KaVapo nius' thought H.
Puech Wisdom of Solomon, dujicer Kat xp 745-78 (see particularly pp. 7
. y me tion for Judaism); cf. also E.
© Cf, Andresen, op. cit. 146-9. I have here drawn agi Sard Hardt v.'5. It must not be for passages of Celsus in which his polemical attitude sowards Jw ae en since in Strom. i 150. 4 (li 99 tianity appears particularly clear. ae ey - 'entity between the teaching op. cit. 146-66, 167-88, 209-24, and 225730.
CLEMENT'S VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN AND VALUE a sacred character and form all together throughout the history ' these doctrines and t of mankinda holy tradition (the dpyatos or wadatos Adyos) which : are preserved to this was handed down to the Greeks. Both the barbarian and the i. a1 (p. 48): Accordin Greek philosophers and poets are the exponents ofthis tradition." which was current a These topics occur very frequently in Celsus' work, as the followmen and acquired a ing evidence shows: vii. 41 (P187): He re i . and wise men and i. 2 (pp. 39-40): Celsus praises the Barbarians for being capable and although he prom ofdiscovering doctrines; but he adds to this that the Greeks are inspired poets and better able to judge the value of what the Barbarians have disprecisely whom he me covered and to establish the doctrines and put them into practice
Since the Greek philosop i. 14a (p. 44): Thinking that between many of the nations there tion, it necessarily follo is an affinity in that they hold the same doctrine, Celsus names
| among them, depends all the nations which he supposes to have held this doctrine him into connection wi originally. dvdpes Kat acodpot dnAovo i. 14.¢ (pp. 44-5):Hear Celsus' words: there is an ancient doctrine
) cat [I\drwv 6 106 Apiot which has existed from the beginning, which has always been pawérw, Vi. 3 (141. 1-3) maintained by the wisest nations and cities and wise men. And tried to conceal his inde he would not speak of the Jews as being a very wise nation on odk dAaloveterar Kal pev a par with the Egyptians, Assyrians, Indians, Persians, Odrysians, ax" eanaiae pavov TApwv ayye Samothracians, and Eleusinians. vi, 16 Ged, 9-89 aid i, 16.a (p. 45):
I am surprised that Celsus numbers the Odrysians, ; 5 sale vag ae Samothracians, Eleusinians, and Hyperboreans among the most
AAG ETOAC Reee said b ancient and wise nations, and yet does not reckon the Jews worth Celsus quotes Epist. vil including with the wise or the ancient. evavrios 7H toujoavre vi. 80 (p. 175): After this Celsus thought fit to say that the Chalpev br" €wob Kal zpdrepov deans have been a race endowed with the highest inspiration in the sense that Plato h from the beginning. . . Celsus also reckons the Magi among the himself depends ;* in vii. most inspired races.
Crito 49 d-e, enol pev ya vi. 80(pp. 175-6): Yet now Celsus thought fit to remark that the the adverb wdAa as r r) nation of the Egyptians is also endowed with the highest inspiraTTAdrewn wev obrws Hpec tion, and that from the beginning. . . the Persians . .
. appear to SeSoypeva.s Celsus to be an inspired race; and the Indians also.
. Butass Very similar views are not only does he not call the Jews endowed with the highest directly th i 'ook 'e C inspiration but even says that they will presently perish. owen one of the i. 16 b (p. 45. 8-10): Again, when he makes a list of ancient and ; vants to make it clea wise men who were of service to their contemporaries and to ) ut also all other discipl posterity by their writings, he rejects Moses from the list of wise go back to the barbarian ay, he devotes two chapters i,
19-15); For he says that Linus, Musaeus, Orpheus, TARY, i, Latinn onl Pythagoras adil 1959) pane followed H. Chadwic 1 See Andresen, op. cit. 108-45 and 189-208.
' be rani op. ae 73g ¢ , Op. cit,