The sharp distinction drawn by Clement between the High
PISTIS, GNOSIS, COSMOLOGY, AND THEOLOGY PISTIS, GNOSIS, and by the Gospel of Philip. Heracleon identifies the Holy of ] and in Exc. 27;' the con Holies with the pleroma which only the zvevparucoé are allowed to | and the entry of the Hi enter and the front hall of the tabernacle, which is reserved to the | observed both in Cleme Levites, with the space outside the pleroma which is the dwelling- | and 'friend', which Cle a" o a :
AE re 1e + place of the puyuol: ayetrar yap 7a pev ayia TOY ayiwy etvas as we have seen, both i 76 lepdv, els & pdvos 6 dpyrepeds elozjet, EvOa... TovS TVEUYPATLKODS
A further correspond xwpetv: 7a 5é rod mpovdov, dmov Kal of Aevirat, ovpBodrov efvar can be observed. In ord tov ew Tod mAnpdpatos puyikdv edproxopevwy ev owrnpia, fr. 13
Priest enjoys in the Hol Vélker.! The author of the Gospel of Philip calls the Holy of 40. 1 to 1 Cor. 2: 9, jv d Holies 'bridal chamber',? thus hinting at the Valentinian idea
| ert xapdiav avOpdsrrov od of the marriage between the zvevparioé and the angels or Adyor | same passage of St. Pau in the pleroma,3 and calls those who possess gnosis 'friends and } description of the object sons of the bridegroom'.
Clement's representat We can now understand better the underlying ideas of the } the Holy ofHolies goes f passage Strom. v. 39. 3-40.
1 translated above. When Clement Philo: it plunges direct wrote it, he had still in mind paragraph 27 of the Excerpta ticism can enable us to as well as other passages of gnostic writings dealing with the f topic of the entry of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies.
6. During our exami The sharp distinction drawn by Clement between the High | portunity to touch the q Priest and the common priests—it symbolizes the distinction through the heavens a between the 'gnostic? man and the common believers'—finds characteristic of Exc, 27 its exact counterpart in the distinction between the Holy of | by Clement, since it oc Holies and the front hall which is present in fr. 13 of Hera- | and of the Eclogae prophe cleon; the emphasis laid on the purification of the High Priest il Some modern schol (i.e. of the soul which possesses gnosis) is equally stronginClement
Recheis, J. Daniélou, E : into this second stage 1 A, Orbe, AG 113. 563 ff., and E. Baert, FZPATh 12 (1965), 468-9, have
| and Méhat es smcialle h rightly drawn attention to this passage of Heracleon.
\ ; i SE an abe 2 Gospel of Philip 117. 24-5 (p. 45): 'the Holy of Holies one is the bridal ; sages dealing with the g chamber' and 132. 21-3 (p. 60): 'but the bridal chamber is hidden. It is the Holy
) 3 Gospel of Philip 130. 23-4 (p. 58): 'bridegrooms and brides belong to the 27.
1, decxvds ri drdbeow <r bridal chamber.'
} yevonevon Kal xovpou Sid ry 4 Gospel of Philip 130. 16-17 (p. 58).
* Strom. v. 40. 1 (ii. 35324) 5 Strom. v. 39. 4 (ii. 353. 12-15). Cf. Heinisch, 232-3: 'Der Vorrang, den der } ent thy yrdow kal KatdAmbw t Hohepriester vor dem gewéhnlichen Priester besitzt, ist fir Clemens der AnlaB,
_ 3 See footnote 4, p. 180 abov den ersten als Symbol des Gnostikers, den letzteren als Symbol des Pistikers auffils expriment l'amour et la co zufassen. Wie der Priester im Vorhof der rituellen Waschung sich unterzieht und
(Baert, art. cit. 471). Baert h die heilige Kleidung anlegt, so empfangt der Christ die Taufe und bekleidet sich Gnosticism, mit dem Glauben. Wie aber der Hohepriester die hl. Schar der Priester weit j _* See Hippolytus, Ref. v. 24 iiberragt, so steht der Gnostiker viel héher als die Menge der gewéhnlichen cf, Baert, art. cit. 462 and foo Glaubigen. Er zichtja den hohenpriestlichen Prachtornat an... d.i. er begniigt
* W. Bousset, ARW 4 (1901 sich nicht mit der sinnlichen Erfahrung, sondern eignet sich auch die Wissenschaft A. Recheis, pp. 56-73 and 14 an, welche ihn allein befahigt, das Allerheiligste zu betreten, nahmlich zu tieferer and EF 21 (1962), 207-11; Erkenntnis Gottes vorzudringen.'
Etude sur les Stromates ..., 456 i PISTIS, GNOSIS, COSMOLOGY, AND THEOLOGY PISTIS, GNOSIS, its separation from the body and with its ascent up to the dignity show these angels or p of the highest angels. There is therefore no need to quote again token' (avBodov) repre these passages and to repeat what has already been said by these of its actions upon the e scholars. It will, instead, be better to concentrate our attention
Sixacoodyyns Tov dwrewov on a point which has not been sufficiently examined by them, dyyéAos ... Ti TodryT . ie >> , ve namely on the close kinship between Clement's views on the Kar emxdpynow Tod ayiov Himmelsreise ofthe soul and those characteristic of Gnosticism and (ii. 299. 18-21), cf. Strom ; ae P Platonism. dnobaveiv, evouveldntos In order to find a satisfactory solution for the problem of éxos etzretv Tods THs Wuyf the determination of the cultural background of Clement's conHere we are in the r ception of the Himmelsreise both W. Bousset and J. Daniélou in these passages remin have brought it into connection with the Jewish and Christian
| Himmelsreise of the Ophit apocalyptic literature.' If it must be admitted that the general contained in a papyrus o conception ofthe soul which goes through the heavens and enjoys
1, <708 odyaro the vision of God and of the heavenly world is fundamentally yevopevov Kal Kovpov did ' i; A , the same both in Clement and in these products of late Judaism 76 ydvwpa Tijs OeoceBeias and of early Christianity, there are, however, some features in éeywooxero.4
The only dif Clement's picture ofthe Himmelsreise which cannot be adequately consists in the fact that explained without resorting to Gnosticism and to Platonism. generally evil powers un | Clement believes in the existence of angels who watch the inferior Demiurge of t ascent ofthe souls through the heavens (rofs épeoraav rf} avddw them as good angels wh dyyédows, Strom. iv. 116. 2, vol. ii. 299. 19); their main task watching the ascent of t consists in stopping the ascent of the souls which are not yet could not regard the se completely detached from the material things and not yet free the creation of an inferi from passions and in letting go through and praising those souls which, on the contrary, are completely free from anything
* On the presence of this to "
Lc Aaliae oa § Fug rane:
Recheis rightly calls these ange material and possess errs ble mal yap ST PORCHOLS TWA TOM.
2 See p. 177 above and foot KoopuKkdv Katréxovow of 76 réAos arrattobvres Tols aherépors Bapov3 This apocalypse has been pevous 7d0ear, tov 8¢ yunvev tev bnomumrévrww TH rédet, wAnpy dé and P. Labib, Wiss. Zeitschr.
Lon ge , t , codex V of Béhlig—Labib corr yrdoews Kal ris €& epywv dixaroovvys OUVEUXOMEVOL-mapamepmoucrt, and to codex VII of the list Tov dvdpa adv Kal TO Epyw paxapioavres, Strom. iv. 117. 2 (ii. 299.
Paul's ascent through the hea 24-8). In order to be able to continue its ascent the soul must are hon under the guise of an o eighth heaven (see especially 2 t See Bousset, art. cit. 138-54. Bousset quotes Enoch I and II (pp. 138-40), the + The term ydvwya of Exc. 2
Testaments of the twelve Patriarchs (p. 140), the Ascension of Isaiah (pp. 140-1), the term é€ovelae occurs both the Apocalypse of Baruch (pp. 141-2), the Apocalypse of Sophonias (p. 142), the this topic of Exc, 27 is adopted Apocalypse of Abraham (p. 143), the Apocalypse of Moses (p. 143), St. Paul, paragraph 27 of the Excerpta to 2 Cor. 12: 2
(pp. 143-4), the Apocalypse of Ezra, and the Life of Joseph (p. 150) also other topics (such as the t and, like Daniélou (op. cit. 407-25 and art, cit. 207-11) connects Clement with the angels, the laying aside of t this kind of literature (pp. 148-9). Dani¢lou does not quote Bousset's article, the marriage between the soul which anticipates most of his conclusions. Méhat also, op. cit. 463, draws Gnostic ism. attention to the relationship between Clement's Himmelsreise and the Jewish
_5 See, for instance, Apocryph apocalypses.
Krause-Labib 11. 4-5 (p. 139) PISTIS, GNOSIS, COSMOLOGY, AND THEOLOGY PISTIS, GNOSIS, C spiritual world of the pleroma, but only as the product of the éySods which is called al creative activity of the divine Logos. the simple faith must re In Strom. vii. 57. 5 (iii. 42. 11-14) Clement maintains that he heaven or €fdopuds.? In E who becomes perfect during his life upon the earth (wera yoo rip and a lower abode (éySo év capkt reAevralay mpoxomjv) hastes towards the court of the | in Strom. vi. 108. 1: actu Father and the abode of the Lord (els rv warpdav addjy ent rip that enables us to under kupiaxiy ... évelyerat povijy), going through the holy hebdomas
1 in all its implicat (8d ris dyéas éBSoudSos). This passage finds its natural integrai xupiaxy possess in the Va tion in Strom. vi. 108. 1 (ii. 486. 6-9), in which Clement maintains
| they have in Clement.+ that perfect men do not remain in the hebdomas but inherit In the WisdomofJesus the benefits of the ogdoas and enjoy the pure vision produced the abode reserved for tho by insatiable contemplation: of py Karapévovres ev €Bdouddr the Son of man by means dvaratoews, dyaboepyia 5é Oeias eEopouscews els dydoariKijs stay together with those w evepyeaias «Anpovoptay drrepktipavres dkopéarov Jewpias eiAucpwet
The gnostic souls afte énomreia mpooavexovres. In both passages the ogdoas is regarded of the angels and of the as the dwelling-place of the perfect man: explicitly in Strom. vi. created angels, namely t 108. 1 and by way of implication in Strom. vii. 57+ 5. The terms avOpwrwr, dyyéAwv, dpyay €BSopds and dydods have for Clement a double meaning: they piow, Ecl. Proph. 57. 4 symbolize the former the seven heavens, the seventh heaven, the same idea as that and the seventh day of the week, namely the Jewish Sabbath,
Excerpta, which, as we ha the latter the eighth heaven of the fixed stars and the Christian Katadvovoa peta TOY mpw Sunday, the eighth day commemorating the resurrection of the ' Exc, 63. 1, } ue odv ray Lord.! This is the reason why Clement, in Strom. vii. 57. 5, hints naaeeal anlage es g ak cetteal \ , neaven occurs also in the Corpus at the ogdoas by using the expression kupiax7) ovr}. Both passages dySoarexw vow, and CH xiii.
| describe, in Clement's thought, both the ascent of the gnostic tdns em rhy dySod8a yevopevou " soul through the seven inferior heavens up to the eighth heaven
{ idea in the Corpus Hermeticum Ane aty S Sha the eighth day a A. J. Festugiére, Révélation .
. and its sanctilication on the eignth day.
, . the eschatological conceptions o In the gnostic system of Valentine it is possible to find exactly the Valentinian system. In Poim the same ideas. Hippolytus, Ref. vi. 32. 9 (iii. 161. 17-18) tells divine duvdpers, become Suvdpe accord; i pak COS Ae hi i Surdpes Eavrods napabiSéact, xa ' us that according to the Valentinians the soul which has become tinian system (Exc, 63-4) the gn immortal #Adev ets 6ySod5a. But particularly important is Exe, in the éySods and then enter to ex Theod. 63: the zvevjarixoi are allotted to the eighth heaven or 2 Exe. 63. 1, af 82 dar mora the Demiurge is the seventh he « See Recheis, pp. 150-1: 'Die Hebdomas ist in der Gnosis der HerrschaftsAnpuoupydv 8¢ es rév emoupdviov bereich der sieben Fiirsten, niimlich die sieben Planetenspharen. Dariiber breitet
3 The close analogy between sich die Ogdoas, der Fixsternhimmel, der Ort der Ruhe. Die Gnosis wandelt escaped E. Baert, who, speaki damit die frithchristliche Symbolik der Achtzahl um. Der Sonntag, der Tag der
Ref. vi. 32. 9 (p. 465). Baert q Auferstehung Christi, der achte Tag, ist dem Christen Symbol der kiinftigen Welt, Strom. vii. 57. 5 (sce p. 467). der kiinftigen Ruhe. Statt der eschatologischen Typologie entwickelt die Gnosis
4 It should not be forgotten, cine kosmologische Symbolik: statt des historischen Ablauls cine Hierarchie tiberindicates also the first four coup einander gelagerter Sphiren', and Sagnard, Extr. de Théod., 185 n. 2:
'Cette La Gnose valentinienne .. ., 301 ff.
Ogdoade est aussi le jour du Seigneur (xupiax#), celui de la Résurrection, le | 5 On the doctrines containe huitiéme (lendemain de sabbat).' and J. Dani¢lou, Message évangé
PISTIS, GNOSIS, COSMOLOGY, AND THEOLOGY PISTIS, GNOSIS, C After reaching this dignity, the gnostic soul is very near the Strom. vii. 56. 6 (iii. 41.
Saviour (rav bro 7h Lwrijpe mporav TeTaypevey 'yevnodevor, avvOpovor trav d\wy Ve Strom. vii. 56. 7): it is in close communion with him, since he
'yevnodpevor. and the seven zpwréxriorou represent two entities which cannot | It is likely that Clement be separated from each other.' The contemplation
'face to face Ps, 81: 6, eye ela: Qeoi which the soul then enjoys (7péowzov pos mpoowmov emory- | not Plato said, in the tent Fal s , ire
. s povkds Tov Bedy eronredew, Strom. vii. 57. 1) is the contemplahas mingled with the div ae Ricki peak | : gar tion described in Exc. 27. 4, a&odra: mpdawrov mpos mpocwrov
: thing with it, enters a ho ie a ms seth ae , 'med fee Oedv dpav, and 27. 5, éat riv yrow kai xardéAnbw tov mpayydrov place?! This Platonic ide épxerat; it represents the climax of the contemplation of the death of the body occurs intelligible ideas which was granted to the yyworuds upon the :
Clement's term Oeo/ sho earth and which already enabled him to become an angel and to | (i, 16, 11-19), Sudpeis reach Christ: érav yap uy7) yerécews drefavaBaoa Kab? cavray TE dyaboy téos rots ywow ene ir aaaeannaal eer al , \ .
: f Kat Opry Tots ELOEoW .. . OLOS adyyedos 78) 'yevomevos avy Xpror 27. 5 Aédyos yevonevn, an éorat, Strom. iv. 155. 4. It must not be forgotten that for Clement
| Irenaeus, Ado. Haer. i.
Christ, the Logos, represents the totalityof the ideas.
In Clement's orthodox Clement has no : r .
. conception of the contemplation 'face to face' and of the close the idea of the wedding b communion with the zpw7d«rioror and with Christ Gnostic and divine pleroma, but has Platonic elements blend together in a harmonious unity,
| Platonic idea of the deifi The same blending of Gnostic and Platonic conceptions can be | ideal of dpoiwois Oe can + = S awhic Ve e.) j mel a observed also in the use of the term @eo/ which Clement applies by means of dd#ea and to the souls which have reached the highest dignity: realization at the end of , ast \ wn af wa a The direct consequence Strom. vii. 13.
(iii, 10. 8-g): af paxdprar PeGv otkyjoers. ha +e ws Sle caulk aba at ae + tov Bes face' is the rest (dvazavot Strom, vii. 56. 3
(iii. 41. 16-17): THY ecopevny nutvy Kara Tov Ueov ; ee aia) | particularly worth notici poeta Oedv Siarav. y Paed, i. 29. 3 (i. 107. 25-6 * Clement represents the divine wisdom (which for him is identical with the Strom. vii. 57.
Logos, see pp. 208 g below) as 'first created 3 THs codpias Tijs mpwroxriorov 7H dea, | towards what is kindre Strom. v. 89. 4, (ii. 385. 4-5), and defines both the seven zpw7éd«riaro and the Logos
| sane BP Ge pa Jarli as 'first-born': see Strom. vi. 143.
1 (ii. 504. 18-19) and Strom. vi. 58.
| ARROUE its Ow DABS Moreover, explaining the mystery of the transfiguration ofJesus in Strom. vi. 140. 3 mystical levels until it d (ii. 503. 9-17), he identifies him with the numbers six, seven, and eight (on the it supposes that he who exact meaning of this passage of the Stromaleis and on its dependence on the 'face to face' in a way w gnostic Marcus see A. Delatte, BEHE (1915), 237-45) ; and in Strom. vii. 5. 6 (iii.
Heat ofall mnwela > SN prehension.
6. 3-4) he represents the Logos as the chief of all angels.
It is therefore very ; =nsi¢ ae e likely that Clement believed in the existence of a very close relationship between Strom. vii. 68. 5 (iii. 49. 18 the Logos and the seven apwré«roro: (they are very near God, see Eel. Proph. spiritual and reaching | 57. 1, vol. iii. 153. 26-7). On the pwrd«r7or see also F. Andres, RQ 34 (1926), spiritual assembly, in t 135-6. As to Clement's speculations on the numbers and his dependence upon Philo in this respect see the material collected by J. D. Phrankoules, Ocodoyta 13
1 Lawsx. 904d, daérav pev dpe (1995), g-ar.
Stagepovra kal pereBarev rézo0v, dyl 2 See p. 204 below. The éySods, which is the dwelling-place of gnostic souls 2 See Apuleius, De Plat. ii. 249
(see p. 184 above), is very near theintelligible world represented by the Logos: see anima remigrat ad deos et... deoru Strom. iv. 159.2 (ii. 318. 31-319. 1); 4 dmavijs xépa } mljordLovea 7H vonTa xdopy. deorum choreis semideumque permixtam