2 What is the most important thing he wrote to you in the
CLEMENT OF RoME
sions and schisms and war in your midst? ** 6 Or, do we not have one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace, a Spirit that was poured out upon us? And is there not one calling in Christ? **° 7 Why do we tear apart and disjoint the members of Christ and revolt against our own body, and go to such extremes of madness as to forget that we are mutually dependent members? *** Remember the words of Jesus our
Lord. 8 For He said: ** Utterly wretched is that man; it would be better for him not to have been born than to be an occasion of sin to one of my elect; it would be better for him to lie at the bottom of the sea with a millstone hung round his neck than to pervert one of my elect. 9 Your schism has perverted many; many it has thrown into discouragement, many it has bewildered, and to all of us it has brought sorrow.
And your schism persists!
47. Take up the epistle of the blessed Apostle Paul.
2 What is the most important thing he wrote to you in the early days of gospel preaching? **® 3 He was truly inspired when he wrote to you regarding himself and Cephas and Apollos,*° because already at that time you had engaged in factious agitation. 4 But that display of factiousness involved you in less guilt, for you took the part of Apostles, men of attested merit, and of a man in good repute with them. 5 But now consider who those are that have perverted you and vilified the venerable character of your celebrated fraternal charity. 6 Disgraceful, beloved, indeed, exceedingly disgraceful and unworthy of your training in Christ," is the report that the well-established and ancient Church of the Corinthians is, thanks to one or two individualsy in revolt against the presbyters. 7 And this report has reathed not only us, but also people that differ from us in religion," with the