The Symbolic Universe Implied in 1 Clement
The Social Setting of the Ministry The Symbolic Universe Implied in 1 Clement What world-view did the Corinthian church contemporary with Clement's letter share? According to Campenhausen, ί Clement represents a departure from the insights of genuine Paulinism. He expresses this viewpoint forcefully when, commenting on the Roman epistle, he writes
The abstract concept of order has become completely detached from any specifically Christian meaning — that is to say, one connected with Christ and the Gospel — and thus threatens to lose altogether its concrete and historical actuality. The empty generalities and the lack of any really penetrating human and religious insights, which characterize 1 Clement, are however by no means devoid of practical implications; for the decision has already been reached in favour of a particular side. The political and social self-awareness, in the widest sense, of the official Church with its natural morality spontaneously thrusts itself forward, and in the place which the Gospel has left vacant sets its own ready-made system. As a result the diffuse, respectable sentiments of the sermon acquire a positive platform, and ecclesiastical organization the needed safeguard and reinforcement of an edifying presentation.
He then continues, In this way the elders and church officials win the victory over the slackening energies of the Christian proclamation; and wherever there is a struggle over the rights of ecclesiastical office, again and again it is 1 Clement which the adherents of officialdom like to adduce in support of their position.217
Thus Clement is cast in the role of a somewhat insipid homme de parti who takes over a stolid church which has moved from the heady days of the Spirit to the phlegmatic period of the routine and uninspiring Institution. 1 Clement fares little better in the hands of Eduard Schweizer:
The designations used of the Church are not illuminating, being taken over from the tradition. Favourite ones are the image of the flock... and 'the elect'.... How little the taking over of traditional titles means is shown by the fact that, although the Church is still called the body (of Christ)... only the parabolic meaning in relation to joint membership and the mutual ordering of the members is relevant..., and not the present union with Christ which it characterizes 218 For Schweizer, as for Campenhausen, the concepts Clement borrows from Paul do not possess their original dynamic force. Rather, they become in his hands a wooden expression of tradition. When adopted, their implications are barely comprehended; 1 Clement reproduces the letter but not the spirit of Pauline theology.
A response to these misinterpretations of 1 Clement must seek to avoid the opposite error committed by Sanders, who argues that Clement was a thoroughgoing Paulinist.219 Sanders correctly points to the use of Pauline concepts in the establishment of Clement's case. But Campenhausen, Schweizer, and others220 rightly argue that i Clement represents, to a certain degree, a reinterpretation or application of Pauline themes for a new situation. Nevertheless, all these scholars overstate their case. Reinterpretation and borrowing do not necessarily imply, on the one hand, misunderstanding or, on the other, wholly
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faithful appropriation. The ideas which Clement borrowed from Paul operate in this later context in a more accepted, unargued, and assumed way than when the apostle developed and used them. It is more likely that this reflects distance from the founder than it does an uncomprehending aping of tradition. The response of the original community to the founder probably became domesticated over time, but Campenhausen's conclusion that 1 Clement represents "the slackening energies of the Christian proclamation" does not necessarily follow from this. As we shall see, the work and person ofjesus, however much they are presented in an assumed and unargued way, are symbols which are at the very centre of Clement's letter to the Corinthian church and, by implication, the identity of his audience. If we are to understand how the Roman epistle worked to encourage certain kinds of behaviour in the community we must determine how these symbols were related to the Corinthian church's own convictions and how they were used by Clement to secure harmony in this community.
Sectarian Existence in Christ Clement, like Paul, often uses the expression έν Χριστφ, (21:8; 22:1; 32:4; 38:1;
46:6; 48:4; 49:1; 54:3; cf. 3:4) and he is also fond of the construction διά Χρίστου or its equivalent (Inscrip.; 12:7; 36:2; 50:7; 58:2; 59:2,3; 61:3; 64:1;
65:2).221 The preposition έν with the dative indicates either a locative sense, or, more rarely, an instrumental one.222 Where is salvation to be found? In Christ
How is salvation attained? Through Christ. Similarly, διά with the genitive indicates space, time, or agency.223 In the passages cited above which contain διά with the genitive case we have to do with examples of agency. The prepositional phrases with έν, however, are more problematic, as they often are in Paul.224 Some passages should be interpreted in a locative sense (e.g., 22:1), but others are better understood in either a locative or instrumental sense (e.g.,
32:4; 49:1).
Still, these syntactical difficulties should not confound our understanding of the significance of these passages as vehicles of tremendous social meaning. The symbol of Christ in ί Clement is an example of what Mary Douglas has called a "condensed symbol," that is, a symbol which encompasses a wide range of meanings.225 Harnack's comment on the formula έν Χριστφ as an expression of a fact which is remembered and, by implication, something less important to the Corinthian community fifty years after Paul, fails to recognize the significance of these passages for the identity of the group 2 2 6 When Clement states that the Corinthian church is "in Christ" he is not repeating "old formulas" as Harnack suggests; he is stating something about the dynamic identity of the group he is addressing. To be in Christ or to be in a certain state of existence through Christ, sociologically understood, is above all a group-defining symbol.
Clement addresses the Corinthians in the opening lines of the letter as "called and sanctified by the will of God through our Lord Jesus Christ"
(Inscrip.) and this language of election through Christ is repeated throughout the letter (32:4; 50:1-7; 59:2,3; 64:1). This language implies a consciousness not only of being specially chosen, but also of being separate from the rest of the world. Especially in 59.2, where Clement uses powerful images of contrast
(σκότος/φώς; άγνωσ£α/έπ ίγνωσις), there is striking evidence of awareness of
The Social Setting of the Ministry separation.227 As a result of its consciousness of being called "through Christ" or existing "in Christ" the group is aware of separation from the rest of the world, Similarly, Clement's employment of the participle παροικούσα (Inscrip.), a term used in the Graeco-Roman world to describe a certain social status of non-citizenship,228 suggests a consciousness of feeling set apart from the world; group members are resident aliens in the world, an image similar to those used by Hermas (e.g., Sim. 1:1).229 This may be interpreted as sectarian language; Clement expresses this sectarian identity by the use of such sacred imagery as is found in 29:1-3, where he cites Old Testament passages to describe the group as a holy people chosen out from the nations, and in 30:1, where, expounding this image, he calls the church "a portion of one who is holy."230
The sectarian language of being "in Christ" describes a state of contact with the sacred through incorporation into a group closely identified with Christ.
Following Paul, Clement expresses the identity of being "in Christ" by the use of the symbol of the body of Christ (37:5-38:1; 46:6-7). Although Clement does not develop this theme to the degree found in Paul's letters, it is none the less significant that, like Paul, Clement uses this symbol to express an intimate connection with the sacred through incorporation into the church. To be a member of the group is, in some sense, to identify oneself with Christ. As in Paul's letters, it is not always clear whether Clement uses this motif metaphorically to portray the community, or to describe the actual body of Christ. In 38:1 the noun σώμα seems to be used in a more metaphorical sense to describe the group as centered around Christ. But the use of συνπνεί in 37:5 to describe the group as a body in which all "breathe together" should caution us not to see in this imagery an attenuated Paulinism which omits deeper or more mystical meanings found in Paul, as Knopf would interpret this passage.231 The organic theme of the body motif is again presented in 46:7, where the vivid description of the Corinthians as "the members of Christ" (τά μέλη τοϋ ΧριστοΌ) suggests a close identification of the community with Christ. Schweizers judgment quoted above that the use of this motif reveals Clement's use of traditional themes, reflecting a concern for mutual ordering rather than present union with Christ, underestimates the role this symbol probably continued to play in defining the identity and self-understanding of the sect. Far from being a nonilluminating designation for the church which has been simply taken over from tradition, as Schweizer would have it, the body of Christ symbol points, as in Paul's letters, to the Christocentric identity of a group conscious of its separation from the world through common belief and union with sacred reality.
Existence in Christ further signifies redemption. The self-understanding of the group as a holy and chosen people and the body of Christ is closely related to the symbol of the atonement of Christ The mediating work of Christ stands at the centre of Clement's Christology.232 In the prayer in 59:3 Clement states that Christ has made him and his readers "holy" (άγιάζειν) and "honourable"
(τιμείν). The blood of Christ is a symbol of salvation (7:4; 12:7-8; 21:6; 49:6).
Far from being rationalistic or moralistic as Knopf suggests,233 Clement's emphasis on the blood of Christ communicates the importance of Christ's redeeming work for this sect. Flesh by his flesh, soul by his soul — the sectarian
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enters a new reality by the death of Christ as he is received by the Master in love
(49:6).234
This theme of love represents language of belonging which is vital to the sectarian identity. To be "in Christ" is to be "in love" (49:1-6; cf. 50:1-2). The "bond of the love of God," interpreted as a subjective genitive,235 which Clement mentions in 49:2, flows from existence in Christ (v.l), uniting the believer to God (v.5) as a privileged sign of God's favour (50:2).
The believer also finds in Christ a redeemer who mediates for him special access to transcendent reality. In 36:1-3, Clement (probably drawing on themes from Hebrews)236 states that believers in Christ possess privileged understanding of "the Master"; through Jesus, Clement states, "the eyes of our hearts were opened, through him our foolish and darkened understanding blossoms toward the light... through him the Master willed that we should taste the immortal knowledge" (v. 2). Jesus is presented as the group's high priest, their defender and patron (προστάτης — also 61:3). The image of patron implies that he protects the Christian's interests and pleads his case.
7 And one of Clement's favourite descriptions of the church as "the flock of Christ" implies an understanding of the group as uniquely attached to and protected by Christ, its shepherd (16:1; 54:2; 57:2; cf. 59:4). Harnack's comment that Clement's religion is that of the Old Testament or of late Judaism does not take sufficient account of the importance of the mediation of Christ for this group.238 "Le Christ n'est pas seulement celui dans lequel s'achevé l'histoire du salut; il est le médiateur actuel du salut ," argues Jaubert.239 The phrase "in Christ" signifies a privileged position of redemption which identifies the group as holy and separate from the rest of the world.
Existence in Christ and the Institutional Order At the centre of the Corinthian church's identity, then, was the symbol of Christ. The phrase "in Christ" is a condensed symbol which indicates separation from the world, salvation, and contact with transcendent reality. Christ is the focal point o f this group's symbolic universe, and it is from this centre point that Clement's legitimations of the institutional order radiate. We cannot agree with the quotation from Campenhausen cited above which states that the concept of order with which Clement mainly concerns himself is completely detached from Christ and the Gospel. In his attempts to make the institutional order subjectively meaningful to the later generations of the Corinthian community Clement in fact expends much energy to show how the order he recommends is connected with the group's existence in Christ or the benefits granted them through Christ.
The symbol of Christ represents for Clement, as for his readers, not only the central symbol of the group's symbolic universe, or world-view, it also communicates to them a characteristic ethos. Part of Clement's aim is to show how existence in Christ carries with it a moral commitment to the institutional order. In 46:5-7 the unity which Clement recommends follows directly from the group's beliefs in one God, one Christ, and one calling in Christ. This belief commits members to a harmonious co-existence rather than division. Similarly,
Clement's exhortation in 33:1 to do good works and to continue in love follows
The Social Setting of the Ministry from the redeemed identity of justification in Christ (32:4). This does not represent a conscious attempt on the part of Clement to reconcile the theology of James and Paul as Lightfoot suggests.240
Still less can this be described as a departure from Paul's "solafideism" toward
"synergism" as Knopf argues.241 Clement is writing neither as a dogmatizing synthesizer, nor with a view toward anachronistic Reformation models of justification; he is attempting to show how the commitment of the group to a particular world-view carries with it a certain ethical demand consistent with the group's beliefs. And he does this in the context of justifying the institutional order to his readers. Since the Corinthians are a portion of the holy, Clement argues in 30:1-8 (using language which indicates consciousness of special election which in other passages is connected with Christ — e.g. 64:1), they should do the deeds of sanctification. Included among these actions is to live in concord, resisting those who are proud. In a statement probably containing a barb for those who support the schismatics, he urges that the Corinthians should not praise themselves, for such arrogance and boldness belong to those cursed by God (30:7-8). As we shall see below, the terms Clement uses to describe arrogance (υπερήφανος / ύπερηφανία / α λ α ζ ο ν ε ί α / αύθάδεια) are employed repeatedly to describe those who oppose God's appointed order.
Again, in 49:1, Clement writes that he who is in Christ should perform the commandments of Christ. The bond of God's love implies a characteristic ethos which includes, alongside Paul's catalogue of virtues in 1 Cor. 13, an avoidance of schism and sedition and the pursuit of concord (v. 5) — themes, as we shall see below, which Clement reiterates several times in the course of his epistle.
The many examples of virtue taken from the Old Testament, on which Clement draws to infuse his epistle with a high moral tone, capture for him the proper ethos which is to flow from the life in Christ. Elijah, Job, Abraham,
Moses, David (e.g., chapters 17-18) — these figures tower in the epistle like statues in the Hellenistic style, taking on an extra-human massiveness and becoming symbols which embody the values which Clement thinks the community which has been made alive in Christ should embrace.
Clement presents and develops these values in order to encourage a proper attitude toward what he thinks are the proper structures of leadership. "Christ is of those who are humble-minded and not of those who exalt themselves over His flock," Clement writes in 16:1; he then goes on to describe the greatest moral symbol of all —the Suffering Servant (w. 2-15). Humble-mindedness was a virtue Christ possessed and the fact that he practised it has a direct implication for the Corinthian community, which defines itself as existing in Christ.
"If the Lord was thus humble-minded, what shall we do, who through him have come under the yoke of his grace?" Clement asks in v. 17. Again, the theme of humble-mindedness is one which Clement associates with support for the divinely established order (2:1; 56:1; cf. 57:1-2; 58:2). These select examples demonstrate Clement's attempt to join attitudes towards local leadership structures with the group's beliefs and self-understanding, organized around the symbol of Christ. By drawing out ethical themes connected with the group's world-view he was attempting to justify a certain posture toward the institutional structures of the group.