Clement of Rome, Epistle to Corinthians

Today we will learn and reflect on the Epistle of St Clement to the
Corinthians.
The Christian community in Corinth in the first century was both
enthusiastic and problematic when St Paul addressed his epistles to
them, and in the second century St Clement likewise had to praise and
scold this enthusiastic and problematic community.
You may ask, how can we benefit when we ponder the Epistle of St
Clement to the Corinthians?
We face the same problems these ancient Christians faced, and St
Clements advice to the Corinthians is also wise advice to us as modern
Christians.

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video, and the history behind this
ancient work, like how many manuscripts have
survived, and my blog on St Clement’s Epistle to the
Corinthians. Please, we welcome interesting
questions in the comments, sometimes these will
generate short videos of their own. Let us learn and
reflect together!

YouTube Video:
Ancient Church Writing: Epistle of Clement to
the Corinthians
https://youtu.be/ntcFn7T_POU
NOTE: YouTube video corrections may not be
reflected on the slides, and the blog may differ
somewhat in content.
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The Didache is in Volume 1
of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.
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Early Christian Writings, Maxwell Staniforth,
(Andrew Louth has a similar compilation)
The Apostolic Fathers, Greek and English, Michael Holmes,
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Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7
(1870’s translation), Excellent Introductions
Eusebius, Ancient Church Historian
History of Early Christian Literature, Edgar Goodspeed
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YouTube Video:
Ancient Church Writing: Epistle of Clement to
the Corinthians
https://youtu.be/ntcFn7T_POU
NOTE: YouTube video corrections may not be
reflected on the slides, and the blog may differ
somewhat in content.
© Copyright 2021
Become a patron:
https://www.patreon.com/seekingvirtueandwisdom
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The Path of Christianity: The First Thousand Years, by John Anthony McGuckin
The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1: The
Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600), Volume 1, Jaroslav Pelikan
Faith of the Early Fathers
The Early Church, Henry Chadwick
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St Clement was an early Pope of Rome, and his Epistle to the Corinthians is the first
recorded Epistle from a Roman Pope to a Christian community outside of his
diocese, implicitly claiming authority over the Church of Corinth. St Clement was an
Apostolic Second-Generation Church Father who may have known some of the
apostles or others who walked with Jesus.
The thumbnail is a painting depicting a fourth century story on the martyrdom of St
Clement of Rome. During one of the Christian persecutions St Clement was exiled to
work in a quarry near the Black Sea. As we learned in our video on Slavery in the
Ancient World, being forced to work in a mine or a quarry was often a death
sentence.
Upon arrival, when Clement saw that many of the prisoners were desperately thirsty,
he knelt down in prayer. Looking up, he saw a lamb on a hill. When he went to the
spot where the lamb he saw a rock, and when he struck it with his axe a fresh stream
of water sprung forth, quenching the thirst of his fellow prisoners.

Church Fathers: Epiphanius of Salamis, Clement of Rome, Gregory the Theologian, St. Nicholas
the Wonderworker and Archdeacon Stephen, painted about 1000, St. Sophia of Kyiv Church

Bernardino Fungai (1460–1516) - St Clement Striking the Rock

Moses Striking the Rock, Nicolas Poussin, painted 1649

The prisoners rejoiced, many of the prisoners became Christian,
being baptized in the living water of the stream, but his Roman
captors were not impressed. As a punishment for this miracle his
captors took him out in a ship, tied him to an anchor, and threw
him into the Black Sea to drown.

Bernardino Fungai,
Martyrdom of
St Clement,
painted between
1498 and 1501

There is some disagreement on this, at least one painter depicts
his Roman captors rowing out into the Black Sea in a boat rather
than a ship, before throwing St Clement overboard tied to an
anchor.

Some scholars doubt the historicity of the martyrdom story of
St Clement since it was not recounted by the ancient Church
historian Eusebius, who was eager to tell as many stories of
martyrdoms as he could find.
But in the 11th Century, Saints Cyril and Methodius discovered
the bones of St Clement tied to an anchor in the Black Sea,
and they transported them to Rome, where they reside in the
Basilica of San Clemente, where Catholics venerate them to
this day.

Sts Cyril and Methodius Transferring relics of St Clement to Rome, 11th century, Basilica di San Clemente

Clement addresses his epistle to the rancorous and troublesome Corinthians, some
younger hot-heads had deposed the leaders appointed in their congregation.
The translator notes that “from beginning to end of the letter Clement is deeply
preoccupied with the heinous sin of pride: the pride and jealousy of a few ambitious
malcontents who have split the church of Corinth and destroyed its peace.”
Clement starts his epistle by praising the Corinthians, he praises their piety, he
praises their hospitality, which Homer in the Odyssey reminds us is all important in
the ancient Greek world where there are few inns where it is safe to stay. Elders are
respected, home life is tranquil, everyone in the family fulfills his role. “Humility, too,
and a complete absence of self-assertion were common to you all; you preferred to
offer submission rather extort it; giving was dearer to you than receiving.” “You
harbored no resentments, . . . You mourned for a neighbor’s faults, and regarded his
failings as your own. Never did you grudge a kindly action; always you were ready
for any deed of goodness.” REPEATED

The translator notes that “from beginning to
end of the letter Clement is deeply
preoccupied with the heinous sin of pride:
the pride and jealousy of a few ambitious
malcontents who have split the church of
Corinth and destroyed its peace.”
Clement addresses the Corinthians,
“Humility, too, and a complete absence of
self-assertion were common to you all; you
preferred to offer submission rather extort
it; giving was dearer to you than
receiving.” “You harbored no resentments, .
. . You mourned for a neighbor’s faults, and
regarded his failings as your own. Never did
you grudge a kindly action; always you were
ready for any deed of goodness.”
Pope Clement I, Mosaic St. Sophia of Kyiv, 1000’s

But then “envy and jealousy and strife
and dissension sprang up.” Clement
offers the example of Cain and Abel,
how the Lord accepted Abel’s offering,
but ignored Cain’s offering, causing
Cain to take offense rather that to
repent and discover why his offering
was ignored. The Lord challenged Cain,
“Why are you so crestfallen? You were
right to bring me an offering, but wrong
in the decision you made. Was that not
a sin?”
Clement warns “how envy and jealousy
brought about the murder of a brother.”
Michiel Coxie: Death of Abel, pained early 1500's

Clement urges us “to have a little humility, let us forget our self-assertion
and braggadocio and stupid quarreling,” and do as Jesus says:
“Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy,
forgive, that you may be forgiven.
What you do yourself, will be done to you;
what you give, will be given to you;
as you judge, so you will be judged.;
as you show kindness, so kindness will be shown to you.”
How many of us have seen church council meetings where there was much
ill will and arguing? How often have you seen Facebook Bible groups
where all everyone does is shout at each other? How quick are we to argue,
how slow we are to seek peace with our neighbor. “Christ belongs to the
lowly of heart, not to those who would exalt themselves over His flock.”
REPEATED

Clement urges us “to have a little humility, let us forget
our self-assertion and braggadocio and stupid
quarreling,” and do as Jesus says:
“Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy,
forgive, that you may be forgiven.
What you do to others, will be done to you;
what you give, will be given to you;
as you judge, so you will be judged.;
as you show kindness,
so kindness will be shown to you.”
Clement teaches us, “Christ belongs to the lowly of
heart, not to those who would exalt themselves over
His flock.”
St Clement, Juan Correa
de Vivar, painted 1540's

Who is truly happy?
Clement asks us, “Whose heart is
set on a long life and days of
happiness?
Keep your tongue free of evil,
and your lips from uttering deceit;
turn away from wrong,
and do what is good;
seek peacefulness,
and make that your aim.”

Clement urges us to “clothe ourselves in a
mutual tolerance of one another’s vices,
cultivating mutual humility and self-restraint,
avoiding all gossiping and backbiting, and
earning our justification by deeds and not by
words.” Gossiping, backbiting, harming
another’s reputation, is the same as bearing
false witness.
The world orders us to be confident, to have a
positive attitude, to have pride in our
abilities. But Clement would push back, he
teaches that “self-assertion, self-assurance, and
a bold manner are the marks of men accursed
of God; but rather it is those who show
consideration for others and are unassuming
and quiet, who win God’s blessing.”
St. Clement. Psača Monastery, Macedonia,
painted 1300's

The key phrase is the holy among us are those who show consideration for others, so
often the successful in our cruel and competitive world run over their neighbor in
their drive for success.
St Clement wants to reassure the reader that just as Christ was resurrected, so we
should look forward to our bodily Resurrection in the fullness of time. The doctrine
of the physical resurrection of the body was always challenging for Christians new to
the faith. St Clement points to many examples of Resurrection in our daily lives, how
the “night sinks to rest, and day arises; then day passes away, and night comes
again.” And we have the four seasons, and the crops we plant and harvest as we go
through the seasons. One compelling proof the truth of the Resurrection is the
remarkable story of the miracle of the Phoenix.

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gough, 1889
Parable of the Sower icon, Dormition of the
Theotokos Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Clement tells us, “There is a bird in Arabia known
as the Phoenix” which lives “for five hundred
years. When the hour of its dissolution and death
approaches, it makes a nest for itself out of
frankincense and myrrh, and in the fullness of time
it enters into the nest and expires. Its decaying
flesh breeds a small grub, which is nourished by
the moisture of the dead bird and presently grows
wings. Then, fully grown, it takes up the nest
containing the bones of its predecessor and flies
them all the way from the land of Arabia into
Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. There, in the
full light of day and before the eyes of all
beholders, it flies to the altar of the Sun, deposits
them there, and speeds back to its homeland; and
when the priests consult their time records, they
find that its arrival has marked the completion of
the five-hundredth year.”
St Clement of Ohrid, Late 1300’s, St Mary
Perivleptos Church

St Clement quotes
several verses from
Scriptures to give us
hope for our bodily
resurrection. “You, Lord,
will raise me up, and I
will praise You,” and also,
“after I had lain down
and fallen asleep, I rose
up again; for you are
with me.”
Job, too, says, “You will
raise up this flesh of
mine which has had all
these trials to endure.”
Resurrection of the Flesh (c. 1500) by Luca Signorelli –1 Cor 15: "the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Chapel of San Brizio.

Then the Lord said to
Ezekiel, “Prophesy to
these bones, and say to
them: O dry bones,
hear the word of the
Lord. Thus says the Lord
God to these bones: I
will cause breath to
enter you, and you shall
live. I will lay sinews on
you, and will cause
flesh to come upon
you, and cover you with
skin, and put breath in
you, and you shall live;
and you shall know that
I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones, Luther Bible, 1534

St Clement’s teaching on Love is beautiful:
“No tongue can tell the heights to which love can
uplift us. Love binds us fast to God. Love casts a
veil over sins innumerable. There are no limits to
love’s endurance, no end to its patience. Love is
without servility, as it is without arrogance. Love
knows of no divisions, promotes no discord; all the
works of love are done in perfect fellowship. It was
in love that all God’s chosen saints were made
perfect; for without love nothing is pleasing to
Him. It was in love that the Lord drew us to
Himself; because of the love He bore us, our Lord
Jesus Christ, at the will of God, gave His blood for
us, His flesh for our flesh, His life for our lives.”
St Clement Adoring the Trinity,
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1738

St Clement of Ohrid, Late 1500’s,
St Mary Perivleptos Church
St Clement’s teaching on Love continued:
“My friends, if we keep God’s
commandments in a true loving
comradeship together, so that our sins
may be forgiven for that love’s sake, we
are blessed indeed. It is written, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and over whose sins a veil is drawn;
blessed is the man of whose sins the Lord
takes no account, and on whose lips there
is no deceit.” Note the end, those who
truly repent and are forgiven shed their
deceit like a skin.

Clement reminds us that “if men are really
living in the fear and Love of God, they would
sooner endure affliction themselves that to
see their neighbors suffer.” He gives the
example of Moses on the mountain appeasing
the wrath of God who threatens to destroy the
stiff-necked people who worshiped the
golden calf. “Moses replied, No Lord, not
so. Forgive this people their sin, or else blot
me too out of the book of the living.” Clement
exclaims, “What immeasurable
love! Perfection beyond compare! A minister
speaking up boldly to his Lord and
demanding pardon for the multitude, or his
own destruction along with them!”
St Clement, Biaigo Bellotti, 1742-1745.

The Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians was discovered in a Bible given to
King Charles I by the patriarch of Jerusalem in 1628. Scholars date this epistle at the
end of the first century since it refers to the persecutions under Domitian, which
means that Clement probably had met the original apostles. The translator says he
is familiar with at least some of the Pauline Epistles, though it would be several
centuries more before a biblical canon is recognized.
The translator notes that Clement is quoting Scripture from memory, and his
memory is not as accurate as St Augustine’s or the apostles, he so thoroughly mixes
up the sources and changes wording here and there that he despairs of footnoting
the source of the various quotes. Many quotes from Scripture you will recognize,
but more than a few quotes are impossible to attribute.

McGuckin, an Orthodox scholar, said that Clement, was
an early pope, “when that title meant ‘father’ rather
than a papal monarch as in later times. Clement was a
learned man, steeped in Jewish theological attitudes,
well-read in Scriptures, and possessed an elegant
classical education, demonstrating a fusion of Stoic
ideas of cosmological balance and ethics with a
universalist sense of God’s guiding providence.
According to Irenaeus, Clement knew both Peter and
Paul personally, and according to Origen he was that
same Clement whom St Paul praised as his collaborator
in his Epistle to the Philippians, though this might simply
be a matter of exegetical name collating by this stage.”
(wishful thinking) “Clement’s name carried cachet in the
early church, an episcopal figure of apostolic weight.”
During this time, the Christian faith was transitioning
from “house-church organizations to larger, city-based
ideas of ekklesia.”
St Clement of Ohrid and town's archbishop, Church
of the Holy Mother of God, Macedonia, mid 1200’s

Henry Chadwick in his history, The Early Church,
argues that the emphasis on the teaching
authority of the church developed in part to
counter the Gnostic claims that they alone had
secret knowledge needed for salvation. Chadwick
writes, “against any heretical claim to possess
secret traditions of what Jesus had told the
apostles in the forty days after the resurrection,
there was the clear argument that the apostles
Peter and Paul” must have imparted correct
“doctrines to those who they had set over the
churches.” “The succession argument carried the
implication that the teaching given by the
contemporary bishop of cities like Rome or
Antioch was in all respects identical with that of
the apostles.” This enabled defenders of the
faith, such as Irenaeus, to oppose the false
teachings of the various Gnostic sects.

The late nineteenth century scholars who placed Clement’s Epistle as the first work
of the first volume of the Anti-Nicene Fathers, they note that though the Epistle was
revered by the early Church and other Church Fathers, only one Greek manuscript
survives, with one missing leaf, and some lacunas, or missing spots. Fortunately, a
cache of manuscripts discovered in 1873 that we described in our video on the
Didache had a complete Greek manuscript of Clements, and since then Latin, Syriac
and Coptic manuscripts have also been found.
Bart Ehrman has an excellent series of lectures on the Apostolic Fathers in the Great
Courses, although not in the Great Courses Plus. We want to caution our listeners
that he seems to have lost his faith, but he is treats the works with intellectual
honesty.

NOTE: This is probably the only course of Bart
Ehrman’s that I will reference in my videos. Bart
Ehrman is one of the foremost textual critics of
the New Testament, which means his academic
specialty is analyzing the original Greek
manuscripts to determine as accurately as
possible what the original text said.
Unfortunately, he has lost his faith. He is also
the leading Historical Jesus scholar, which is
why I also include a link to a book that is an
apology defending traditional Christianity
against the Historical Jesus movement. He has
also published a fresh translation of the
Apostolic Fathers.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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