The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

Apostolic Fathers (Lightfoot) · Clement of Rome · 394 sections

prologue.1
The Church of God which sojourneth in Rome to the Church of God which sojourneth in Corinth, to them which are called and sanctified by the will of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from Almighty God through Jesus Christ be multiplied.
1.1
By reason of the sudden and repeated calamities and reverses which are befalling us, brethren, we consider that we have been somewhat tardy in giving heed to the matters of dispute that have arisen among you, dearly beloved, and to the detestable and unholy sedition, so alien and strange to the elect of God, which a few headstrong and self-willed persons have kindled to such a pitch of madness that your name, once revered and renowned and lovely in the sight of all men, hath been greatly reviled.
1.2
For who that had sojourned among you did not approve your most virtuous and steadfast faith? Who did not admire your sober and forbearing piety in Christ? Who did not publish abroad your magnificent disposition of hospitality? Who did not congratulate you on your perfect and sound knowledge?
1.3
For ye did all things without respect of persons, and ye walked after the ordinances of God, submitting yourselves to your rulers and rendering to the older men among you the honor which is their due. On the young too ye enjoined modest and seemly thoughts: and the women ye charged to perform all their duties in a blameless and seemly and pure conscience, cherishing their own husbands, as is meet; and ye taught them to keep in the rule of obedience, and to manage the affairs of their household in seemliness, with all discretion.
2.1
And ye were all lowly in mind and free from arrogance, yielding rather than claiming submission, more glad to give than to receive, and content with the provisions which God supplieth. And giving heed unto His words, ye laid them up diligently in your hearts, and His sufferings were before your eyes.
2.2
Thus a profound and rich peace was given to all, and an insatiable desire of doing good. An abundant outpouring also of the Holy Spirit fell upon all;
2.3
and, being full of holy counsel, in excellent zeal and with a pious confidence ye stretched out your hands to Almighty God, supplicating Him to be propitious, if unwillingly ye had committed any sin.
2.4
Ye had conflict day and night for all the brotherhood, that the number of His elect might be saved with fearfulness and intentness of mind.
2.5
Ye were sincere and simple and free from malice one towards another.
2.6
Every sedition and every schism was abominable to you. Ye mourned over the transgressions of your neighbors: ye judged their shortcomings to be your own.
2.7
Ye repented not of any well-doing, but were ready unto every good work.
2.8
Being adorned with a most virtuous and honorable life, ye performed all your duties in the fear of Him. The commandments and the ordinances of the Lord were written on the tablets of your hearts.
3.1
All glory and enlargement was given unto you, and that was fulfilled which is written My beloved ate and drank and was enlarged and waxed fat and kicked.
3.2
Hence come jealousy and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and tumult, war and captivity.
3.3
So men were stirred up, the mean against the honorable, the ill reputed against the highly reputed, the foolish against the wise, the young against the elder.
3.4
For this cause righteousness and peace stand aloof, while each man hath forsaken the fear of the Lord and become purblind in the faith of Him, neither walketh in the ordinances of His commandments nor liveth according to that which becometh Christ, but each goeth after the lusts of his evil heart, seeing that they have conceived an unrighteous and ungodly jealousy, through which also death entered into the world.
4.1
For so it is written, And it came to pass after certain days that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice unto God, and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of the sheep and of their fatness.
4.2
And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts, but unto Cain and unto his sacrifices He gave no heed.
4.3
And Cain sorrowed exceedingly, and his countenance fell.
4.4
And God said unto Cain, Wherefore art thou very sorrowful and wherefore did thy countenance fall? If thou hast offered aright and hast not divided aright, didst thou not sin? Hold thy peace.
4.5
Unto thee shall he turn, and thou shalt rule over him. {This last phrase has also been translated: Be at peace: thine offering returns to thyself, and thou shalt again possess it.}
4.6
And Cain said unto Abel his brother, Let us go over unto the plain. And it came to pass, while they Were in the plain, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.
4.7
Ye see, brethren, jealousy and envy wrought a brother's murder.
4.8
By reason of jealousy our father Jacob ran away from the face of Esau his brother.
4.9
Jealousy caused Joseph to be persecuted even unto death, and to come even unto bondage.
4.10
Jealousy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt while it was said to him by his own countryman, Who made thee a judge or a decider over us, Wouldest thou slay me, even as yesterday thou slewest the Egyptian?
4.11
By reason of jealousy Aaron and Miriam were lodged outside the camp.
4.12
Jealousy brought Dathan and Abiram down alive to hades, because they made sedition against Moses the servant of God.
4.13
By reason of jealousy David was envied not only by the Philistines, but was persecuted also by Saul [king of Israel].
5.1
But, to pass from the examples of ancient days, let us come to those champions who lived nearest to our time. Let us set before us the noble examples which belong to our generation.
5.2
By reason of jealousy and envy the greatest and most righteous pillars of the Church were persecuted, and contended even unto death.
5.3
Let us set before our eyes the good Apostles.
5.4
There was Peter who by reason of unrighteous jealousy endured not one not one but many labors, and thus having borne his testimony went to his appointed place of glory.
5.5
By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the West, he won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith,
5.6
having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance.
6.1
Unto these men of holy lives was gathered a vast multitude of the elect, who through many indignities and tortures, being the victims of jealousy, set a brave example among ourselves.
6.2
By reason of jealousy women being persecuted, after that they had suffered cruel and unholy insults as Danaids and Dircae, safely reached the goal in the race of faith, and received a noble reward, feeble though they were in body.
6.3
Jealousy hath estranged wives from their husbands and changed the saying of our father Adam, This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
6.4
Jealousy and strife have overthrown great cities and uprooted great nations.
7.1
These things, dearly beloved, we write, not only as admonishing you, but also as putting ourselves in remembrance. For we are in the same lists, and the same contest awaiteth us.
7.2
Wherefore let us forsake idle and vain thoughts; and let us conform to the glorious and venerable rule which hath been handed down to us;
7.3
and let us see what is good and what is pleasant and what is acceptable in the sight of Him that made us.
7.4
Let us fix our eyes on the blood of Christ and understand how precious it is unto His Father, because being shed for our salvation it won for the whole world the grace of repentance.
7.5
Let us review all the generations in turn, and learn how from generation to generation the Master hath given a place for repentance unto them that desire to turn to Him.
7.6
Noah preached repentance, and they that obeyed were saved.
7.7
Jonah preached destruction unto the men of Nineveh; but they, repenting of their sins, obtained pardon of God by their supplications and received salvation, albeit they were aliens from God.
8.1
The ministers of the grace of God through the Holy Spirit spake concerning repentance.
8.2
Yea and the Master of the universe Himself spake concerning repentance with an oath:
8.3
for, as I live saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, so much as his repentance,
8.4
and He added also a merciful judgment: Repent ye, O house of Israel, of your iniquity; say unto the sons of My people, Though your sins reach from the earth even unto the heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, and ye turn unto Me with your whole heart and say Father, I will give ear unto you as unto a holy people.
8.5
And in another place He saith on this wise, Wash, be ye clean. Put away your iniquities from your souls out of My sight. Cease from your iniquities; learn to do good; seek out judgment; defend him that is wronged: give judgment for the orphan, and execute righteousness for the widow; and come and let us reason together, saith He; and though your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. And if ye be willing and will hearken unto Me, ye shall eat the good things of the earth; but if ye be not willing, neither hearken unto Me, a sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things.
8.6
Seeing then that He desireth all His beloved to be partakers of repentance, He confirmed it by an act of His almighty will.
9.1
Wherefore let us be obedient unto His excellent and glorious will; and presenting ourselves as suppliants of His mercy and goodness, let us fall down before Him and betake ourselves unto His compassions, forsaking the vain toil and the strife and the jealousy which leadeth unto death.
9.2
Let us fix our eyes on them that ministered perfectly unto His excellent glory.
9.3
Let us set before us Enoch, who being found righteous in obedience was translated, and his death was not found.
9.4
Noah, being found faithful, by his ministration preached regeneration unto the world, and through him the Master saved the living creatures that entered into the ark in concord.
10.1
Abraham, who was called the 'friend,' was found faithful in that he rendered obedience unto the words of God.
10.2
He through obedience went forth from his land and from his kindred and from his father's house, that leaving a scanty land and a feeble kindred and a mean house he might inherit the promises of God.
10.3
For He saith unto him Go forth from thy land and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto the land which I shall show thee, and I will make thee into a great nation, and I will bless thee and will magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse them that curse thee; and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.
10.4
And again, when he was parted from Lot, God said unto him Look up with thine eyes, and behold from the place where thou now art, unto the north and the south and the sunrise and the sea; for all the land which thou seest, I will give it unto thee and to thy seed for ever;
10.5
and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. If any man can count the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be counted.
10.6
And again He saith; God led Abraham forth and said unto him, Look up unto the heaven and count the stars, and see whether thou canst number them. So shall thy seed be. And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.
10.7
For his faith and hospitality a son was given unto him in old age, and by obedience he offered him a sacrifice unto God on one of the mountains which He showed him.
11.1
For his hospitality and godliness Lot was saved from Sodom, when all the country round about was judged by fire and brimstone; the Master having thus fore shown that He forsaketh not them which set their hope on Him, but appointeth unto punishment and torment them which swerve aside.
11.2
For when his wife had gone forth with him, being otherwise minded and not in accord, she was appointed for a sign hereunto, so that she became a pillar of salt unto this day, that it might be known unto all men that they which are double-minded and they which doubt concerning the power of God are set for a judgment and for a token unto all the generations.
12.1
For her faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved.
12.2
For when the spies were sent forth unto Jericho by Joshua the son of Nun, the king of the land perceived that they were come to spy out his country, and sent forth men to seize them, that being seized they might be put to death.
12.3
So the hospitable Rahab received them and hid them in the upper chamber under the flax stalks.
12.4
And when the messengers of the king came near and said, The spies of our land entered in unto thee: bring them forth, for the king so ordereth: then she answered, The men truly, whom ye seek, entered in unto me, but they departed forthwith and are sojourning on the way; and she pointed out to them the opposite road.
12.5
And she said unto the men, Of a surety I perceive that the Lord your God delivereth this city unto you; for the fear and the dread of you is fallen upon the inhabitants thereof. When therefore it shall come to pass that ye take it, save me and the house of my father.
12.6
And they said unto her, It shall be even so as thou hast spoken unto us. Whensoever therefore thou perceivest that we are coming, thou shalt gather all thy folk beneath thy roof and they shall be saved; for as many as shall be found without the house shall perish.
12.7
And moreover they gave her a sign, that she should hang out from her house a scarlet thread, thereby showing beforehand that through the blood of the Lord there shall be redemption unto all them that believe and hope on God.
12.8
Ye see, dearly beloved, not only faith, but prophecy, is found in the woman.
13.1
Let us therefore be lowly minded, brethren, laying aside all arrogance and conceit and folly and anger, and let us do that which is written. For the Holy Ghost saith, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong in his strength, neither the rich in his riches; but he that boasteth let him boast in the Lord, that he may seek Him out, and do judgment and righteousness most of all remembering the words of the Lord Jesus which He spake, teaching forbearance and long-suffering:
13.2
for thus He spake Have mercy, that ye may receive mercy: forgive, that it may be forgiven to you. As ye do, so shall it be done to you. As ye give, so shall it be given unto you. As ye judge, so shall ye be judged. As ye show kindness, so shall kindness be showed unto you. With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured withal to you.
13.3
With this commandment and these precepts let us confirm ourselves, that we may walk in obedience to His hallowed words, with lowliness of mind.
13.4
For the holy word saith, Upon whom shall I look, save upon him that is gentle and quiet and feareth Mine oracles?
14.1
Therefore it is right and proper, brethren, that we should be obedient unto God, rather than follow those who in arrogance and unruliness have set themselves up as leaders in abominable jealousy.
14.2
For we shall bring upon us no common harm, but rather great peril, if we surrender ourselves recklessly to the purposes of men who launch out into strife and seditions, so as to estrange us from that which is right.
14.3
Let us be good one towards another according to the compassion and sweetness of Him that made us. For it is written:
14.4
The good shall be dwellers in the land, and the innocent shall be left on it but they that transgress shall be destroyed utterly from it.
14.5
And again He saith I saw the ungodly lifted up on high and exalted as the cedars of Lebanon. And I passed by, and behold he was not; and sought out his place, and I found it not. Keep innocence and behold uprightness; for there is a remnant for the peaceful man.
15.1
Therefore let us cleave unto them that practice peace with godliness, and not unto them that desire peace with dissimulation.
15.2
For He saith in a certain place This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me,
15.3
and again, they blessed with their mouth, but they cursed with their heart.
15.4
And again He saith, They loved Him with their mouth, and with their tongue they lied unto Him; and their heart was not upright with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant.
15.5
For this cause let the deceitful lips be made dumb which speak iniquity against the righteous. And again May the Lord utterly destroy all the deceitful lips, the tongue that speaketh proud things, even them that say, Let us magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?
15.6
For the misery of the needy and for the groaning of the poor I will now arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety; I will deal boldly by him.
16.1
For Christ is with them that are lowly of mind, not with them that exalt themselves over the flock.
16.2
The scepter of the majesty of God, even our Lord Jesus Christ, came not in the pomp of arrogance or of pride, though He might have done so, but in lowliness of mind, according as the Holy Spirit spake concerning Him.
16.3
For He saith Lord, who believed our report? and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? We announced Him in His presence. As a child was He, as a root in a thirsty ground. There is no form in Him, neither glory. And we beheld Him, and He had no form nor comeliness, but His form was mean, lacking more than the form of men. He was a man of stripes and of toil, and knowing how to bear infirmity: for His face is turned away. He was dishonored and held of no account.
16.4
He beareth our sins and suffereth pain for our sakes: and we accounted Him to be in toil and in stripes and in affliction.
16.5
And He was wounded for our sins and hath been afflicted for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon Him. With His bruises we were healed.
16.6
We all went astray like sheep, each man went astray in his own path:
16.7
and the Lord delivered Him over for our sins. And He openeth not His mouth, because He is afflicted. As a sheep He was led to slaughter; and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so openeth He not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away.
16.8
His generation who shall declare? For His life is taken away from the earth.
16.9
For the iniquities of my people He is come to death.
16.10
And I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death; for He wrought no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord desireth to cleanse Him from His stripes.
16.11
If ye offer for sin, your soul shall see along lived seed.
16.12
And the Lord desireth to take away from the toil of His soul, to show Him light and to mould Him with understanding, to justify a Just One that is a good servant unto many. And He shall bear their sins.

Translated by J. B. Lightfoot (The Apostolic Fathers, 1891/1893). Text via earlychristianwritings.com/text/<slug>-lightfoot.html. Licence: Public domain.