from Epistles to the Corinthians
attributed to

Clement I

Clement I

Translator:
William Wake

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I Clement

II Clement

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the First Epistle to the Corinthians
attributed to

Clement I

translated by William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury

VIII:1

For Christ is theirs who are humble, and not who exalt themselves over his flock. The sceptre of the majesty of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came not in the shew of pride and arrogance, though he could have done so ; but with humility as the Holy Ghost had before spoken concerning him.

Topic:

Humility

X:2-3

The spirit of the Lord is a candle, searching out the inward parts of the belly.

Let us therefore consider how near he is to us ; and how that none of our thoughts, or reasonings which we frame within ourselves, are hid from him.

XVII:34-35

Let not the strong man despise the weak ; and let the weak see that he reverence the strong.

Let the rich man distribute to the necessity of the poor: and let the poor bless God, that he has given one unto him, by whom his want may be supplied.

XXI:4

Charity [ glues ] us to God ; charity covers the multitude of sins: charity endures all things, is long-suffering in all things.

Note (Hal’s):
I have substituted Wake’s literal translation “glues” (found in a footnote) for his more idiomatic (but less arresting) “unites.”

— end note

XXIII:6

The righteous, saith he, shall instruct me in mercy and reprove me ; but let not oil of sinners make fat my head.

Note (Hal’s):
Clement here quotes Psalm 141:5, although I don’t know whether he uses the Septuagint or his own Greek rendition. (Based on Wake’s notes to other passages, he did both.)

Translators admit difficulty with the Hebrew; it’s unclear whether the speaker is rejecting anointing by sinners (as in this interpretation) or proclaiming righteous anointing as a defense against their influence.

In any case, Wake almost certainly meant “grease” when he wrote “make fat”; the earliest use cited by the O.E.D. of “fat-head” in its modern sense is over a century after his death. Nevertheless, I love the coincidental effect.

— end note

text checked (see note) Jan 2010

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the Second Epistle to the Corinthians
attributed to

Clement I

translated by William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury

III:14-16

Let us therefore repent, whilst we are yet upon the earth: for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter if he make a vessel, and it be turned amiss in his hands, or broken, again forms it anew ; but if he have gone so far as to throw it into the furnace of fire, he can no more bring any remedy to it.

So we, whilst we are in this world, should repent with our whole heart for whatsoever evil we have done in the flesh ; while we have yet the time of repentance, that we may be saved by the Lord.

For after we shall have departed out of this world, we shall no longer be able to confess our sins or repent in the other.

Topic:

Repentance

text checked (see note) Jan 2010

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