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The Stromata, or Miscellanies

Clement of Alexandria

Book 1 · Chapter 26

About this work

A wide-ranging collection on faith, knowledge, philosophy, Scripture, ethics, and Christian maturity that intentionally mixes subjects while portraying the ideal Christian knower formed through disciplined inquiry.

Author: Clement of Alexandria
Date: c. AD 195–215
Origin: Alexandria
Genre: Theological Treatise

Chapter XXVI.—Moses Rightly Called a Divine Legislator, And, Though Inferior to Christ, Far Superior to the Great Legislators of the Greeks, Minos and Lycurgus.

Whence the law was rightly said to

‹ Book 1 · Chapter 25 Book 1 · Chapter 27 ›

have

been

given

by

Moses

,

being

a

rule

of

right

and

wrong

;

and

we

may

call

it

with

accuracy

the

divine

ordinance

(

θεσμός

)

,

inasmuch

as

it

was

given

by

God

through

Moses

.

It

accordingly

conducts

to

the

divine

.

Paul

says

:

“

The

law

was

instituted

because

of

transgressions

,

till

the

seed

should

come

,

to

whom

the

promise

was

made

.

”

Then

,

as

if

in

explanation

of

his

meaning

,

he

adds

:

“

But

before

faith

came

,

we

were

kept

under

the

law

,

shut

up

,

”

manifestly

through

fear

,

in

consequence

of

sins

,

“

unto

the

faith

which

should

afterwards

be

revealed

;

so

that

the

law

was

a

schoolmaster

to

bring

us

to

Christ

,

that

we

should

be

justified

by

faith

.

”

The

true

legislator

is

he

who

assigns

to

each

department

of

the

soul

what

is

suitable

to

it

and

to

its

operations

.

Now

Moses

,

to

speak

comprehensively

,

was

a

living

law

,

governed

by

the

benign

Word

.

Accordingly

,

he

furnished

a

good

polity

,

which

is

the

right

discipline

of

men

in

social

life

.

He

also

handled

the

administration

of

justice

,

which

is

that

branch

of

knowledge

which

deals

with

the

correction

of

transgressors

in

the

interests

of

justice

.

Co

-

ordinate

with

it

is

the

faculty

of

dealing

with

punishments

,

which

is

a

knowledge

of

the

due

measure

to

be

observed

in

punishments

.

And

punishment

,

in

virtue

of

its

being

so

,

is

the

correction

of

the

soul

.

In

a

word

,

the

whole

system

of

Moses

is

suited

for

the

training

of

such

as

are

capable

of

becoming

good

and

noble

men

,

and

for

hunting

out

men

like

them

;

and

this

is

the

art

of

command

.

And

that

wisdom

,

which

is

capable

of

treating

rightly

those

who

have

been

caught

by

the

Word

,

is

legislative

wisdom

.

For

it

is

the

property

of

this

wisdom

,

being

most

kingly

,

to

possess

and

use

,

It is the wise man, therefore, alone whom the philosophers proclaim king, legislator, general, just, holy, God-beloved. And if we discover these qualities in Moses, as shown from the Scriptures themselves, we may, with the most assured persuasion, pronounce Moses to be truly wise. As then we say that it belongs to the

shepherd’s art to care for the sheep; for so “the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep;” so also we shall say that legislation,inasmuch as it presides over and cares for the flock of men, establishes the virtue of men, by fanning into flame, as far as it can, what good there is in humanity.

And if the flock figuratively spoken of as belonging to the Lord is nothing but a flock of men, then He Himself is the good Shepherd and Lawgiver of the one flock, “of the sheep who hear Him,” the one who cares for them, “seeking,” and finding by the law and the word, “that which was lost;” since, in truth, the law is spiritual and leads to felicity. For that which has arisen through the Holy Spirit is spiritual. And he is truly a legislator, who not only announces what is good and noble, but understands it. The law of this man who possesses knowledge is the saving precept; or rather, the law is the precept of knowledge. For the Word is “the power and the wisdom of God.” Again, the expounder of the laws is the same one by whom the law was given; the first expounder of the divine commands, who unveiled the bosom of the Father, the only-begotten Son.

Then those who obey the law, since they have some knowledge of Him, cannot disbelieve or be ignorant of the truth. But those who disbelieve, and have shown a repugnance to engage in the works of the law, whoever else may, certainly confess their ignorance of the truth.

What, then, is the unbelief of the Greeks? Is it not their unwillingness to believe the truth which declares that the law was divinely given by Moses, whilst they honour Moses in their own writers? They relate that Minos received the laws from Zeus in nine years, by frequenting the cave of Zeus; and Plato, and Aristotle, and Ephorus write that Lycurgus was trained in legislation by going constantly to Apollo at Delphi. Chamæleo of Heraclea, in his book On Drunkenness, and Aristotle in The Polity of Locrians, mention that Zaleucus the Locrian received the laws from Athene.

But those who exalt the credit of Greek legislation as far as in them lies, by referring it to a divine source, after the model of Mosaic prophecy, are senseless in not owning the truth, and the archetype of what is related among them.

Notes

314
From the ancient derivation of this word from θεος.
315
Gal. iii. 19, 23, 24.
316
John x. 11.
317
1 Cor. i. 24.