The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Secret Alias »

I know most of us when we read the Clementines we hold up our nose and say 'this is a complete load of rubbish.' And of course it ultimately is rubbish. The Clementine Homilies and Recognitions are to books what pornographic actors are to the acting profession. But even if the texts were reworked by third and fourth century editors there is something of a window into what Christians from the late second and third centuries thought of their religion. Yes it's fiction but it still necessarily represents what was in the soul of believers on some level.

As I mentioned in another thread here, the story begins with Clement living in Rome and confronted by a Christian preacher. In one tradition the preacher is Barnabas in the other the missionary is a stranger and Clement goes on to Alexandria to meet Barnabas. But the attraction to this new religion is clearly that Clement - and undoubtedly a great number of readers - wants to know what the will of God is.

Indeed the Homilies begins with Clement defining the ministry of Jesus on his own:
a 'certain one' ... was preaching to the Jews the kingdom of the invisible God, and saying that whoever of them would reform his manner of living should enjoy it. And in order that He might be believed that He uttered these things full of the Godhead, He wrought many wonderful miracles and signs by His mere command, as having received power from God. For He made the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the lame to walk, raised up the bowed down, drove away every disease, put to flight every demon; and even scabbed lepers, by only looking on Him from a distance, were sent away cured by Him; and the dead being brought to Him, were raised; and there was nothing which He could not do.
This understanding is strangely consistent in the Clementine Literature as a whole. One might expect that Jesus came into the world to be crucified, or believed to be the messiah or something like that. But this is not POV of the author. Jesus testified to the will of God, what God wants from us, define for us how we are supposed to live.

It isn't about Jesus or the identity of Jesus - who Jesus is - but the message he preaches. Jesus preaches the will of God.

This is reinforced when the unnamed stranger defines who Jesus is to his Roman audience echoing many of the things referenced by Clement earlier:
The Son of God has come in Judæa, proclaiming eternal life to all who will, if they shall live according to the counsel of the Father, who has sent Him. Wherefore change your manner of life from the worse to the better, from things temporal to things eternal; for know ye that there is one God, who is in heaven, whose world ye unrighteously dwell in before His righteous eyes. But if ye be changed, and live according to His counsel, then, being born into the other world, and becoming eternal, ye shall enjoy His unspeakable good things. But if ye be unbelieving, your souls, after the dissolution of the body, shall be thrown into the place of fire, where, being punished eternally, they shall repent of their unprofitable deeds.
Even though certain aspects of who Jesus was (= the Son of God) it is interesting to note that Christianity is not yet simply defined as 'believing in Jesus.' Rather Jesus proclaims the will of God.

I think is an important distinction to make sense of a proto-typical faith which gets lost in much of the creed emphasis in writers like Irenaeus. Note that when Clement announces why he is going to Judea it is to know the will of God:
I shall go into Judæa, that I may know if this man who tells us these things speaks the truth, that the Son of God has come into Judæa, for the sake of a good and eternal hope, revealing the will of the Father who sent Him.
Similarly when he imagines why pagans might regret not becoming Christians it once again is because they will be punished for rejecting the opportunity to learn the will of God:
What, then, will your Grecian multitude say, being of one mind, if, as he says, there shall be a judgment? Why, O God, did You not proclaim to us Your counsel? Shall you not, if you be thought worthy of an answer at all, be told this? I, knowing before the foundation of the world all characters that were to be, acted towards each one by anticipation according to his deserts without making it known; but wishing to give full assurance to those who have fled to me that this is so, and to explain why from the beginning, and in the first ages, I did not suffer my counsel to be publicly proclaimed; I now, in the end of the world, have sent heralds to proclaim my will, and they are insulted and flouted by those who will not be benefited, and who wilfully reject my friendship. Oh, great wrong! The preachers are exposed to danger even to the loss of life, and that by the men who are called to salvation.
Jesus brought knowledge of the will of God to his immediately followers and they too must carry on the legacy of declaring the will of God even if they must pay the ultimately cost for doing so.

Clement requests knowledge from Barnabas of Jesus's preaching the will of God:
But it plainly appeared to me that he was disconcerted. For when I said to him, Only set forth to me the words which you have heard of the Man who has appeared, and I will adorn them with my speech, and preach the counsel of God; and if you do so, within a few days I will sail with you, for I greatly desire to go to the land of Judæa, and perhaps I shall dwell with you all my life
All of world history is competed when Jesus 'breaks through the clutter' and reveals the will of God to his contemporaries:
The will of God has been kept in obscurity in many ways. In the first place, there is evil instruction, wicked association, terrible society, unseemly discourses, wrongful prejudice. Thereby is error, then fearlessness, unbelief, fornication, covetousness, vainglory; and ten thousand other such evils, filling the world as a quantity of smoke fills a house, have obscured the sight of the men inhabiting the world, and have not suffered them to look up and become acquainted with God the Creator from the delineation of Himself which He has given, and to know what is pleasing to Him. Wherefore it behooves the lovers of truth, crying out inwardly from their breasts, to call for aid, with truth-loving reason, that some one living within the house which is filled with smoke may approach and open the door, so that the light of the sun which is without may be admitted into the house, and the smoke of the fire which is within may be driven out.

Now the Man who is the helper I call the true Prophet; and He alone is able to enlighten the souls of men, so that with our own eyes we may be able to see the way of eternal salvation. But otherwise it is impossible, as you also know, since you said a little while ago that every doctrine is set up and pulled down, and the same is thought true or false, according to the power of him who advocates it; so that doctrines do not appear as they are, but take the appearance of being or not being truth or falsehood from those who advocate them. On this account the whole business of religion needed a true prophet, that he might tell us things that are, as they are, and how we must believe concerning all things. So that it is first necessary to test the prophet by every prophetic sign, and having ascertained that he is true, thereafter to believe him in every thing, and not to sit in judgment upon his several sayings, but to receive them as certain, being accepted indeed by seeming faith, yet by sure judgment. For by our initial proof, and by strict inquiry on every side, all things are received with right reason. Wherefore before all things it is necessary to seek after the true Prophet, because without Him it is impossible that any certainty can come to men. Chapter XX. Peter's Satisfaction with Clement And, at the same time, he satisfied me by expounding to me who He is, and how He is found, and holding Him forth to me as truly to be found, showing that the truth is more manifest to the ear by the discourse of the prophet than things that are seen with the eye; so that I was astonished, and wondered that no one sees those things which are sought after by all, though they lie before him. However, having written this discourse concerning the Prophet by his order, he caused the volume to be dispatched to you from Cæsarea Stratonis, saying that he had a charge from you to send his discourses and his acts year by year.
More examples:
For, by the will of God prescribed at the beginning, punishment righteously follows those who worship Him on account of transgressions; and this is so, in order that having reckoned with them by punishment for sin as for a debt, he may set forth those who have turned to Him pure in the universal judgment.
And the will of the righteous One is that you do no wrong. But wrong is murder, hatred, envy, and such like; and of these there are many forms.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Secret Alias »

The reason I find this interesting is that it is the closest thing that I have ever found which explains what the appeal of earliest Christianity was. There must have been these preachers who came around to ancient cities claiming about all to preach the will of God to people. Why did Christianity conqueror the world? At some point people found it appealing that 'God's will' could be known. What are the true laws? What should I do? How should I live?

I am still not exactly clear how the visitation was understood? Yes Jesus is called the true prophet. But there is no Mary that I can see. No virgin birth. Simon Magus is viewed as some sort of aberration. But the message of Peter's community is that humanity has the opportunity to learn the will of God. If they fail to take up the opportunity they will burn in hell.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Ozark
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 7:03 pm

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Ozark »

Hi, new to the boards.

By coincidence, I’ve been reading the Recognitions lately, and what struck me in the early parts of the text is how the author (or redactor?) -

Basically states how he was drawn to the religion out of the terror that death is really the end of things.

Same today as it was then? I.e. I think the author feared oblivion more than burning in hell.

I tend to think that although this comes to us in Latin, this was written by a Greek convert to a Judaizing sect?
Last edited by Ozark on Fri May 18, 2018 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Secret Alias »

Interesting. Maybe you're right. Let me take a second look.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
andrewcriddle
Posts: 2817
Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:36 am

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by andrewcriddle »

There is an interesting/puzzling section in the Clementing Homilies, the discussion between Clement and Appion, (Homilies 4-6) which may come from a non-Christian Jewish source. It has Clement say (Homily 4)
On this account I betook myself to the holy God and law of the Jews, putting my faith in the well-assured conclusion that the law has been assigned by the righteous judgment of God, and that the soul must at some time receive according to the desert of its deeds.
See https://www.jstor.org/stable/23508437?s ... b_contents

Andrew Criddle
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Secret Alias »

Adler is one of my favorites. What he says of course is spot on. Still if the Homilies are more original we'd have to say that we are talking about multiple rewrites where even this 'Alexandrian edition' is far from the earliest version. I personally think the introduction of Barnabas - a figure from the Pauline circle - is incompatible with an Ebionite document. But then how did Clement get to Judea? I don't know. I do think that the mysterious figure at the beginning who preaches in Rome is Simon Magus originally fitting in with the 'Simon = left hand' and Peter (= the right hand) who has to follow lies with truth narrative.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Ozark
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 7:03 pm

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Ozark »

But if you think mentioning a member of the Pauline circle in an Ebionite document is weird, how can you explain mentioning Barnabas and then acting like you have a court imposed gag order on Paul?
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by Secret Alias »

I am not getting you. It would seem to me that Barnabas was added to the text at a later date unless Barnabas was originally a Petrine character.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
User avatar
DCHindley
Posts: 3411
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:53 am
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: The Clementines Explain the Early Appeal of Christianity

Post by DCHindley »

The truth is like a Clementine: If you remove the peel, you taste the sweet stuff. If you try to eat the peel, you taste the sour stuff. However, pinch the removed peel next to an open flame, and the juice bursts into flames. Pinch the sweet segments, and the flame is put out. This is deep and profound.
Lao Tzu wrote:The Tao (Way) that can be told of is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the mother of all things.
Therefore let there always be non-being so we may see their
subtlety,
And let there always be being so we may see their outcome.
The two are the same,
But after they are produced, they have different names.
They both may be called deep and profound (hsüan).
Deeper and more profound,
The door of all subtleties!
There you go, the "door" of Jesus. Who needs Ebionites or Edomites to open the door when Clementines are just as nonsensical.

Amen

DCH
User avatar
billd89
Posts: 1347
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 6:27 pm
Location: New England, USA

Re: study on Clementine 'Recognitions'

Post by billd89 »

Somewhat recent scholarly study, +200pp. book, here.

F. Stanley Jones, AN ANCIENT JEWISH CHRISTIAN SOURCE ON THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions 1.27-71 (1995/2001). Link
Chapter 5 concludes that the author is a Jewish Christian of about 200 C.E. He values astrology, sees Christianity as true Judaism, and is concerned with the Christian inheritance of the land of Israel.
Post Reply