Everything about 1 Clement totally explained
The
Epistles of Clement (
1 Clement and
2 Clement) are two letters ascribed to
Saint Clement, an
Apostolic Father, and the fourth
Pope and
Bishop of Rome.
First Clement (
c 96) is one of the oldest Christian documents outside the
New Testament canon. The
epistle was written for the
church in
Corinth, where it was read for centuries. Indeed, historians generally hold First Clement to be an authentic document dating from the first century. From the
fifth century to the
eighth century, many of the
eastern churches accepted the First Epistle of Clement as canonical scripture as it's clearly listed among the canonical books of the New Testament in "Canon 85" of the
Canons of the Apostles. However, by the end of the
eighth century, none of the ancient churches, eastern or western, included First Clement in any official listing of the
canonical New Testament.
Second Clement, a
homily, was probably written later,
c 140-160. It may be the oldest surviving sermon outside the New Testament. While Second Clement was traditionally ascribed to
Saint Clement, if it was indeed written in the
second century, Clement couldn't have been its author, as he likely died in the year
99.
Like almost all early Christian texts, both letters were written in
Greek, the common language of the
Hellenized Mediterranean area.
The First Epistle of Clement
The
First Epistle of Clement, (literally,
Clement to Corinth;
Greek, Κλήμεντος πρὸς Κορινθίους,
Klēmentos pros Korinthious) dates from the late first or early second century, and ranks with the
Didache, the
Epistle of Barnabas, and the Seven Epistles of
Ignatius of Antioch as one of the earliest — if not the earliest — of extant Christian documents outside the canonical New Testament. Scholarly consensus is overwhelmingly in favour of its authenticity, however there are a number of questions raised by critics that remain unanswered.
The traditional date for Clement's epistle is at the end of the reign of
Domitian, or circa
96 AD, by taking the phrase "sudden and repeated misfortunes and hindrances which have befallen us" (1:1) for a reference to persecutions under Domitian. Confirmation of the date comes from the fact that the church at Rome is called "ancient" and that the presbyters installed by the apostles have died (44:2), and a
second ecclesiastical generation has also passed on (44:3).
The letter was occasioned by a dispute in
Corinth, which had led to the removal from office of several
presbyters. Since none of the presbyters was charged with moral offences, Clement charged that their removal was high-handed and unjustifiable. The letter is extremely lengthy — twice as long as the
Epistle to the Hebrews — and includes several references to the
Old Testament. Clement demonstrates a familiarity with the Old Testament that points to his being a Christian of long standing, rather than a recent convert. Clement repeatedly refers to the Old Testament as Scripture. Though he quotes some of the letters of
Paul and the
Epistle to the Hebrews and remembers some sayings of
Jesus, he never refers to these as authoritative Scripture.
The epistle was publicly read from time to time at Corinth, and by the
fourth century this usage had spread to other churches. It was included in the
fifth century Codex Alexandrinus, which contained the entire the Old and New Testaments. First Clement is listed as canonical in "Canon 85" of the
Canons of the Apostles, suggesting that First Clement had canonical rank in at least some regions of early Christendom.
Though known from antiquity, the first complete copy of 1 Clement was rediscovered in
1873, some four hundred years after the
Fall of Constantinople, when
Philotheos Bryennios found it in the Greek
Codex Hierosolymitanus, written in
1056. This work, written in
Greek, was translated into at least three languages in ancient times: a
Latin translation from the second or third century was found in an eleventh century manuscript in the seminary library of Namur, Belgium, and published by
Germain Morin in 1894; a
Syriac manuscript, now at Cambridge University, was found by
Robert Lubbock Bensly in 1876, which he translated in 1899; and a
Coptic translation has survived in two
papyrus copies, one published by C. Schmidt in 1908 and the other by F. Rösch in 1910.
The Namur Latin translation reveals its early date in several ways and embodies what J.H. Breasted tactfully called "a modification of the text to suit the later spirit of the Roman church". Its early date is attested by not being combined with the pseudepigraphic later Second Epistle of Clement, as all the other translations are found, and by showing no knowledge of the church terminology that became current later, translating
presbyteroi as
seniores rather than
episcopi. In the modification of the text, the
Pauline prayer of
Clement, that believers should submit themselves in all humility to the civil authority, has been reversed to state precisely the opposite: a prayer that all princes and rulers may now subject themselves to the Church, the
Gelasian doctrine that was being revived and put into effect during the
eleventh-century Gregorian reform.
The Second Epistle of Clement
The
Second Epistle of Clement, (literally,
Clement to Corinth;
Greek, Κλήμεντος πρὸς Κορινθίους,
Klēmentos pros Korinthious) was traditionally believed to have been an epistle to the Christian Church in Corinth written by
Clement of Rome sometime in the late
first century. However, the
fourth century bishop Eusebius, in his historical work, says
Clement "has left us one recognized epistle" (Ecclesiastical History 3.16), so doubts about this work belonging to Clement of Rome are not new. Though the first external references to this work date to the fourth century, most modern scholars believe that Second Clement is actually a sermon written around 140 - 160 CE by an anonymous author-- one who was neither the author of 1 Clement nor Clement of Rome. Nonetheless, scholars still generally refer to the work by its traditional name "Second Clement".
Second Clement appears to be a transcript of a
homily or
sermon that was originally delivered orally at a Christian worship service. For example, in chapter 19 the speaker announces that he'll read aloud from scripture -- something we'd only expect to find in an a transcript of an oral sermon. Similarly, whereas an epistle would typically begin by introducing the sender and recipient, 2 Clement starts with by addressing "Brethren", and then proceeding directly to the sermon. If it's a sermon, 2 Clement would be the earliest surviving Christian sermon (aside from those found in the New Testament).
Rather than trying to convert others to
Christianity, 2 Clement appears to be directed at an audience of Christians who had converted from Paganism. It seems to reference a past history of
idolatry: "[Previously] we were maimed in our understanding-- we were worshiping stones and pieces of wood, and gold and silver and copper -- all of them made by humans".
Despite their Pagan background, the speaker and audience in 2 Clement appear to consider the Jewish texts to be Scripture -- the speaker quotes repeatedly from the
Book of Isaiah and interprets the text. The speaker also regards the words of
Jesus as scripture -- for example, 2:4 quotes a saying of Jesus (one which has parallels, for example, in Mark 2:17, and Matthew 9:13).
In addition to the canonical literature, the author appears to have had access to Christian writings or oral tradition aside from those found in the
New Testament. Some quotes attributed to Jesus are found only here -- for example 4:5. In 5:2-4, the author quotes a saying of Jesus that's partially found in the New Testament, but the version quoted in 2 Clement is substantially longer than the version found in the New Testament. In the 20th century, a manuscript fragment was discovered that suggests this saying is a quote from the
Gospel of Peter, much of which has been lost. Similarly, in 2 Clement 12, the author quotes from the
Coptic Gospel of Thomas, which was lost until the mid-20th century. Second Clement also appears to cite the
Greek Gospel of the Egyptians.
The earliest external reference to 2 Clement is found in
Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History written in the early
fourth century:
"It must not be overlooked that there's a second epistle said to be from
Clement's pen, but I've no reason to suppose that it was well known like the first one, since I'm not aware that the early
fathers made any use of it. A year or two ago other long and wordy treatises were put forward as Clement's work. They contain alleged dialogues with Peter and Apion, but there's no mention whatever of them by early writers, nor do they preserve in its purity the stamp of apostolic orthodoxy." (Historia Ecclesiastica III 38)
(External Link
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Other Clementine literature
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church includes in their wider
Biblical canon an
epistle traditionally attributed as written by
St. Paul to
Clement.
Further Information
Get more info on '1 Clement'.
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