Clement of Alexandria

The Stromata, or Miscellanies

Name: The Stromata, or Miscellanies
Availability: InStock
Author: Clement of Alexandria

Classic translation

3rd c. · Treatises & Other · English translation, 1890

240,455 words · 20 hr read· Accessible

Source edition: The Ante-Nicene Fathers (ed. Roberts & Donaldson, 1885)

Cover art: Pompey's Pillar, Alexandria — David Roberts (Scottish, 1796–1864) (Bibliothèque nationale de France (via Wikimedia Commons), Public domain)

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Book 1
1. Preface—The Author’s Object—The Utility of Written Compositions
2. Objection to the Number of Extracts from Philosophical Writings in These…
Chapter 3.—Against the Sophists
4. Human Arts as Well as Divine Knowledge Proceed from God
5. Philosophy the Handmaid of Theology
Chapter 6.—The Benefit of Culture
7. The Eclectic Philosophy Paves the Way for Divine Virtue
Chapter 8.—The Sophistical Arts Useless
9. Human Knowledge Necessary for the Understanding of the Scriptures
10. To Act Well of Greater Consequence Than to Speak Well
11. What is the Philosophy Which the Apostle Bids Us Shun?
12. The Mysteries of the Faith Not to Be Divulged to All
13. All Sects of Philosophy Contain a Germ of Truth
14. Succession of Philosophers in Greece
15. The Greek Philosophy in Great Part Derived from the Barbarians
16. That the Inventors of Other Arts Were Mostly Barbarians
17. On the Saying of the Saviour, “All that Came Before Me Were Thieves and…
18. He Illustrates the Apostle’s Saying, “I Will Destroy the Wisdom of the…
19. That the Philosophers Have Attained to Some Portion of Truth
20. In What Respect Philosophy Contributes to the Comprehension of Divine Truth
21. The Jewish Institutions and Laws of Far Higher Antiquity Than the…
22. On the Greek Translation of the Old Testament
23. The Age, Birth, and Life of Moses
24. How Moses Discharged the Part of a Military Leader
25. Plato an Imitator of Moses in Framing Laws
26. Moses Rightly Called a Divine Legislator, And, Though Inferior to Christ…
27. The Law, Even in Correcting and Punishing, Aims at the Good of Men
28. The Fourfold Division of the Mosaic Law
29. The Greeks But Children Compared with the Hebrews
Elucidations
Book 2
Chapter 1.—Introductory
2. The Knowledge of God Can Be Attained Only Through Faith
3. Faith Not a Product of Nature
4. Faith the Foundation of All Knowledge
5. He Proves by Several Examples that the Greeks Drew from the Sacred Writers
6. The Excellence and Utility of Faith
7. The Utility of Fear. Objections Answered
8. The Vagaries of Basilides and Valentinus as to Fear Being the Cause of Things
9. The Connection of the Christian Virtues
10. To What the Philosopher Applies Himself
11. The Knowledge Which Comes Through Faith the Surest of All
Chapter 12.—Twofold Faith
13. On First and Second Repentance
14. How a Thing May Be Involuntary
15. On the Different Kinds of Voluntary Actions, and the Sins Thence Proceeding
16. How We are to Explain the Passages of Scripture Which Ascribe to God Human…
17. On the Various Kinds of Knowledge
18. The Mosaic Law the Fountain of All Ethics, and the Source from Which the…
19. The True Gnostic is an Imitator of God, Especially in Beneficence
20. The True Gnostic Exercises Patience and Self-Restraint
21. Opinions of Various Philosophers on the Chief Good
22. Plato’s Opinion, that the Chief Good Consists in Assimilation to God, and…
Chapter 23.—On Marriage
Elucidations
Book 3
Introduction
Elucidations
Book 4.
Chapter 1.—Order of Contents
2. The Meaning of the Name Stromata or Miscellanies
3. The True Excellence of Man
Chapter 4.—The Praises of Martyrdom
5. On Contempt for Pain, Poverty, and Other External Things
7. The Blessedness of the Martyr
8. Women as Well as Men, Slaves as Well as Freemen, Candidates for the Martyr’s…
9. Christ’s Sayings Respecting Martyrdom
10. Those Who Offered Themselves for Martyrdom Reproved
11. The Objection, Why Do You Suffer If God Cares for You, Answered
12. Basilides’ Idea of Martyrdom Refuted
13. Valentinian’s Vagaries About the Abolition of Death Refuted
14. The Love of All, Even of Our Enemies
Chapter 15.—On Avoiding Offence
16. Passages of Scripture Respecting the Constancy, Patience, and Love of the…
17. Passages from Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians on Martyrdom
18. On Love, and the Repressing of Our Desires
Chap. 19.—Women as Well as Men Capable of Perfection
Chapter 20.—A Good Wife
21. Description of the Perfect Man, or Gnostic
Chapter 23.—The Same Subject Continued
Elucidations
Book 5
Chap. 1.—On Faith
Chap. 2.—On Hope
3. The Objects of Faith and Hope Perceived by the Mind Alone
4. Divine Things Wrapped Up in Figures Both in the Sacred and in Heathen Writers
5. On the Symbols of Pythagoras
6. The Mystic Meaning of the Tabernacle and Its Furniture
7. The Egyptian Symbols and Enigmas of Sacred Things
8. The Use of the Symbolic Style by Poets and Philosophers
9. Reasons for Veiling the Truth in Symbols
10. The Opinion of the Apostles on Veiling the Mysteries of the Faith
11. Abstraction from Material Things Necessary in Order to Attain to the True…
12. God Cannot Be Embraced in Words or by the Mind
13. The Knowledge of God a Divine Gift, According to the Philosophers
14. Greek Plagiarism from the Hebrews
Elucidations
Book 6
Chapter 1.—Plan
2. The Subject of Plagiarisms Resumed. The Greeks Plagiarized from One Another
3. Plagiarism by the Greeks of the Miracles Related in the Sacred Books of the…
4. The Greeks Drew Many of Their Philosophical Tenets from the Egyptian and…
5. The Greeks Had Some Knowledge of the True God
6. The Gospel Was Preached to Jews and Gentiles in Hades
7. What True Philosophy Is, and Whence So Called
8. Philosophy is Knowledge Given by God
9. The Gnostic Free of All Perturbations of the Soul
10. The Gnostic Avails Himself of the Help of All Human Knowledge
11. The Mystical Meanings in the Proportions of Numbers, Geometrical Ratios…
12. Human Nature Possesses an Adaptation for Perfection; The Gnostic Alone…
13. Degrees of Glory in Heaven Corresponding with the Dignities of the Church…
14. Degrees of Glory in Heaven
Chapter 15.—Different Degrees of Knowledge
16. Gnostic Exposition of the Decalogue
17. Philosophy Conveys Only an Imperfect Knowledge of God
18. The Use of Philosophy to the Gnostic
Elucidations
Book 7
1. The Gnostic a True Worshipper of God, and Unjustly Calumniated by…
2. The Son the Ruler and Saviour of All
3. The Gnostic Aims at the Nearest Likeness Possible to God and His Son
4. The Heathens Made Gods Like Themselves, Whence Springs All Superstition
5. The Holy Soul a More Excellent Temple Than Any Edifice Built by Man
6. Prayers and Praise from a Pure Mind, Ceaselessly Offered, Far Better Than…
7. What Sort of Prayer the Gnostic Employs, and How It is Heard by God
8. The Gnostic So Addicted to Truth as Not to Need to Use an Oath
9. Those Who Teach Others, Ought to Excel in Virtues
Chapter 10.—Steps to Perfection
11. Description of the Gnostic’s Life
12. The True Gnostic is Beneficent, Continent, and Despises Worldly Things
13. Description of the Gnostic Continued
14. Description of the Gnostic Furnished by an Exposition of 1 Cor. vi. 1, Etc
15. The Objection to Join the Church on Account of the Diversity of Heresies…
16. Scripture the Criterion by Which Truth and Heresy are Distinguished
17. The Tradition of the Church Prior to that of the Heresies
18. The Distinction Between Clean and Unclean Animals in the Law Symbolical of…
Elucidations
Book 8
1. The Object of Philosophical and Theological Inquiry—The Discovery of Truth
2. The Necessity of Perspicuous Definition
Chapter 3.—Demonstration Defined
4. To Prevent Ambiguity, We Must Begin with Clear Definition
5. Application of Demonstration to Sceptical Suspense of Judgment
Chapter 6.—Definitions, Genera, and Species
7. On the Causes of Doubt or Assent
8. The Method of Classifying Things and Names
9. On the Different Kinds of Cause
Elucidations
Fragments of Clemens Alexandrinus

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