First Epistle to the Corinthians
Clement of Rome
Chapters I - XV
Clement starts this letter with these
words:
The
Church of God which sojourns at Rome, to the Church of God sojourning at Corinth,
to them that are called and sanctified by the will of God, through our Lord
Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from Almighty God through Jesus
Christ, be multiplied.
I am struck by how Pauline his introduction
is. For example in Paul's letter to the
same church, he writes in 1 Corinthians 1:1–3 (ESV)
1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,
and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in
Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with
all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both
their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Another observation I have is that 1
Clement also mimics the Letter to the Hebrews in writing style. It is too obvious as Clement continues to
exhort the church through the "Let us" formula that the writer to the
Hebrews also employs. "Clement
is more like Hebrews than any other New Testament book. This is true, both with
regard to his frequency of usage (next to the Psalms, he uses Hebrews by
citation and allusion more
frequently than any other book of Scripture, Old or New Testament),and with
regard to the nature of the two works."
As with Paul it seems that Clement is
responding to questions or concerns from the Corinthian congregation. (in
turning our attention to the points respecting which you consulted us." As noted before in this Blog, there seems to
be a condition whereby some people are acting subversive to the leadership of
the congregation. Again in a similar
way that Paul addressed churches, Clement commences his letter with words of
commendation but comes to the point:
"So
the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such
as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those
advanced in years."
Clement's approach to this sedition is to
point out to the church the tragedy of envy and what it does to
relationships. From Cain and Abel, even
through to his contemporary era, he dramatically illustrates the devastation
that arises from envy and jealousy.
Following true Apostolic fashion he calls for repentance. Again referring back to the Scriptures,
Clement points out the blessings that came to the saints of the past that
sought to obey Christ in these areas of relationships.
Clement calls for the church to walk in
humility. " By this precept and by these rules let us establish ourselves,
that we walk with all humility in obedience to His holy words." This humility is evidenced by obedience to
God rather than the unrepentant and the disloyal. It is evidence also, according to Clement,
by those who genuinely "cultivate peace" in contrast to those who
pretend. In the chapters that follow,
Clement will start with look at our greatest example of humility, obedience and
peace: the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Clement's words of affirmation to the
Corinthians he writes this: "[You were] Content with the provision which
God had made for you, and carefully
attending to His words, ye were inwardly filled with His doctrine, and
His sufferings were before your eyes." [Emphasis is mine.] Likewise when he exhorts the church to
humility he writes, "Let us act according to that which is written (for
the Holy Spirit saith . . .). Here he quotes Jeremiah and Paul:
·
Jeremiah 9:23–24 (ESV) 23
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his
wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast
in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts
boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who
practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these
things I delight, declares the Lord.”
·
1 Corinthians 1:31 (ESV) 31
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts,
boast in the Lord.”
·
2 Corinthians 10:17 (ESV) 17
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
"No other Apostolic Father cites or alludes to Scripture as frequently as
1 Clement does, nor does he follow the pattern of New Testament usage as
Clement does. Also, no author in the New Testament cites the Old Testament as
extensively (as far as the amount of material from any one passage is
concerned), nor as frequently, as Clement does. Romans cites the Old Testament
only 65 times, compared to 105 times for Clement."
It is obvious, to this point, that Clement
believes that the Scriptures are inspired of God, authoritative and
relevant. His massive use of referring
to Scripture implies that he probably did not assume that he was writing
inspired text so he uses Scripture to shore up (if you will) or bolster his
arguments. The text that Clement follows
appears to be the Septuagint.
From time to time Drs Roberts and
Donaldson annotate Clement's quotation as from the Septuagint but not
consistent with the Hebrew text.
"He had no doubt learned the use of
the Septuagint, in which his knowledge of the Greek tongue soon rendered him an
adept. His copy of that version, however, does not always agree with the
Received Text, as the reader will perceive" (A. Cleveland Coxe, D.D.).
One other hermeneutical note has to do with
an insertion of a unique use of allegory.
In Chapter XII, Clement brings in the testimony of Rahab. Recalling the story of Rahab from Joshua 2,
Clement implies that the red sign the woman used to identify her house to the
attacking Israelites, thus bringing her safety was a pre-cursor or sign of the
redeeming blood of Christ. He writes:
"And thus they made it manifest that
redemption should flow through the blood of the Lord to all them that believe
and hope in God."
As correct it is that the shedding of
Christ's blood brought redemption to all who believed, it appears fanciful hermeneutics to draw such
a thought from the red ribbon of Rahab.
This may present a hint of an allegorical interpretation that proves to
be a concern.
Another observation about Clement's work
within these first chapters is his use apocryphal literature. In Chapter VII we read, "Let us turn to
every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the
Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto
Him." It
could be noted that the phrase "a place of repentance" may originate
in the apocryphal book of the Wisdom of Solomon ("But executing thy judgments
upon them by little and little, thou gavest them place of repentance,
not being ignorant that they were a naughty generation, and that their malice
was bred in them, and that their cogitation would never be changed.)[12] There is no evidence at
this point whether Clement viewed these books as inspired, but his use of them
at least attests to some value.
Conclusion
So Clement employs a massive amount of
Scripture; he clearly follows a style of approach that is apostolic in nature;
he makes use of material outside of Scripture including the Apocrypha; and he
imports an allegorical interpretative method that is suspect, in my opinion.
Schaff, Philip (2009-06-08). Ante-Nicene
Fathers Volume 1 - Enhanced Version (Early Church Fathers) (Kindle Locations
234-235). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition.
Ibid, (Kindle Locations 289-290).
Schaff, Philip (2009-06-08). Ante-Nicene
Fathers Volume 1 - Enhanced Version (Early Church Fathers) (Kindle Locations
255-257). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition.
[12] The
Apocrypha: King James Version. 1995 (Wis 12:10). Bellingham, WA: Logos
Research Systems, Inc.
First Epistle to the Corinthians
