Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CLEMENT, EPISTLES OF

Two texts attributed to Clement, found in the 4th-century biblical Codex Alexandrinus and included in the Apostolic Fathers. They are in fact completely separate Christian documents written by two different authors. Both reflect a traditional piety strongly influenced by Judaism but have little else in common.

1 Clement

One of the earliest Christian documents outside the NT canon, 1 Clement is a genuine letter from the Roman church to the church in Corinth written about the turn of the 1st century. These Roman Christians were prompted to write by the report (1 Clem. 47:7) of renewed outbreak of factions and divisions in Corinth, triggered by the deposition of some of the Corinthian presbyters (44:6). In keeping with acceptable rhetorical strategy, the author(s) provides only vague allusions to the exact nature of the dispute and its cause. However, he considers its effects serious enough to warrant some response from the Roman community in the form of an appeal for the restoration of peace and concord (63:2). The letter was carried to Corinth by couriers from Rome (63:3; 65:1) who no doubt acted as mediators in the dispute.

The identity of the author(s) remains obscure, but ancient tradition from the time of Eusebius in the early 4th century (HE 3.16.1; 38.1) attributes the letter to a “Clement.” Who this might have been remains uncertain, although many claim that he was an imperial freedman of the household of Titus Flavius Clemens and a (or the) leader among the Roman presbyters. He might have been the same Clement mentioned by the Shepherd of Hermas (Visions 2.4.3) whose duty it was to send communication from Rome “to the cities abroad,” but this identification is by no means certain. However, it is certain that he did not function as a monarchical bishop, as Irenaeus later claimed (Adv. haer. 3.3.3), since other early sources (notably Ignatius’ letter to Rome) confirm that the monarchical episcopate did not exist in Rome until at least the middle of the 2nd century. Moreover, 1 Clement uses the terms “bishops” and “presbyters” interchangeably and always in the plural.

Whoever the actual author(s) might have been, the worldview and perspective of the letter are unambiguous. The author shares a positive assessment of Roman society and government (61:1-3) and demonstrates a concern for the maintenance of hierarchical order consistent with the prevailing perspective of the well-educated “social elite” of Roman society. This stands in sharp contrast with the perspective of the contemporary book of Revelation, which sees the imperial Roman system as the “Beast” to be opposed at all costs, even at the risk of death.

Eusebius reports (HE 4.22.1; 23.11) that 1 Clement was successful in its attempt to end the crisis in Corinth. Moreover, the perspectives of the letter contributed significantly to the later development of a theology of ecclesiastical office in the Church.

2 Clement

2 Clement is not a letter at all but a mid-2nd-century sermon exhorting its audience to fidelity in traditional Christian virtues in the face of the coming judgment. There is nothing very distinctive about the sermon, and its main value is that it demonstrates the ordinary style of Christian preaching in the 2nd century. Written for a predominantly Gentile Christian audience of converts (2 Clem. 1:6), the preacher stresses the need for repentance and self-control, and recommends the traditional Jewish pious practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. He exhorts the audience to keep pure and undefiled the “seal of baptism” (6:9; 7:6; 8:6) so that they might “gather the immortal fruit of resurrection” (19:3).

Barbara E. Bowe

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CLEMENT, EPISTLES OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)