I.]
CLEMENT OF ROME.
23
time the disciple of St Paul, and again of St Peter[1]: the order of his episcopate at Rome is disputed[2]; and yet, notwithstanding these ambiguities, it is evident that he exercised a powerful and lasting influence. In fact, he lost his individuality through the general acknowledgment of his representative character in the history of the Church.
Writings assigned to him.Writings which were assigned to the authorship of Clement gained a wide circulation in the East and West, two Epistles to Virgins were published in a Syriac translation under his name by Wetstein[3]. The Clementines, in spite of their tendency, remain entire, to represent the unorthodox literature of the first ages[4]. The Canons and Constitutions which claim his authority became part of the law-book of Christians[5]. Two Greek epistles, professing to be his, are appended to one of the earliest manuscripts of the Bible in existence[6].
The historical position of Clement is illustrated by the
- ↑ The former opinion is grounded on Phil. iv. 3 (cf. Jacobson, ad Clem. vit. not. b); the latter is found in the Clementines, and, from them, in Origen, Philoc. c. 23, and later writers. Schliemann, 120.
- ↑ The chief authorities are quoted by Hefele, l. c.
- ↑ Cf. Jacobson, ad Clem. R. vit. note 1. Möhler, ss. 67 sqq. Möhler defends their authenticity, which Neander thinks possible (Ch. H. II. 441). The quotations from the New Testament which they contain shew that they were certainly written early, but, as far as I can judge, considerably after Clement's genuine Epistle. These quotations are examined below, ch. ii. § 8 f.
- ↑ Schliemann gives a very full account of them: 50 ff. (the Homilies); 265 ff. (the Recognitions).
- ↑ Cf. Bunsen's Hippolytus iii. 145 sqq. (the Canons); ii. 220 sqq., and App. (the Constitutions).
- ↑ See App. B. In addition to the letters of Clement, the Cod. Alex. contains also three beautiful Christian hymns, one of which is the Greek original of the Gloria in excelsis of our own Liturgy. Cf. Bunsen, Hippolytus, iii. 133 sqq. Their existence in the MS. proves no more than their ecclesiastical use. It should be added that the two epistles of Clement precede the addition of the books contained in the MS. while the Psalms of Solomon follow this total. See App. D. xii.
