CLEMENT
16
CLEMENT
law, so that, if these should fall asleep, other approved
men should succeed to their ministration." Rothe,
Michiels (Origines de I'episcopat, Louvain, 1900, 197),
and others awkwardly understand "if they, the
Apostles, should fall asleep". For imvofiriv SibuiKaaiv,
which the Latin renders legem dederunt, Lightfoot
reads ivifdxivT]v deduKacny, "they have provided a con-
tinuance". In any case the general meaning is clear,
that the Apostles provided for a lawful succession
of ministers. Presbyters are mentioned several
times, but are not distinguished from bishops.
There is absolutely no mention of a bishop at Cor-
inth, and the ecclesiastical authorities there are
always spoken of in the plural. R. Sohm thinks
there was as yet no bishop at Corinth when Clement
wrote (so Michiels and many other Catholic writers;
Lightfoot leaves the question open), but that a
bishop must have been appointed in con.sequence of
the letter: he thinks that Rome was the origin of
all ecclesiastical institutions and laws (Kirchenrecht,
189). Harnack in 1897 (Chronol., I) upheld the
paradox that the Church of Rome was so conserva-
tive as to be governed by presbyters until Anicetus;
and that when the list of popes was composed, c. 170,
there had been a bishop for less than twenty years;
Clement and others in the list were only presbyters
of special influence.
The liturgical character of parts of the Epistle is elaborately discussed by Lightfoot. The prayer (59- 61) already mentioned, which reminds us of the Anaphora of early liturgies, cannot be regarded, says Duchesne, "as a reproduction of a sacred formulary, but it is an excellent example of the style of solemn prayer in which the ecclesiastical leaders of that time were accustomed to express themselves at meetings for worship" (Origines du culte chret., 3rd ed., 50; tr., 50). The fine passage about Creation, 32-.3, is almost in the style of a Preface, and concludes by introducing the Sanctus by the usual mention of the angelic powers: "Let us mark the whole host of the angels, how they stand by and minister unto His Will. For the Scripture saith; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood by Him, and thousands of thousands ministered unto Him ; and they cried aloud: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth; all creation is full of His glory. Yea, and let us ourselves then, being gathered together in concord with intentness of heart, cry unto Him. . ." The combination of Daniel, vii, 10, with Is., vi, 3, may be from a liturgical formula. It is interesting to note that the contem- jjorary Apocalypse of St. John (iv, 8) shows the four living creatures, representing all creation, singing the _ Sanctus at the heavenly Mass.
The historical references in the letter are deeply interesting: "To pass from the examples of ancient days, let us come to those champions who lived very near to our time. Let us set before us the noble examples which belong to our generation. By reason of jealousy and envy the greatest and most righteous pillans of the Church were persecuted, and contended even until death. Let us set before our eyes the good Apostles. There was Peter, who by reason of unrighteous jealousy endured not one or two, but many labours, and thus having borne his testimony went to his appointed place of glory. By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been .seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the \V(«t, he won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteous- ness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he dci^arted from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance" (5). It is obvious that these two Apostles are mentioned
because they suffered at Rome. It seems that St.
Paul went to Spain as he intended (Rom., xv, 28)
and as is declared by the spurious Acts of Peter and
by the Muratorian fragment. "L^nto these men of
holy lives was gathered a vast multitude of the elect,
who through many indignities and tortures, being the
victims of jealousy, set a brave example among our-
selves. By reason of jealousy women being perse-
cuted, after that they had suffered cruel and unholy
insults as Danaids and Dircte, safely reached the
goal in the race of faith, and received a noble reward,
feeble though they were in body" (6). The "vast
multitude" both of men and women "among our-
selves" at Rome refers to the horrible persecution of
Nero, described by Tacitus, "Ann.", XV, xliv. It
is in the recent past, and the writer continues: "We
are in the same lists, and the same contest awaits
us" (7); he is under another persecution, that of
Domitian, covertly referred to as a series of "sudden
and repeated calamities and reverses", which have
prevented the letter from being written sooner. The
martyrdom of the Consul Clement (probably patron
of the pope's own family) and the e.xile of his wife
will be among these disasters.
Date and Authenticity. — The date of the letter is determined by these notices of persecution. It is strange that even a few good scholars (such as Grotius, Grabe, Orsi, Uhlhorn, Hefele, Wieseler) should have dated it soon after Nero. It is now universally acknowledged, after Lightfoot, that it was written about the last year of Domitian (Harnack) or immediately after his death in 96 (Funk). The Roman Church had existed several decades, for the two envoys to Corinth had lived in it from youth to age. The Church of Corinth is called dpxaia (47). Bishops and deacons have succeeded to bishops and deacons appointed by the Apostles (44). Yet the time of the Apostles is "quite lately" and "our own generation" (5). The external evidence is in accord. The dates given for Clement's episcopate by Hegesip- pus are apparently 90-99, and that early writer states that the schism at Corinth took place un- der Domitian (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., Ill, xvi, for Kara rbv STfKovixevon is meaningless if it is taken to refer to Clement and not to Domitian; 'oesides, the whole of Eusebius 's account of that emperor's per- secution, III, xvii-.xx, is founded on Hegesippus). St. Irena;us says that Clement still remembered the Apostles, and so did many others, implying an inter- val of many years after their death. Volkmar placed the date in the reign of Hadrian, because the Book of Judith is quoted, which he declared to have been written in that reign. He was followed by Baur, but not by Hilgenfeld. Such a date is manifestly impossible, if only because the Epistle of Polycarp is entirely modelled on that of Clement and borrows from it freely. It is possibly employed by St. Igna- tius, c. 107, and certainly in the letter of the Smyr- nseans on the martyrdom of St. Polj'carp, c. 156.
The Epistle is in the name of the Church of Rome, but the early authorities always ascribe it to Clement. Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, wrote c. 170 to the Romans in Pope Soter's time: "To-day we kept the holy day, the Lord's day, and on it we read your letter; and we shall ever have it to give us instruc- tion, even as the former one written through Clement" (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., IV, xxx). Hegesippus at- tributed the letter to Clement. Irenaeus, c. 180-5, perhaps using Hegesippus, says: "Under this Clement no small sedition took place among the brethren at Corinth, and the Church of Rome sent a most suffi- cient letter to the Corinthians, establishing them in peace, and renewing their faith, and announcing the tradition it had recently received from the Apostles" (III, iii). Clement of Alexandria, c. 200, frequently quotes the Epistle as Clement's, and so do Origcn and Eusebius. Lightfoot and Harnack are fond of
