Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

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Secret Alias
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Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

Post by Secret Alias »

I am reading Porter's article on Clement's citation of Valentinus in the Stromata with the citation of the original Greek and something immediately struck me. The same opening word appears in both. First the letter in Porter's article:

Καλῶς ποιεῖς ὅρους ἡμῖν εὐθεῖς ὁρίζων, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἐγκράτειαν ἴδωμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς.

And then the opening words of Clement's Letter to Theodore.

Καλῶς ἐποίησας ἐπιστομίσαι τὰς ἀῤῥήτους διδασκαλίας τῶν Καρποκρατιανῶν.

Sure, it's possible that we have two distinct ancient authors. Sure, they could use a standard formula for beginning an address to an addressee. But ... let's face it:

1. the letter is anonymous
2. the material cited is Clementine or uses material identified as Clementine in each case.

Could Porter be wrong? Is it possible that this is a second letter of Clement of Alexandria? Just a thought. Porter's own notes about the introduction:
Although the combination of καλῶς and ποιέω were not uncommon in epistolary greetings, Basil himself uses comparable language on only one other occasion (Ep. 240.1). More striking, however, is that it is immediately followed by κάρπος and a reference to a virtue (ἐγκρατεία in De Cont. and ἀγάπη in 2nd ep. Urb). This is not a common introductory formula; the combination of the words in these epistles is rare in ancient letter writing.61 Κάρπος is original to the 2nd ep. Urb., as it is attested even in manuscripts that do not contain De Cont. 62 This suggests that the redactor of De Cont. wished to associate this letter especially with Basil’s correspondence with Urbcius; it was not a randomly selected addressee from Basil’s letter collection.
Last edited by Secret Alias on Fri Feb 24, 2023 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Secret Alias
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Re: Parallels Between Monastic Preservations of Material from Clement

Post by Secret Alias »

Another parallel I can't help noticing: "Carpocratia" and ἐγκρᾰτής (ἐν- “in” +‎ κρᾰ́τος) and καρπὸς.
Καλῶς ποιεῖς ὅρους ἡμῖν εὐθεῖς ὁρίζων, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἐγκράτειαν ἴδωμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς. Ἔστιν οὖν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῆς Θεοῦ μετουσία. Τὸ γὰρ μὴ φθείρεσθαι Θεοῦ μετέχειν ἐστίν, ὥσπερ τὸ φθείρεσθαι βίου μετουσία. Ἐγκράτεια γάρ ἐστιν σώματος ἄρνησις καὶ ὁμολογία πρὸς Θεόν. Ἀποβαίνει τοῦ θνητοῦ παντός, ὥσπερ σῶμα ἔχουσα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ Θεῷ μίσγεσθαι ποιεῖ οὔτε ζῆλον ἔχουσα οὔτε φθόνον. Ὁ γὰρ ἐρῶν σώματος ἑτέρῳ διαφθονεῖται· ὁ δὲ μὴ κομισάμενος εἰς καρδίαν τῆς φθορᾶς τὴν νόσον ἔρρωται λοιπὸν πόνῳ παντί, καίπερ ἀποθανὼν μὲν τῷ σώματι, ζῶν δὲ τῇ ἀφθαρσίᾳ.

You do well to delineate straightforward definitions for us, so that we may know not only continence, but also its fruit. Its fruit, then, is partaking of God. For incorruption is a sharing in God, just as corruption is partaking of the world. For continence is a denial of the body and an assent to God. It departs from everything mortal, as though it had for its body the Spirit of God, and it causes us to be mixed with God, having neither jealousy nor envy. For one who loves a body is envious of another. But the one who does not bring the sickness of corruption into the heart is then strengthened against every trouble, dying in the body but living by incorruption.
If Clement wrote both letters we immediately see where the name "Carpocratians" comes from. Not an individual named "Carpocrates" but a group of ascetics linked with Valentinus's teachings.
Secret Alias
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Re: Parallels Between Monastic Preservations of Material from Clement

Post by Secret Alias »

This paper will offer the following arguments that ep. 366 was not only independent of Clement but was itself Clement’s source.
Not so sure.
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Re: Parallels Between Monastic Preservations of Material from Clement

Post by Secret Alias »

I bet this is important.

W. VÖLKER , Basilius , Ep . 366 und Clemens Alexandrinus : VC 7 ( 1953 ) 23-26 ( Ep . 366 not authentic , contains excerpts of Stromateis )
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Re: Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

Post by Secret Alias »

Apparently the letter is found on its own (as a stand alone letter) at Mar Saba.

https://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/cote/34622/
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Re: Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

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I see 10 copies of the letter.

10th century Italia Venezia Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana gr. Z. 054 (coll. 0424) 251-253v 10 ex. Epistulae 366, 92 (inc. mut.)
R(III)2390
10th - 11th century Vaticano Vaticano Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (BAV) Vat. gr. 2056 255v-256 10-11 Ep. 366 (PG 31, 1110-1112) ; petite lacune à f. 256r à cause de l'initiale découpée.
10th century Hellas Patmos Monê tou Hagiou Iôannou tou Theologou fonds principal 0018 157-158, 160-163v, 166-167v, 234v 10 Epp. 123, 366, 242, 90, 92, 261, 85, 52, 23
an 11th century copy Hellas Patmos Monê tou Hagiou Iôannou tou Theologou fonds principal 0020 353v-356v 11 1081 Epistulae 262 (ff.353v-354), 366 (ff. 354v-355), 53 (ff. 355-356), 55 (f. 356r-v)
R(III)1950
R(III)1950
A 11th century edition Hagion Oros Monê Batopediou fonds principal 0072 007--302
a 13th century fragment at Mar Saba Jerusalem Patriarchikê bibliothêkê Hagiou Saba 366 126-127v* 13
something from the 14th century United Kingdom London British Library Arundel 533 346v--366v* 14 (2/2) Epistulae duae canonicae ad Amphilochium, cum commentario; f. 367 uacuum ?; sequuntur (f. 367v) notulae ad S. Augustinum et Basilium Caesariensem
R(III)1526
a 15th century copy Italia Napoli Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III fonds principal II A 26 285v-286v 15 1469-1473 Ep. 366 ad Urbicium monachum
R(III)1778
an 18th century copy Italia Venezia Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana gr. II. 176 a (coll. 1050) 012-13 18 Ep. 366 ad Urbicium monachum
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Re: Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

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Καλῶς ποιεῖς ὅρους ἡμῖν εὐθεῖς ὁρίζων, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἐγκράτειαν ἴδωμεν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς. ἔστιν οὖν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῆς Θεοῦ μετουσία. τὸ γὰρ μὴ φθείρεσθαι Θεοῦ μετέχειν ἐστίν, ὥσπερ τὸ φθείρεσθαι βίου μετουσία. ἐγκράτεια γάρ ἐστιν σώματος ἄρνησις καὶ ὁμολογία πρὸς Θεόν. ἀποβαίνει τοῦ θνητοῦ παντός, ὥσπερ σῶμα ἔχουσα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ Πνεῦμα: καὶ Θεῷ μίσγεσθαι ποιεῖ, οὔτε ζῆλον ἔχουσα οὔτε φθόνον. ὁ γὰρ ἐρῶν σώματος ἑτέρῳ διαφθονεῖται, ὁ δὲ μὴ κομισάμενος εἰς καρδίαν τῆς φθορᾶς τὴν νόσον ἔρρωται λοιπὸν πόνῳ παντί, καίπερ ἀποθανὼν μὲν τῷ σώματι, ζῶν δὲ τῇ ἀφθαρσίᾳ. [p. 352] καί μοι τελείως καταμανθάνοντι, ἐγκράτεια δοκεῖ ὁ Θεὸς εἶναι, ὅτι μηδενὸς ἐπιθυμεῖ, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ: καὶ οὐδενὸς ὀρέγεται, οὐδὲ ἔχει πάθος περὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, οὐδὲ περὶ τὰ ὦτα, ἀλλὰ ἀνενδεὴς ὤν, πλήρης δἰ ὅλου ἐστίν. ἐπιθυμία νόσος ἐστὶ ψυχῆς, ὑγεία δὲ ἐγκράτεια. Οὐ μόνον δὲ περὶ ἓν εἶδος τὴν ἐγκράτειαν δεῖ ὁρᾷν οἷον ἕνεκεν ἀφροδισίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ ψυχὴ κακῶς, οὐκ ἀρκουμένη τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις: γίνεται φθόνος διὰ χρυσίον, καὶ ἀδικήματα μυρία δἰ ἑτέρας ἐπιθυμίας. καὶ τὸ μὴ μεθύειν ἐγκράτειά ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ μὴ διαρρήγνυσθαι ὑπερεμπιπλάμενον. καὶ τὸ κρατεῖν τοῦ σώματος ἐγκράτειά ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ κυριεύειν λογισμῶν πονηρῶν, ποσάκις ἐτάραξεν ψυχὴν ἔννοια, οὐκ ἀγαθὴ οὖσα οὔτε ἀληθής, καὶ καρδίαν ἐμέρισεν εἰς πολλὰ φροντίζειν κενῶς. πάντως ἐλευθεροῖ ἡ ἐγκράτεια, ἅμα θεραπεύουσα καὶ δύναμις οὖσα: οὐ γὰρ διδάσκει σωφροσύνην, ἀλλὰ παρέχει. Χάρις ἐστὶν Θεοῦ ἐγκράτεια. Ἰησοῦς ἐγκράτεια ἐφάνη, καὶ γῇ καὶ θαλάσσῃ κοῦφος γενόμενος. οὔτε γὰρ γῆ ἐβάστασεν αὐτόν, οὔτε πελάγη, ἀλλ̓ ὥσπερ ἐπάτησεν θάλασσαν, οὕτως οὐκ ἐβάρησεν τὴν γῆν. εἰ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ φθείρεσθαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ φθορὰν μὴ ἔχειν τὸ μὴ ἀποθανεῖν, θεότητα ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰργάζετο, οὐ θνητότητα. ἤσθιεν καὶ ἔπινεν ἰδίως, οὐκ ἀποδιδοὺς τὰ βρώματα: τοσαύτη ἐν αὐτῷ ἡ ἐγκράτεια [p. 354] δύναμις ἦν, ὥστε μὴ φθαρῆναι τὴν τροφὴν ἐν αὐτῷ, ἐπεὶ τὸ φθείρεσθαι αὐτὸς οὐκ εἶχεν. Ὀλίγον τι ἐν ἡμῖν ἐὰν ᾖ ἐγκράτεια, ἀνώτεροι ἁπάντων ἐσμέν. καὶ γὰρ ἀγγέλους ἠκούσαμεν ἀκρατεῖς γεγονέναι κατασπασθέντας οὐρανοῦ δἰ ἐπιθυμίαν. ἑάλωσαν γάρ, οὐχὶ κατέβησαν: τί γὰρ ἔπραττεν ἐκεῖ αὕτη ἡ νόσος, εἰ μή τις ἐκεῖ τοιοῦτος ὀφθαλμὸς ἦν; διὰ τοῦτο ἔφην: Ὀλίγον ἐγκράτειαν ἐὰν ἔχωμεν, καὶ τοῦ βίου μὴ ἐρασθῶμεν ἀλλ̓ αἰώνων τῶν ἀνωτέρων, ἐκεῖ εὑρεθησόμεθα ὅπου ἀναπέμπομεν τὸν νοῦν: δοκεῖ γὰρ ὀφθαλμὸν εἶναι τοῦτον, τὸν τὰ ἀφανῆ ἰδεῖν δυνάμενον. καὶ γὰρ λέγεται: Νοῦς ὁρᾷ, καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει. ταῦτά σοι ὀλίγα δοκοῦντα, πολλὰ γέγραφα, ὅτι ἑκάστη λέξις νοῦς ἐστιν: καὶ οἶδα ὅτι ἀναγνοὺς αἰσθήσῃ.

You do well in making exact definitions for us, so that we may recognise not only continency, but its fruit. Now its fruit is the companionship of God. For not to be corrupted, is to have part with God; just as to be corrupted is the companionship of the world. Continency is denial of the body, and confession to God. It withdraws from anything mortal, like a body which has the Spirit of God. It is without rivalry and envy, and causes us to be united to God. He who loves a body envies another. He who has not admitted the disease of corruption into his heart, is for the future strong enough to endure any labour, and though he have died in the body, he lives in incorruption. Verily, if I rightly apprehend the matter, God seems to me to be continency, because He desires nothing, but has all things in Himself. He reaches after nothing, nor has any sense in eyes or ears; wanting nothing, He is in all respects complete and full. Concupiscence is a disease of the soul; but continency is its health. And continency must not be regarded only in one species, as, for instance, in matters of sensual love. It must be regarded in everything which the soul lusts after in an evil manner, not being content with what is needful for it. Envy is caused for the sake of gold, and innumerable wrongs for the sake of other lusts. Not to be drunken is continency. Not to overeat one's self is continency. To subdue the body is continency, and to keep evil thoughts in subjection, whenever the soul is disturbed by any fancy false and bad, and the heart is distracted by vain cares. Continency makes men free, being at once a medicine and a power, for it does not teach temperance; it gives it. Continency is a grace of God. Jesus seemed to be continency, when He was made light to land and sea; for He was carried neither by earth nor ocean, and just as He walked on the sea, so He did not weigh down the earth. For if death comes of corruption, and not dying comes of not having corruption, then Jesus wrought not mortality but divinity. He ate and drank in a peculiar manner, without rendering his food., So mighty a power in Him was continency, that His food was not corrupted in Him, since He had no corruption. If only there be a little continency in us, we are higher than all. We have been told that angels were ejected from heaven because of concupiscence and became incontinent. They were vanquished; they did not come down. What could that plague have effected there, if an eye such as I am thinking of had been there? Wherefore I said, If we have a little patience, and do not love the world, but the life above, we shall be found there where we direct our mind. For it is the mind, apparently, which is the eye that sees unseen things. For we say "the mind sees;" "the mind hears." I have written at length, though it may seem little to you. But there is meaning in all that I have said, and, when you have read it, you will see it.

Hmmm. It is hard not to see the parallels:

We have been told that angels were ejected from heaven because of concupiscence and became incontinent. They were vanquished; they did not come down.

With:

For these are the "wandering stars" referred to in the prophecy, who wander from the narrow road of the commandments into a boundless abyss of the carnal and bodily sins. For, priding themselves in knowledge, as they say, "of the deep things of Satan", they do not know that they are casting themselves away into "the nether world of the darkness" of falsity, and boasting that they are free, they have become slaves of servile desires. Such men are to be opposed in all ways and altogether.

Given that Jude says:

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire ... They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Also the citation of Aristotle (the letter wrongly being cited as "386":

Compare Basil of Caesarea, Letter 386: “If we possess continence in but a slight degree, and do not love
the world but the life above, we shall be found there, where we send up our intellect” (ἐκεῖ εὑρεθησόμεθα
ὅπου ἀναπέμπομεν τὸν νοῦν). Basil then goes on to support his claim by the same Epicharmean saying
that Porphyry cites twice: “And indeed we have the saying: “The mind sees and the mind hears.” (Νοῦς
ὁρᾷ, καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει). It seems hard to deny that Basil has been influenced by Porphyry’s De abstinentia
here.
Last edited by Secret Alias on Fri Feb 24, 2023 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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billd89
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Re: "Continency"

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ἐγκράτεια γάρ ἐστιν σώματος ἄρνησις καὶ ὁμολογία πρὸς Θεόν.

ἐγκράτεια = Given Mastery i.e. Remaining Sober (Temperance).

Regarding requirements of Dr. Bob's sobriety, we read the Edelsteins' suggested four-fold solution (evocative again of colleague Dr. John Rathbone Oliver's 1929 autobiography Foursquare):
He saw that he would have to face his problems squarely that God might give him mastery.

Last edited by billd89 on Fri Feb 24, 2023 9:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

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Olympiod., In Platonis Alcibiadem I commentarii, sez. 22 ed. Westerink: διό φησιν καὶ ὁ Ὀρφεύς· ‘ποιμαίνων πραπίδεσσιν ἀνόμματον ὠκὺν Ἔρωτα’· ἀνόμματος γὰρ ὁ Ἔρως ὡς τῷ νῷ ὁρῶν καὶ ἀκούων, εἴγε εἴρηται· ‘νοῦς ὁρᾷ καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει’ [. . .]
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Re: Another Letter of Clement of Alexandria from the Monasteries

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The saying goes back to Epicharmos, νοῦς ὁρᾷ καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει, τἄλλα κωφὰ καὶ τυφλά, as quoted by Plutarch, De sollertia animalium, Moralia QG6ITA,
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