This is a letter written by Clement, traditionally counted as the fourth Pope (i.e. Bishop of Rome), in κοινη (koinē or “common”) Greek, to the Christian churches of Corinth in Greece in the wake of an ecclesiastical crisis there. It’s typically dated to the last year of Emperor Domitian’s rule (95 or 96 CE) but there’s a minority view that it may have been composed earlier, possibly just prior to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, in 70 CE. This work is also known as the Letter (or Epistle) of Clement to the Corinthians.
It’s actually strange that 1 Clement isn’t better-known among Christians. At one time, it was counted as sacred scripture, by a number of leading Church figures, and very nearly was added to the Biblical canon. It was translated into both Latin and Syriac (Aramaic) fairly early on; was widely shared by Christians; and commented upon and quoted by them on many occasions.
The reason this document fell out of favor among Christians is likely due to its length and the fact that Clement repeats himself quite a bit during the course of it. Christians deciding which texts to preserve may have viewed it as longer than it was worth to copy and disseminate.
Clement writes to the churches of Corinth about a schism within their ranks. Specifically, some older presbyters (priests) appear to have been set aside, and possibly defrocked, for reasons that aren’t made clear. He appears to have been consulted about this rift, even though there must have been other senior Christian figures closer at hand. It’s possible they’d been addressed prior to reaching out to Clement, but unsuccessfully, or perhaps those senior figures were somehow involved in the rift, themselves.
Clement uses strong language to speak of this schism: In English translation, it’s “calamitous” and “detestable sedition,” among other descriptions he offers. He attributes the disagreement to envy and jealousy, near the opening of his letter comparing it to envy of Cain for Abel and how it led to the murder of the latter.
In every way, throughout the length of this letter, Clement makes clear he’s against setting aside the original group of presbyters. He repeatedly enjoins the Christians of Corinth to return them to their offices.
Clement uses a long list of arguments to support his position against what he called “sedition.” Many of them are appeals to Old Testament figures: Not only the aforementioned Cain and Abel, but Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab the harlot, David, and plenty of others. It quotes Jewish scripture several times, and includes references to New Testament documents, such as one of Paul’s letters to the same Corinthian churches (curiously, he speaks of only one such letter, not two).
Regarding its references to and quotations from the Old Testament, 1 Clement is similar to most other 1st century Christian writings, in that — at the time they were written — Christendom’s only “sacred scripture” was Jewish scripture (i.e. the Old Testament).
But that doesn’t mean Clement only used Old Testament figures as part of his appeal for unity. He also cited the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, and attributed both of those to “envy” as well. It’s not clear how “envy” caused the demise of either, especially since Christian legend holds that both were killed in Rome as part of Nero’s retribution against Christians due to a fire which had ravaged the city.
Clement also hammers home, repeatedly, a message of humility, and its importance. Abraham and others are cited as examples of the kind of humility Christians should espouse.
The epistle of James is not the only early Christian work that tackles the issue of faith and works in Christians’ lives. Clement takes this “conflict” on, himself.
Ultimately he takes on a view that most Christians would likely say makes sense. Humans are justified by faith, not by their good works, but good works follow hand in hand with faith powerful enough to save. The Almighty himself engaged in good works. Good works and faith are, ultimately, inseparable.
Make no mistake, though: This isn’t just some kind of ambling philosophical discussion for Clement. He implies very strongly what it is he wants, which is for Corinth’s “seditionists” to relent, to restore to office those they’d removed, and submit themselves for discipline. That is the sole focus of his letter. Any other discussions, such as faith versus works, are mere tangential topics he employs in an effort to drive that instruction home.
Starting about 2/3 of the way through his letter, Clement finally gets around to what is his main argument in favor of the senior clerics being restored, which is the importance of apostolic tradition. At that time, nearly everyone who’d been ordained, had either been ordained by one of Jesus’ own apostles, or someone who’d been ordained by one of his apostles, or by one ordained by someone ordained by someone ordained by an apostle.
For Clement, this was a serious consideration. The apostles didn’t do anything lightly and they didn’t ordain anyone on a whim. The same was true for those they’d ordained and who took up the mantle of Christian leadership after them, and for the next generation of leadership after them.
Keep in mind that Clement may have actually known Peter or Paul, or both, even if he wrote as late as 96 CE. So this concern could have been very real for him.
All of this meant that ordination was powerful — and I do mean, literally, powerful. It was a sign of divine favor and it made the ordained something of a separate, higher class of being. Barring some major transgression — of a kind that Clement doesn’t even state — it’s unconscionable, in Clement’s eyes, that anyone would be removed from clerical office.
It’s clear this is why the schism in Corinth so infuriated Clement. A cadre of Christians there had dared — of their own volition, and on their own authority — to set aside presbyters who’d been ordained as part of the chain of apostolic tradition. As he saw it, that’s just not something that’s done.
At the end, Clement exhorts the presbyters to be restored, the “seditionists” to be disciplined then forgiven, and for Corinthian Christians to once again be unified. It’s definitely Clement’s call for a “Kum Ba Ya” moment.
For centuries, this letter was read aloud in the churches in and around Corinth at regular intervals (annually at least, and possibly multiple times a year). This was something of a fond local ritual for Christians there.
As noted previously, this document was frequently touted as sacred or nearly so. It was quoted and relied on, in various settings, especially regarding the importance of apostolic tradition.
It’s doubly curious that 1 Clement didn’t end up being placed into the Christian canon, especially since one of the criteria for being selected as canon was descent from the apostles. Clement has legendarily been viewed as someone who knew (at least) St Peter, and possibly St Paul. And each New Testament book was, at one time, considered the product of an apostle or one of their companions. (It’s now known that almost none of them were written by apostles or even companions of apostles, but that isn’t what classical Christians thought, and it’s their beliefs that drove canonical considerations.)
That the content of 1 Clement directly described the power of apostolic tradition, certainly bolstered it in the eyes of many Christians. Again, probably the main problem that kept 1 Clement out of the canon was its length, and the fact that everything it said that had any value was stated elsewhere in some more amenable (i.e. less lengthy and repetitive) form.
Of note, although 1 Clement might have been of value in response to the Donatist controversy, there’s little evidence this document was cited. Possibly this is because 1 Clement leaves open the question of what kind of immoral or unethical behavior might be enough to justify defrocking a cleric. Although Clement asserts there were no serious accusations behind setting aside some of Corinth’s priests, defrocking isn’t something that’s totally forbidden in his letter.
This alone may explain why 1 Clement faded within Christendom. Even when it might have had some value in a discussion or controversy, it proved insufficient for the task. Other things came more readily into play.
You can read 1 Clement in several places on the Internet.
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