Studies On First Clement

Inspired by the advice of his former teacher and mentor, Adolf von Harnack, William Wrede committed himself to the task of writing a dissertation on 1 Clement, which was originally published under the title Untersuchungen zum 1. Clemensbrief and has now been published here in English translation for the first time under the title Studies on 1 Clement. In this volume, Wrede investigates the ecclesiastical structure of the early church as well as the significance and function of the Old Testament in 1 Clement. Though overshadowed by his later work, The Messianic Secret, Wrede's work on 1 Clement served as a tempered and solid basis for later investigations of the letter, even when those investigations part ways with Wrede's conclusions.

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The present volume is a "reader's edition" of 1 Clement, an important early Christian epistolary writing in Greek that probably dates from the late first century CE. The volume is designed for rapid reading and for classroom use. On each left-facing page is printed a running, sequential section of the Greek text. Next to that, on each right-facing page, are recorded all of the more unusual words in that section of Greek text, with dictionary form, part of speech, and definition(s). All of the more common words in that same section of Greek text are included in a comprehensive glossary at the end of the book. This system, then, is designed so that the reader of the Greek text will not have to stop to look up every unusual Greek word in a printed or online dictionary. He or she will simply have to look to the facing page. Such constant lookups in a printed or online dictionary are tedious and time-consuming, and have little pedagogical value. Since in the present edition the words recorded on the right-facing page are not parsed, the reader is still faced with the challenge of parsing the word and determining its place in the overall structure of the sentence. It is this process that does serve a useful pedagogical purpose, and the present system preserves the challenge of this process. The introduction to the volume covers (1) 1 Clement’s genre, date, setting in life, purpose, sources, and main themes; (2) the compositional outline of the book; (3) the book’s authorship, history of reception, and textual attestation; (4) discussion of the present “reader’s edition”; (5) a list of scriptural quotations and allusions; and (6) a comprehensive bibliography on the text of 1 Clement.

The so-called First Epistle of Clement has long intrigued historians of early Christianity. It responds to a crisis in the Corinthian church by enjoining an ethic of subordination especially to the presbyteroi and episkopoi, but the exact nature of that conflict has eluded scholars. L. L. Welborn sets out a clear methodology for reconstructing the historical situation behind the letter, then examines the conventions of its deliberative rhetoric, its blending of citations from the Old Testament and Paul’s letters, and its reliance on topoi from Greco-Roman civic discourse. He then presents a compelling argument for the letter’s occasion. First Clement assails a “revolt” among the youth against their elders, invoking epithets and characterizations that were, as Welborn demonstrates at length, common in political discourse supporting the status quo. At length, Welborn proposes two possible scenarios for the precise nature of the “revolt” in Corinth— a revolt possibly inspired by memories of the apostle Paul— and details the replacement of a Pauline ethic with a strict code of subordination.

Can humans know God? Eastern Orthodox theology affirms that we cannot know God in his essence, but may know him through his energies. Henny Fiska Hägg investigates the beginnings of Christian negative (apophatic) theology, focusing on Clement of Alexandria in the late second century.

This volume presents five essays on the ancient rhetorical background of the First Letter of Clement. It contains reprints of classical studies by Harnack, Jaeger and van Unnik, furthermore two new essays presented by the editors C. Breytenbach and L. Welborn.

This farewell gift on 1 Clement to Harnack's students of church history was formative for studies of 1 Clement for several decades after its publication, and it remains an influential work even in contemporary discussions of this ancient letter. Harnack contends that 1 Clement is the most important witness to early Christianity, and that a close study of this work will place the reader upon the right path to better understand its later developments. Also included within this volume are four influential essays that Harnack wrote throughout his career pertaining to 1 Clement as well as a historical introduction and assessment of Harnack's work by Larry Welborn.

"The First Epistle of Clement" ('Clement to Corinthians') is a letter addressed to the Christians in the city of Corinth. Based on internal evidence some scholars say the letter was composed some time before AD 70, but the common time given for the epistle's composition is at the end of the reign of Domitian (c. AD 96). It ranks as one of the earliest of extant Christian documents outside the traditional New Testament canon. 1 Clement was occasioned by a dispute in Corinth, which had led to the removal from office of several presbyters. Since none of the presbyters were charged with moral offences, 1 Clement charges that their removal was high-handed and unjustifiable. "The Second Epistle of Clement" ('from Clement to Corinthians'), often referred to as 2 Clement, is an early Christian writing. It was considered canon by the Coptic Orthodox Church. 2 Clement appears to be a transcript of a homily or sermon that was originally delivered orally at a Christian worship service.