INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TO THE

FIRST EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS.

[A.D. 30–100.] Clement was likely a Gentile and a Roman. He seems to have been at Philippi with St. Paul (A.D. 57) when that first-born of the Western churches was undergoing great trials of faith. There, alongside holy women and others, he ministered to the apostle and the saints. Because this city was a Roman colony, we need not wonder how a Roman came to be there; he may have been in some public service, and it is not improbable that he had visited Corinth during those days. From the apostle and his companion, St. Luke, he had undoubtedly learned the use of the Septuagint The Greek translation of the Old Testament., in which his mastery of the Greek language soon made him an expert. His copy of that version, however, does not always agree with the Received Text, as the reader will notice.

A fellow-presbyter with Linus and Cletus, he succeeded them in the leadership of the Roman Church. I have reluctantly adopted the view that his Epistle was written near the end of his life, rather than immediately following the persecution of Nero. It is possible that both Linus and Cletus perished in that fiery trial, and that Clement’s immediate succession to their work and position explains the chronological difficulties of that period. After the death of the apostles—for the imprisonment and martyrdom of St. Peter in Rome seem historically accurate—Clement was the natural representative of St. Paul, and even of his companion, the “apostle of the circumcision.” He naturally wrote this Epistle in the name of the local church when the brethren looked to them for advice. St. John was, no doubt, still alive at Patmos or in Ephesus; but the Philippians, whose connection with Rome is confirmed by the visit of Epaphroditus, naturally looked to the surviving friends of their great founder. Furthermore, the aged apostle in the East was not as easily accessible. All roads pointed toward the Imperial City and started from its Milliarium Aureum The "Golden Milestone," the monument from which all roads in the Roman Empire were measured.. Although Clement certainly wrote the letter, he conceals his own name and presents it in the name of the brethren, who seem to have met in council and sent a brotherly delegation (Chapter 9). The total absence of the spirit of Diotrephes (3 John 9), and the close agreement of the Epistle—in its humility and meekness—with that of St. Peter (1 Peter 5:1–5), are noteworthy features. The entire work is animated by the loving and faithful spirit of St. Paul’s dear Philippians, among whom the writer had learned the Gospel.

Clement fell asleep A biblical euphemism for death. shortly after he sent his letter. It is the legacy of one who reflects the apostolic age in all the beauty and evangelical truth that were the first-fruits of the Spirit’s presence in the Church. He shares with others the halo of glory mentioned by St. Paul (Philippians 4:3): “His name is in the Book of Life.”

The plan of this publication does not permit the restoration, in this volume, of the recently discovered portions of his work. However, it is the editor’s intention to present this, along with other recently discovered relics of primitive antiquity, in a supplementary volume, should the project receive sufficient support.