CLEMENTINA. — EPITOME OF THE DEEDS OF ST. PETER
CLEMENT OF ROME, ROMAN BISHOP
An Epitome of the acts, travels, and preachings of Saint Peter, the prince of the apostles, in which the life of the same Clement is contained, addressed to James, the bishop of Jerusalem. (Cotelerius, Patres apostolici I, 755.)
ADMONITION
From the homilies of the Clementines and the books of the Recognitions, as well as from the Epistle of Clement to James, the Martyrdom of Clement, and the Narration of Ephraim, this Epitome was composed by those men who deemed it a matter of their own doctrine and piety to either remove, or else to alter and correct, whatever seemed superfluous, false, or dangerous. I find that this sort of compendious structure was fashioned three times in the manuscript codices of the Royal Library. The first structure is this one, edited by me after Tunerbus and translated after Perionius, existing in the Royal books in seven numbers. The second is contained in exemplar 148, and it is slightly more extensive than the former by means of additions taken from the Clementines, which we have placed in the margins. The third is comprised in a codex. It is far more extensive than the preceding ones, from materials likewise taken from the Clementines, as well as the Epistle to James, sometimes with a Paraphrase; and it has attached to it the Martyrdom of Clement, with the Opusculum of Ephraim appended; because the margins could not contain all the variants and additions of this abbreviated collection, we were forced to omit most of them. Furthermore, a marginal note placed in a manuscript formerly belonging to Photius, of Maximus Margunius, reveals that Simeon Metaphrastes is the author of one of the three aforementioned editions. For Hoeschelius testifies that in that codex, at the Photian chapter 113, the *Myriobiblos* critique—regarding the work containing both the acts of Peter and the disputations with Simon Magus, as well as the recognition of Clement to his own people—has this written upon it: A"The treatise is full of ten thousand absurdities, but the Metaphrastes, having corrected it, has deposited wealth and identity for the Church of God." But the reason I suspect that the earlier edition, rather than the other two, pertains to the Metaphrastes is because it appears in many more Greek menologies and hagiologies.
CLEMENT TO JAMES the Lord and bishop, and bishop of bishops, who rules the holy Church of the Christians in Jerusalem, and the Churches of Christ our God everywhere, which have been excellently founded by the providence of God; together with the presbyters, and deacons, and all the rest of the brethren, peace be always.
I. Let it be known to you, my lord, that I, Clement, being a citizen of Rome, and having been able to pass the first age of my life modestly and soundly, having received reason, B—
A I know not whence it entered into me, and being heavily burdened with frequent thoughts concerning death, I lived in labors and anxieties. For I used to reflect: when I am dead, I shall not be; and there will be no one who will ever make mention of me, since time consigns all things to oblivion. But if I should not be, shall I in some way exist, knowing those who are not, and being neither knowing nor known—nor even having come to be, nor being in the process of coming to be? And has the world at some time come into being, and what, pray, was there before it came to be? For if it existed always, it will also exist always; but if it has come into being, it will also surely be dissolved; and after its dissolution, what then shall be again? It is impossible for me now to conceive this.
B II. Pondering these things and such as these—I know not whence—incessantly in my mind, I was always affected by perpetual sorrow, to such a degree that I grew pale and wasted away. And what was most grievous was that if ever I thought to cast away the concern for these things as vain, the emotion would press upon me much more vehemently. I took this amiss, not knowing that I had as a companion a noble thought, which became for me the cause of immortality, as I later recognized from the outcome of events, and I gave thanks to God, the Creator of all. For by the thought that from the beginning pressed upon me, I was compelled to come to the investigation of things; and those whom at the beginning I was in danger of calling blessed through ignorance, I later did not cease to lament as miserable.
C III. Therefore, being caught in such reflections from my childhood, I used to frequent the schools of the philosophers, so that I might learn something certain from them. But even so, I saw nothing else being earnestly pursued among them than the destruction and construction of doctrines, contentions, and the arts of syllogisms, and indeed the invention of premises. And sometimes one view would prevail—to say, for example, that the soul is immortal; and at other times, that it is mortal. And when the opinion that makes the soul immortal was the superior one, I would rejoice; but when that which considers it mortal, I would be afflicted; and again, I would be still more disheartened because neither side could confirm my mind. Yet I understood that the tenets of their hypotheses, according to those who defended them, were pronounced either false or true, and were not grasped as they possess truth in themselves; wherefore I was all the more troubled in the matter and groaned from the depth of my soul; for I was neither able to cast away the concern for these things, although I greatly wished to—as I have indicated above—nor was I able to grasp anything firm.
D IV. Again, therefore, pressed by the anguish of hesitation, I said to myself: "Why do I labor in vain, when the matter is manifest? For if, after death, I shall not be, it is not appropriate that I, who now am, should be sorrowful. Therefore, I will reserve my sorrow for that time when, not being, I shall not be sorrowful; but if I should by chance exist, why is it that sorrow is now superabundantly present within me?" And immediately after this, another thought crept into me. For I said, "What if...
I should suffer worse things there, not having lived piously, and be delivered, according to the words of some philosophers, to Pyriphlegethon and Tartarus, as Sisyphus, or Tityus, or Ixion, or Tantalus, and I shall be tormented in Hades forever? Yet again I countered, saying that, as the matter is uncertain, it is much safer for me to live piously and to master the pleasures of the body, even if I do not precisely know what is just and pleasing to God, nor whether the soul is immortal or mortal. A
V. These thoughts, therefore, were agitating my soul. I said, "I will travel to Egypt, and I will become a friend to the hierophants and prophets of the inner shrines, and having sought out a magician and found him, I will persuade him with much money to perform the invocation of a soul, which they call necromancy, on the pretext that I wish to inquire about some matter; but the inquiry shall be to learn whether the soul is immortal." This, however, is by no means to be known from his answering that it is immortal, but only from seeing that it exists. For having seen it with these B very eyes, I shall have sufficient certainty, and I will no longer make ears more trustworthy than eyes. Nevertheless, I communicated this plan to a philosopher among my friends, and he warned me that it would not be advantageous to dare this, for two reasons. "For if," he said, "the soul does not by any means obey the magician, and you, having acted against the laws which forbid such things, will live with a guilty conscience; but even if it should obey, besides the fact that you will live with a guilty conscience, I think that those things which pertain to pious worship—for the sake of which you attempted such things—will no longer result well for you. For they say that the Divinity is hostile to those who vex souls after their release from the body." Having heard these things, I became more hesitant toward the undertaking; but I could not at all abandon that former thought of mine. C
VI. And that I may not make a long speech to you about such things, when I was occupied with such thoughts and matters, a rumor began to spread quietly while Tiberius Caesar was holding the Roman scepter, as spring was already beginning. It increased day by day, and truly as a good messenger of God, it went through the world, unable to keep the will of God in silence; but rather, it became larger and greater with each passing day, as it reported that a certain person in Judea, beginning from the vernal turning, was proclaiming in Judea the kingdom of the eternal God, which he who shall display to Him an excellent manner of life throughout all things is about to obtain; and that, to gain belief that he teaches these things while full of divinity, he performs many wonders, prodigies, and signs, causing the deaf to hear by his word alone, the blind to see, the lame to walk, and driving away every disease and every demon; furthermore, lepers simply looking from a distance...
were healed and departed, the dead who were brought forth were raised, and there is nothing which he is not capable of doing. And the more time passed, the greater and more certain A it became, not merely through hearsay, I say, but through the truth of the event itself, manifested to an increasing number of people. For already, assemblies were being held in various places for the purpose of counseling and debating who this person who had appeared might be, and what he intended to say.
VII. Now as the year was declining toward autumn, a certain man standing in a public place said: "Men, Romans, listen: the Son of God is present in Judea, promising eternal life to all who wish it, if they do those things commanded by Him who sent him. Therefore, turn from the worse to the better, from the temporary to the eternal; and acknowledge the one God in three Persons B, whose world you dwell in unjustly before his righteous eyes. But if you turn, and live according to his will, having been translated into another age and having become immortal, you will enjoy his ineffable goods; but if you are disobedient, after departing from here, you shall be cast into the place of fire, where, being punished eternally, you will repent in vain. For the time for repentance is the life that each one now possesses." These things, therefore, he said.
I, however, hearing this was distressed that no one from such a great crowd, having heard such a great announcement, said: I will travel to Judea, so that I may see if this man speaks the truth while he says that the Son of God has arrived in Judea for the sake of an eternal and good hope, announcing the will of the Father by whom he was sent; since even what they say he is preaching is not a small thing: for he affirms that the souls of some, being immortal, are going to enjoy immortal and eternal goods; but those of others, thrown into unquenchable fire, are to be punished for eternity.
VIII. Since I was affected in this way toward the others, I also said these things to myself: "Why indeed do I blame the others, when I am involved in the same sin of negligence as they C, and have not first arranged my own affairs, nor departed for Judea to be myself a witness of these things?"
And so, while I was weighing this plan, much time passed in the interim, the businesses of this age dragging me toward themselves and becoming difficult for me to escape. But at last, having considered how unstable and uneven life is, and having then recalled to memory all the time past, how I had remained until now, always with hope gently flattering me, and that we all die thus preoccupied—leaving all my affairs just as they were, I immediately set out for Pontus D and for the harbor
A and having set sail, by the contrary winds, instead of arriving in Judea, I was driven to Alexandria. There I went often to the philosophers—since the violence of the winds was still hindering my voyage—and I sought to have them relate clearly everything concerning the rumor which the one who had appeared in Rome had announced, and what he was proclaiming. But they replied: "As for him who appeared in Rome, we know absolutely nothing of such a person; but as for him who is in Judea, and who is proclaimed by report to be the Son of God, we have heard from many who have come from there, and we have learned of all the miracles which he performed even by a word alone."
IX. And when I said, "I wish to meet with one of those who has seen him, and to hear all that I long to learn about him," they replied to me: "There is someone here, they say, who not only has seen him, but also comes from that very region, an honorable man by the name of Barnabas, who B even claims to be one of his disciples, and who often sits somewhere about here and, of his own accord, tells those who are worthy of such things the things promised by him." And so I went to the place where the man was accustomed to sit, and I myself became part of the surrounding crowd, and I stood listening to what was being said, and I understood that he was teaching the truth, not by any dialectical art, but by setting forth plainly and simply what he had heard and seen the Son of God, who appeared, had done and said. He was bringing forward many witnesses of the miracles and words that were being spoken by him from the very crowd standing by.
X. But since the people readily inclined toward the things spoken by him with sincerity, the philosophers who had sprung from worldly learning began to mock and laugh at him, jeering with excessive impudence, and disparaging him, and using syllogisms against him as if they were great weapons. C But he, pushing aside their nonsense, did not meet their artful questioning, but remained undaunted and did not cease speaking. And once, someone jokingly asked him: "Why, O new teacher, is a gnat so made that, being most minute, it has six feet and also bears wings, while the elephant, the largest animal, being wingless, has only four feet?" But he, after pausing briefly in his teaching to address the question—yet without giving any answer to the questioner regarding these things—resumed the discourse he had set before himself from the beginning, using only this as a preface at every interruption: "We have a mandate only to tell you the words and miraculous deeds of him who sent us, and in place of dialectical demonstration, we bring forward for you many witnesses from among those standing here. For the rest, it is in your power to comply or not to believe. I, for my part, will not cease to declare to you what is useful, since for me it is a loss to remain silent, but for you it D is a harm not to believe. I could indeed render the reasons for your futile questions, if I truly saw you"
A with a zeal for truth investigating: but to disclose to you now the true cause regarding the diversity of the creation of the gnat and the elephant would be untimely, seeing that you are ignorant of the God of all things.
XI. As he said this, they with one consent let out a loud and insolent laugh, striving to reduce him to embarrassment and helplessness, as if he were some barbarian and a madman. But I, observing these things, began to grow heated in my spirit, and being seized I know not how by zeal, I could not bear to be silent, but with confidence I said: Rightly, O men, has God made His will incomprehensible to you, foreseeing that you are unworthy, just as at the present moment He gives full understanding to those who use the judgment of their minds. For since now the heralds of His will have been sent, who represent His counsel not with any art or rhetorical adornment of words, but simply and without wile, so that anyone who hears may understand what is said; you stand by, so as not to understand what is for your own benefit, and to your own detriment you laugh at the truth, which among the barbarians is currently operating for your condemnation, and which, when it came to you, you were unwilling to receive with hospitality, on account of your lusts and the simplicity of its words, lest you be reproved for being, without consideration, lovers of rhetoric, and lovers of talk, but not true philosophers, students of wisdom. How long, therefore, will you learn to speak, you who do not know how to speak well? For many words that you bring forth are not worth the price of a single word. But what, then, will your Greek multitude say, if it should ever become of one mind, if there is to be a judgment, as this man says? "Why, God, did You not preach Your will to us?" You shall by no means be heard: or perhaps you will obtain some answer of this kind: "I, since I knew all future volitions before the foundation of the world, B secretly came to meet each one according to his merit; but that this very thing is so, wishing to manifest fully to those who have fled to me why from the beginning, from the first generations, I did not allow my will to be proclaimed openly; now, near the end of the age, I sent heralds of my counsel; but they are mocked, and being treated with contumely are derided by those who by no means wish to be helped and who have vehemently rejected my friendship." O great injury! They even undergo the danger of envy, the heralds of God, and that, too, by the hands of those men who are being called to salvation.
XII. When I said these things, and others consistent with them, a great murmur arose among the crowd: and some, pitying Barnabas, favored me; but others, who were foolish, were grinding their teeth against me in their rage. But when evening had already arrived, having taken Barnabas by the hand, D
A even though he was unwilling, I led him by force to my house, where I made him stay so that no one might lay hands upon him. After he had spent a few days with me, he instructed me in the rudiments of the true religion; for he said that he was in a hurry to arrive in Judea for the sake of the feast, as he wished to live thereafter with his own countrymen.
XIII. But I, truly hanging upon his every word, and being most urgent, would not desist, but asked for the rest of the teaching, and said to him: "Do you only set forth for me the words of the God who appeared, which you heard, and I, adorning them with my own speech, will preach the will of God; and then, after a few days, I will sail with you. For I have a great longing to reach the region of Judea, and perhaps I shall dwell with you for all the time of my life." He, having heard these things, immediately replied and said: "If you desire to see our affairs and to learn what is profitable, sail with me at once; but if you do not wish to sail, I will indicate to you today the signs of my dwelling, and those whom you desire to meet, so that when you wish to come, you may find us; for tomorrow I will depart for my own home." And indeed, seeing that Barnabas was so inexorable, I went with him as far as the harbor, and having learned from him the signs of the dwellings which he mentioned, I said to him: "If I were not bound to demand tomorrow some of the things that are owed me, I would sail with you at once; B however, I will follow you quickly." Having said these things, and having entrusted him to the masters of the ship, I returned with sadness, mindful of my good and concordant friend.
XIV. After I had stayed for a few days, and being unable to receive the whole of the debt for which I had been delayed, having neglected what remained because, as it had become an impediment to me, I was in a hurry to overtake the man, I also sailed for Judea, and after fifteen days I landed at Straton’s Caesarea. When I had touched the earth and was searching for lodging, I learned that a certain man named Peter, the most approved disciple of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who had appeared in Judea and had performed signs and wonders, would come the next day to present himself for a disputation C with Simon from Gittha the Samaritan. Having heard this, I begged that his lodging be pointed out to me. And as soon as I learned, I stood at the doors. Those who were in the house, catching sight of me, consulted among themselves as to who I was and from whence I had come. And behold, Barnabas stepped out, and as soon as he saw me, he embraced me, rejoicing greatly and weeping. Having taken me by the hand, he led me into the house. Then, pointing out Peter, he said: "This is Peter, whom I used to proclaim to you, O Clement, as the greatest in the wisdom of God, and to whom I was always narrating all the good things that are in you, and your purpose, so that he himself might also desire to see you and might long for your encounter. Therefore, as a great gift to him, I offer you by my own hands." And having said this, leading me forward, he said: "This is Clement, Peter."
A XV. When he heard the name, reaching back to the memories of Barnabas’s accounts, he immediately leaped up just as he was, and kindly and sincerely kissed me, and made me sit beside him. "You have done well," he said, "in having welcomed the herald of the truth, Barnabas, for the honor of the true God; and you have shown a very noble spirit, having not feared the fury of the ignorant. For you are truly blessed, in having welcomed the envoy of the truth with such honor; for which deeds, the Truth itself, whose guest you are, will designate you a citizen of its own city. And then you shall rejoice greatly, because having now lent a small favor and a good willingness of doctrine, you shall be an heir of eternal blessings and of goods that cannot be taken away. And do not labor to relate your character to me, for Barnabas, that lover of truth, has reported everything that pertains to you, making good mention of you almost every day. And so that I may reveal the matter to you in summary, as to a true friend—if nothing stands in your way—travel with us, partaking in the word of the truth which I intend to deliver from city to city as far as Rome itself."
XVI. I said to him, "I am indeed ready to travel with you; for I know not how I have decided this with joy. But I wish to be first assured regarding the truth, so that I may know whether the soul is immortal or mortal; and if it is everlasting, whether it must be judged for the things it has done here; and what, indeed, is just or pleasing to God; and whether the world was made, and why it was made, and whether it will be destroyed, or if it will not be destroyed, whether it will be better, or will not be at all. And, not to list them one by one, I desired to learn these things and those B similar to them." But he, knowing by the divine spirit what those words meant, gave a quick answer, so that he might also quickly recall me to the truth. "And I," he said, "will briefly present to you, Clement, the knowledge of things; and now, hear it at once."
XVII. The will of God has been hidden from men for many reasons. First, because they are held captive by corrupt teaching, vicious living, pernicious habit, evil conversations, an incorrect anticipation of opinions, and through error; then by fearlessness, unbelief, fornication, avarice, vain glory, and other such things; which, having entered into the world like a great volume of smoke into a single house, C have darkened the sight of the men living within, not allowing them to look up, nor to understand God, the creator of the world, from those things in which He has portrayed Himself, nor to know what is pleasing to Him. Therefore, it behooves those who are studious of the truth to call out from the depths of their soul, for assistance, with true reasoning to the one God, and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to receive knowledge from Him, so that one being within
A a house filled with smoke—I mean this world—may be able to approach and open the door, so that the light of the sun which is outside may be admitted into the house, and the smoke which is within, caused by the fire, may be cast out; so that when men have contemplated this, they may believe in one God, the Father Almighty, and in His only-begotten Son, begotten of Him before the ages in ineffable manner, and in the Holy Spirit proceeding from Him in an ineffable manner, recognizing one God in three Persons, without beginning, without end, eternal, ever-existing, uncreated, immutable, unchangeable, simple, uncompounded, incorporeal, invisible, untouchable, uncircumscribed, incomprehensible, infinite, not able to be perceived, good, just, all-powerful, maker of all creatures, almighty, overseer of all things, provider for all, authority, and judge; and thus, having been reborn through water and Spirit, they may be constituted co-heirs with the sons of God reborn for incorruption.
XVIII. Therefore, before any questioning, you too, O Clement, draw near readily as a son to a father, so that God may truly grant you the knowledge of both visible and invisible things. But if, even after being called, you are unwilling, or delay, by the just judgment of God you shall be disinherited, having been rejected because you did not wish [to receive] Him. And let not the thought enter your mind that even if you were the most pious of all the pious people who have ever lived, yet if you fail to reach the perfection of baptism, you could at any time attain to a good hope. For you will [then] suffer even greater punishment, because you did not use your good works well. For as they say, B a good thing is not good when it is not done well. But if you are unwilling to be baptized as it pleases God, but rather serve your own will, you are in every way at enmity with His counsel. But perhaps you will say: "And what does being baptized with water contribute to piety?" Firstly, because you are doing what is pleasing to God. Secondly, because through water and Spirit you are reborn to God, and you exchange the first birth which you drew from concupiscence; and thus you will be able to attain salvation, but otherwise it is impossible. For so the God-Logos, who became incarnate for the salvation and immortality of our race, said to us: "Amen, I say to you, unless you are born again of water and Spirit, you shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens." Therefore draw near to baptism; for this alone [has] the power of the fire C
to extinguish the urge. And do not delay; for delay is known to bring danger, because the time limit of death is uncertain.
A ΧΙΧ. When he had said these things, "I," I said, "already give thanks to God the Father, and to His only-begotten Son, and to His Holy Spirit, because He has granted to me even as I wished to be assured. But for the rest, be free of care regarding me. For I shall never doubt any of the things spoken by you; therefore, my lord Peter, do not be anxious, as if you were bestowing the greatest goods upon one who does not perceive them. For I know that this matter is such and so great that anyone would wish to receive it even quickly. For I perceive the gift given to me with speed." When I had said these things, Peter said: "I give thanks to God, both for your salvation and for my own benefit. But fast for the days of three months, and [then] you shall receive baptism. Begin, therefore, from tomorrow. For I have a disputation tomorrow against Simon the magician. And do not hesitate to be present with me in the contentions of the adversaries." Having said this, and having himself partaken of food, he ordered me also to partake privately. But having blessed the food and given thanks, he added, saying: "May God grant you to be made like me in all things, and that, having been baptized, you may share in the same table with me." Having said this, he ordered me to rest, for already the time also called toward sleep.
B XX. On the following day, therefore, I, Clement, while it was still night, having awoken from sleep, and having learned that Peter was awake and discoursing on godliness with those who were with him—who were sixteen in number, whose names are these: Zacchaeus, who was once a tax collector, and Sophonias his brother; Joseph and his companion Michaeas; furthermore Thomas and Eliezer the twins; Aeneas the priest; and Lazarus the priest, whom our Lord Jesus Christ raised from the dead on the fourth day; C and Elisha, Benjamin the son of Saphra, likewise Rubilus and Zacharias the architects, Ananias and Aggaeus the Ammeni; and also Nicetas and Aquila, the companions—I also entered and, having greeted [them], I sat down at his command.
XXI. But he, interrupting the discourse he had begun, and as if excusing himself, was providing the reason why he had not awoken me, so that I might be a hearer of his words; and he assigned as the cause of this the rigors of the voyage: for wishing for that to be digested, he permitted me to rest. "For whenever the soul," he says, "is occupied with that which is lacking to the body, or is pressed by some calamity, it is not accustomed to pay attention to what is said with much diligence. D And for this reason I do not wish...
A to converse with those who are held fast by grief, or are immoderately angry, or are suffering in their bodies, or are troubled by worldly cares, or by some other passion.
XXII. And let no one say that it is not fitting to bring words of consolation and admonition to those who are doing something evil. For I say that if one gains anything, let him proceed; but if not, let him for a time give way to the season. For there is a season, as seems good to Solomon, for every matter. Wherefore, it is necessary to bring to men the words that strengthen the soul before the affliction overtakes them, so that if ever any evil should befall them, the mind, having been forearmed, may be able by right reason to endure what has been brought upon it. Whence, O friend Clement, if you wish to know the things that pertain to God, from the Lord and God and Savior of ours, Jesus Christ, who teaches man knowledge, from Him alone you have the power to learn, because He alone knows the truth. For if any one of the others knows anything, he has received it from Him alone, or has had it handed down from His disciples.
XXIII. B And this is His opinion: that there is one God in three persons, whose work the whole world is, and who, being just, will certainly at some time render to each one according to his actions. For it is absolutely necessary, for one who asserts that God is by nature just, to believe also that the souls of men are immortal. For where will be His justice? When some, having lived piously, were nevertheless evilly treated and taken away by violence; while others, having become very impious, and having indulged in luxury and pleasures of life, died the common death of men. Since, therefore, without any contradiction, God, as He is good, is also just, and He will not be known to be just in any other way C unless the soul is immortal after the separation from the body, in order that after receiving back its own body in the resurrection, the evil man, as having received good things here, may be punished there for what he has done wrong; while the good man, having been punished here for his sins, may be established there as in the bosom of the righteous, an heir of good things: since, therefore, God is just, it is manifest to us that a judgment also takes place and that souls are immortal. But if anyone, as seems good to the Samaritan Simon, and not as the doctrine of truth desires, is unwilling to grant that God is just, to whom else can anyone give this [attribute]?
XXIV. Having heard these things, I, Clement, said, "And who, I would like to know, is this person whom they call Simon the Samaritan?" D Peter replied, "If you wish to know, it is permitted for you to learn from those from whom I also have learned all things concerning him." And having summoned Aquila and Nicetas, he commanded them to relate to me accurately all things concerning Simon. They, calling God to witness that they would deviate in no way from the truth, set forth his affairs in this manner. And first Aquila began to speak thus: "Listen, most dear brother, so that you too..."
may know accurately all things concerning that man; whose he is, and who he is, and whence, and what are the things he does, and how, and for what reason. A
XXV. Simon, therefore, was born of a father named Antonius and a mother named Rachel; he is a Samaritan by race, from the village of Gittha, which is no less than six schoeni distant from the city of the Samaritans. Having stayed in Alexandria of Egypt, and having been highly trained in Greek learning, and being powerful in the magical art, and puffed up with insolence, he wishes to be thought to be a supreme power, even superior to the God who created the whole world. Occasionally, however, he hints that he himself is Christ, calling himself the "Standing One." He has usurped this appellation to suggest that he will always remain, and has no cause of corruption to make him succumb in body. B Nor does he say that the God who created the world is the supreme one, nor does he believe that the dead will ever be raised. He rejects Jerusalem, and proposes instead the mountain of Garizim. Instead of our true Christ God, he proclaims himself. He interprets the Law differently, through his own presumption; and he says that judgment will come, but he does not expect it.
XXVI. Now, the way he gained an entry into the religious opinion was as follows: There arose a certain John who practiced daily baptism; and just as the Lord had twelve disciples, bearing the number of the twelve months of the sun, so also there were thirty men who were chiefs under him, fulfilling the monthly C calculation of the moon; among whom was also one woman, called Helena, so that not even this might be without a plan. For since a woman is half a man, she constitutes an imperfect number of the thirty—just as the moon, whose course does not complete the perfect circuit of the month. Of these thirty, Simon was the first and most esteemed by John.
XXVII. But after the death of John, Simon, having taken Helena with him, wanders about, troubling the crowds, and saying that this Helena was brought down to earth from the highest heavens: for her sake, he says, Greeks and barbarians fought, having imagined a semblance of the truth; and he performs many portentous miracles, so that if we had not known that he does these things by magic, we ourselves would have been deceived. But now, when that madman wished to D impose himself even upon the religious, we departed from him. For he had even begun to defile himself with slaughter; just as he revealed to us while we were still his friends, acting as a friend, that when he had separated the soul of a boy from his own body, by means of certain unspeakable adjurations, he would have it as a helper for the representation of those things which he himself desired.
Thus, having condemned his impiety, we stood aloof from him.
A XXVIII. When Aquila had said this, his brother Nicetas said: "It is necessary, brother Clement, that I should relate those things which Aquila has passed over. For God is witness, in the first place, that we have in no impious work assisted him; but while he was doing it, we were merely spectators. And as long as he gave proof of doing things that were harmless, we were pleased; but when he said that those things which were done by some magic were performed by divinity, for the sake of deceiving pious men, we no longer tolerated him, although he promised us many things: first, that a temple and statues should be constructed for us, and that we should be considered B as gods, and be glorified by kings, and be counted worthy of public honors, and be enriched with boundless wealth."
XXIX. "These things, and things thought to be even greater than these, he promised us, only that, while living with him, we might keep silent about the wickedness of his undertaking, so that his fraud might prosper. And yet we did not agree; nay, we gave him counsel to desist from such madness, saying to him: 'Cease from such an audacious deed. You cannot be God; fear Him who is truly God; recognize that you are a man, and that the time of your life is short. Even if you become very rich, or even a king, in the short time of your life there are but few things you can enjoy; and eternal punishment awaits him who has lived impiously. Therefore we advise you to fear God, by whom the soul of everyone is to be judged for what they have done here.'"
XXX. Hearing this, he laughed. And when we said: "Why do you laugh at those who give you profitable advice?" he replied: "I laugh at your foolish opinion, because you believe the soul of man to be immortal." And I answered: "We are not amazed, O Simon, if you attempt to deceive us, but we are astonished at the reasoning by which you deceive even yourself. Tell us, therefore, O Simon, if no one else has ascertained that the soul is immortal, do we at least not have certainty? You, because you separated it from the human body, and conversed with it, and commanded it; and we, because we were present, and heard the command, and clearly witnessed what was ordered." And Simon said: "I indeed know what you are saying; but you do not know about what you are speaking." And I, Nicetas, said: "Since you know, explain; but if you do not know, do not think that we can be deceived while you claim that you know, but we do not. For we are not so simple that you can plant in us a cunning suspicion, and by letting us think that you know some of the ineffable things, get us into your power." C
XXXI. And Simon said: "That I separated a soul from a human body, I know that you know; but that it is not..."
the soul of the dead that ministers, but some demon acting the part to be a soul, I know you are ignorant." And I, Nicetas, said: "Many incredible things have we heard in our life, but a more mindless statement than this we have never expected to hear. For if a demon acts the part of the soul of the dead, what need is there for the soul to be separated from the body? Have we not ourselves been present and heard you adjuring the soul from the body? And by what reasoning does one [spirit] that is adjured obey as if in fear, while another that is not adjured does not? And have you not also, when questioned by us as to why at times the appearances cease, replied that the soul, having completed on earth the time it was destined to spend in the body, goes to Hades? And you added, saying that the souls of those who have died by their own death, because they go hence to Hades and are guarded there, are not easily permitted to come." B
XXXII. When Nicetas had brought these things forward, Aquila said again: "I would wish to learn one thing from you, Simon: whether it is a soul or a demon that is adjured; and by the fear of whom does it not despise the adjurations?" And Simon said: "It knows, he says, the punishment it is destined to suffer if it disobeys." But Aquila said: "Therefore, if an adjured soul comes, a judgment also takes place. If, then, souls are immortal, by all means there is also a judgment. Wherefore, if you say that those who are adjured into an evil action and then disobey are to be condemned, how did you not fear to compel them, seeing that those compelled are punished for their disobedience? For that you yourself are not yet punished for the things you have devised is no marvel, since the judgment is not yet, so that you might indeed pay the penalty for having forced them, while that which was forced receives pardon because it preferred the adjuration to the evil deed." Simon, however, having heard these things, was stirred to anger and threatened us with death if we did not keep silent. C
XXXIII. After Aquila said these things, I, Clement, inquired what the miracles were that he could perform. And they replied: "He makes statues walk, and when he rolls himself in fire, he is not burned; sometimes he even flies, and he makes bread from stones, becomes a serpent, is transformed into a goat, shows two faces, is turned into gold, opens locked doors, melts iron, and at banquets displays ghosts of every imaginable shape. He makes vessels in the house appear to be carried spontaneously to do service, while those who carry them are not seen." Hearing them recount these things, I was amazed; but they themselves testified that they had seen such things. D
XXXIV. After these things were thus narrated, Zacchaeus came and signaled this to Peter: "Now, Peter, it is time for you to go out to discourse with those who have gathered. For a great crowd is assembled in the courtyard, expecting you."
A And Peter, having heard this, ordered me—since I had not yet received the saving baptism—to withdraw for the sake of prayer to those who were already perfected. "Arise," he said, "let us pray that God, by His unfailing mercies, may assist me as I go forth for the salvation of the men created by Him." And having said this, and having prayed, he went out into the open space of the courtyard, which was large, where many were gathered so that they might become hearers of the things to be said. Standing, therefore, and seeing with all silence the whole people fixing their eyes upon him, and Simon Magus standing in their midst, he began to speak as follows:
XXXV. Peace be to you all, who are ready to give your right hands to the truth of God; for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who sent us, commanded us to proclaim this as a greeting to you before the words of our teaching—a gift which is indeed great and incomparable in this present world—so that if there be any among you who is a son of peace, peace may embrace him through our teaching; but if any of you should be unwilling to receive it, then we too, shaking off the dust of our feet as a testimony, may go away to the houses and cities of others. B And we say to you truly: It will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for this place of unbelief: first, because you were not able of yourselves to recognize the truth; second, because hearing of our matters, you did not come to us; third, because when we came to you, you did not believe. Therefore, showing favor to you, we pray voluntarily that our peace may come upon you. If, then, you wish to have it, you must eagerly receive the words regarding piety and embrace the life that pleases God, so that, having lived piously and justly, you may become heirs of the eternal goods.
XXXVI. And when Peter had said these things, and had taught concerning the works of God, and how many good things were bestowed by God upon man, and had exhorted many things concerning the monarchy, Simon, C from outside the crowd, said with a loud voice: "Why do you wish to deceive the unlearned crowd standing by you by lying, persuading them that it is not permitted to name or speak of gods, when the public books of the Jews assert that there are many gods? And now, in the presence of all, I wish to dispute with you from those books concerning the fact that it must be considered that gods exist. And first, concerning the God whom you have brought forth, I show that He is not the highest and all-powerful Providence; because He is unforesighted regarding the future, D imperfect, needy, and altogether not good. And when this, indeed, has been demonstrated from the Scriptures, as I assert, it remains that there is another God, who is prescient, perfect, needy of nothing, good,
and free from all evils; but the one of whom you speak, the maker of the world, is found to be opposed to contrary things. A
XXXVII. Straightway, therefore, Adam, who was made in his likeness, is created even blind, for which reason he is also found a transgressor, and is cast out by God, and is punished with death. In a similar manner, too, the one who fashioned him, since he does not see all things, at the destruction of the Sodomites, "Come," he says, "and let us go down and see whether they are consuming according to their cry which comes to me, if not, that I may know," and he shows himself ignorant. And when he says concerning Adam, "Let us cast him out, lest he stretch forth his hand and touch of the tree of life and eat, and live for ever," he is envious. And when it is written, "God pondered that he had made man," he is led to repentance and is ignorant: for that, "he pondered," is reflection, by which someone, on account of ignorance of those things which he desires, wishes to explore the end diligently; or it is of one repenting of a thing which happened contrary to his expectation. And [as for] what is also written: "The Lord smelled a smell of sweetness," it is [the mark] of one who is needy, and of one having been delighted by the savor of flesh, not of a good one. To tempt, however, as it is written: "The Lord tempted Abraham," is of an evil one, and of one who is ignorant of the outcome of the patience. B
XXXVIII. And so Simon, having taken many sayings of the Scripture badly, endeavored to prove that God is, like men, subject to every passion. Then Peter: "Tell me," he says, "whether a man who is evil and altogether wicked would wish in no way to convict himself in the things wherein he sins." Simon answered: "He would least of all wish it." And Peter: "How then can God be evil and wicked, if by his own will the reproaches written against him have been publicly set forth?" And Simon: "It is possible that the rebuke of him was written by another Power without his consent." Peter said: "Let us therefore first examine this. If he rebuked himself by his own counsel, as you yourself previously confessed, he is not wicked: if, however, by another Power, it must be inquired into and examined with all might, whether anyone has subjected him who is alone good to all evils." C
XXXIX. And Simon: "It is manifest that you do not wish to hear from the Scriptures the rebuke of your God." And Peter: "You seem to me to be the one doing this; for he who avoids the order of questioning does not wish a true examination to take place. Whence I, using order, and wishing first for the writer to be understood, am manifest as wishing to walk the straight path." And Simon: "Confess first, if indeed the things written against the creator are true, and [if] he is not the supreme over all, [being] according to the Scriptures subject to all wickedness, and later"
A we shall ask the one who wrote it. And Peter said: "So that I do not appear to be merely contradicting, I answer: I say that those things which seem to you to have been written against God are indeed true; but even so, they do not show God to be wicked." And Simon said: "How then, he said, can you prove this?" And Peter said: "You say that Adam was born blind, which was not the case. For he would not have been instructing a blind man if he said, 'But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat.' " And Simon, shifting his ground, said he meant his mind was blind. And Peter said: "And how could even his mind be blind, when, before he had tasted of the plant, he gave appropriate names to all the animals in harmony with their creator?" And Simon said: "If Adam had foreknowledge, why did he not foresee the serpent who deceived his wife?" And Peter said: "If Adam had no foreknowledge, how did he give names to his sons, immediately upon their birth, in accordance with their future actions? Calling the first Cain, which is interpreted 'envy,' who indeed, led by envy, killed his brother Abel, which is interpreted 'lamentation'—for over him, as the first to be murdered, the parents lamented. But if Adam, being the work of God, possessed foreknowledge, much more so did God, who fashioned him. But you, O Simon, because you understand the divine Scriptures poorly, be silenced." B XLI. As for what is written: "God considered," it is as if He were using calculation because of ignorance; and furthermore: "The Lord tested Abraham, that He might know if he would endure"; and the passage: "Let us go down and see whether, according to their cry which comes to me, they are fulfilling; and if not, that I may know"—and not to draw out my discourse at too great length, these sayings have a clear sense and understanding, and do not argue ignorance of God, even if this escapes your own understanding. That He truly has foreknowledge, therefore, He says to Abraham: "Knowing, you shall know that your seed will be a sojourner in a land not its own; and they will enslave it, and afflict it, and humble them for four hundred years; but the nation whom they serve, I will judge. And after these things they will go forth from here with many possessions; but you will depart to your fathers in peace, reared in a good old age; and in the fourth generation they will return here." And surely these things, which were to happen after many generations, show that He C foreknows and knows most clearly and most certainly. XLII. And so the inquiry concerning these matters was extended even to the third day. But at the dawn of the fourth, Simon fled to Tyre. And not many days later, some arrived from there, reporting to Peter that Simon, by performing great wonders in Tyre, had astounded many of the inhabitants, and you...
A made him hateful through many calumnies. Having heard these things, Peter, during the following night, gathered all the people together and said, "Since I am eager to go to the nations that claim there are many gods, to preach and teach that there is one God in three persons, who created the heaven and the earth and all that is in them, so that men, having learned to love him, might be able to be saved; the devil, forestalling me, sent Simon ahead, so that he might persuade every man to worship those who are not gods, and that they might refuse to believe in one God who created all things, both visible and invisible; therefore, I must quickly overtake him, so that the teaching of Simon, having lingered too long, may not completely prevail over everyone. B XLIII. It is necessary, then, that someone should take my place on my behalf. And let us all earnestly pray to God that God may point out who is worthy." Having said these things, he laid his hands upon Zacchaeus and said: "Master Lord, Father of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, through thy holy and adorable Spirit, do thou guard this man, that he may be a pastor to thy people whom thou hast chosen." And when he had said this, he said to the people: "Whoever of you wish to be baptized, begin to fast from tomorrow." And after three days, when he had begun to baptize, he called me, Clement, and Nicetas and Aquila, and said:
XLIV. "Since I intend to set out for Tyre after seven days, I wish for you to arrive there quickly and, having lodged secretly with the Canaanite Berenice, daughter of Justa, to investigate all things that pertain to Simon and to write them down for me diligently. Therefore, depart at once in peace." So, leaving him as he baptized, we set out for Tyre in Phoenicia; and having lodged with the aforementioned Canaanite, and having been received by her C splendidly and honorably, we immediately spoke about Simon, saying: "This Simon the Magus, having been defeated in the discussion which took place in Caesarea with our lord Peter, immediately fled hither in the state he was in; and by hurling maledictions against him, he carries off the souls of the simpler folk. And although he himself is a magus, he calls him a magus; and although he is an impostor, he proclaims the apostle to be an impostor; and the one who was conquered in all things, and who shamefully took to flight, claims that he has been victorious."
XLV. Berenice, for her part, also bore witness that the matter was indeed so, and she added other things besides out of her own experience. "For," she said, "after he arrived here, by performing phantasms, specters, and images daily D in the middle of the forum, he keeps the whole city in a state of astonishment; so that while he passes by, statues move, and often shadows go before him, which he himself calls the souls of the dead. Furthermore, he invited many who spoke against him as a conjurer to a feast, and, having slaughtered an ox and given it to them to eat, he afflicted them with various diseases and let demons loose upon them; and in sum, by afflicting many, he is believed to be a god."
A I do not think that anyone will be able to extinguish so great a fire once it has been kindled. Therefore, so that you do not come into danger, I entreat you, attempt nothing against him until the apostle Peter arrives, who, being the most tried disciple of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, will alone be able to contend against such great power.”
XLVI. When Berenice had said these things, early in the morning we wrote down everything concerning Simon and turned our steps toward a walk. And immediately Appion met us with thirty others—that same Appion whom we mentioned before. And as soon as he saw me, greeting and kissing me, “This,” he said to those who were with him, “is Clement, concerning whom I have spoken much to you as regards his nobility and liberal manners; that a man who is by lineage from Caesar Tiberius, and trained in all Greek discipline, has been deceived by a certain barbarian who is called Peter to do and say the things of the Christians. B Therefore I ask you, help me in correcting him. For I am questioning him in your presence; and let him answer me: since he considers that he has given himself over to piety, how is he not, in fact, most impious, having abandoned his ancestral customs and declined toward barbarian and alien and monstrous ways?”
XLVII. And I said to him, “Your good intention toward me, I say, I accept; but I cast off your ignorance. For the intention is indeed good, in that you wish me to be in those things which seem good to you; but the knowledge is not correctly held, for under the pretext of friendship you are unknowingly calling us to deceit.” And Appion said, “Does it then seem to you ignorance, while keeping your ancestral customs, to think with the Greeks?” I replied, “He who is resolved to live piously is not absolutely bound to keep ancestral customs; but he ought to keep them if they are pious, and cast them off if they are not so. For it usually happens that someone born of an impious father, and wishing to live piously, does not wish to imitate the father’s ways, nor to follow them step by step.” To this Appion said, “What then? You say your father did not live a good life?” I replied, “I would not say that his life was bad, except that he believed in the false and evil myths of the Greeks.” C And he said, “What are these myths?” I, taking him up, said, “The incorrect opinion concerning God, which, if you have patience, you shall hear along with the others who are eager to learn.”
XLVIII. Therefore, before the dialogues, let us withdraw to some place that affords greater quiet. And indeed, as we went forward to where there were pure streams of cool water and the delight of green trees of every kind, we sat down. And when all were looking steadfastly at me, I began my discourse to them in this manner.
XLIX. There is much difference, O men, between truth and custom. For some of the Greeks introduced many gods who are evil and subject to many passions, so that those who wish to do the same things might have them as examples D of evil.
A Others, however, have introduced fate or genesis, and they say that it is impossible for anyone either to suffer or to act except through it; so that, thinking that no one can either act or suffer anything apart from genesis, they easily come to sin, and when they have sinned, they are not moved to repentance for the impieties they have committed. Others decree that present affairs are without providence, and introduce the idea that the universe is carried along automatically, with no Master presiding over it; which indeed is the most severe of all things, so to blaspheme God, and to cast Him out from the providence of the whole universe, as to say that there is not even a Ruler who provides and distributes to the whole world according to merit. Whence those who think such things do not easily become temperate; for they do not foresee the impending danger.
B But the doctrine of those whom you call barbarians is most pious, introducing one God, the maker of this whole world, by nature good and just: good, in that He grants forgiveness of sins to those who repent; just, in that He renders to each one who does not repent according to the merit of his deeds. For each one, as he awaits the future judgment of the all-seeing God against himself, receives a greater impulse toward temperate living, and he who has led a temperate life is delivered C from eternal punishment.
LI. Furthermore, while I refute the impious acts of each of those who are named gods among you—of Zeus, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Bacchus, Hercules, and each one individually (of whom you yourselves are not ignorant, since you are instructed in Greek literature; and you have been taught these lives, so that as emulators of the gods you might perform similar deeds)—I shall begin, if you will, with the greatest king, Zeus himself. His father, Saturn, having devoured as it is said his own children, and having sheared off his father's genitals with an adamantine sickle, provided to those who emulate the mysteries of the gods examples and patterns of piety toward parents and of love toward children. But Zeus himself, having feared his own father, cast him down into Tartarus, and punishes the other gods. For those who wish to commit unspeakable acts, he begat Metis and swallowed her—for Metis was seed; for it is impossible for an infant to be swallowed. And in defense of those who indulge in the love of boys, he snatches Ganymede. And assisting adulterers in their adultery, he himself is often found to be an adulterer. He even invites the marriage of sisters, having himself joined with his sisters, Juno, and Ceres, and Venus the celestial, whom some call Dodona. D To those who wish to consort with their daughters, having joined with Proserpina, he becomes an evil example through the myths. He also committed countless other impious acts, so that by impious men, on account of surpassing intemperance, the myth concerning him might be established as a doctrine for the ignorant.
A
LII. Having reasoned thus, I fled to the only good God, having delivered my faith to a firm judgment, that by the just judgment of God a law is established, and the soul will certainly receive according to the worth of what it has done, whenever that may be.
When I had said this, Appion rejoined to the discourse: "What then? Do not the Greeks and the laws of the Greeks forbid such things, and decree that adulterers and those who otherwise commit contrary acts be punished?" And I said: "Therefore, the gods of the Greeks, having committed acts contrary to the laws, owe no small penalty. And how shall I be able to restrain myself, assuming that the gods themselves were the first to commit all the terrible acts along with adultery, and have not paid the penalty, which they ought to have paid all the more, as they are not subject to desire? But if they were subject to it, how were they gods?" And Appion said: "Let them be to us for a mark, no longer gods, but judges, looking to whom we shall fear to sin." And I said: "It is not the same, O Appion. For he who has his aim toward a man, in the hope of escaping notice, will surely dare to sin; but he who has set God, the observer of all things, as the goal of his soul, knowing that he cannot be hidden from Him, will refrain from sinning even in secret."
LIII. When Appion heard this, "I knew," he said, "from the time I heard you associating with Christians, that your opinion had changed. For it is well said by someone: 'Evil communications corrupt good manners.'" And I said to him: "Therefore, good communications correct manners that are not good." C When I said this, those who were present were clearly seen to be as if pleased by the things said by me; wherefore, having asked that there be another meeting on the following day, they departed for the present. On the next day, as Peter came out, not a few of those from the neighboring regions, and many from Tyre itself, met him and shouted, saying: "May God have mercy on us through you, and heal us through you!" Peter, therefore, standing upon a certain high stone, in order that he might be visible to all, and having greeted them in a religious manner, thus began:
LIV. "To God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, there is no lack of occasion for the salvation of those who desire to be saved; for He is able to save both our souls and our bodies. D I learn, therefore, that Simon Magus, having sacrificed an ox, gave you a feast in the midst of the market, and having satiated you with much wine, delivered you over to destructive passions and demons. But just as you were compelled to serve the leader of wickedness by partaking of the sacrifices that had been offered to demons, so if you leave these and approach God through our Lord Jesus Christ, know well that along with the healing of your body, you will also have your souls healthy, by pursuing what is pleasing to God. Now, what is pleasing to God is to pray to Him, to abstain from the table of demons, not to touch blood or
preserve yourselves unstained from every defilement, proceeding in one mind in many bodies, that what each one wishes for himself, this he also thinks and desires for his neighbor. For it says: You do not wish to be killed, do not kill another; you do not wish your own wife to be defiled by another, do not defile the wife of another; you do not wish any of your own possessions to be stolen at all, do not steal anything of another's. And thus, by understanding A from yourselves what is agreeable to reason and pursuing it, you will be dear to God and will attain health.
LV. Having been taught these things by Peter in a few days, and having also obtained healing, they approached the holy baptism. When the Sidonians heard of these things, they sent supplicants to Peter and summoned him to themselves, because they themselves were unable to come to him on account of their diseases. Therefore, after Peter had remained for a few days in Tyre, and had freed them from all kinds of ailments, and had established a Church, and had appointed for them a bishop from the presbyters who were following him, he set out for Sidon. But Simon Magus, having already learned that Peter was arriving, willingly fled and betook himself to Berytus with Appion and his companions.
LVI. But when Peter had entered Sidon, they brought many on beds and placed them in his sight. But Peter said to them: Do not think, he said, that I have any power for your healing, being myself also a mortal man and subject to many sufferings; but I shall not refuse to teach you the way by which you might be saved, B as one who has also been taught by Christ and have become a disciple of that Good One. These things also in Sidon, with Peter persuading those who had gathered, when in a few days many there also were led to repentance and had believed, and then were also gifted with health, he established a Church; and after he had appointed one of the presbyters who were following him as bishop, he departs from Sidon.
LVII. But as soon as he arrived at Berytus, an earthquake occurred: and the crowds, approaching Peter, begged him to bring aid. For we feared, they said, that we might perish utterly. Then also Simon, having summoned up courage, and with a plot devised C together with Appion, Annubion, Athenodorus, and all his other associates, cried out publicly to the multitudes, pointing to Peter: Flee this man, O men, with all zeal and haste, flee, he says, he is a Magus, believe me: and he himself worked the earthquake among you, and stirred up the diseases, so that he might strike you with terror and be openly considered a god among you. When the people kept themselves in silence, Peter, smiling a little, with very great liberty: Men, he said, what these men say, that I am able to do, God willing, I confess: furthermore I am ready D
A (I am persuaded concerning the things I speak) to overturn your city from its very foundations.
LVIII. Then the crowd was terrified: then with a ready mind they promised to do [A/B] that which was commanded by him; and Peter said: Let no one of you, he said, have dealings with the magicians from this time forth, nor ever come into communication with them. When the crowds heard these things, they immediately set upon those with Simon, and having wounded them all in a little while, they did not cease beating them, until they had driven them entirely out of the city. Afterwards, whoever was struggling with diseases and demons among them, coming up, would lie before his feet. He, however, lifting his hands to heaven, and praying to God, healed them all by prayer alone. B And having remained some not few days with the Berytians, and having established and baptized many in the faith in the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and having appointed one of the presbyters who were following him as bishop for them, he departed to Byblos.
LIX. And having arrived there, and having learned that Simon had rushed to Tripoli, he himself having remained a short time with them, and having healed many in Byblos, and having taught them piety, set off following the tracks of Simon to Tripoli, having chosen rather to pursue him than to flee from him. When Peter arrived in Tripoli, many of the more studious came together C from Tyre, and Sidon, and Berytus, and Byblos; and no less did many of the crowds from the city itself flow together, wishing to see Peter. Some of the brothers, who had been sent on before by him, related to us accurately both the state of the city and the things being done by Simon; and having welcomed us, they led us to the house of Maro.
LX. Peter, being already at the very gates of the guest-house, turned, and promised the crowds that he would speak about piety tomorrow. When he entered, he said he would not partake of food first, before he had refreshed those who had assembled; but when we replied that we would diligently refresh them all, Peter, having heard this and blessed us, went out, and having bathed in the sea, and entered in, and then having taken food, night having fallen, he slept.
LXI. But just about the second cockcrow, having arisen, and finding us already awake, who were all sixteen with him, I mean Peter himself, and I Clement, and Nicetas and Aquila, and the twelve who had gone before, after he had greeted everyone, D there entered one of the familiar friends, announcing to him,
A that Simon Magus, having learned that you were visiting Tripoli, has gone off to Syria himself; but the crowds, thinking that this one night was the passage of a year, and unable to wait for the time set by you, are standing before the doors, talking together in groups and circles about the wickedness of Simon—by which, after he had stirred them up and promised that he would come and convict you of many crimes, having learned that you had arrived, he fled by night; nevertheless, they themselves desire to hear you.
LXII. And Peter, admiring the zeal of the crowds, answered: "You see, brothers, how the words of our Lord are clearly fulfilled. For I remember Him saying, 'Many shall come from the East, and the West, and the North, and the sea, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.' But also, 'Many,' He says, 'are called, but few are chosen.' Therefore, that they come is not their own achievement, but that of God who called them; but if, after the calling, they perform good works, this belongs to them, and they shall attain the appropriate reward." B He said this, and seeing the great crowd flowing gently like the calm stream of a river, he said to Maroone: "Where is there a place here that can contain these crowds?" And when Maroone led him to a place cultivated as a garden and open to the air, the crowds followed him.
LXIII. And Peter, standing upon a pedestal of a statue not very high; as soon as he had greeted the people in a religious manner—perceiving that many of those standing by were troubled for a long time by demons, and were gnashing their teeth with howling and falling down with supplication—rebuked them and commanded them to keep silence, and having promised their healing after his discourse, C he began to speak as follows:
LXIV. "The only good God, who has done all things well for the salvation of the human race, sent His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to make known those things that were pleasing to Him and to give an eternal law; so that, by keeping it always and being baptized for the remission of sins, we might be deemed worthy of eternal life. But strive first to put off your filthy garment, that is, of unbelief, which you cannot put off in any other way unless you are first baptized into good actions; and thus, having become pure in body and soul, you shall enjoy the future eternal kingdom. Therefore, neither believe in idols, nor partake of their table; do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not hate one another; nor steal; D and do not in any way attempt any wicked deeds."
LXV. When he had said these things, and had admonished them about many things from the Scriptures, they all remained; some for the sake of being healed, others to see those who were attaining healing. And Peter, merely laying his hands upon them and praying, granted to each one immunity from disease;
A so that those who were suddenly healed were greatly amazed, and at once offered glory to God for this matter. When, therefore, they had firmly believed, together with those who had been healed, they departed to their own homes, having received instruction to convene at an earlier hour.
LXVI. On the following day, Peter, together with the companions who were with him, went out and came again to that same place, and said to them: God is all-powerful. B For He is both good and just, and even now He is long-suffering toward all, so that those who wish, having repented of the evils they have committed and having lived according to what is pleasing to Him, might each receive the reward according to his merit on the day when all things are judged. Wherefore, now begin from a good knowledge, being persuaded by God, to resist your own absurd desires, so that you may be able to recall the first grace that was bestowed upon the human race. For thus will good things continually rise up for you; and you shall give thanks forever to Him who has given them, possessing unspeakable blessings, having first been washed in the invocation of the blessed Trinity, if any blemish or if any stain exists upon your souls. For thus you will not only be able to drive out the spirits lurking within you, but you will also drive away the demons that infest others, along with other ailments. Having said these things, he ordered those who were troubled by certain ailments to approach him; and laying his hands upon them, and having immediately healed them, he instructed them to gather at an earlier hour in the morning.
LXVII. C On the third day at dawn, Peter arose and, having prayed, sat down. And noticing us sitting around and looking intently at him, as if wishing to hear something, he understood and said: Above all, O friends, he who chooses to worship God ought to know that He is recognized in three persons; but it is His own peculiar and primary attribute to be the Creator of all creatures, containing all things and bounding all things, as one who is above all things and who has created all things. Having said these things, and having taught much concerning piety toward D God, he ordered those who were demon-possessed and those afflicted with certain diseases to be brought to him. When they were brought, he laid his hands upon them and, having prayed, sent them away in health.
LXVIII. Again on the following day, having risen and prayed, then also having sat down with us, he began to speak in this manner: He who is about to approach God must be sober, must practice self-control, must master his anger, must not steal the property of others, must live justly, equitably, steadily, and gently; he must restrain himself in his necessities, rather than satisfy himself by taking away the goods of another when he has none; he must be pure in heart and chaste in body, and must not become like the Pharisees, to whom our Lord and God Jesus Christ said: Woe to you, scribes and
A Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate, but within they are full of filth. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and plate, that the outside of them may also become clean. Truly, he who has cleansed the inside is able to cleanse the outside also; but he who cleanses the outside, looking to the praise of men, does this, but before God he has no reward.
LXIX. Having said these things, and many others besides concerning purity, when the three months which he had commanded me to fast were now completed, he led me to the springs which are near the sea, and baptized me in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit with ever-flowing water. And having taken bread, and blessed, and broken it, he shared with us the undefiled and life-giving mysteries. And so, the brethren being festive and glad for the second birth granted to me by God, we gave glory and thanksgiving to God. And a great crowd having gathered, Peter, casting out diseases, afflictions, and demons, and baptizing many, when he had established Maro, his host—now perfected in all things—as bishop, and had designated twelve presbyters and appointed deacons, and had conversed with the bishop concerning the common good and utility, and concerning the order and harmony of the Church, he bade farewell to the Tripolitani of Phoenicia, and began his journey towards Antioch of Syria.
LXX. Having departed from Tripoli of Phoenicia, that we might come to Antioch of Syria, on the same day we remained in Orthosia; and because it is near the city from which we had departed, since almost all had previously heard the message of the gospel preaching, B staying there one day, we moved on to Antaradus. But there being many traveling with us, Peter addressed Nicetas and Aquila, saying: "Since a great multitude accompanying us draws not a little envy upon us as we enter cities, I have deemed it necessary to manage it so that they may not be grieved by being prevented from being with us, nor we, by being conspicuous, be made causes of envy to others. For this reason, I wish you, Nicetas, together with Aquila, to travel ahead of me in two groups, at intervals."
LXXI. Upon Peter saying this, Nicetas and Aquila answered: "It does not greatly grieve us, Lord, to do this, since it has been commanded by you. First, because you were chosen by the providence of God, being worthy to think and advise well on all things; and then, because it is necessary that we do this, being absent from you, for at most two days; and although that space is long while we do not see our Lord, yet, because you command it for the sake of utility, we do not contradict." Having said these things, they went on ahead.
A
LXXII. After they had departed, I, Clement, rejoiced that he had wished me to be with him. And naturally I said to him, "I thank God that you did not send me away as you did the others, for I would have died of grief." But he replied, "What then? If there should be need for you to be sent somewhere, are you going to die because you are separated from me for a short time for your own benefit? Instead, would it not be better if, by considering within yourself that what you are commanded to do by necessity must be borne, you bear it with a cheerful spirit? Or do you not know that friends are present to one another in memory, even if they are separated in body, just as some are present in body but are far apart in their souls?"
LXXIII. And I answered: "But do not think, lord, that I would suffer such grief unwisely; rather, I would do so with a rightly ordered mind. For since I have chosen you above all—above father, mother, brothers, and kinsmen—because you were the one who, through God, became the cause of my knowing the saving truth, so also do I enjoy through you alone that consolation which I would have obtained from all of them. For I am very much afraid to be away from you, lest, due to the ardor of youth, I be overcome by desire. And for this reason, I am so steadfast in my resolve that it is impossible for me to leave you, unless this should happen by some divine anger. B For I remember you saying in Caesarea, 'If anyone wishes to journey with me, let him also journey piously.' And by 'piously' you meant that he should cause no one sorrow according to God—for instance, by abandoning parents, wife, or others who have chosen to live piously. Therefore, I am in all respects a suitable traveling companion for you, and one to whom you would grant the greatest favor if you permitted me to perform the services of a servant."
LXXIV. And Peter, hearing this, said with a gentle smile: "What then do you think, Clement, that necessity alone will not force you into the position of a servant? For who will guard the fine and numerous linen cloths for me, along with the rings and sandals that follow after? And who will prepare the pleasant and costly dishes? For these, being varied, demand many skilled cooks and all those things which are prepared as for a wild beast for the sake of desire. C But perhaps this thought has come to you because you have not understood and are ignorant of my way of life, since I use only bread and olives, and rarely vegetables; and because I have only one garment and one cloak, this very one in which I am clothed, and I have no need of another, nor of anything else. For in these things I even have an abundance. For my mind, seeing all those eternal goods there, takes no thought for any of those that are here. D Nevertheless, I approve of your noble resolution, and I marvel and praise how a man educated in luxurious habits has so easily changed his way of life to one of only the necessities. For we, from childhood—I and Andrew, my brother—not only grew up in the condition of orphans but, through poverty, were also accustomed to labor, and so we easily endure these long journeys now. Wherefore, if you would believe me, you would allow me to perform the duties of a servant for you."
A LXXXV. I, hearing this, trembled and wept, because such words had been spoken by a man to whom all the men of this age are inferior in terms of knowledge and piety. But he, seeing me weeping, asked the reason. I said to him, "What great sin have I committed, that I should have to hear such a speech?" And Peter immediately replied, "If I have spoken amiss in proposing to serve you, you sinned first by being the first to intend to do so." I answered, "It is not the same case; for it is truly fitting for me to do this, but for you by no means, seeing that you are a herald of God and have been entrusted with the shepherding of human souls." And Peter said, "Our Lord, having come for the salvation of the whole world, and having uniquely above all men the condition of true and sole nobility, deigned to serve and to minister, B that He might persuade us not to think it shameful to offer servile services to our neighbors, even though we be noble, or even though we excel them greatly." I replied, "If I were to imagine that I could overcome you with words, I would be clearly foolish and lacking in sense; nevertheless, I thank Divine Providence that I have been deemed worthy to have you in the place of a parent."
LXXVI. Then Peter said, "Is there truly no one left to you of your kin?" And I replied, "There are indeed many great men who are related to Caesar by blood. For Caesar joined a kinswoman of his to my father, because he was brought up with him. From her we were born, three sons; two were born before me, who, being twins, were exceedingly like to one another, as my father used to tell me. For I myself do not truly know either them or the one who bore me, but as it were in a dream, I retain but a dim image of their form. My mother, then, was called Matthidia; my father, Faustus; my brothers, one was named Faustinus, and the other Faustinianus. C When, therefore, I was born as the third son to them, my mother had a dream, as my father used to relate, that unless she took her twin sons at once and departed from the city of Rome for ten years, she would perish with them by a most wretched death."
LXXVII. My father, therefore, who was a lover of his children, provided them abundantly with menservants and maidservants and sufficient travel money, and having put them on a ship, sent them to Athens to be educated; but me alone he kept with him for his own consolation. And I give great thanks for this, that the dream did not command me also to depart from the city of Rome with my mother. D When that year had passed, my father sent money to his own people in Athens, being anxious to know how they were living. But those who had gone did not return. In the third year, my father, again anxious, sent others likewise with provisions for their maintenance; and they returned in the fourth year, reporting that they had seen neither my mother nor my brothers anywhere, nor had they been able to find even a trace of any of those who had gone with them.
LXXVIII. When my father heard this, and being through much
grief struck with amazement, and not knowing whither he should turn to set out in search of them, he took me with him and went down to the port. He inquired very frequently whether anyone had seen or heard of a shipwreck having occurred within four years. And different people reported that it had occurred in different places. He, for his part, asked again if they had seen the body of a woman with children cast upon the land by the sea. And when many said that they had seen many bodies at different times, my father would groan as he listened. Yet, overcome by natural affection A, he made inquiries unreasonably, attempting to search the deep of the sea so much; yet he was excusable, because, on account of his affection for those he was seeking, he was beguiled by empty hopes. And finally, leaving me under the care of tutors and guardians, being then twelve years of age, he himself went down to the port weeping; and having embarked on a ship, he sailed away in search of them. And from that time until now, I have neither received a letter from him, nor do I know at all whether he is among the living or the dead. But I have a greater inclination of mind to think that he has died somewhere, either having been overcome by grief or having met with a shipwreck. I use this as a proof, that from that time it is now already the twentieth year since I have heard any true trace of him.”
LXXXIX. When Peter heard these things, he shed tears out of compassion, and immediately said to the genuine believers who were present: “If any man devoted to pious religion had suffered what this man’s father suffered, he would have immediately attributed the cause to religion and to the devil. Thus it also happens that the miserable Gentiles suffer, and we who are pious toward God are ignorant of it. And I have rightly called them miserable, because they both wander in error here, and fall short of the hope of the future; for when men of religion are afflicted with troubles, D these become for them a payment for their transgressions.”
LXXX. When Peter had spoken thus, one of us, having taken courage, asked him on behalf of all that on the following day at dawn we might sail across to Aradus, the island opposite, which was about thirty stadia distant—I think not even full that—to see the two vine-shaped columns there, which were of great thickness. Peter, therefore, being compliant, agreed, saying: “When you have disembarked from the ship, do not all go together to the sight you desire; for I do not wish for you to turn the eyes of the citizens toward yourselves.” And so, having sailed, in one hour we were brought to the island. Having disembarked from the boat, we went to where the vine-shaped columns were; and along with the columns, one person looked at one thing, and another at another of the works of Phidias.
LXXXI. But Peter alone did not think it necessary to go to see the sights that were there; but, noticing a certain woman sitting outside before the doors, and begging for the sake of food, he approached and said: “Woman, what part of your limbs do you lack, that you have submitted to such an insult—I mean that of begging—and not rather…”
laboring with the hands that God has given you, you provide your daily food?” But she, heaving a deep and passionate sigh, replied: “Would that I truly possessed hands that were able to function at all! But now they preserve for me only the form of hands, while they themselves happen to be dead.” And Peter asked, “What, then, is the cause that you have suffered this most grievous thing?” She said to him, “Weakness of soul, and nothing more. For if I possessed a brave mind, there was a precipice or the deep, by casting myself from which I could have put an end to the evils that cause me pain.” B LXXXII. Then Peter said: “What then? Do you think, woman, that all who kill themselves are released from punishment, or rather that the souls of those who die in this way are subjected to a greater punishment in Hades because of their self-murder?” But she said: “Would that I were persuaded, in truth, that souls are found living in Hades; I would even disregard the punishment and choose to die, so that I might see those who are most dear to me, even if only for a short time.” To this Peter said: “And what, then, is it that grieves you? For I very much desire to know. And if you make me certain, I will provide you with firm proofs that souls live in Hades, and instead of a precipice or the deep, I will give you a remedy through which you may depart from life without pain.” C LXXXIII. And the woman, not understanding the statement, but seizing only upon what she desired, began to speak thus: “As for relating my lineage and country to you, I do not believe I could ever persuade you; but besides, what does it profit you to know this? Or only the cause for which, being afflicted with pain, I rendered my hands dead by biting them. Nevertheless, I will relate my circumstances to you as far as you are able to hear. Having been born of noble parents, by the command of a certain powerful man I was married to a man who was his relation, and having borne twin sons, I gave birth to a third on top of that. Furthermore, when the brother of my husband fell in love with my appearance and was entirely captured by love for me, and though I, in my wretchedness, greatly desired to live chastely, and wished neither to consent to the lover nor to expose the brother’s love for me to my husband—and having considered that it was proper, so that I would neither insult my husband’s bed nor make the brother an enemy to his brother, and bring disgrace upon his great family—I resolved to leave the city with my twin children for a certain time, until that impure love of his, which fawned upon me for my dishonor, should come to an end. D I decided, however, to leave the other son with his father as a consolation.” LXXXIV. “But in order that these things might happen in this way, I was moved to fabricate a dream, as if someone had stood by me in the night and said: ‘Immediately depart from Rome, woman, together with your twin children for a certain time, until I indicate to you again to return; otherwise, you will suddenly perish miserably, together with your husband and all your children.’ And as soon as the fabricated dream…”
A of the visionary appeared to him, he was seized with great fear, and he placed our two sons, the menservants and maidservants, and a great deal of money into a ship and sent them to Athens, charging them to educate me until, he said, it should please the author of the vision for you to return. And so, as I was sailing with my children, the miserable wretch, I was cast by the disorder of the winds into these parts; and in the night, the ship having broken up, we suffered shipwreck. But all of them having perished, I, the unfortunate one, being thrown by a violent wave, was cast upon a rock; remaining seated there, in the hope that I might find my children alive, I did not cast myself into the deep at that time, though my soul was already intoxicated with the waves of grief, and I could have easily done so.
B LXXXV. But when morning came, crying out with a loud voice and lamenting piteously, I peered around, seeking the dead bodies of my wretched children. The locals, therefore, taking pity on me and seeing me naked, clothed me. Then they searched the deep, looking for my children. But when they could not find them, some of the hospitable women approached for the sake of comfort, each relating her own evils, so that through the calamity of others I might find a measure of comfort in my own adversities; which, in truth, caused me even more pain and consumed my soul the more, as I listened to the calamities of other women. And as many were asking to take me into their hospitality, one poor woman of this place, having strongly urged me, persuaded me to come to her own lodging. 'Take heart,' she said, 'for my husband also was a sailor, and he died at sea while still very young; and since that time, although many have asked me to enter into marriage, I have chosen to live as a widow, longing for my husband. But what we can provide with our hands, we shall hold in common, both of us.' And that was the end of her speech.
C LXXXVI. But I, so as not to prolong the account of these things to you, lived with her on account of the love with which she pursued her husband. It was not long after, when my own hands, wretched woman that I am, were weakened by the bites, and the woman who had taken me in, seized by a certain disease, lay almost immobile in the house. Since, therefore, the mercy of the women of old had already faded, and I and she who is in the house both share equally in misfortunes, I sit here now, as you see, begging, and whatever I may obtain, I make it common with my fellow-sufferer. And my affairs happen to be in this state. It remains for you not to hinder the fulfillment of the promise to provide the medicine, so that I may share what you give with my housemate, who also desires to die, and, having partaken of it myself, I may be released from this life all the sooner.
D LXXXVII. When the woman had said these things, Peter—
A seemed to stand in suspense, lost in thought. But I, arriving and finding the master in conversation with the woman, said, "I have been going about seeking you for a long time; and now, what is to be done?" Peter ordered me to go ahead and wait on the boat. And since it was not possible to contradict him when he gave such an order, I did what was commanded. But Peter, as he himself later explained everything to me, being struck by a small suspicion in his heart, asked the woman, saying: "Tell me, woman, your lineage and city, and also the names of your children, and I will immediately give you the medicine." But she, being under pressure, and although she was unwilling to speak, yet desiring to receive the medicine, devised a plan to say other things instead of the truth; thus, she declared herself to be an Ephesian, her husband a Sicilian, and she likewise changed the names of the three boys. And Peter, thinking she was speaking the truth, said, "Alas, woman, I thought I was going to bring great joy today, B suspecting you to be the one whose history I have heard and know well." But she adjured him, saying: "I beseech you, tell me, so that I may know if there is any other woman more wretched than I."
LXXXVIII. And Peter, not knowing how to lie, and otherwise being moved by compassion towards her, began to tell the truth: "I have with me a certain youth, O woman, who is eager for discourses pertaining to the worship of God, and is a Roman citizen, who told me how, while having a father and two twin brothers, he sees none of them. For his mother, as his father said he told me, having seen a vision in a dream, went out from the city of Rome for a time with her twin sons, so that she might not die a wretched death, and having gone out with them, she is not now to be found; and her husband, but my father, also went out in search of her, and he too cannot be found." C When Peter had said these things, the woman, having applied her mind to them, was overcome with astonishment and fainted. But Peter, bidding her be sober, asked what it was that she was suffering. And she, as if recovering from drunkenness and rubbing her face, said: "And where is he? Where is the youth of whom you speak?" Understanding the matter, Peter said: "Tell me first yourself; for otherwise you cannot see him." And she, in haste, said: "I am the mother of the youth, and his name is Clement." And Peter, having heard this, said: "It is he, it is he; and this is he who just now approached and spoke to me, whom I ordered to wait on the boat." D She, falling at Peter's knees, begged that he would hasten to the boat. And Peter said: "If you keep the agreements, I will also do this." But she answered: "I will do everything, only show me my only-begotten son; for through him I shall seem to see my two sons who died here." And Peter said: "But when you see him, be quiet until we have left the island."
A XC. Peter then, taking her hand, led her to the ship. I, seeing him leading a woman, smiled; and approaching, in his honor, I attempted to lead her myself instead of him. And as soon as I touched her hand, she cried out loudly like a mother, and embracing me, she kissed me vehemently, as her son. I, ignorant of what the matter was, pushed her away as one who had lost her senses; yet, being also respectful of Peter, I was filled with bitterness.
XCI. “Leave her,” said Peter, “O Clement. For why do you do this, pushing away her who bore you?” When I heard this, I became tearful, and falling upon my mother who had cast herself down, I kissed her. For at the very moment these words were spoken to me, I somewhat dimly recalled her appearance. A great crowd of people came running to see the miracle, and it was on the lips of all of them how so notable a man had recognized the beggar woman as his own mother. B Now, as we wished to depart from the island with my mother, my mother said: “My most beloved child, it is reasonable to say farewell to the woman who took me in, who, being poor and entirely paralyzed, lies at home.” Peter, having heard this, was amazed, and all the bystanders also, at the woman’s prudence. And he immediately ordered some to go and carry the woman on a bed. When she had been brought, he ordered the bed to be placed down; but he himself, in the hearing of all, said: “If I am a herald of the truth, let her rise up healthy from it, for the faith of those standing by, that they may know there is one God who made the world.” He said these things, and the woman immediately stood up from the bed whole, and fell at Peter’s feet; then, having kissed her accustomed friend, she asked what this was. C She narrated to her the whole matter of the recognition, and those who heard were struck with amazement. Then my mother, seeing the hostess healed so paradoxically, entreated that she too might receive healing. Peter, laying his hand upon her, healed her also.
XCII. Thereafter he discoursed concerning piety, and at the end added: “If anyone wishes to learn these things accurately, let him come to Antioch, where I have determined to remain for several days, and let him learn them there. For if, for the sake of trade or military service, you are accustomed to leave your homes D and set out upon long labors, will you not be willing to travel a three days' journey for the sake of eternal life?” Having spoken thus, he brought his words to an end. After this, I bestowed a thousand drachmas upon the woman who had been healed, in the presence of all the people, for her sustenance, and then entrusted her to a certain good man, a leader of the city, who of his own accord offered to do this with joy; and I further distributed money to many others who had formerly comforted my mother. Having given thanks to God, I passed over to Antaradus with my mother,
A and Peter, and the rest of the companions; and thus we proceeded to our lodging.
XCIII. When we were together and had taken food, and yet some time remained, I said to Peter: "My mother has performed a work of humaneness, my lord Peter, by remembering the hostess." Peter replied: "Is it the case, Clement, that you truly think a work of humaneness was performed by her who bore you, since she returned thanks to her who had received her from the shipwreck; or have you said this to please your mother? If, however, you did not speak to do a favor, but to speak the truth, you seem to me to be ignorant of what the magnitude of humaneness is, which is love toward anyone, insofar as he is a human being, and without any natural affection. B But not even the hostess, who took your mother in from the shipwreck, would be called humane by me. For, constrained by pity, she was impelled to do good to a woman who had suffered shipwreck, was mourning her children, was a stranger, destitute, and who was lamenting her calamities greatly. In such great adversities, therefore, who, seeing her, would not have pitied her, even among the ungodly? Wherefore, by no means does a work of humaneness appear to have been performed by the hostess either toward her, but rather she was moved to benevolence by mercy arising from many misfortunes. And indeed, your mother, having an abundance of means, and having rewarded her hostess, performed a work not of humaneness, but of love. C But there is a great difference between love and humaneness: for love occurs out of reciprocation, whereas humaneness, without any natural propensity, loves and benefits every human being, insofar as he is a human being. If, therefore, that hostess who pitied her had also pitied and benefited enemies who had deserved ill of her, she would be humane; but if it is because she is a friend, or an enemy, such a one, she is a friend or an enemy because of some cause, and not because of the human being."
XCIV. And I replied: "Does it not seem to you, then, that she is humane, at least the hostess, who conferred a benefit upon a stranger whom she did not know?" Then Peter said: "I know how to call her merciful, but I do not dare to call her humane, D just as I do not call a mother who loves her children [humanely]; for she has been compelled to love by the pains of childbirth and by upbringing. For just as one who is inflamed by passion is soothed by habit, and one who follows after love is moved by remuneration, so too is he who pities moved by calamity. Nevertheless, the merciful man is close to the humane man; for he is persuaded to show kindness without seeking or receiving anything in return; yet he is not yet humane." And I said: "For what actions then can someone be humane?" Peter replied: "Because I see you are desirous of hearing what the office of humaneness is, I shall not be reluctant to tell you. That man is humane who acts calmly and beneficently even toward his enemies. That it is so, hear clearly. Consider humaneness to be composed of two parts: of which, the one..."
is mercy; the other, love toward the neighbor: and the neighbor to a man is every man, not just one man alone; for a man is both bad and good, and an enemy as well as a friend. It behooves, therefore, one who exercises humaneness to be an imitator of God, doing good to both the just and the unjust, A just as God Himself in this present world provides His sun and His rain to all. But if you wish to do good only to the good, and to punish the bad, you are attempting to perform the office of a judge.
XCV. And I said: "Indeed, is God Himself, who is about to judge, as you teach us, not humane?" And Peter replied: "You speak contrarily. For it is because He judges that He is humane; for by loving and showing mercy to those who have been wronged, He punishes those who have committed the wrong." And I said: "Therefore, if I too do good to the good, and punish those who do wrong because they have wronged men, am I not humane?" And Peter answered: "If, along with foreknowledge, the power to judge were granted to you, you would be doing this rightly: by the power received, indeed, condemning those whom God has created, but by the foreknowledge, [judging] blamelessly; B at once acquitting some as just, and condemning others as unjust." And I said: "You have spoken rightly and truly; for it is impossible for someone who does not possess foreknowledge to judge correctly. For sometimes some appear to be good while secretly perpetrating forbidden things; and others, who are [truly] good, are thought to be bad due to the calumny of enemies. But even if someone possesses the power of torturing and questioning and sits [in judgment], not even thus will he be able to judge entirely justly: for some, being murderers, after enduring the torments of the inquisition, have been released as innocent; and others, on the other hand, who were innocent, not being able to endure the torments, and because of this having lied against themselves, have been punished as if they were guilty." C
XCVI. And Peter said: "These things are also moderate, as you say; but hear something greater. When some men sin or do well, of those things which they perform, some are their own, and some are even external; it is just, however, that each be punished for his own sins, or be deemed worthy of reward for his good deeds; but it is impossible for anyone, except for a prophet alone who possesses foreknowledge, to know clearly what has been done by anyone, which are his own, and which are not his own. And I said: "I desired to learn how the things of the transgressions 80, ...
some are one's own, and others belong to another." And Peter answered me: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said: 'Needs must that good things come.' Blessed, he says, is he through whom they come. Likewise, it is necessary that evil things also come; but woe to him through whom they come. Since if evil things come through the evil, and good things are brought through the good, it behooves each one, whether he has done good or evil, to be present, so that what was said by the Spirit: 'Who shall render to each according to his works,' may be true in every way and indisputable. Nevertheless, he who strives for virtue at all, ought, even as Christ has said, to love his enemies, and further to pray B for them, and to bless those who revile him, and to forgive those who slander him. For thus he will be an accurate keeper of the commandments, and having had all his own sins forgiven through love for his neighbor, he will depart this life."
XCVII. Having heard these things, I said: "Many things, I say, we are able to do; but to do good to enemies, by enduring all their injuries, is not, I think, possible for human nature." Then Peter answered: "You have spoken rightly. For since human kindness is the cause of immortality, it is highly accounted. For if anyone be surely persuaded that enemies, while they vex for a time those whom they hate, are the authors of their liberation from eternal punishment, he will embrace them with love as benefactors. Otherwise, no one can perform this commandment, unless he loves God greatly and has been instructed in the fear of Him. For He says: 'The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.' But he who has been grounded in His fear will certainly arrive at love, and thus will hold his neighbor as himself." After Peter had said these things, evening having come on, we turned to sleep.
XCVIII. But when morning had risen, Peter coming in said: "Let Clement with his mother Matthidia, and my wife, sit together in the carriage." As we were proceeding on the road which leads to Balaneae, my mother asked me how my father fared. I said: "Having gone forth in quest of you and of the twin sons, Faustinus and Faustianus, he remains undiscovered; but I think that perhaps he has also died, having either fallen into a shipwreck, D or perished on the way, or suffered a wasting away from the gnawing pain of grief." But she, upon hearing this, and becoming tearful, groaned and was in sorrow; yet because she had found me, the greatness of the sorrow de-
Atrahebat. We arrived therefore at Balaneas: and on the following day we went to Paltus, and from there to Gabala. On the next day we arrived at Laodicea. And behold, before the gates, Nicetas and Aquila met us; and after embracing us, they led us to the inn. But Peter, seeing a beautiful and large city, said, "It is fitting that we should abide here for a few days: for it is possible that in such a great multitude, some may be found worthy of the portion of Christ." Now Nicetas and Aquila inquired of me, who this strange woman was. And I said, "She is my mother, whom God has granted that I should recognize through my lord Peter."
XCIX. After I had said this, Peter set forth to them in summary all things, as much as he had heard from the mother, and as much as he had previously learned from me; namely, about the feigned dream, and about the shipwreck that occurred together with her children, and how afterwards the father, having gone out in search of his wife and her twin sons, has remained unknown until now, having perhaps himself also fallen into the danger of the sea B.
C. These things having thus been related in summary by Peter, Nicetas and Aquila, struck with amazement, said, "O Master and Lord of all, is this that is told the truth, or is it a dream?" And Peter said, "Unless we are sleeping, it is the truth." But they, having waited a little, and being as if in deep thought, said, "We are Faustinus and Faustinianus: and from the beginning of your narration, looking at one another, we were considering much among ourselves whether what was being said pertained to us; reflecting that many similar things happen in life; therefore we kept silent, while our hearts were palpitating. But now, at the end of the discourse, seeing and knowing precisely that what was said by you pertains to us, then we made ourselves known." And having said this, with tears they hastened to their mother, and finding her sleeping, they immediately wished to embrace her. C But Peter prevented them, saying, "Allow me; I myself will lead you to your mother; lest by chance, through much sudden joy, she might fall into a stupor of mind, seeing that she is even asleep, and has her spirit occupied by sleep."
CI. However, after she had slept to her fill, and the mother had awakened, Peter first held a discourse with her concerning the worship of God, and said, "I wish you to know, woman, the discipline of our faith. For we worship one God, the maker of heaven and earth, and of this world which you see; and we keep his law, which contains in the first place that he alone is to be worshipped, that his name is to be sanctified, that parents are to be honored, and that one must live temperately and blamelessly; and that common table with the Gentiles is not to be had, because they lead an impure life." But when we have persuaded them D
A to do this, and have deemed them worthy of holy baptism in the name of the most blessed Trinity, then at last we take our meals with them. Otherwise, even if it be a father or mother, or wife, or child, or brother, or any other person dear by natural affection, it is not lawful for us to take food with him. For we do this especially on account of the faith. Do not, therefore, consider it an insult that your son does not now take food with you, until you also think and act as we do."
Having heard this, she said, "What then prevents me from being baptized today? For even before I saw you, I had turned away from those who are called gods, by this reasoning: that although I sacrificed to them almost every day, they did not stand by me in my misfortunes. And as for fornication, why need I even speak? Since neither did the luxuries of the wealthy entice me to this, nor did the poverty that followed compel me to it, for I was striving after chastity as the greatest good, for the sake of which I even fell into such a calamity. Nor do I think, my lord Peter, that you are ignorant that a greater desire arises from prosperous fortune; B whence I, who lived temperately in prosperous times, do not surrender myself to pleasures in affliction. But do not think that my soul, which has found some consolation through the discovery of Clement, is now free from sorrow. For the sadness arising from my two children, succeeding to it, obscures this joy, such as it is. For it does not grieve us so much that they perished miserably at sea, as that they should have perished — together with their bodies—without piety toward God, and their souls also destroyed. And their father, my husband, as I have learned through Clement, having gone forth to seek me and my children, has not appeared for so many years; he has surely perished himself. For the wretch, because of his continence, loved me and was fond of his children; wherefore, the old man, deprived of all of us—whom he loved above all things—must have succumbed to the greatest sorrow."
CIII. Hearing the mother say these things, the children could no longer restrain themselves according to the exhortation of Peter: C but rising, they then embraced her and kissed her with tears. Because of which the mother, being astonished and wondering what this could mean, in her amazement and ignorance of the matter, began to ask. And Peter immediately said: "Call back your mind, O woman, and take heart, so that you may joyfully enjoy your children. For these are Faustinus and Faustinianus, whom you said had perished in the deep, and for whom, while you mourned, this grief of yours made your life unlivable. But as for how one of them is called Nicetas and the other Aquila, let them themselves auspiciously tell and teach you." D When Peter said this, the mother, being filled with boundless joy, almost fainted and lost her breath; but collecting herself, and having as it were regained her senses, she said: "My most desired children, my sweetest children,
the very heat of my heart, tell me what things befell you on that cruel night."
A CIV. Then Nicetas, immediately resuming his discourse, spoke thus: "To us, O mother, as you know, when the ship was broken up in the night, certain men who do not fear to commit robbery on the sea picked us up and put us on a skiff; and afterwards, using oars, they brought us to Caesarea Stratonis. And there, while we were suffering greatly from hunger, and also being terrified lest we should say anything rash or contrary to their wishes, they changed our names and sold us into slavery in a miserable fashion. B But a certain woman among the Jews, a proselyte of great merit, named Justa, having bought us, kept us in the position of children and educated us with diligence in all Greek learning. And we, when we had grown to years of understanding, both loved religion and applied ourselves zealously to literature, so that by disputing with other nations we might be able to refute them regarding their error. We also thoroughly learned the doctrines of the philosophers, especially those most alien to piety towards God: I mean those of Epicurus and Pyrrho, so that we might be the better able to refute them. C But as we had been brought up with a certain Simon Magus, we were almost in danger of being led into error through the path of friendship. But these things, mother, will be explained to you more accurately at the proper time. However, when we were on the verge of being deceived by Simon, a certain friend of our Lord Peter, called Zacchaeus, approached and warned us not to assent to the magician; and he brought us to Peter when he arrived, so that he might fully and certainly teach us what concerns the worship of God. Wherefore we also pray you, mother, that you may receive those good things which we have obtained, so that we may be able to share salt and table together. This, therefore, is the reason why you supposed that we had perished in the sea."
D CVI. When Faustinus had said these things, our mother fell down before Peter, begging and beseeching that he would send for her and her hostess and baptize them. "So that," she said, "from the time I received my children, no day may be excluded in which I might not take food with them." And when we were joining our prayers to those of our mother, Peter said: "What do you think, that I alone am unmerciful, because I am unwilling that you should eat with your mother, by baptizing her today? Not at all. But it is necessary that she, before she is baptized, should fast for at least one day; since the mother has also spoken some things on her own behalf: for if this were not so, it would have been necessary for her to be purified for many days."
CXVII. Therefore, to my question as to what she had said that manifested her faith, Peter replied: "Her request alone regarding her generous hostess is sufficient,
A nor would this have been judged worthy to be granted to one so beloved by her, had she not been previously disposed as if for the great gift of baptism. Whence I myself do not hesitate to condemn many, who, when they have been baptized and profess to believe, do nothing worthy of the faith, nor do they exhort those whom they love—I mean their wives, children, and friends—to this same end. For if they truly believed that in baptism eternal life, together with good works, is bestowed by God, they would certainly exhort those whom they love to receive it. Finally, when they see them ill, or led out to the path of death, or suffering other grievous things, they groan and are moved by compassion. Thus, if they believed that eternal fire awaits those who do not worship God, they would not cease to warn them, or, seeing them disobedient, they would not cease to weep over them and suffer grievously. And now, I shall call the hostess and ask whether she chooses to embrace our law; and thus, accordingly, we shall do what is necessary. But as for your mother, since she is faithfully disposed regarding baptism, let her fast for one day before her baptism."
CVIII. But she swore that for the two previous days, while telling the woman about the event of the recognition, owing to the intensity of her joy, she had taken no food; except for a little water, just the day before. B To this oath, Peter’s wife also bore witness, saying that truly she had tasted nothing. And Aquila said: "There is nothing, therefore, my lord, that prevents her from being baptized today." Then Peter said: "But this is not the fast for baptism, since it was not done for that purpose." And Faustinianus said: "Perhaps God, wishing that our mother not be separated from our table for even one day after the recognition, ordained this fast. For just as He preserved her chastity in ignorance, doing what is becoming to the truth, so now God has perhaps provided for her to fast in ignorance, one day before, for the sake of the true baptism, so that from the very first day she recognized us, she might be able to partake of salt and food with us."
CIX. Then Peter said: "Let not wickedness, C having found a pretext in Providence and the affection of our mother, overcome us; but rather, you, and I with you, let us remain in a fast today, and tomorrow she shall be baptized." In this manner spoke Peter, and we all agreed to his speech. Then, D much earlier than he was accustomed to do each day, Peter was awakened and came in to us; he roused us from our sleep and said: Fau-
Faustinus and Faustinianus, and Clemens with his own people, let them follow me, so that once we have reached a sheltered place by the sea, we may perform the rites of baptism.
A CX. When, therefore, we had arrived at the shore, and having found a place among certain rocks that was calm and clean, he baptized her in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. As for us, and all who were present with us, we withdrew for the sake of the women. Afterward, Peter sent the women ahead on account of the crowd, to go to the inn by another way, and he commanded us—those of us men who were alone—to accompany the mother and them. Having therefore arrived at the inn, and waiting for him to arrive, we conversed with one another. After many hours, Peter came; he took bread, gave thanks, blessed, consecrated, and broke it, and gave it first to the mother, and after her to us, her sons. And thus we ate with her, and we praised God, the provider of food.
B CXI. Then, consequently, Peter, seeing the crowd that had entered, sat down himself, and having ordered us also to sit down, explained for what reason he had sent us ahead after the baptism while he himself had come late. He said the cause was this: "As soon as you departed from me," he said, "a certain curious old man arrived, hiding himself and wishing to see without himself being seen; and having scouted us out beforehand, as he later confessed, in order to see what we might be doing once we had reached a sheltered place, he went out secretly and followed. Then, at a suitable place, he approached me and, greeting me, said: 'Long have I followed you and wished to converse with you, but I was afraid that you might take me for a meddler; but now, if you wish, I shall put forward what seems true to me.' And I replied: 'Speak to us that which seems good to you, and we shall praise you, even if in reality that which you say is not good; for it is out of prudent counsel that you have wished to speak of the matter which seemed good to you.'"
C CXII. And the old man began to speak as follows: "Having seen you, after you had bathed in the sea, withdrawing into a hidden place, I approached and secretly watched to see what you might be doing in secret. And since I saw you praying, I withdrew; and having pity on you, I waited, so that I might persuade you not to be deceived. For there is neither God nor Providence; but all things are subject to birth [genesis], as I have been fully persuaded by that which has happened to me, having deeply learned the lesson long ago. Do not, therefore, be deceived; for whether you pray or not, the things that birth [genesis] brings about will necessarily happen to you. D For if prayers could do anything, or good works, I myself would be among the most prominent. And now, unless this meager clothing of mine deceives you, do not...
believe that my words are idle. Once, when I lived in great prosperity, I offered many sacrifices to the gods and gave to the needy; yet, although I prayed and lived piously, I was unable to escape fate. And I said to him: And what are those things that have happened to you? But he replied: It is not necessary for me to tell you now; perhaps at the end you will hear who I am, and of what family, and into what calamities of life I have fallen. But now I wish to present to you arguments that all things are subject to genesis. A
CXIII. And I said: If all things are subject to genesis, and you are persuaded that this is so, you are thinking and counseling things that contradict yourself. For if we cannot even think anything against destiny, why do you labor in vain, counseling us to do what cannot possibly happen? Furthermore, even if birth exists, do not labor to persuade me not to worship the Lord of the stars, who, if He wills that something not happen, it cannot happen; for that which is subject to Him, which He leads and guides, must necessarily obey Him. Certainly, to worship those who are thought to be gods, when genesis is dominant, is superfluous. For nothing happens outside of what pleases fate, nor can they themselves do anything, being subject to the universal genesis of their own. B C
CXIV. While we were speaking these things to one another, a great multitude came in; and Peter, looking at them, said: I and my people accept from our ancestors the worship of God, and we have the commandment not to trust in birth—I mean in the discipline of astrology—therefore I have never applied my mind to it. Why it is that I am not an expert in astrology, I will explain. For I say that all things are administered by the providence of God, and each one will obtain a reward or punishment according to what he has done. Whether now or hereafter, it makes no difference to me, except that everyone will inevitably receive the fruit of what he has practiced. The demonstration that genesis does not exist is this: If any of those standing by is deprived of eyes, or has a mutilated hand, or a lame foot, or some other bodily condition that cannot be cured by physicians or by astrologers—since, indeed, in all the long ages no such thing has ever come about—I, having prayed to God, will provide the healing. And if this comes to pass, as I say, do not those who blaspheme God, the creator of all, err? And the old man answered: Blasphemy... D
that is to say, casting curses, saying that all things are subjected to genesis? A Then I said to him: Indeed it is. For if all the errors, and impieties, and immodesties of men arise from the stars, as you say, and if the stars were ordained by God to do these things, so that they might be the effectors of all calamitous deeds, then the sins of all are altogether referred back to Him who placed this genesis in the stars.
B CXV. And the old man said: You speak the truth; but my own conscience stands in the way of your incomparable demonstration. For I, being an astrologer, having first lived in Rome, and later having become a friend to a certain man who was of the lineage of Caesar, I knew precisely the genesis of that man and of his wife; and seeing that their affairs had come to pass just as their genesis indicated, I cannot be persuaded by words alone. For the arrangement of the woman’s nativity was such as to produce adulteresses, possessed by love for their own slaves, and dying in water in a foreign land: which is exactly what came to pass. For she fell in love with her own slave, and, unable to bear the shame, turning only to flight and having had intercourse with him, she perished in the sea.
CXVI. I answered: And how then do you know that she, who had fled and ended up in a foreign land, married the slave, and having married him, died? And the old man said: I know the truth for certain, not that she married—since I did not know that she had even been captured by love—but after she had departed, the brother of her husband related to me everything regarding her love; and because he, being a holy and honorable man, and being his brother, did not wish to defile the marriage bed. And as to how she, desiring and at the same time fearing him and the shame, the unhappy woman—for it is not permitted to blame her, since being from nativity she was compelled both to do and to suffer these things—contrived a dream, whether it was true or false, I have no way to say. C For he said that she had told him that one stood by her in a dream who commanded her to depart immediately from the city of Rome with her children; but the husband, striving for her to be safe with the sons, immediately sent them to Athens to be educated, along with the mother and the slaves; but held back the third son with himself, because the one who had given the oracle through the dream had permitted him to remain with him. And much time having passed, since he did not receive letters from her, and having often sent to Athens, he took me, as being the D most genuine and faithful of all to him, and set out in search of her. I indeed gladly endured many labors with him during the journey, remembering that in his former prosperity he had held me as a partner in all things, and had loved me above all his friends. And so Rome
A we left, and thus arrived here in the regions of Syria. And not many days later, he, out of sorrow of soul, departed from life; but I, having come here, have provided for my sustenance from that time even to this day with my hands.
CXVII. When the old man had said this, perceiving that the old man whom he spoke of B was indeed your father, from the things he had said, I did not wish to confer with him on the matter until I had communicated it to you. Only, having learned of his lodging, and having indicated my own, I made this one inquiry for the sake of investigation: what was the old man's name? He replied, "Faustus." And what of his twin sons? He answered, "Faustinus and Faustinianus." And what of [the] third son? He said, "Clemens." And what is the name of their mother? He said, "Matthidia." C Therefore, out of compassion, I became tearful, and having dismissed the crowds, I came to you so that, after the common reception of food, I might share these things with you. I did not judge it appropriate to tell you before the meal, lest perhaps, overcome by grief, you might spend the day of baptism in mourning, when even the angels rejoice. When Peter said this, we all, together with [our] mother, gave ourselves to tears. Seeing us weeping, he said, "Now, let each of you, in fear toward God, bravely bear what has been mentioned. For your father did not die to you today, but long ago, just as you yourselves rightly conjectured and said."
CXVIII. While Peter was saying this, the mother, unable to bear it, cried out with a loud voice: D "Woe is me, husband! How, while loving us, you yourself died by judgment, while we, alive, see the light and are now partaking of food!" Before this one lamentation was even finished, behold, the old man came in; and as he wished to inquire the cause of the cry, looking at his wife, he said, "Woe is me, what is this that I see?" And drawing near and looking more closely, and having been seen, he embraced her. Both, because of sudden joy, failed to cry out; and wishing to speak to one another, they could not utter a sound, nor could they restrain themselves because of the insatiable joy. And after a long time, the mother said to him, "I have you, Faustus, most sweet in all respects. How then do you live, whose death we heard of a little while ago? But these are the sons, Faustinus and Faustinianus, and the longed-for Clemens." When she had said this, we three falling upon him, and kissing him, recognized his form though somewhat dimly.
CXIX. When Peter saw this, he said: "Are you Faustus, the husband of this woman, and the father of her children?"
The father answered: "I am." And Peter said: "Why then did you narrate your own hardships to me, as if they were another's, telling me of both grief and burial?" The father replied: "Being a kinsman of Caesar, and not wishing to be discovered, I fashioned my narrative about some other person, so that I might not be recognized by you as to who I am. For I knew that if I were recognized, the local governors, upon learning these things, would make it their business to gratify Caesar by recalling me and surrounding me with my former prosperity—which I had previously renounced with all my intention, not enduring to live in the state or to live at all without my most beloved children." A
CXX. And Peter said: "You have done this as you resolved. But as for your belief in genesis (astrology), did you assert it while pretending, or did you declare it as one speaking the truth?" And the father said: "I will not lie to you: I maintained it as if genesis were truly real. For I am not uninitiated in the mysteries of this study. Moreover, a certain man who was a practitioner of astrology, a most excellent Egyptian named Annubion, lived with me; in my early travels he became a friend to me and B revealed the death of my wife and children." And Peter said: "Are you then persuaded now, by the facts, that the matters concerning genesis do not hold together?" And the father answered: "It is necessary for me to set forth for you, part by part, all the things that pass through my mind, so that I may learn the truth and the certainties from you in return. I know that astrologers fail in many things, but that they also reach the truth in many. But I suspect that perhaps where they are well-informed, they speak the truth; but where they fail, they suffer from ignorance. Therefore, I suspect that the study is valid, but that they speak falsely through mere ignorance, because not everyone is able to be accurate about all things." C And Peter said: "Beware, lest you think that when they speak the truth, they are speaking as experts, rather than simply hitting upon it by chance. For it is absolutely necessary that out of the many things said, some should come to pass." And the old man said: "By what reasoning, then, can I be assured regarding this: whether or not that which pertains to genesis has any consistency?"
CXXI. When both were silent, I, Clement, said: "Since I am well-acquainted with this study, while the master and my father are not, I would wish, if Annubion himself were here, to hold a debate in the presence of my father. For thus the truth of the matter could be revealed, with an expert in the art disputing against one who follows the same art." D The father answered: "Where, then, is it possible to meet and converse with Annubion?" And Peter said: "In Antioch. For I hear that Simon Magus, whom Annubion accompanies and from whom he is inseparable, is staying there."
A When, therefore, we arrive there, if we find them, the discussion will take place before him. And after we had discussed many things, and were filled with joy at the recognition, and were giving great thanks to God, night came upon us, and we turned to sleep.
CXXII. When morning had come, the father, with the mother and the three sons, entered the place where Peter was, and after greeting him, sat down; then we also did so, at his bidding. And Peter, looking at the father, said: "I desire, father, that you should be of the same mind as your wife and children, so that you may live together with them here, and there, after the separation of the soul from the body, you may also spend your time with them in joy. For does it not grieve you, and them as well, most of all that you are not with one another?" And the father B said: "Indeed it does." And Peter said: "If, then, being separated from one another here causes distress, how much more will it be a source of grief after death, when it certainly occurs, that you, being a wise man, are separated from your own by the nature of your opinion, and that they, on the other hand, are much more pained by the knowledge that, because you believe differently, eternal punishment awaits you by the decree of true doctrine?"
CXXIII. The father said: "But it is not so, my friend, that souls are punished in Hades; for the soul, as soon as it departs from the body, is dissolved into the air." Peter replied: "Therefore, until we persuade you concerning this, answer me: does it not seem to you that you, indeed, not believing in future punishments, are not at all grieved, but they, on the other hand, being persuaded that no small calamity awaits you, are exceedingly distressed?" Then the father said: "You speak correctly." Peter then continued: "And why will you not free them from the greatest grief on your account? By assenting to the faith—I do not say from shame, but from fairness—by hearing what is said to you by me, and judging whether these things are so or not. And if indeed it is as we say, you will here find delight together with your dearest ones, and there also you will obtain rest with them. But if, in the consideration of your arguments, you demonstrate that the things brought forward by us are a false tale, and you bring them to your own way of thinking, you will also do well; for you will cause them to cease from resting on vain hopes, and you will free them from the fear of false things." C
CXXIV. And the father said: "You seem to me to say many things consistent with reason." And Peter said: "What, then, is it that hinders you from assenting to our faith? For you are not held back by the business of markets, nor of public affairs, nor of agriculture, nor of cares; you are detained by none of these things. You are able to understand that nothing of what exists has happened by chance, as if there were no providence. And the most manifest proof of this is what has happened to you and your children and your wife. For if they were with you and had happened to be here [until now...] D
you would not have accepted the word of piety, and you would not have been able to recognize the truth. For this reason, along with the journey, both a shipwreck was ordained and the suspicion of a bitter death: and furthermore also their training in Greek disciplines, so that having been instructed in them first, and having then converted to piety, they might be able to refute them readily and with great ease; and whatever they had at that time wrongly used against religion, they might use well in its defense and at the proper time. You yourself shall also clearly know, from this long recognition and from the things which Providence has clearly ordained for you in the meantime, that none of the things which occur happens thus by chance or B at random; but that it is He who stands over and continuously holds together and sustains this whole, even if many things transcend our understanding.
CXXV. When my father heard these things, taking up the discourse, "Do not think," he said, "my lord Peter, that the power of the doctrine preached by you has completely slipped from my mind; but my son Clement was talking with me a great deal throughout the night, so as to make me assent to the things said by you, and he was in every way urging me to this effect. But what then," I said to him, "can anyone command that is newer than what C the ancients previously advised?" And he, having laughed gently, said: "There is a great difference, father, between the discourses of religion and philosophy. For the discourse of truth has its firm proof from prophecy; while that of philosophy seems to bring forward its proofs from the composition of words and conjectures." And having said these things, by way of example he set forth the discourse concerning humaneness, which you had explained to him not long before, which truly seemed most unjust to me. And in what way, I will say. He said it was just, and to him who strikes his cheek, to present also the other; and to him who takes your cloak, to give also the tunic; and to him who forces you one mile, to accompany D him two; and as many such things. And Peter answered: "But you thought it unjust; although it is most just. And if it is pleasing to you, listen." And he said: "It is very pleasing to me." And Peter said: "Does it not seem to you, when two kings are enemies and hold divided regions, if anyone from the subjects of the one is caught in the region of the other, and on account of this owes death, if he should be released from the punishment by a blow and not by death, does not the one who released him appear to be humane?" And my father said: "Very much so." And Peter said: "What then, if this same man should also take something of someone's own or another's, and having been caught in this, should give a simple or double sum, when he was owing a quadruple [sum]
A sum; does it not seem to you that one who has received double, and has released him from death, is humane? And the father answered: Now you have persuaded me that those who do injury, themselves suffer injury; and that those who are injured, do rather commit injury. And for this reason it seems to me to be the more iniquitous thing that happens: because those who appear to inflict injury, have rather harmed themselves, and have provided very great benefit to those who have been injured; but those who appear to suffer injury, do rather inflict it themselves; because, although they have received very much benefit from them, they do not recompense them with similar gratitude. And Peter: But this comes to pass not according to the intent of those who trouble, but according to the intent of those who receive these things. B CXXVII. Then the father, having praised that discourse, said to Peter: But, my lord, explain this statement to me also. For I remember Clement telling me that we suffer injuries and afflictions for the remission of sins. And Peter: It is correct, and so it is. For what things we men possess, desiring more, whether I speak of clothing, or food, or drink, or any other things, we do not possess them by doing what is altogether right, because we ought to have nothing, as I said to you a little before. For if in all things possessions are accustomed to bring about sins for those who possess them, the deprivation and taking away of these in any way whatsoever is the removal of sins. The father said: It is correct. And Peter: Most justly. For since it belongs to those who are being saved, as I said, to have nothing; and since many possess many things, for this reason, through the surpassing humanity of God, chastisements are brought upon those who do not live according to the will of God, so that, on account of a certain love for God C enduring temporary punishments, they may be delivered from eternal torments. Then the father: Why then? Do we not see many impious men who are poor? Shall we therefore say that they also are in the portion of those who attain salvation? And Peter: Not at all. For poverty is not to be commended which craves things that are not fitting; because our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, also, proclaiming the poor blessed, said: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (a). Then the father: Truly, according to the proposition, the matter seems to be correct; wherefore I have it in mind to hear the whole doctrine in order. CXXVIII. And Peter: Therefore, since you are eager to learn the things that pertain to our faith, I shall explain this doctrine to you; beginning D first from God Himself; and showing that He alone must be called God, and that others must neither be called [God] nor thought of [as gods], and that
whoever does contrary to this shall be punished with eternal torment, as one who has been impious against God, the Lord of all." Having said this, and having laid his hands upon those suffering from afflictions, the sick, and the demon-possessed, and having healed them with prayer, he dismissed the assembly. Then, entering in and A partaking of his usual food, he went to sleep.
CXXIX. Early in the morning, Peter went out again, and stood in the place where he was accustomed to discourse. A great multitude of people having flocked together, and just as he was about to speak, one of his deacons entered and said: "Simon, having arrived from Antioch yesterday evening and having learned that you promised to hold a discourse concerning the monarchy, or government of the One, is ready, together with the Epicurean B Athenodorus, to come upon you as you discourse, so that he may be present in public and personally contradict everything that you were about to set forth concerning the monarchy."
CXXX. While the deacon was saying these things, behold, Simon also entered with Athenodorus and certain other companions; and before Peter could say anything at all, he anticipated him. "I have learned," he said, "that yesterday you promised Faustus that you would today demonstrate the argument in order, beginning first from the Lord of all Himself: that He alone must be called God, and that others must neither be called nor thought of [as gods]; and that whoever does contrary to this shall undergo eternal punishment. Above all, therefore, I have truly marvelled at your madness, in that you hoped to be able to bring to another opinion a man so wise, and moreover an old man. But you will not attain your hopes and your desire, inasmuch as I am present C to refute your false discourses. For perhaps, had I been absent, he might have been deceived, being unversed in the books which are publicly received among the Jews. But now I shall pass over many words, so that I may more quickly convict your promise of being weak. Say, therefore, what you promised. But if, fearing refutation, you should wish to omit your promise in our presence, even so it will be sufficient proof that the things you promised are false, since you have not dared to speak before men who are skilled in the Scriptures. And indeed, why do I now wait for you to speak, when I have the greatest witness of your promise—this old man here?" Having said these things, and having looked at his father, he said: "Tell me, most excellent of men, did he not promise you that he would show today D that there is one God, and that it is not right to call or think of any other as God, and that he who does contrary to this shall be exacted an immortal punishment?"
CXXXI. The father replied: "You would rightly ask for testimony from me, Simon, if Peter had previously denied it; but now I shall not fear to say what must be said. I think that you desire to undertake the disputation filled with anger. This, however, is neither fitting for you to do, nor is it proper that we should listen to one so affected, since it is a matter of inciting contention,
A and not of being benefited by the truth. But let each of you set forth his own doctrine, and let the arguments be delivered to another judge; and in this way, the truth, free from all doubt, will certainly be found. Simon liked what was said and promised to act accordingly. "Nevertheless," he said to Faustus, "I fear that, since you are already preoccupied with Peter's words, you may not be an impartial judge."
CXXXII. And my father answered: "Do not compel me to agree with you rashly and without a hearing, so that I may appear a judge who loves the truth. For if you wish to hear the truth, I am rather preoccupied by your own way of thinking." And Simon said: "How are you preoccupied, not knowing what I think?" And my father said: "It is easy to know that; and how, listen. You promised that you would convict Peter, who asserts that there is one God, that he is lying. Now, it is perfectly clear that whoever professes to convict one who claims that there is only one God, if he speaks the truth, does not say the same thing as he; for if he says the same thing as one who is lying, he is surely a liar himself; but if he shows that he is stating the opposite, he is clearly speaking the truth. Therefore, there is no other reason why you pronounce the proclaimer of one God to be a liar, except that you believe there are many gods. But I also say that there are many gods. Therefore, because of this doctrine, I am preoccupied in the same way as you are before the debate; and on this account, you should not fear me at all, but rather fear Peter, for I happen to hold the opposite view to him. B After your debate, however, I hope that, being a judge who loves the truth and having laid aside all preconception, I shall agree with the prevailing argument." When the father had said this, a soft cry of praise arose from the crowds, because the father had spoken in such a manner.
CXXXIII. Nevertheless, Peter set forth his own view concerning God; and having discoursed much about the monarchy, he summoned the crowd with tears and with his hand; and when they approached, he laid his hands upon them and prayed for them; and together we all blessed God. But someone rushed in, saying to Simon: "Appion the Pleistonician has just arrived from Antioch with Annubion." Upon hearing this, Simon immediately went out, as if to receive those who had been mentioned. C My father then, approaching Peter, said: "If you permit me, my lord, I too will go with him to greet Appion and Annubion, who have been my friends from early childhood. For perhaps I shall persuade Annubion to debate with Clement about genesis." And Peter said: "I permit it, and I also commend the fact that you are fulfilling the roles and duties of friends. Nevertheless, consider for me how, according to the providence of God, everything is converging from all sides, producing a suitable harmony to complete your faith. I said this on account of Annubion's arrival, which has occurred usefully for you." And the father said: "Truly, I see that this is so." D
CXXXIV. And after these words, he went to Simon. And having found Appion and Annubion,
A he sat down after greeting them. But Simon, hearing that some were coming by royal command to seek him, and saying that Caesar, having put many magicians to death, had then been informed about Simon and had sent for his apprehension in order to punish him in like manner, said to Annubion and Appion: "Make Faustus, who has come to us, eat with us; for I shall prepare a certain ointment, so that when he has dined and anointed himself with it, he may appear to all to have my form."
CXXXV. When Simon had said these things, Appion and Annubion said to him: "And what gain will come to you from this device?" Simon replied: "First, when those who seek me have apprehended him, they will cease their search for me. And if he should even be killed by the royal hand, his children, who have left me and resorted B to Peter, will have the greatest grief." But Appion and Annubion privately disclose everything to Faustus and reveal the plot. And Faustus, thinking that the reports were not true, dined with Simon and his associates, Appion and Annubion. He takes the ointment from Simon's hand, and anointing his own face, he immediately put on the form of Simon. But at midnight, Simon arose and made his escape into Judea.
CXXXVI. But we who were with Peter, discoursing with one another through the whole night, spent the night awake out of the pleasure and joy of the things that were being spoken. Now, when the night was already beginning to dawn, Peter, looking at me and my brothers, said: "I wonder what C has happened to your father." And as he was saying this, behold, the father arrived, having found Peter already speaking to us about him. Whom when he saw troubled, and after he had greeted him, he rendered the reason and cause why he had spent the night outside. But we, looking at him, were astonished, seeing the appearance of Simon, but hearing the voice of our father Faustus. And when we fled from him, our father was struck with dismay. But Peter alone, perceiving his natural form, said to us: "Why do you push away and turn from your father?" But we, along with our mother, said to him: "Because he seems to us to be Simon, while having the voice of our father." Then Peter said: "By no means, he says; for to you only his voice, which has not felt the power of magic, is known; but by my eyes, which are not bewitched, even the figure such as it truly is is seen; D since this man is not Simon, but Faustus, your true father." And then, looking at the father, he says: "Your genuine appearance does not appear to them, but that of Simon, the most impious and most hostile to us."
CXXXVII. As Peter was saying these things, there entered the one who...
one who had come from Antioch said: “I wish you to know, my lord Peter, that when Simon was in Antioch, he performed many wonders in public, and he was intent on nothing else but making you hateful to them, calling you a magician, a deceiver, and a murderer; by which he so stirred them up against you that all who were there desired, beasts that they were, to devour your very flesh. We, having seen the city raging so much against you, came to report it to you. But a certain royal official, sent by Caesar to the governor of the province to search for Simon, having learned that he had fled to Judaea, has himself also gone away in search of him, that he might punish him according to the command of Caesar.”
B CXXXVIII. Having heard these things, Peter said to his father, Faustus: “You have heard with your own ears from those who came from Antioch how Simon, being there, vehemently stirred up the multitude against me, calling me a deceiver and a murderer, and furthermore a magician and a sorcerer, and such like. Now, therefore, do immediately what I command you: leave Clement with me, and you yourself go ahead to the city of Antioch, together with your wife Matthidia and your sons Faustinus and Faustinianus; there will also be others with you who will be able to carry out my will. Staying with them in Antioch, while you still bear the appearance of Simon, preach repentance publicly.”
C CXXXIX. When Peter had said these things, Faustus, who was keen of mind, said: “I know, my lord, what these words mean; therefore, do not labor, for it shall be my concern, when I am there, to accomplish what is commanded.” And so, at night, the father departed from the city with those whom Peter had ordered, and came to Antioch, a city nearby. And standing in the middle of the forum, he said to the multitude: “I, Simon, I announce this to you, and I confess that I have wickedly lied against Peter. He is not a deceiver, nor a murderer, nor a sorcerer, nor related to any of the crimes that I previously spoke of concerning him. I myself, who became the cause of your hatred toward him, beseech you: cease to pursue him with hatred. For he is a true apostle of the Son of God, who appeared for the salvation of the world. Therefore, I myself become your counselor in the matter that pertains to your salvation, D and I advise you to have faith in him, and to believe in the God whom he proclaims; otherwise, your whole city will perish utterly, and you with it. And I wish you to know for what reason I have said these things. For this night, the angels of God severely scourged me, the impious one, because I was an enemy to the herald of the truth. I exhort you, therefore, that even if I should come at another time and attempt to speak against Peter, you should not receive me nor listen to me. For I confess to you, as I am a magician, I am a deceiver, I am...
an impostor; but I repent, and perhaps through repentance the evils I have committed may be forgiven me. A
CXL. When the father had said this in public, as if in the person of Simon, and had praised Peter, he drew the whole city of the Antiochians to a desire for him; and all declared that they vehemently longed for him. Some, however, were even angry with the father, as if he himself were Simon, because of the excess of his love toward Peter, and they attempted to lay hands upon him. But he, fearing lest he should be killed by them, sent a messenger and begged Peter to come immediately, so that he might find him alive, and that he might arrive in time in the city, which was burning with desire for him. When he heard these things, Peter brought together a great many people for an assembly, B and having appointed a bishop, and having healed many and baptized them, and having remained for three days in Laodicea, he hastened to set out for the neighboring city of Antioch.
CXLI. And when he had reached the city, the whole multitude ran together and received him with joy, as the herald of truth and an apostle. Having poured out prayers and laid his hands upon them, he brought healing to all who were ill; and he announced one God in three persons, and instructed them at length regarding the monarchy. Then we withdrew to our lodging. The old man, knowing that Peter was present, ran to him, and casting himself upon the ground, he clasped his feet, asking to be perfected by divine baptism, so that he might recover the ancient beauty of his soul and the form of his body through baptism, and might become a partaker of the spotless mysteries of Christ. C And Peter, having catechized him and said many things concerning salvation, finally added this, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, charging his disciples, said: "He that believes," he said, "and is baptized, shall be saved"; and: "According to your faith, be it done unto you as you wish." Since the time inclined toward evening, we took food, and after the usual prayer, sleep took us.
CXLII. But on the following day, Peter, rising again more early and having prayed, called for our father and for us; and he said, "Today, brothers, great joy arises in heaven over the divine gift of the rebirth of the good old man Faustus." And taking us along, we went out toward the eastern parts of the city, where there was much water and it was pure; and taking only the father apart, and instructing him at length and teaching him about God and his coming in the flesh to us, he baptized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. D And having taken bread, and having given thanks and blessed it, he imparted the holy mysteries to him. And we were all together rejoicing in the Lord by night and by day, both because of the father’s rebirth, restored through the divine Spirit, and because of the hearing of
A Peter’s discourses. When we had spent some time together, our circumstances became clear to everyone; we were on everyone’s lips, and all were amazed at everything that had happened to us, and they magnified the help of God toward us upon our recognition of one another.
CXLIII. As the report spread everywhere, the governor of Antioch, having learned everything that had befallen the father and mother, and that they were related by kinship to Caesar, reported these things to Tiberius. Having heard this, the emperor ordered them to be sent to Rome with all speed; and this was done. With great honor and an escort, the governor sent them from Antioch to Tiberius Caesar. When Caesar beheld the father and mother, and recognized them, he was struck with wonder at this. And, embracing his father by the neck, he wept bitterly. Having checked his grief, he looked toward the senate and said: "Rejoice with me, all of you, and let us celebrate a common festival, the finding of Faustus and Matthidia, because those who were thought to be dead have risen, and those who were lost have been found." Afterwards, having feasted with them and presented them with much money, and furthermore having given them slaves and handmaids for their service, he surrounded them with the greatest care and honor. They spent no short time in Rome, living piously, distributing their own goods to the poor, and pursuing all other virtues, until, in a good old age, they left the things that are here and attained to the kingdom of Christ; having bestowed their own life upon the Roman commonwealth as a model of life and a most accurate specimen for virtue. B
CXLIV. But I, Clement, remained with the brothers still under the teacher Peter, who was intent upon the evangelical preaching and was healing many of various diseases and sufferings. Then, having passed through the cities, he arrived also at Rome; and to those who gathered he announced the word of piety, and brought many to the religion of Christ through baptism, both men and women, insomuch that in a short time he persuaded nearly all of the most illustrious of the noble women—whom the word is accustomed to call matrons—to flee to the holy baptism and to believe in God. C
CXLV. Furthermore, when he himself was now to leave this life and set out to his teacher Christ, having finished the course of the Gospel (for it was known to him that he too was to be condemned to the cross, that he might share in both the passion and the glory of his Master); with all the brothers gathered together, having taken my hand, and standing in the midst D
A of the church: “Hear me,” he said, “my children and brothers. The end of my course is near; for this has already been made known to me. But this Clement I ordain bishop for you this day, to whom I entrust my chair of discourse; since he has been my companion from the beginning until now, and has in this way heard all my sermons, and has been found persevering in the faith, having been a partaker with me in all my trials. I know him most accurately of all to be a worshiper of God, and a lover of men, chaste and temperate, good, just, patient, and one who knows how to bear with nobility the ingratitude of some of those who are instructed in the Christian doctrine. Therefore I transmit to him the authority to bind and to loose. For he shall bind what ought to be bound, and he shall certainly loose what ought to be loosed, as one who well knows the rule of the Church. Listen to him, therefore, knowing that he who brings distress upon him who sits in the seat of truth sins against Christ, and provokes God, the Father of all, to anger; hence he shall not live. The one who presides, therefore, must hold the place of a physician, not the fury of a senseless beast.”
B CLXVI. While he was saying these things, I, Clement, falling to the ground, was much entreating the teacher and as much as possible declining the throne. But the divine apostle said, “Do not ask me about this, for what God wills, which of men is able to dissipate?” Afterward, looking toward the multitude, he said, “And you, beloved brothers, do not cease to render at all times the honor and obedience owed as to a father, to your father; for thus it will be well for you to be shepherded, and he will be a pastor, and not a hireling, who takes care of the flock. For know that he who troubles the shepherd and teacher in affairs that pertain to God, grieves the Spirit of God, whose chair and place this man holds; and he who C rejects his words rejects Christ, and is found a transgressor of the Law. But before all things, let the matters of your faith be sound and firm among you, unshaken by any danger; then, let your life be pure, or let it be purged; and especially let the sanctification of the body be zealously pursued, for without this, no one shall see the Lord. Let peace and gentleness be cultivated toward one another in every way. But if it should ever happen that a scandal arises among you, let not the sun set upon you while you are in such a state. Beware of sitting in judgment upon your neighbor, for this is Pharisaical and liable to judgment. Do not forget hospitality and beneficence; for this is a commandment of the first Teacher and Savior, God. Grant forgiveness to those who offend, for thus you yourselves will unceasingly say: ‘Forgive us our debts.’ Let not the balances, measures, and weights be in any way unjust. For in this way, a city governed by good laws, which of D
A God’s shall be the Holy Church. Those who have business with one another, let them be judged before the presbyters of the Church, and having perceived what is good, let them be reconciled; and do not drag the brethren into courts. For this is the way of unbelievers, to be judged by those without. Since it is written: ‘We shall judge angels’ (I Cor. vi, 3). Above all and before all, thus look upon the shepherd, as you look upon me, Peter, who was appointed by God to be your teacher.
CXLVII. B Having said these things, and having laid his hands upon me in the presence of all, he caused me to be seated in his own official chair; and once I was seated, he immediately said this to me: “I beseech you, in the presence of all my brethren who are here, that when I depart from this life, as the providence of God has decreed, you describe everything for the Lord James, the brother of my Lord, in an abridgment, and send it; including even the counsels of your childhood, and how from the beginning until now you have journeyed with me, hearing the words and deeds preached by me; then, finally, do not omit to indicate also the cause of my death, as I said before. For this will not cause him distress, knowing clearly that I have piously rendered up what I absolutely had to suffer. But he will derive the greatest consolation when he learns that, after me, the chair of the teacher has been entrusted not to an ignorant man, unaware of the life-giving words, but to one who is, above all others, a knower of the Church’s canon. Wherefore I, O my lord James, now that the master Peter has laid this charge upon me, have not hesitated to fulfill what was commanded, and to make all things known to you in an abridgment, having inscribed the argument of the work thus: *An Epitome of the Travels and Preachings of Peter by Clement*.”
CXLVIII. C This, then, is the narrative of the travels of Peter, the prince of the apostles, full of grace from above, which contains both an abridgment of his teaching and also sets forth in words, as if on a tablet, the life of the great and admirable Clement, just as this same man indicated when writing to James, the brother of the Lord. For the rest, the things that have been said are sufficient to declare his burning love for God, and that great zeal of his for piety; but his very end of life, through martyrdom, will declare it most clearly of all.
CXLIX. For the third D after the great Peter, having sat upon the exalted throne of the Roman Church, and having received that same contest of virtue, followed in the footsteps of his master, and he also [preached] the apostolic teaching...
these virtues], and shone with similar habits, pleasing not only the Christians, but also the Jews and the Gentiles themselves, becoming all things to all men, that he might thus gain all, and present them to Christ, and bind them to piety. But that these present matters might not seem to be a mere suspicion, we shall also state the reasons. For he was held in honor by the Gentiles, and they listened to him willingly, because he did not reproach them, nor turn away from them, but, as if rendering an account, and bringing forth from everywhere testimonies from the books and writings they possessed, he showed clearly whence those whom they considered gods had originated, and where they were born, and what they had done, and what end they had come to, and how they had miserably ended their lives. Furthermore, [he showed] that the way of repentance was not closed to them by God, nor had they fallen away from salvation altogether; but that if He saw them only turning back, and abstaining from their former perdition and deceit, He would humanely grant them pardon, and receive them kindly, and prepare for them the kingdom of heaven, and deem them worthy of ineffable goods.
C CL. To the Jews, on the other hand, he seemed to do a favor, because he showed that their fathers were friends of God, and because he taught that their law was holy and divine, and that it would not cease, nor their people be removed, but that Palestine would be a perpetual inheritance for them, if they themselves would keep such a law; so that he [Abraham] became the father of so many descendants that their multitude would equal the multitude of the stars, and in his seed all nations would inherit; and again, what was said to David: "From the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy throne" (c); and again through Isaiah, that: "The Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel" (d). If, therefore, they would not reject these things, but would accept them with faith, he affirmed that they would not fall away from the former providence of God, but that Palestine would remain firmly with them. Thus did he most skillfully and appropriately win over both the Greeks and the Jews; at once obliging them and gradually leading them to the true religion.
D CLI. The Christians, indeed, had many other proofs of that man's care for them. Especially, however, [they had proof of] his greatness in beneficence! For he always kept treasures for the poor in secure storehouses, and ones stronger than [those of] those who would plot against them. For having registered the needy in every part of the city, he provided the necessities for them every day; and as many as were again deemed worthy of divine baptism by him, he freed them from public taxes, and provided a complete...
immunity. He would also exhort those who came to him from time to time for the sake of the preaching and teaching, especially those whom he knew to be overflowing with wealth and capable of giving, not to allow those once purified by holy baptism to be supported publicly by the Jews out of poverty, and so pollute the bright garment of grace with that unholy communion. By such means he rendered them so eager to supply the needs of the wretched that they considered it their only gain to spend what they had upon them. B CLII. Since the holy Clement acted in this way, and was thus established in the souls of all, drawing to himself not only Christians, but even the Greeks and Jews themselves by his own soul and tongue, he was hated and maligned by that Sisinnios (who was a friend of the emperor Nerva and one of his intimates), because Sisinnios perceived that his wife, Theodora, was captivated by the love of Clement's teaching, and that she neglected her home, her children, and her husband, but adhered entirely to Clement, was constantly visiting him, and was always carrying him, as it were, spiritually in her own soul. But Theodora, having been charmed by the siren-song of Clement’s tongue and having believed in Christ through him, embraced piety the more ardently; she sang psalms continuously and was never absent from any gathering or congregation of the Christians. C CLIII. Sisinnios, however, being goaded by unjust jealousy, devised a plot against his wife, and was armed by this passion every day. And one time, having observed her going to the gathering, he secretly entered the temple with his servants, that he might inquire curiously and learn everything that was being performed in it, and for what reasons Theodora kept going there. But when the admirable Clement had straightway offered up the customary prayer of the sacred hymns, Sisinnios was instantly made blind and deaf, so that he could neither hear nor see. And turning to his servants, he said, "Take hold of me and lead me home; for some sudden evil has fallen upon me, and it prevents me from either hearing or seeing." CLIV. Therefore, the servants immediately reached out their hand to him and led him away toward the house. But they could not get out, although the whole door of the temple was open; instead, they led him through the whole church, among the multitude of those chanting. For a more divine power had blocked their exit, wishing to make that foolish man wiser. As they were wandering everywhere through the temple, they met his wife, D who was praying. And when she saw her husband with the servants, she at first turned her eyes away, fearing that he might see her; for Theodora knew nothing as yet of what had occurred. Afterwards, however, she called one of the servants and asked the reason why her husband was wandering about the temple with them in such a way. And he related everything to her diligently; then how after...
her withdrawal from the house, they themselves had secretly entered the church, and how, when the patriarch had finished the prayer, their master had immediately become blind and deaf. And how, though he had commanded them to lead him away by the hand to the house, no exit could be found by them, even though they had labored much and wandered everywhere through the church.
[CLV] Having heard these things, she understood immediately whence the impairment of his ears and eyes had come to pass, and she truly became a helper to him. For, turning at once to prayer and pouring forth warm tears with her supplication, she besought God that an exit might be granted to Sisinnius and that he might return home. And, turning to the servants—for she knew that God, whom she herself worshipped, would by no means look down upon her husband—she said, "Go, lead your master home by the hand; I myself shall come a little later." She said this, and immediately an easy exit appeared to the servants. And Sisinnius, still afflicted in eyes and B ears, was led home by the hand. The servants, having come to Theodora, reported again that their master was still deaf and blind. And she, with more intense prayers and more vehement tears, besought God again that her husband might be delivered from the malady. And when the patriarch had now finished the holy liturgy, Theodora fell at his feet, declared the infirmity of her husband, and, pouring forth tears at his feet, prayed and besought him to cure the husband’s malady and not to look down upon him while he was in such a wretched state.
[CLVI] When the blessed Clement heard these things, being moved in his soul to pity for the woman’s calamity, he himself also broke into visible tears, and exhorted those who were present to pray in common to God, so that the infirmity might be removed from Sisinnius. This being done, the patriarch C went confidently to the house with the woman; and he found the eyes of the man open, but they were no better at seeing than those of the blind. And he was deaf in his ears, and was in a most grievous state of bodily affliction. Therefore a lamentation arose from those who were present, and wailing filled the house. Yet Sisinnius did not perceive what had happened, inasmuch as he was deprived of sight and hearing.
[CLVII] Now the divine Clement, since he deeply pitied the plight of the woman and the house, became a suppliant to God, and with tears he besought Him, and poured forth prayers full of emotion, saying: "Lord Jesus Christ, who hast given the keys of the heavens to thine apostle Peter, and hast D said, 'Whatsoever thou shalt open shall be opened, and whatsoever thou shalt shut shall be shut'; do thou thyself both open the blind eyes of this man
and his deaf ears, for this saying of thine is also true: A *Whatsoever ye shall ask believing, ye shall receive*; and this promise of thine abides forever. When the patriarch had prayed these things, and those who were present had answered, 'Amen,' immediately the affliction of his eyes and ears was dissolved. And Sisinnius, as if awakened from sleep, and seeing the blessed Clement standing with his wife, the fool rendered evil in return for the kindness of the holy man, and commanded his servants to seize the patriarch immediately, that he might pay the penalty for his injury. For he suspected that they were some kind of illusions, because he had first caused him to be deprived of the use of his eyes and ears, and afterward caused him to see and hear.
CLVIII. Therefore, the servants strove zealously to carry out what had been commanded; but they did not notice that they were touching adjacent stones and logs, and were dragging and binding them, and insanely moving them hither and thither. This also seemed to Sisinnius to be the case, and he himself also thought that the patriarch was being held bound by the servants. But He was kept untouched by those wicked hands, suffering not even a slight touch, nor was He troubled in the midst of the evils; then, looking at that senseless man, He said, "Thou art hardened in heart, so moving stones and logs, and venting all thy rage against them, which a little while ago thou didst honor and worship as gods." But he said, "Nay, but I will destroy thee evil; so that many sorcerers may change their minds from this and repent, B and the same may gain much through the things which thou shalt suffer that are most grievous."
CLIX. These things he, being puffed up, uttered before those who were present, and boasting that he had subjected the patriarch to bonds. But He, not even so did he turn away from him; but having blessed his wife, and having cast the abundant seeds of piety into those good and obedient ears as into a certain deep and rich field of earth, He departed, having first charged her not to cease to pray until she had led her husband to the knowledge of the truth. When, therefore, Theodora applied herself more fervently to prayer, there appears to her toward evening a certain venerable man, grey-haired; and he seemed to be the first of the disciples, Peter, the warm lover of the Master; and he says to her, "For thy sake, O woman, Sisinnius shall be whole; so that the husband, according to my brother Paul, may be sanctified by the wife." C Which words having spoken, he departed.
CLX. Sisinnius, meanwhile, immediately and as if by agreement, summoned Theodora; for this was indeed the end of the vision which had appeared to her; he makes mention of love, of the sharing of food, of companionship, and of all other communion, and asks for one favor for all of them, and beseeches and entreats his wife to pray to God, so that his sins may be forgiven him, and that He may show him the way of salvation. D
A Then he becomes his own accuser, and declares that he did and suffered everything on account of her.
CLXI. "For I was jealous," he says, "on your account, because you neglected me, your husband, and kept visiting this stranger, adding to him the title of patriarch. And not bearing the agitations of nature and the tumults arising from that agitation, I was compelled to watch you as you were going to the church, and to see what was being done. Having entered therefore, and I myself following into the temple, and watching with curious eyes what was being done by the patriarch, and straining my whole hearing toward him, and desiring to be a listener to the things being said, I was struck blind and deaf in both eyes and ears at once. And although he again, as one who is an imitator of God, caused me to see and hear, I, forgetting such a great benefit, not only did not render thanks to him for the kindness, but even, foolish man, calling the miracle a trick, I attempted to punish him as much as I could, and—woe is me!—I ordered my servants to restrain him and bind him in chains. But to them, who thought they were holding him and leading him into chains, there were only sticks and stones in their hands. This also seemed to be the case to me myself, and as though the patriarch were being held by them, I kept hurling most grievous threats. For this reason I entreat you, your husband, and I ask this favor from my wife, that first of all you make God propitious to me, and then, indeed, that you reconcile me to the patriarch."
CLXII. Having heard these things, Theodora immediately comes to the holy man, and she reports again to the patriarch everything that she had seen and all that she had heard from her husband. C He, delaying nothing, comes immediately to Sisinnius; and he does not find him as before, but with as much ferocity as he had attacked the patriarch then, with greater honor he now receives him. Seeing, therefore, such a sudden and great change, the great man skillfully suggests to him words concerning piety, and wins the whole man to himself. And when Sisinnius had believed in God from his heart, he touched those blessed feet of the patriarch, and spoke these things with tears:
CLXIII. "I give thanks to you, the true and only God, who for this reason didst blind my physical eyes, that Thou mightest open those of the soul, and prepare me to look toward the truth; D and for this reason didst also suppress the power of my ears, that with a vigilant mind, and feeling nothing at all of the things outside, I might receive the preaching of true religion. But now I have been initiated into the mysteries of truth, and I have known with certainty that the sacred rites of the Gentiles are only a fraud and an incredible vanity." On account of these things, cheerfulness and joy occupied the house, and all believed in Christ. And as Easter was now arriving, they were baptized with Sisinnius—all of them, fathers together and mothers and children, being four hundred and twenty-three in number. This attracted many of the more illustrious, who with great honor
glory, and whom the Emperor Nerva used as his preferred friends and counselors; and all agreed to the pious worship.
CLXIV. When the most wicked Publius Tarquitianus, the Count of the Offices B at that time, saw these things, he was greatly vexed and considered them serious, and pondering how he might check the piety that was advancing further, he determined first to remove Clement from their midst as being the primary author of what was happening; and having summoned the prefects of each part of the city, and having corrupted them with money, he suggested to them to stir up a sedition against Clement, and urged them to slander his reputation; wishing by this to dissolve the city's love for him, and to make the man easy and opportune for ambush.
CLXV. Therefore, those most wicked citizens having conspired against him, they spread abroad about him things that were evil and foul, as they themselves thought, and brought many charges against him; they attributed sorcery to him, and the subversion of their religion, and many other things; and they said that he was heaping insults upon the paternal gods and tearing them apart:—saying that he would not even call Jove, the greatest of all the gods, a god at all; while he called Hercules the son of Alcmene (whom they call their savior) a sort of unclean and wicked demon; that he introduced his beloved and sweetest Venus as a harlot; and that he equally blasphemed and slandered the excellent huntress Diana, the wise Mercury the god of speech, the warlike Mars, and Saturn himself, and that C he was tearing down their shrines and altars. In sum, they said: Either let him sacrifice to the gods, or let him be immediately deprived of life. They, therefore, stirring up such things, demanded that the patriarch be handed over to them for death. At which all those who had not held their conscience venal for money were indignant, and spoke freely to the people, saying: What evil has been done by the patriarch? Or rather, what benefits has the city not enjoyed at his hands? Then they recounted each of the things that had been miraculously done by him, and took them as witnesses to the things they were saying.
CLXVI. But Mamertus, the prefect of the city, not enduring to see the city so agitated by sedition, and moreover envying the increase of true religion, summons the blessed Clement to himself, and with words so noble... D
A he attempts to deceive and abduct that soul, saying: "Thou art sprung from a noble house; the whole Roman people bears witness to this concerning thee. Yet thou thyself hast fallen into human error, and for this reason the city cannot hold its peace. For they say that thou art introducing a new religion, and preaching a certain Christ in opposition to the ancestral gods. Wherefore, it behooves thee to cast aside this superfluous superstition and to revere and worship only those gods whom the state is accustomed to honor."
To this the patriarch replied: "I pray thy gravity and constancy that thou grant me leave to speak and attend to my replies, rather than follow after so irrational a sedition and vain tumults. For there is no need of sedition and tumults where it is proposed for anyone to consider his own salvation and to discourse concerning God." The prefect, therefore, having recognized the man's nobility and steadfastness from the very opening of his words, and being reluctant both to speak himself and to hear more from him, and thus declining the discussion, refers the matter regarding him to the Emperor Trajan. And the emperor decides upon the matters which were sent to him in this way: that Clement should either sacrifice to the ancestral gods or be banished from Rome into perpetual exile, to some desert town beyond the Pontus, among those which lie near Cherson.
CLXVII. Having received this sentence, Mamertinus was revolving in his mind how Clement might not choose exile, but rather obey him and the emperor, and offer sacrifice. For he could not bear to be deprived of such great virtue in a man. Yet for Clement, it was so far from being a care to obey them or to be troubled by the relegation, that he even endeavored to draw the prefect toward piety. For such grace from on high hovered about Clement, and his tongue distilled sweeter than any honeycomb or honey, that Mamertinus himself, being seized with warm love for the man, deeply lamented his departure and gave tears to the patriarch, saying: "May the God whom thou sincerely worshippest himself be thy helper in this calamity." And he straightway prepared a ship, placed on board that which sufficed for his needs, took him by the right hand, embraced him, and so dismissed him with the fitting salutations.
Many of the pious, however, followed him; and upon arriving at the place of exile, they found in the marble quarries about a thousand Christians, or even more, who had for a long time been detained there for the sake of the true faith. These, having previously heard concerning the patriarch, and that he himself, having been driven from the City, was being led to them as an exile, received no small consolation from his arrival.
CLXVIII. When, therefore, he came to them, they ceased from the work of their hands and approached him with tears; and having touched his holy feet and kissed his pure hands, they wept over the calamities that had beset them: the loss of their country, the unpleasant life in a foreign land, the penury of necessities, and that...
which was the most burdensome of all, the lack of water itself. For if anyone, they said, worn out by a whole day of manual labor and toil, should wish to take even a tiny drop of water to relieve the misery arising from fatigue, such a person would have to travel no less than forty-five stadia to bring it back. The patriarch, having become a sharer in their grief and tears, then offered thanks to God and sufficiently consoled their spirits, saying: "It is not in vain or without cause that God has permitted me to be cast out here, but so that I might be a companion in your sufferings and, above all, a teacher of patience and endurance."
CLXIX. After this, he turns to prayer and, together with them, beseeches God to open a fountain of water for B His confessors; for He who struck the rock in the desert and water flowed out, also provides them with an abundant supply of water. For when all were intent upon the prayer, the patriarch, looking hither and thither, sees a lamb lifting its right foot and, as it were, pointing out the ground beneath it; for the lamb was seen by no one else. The patriarch, fixing his eyes upon the spot indicated, approaches it with those who were present and says: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, dig here for me, my children." And when they had dug up both the place where the lamb stood and all the ground around it, the patriarch, taking a spade, strikes the spot the lamb was pointing out with a light and lofty blow; and immediately the earth gives forth clear water, sweet to drink, and this, pouring out with great force, forms a sudden stream. As everyone, therefore, rejoiced on account of the water, the patriarch said: "The streams of the river make glad the city of God." C
CLXX. From that time on, the whole city flocked to him, and by the sweetness of his spiritual teaching, he impelled all toward the true faith, so that many were baptized daily, the number reaching five hundred, and the true religion gained increase day by day. Indeed, a year had not yet passed in exile, and seventy-five churches were being built by those who had believed, while the shrines and temples of idols were being overturned, and the groves planted near them, which occupied much of the land, were being consumed by fire, and the entire madness of the demons was being cast down.
CLXXI. Then, therefore, a malicious and grave rumor reaches the ears of the emperor, reporting that the sect of Christians was growing into a greater multitude and increasing day by day. On account of this, he immediately sends the governor Aufidianus, who was to not only prevent the sect from spreading further, but also to bring back those already captured and turn them away from piety. After he arrived in Cherson D and...
A subjected many of the Christians to many and various tortures, when he saw that all were ready to be martyrs in their resolve, and were prepared for a thousand deaths, what does he do? He refrains from the multitude, fearing lest he make even more martyrs from the upper ranks; he punishes only the leader, and directs all his wrath against that blessed head of Clement. But since all these things were light to him and counted for nothing, and he was providing even greater confidence to the others through what he himself was suffering, he devises a quick and speedy departure from life for him, and leading the martyr into the middle of the sea, and having fastened an iron anchor to his neck, he lets him down into the deep, in order, he says, that not even a relic of him might remain for the Christians.
CLXXII. And while he indeed was cast into the sea, the multitude of the Christians, standing upon the shore, lamented piteously, wailed, and with most miserable voices called upon the patriarch. B And Cornelius and Phoebus, the disciples, sent forth cries such as the affliction demanded, and had no consolation to offer for the misfortune, and said: "Let us all pray with one accord, so that the relic of the martyr might be revealed to us." And as they were praying, O how great are your wonders, O Master, something is worked miraculously even here, more paradoxical than that of Moses. For the sea draws back for almost twenty stadia. And the multitude, approaching over dry ground—this too is of your wonderful power, O Christ—finds a stone made in the form of a temple by your ineffable wisdom, and the martyr's body lying gloriously within it, and that heavy anchor lying also very close to the stone.
C CLXXIII. But it was revealed to Cornelius and Phoebus that they should not move the relic from that place, since it was resting well in the deep; and that in each cycle of the year, at the time of the martyr’s consummation, the sea would withdraw for seven whole days for those who approach, permitting them passage on foot and at a slow pace even to the relic. This is celebrated annually from that time to this, having as it were a fixed boundary and appointed time for the arrival of the commemoration of his martyrdom. From this, all heresy among them and the Greek religion was destroyed, since the signs and miracles performed there in the memory of the martyr lead all to the knowledge and clearly urge them toward the truth. For to no one D of those who were oppressed by some incurable malady was any other remedy provided than the taking of that water, and
the sprinkling of it, for the dispelling of the disease that had taken hold of him.
B CLXXIV. But these things are such as they are; that, however, which is far greater, and sufficient to confirm what has preceded, is this: Since, as the preceding discourse has declared, the martyr was cast into the deep and thrown into the gulfs of the waters, the sea would recede afar off, as if making a path beneath one’s feet, becoming a marvelous indicator of the relic and providing a way to traverse the abyss to anyone who so desired. Indeed, a great multitude of Christians would then hasten to the spectacle of the relic. Later, a most grand festival also brought about a miracle; or rather, this miracle brought about the festival. It was not something that happened once and then ceased, but was performed in the same manner for every annual cycle, and summoned impious souls to a banquet. Since, then, these things were so, and all the Christians throughout Cherson used to gather annually for the solemn day of the miracle, God performed a miracle there also, more astounding than those that had preceded it.
CLXXV. For a certain religious man, together with his wife and male child, when the miracle was already being celebrated, set out with the flowing multitude toward that martyr’s body. They crossed the sea on foot and reached the temple situated in its chasm, the parents leading the child by the hand. And when they were inside the temple and had crowded around that holy tomb, they prayed to the saint for other things, and made petitions for their child as it befits parents to do. Having prayed, therefore, and fervently kissed and embraced the sepulchre, when the celebration was over and everyone else was returning home, they too departed, moving back with the crowd that had gathered. The child, however, without the parents’ knowledge, I know not how, was left alone at the sepulchre; this was entirely by the incomprehensible providence of God, so that He might the more honor him who had willingly given up both soul and body for His sake. And the water indeed, returning to its own place, covered the abyss, and it became a sea once more. C
CLXXVI. But the parents, having gone a short distance from the body and seeing that their son was no longer with them, turned themselves to search for him. Turning back to find the child, they saw the sea again where the path had formerly led to the relic. Straightway they were dismayed, disturbed, and shaken, and they rushed yet more sharply in search of the child; yet he had been left behind in the tomb. When, after much labor, they did not find the child, but believed that he had been abandoned in the depths of the sea—as indeed he was—they cried out long and tearfully, calling for their son, beating their breasts, and lamenting the calamity that had oppressed them. Then they said to the saint the things that a heart broken by grief would utter, wishing death upon themselves in place of their present circumstances; until some of those nearby, encountering them in their lamentations—
A poured out many tears along with them, and comforted them, and caused them to abate their long-standing grief. But once they returned home, the suffering grew greater once more, and the sight of the boy’s garment, or other things familiar to him that recurred to the parents’ memory, rendered the loss more painful to them.
B CLXXVII. Now when the year had already passed and that brilliant feast was to be held again, their suffering stung them yet more and tortured them, and called the boy to mind more violently than ever. They say to one another, "Let us go to the tomb; let us see if any remains of the boy are left, if by any means we might even take them up." Having shared these and other things that sorrow suggested, they set out from the house, dressed in mourning, their eyes melted by the force of their tears, and they arrive at the shore. C And the sea immediately recedes, as the appointed day had arrived. They follow first, and others after them in their tracks, using the sea as a guide for their journey. And reaching that temple built of its own accord—or rather, created by your wisdom, O Lord—they see the boy (O miracle!) alive and leaping in the temple. At first, they were in doubt regarding what they saw, reflecting whether the person appearing might not be the boy. But when the boy, by both his identifying marks and his appearance, convinced them completely, and they believed that this was indeed their son, they immediately threw themselves upon him, and clinging to his eyes and lips, they wept for a long time, shedding these sweet tears in their joy, and kissed him fervently, as if with an unclad soul.
CLXXVIII. Then, having pulled themselves together a little, they asked the boy in detail about everything: how he was so D wonderfully saved, who kept him, who fed him, who cherished him, who gave him life. And he, holding the casket with his left hand, and with the other pointing to the one lying in it, said, "This one has been to me the provider of life, and the nourisher, and the guardian, keeping me truly and always with himself and feeding me nobly." The parents, therefore, seized with an ineffable wonder and joy, turned their former cries and those sad words of pain into cheerfulness and thanksgiving, saying, "God is wonderful in his saints" (Ps. LXVII, 36); and adding what follows. And so the blessed and enviable ones return home, mourning him as dead whom they had previously—and for whom they had deemed the belly of a sea beast to be a tomb.