Ὅτι δὲ οὐ κατ ̓ ἐπίγνωσιν ἴσασι τὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ περίφασιν, Ἑλλήνων οἱ δοκιμώτατοι, Πέτρος ἐν τῷ κηρύγματι λέγει· Γινώσκετε οὖν ὅτι εἰς Θεός ἐστιν, ὃς ἀρχὴν πάντων ἐποίησεν, καὶ τέλους ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, καὶ ὁ ἀόρατος, ὃς τὰ πάντα ὁρᾷ· ἀχώρητος, ὃς τὰ πάντα χωρεῖ, ἀνεπιδεὴς, οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐπιδέεται, καὶ δι ̓ ὅν ἐστιν· ἀκατάληπτος, ἀέναος, ἄφθαρτος, ἀποίητος, ὃς τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν λόγω δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, τῆς γνωστικῆς γραφῆς, τουτέστι τοῦ υἱοῦ. Τοῦτον τὸν Θεὸν σέβεσθε, μὴ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλ ληνας, ὡς δηλονότι τὸν αὐτὸν ἡμῖν σεβόντων Θεὸν, καὶ τῶν παρ' Ελ λησι δοκίμων, ἀλλ ̓ οὐ κατ ̓ ἐπίσ γνωσιν παντελῆ τὴν δι' υἱοῦ παράδοσιν μεμαθηκότων. Μὴ τοίνυν, φησὶ, σέβεσθε, οὐκ εἶπεν, Θεὸν ὃν οἱ Ἕλληνες, ἀλλὰ μὴ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, τὸν τρόπον τὸν τῆς σεβήσεως ἐναλάττων τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐχὶ δὲ ἄλλον κατάγγελλων· τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ, Μὴ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, αὐτὸς διασαφήσει Πέτρος ἐπιφέρων, Ὅτι ἀγνοία φερόμενοι καὶ μὴ

But that the most excellent persons among the Gentiles had not [any true] knowledge of God, but only such as was very general, Peter informs us in his Preaching, [saying,] “Know that there is "but one God, who gave all

66

66

66

66

things their original existence, " and has power over their end; "who is invisible, and sees all things ; incomprehensible, but "comprehends all; not wanting any thing, but whom all things want, and on whom all things depend; infinite, eternal, im"mortal, unmade, who made all things by the Word of his power, the knowing Word (scripture,) i. e. his Son. This "God worship, not as the Gen"tiles do; even those who were "the most understanding among "the Gentiles, who worship the

66

ἐπιστάμενοι τὸν Θεὸν, ὡς ἡμεῖς, κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν τὴν τελείαν, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίας εἰς χρῆσιν, μορφώσαντες ξύλα καὶ λίθους, χαλκὸν καὶ σίδηρον, χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον, τῆς ὕλης αὐτῶν καὶ χρήσεως, τὰ δοῦλα τῆς ὑπάρξεως ἀναστήσαντες σέβονται· καὶ ἃ δέδωκεν αὐτοῖς εἰς βρῶσιν ὁ Θεὸς, πετεινὰ τοῦ ἀέρος, καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης τὰ νηκτα, καὶ τῆς γῆς τὰ ἑρπετὰ, καὶ τὰ θηρία σὺν κτήνεσι τετραπόδοις τοῦ ἀγροῦ, γαλᾶς τε καὶ μᾶς, αἰλούρους τε καὶ κύνας, καὶ πιθήκους, καὶ τὰ ἴδια βρώματα, βροτοῖς θύματα θύουσιν, καὶ νεκρὰ νεκροῖς προσφέροντες ὡς θεοῖς, ἀχαριστοῦσι τῷ Θεῷ, διὰ τούτων ἀρνούμενοι αὐτ τὸν εἶναι· καὶ ὅτι γεὡς τὸν αὐτὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν τε αὐτῶν καὶ Ἑλλήνων ἐγνω κότων φέρεται, πλὴν οὐχ ὁμοίως, ἐποίσει πάλιν ὡδέπως, Μηδὲ κατὰ Ἰουδαίους σέβεσθε· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι μόνοι οἰόμενοι τὸν Θεὸν γινώσκειν, οὐκ ἐπίστανται, λατρεύοντες ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀρχαγγέλοις, μηνὶ καὶ σελήνῃ, καὶ ἐὰν μὴ σελήνη φανῇ, σάββατον οὐκ ἄγουσι τὸ λεγόμενον πρῶτον, οὐδὲ νεομηνίαν ἄγουσιν, οὔτε ἄζυμα, οὔτε ἑορτὴν, οὔτε με γάλην ἡμέραν. Εἶτα τὸν κολοφῶνα τοῦ ζητουμένου προσεπιφέρει ὥστε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως

66

66

66

Επεὶ ὅτι καθάπερ Ἰουδαίους σώζεσθαι ἐβούλετο ὁ Θεὸς, τοὺς προφήτας διδοὺς, οὕτως καὶ ̔Ελλήνων τοὺς δοκιμωτάτους οἰκείους αὐτῶν τῇ διαλέκτῳ προφήτας ἀναστήσας, ὡς οἷοί τε ἦσαν δέχεσθαι τὴν παρὰ Θεοῦ εὐεργεσίαν, τῶν χυδαίων ἀνθρώπων διέκρινεν· δηλώσει πρὸς τῷ Πέτρου κηρύγματι ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγων Παῦλος, Λάβετε και τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς βίβλους, ἐπίγνωτε Σίβυλλαν, ὡς δηλοῖ ἕνα Θεὸν καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι· καὶ τὸν Υστάσπην λαβόντες ἀνάγνωτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε πολλῷ τηλαυγέστερον

b Cotelerius supposes, that Paul is here cited by Clemens on account of his calling Epimenides a Greek poet in his Epistle to Titus, i. 12. and consequently that the following words are the words of Clemens, and not of this apocryphal book. But in this he must needs be mistaken, because Clemens adds the word λέγων, which introduces the next sentence, and evidences that it is a citation; besides, a little after Clemens brings in some person asking a question ; πυνθάνεται ἡμῶν, he asks us ; this cannot possibly mean himself, but some third person, who can be no other

Inasmuch therefore as God determined the salvation of the Jews, and for that reason gave them prophets, so also having raised up some of the most excellent of the

Gentiles to be prophets to them in their own languages, as they were capable of receiving the

kindness of God; that he distin

guished them from the bulk of mankind; besides the Preaching of Peter, Paul the apostle will make manifest in what he says, "Take also the Greek books, ac"knowledge the Sibylline oracles, "[and see] how they declare one

than Paul, whom he had just before cited. And inasmuch as immediately both before this citation of Paul, and after it, we have citations out of the Preaching of Peter; and this has been above proved out of Lactantius to be the same with the Preaching of Paul; I suppose this obscure expression of Clemens will be best explained, by supposing that some part of this book contained the Preachings of Peter, and others, the Preaching of Paul; and so both were for this reason cited thus together. See Grab. Spicil. Patr. t. I.

p. 66.