Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 22:87 (Jul 1865)
Article: Clemens Romanus: An Apologetical Study
Author: D. W. Simon

BSac 22:87 (July 1865) p. 353

Clemens Romanus: An Apologetical Study

Dr. D. W. Simon

I. Life and Epistle op Clement op Rome

§ 1. Life of Clement

All that can be said, with any show of probability, regarding the life of Clement, is, that he was acquainted with and esteemed by the apostle Paul, as we learn from Philippians 4:3; that he lived and labored, for a time, at Philippi; that he became the third bishop of Rome, and held that office after Linus, between a.d. 92 and 101; that he wrote the First Epistle to the church at Corinth, in the name of the church at Rome; and that he was held in universal esteem by the Christians of his day.. No confidence whatever can be placed in the romantic account of his descent, conversion, labors, and sufferings given by the Clementine Homilies and other writings of the class. Various deductions, too, from expressions of his own, as for example that he was a Jew by birth (vid. cc. 4, 31, 55), are equally uncertain.

§ 2. The Genuineness of the First Epistle

That Clement wrote an epistle to the Corinthians seems undeniable. The only questions are: Is the present Epistle

BSac 22:87 (July 1865) p. 354

to the Corinthians that epistle? And do we possess it in an authentic shape? Both these questions are susceptible of so satisfactory an answer that Thiersch felt justified in saying, “with the exception of the books of the primary Canon (Urkanon), no ancient work is so well accredited as this “; words which are quoted with approval even by Hilgenfeld.1 The first supposed reference to it has been discovered in the Epistle of Polycarp; but the coincidences noted by Hefele do not seem to us to have much weight. The testimony, however, of Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius, Jerome, and other later writers, can only be deemed inadequate by those who either have a preconceived theory to serve, or make unreasonable claims on historical evidence. Do we possess the epistle now in its original form? Several writers, as for example, Jer. Bignon, Ed. Bernard, Clericus, Mosheim, have maintained that parts of the epistle are spurious; but their subjective reasons do not stand ground against the objective evidence to the contrary and the arguments of Grotius, Wotton, and many others.

§ 3. Early Opinions regarding Clement and his Epistle

The epistle, as well as its author, was held in high esteem by the ancient church. Clemens Alexandrinus even styles Clement an apostle. Irenaeus speaks of the epistle as νωτύτη γραφή; Eusebius, as μεγάλη τε και�...