{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>Let us not then be enslaved or become swinish; but, as true children\r\nof the light, let us raise our eyes and look on the light, lest\r\nthe Lord discover us to be spurious, as the sun does the eagles.\r\nLet us therefore repent, and pass from ignorance to knowledge,\r\nfrom foolishness to wisdom, from licentiousness to self-restraint,\r\nfrom unrighteousness to righteousness, from godlessness to God.\r\nIt is an enterprise of noble daring to take our way to God; and\r\nthe enjoyment of many other good things is within the reach of the\r\nlovers of righteousness, who pursue eternal life, specially those\r\nthings to which God Himself alludes, speaking by Isaiah: “There is an\r\ninheritance for those who serve the Lord.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_118\" id=\"FNanchor_118\">[118]</a> Noble<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_88\">[88]</span> and desirable\r\nis this inheritance: not gold, not silver, not raiment, which the\r\nmoth assails, and things of earth which are assailed by the robber,\r\nwhose eye is dazzled by worldly wealth; but it is that treasure of\r\nsalvation to which we must hasten, by becoming lovers of the Word.\r\nThence praiseworthy works descend to us, and fly with us on the wing\r\nof truth. This is the inheritance with which the eternal covenant of\r\nGod invests us, conveying the everlasting gift of grace; and thus\r\nour loving Father—the true Father—ceases not to exhort, admonish,\r\ntrain, love us. For He ceases not to save, and advises the best course:\r\n“Become righteous,” says the Lord.<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_119\" id=\"FNanchor_119\">[119]</a> Ye that thirst, come to the\r\nwater; and ye that have no money, come, and buy and drink without\r\nmoney.<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_120\" id=\"FNanchor_120\">[120]</a> He invites to the laver, to salvation, to illumination, all\r\nbut crying out and saying, The land I give thee, and the sea, my child,\r\nand heaven too; and all the living creatures in them I freely bestow\r\nupon thee. Only, O child, thirst for thy Father; God shall be revealed\r\nto thee without price; the truth is not made merchandise of. He gives\r\nthee all creatures that fly and swim, and those on the land. These the\r\nFather has created for thy thankful enjoyment. What the bastard, who is\r\na son of perdition, foredoomed to be the slave of mammon, has to buy\r\nfor money, He assigns to thee as thine own, even to His own son who\r\nloves the Father; for whose sake He still works, and to whom alone He\r\npromises, saying, “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity,” for it\r\nis not destined to corruption. “For the whole land is mine;” and it is\r\nthine too, if thou receive God. Wherefore the Scripture, as might have\r\nbeen expected, proclaims good news to those who have believed. “The\r\nsaints of the Lord shall inherit the glory of God and His power.” What\r\nglory, tell me, O blessed One, which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,\r\nnor hath it entered into the heart of man;”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_121\" id=\"FNanchor_121\">[121]</a> and “they shall be\r\nglad in the kingdom of their Lord for ever and ever! Amen.” You have,\r\nO men, the divine promise of grace; you have heard, on the other hand,\r\nthe threatening of punishment:<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_89\">[89]</span> by these the Lord saves, teaching men\r\nby fear and grace. Why do we delay? Why do we not shun the punishment?\r\nWhy do we not receive the free gift? Why, in fine, do we not choose\r\nthe better part, God instead of the evil one, and prefer wisdom to\r\nidolatry, and take life in exchange for death? “Behold,” He says, “I\r\nhave set before your face death and life.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_122\" id=\"FNanchor_122\">[122]</a> The Lord tries you,\r\nthat “you may choose life.” He counsels you as a father to obey God.\r\n“For if ye hear me,” He says, “and be willing, ye shall eat the good\r\nthings of the land:”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_123\" id=\"FNanchor_123\">[123]</a> this is the grace attached to obedience. “But\r\nif ye obey me not, and are unwilling, the sword and fire shall devour\r\nyou:”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_124\" id=\"FNanchor_124\">[124]</a> this is the penalty of disobedience. For the mouth of the\r\nLord—the law of truth, the word of the Lord—hath spoken these things.\r\nAre you willing that I should be your good counsellor? Well, do you\r\nhear. I, if possible, will explain. You ought, O men, when reflecting\r\non the Good, to have brought forward a witness inborn and competent,\r\nviz. faith, which of itself, and from its own resources, chooses\r\nat once what is best, instead of occupying yourselves in painfully\r\ninquiring whether what is best ought to be followed. For, allow me to\r\ntell you, you ought to doubt whether you should get drunk, but you get\r\ndrunk before reflecting on the matter; and whether you ought to do an\r\ninjury, but you do injury with the utmost readiness. The only thing you\r\nmake the subject of question is, whether God should be worshipped, and\r\nwhether this wise God and Christ should be followed: and this you think\r\nrequires deliberation and doubt, and know not what is worthy of God.\r\nHave faith in us, as you have in drunkenness, that you may be wise;\r\nhave faith in us, as you have in injury, that you may live. But if,\r\nacknowledging the conspicuous trustworthiness of the virtues, you wish\r\nto trust them, come and I will set before you in abundance, materials\r\nof persuasion respecting the Word. But do you—for your ancestral\r\ncustoms, by which your minds are pre-occupied, divert you from the\r\ntruth,—do you now hear what is the real state of the case as follows.</p>","headings":["THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.","EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.","CHAPTER X. ANSWER TO THE OBJECTION OF THE HEATHEN, THAT IT WAS NOT RIGHT TO ABANDON THE CUSTOMS OF THEIR FATHERS."],"marker_anchor":"FNanchor_119","paragraph_id":"pg71937-paragraph-202"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"93a3918c70a26d355013baa3a69f1ef4ec26e57ae793e75f721b7982de87ed24","edition_title":"The writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["William Wilson"],"edition_year":1867,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"ISA","chapter":54,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Isa. liv. 17","verse":17,"verse_end":17}],"headings":[],"id":"pg71937-Footnote_119","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1867 English translation; translator died 1875. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"Footnote_119","source_ebook":71937,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a class=\"label pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_119\" id=\"Footnote_119\">[119]</a> Isa. liv. 17, where Sept. reads, “ye shall be\r\nrighteous.”</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"8e5c5bc39922dbad2626ac7651c2eb2e3d94cdcbd721f781e9792143ebb1cd03","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/71937/pg71937-images.html#Footnote_119","text_sha256":"b4b4733e348d6dfbe34d128e0f4d1f3d14e77aec8ac7d2e45cc80ac11e3e2654","verified":false,"work_id":null}