{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"drop-cap p-left\">Contemplate a little, if agreeable to you, the divine beneficence. The\r\nfirst man, when in Paradise, sported free, because he was the child of\r\nGod; but when he succumbed to pleasure (for the serpent allegorically\r\nsignifies pleasure crawling on its belly, earthly wickedness nourished\r\nfor fuel to the flames), was as a child seduced by lusts, and grew\r\nold in disobedience; and by disobeying his Father, dishonoured God.\r\nSuch was the influence of pleasure. Man, that had been free by reason\r\nof simplicity, was found fettered to sins. The Lord then wished to\r\nrelease him from his bonds, and clothing Himself with flesh—O divine\r\nmystery!—vanquished the serpent, and enslaved the tyrant death; and,\r\nmost marvellous of all, man that had been deceived by pleasure, and\r\nbound fast to corruption, had his hands unloosed, and was set free.\r\nO mystic wonder! The Lord was laid low, and man rose up; and he that\r\nfell from Paradise receives as the reward of obedience something\r\ngreater [than Paradise]—namely, heaven itself. Wherefore, since the\r\nWord Himself has come to us from heaven, we need not, I reckon, go any\r\nmore in search of human learning to Athens and the rest of Greece,\r\nand to Ionia. For if we have as our teacher Him that filled the\r\nuniverse with His holy energies in creation, salvation, beneficence,\r\nlegislation, prophecy, teaching, we have the Teacher from whom all\r\ninstruction comes; and the whole world, with Athens and Greece, has\r\nalready become the domain of the Word. For you, who believed the<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_101\">[101]</span>\r\npoetical fable which designated Minos the Cretan as the bosom friend\r\nof Zeus, will not refuse to believe that we who have become the\r\ndisciples of God have received the only true wisdom; and that which\r\nthe chiefs of philosophy only guessed at, the disciples of Christ\r\nhave both apprehended and proclaimed. And the one whole Christ is not\r\ndivided: “There is neither barbarian, nor Jew, nor Greek, neither male\r\nnor female, but a new man,”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_141\" id=\"FNanchor_141\">[141]</a> transformed by God’s Holy Spirit.\r\nFurther, the other counsels and precepts are unimportant, and respect\r\nparticular things,—as, for example, if one may marry, take part in\r\npublic affairs, beget children; but the only command that is universal,\r\nand over the whole course of existence, at all times and in all\r\ncircumstances, tends to the highest end, viz. life, is piety,—all that\r\nis necessary, in order that we may live for ever, being that we live\r\nin accordance with it. Philosophy, however, as the ancients say, is\r\n“a long-lived exhortation, wooing the eternal love of wisdom;” while\r\nthe commandment of the Lord is far-shining, “enlightening the eyes.”\r\nReceive Christ, receive sight, receive thy light,</p>","headings":["THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.","EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.","CHAPTER XI. HOW GREAT ARE THE BENEFITS CONFERRED ON MAN THROUGH THE ADVENT OF CHRIST."],"marker_anchor":"FNanchor_141","paragraph_id":"pg71937-paragraph-208"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"104e3c18f7794da73d6afe0feb1744e3a86505e6cc2ee2b3bfd85b3b5f37d9b8","edition_title":"The writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["William Wilson"],"edition_year":1867,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"GAL","chapter":3,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Gal. iii. 28","verse":28,"verse_end":28}],"headings":[],"id":"pg71937-Footnote_141","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_141","source_ebook":71937,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a class=\"label pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_141\" id=\"Footnote_141\">[141]</a> Gal. iii. 28, vi. 15.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"8e5c5bc39922dbad2626ac7651c2eb2e3d94cdcbd721f781e9792143ebb1cd03","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/71937/pg71937-images.html#Footnote_141","text_sha256":"5714a44cbfc9e3126b7deb13afac8041c02537750e01d64046a4ea835e190c5d","verified":false,"work_id":null}