{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But if we must distinguish, let it be granted that he is rich who\r\nhas many possessions, loaded with gold like a dirty purse; but the\r\nrighteous alone is graceful, because grace is order, observing a due\r\nand decorous measure in managing and distributing. “For there are those\r\nwho sow and reap more,”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_671\" id=\"FNanchor_671\">[671]</a> of whom it is written, “He hath dispersed,\r\nhe hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_672\" id=\"FNanchor_672\">[672]</a>\r\nSo that it is not he who has and keeps, but he who gives away, that\r\nis rich; and it is giving away, not possession, which renders a man\r\nhappy; and the fruit of the Spirit is generosity. It is in the soul,\r\nthen, that riches are. Let it, then, be granted that good things are\r\nthe property only of good men; and Christians are good. Now, a fool or\r\na libertine can neither have any perception of what is good, nor obtain\r\npossession of it. Accordingly, good things are possessed by Christians\r\nalone. And nothing is richer than these good things; therefore these\r\nalone are rich. For righteousness is true riches; and the Word is more\r\nvaluable than all treasure, not accruing from cattle and fields, but\r\ngiven by God—riches which cannot be taken away. The soul alone is its\r\ntreasure. It is the best possession to its possessor, rendering man\r\ntruly blessed. For he whose it is to desire nothing that is not in our\r\npower,<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_300\">[300]</span> and to obtain by asking from God what he piously desires, does\r\nhe not possess much, nay all, having God as his everlasting treasure?\r\n“To him that asks,” it is said, “shall be given, and to him that\r\nknocketh it shall be opened.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_673\" id=\"FNanchor_673\">[673]</a> If God denies nothing, all things\r\nbelong to the godly.</p>","headings":["THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.","THE INSTRUCTOR.","BOOK III.","CHAPTER VI. THE CHRISTIAN ALONE RICH."],"marker_anchor":"FNanchor_673","paragraph_id":"pg71937-paragraph-535"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"a31c2a7f26e1a940f30822058d5b812ce57144f8486efb44d21a80de877ee00a","edition_title":"The writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["William Wilson"],"edition_year":1867,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"MAT","chapter":7,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Matt. vii. 7","verse":7,"verse_end":7}],"headings":[],"id":"pg71937-Footnote_673","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_673","source_ebook":71937,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a class=\"label pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_673\" id=\"Footnote_673\">[673]</a> Matt. vii. 7, 8.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"8e5c5bc39922dbad2626ac7651c2eb2e3d94cdcbd721f781e9792143ebb1cd03","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/71937/pg71937-images.html#Footnote_673","text_sha256":"b519200c9b7e0b59e038514b068326a967b4aa1e474ba6ef1706943f4b056b96","verified":false,"work_id":null}