Clement of Alexandria: EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN Complete

Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson.

Clement of Alexandria Home Page  Clement of Alexandria in Print

113 Pages

Page 80

Will you hear, too, what this prophet says of idols? "And they shall be made a spectacle of in the face of the sun, and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the wild beasts of the earth; and they shall putrefy before the sun and the moon, which they have loved and served; and their city shall be burned down." [937] He says, too, that the elements and the world shall be destroyed. "The earth," he says, "shall grow old, and the heaven shall pass away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever." What, then, when again God wishes to show Himself by Moses: "Behold ye, behold ye, that I Am, and there is no other God beside Me. I will kill, and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will heal; and there is none who shall deliver out of My hands." [938] But do you wish to hear another seer? You have the whole prophetic choir, the associates of Moses. What the Holy Spirit says by Hosea, I will not shrink from quoting: "Lo, I am He that appointeth the thunder, and createth spirit; and His hands have established the host of heaven." [939] And once more by Isaiah. And this utterance I will repeat: "I am," he says, "I am the Lord; I who speak righteousness, announce truth. Gather yourselves together, and come. Take counsel together, ye that are saved from the nations. They have not known, they who set up the block of wood, their carved work, and pray to gods who will not save them." [940] Then proceeding: "I am God, and there is not beside Me a just God, and a Saviour: there is none except Me. Turn to Me, and ye will be saved, ye that are from the end of the earth. I am God, and there is no other; by Myself I swear." [941]

[937] Jer. viii. 2, xxx. 20, iv. 6.

[938] Deut. xxxii. 39.

[939] Amos iv. 13.

[940] Isa. xlv. 19, 20.

[941] Isa. xlv. 21-23.

Previous Page / First / Next Page of Clement - Exhortation to the Heathen

Clement of Alexandria Home Page ||| More Church Fathers

Elpenor's Free Greek Lessons

Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/clement-alexandria/exhortation-heathen.asp?pg=80