Monday, June 21, 2004
The struggle in 1 Clement
What does the text tell us about the problems in the Church of Corynth?
The suggestion by the AB article notwithstanding, financial issues are not mentioned in the letter. This does not exclude that these might have been a reason for the disturbances, of course.
The initial points shown in the letter (III) are:
To envy, pride is associated (XIV). But envy of what? Apparently, envy about the role of presbyters (as community guides).
In opposition to envy and pride, humility is exhalted (XIII.XIV-XVIII).
Envy and pride were at the root of the removal of some presbyters (XLIV). That this was a known problem for Clement is probably shown by his mentioning the fact that the Apostles themselves had predicted that this would have been a touchy issue. So, the main point of contention seems to be on who is to be appointed bishop (in the sense of presbyters: note how the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably).
The criteria that Clement gives in XLIV are that ministers that:
Apparently, the "consent of the whole Church" was considered by Clement a necessary precondition for the election of a presbyter, but not a valid point to dismiss that same presbyter (Clement explictly seems to suggest that part of the community was against those presbyters now). On the other hand, he also seems to suggest that the very fact of rebelling against the appointed presbyters de facto puts the rebels outside the Church community, so the criteria above cannot be taken very rigidly.
See also the textual problems in chap. XLIV related to the word "epimonen" in the process of designation of the presbyters via apostolic succession (Gebhardt/Harnack interpret as dispositio, praeceptum, which is somewhat rejected by Lightfoot).
Categories: Church_History
The initial points shown in the letter (III) are:
- There is a rebellion
- The young against the old
- Every one abandons the fear of God
- The practice of envy resumes
To envy, pride is associated (XIV). But envy of what? Apparently, envy about the role of presbyters (as community guides).
In opposition to envy and pride, humility is exhalted (XIII.XIV-XVIII).
Envy and pride were at the root of the removal of some presbyters (XLIV). That this was a known problem for Clement is probably shown by his mentioning the fact that the Apostles themselves had predicted that this would have been a touchy issue. So, the main point of contention seems to be on who is to be appointed bishop (in the sense of presbyters: note how the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably).
The criteria that Clement gives in XLIV are that ministers that:
- have been appointed by the apostles or "by other eminent men", AND
- with the consent of the whole Church, AND
- who have blamelessly served in humble, peaceful and disinterested spirit, AND
- have had the good opinion of all for a long time,
Apparently, the "consent of the whole Church" was considered by Clement a necessary precondition for the election of a presbyter, but not a valid point to dismiss that same presbyter (Clement explictly seems to suggest that part of the community was against those presbyters now). On the other hand, he also seems to suggest that the very fact of rebelling against the appointed presbyters de facto puts the rebels outside the Church community, so the criteria above cannot be taken very rigidly.
See also the textual problems in chap. XLIV related to the word "epimonen" in the process of designation of the presbyters via apostolic succession (Gebhardt/Harnack interpret as dispositio, praeceptum, which is somewhat rejected by Lightfoot).
Categories: Church_History
