Reading the Church Fathers: Clement of Rome's Epistle to the Corinthians

Over the last two Fridays I've read Clement's epistle to the Corinthians as part of my 2015 reading plan.  Clement's letter is one of the earliest non-Scriptural church documents that we have today.  While it obviously doesn't carry the same weight and the authority as the God-breathed sacred writings, it does give us a window into the early church to see the beliefs and practices of the first generation of non-Apostolic Christians. 

Here are four brief observations I made while reading Clement.

Clement was a man saturated in Scripture. Throughout his lengthy letter, Clement repeatedly directly quotes and alludes to Scripture, both Old Testament and New.  He knew the Scriptures and his thinking was controlled by the Scriptures.  He praised the Corinthians using Scripture. He chastised the Corinthians using Scripture.  He exhorted the Corinthians using Scripture.  He encouraged the Corinthians using Scripture.  The words of Clement were his own, but the message was not his own.  He spoke as an ambassador of the King, not the originator of a new message.

There is a noticeable difference between Clement's writing and the God-breathed Scriptures.  One of the most notable elements of Clement's letter in my mind was his reference to the fable of the phoenix as a naturally occurring event that points to the resurrection of Jesus.  I don't hold Clement in low esteem for this. There was no Snopes in the first and second centuries to determine the truth of a legend.  The Scriptures are free from such errors though.  In all the Scriptural writings concerning nature, there is no reference to anything like the phoenix that we now know is not truth.   

Furthermore, reading passages like Ephesians 1:3-14 and 1 Peter 1:3-9 moves me beyond words. Even when reading the practical instructions of James there's a knowledge that I am reading the very words of God. Not so with Clement.  Feelings are very subjective, I know, but reading Clement and other non-Biblical authors is just not the same as reading God's word.

Clement labels those who are full of zeal for anything other than salvation as contentious and causing division.  It was Paul who delivered to the Corinthians as of first importance that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. And even in Paul's letters we see that the Corinthians were distracted by debates over other matters, a problem that obviously continued long beyond the life of Paul.  In chapter 45 Clement reminds them to stop being zealous for anything but salvation and, what else, look to the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and he told the first disciples he would make them fishers of men.  Christians who are not focused on the proclamation and defense of the gospel, no matter how good their other works may be, such as racial reconciliation and ending human trafficking, are off mission and need to become gospel people first and foremost.

Clement held the office of pastor in very high regard.  There is an idea today, that as best I can tell has been heavily influenced by Frank Viola's book Pagan Christianity, that the early church had no authority structure.  This is simply not true.  Clement is clear that those who serve as pastors must prove themselves qualified.  He accuses the Corinthians of great sin for removing faithful pastors from their office.  He tells those guilty of sedition to submit to and be subject to the presbyters.  The inherent distrust of authority and rebelliousness of Americans has led to a tragically low view of the office of pastor in the American church.  It is that low view that has in turn produced many unqualified pastors who have further damaged the reputation of the office.  The American church very much needs a Biblical understanding of the office of pastor and the expectations Scripture places on church members under the authority of qualified elders/pastors. 

So, my first reading of one the church fathers this year has been very thought-provoking and fruitful in my efforts to understand more of the church's long, rich history.  I thank God for faithful men like Clement of Rome who preached Christ crucified and demanded obedience to all of Scripture's teaching.