Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 7
Since we have demonstrated that Scripture calls all of us children, and that it also calls those of us who follow Christ infants in an allegorical sense—while affirming that only the Father of all is perfect, because the Son is in Him and the Father is in the Son—the time has come for us who follow this order to say who our Instructor is. He is called Jesus. When He sometimes calls Himself a shepherd and says, ‘I am the good shepherd,’ we are to understand by metaphor—drawing from shepherds who lead sheep—that the one who leads the children is the Instructor, the guardian shepherd of the infants; for infants are simple like sheep in the allegory. As it says, ‘And they will all become one flock and one shepherd.’ The Word is therefore fittingly the Instructor who leads us children to salvation. For the Word has spoken most clearly about Himself through Hosea, saying, ‘I am your Instructor’ (Hosea). The Instructor’s instruction is reverence for God—a lesson in the service of God and an upbringing toward the knowledge of truth, and a straight guidance that leads to heaven. The term “instruction” is used in many ways: for the activity of the one being led and learning, for the activity of the one leading and teaching, third for the guidance itself, and fourth for the things taught, such as the commandments. But the instruction that comes from God is a straightening of truth toward the contemplation of God and an impression of holy deeds in eternal abiding. Just as the general of the salvation of the mercenaries, by foresight, straightens the phalanx, and as the helmsman, intending to save the ship, steers it for the sake of those on board, so also the Instructor leads the children to the salvific way of life for the sake of our own guardianship; and in general, whatever we might reasonably ask from God to happen to us, these things will attend us if we obey the Instructor. For just as the helmsman does not always yield to the winds but sometimes resists every storm head-on, so also the Instructor never yields to the winds that blow in this world, nor does He ever permit them to drive the child, like a ship, against a savage and shameless way of life. Rather, lifted by the Spirit of truth alone, He firmly holds the child’s helm—I mean the ears—until He brings the child safely to harbor in the haven of the heavens. For the ancestral custom that people call ‘paternal’ has not yet passed away, but the divine guidance is a possession that endures forever.
Greek
Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἀπεδείξαμεν παῖδας ἡμᾶς τοὺς πάντας ὑπὸ τῆς γραφῆς καλουμένους οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς Χριστῷ κατηκολουθηκότας ἡμᾶς νηπίους ἀλληγορουμένους, μόνον δὲ εἶναι τέλειον τὸν πατέρα τῶν ὅλων (ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ ὁ πατήρ), ὥρα ἡμῖν ἑπομένοις τῇ τάξει καὶ τὸν παιδαγωγὸν ἡμῶν εἰπεῖν ὅστις ἐστί. καλεῖται δὲ Ἰησοῦς. ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε οὖν ποιμένα ἑαυτὸν καλεῖ καὶ λέγει »ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός«, κατὰ μεταφορὰν ἀπὸ τῶν ποιμένων τῶν καθηγουμένων τοῖς προβάτοις ὁ καθηγούμενος τῶν παιδίων παιδαγωγὸς νοούμενος, ὁ τῶν νηπίων κηδεμονικὸς ποιμήν· ἁπλοῖ γὰρ οἱ νήπιοι ὡς πρόβατα ἀλληγορούμενοι· »καὶ γενήσονται«, φησίν, »οἱ πάντες μία ποίμνη καὶ εἷς ποιμήν.« παιδαγωγὸς οὖν εἰκότως ὁ λόγος ὁ τοὺς παῖδας ἡμᾶς εἰς σωτηρίαν ἄγων. ἐναργέστατα γοῦν ὁ λόγος περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διὰ Ὠσηὲ εἴρηκεν »ἐγὼ δὲ παιδευτὴς ὑμῶν εἰμι«. παιδαγωγία δὲ ἡ θεοσέβεια, μάθησις οὖσα θεοῦ θεραπείας καὶ παίδευσις εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἀγωγή τε ὀρθὴ ἀνάγουσα εἰς οὐρανόν. Παιδαγωγία δε καλεῖται πολλαχῶς· καὶ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ ἀγομένου καὶ μανθάνοντος, καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἄγοντος καὶ διδάσκοντος, καὶ αὐτὴ τρίτον ἡ ἀγωγή, καὶ τὰ διδασκόμενα τέταρτον, οἷον αἱ ἐντολαί. ἔστι δὲ ἡ κατὰ τὸν θεὸν παιδαγωγία κατευθυσμὸς ἀληθείας εἰς ἐποπτείαν θεοῦ καὶ πράξεων ἁγίων ὑποτύπωσις ἐν αἰωνίῳ διαμονῇ. ὥσπερ οὖν κατευθύνει τὴν φάλαγγα ὁ στρατηγὸς τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν μισθοφόρων προμηθούμενος, καὶ ὡς ὁ κυβερνήτης οἰακίζει τὸ σκάφος σῴζειν προαιρούμενος τοὺς ἐμπλέοντας, οὕτως καὶ ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ἄγει τοὺς παῖδας ἐπὶ τὴν σωτήριον δίαιταν τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἕνεκεν κηδεμονίας· καὶ καθόλου ὁπόσα ἂν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐλόγως αἰτήσαιμεν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι, ταῦτα πειθομένοις τῷ παιδαγωγῷ περιέσται. ὅνπερ οὖν τρόπον ὁ κυβερνήτης οὐκ αἰεὶ τοῖς ἀνέμοις ὑπείκει, ἀντίπρῳρος δὲ ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε ὅλαις ἀνθίσταται καταιγίσιν, οὕτως ὁ παιδαγωγὸς οὐχὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τῷδε καταπνέουσιν ἀνέμοις ὑπείκει ποτὲ οὐδὲ ἐπιτρέπει αὐτοῖς τὸ παιδίον, ὥσπερ σκάφος, εἰς θηριώδη καὶ ἀσελγῆ προσρῆξαι δίαιταν, μόνῳ δὲ ἄρα τῷ ἀληθείας πνεύματι ἔπουρος ἀρθεὶς ἀντέχεται μάλα ἐρρωμένως τῶν οἰάκων τοῦ παιδός, τῶν ὤτων λέγω, ἕως ἂν ἀβλαβὲς καθορμίσῃ τὸ παιδίον εἰς τὸν λιμένα τῶν οὐρανῶν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πάτριον καλούμενον παρ᾿ ἀνθρώποις ἔθος ὅσον οὐδέπω παρέρχεται, ἡ δὲ ἀγωγὴ ἡ θεία κτῆμά ἐστιν εἰς ἀεὶ παραμένον.