Reading Scripture: Types and Figures
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 7
Since we have demonstrated that all of us are called children by Scripture—not merely in name, but also because we who follow Christ are allegorically termed infants—and that the Father of all alone is perfect (for the Son is in Him and the Father is in the Son), the moment has come for us, in due order, to identify our Pedagogue. He is called Jesus. When He sometimes calls Himself a shepherd and declares, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11), He speaks by metaphor from the shepherds who lead the flock; the One who leads the children is understood as a Pedagogue, the guardian shepherd of the infants, since the infants are simple as sheep in the allegory. As He says, "And they shall become one flock, one shepherd." The Word, therefore, is fittingly our Pedagogue, leading us children to salvation. The Word has spoken most clearly about Himself through Hosea, saying, "I am your pedagogue." Pedagogy is reverence for God: instruction in the service of God and upbringing toward the knowledge of truth, and straight guidance that leads to heaven. The term "pedagogy" is used in several senses: the condition of the one being led and learning, the office of the one leading and teaching, the guidance itself, and the things taught—such as the commandments. But the pedagogy that comes from God is the straightening of truth toward the contemplation of God and the patterning of holy deeds in eternal abiding. Just as the general of the mercenaries' salvation, by foresight, aligns the phalanx, and as the helmsman, intending to save those on board, steers the ship, so also the Pedagogue leads the children to the salvific way of life out of guardianship for us; and in general, whatever we might reasonably ask from God to befall us, these things will attend us if we obey the Pedagogue. Just as the helmsman does not always yield to the winds, but sometimes stands against the whole storm, so the Pedagogue never yields to the winds that blow in this world, nor does He permit them to drive the child, like a ship, into a savage and licentious way of life. Instead, lifted by the Spirit of truth alone, He holds the child's sails—I mean the ears—firm and fast, until He brings the child safely to harbor in the haven of the heavens. For the so-called paternal custom among men has not yet passed away, but the divine guidance is a possession that remains forever. They say Phoenix was Achilles' pedagogue and Adrastus the pedagogue of Croesus' children, Leonidas of Alexander and Nausithous of Philip. Yet Phoenix was a womanizer, Adrastus a fugitive; Leonidas did not restrain the Macedonian's pride, nor did Nausithous cure the drunkard from Pella; the Thracian Zopyrus could not check Alcibiades' prostitution, and Zopyrus himself was a slave for sale; and Sicinnus, pedagogue of Themistocles' children, was a lazy servant—they say he invented and practiced dancing the sicinnis.
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. Ἀχιλλέως μὲν οὖν παιδαγωγὸν τὸν Φοίνικά φασι γεγονέναι καὶ τῶν Κροίσου παίδων Ἄδραστον, Ἀλεξάνδρου δὲ Λεωνίδην καὶ Φιλίππου Ναυσίθοον. ἀλλ᾿ ὃ μὲν γυναικομανής, ὁ Φοῖνιξ, ἦν, ὃ δὲ φυγάς, ὁ Ἄδραστος, ἦν, Λεωνίδης δὲ οὐ περιεῖλεν τὸν τῦφον τοῦ Μακεδόνος οὐδὲ Ναυσίθοος μεθύοντα τὸν ἐκ Πέλλης ἰάσατο· Ἀλκιβιάδου δὲ τὴν πορνείαν ὁ Θρᾷξ ἐπισχεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυσεν Ζώπυρος, ἀλλ᾿ ὠνητὸν ἀνδράποδον ὁ Ζώπυρος ἦν, καὶ τῶν Θεμιστοκλέους παίδων ὁ παιδαγωγὸς Σίκιννος οἰκέτης ῥᾴθυμος ἦν· ὀρχεῖσθαί φασιν αὐτὸν καὶ σικιννίζειν εὑρηκέναι.