The Early Church Fathers: Clement

This week, I came into possession of a book set that I've wanted ever since my first freshman year (yes, that's right, I said first; there were 3) at Bible College. The Early Church Fathers set is almost 20,000 pages, 38 volumes, and spans the first few centuries of the early Christian Church. And now, it is my own ... my love ... my precious.

Since I can't foresee many of you rushing out to buy your own set, even if you ARE jealous (and you should be), I wanted to publish some of my thoughts on their writings here.

The first tome is a letter from Clement to the church in Corinth, penned some time between 40-100 AD. Right off the bat, I was surprised how similar (yet not the same) the text was to Scripture. Paul wrote 1 and 2 Corinthians, and I thought this might read like 3 Corinthians. In prose and in structure, it does, but there is a distinct lack of authority as compared to the former texts. If anyone questions the inspiration of the Scriptures, I'd recommend reading Paul's epistles and then Clement. You'll see what I'm saying. Here are a few observations on the first reading...

• Clement knew his Bible: Clement spends a great deal of time relating the conflicts in their church to situations that happened in scripture. He quotes from the Law, the Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs, and even the New Testament BEFORE IT WAS CALLED THE NEW TESTAMENT. I was amazed  and inspired to read more of my own Bible. This should serve as a direct contradiction to current undergrad Bible scholars who use Wikipedia to fill out their papers. Just sayin'.
• Church splits have ALWAYS been ugly: in 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to believers who are arguing with each other and are engaged in unbecoming immorality. In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes to give instruction as to how to restore those who were removed from the church on account of their immorality. In Clement's letter, he writes to choose hospitality and humility whenever possible, to give honor to the pastors/presbyters, and to remove themselves from fellowship if they couldn't stop being a source of contention. If I were ever to assist in a church on the verge of splitting, this would be required reading for both/all parties.
• Clement speaks of an Egyptian fable, the Pheonix, as though it is a veritable fact, and uses it to illustrate that nature reminds us of the coming resurrection. While reading, I had what I could only describe as a "one of these things is not like the others" moment. I can see why this one didn't make the cut for canonization. 

20 pages down, 1000 times that to go. Bring it on.