Are judgement and punishment good? - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"In another way the useful is called good, not on account of its pleasing, but of its doing good. All which, therefore, is righteousness, being a good thing, both as virtue and as desirable for its own sake, and not as giving pleasure; for it does not judge in order to win favour, but dispenses to each according to his merits. And the beneficial follows the useful. Righteousness, therefore, has characteristics corresponding to all the aspects in which goodness is examined, both possessing equal properties equally. And things which are characterized by equal properties are equal and similar to each other. Righteousness is therefore a good thing." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

Clement continues to answer the question how a God who threatens and judges can still be good. However, first we must examine the nature of righteousness. Righteousness is good, not because it is pleasurable or always desirable, but because its benefits are good. Consider what the scriptures have to say of righteousness. "He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life." (Proverbs 11:19) "Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless." (Proverbs 13:6) "He who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life, righteousness and honor." (Proverbs 21:21) We perceive righteousness as good even though at times it judges our unrighteous behavior and threatens us with the results of a live lived in unrighteousness. "but the way of transgressors is hard." (Proverbs 13:15 KJV) If righteousness can be good even though it threatens and judges, can not also God?

"'How then,' say they, 'if the Lord loves man, and is good, is He angry and punishes?' We must therefore treat of this point with all possible brevity; for this mode of treatment is advantageous to the right training of the children, occupying the place of a necessary help. For many of the passions are cured by punishment, and by the inculcation of the sterner precepts, as also by instruction in certain principles." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

There are some things in our lives that are not cured by the gentle and mild. Some habits, sins, and passions require sterner medicine to effect a cure. Part of our instruction is the judgment of those things in our lives that are worthless and the persuasion to adopt habits, patterns, and thoughts that are beneficial and lead to a good and happy life. Just as in the raising of children, such instruction sometimes requires judgment, correction, and punishment. To clarify, Clement enumerates some of the sterner modes of instruction.

"For reproof is, as it were, the surgery of the passions of the soul; and the passions are, as it were, an abscess of the truth, which must be cut open by an incision of the lancet of reproof. Reproach is like the application of medicines, dissolving the callosities of the passions, and purging the impurities of the lewdness of the life; and in addition, reducing the excrescences of pride, restoring the patient to the healthy and true state of humanity. Admonition is, as it were, the regimen of the diseased soul, prescribing what it must take, and forbidding what it must not. And all these tend to salvation and eternal health." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

Not all of our Lord's instruction in our life is desirable or pleasurable, but it is always for our good. God uses these sterner forms of instruction because of His love for us in order that He might convey the greatest good to our lives. Judgment and punishment are not contraries to love; they both proceed forth from the one God who is love. Even in our daily examples we can easily see that one who is loving and who cares for our lives can, at the same time, out of necessity, be judgmental and punitive.

"Furthermore, the general of an army, by inflicting fines and corporeal punishments with chains and the extremest disgrace on offenders, and sometimes even by punishing individuals with death, aims at good, doing so for the admonition of the officers under him.Thus also He who is our great General, the Word, the Commander-in-chief of the universe, by admonishing those who throw off the restraints of His law, that He may effect their release from the slavery, error, and captivity of the adversary, brings them peacefully to the sacred concord of citizenship." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

Thus God is good all the time, even at times when He must judge and punish. Even then, He is still loving and good.

David Robison

Is God good? - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"At this stage some rise up, saying that the Lord, by reason of the rod, and threatening, and fear, is not good; misapprehending, as appears, the Scripture which says, 'And he that feareth the Lord will turn to his heart;' and most of all, oblivious of His love, in that for us He became man." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

Clement is beginning a refutation of those who claim that a judicious God, one who disciplines, corrects, judges, and threatens, cannot be a good and loving God. Clement asserts that those who hold such beliefs do so through a misapprehension or misunderstanding of the scriptures. While God at times may appear harsh and exacting in the scriptures, this does not contradict His goodness or negate His love for us. Over the course of this chapter (chapter 8), Clement will argue this point in greater detail, but first, he sets out to establish the point that in all ways and in all times God is good.

"For more suitably to Him, the prophet prays in these words: 'Remember us, for we are dust;' that is, Sympathize with us; for Thou knowest from personal experience of suffering the weakness of the flesh. In this respect, therefore, the Lord the Instructor is most good and unimpeachable, sympathizing as He does from the exceeding greatness of His love with the nature of each man." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of God's love for mankind is that He became a man, lived among us, died for our sins, and was resurrected to secure for us new life in Christ. God is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because He too was once a man and experienced the same struggles and temptations that we face, although without sin. Thus God showed Himself to be good in that He did for us what we could not do for ourselves; He gave us salvation when salvation was quite beyond our reach. For us, He became both the just and the justifier. "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." (Hebrews 2:14-15)

"'For there is nothing which the Lord hates.' For assuredly He does not hate anything, and yet wish that which He hates to exist. Nor does He wish anything not to exist, and yet become the cause of existence to that which He wishes not to exist. Nor does He wish anything not to exist which yet exists. If, then, the Word hates anything, He does not wish it to exist. But nothing exists, the cause of whose existence is not supplied by God. Nothing, then, is hated by God, nor yet by the Word... If then He hates none of the things which He has made, it follows that He loves them. Much more than the rest, and with reason, will He love man, the noblest of all objects created by Him, and a God-loving being. Therefore God is loving; consequently the Word is loving." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

Clement quotes from the Book of Wisdom, "For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned." (Wisdom 11:24 NAB) It must be remembered that such books were not yet considered apocryphal by the church at that time. Also, it's good to remember that many of these early writers were trained in logic and philosophy which can be seen in the construction of their arguments.

Clement's basic point is that nothing exists without God having willed it to exist therefor nothing exists that was not wanted and willed by God. Consequently, nothing created by God is hated by God rather loved by God for why would God create what He hates. Consequently, both God and the Word are loving. God loves all that He has made, especially man, which is the zenith of His creation.

"But he who loves anything wishes to do it good. And that which does good must be every way better than that which does not good. But nothing is better than the Good. The Good, then, does good. And God is admitted to be good. God therefore does good. And the Good, in virtue of its being good, does nothing else than do good. Consequently God does all good. And He does no good to man without caring for him, and He does not care for him without taking care of him. For that which does good purposely, is better than what does not good purposely. But nothing is better than God. And to do good purposely, is nothing else than to take care of man. God therefore cares for man, and takes care of him. And He shows this practically, in instructing him by the Word, who is the true coadjutor of God’s love to man." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 8)

To love something is to wish it good. God, therefore, not only loves us but wishes us good and, in wishing us good, does good to us. This good that God does for us is seen in how takes care of us. God not only cares for us but practically shows His care by caring for us. Caring for someone is purposefully doing of good for the one whom you care for. For God, this care for us is shown, in part, in His instruction towards us; His teaching, guiding, directing, and correcting of our lives. It is a care that is practical and visceral not merely theoretical and mental. In all these things it is right and true to say God is good.

More to come...

David Robison

From Moses to Christ - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"It is He also who teaches Moses to act as instructor. For the Lord says, 'If any one sin before Me, him will I blot out of My book; but now, go and lead this people into the place which I told thee.' Here He is the teacher of the art of instruction. For it was really the Lord that was the instructor of the ancient people by Moses; but He is the instructor of the new people by Himself, face to face." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

Instruction was not wanting before the advent of Christ, however, it was an instruction through the agency of a mediator. For while God instructed Moses who then instructed the people, now God instructs us face-to-face having taken away our intermediator and having appeared Himself to take away our sins and to lead us into the right path. Having been brought into right relations with God, we are now instructed by God, face-to-face, as a father to his child. No more must we depend in the intermediation of another, for we can approach God directly for whatever we might need.

"For the same who is Instructor is judge, and judges those who disobey Him; and the loving Word will not pass over their transgression in silence. He reproves, that they may repent. For 'the Lord willeth the repentance of the sinner rather than his death.' And let us as babes, hearing of the sins of others, keep from similar transgressions, through dread of the threatening, that we may not have to undergo like sufferings... Who, then, would train us more lovingly than He? Formerly the older people had an old covenant, and the law disciplined the people with fear, and the Word was an angel; but to the fresh and new people has also been given a new covenant, and the Word has appeared, and fear is turned to love, and that mystic angel is born—Jesus. For this same Instructor said then, 'Thou shalt fear the Lord God;' but to us He has addressed the exhortation, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.'" (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

There is no instruction without rebuke. While one may teach without regard to the obedience of their students, the goal if instruction is obedience by those who are instructed. Instruction calls us into obedience to the one instructing us and, when obedience is lacking, instruction provides adequate rebuke and discipline to restore us back to obedience and the right way. Under the Old Covenant, obedience was secured by fear; fear of rejection by God, fear of capital punishment, and fear of being excommunicated from the life of Israel. However, under the New Covenant, our obedience is secured by love; God's love for our and our love for Him. The law was a hash task master, requiring obedience before acceptance, yet Jesus is the loving Son of God who, after loving and accepting us, prompts us to obedience through our love for Him.

"Now the law is ancient grace given through Moses by the Word. Wherefore also the Scripture says, 'The law was given through Moses,' not by Moses, but by the Word, and through Moses His servant. Wherefore it was only temporary; but eternal grace and truth were by Jesus Christ. Mark the expressions of Scripture: of the law only is it said 'was given;' but truth being the grace of the Father, is the eternal work of the Word; and it is not said to be given, but to be by Jesus, without whom nothing was." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

We often don't think of the Law as being a form of grace. We may even think of the Law as something evil, enslavish, and separate from the love of God. However, this is not the case. The Law was given through the grace of God to teach us what is right and good and to prepare us for the coming Christ. God's grace, or favor, was shown to His chosen people in that they were chosen to receive His law. Paul writes, "who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 9:4-5) and "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully" (1 Timothy 1:8) The Law is good an holy, but it also represents a temporary grace. The Law "was given" while the grace Jesus brings is who He is. One is given for a time and one remains forever. Thus, Moses speaks of another Instructor to come:

"'A prophet,' says he, 'like Me shall God raise up to you of your brethren,' pointing out Jesus the Son of God... 'Him shall ye hear;' and, 'The man who will not hear that Prophet,' him He threatens. Such a name, then, he predicts as that of the Instructor, who is the author of salvation. Wherefore prophecy invests Him with a rod, a rod of discipline, of rule, of authority; that those whom the persuasive word heals not, the threatening may heal; and whom the threatening heals not, the rod may heal; and whom the rod heals not, the fire may devour." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

As our eternal Instructor, Jesus comes with a full complement of tools to instruct, train, discipline, and direct: He persuades, He warns, He disciplines, and, if need be, He judges. All this that He might train a generation of righteous sons and daughters.

"For to be chastised of the Lord, and instructed, is deliverance from death. And by the same prophet He says: 'Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron.' Thus also the apostle, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, being moved, says, 'What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, in the spirit of meekness?' Also, 'The Lord shall send the rod of strength out of Sion,' He says by another prophet. And this same rod of instruction, 'Thy rod and staff have comforted me,' said some one else. Such is the power of the Instructor—sacred, soothing, saving." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

What a loving God who does not withhold anything meant for our benefit. How great is His commitment to our instruction that even when we are not willing He is still willing. What a great and loving Instructor we have.

David Robison

Human vs Divine Instruction - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"What is called by men an ancestral custom passes away in a moment, but the divine guidance is a possession which abides for ever." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

Part of our earthly instruction is to learn about the culture we live in and their manors and ways of living so we can become productive members of society. However, culture and manors are an always moving target. We could no longer live today as the Romans in Clement's day did as they could in ours. Living in harmony with society and its culture is a good thing, but its not an eternal thing. Man's instruction is for the moment, but God's instruction is for eternity.

"They say that Phoenix was the instructor of Achilles, and Adrastus of the children of Croesus; and Leonides of Alexander, and Nausithous of Philip. But Phoenix was womenmad, Adrastus was a fugitive... Those have not escaped our attention who are called royal instructors among the Persians; whom, in number four, the kings of the Persians select with the greatest care from all the Persians and set over their sons. But the children only learn the use of the bow, and on reaching maturity have sexual intercourse with sisters, and mothers, and women, wives and courtesans innumerable, practiced in intercourse like the wild boars." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

Worldly instruction has value, but it fails to teach us what we really need to know; how to live righteous and godly lives. What good is instruction that trains the mind for here and now without also providing instruction that trains the soul for eternity? Worldly teaching can change the mind but what can change the soul? Fortunately, we have a heavenly instructor that teaches the eternal ways of God.

"But our Instructor is the holy God Jesus, the Word, who is the guide of all humanity. The loving God Himself is our Instructor. Somewhere in song the Holy Spirit says with regard to Him, 'He provided sufficiently for the people in the wilderness. He led him about in the thirst of summer heat in a dry land, and instructed him, and kept him as the apple of His eye, as an eagle protects her nest, and shows her fond solicitude for her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, and bears them on her back. The Lord alone led them, and there was no strange god with them.' Clearly, I trow, has the Scripture exhibited the Instructor in the account it gives of His guidance." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

Our instructor, who trains our minds in the understanding of God and our souls in the doing of what is right, is God Himself. God has not left this work to human instructors but instructs His children Himself. Consider what Paul says, "which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit," (1 Corinthians 2:13) and "for you yourselves are taught by God." (1 Thessalonians 4:9) We have not been left alone, we have a heavenly instructor to train, lead, and guide us. He it is that we should listen to.

David Robison

Teaching and Instruction - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"Since, then, we have shown that all of us are by Scripture called children; and not only so, but that we who have followed Christ are figuratively called babes; and that the Father of all alone is perfect, for the Son is in Him, and the Father is in the Son; it is time for us in due course to say who our Instructor is." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

Many of the early Christian writers had a propensity for thoroughness, almost to the point of "OK I got it, now lets move on!" Having taken great pains to show that, no matter how old we are or how long we walk with the Lord, we are still His children and still in need of His instruction, he now turns to identifying for us who our instructor is, and it should not surprise us that our instructor is Jesus.

"He is called Jesus. Sometimes He calls Himself a shepherd, and says, 'I am the good Shepherd.' According to a metaphor drawn from shepherds, who lead the sheep, is hereby understood the Instructor, who leads the children—the Shepherd who tends the babes. For the babes are simple, being figuratively described as sheep. 'And they shall all,' it is said, 'be one flock, and one shepherd.' The Word, then, who leads the children to salvation, is appropriately called the Instructor (Pædagogue)." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

Jesus is our instructor not because He teaches us, although He does, but because He leads us to salvation and life eternal. Growing up I had many teachers that taught me many things but I had few instructors that lead me to where I wanted and needed to go. Even today there are many Bible expositors that can teach us many valuable things about the scriptures and the message they contain, but what use is learning if we remain uncertain about our destination or the path we need to take to arrive at our desired destination. We need more than a teacher, we need an instructor.

"With the greatest clearness, accordingly, the Word has spoken respecting Himself by Hosea: 'I am your Instructor.' Now piety is instruction, being the learning of the service of God, and training in the knowledge of the truth, and right guidance which leads to heaven. And the word 'instruction' is employed variously. For there is the instruction of him who is led and learns, and that of him who leads and teaches; and there is, thirdly, the guidance itself; and fourthly, what is taught, as the commandments enjoined." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

The end result of instruction looks like piety. Webster defines piety as that which is "marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship." However, Clement defines piety as having learned how to serve God, having trained ourselves to obey the truth, and having followed the pathway to salvation. The more we attain in these three areas of our lives, the greater is our piety before God. Similarly, there are many aspects of instruction; there is the learning of who we are, of who God is, the path to take from here to there, and the specific commandments that are taught to lead us along the way. However, regardless of the form it takes, what matters most is not information, but direction.

"Now the instruction which is of God is the right direction of truth to the contemplation of God, and the exhibition of holy deeds in everlasting perseverance." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

The goal of God's instruction in our lives is first to know God and second to imitate God through "holy deeds." True education is not just learning but it is also the assimilation of what we have learned into our lives. It is not enough just to know God but we are to also imitate God in and through our lives. We are to be "conformed to the image of His Son." (Romans 8:29)

"As therefore the general directs the phalanx, consulting the safety of his soldiers, and the pilot steers the vessel, desiring to save the passengers; so also the Instructor guides the children to a saving course of conduct, through solicitude for us; and, in general, whatever we ask in accordance with reason from God to be done for us, will happen to those who believe in the Instructor. And just as the helmsman does not always yield to the winds, but sometimes, turning the prow towards them, opposes the whole force of the hurricanes; so the Instructor never yields to the blasts that blow in this world, nor commits the child to them like a vessel to make shipwreck on a wild and licentious course of life; but, wafted on by the favouring breeze of the Spirit of truth, stoutly holds on to the child’s helm,—his ears, I mean,—until He bring him safe to anchor in the haven of heaven." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 7)

God instructs and directs us because He cares for us. He has taken upon Himself the care and salvation of all of mankind making it is aim to deliver as many as possible from the condemnation of hell. Just as the general directs his solders having concern for their safety, and just as a pilot steers his ship with the lives of those on board in mind, so does God direct our lives through His solicitude for us. However, as a good instructor, God does not always give us what we want but He always gives us what we need. Even as parents we sometimes give our children what they need rather than what they desire and so does God. When God forbids some behavior and encourages others it is because He knows what is best for us and has our best interests and salvation at heart. What a beautiful picture Clement paints of God being firmly in control of our lives, directing us into the ways of salvation  and eternal life. What more could we ask for from our Instructor?

David Robison

The nourisher - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"The blood of the Word has been also exhibited as milk. Milk being thus provided in parturition, is supplied to the infant; and the breasts, which till then looked straight towards the husband, now bend down towards the child, being taught to furnish the substance elaborated by nature in a way easily received for salutary nourishment. For the breasts are not like fountains full of milk, flowing in ready prepared; but, by effecting a change in the nutriment, form the milk in themselves, and discharge it. And the nutriment suitable and wholesome for the new-formed and new-born babe is elaborated by God, the nourisher and the Father of all that are generated and regenerated." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Clement, having contended that the milk of the Word and the blood of His Son are one and the same, proceeds to identify the allegorical reality of both the blood and the milk.

"Further, pregnant women, on becoming mothers, discharge milk. But the Lord Christ, the fruit of the Virgin, did not pronounce the breasts of women blessed, nor selected them to give nourishment; but when the kind and loving Father had rained down the Word, Himself became spiritual nourishment to the good. O mystic marvel! The universal Father is one, and one the universal Word; and the Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere, and one is the only virgin mother. I love to call her the Church. This mother, when alone, had not milk, because alone she was not a woman. But she is once virgin and mother—pure as a virgin, loving as a mother. And calling her children to her, she nurses them with holy milk, viz., with the Word for childhood. Therefore she had not milk; for the milk was this child fair and comely, the body of Christ, which nourishes by the Word the young brood, which the Lord Himself brought forth in throes of the flesh, which the Lord Himself swathed in His precious blood... The Word is all to the child, both father and mother and tutor and nurse... Such is the suitable food which the Lord ministers, and He offers His flesh and pours forth His blood, and nothing is wanting for the children’s growth. O amazing mystery! We are enjoined to cast off the old and carnal corruption, as also the old nutriment, receiving in exchange another new regimen, that of Christ, receiving Him if we can, to hide Him within; and that, enshrining the Saviour in our souls, we may correct the affections of our flesh." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Christ Himself has become our nourishment and He has become the sum total of all we need. Jesus has become our all in all. He is all we need to grow both strong, spiritual, and righteous. Furthermore, He has called together His church that within her His children might be cared for and nursed upon the true nourishment who is the Word of God. The church is not the nourishment, but by her loving care she call His young to gather together and to be feed on the true meat and true drink of the Word. However, we must not look to the church nor to the written word as our nourishers, for neither of these are, though they contain nourishment, rather we must look to the Father who is the true nourisher of us all.

"The flesh figuratively represents to us the Holy Spirit; for the flesh was created by Him. The blood points out to us the Word, for as rich blood the Word has been infused into life; and the union of both is the Lord, the food of the babes—the Lord who is Spirit and Word. The food—that is, the Lord Jesus—that is, the Word of God, the Spirit made flesh, the heavenly flesh sanctified. The nutriment is the milk of the Father, by which alone we infants are nourished. The Word Himself, then, the beloved One, and our nourisher, hath shed His own blood for us, to save humanity; and by Him, we, believing on God, flee to the Word, 'the care-soothing breast' of the Father. And He alone, as is befitting, supplies us children with the milk of love, and those only are truly blessed who suck this breast." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Jesus is our nourishment and the Father our nourisher. All of life begins and ends with God. He is the "Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 22:13) All who seek Him will find food, nourishment, and love.

"Thus to Christ the fulfilling of His Father’s will was food; and to us infants, who drink the milk of the word of the heavens, Christ Himself is food. Hence seeking is called sucking; for to those babes that seek the Word, the Father’s breasts of love supply milk." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

In our hunger and need for food, true food, let us return to the Father, who lovingly feeds and nourishes us, and to the Son, who is our nourishment, that we might be strengthened and grow in all things pertaining to life.

David Robison

On theories of milk - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"Elsewhere the Lord, in the Gospel according to John, brought this out by symbols, when He said: 'Eat ye my flesh, and drink my blood;' describing distinctly by metaphor the drinkable properties of faith and the promise, by means of which the Church, like a human being consisting of many members, is refreshed and grows, is welded together and compacted of both,—of faith, which is the body, and of hope, which is the soul; as also the Lord of flesh and blood. For in reality the blood of faith is hope, in which faith is held as by a vital principle. And when hope expires, it is as if blood flowed forth; and the vitality of faith is destroyed." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

In describing our universal nourishment by milk and meat, Clement next turns to the metaphorical expressions of eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood. Clement did not in anyway expect us to actually be eating His literal flesh and drinking His literal blood, but saw then as metaphors of our nourishment in Christ. What is interesting, as a side note, is the connection Clement sees between hope and faith. Hope is the blood that gives rise to the flesh of faith; you cannot have faith if you lack hope; and hope, once extinguished, also extinguishes the faith within us. We can see why Paul names faith and hope as two of the three external virtues of mankind, since one cannot exist without the other. This also reminds us how important it is to give hope to others, even to a dying world. Without hope, even those aware of their own lost condition will not believe, for why believe for what one does not hope for? Hope of salvation leads to faith for salvation that leads to actual salvation.

Clement sees our nourishment on milk and meat the same as our drinking Christ's blood and eating His flesh. Clement teaches us the latest science of his day and its understanding on the relationship between blood and milk.

"For the blood is found to be an original product in man, and some have consequently ventured to call it the substance of the soul. And this blood, transmuted by a natural process of assimilation in the pregnancy of the mother, through the sympathy of parental affection, effloresces and grows old, in order that there may be no fear for the child. Blood, too, is the moister part of flesh, being a kind of liquid flesh; and milk is the sweeter and finer part of blood. For whether it be the blood supplied to the foetus, and sent through the navel of the mother, or whether it be the menses themselves shut out from their proper passage, and by a natural diffusion, bidden by the all-nourishing and creating God, proceed to the already swelling breasts, and by the heat of the spirits transmuted, [whether it be the one or the other] that is formed into food desirable for the babe, that which is changed is the blood." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

The men of science, in Clement's day, believed milk to be a transmuted form of blood; consistent in essence while differing in form and appearance. Scientists also derived multiple theories on how such a change occurred.

"For of all the members, the breasts have the most sympathy with the womb. When there is parturition, the vessel by which blood was conveyed to the foetus is cut off: there is an obstruction of the flow, and the blood receives an impulse towards the breasts; and on a considerable rush taking place, they are distended, and change the blood to milk in a manner analogous to the change of blood into pus in ulceration. Or if, on the other hand, the blood from the veins in the vicinity of the breasts, which have been opened in pregnancy, is poured into the natural hollows of the breasts; and the spirit discharged from the neighbouring arteries being mixed with it, the substance of the blood, still remaining pure, it becomes white by being agitated like a wave; and by an interruption such as this is changed by frothing it, like what takes place with the sea, which at the assaults of the winds, the poets say, “spits forth briny foam.” Yet still the essence is supplied by the blood." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

As very modern people of the twenty first century, we may find such ideas odd, comical, and even reproachful, but there are several things we must remind ourselves of as we continue to read and understand Clement's writings. First, throughout the rest of chapter six, Clement will use this assumed relationship between milk and blood to draw allegorical understandings from the scripture. As we read his conclusions we must not be quick to discount them because we no longer agree with his science. In his writings, Clement is not contending for the scientific equality between blood and milk, rather he is trying to show us that, of all the nourishments mentioned in the scriptures, that they are all found in the Person of Christ. Furthermore, there is not one nourishment for children in the faith and one for adults in the faith. In his day there were those who tough one thing to new converts while the hidden truths were reserved for those who had progressed up the ladder of spirituality and enlightenment. Not so in the Kingdom of God.

Secondly, it can be tempting to view Clement and the men of his age as men of small minds, limited understanding, and, in many ways, as inferior to us. Clement represents some of the brightest and most highly trained people of his day. He was a scholar and extensively trained in science, philosophy, morality, and ethics. He lived in a culture that was well-developed and that contributed much of its thinking and ideas to our culture today. Clement, and men like him, were not some kind of prehistoric caveman with funny ideas and ways, they were, in may respects, men just like us and, in other ways, even more advanced than us; people we could learn a lot from.

Finally, Clement's theories on milk should caution us about basing our faith and our understanding of God on the teachings of science. We can be quick to point out the false teachings of science of old, but often fail to consider that many of our current teachings of science may later prove to be false teachings by the science of the future. If science has taught us anything it is that those teachings that we cherish as "truths" often turn out be be the same teachings that are laughed at by those in the future. We laugh at the idea that the world is flat, or that milk is really frothed blood, but two thousand years from now will people laugh at our ideas of evolution or of the Earth really being billions and billions of years old? To build faith upon science is like building a house on shifting sand.

David Robison

From milk to meat - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"Having reached this point, we must defend our childhood. And we have still to explain what is said by the apostle: 'I have fed you with milk (as children in Christ), not with meat; for ye were not able, neither yet are ye now able.' For it does not appear to me that the expression is to be taken in a Jewish sense; for I shall oppose to it also that Scripture, 'I will bring you into that good land which flows with milk and honey.' A very great difficulty arises in reference to the comparison of these Scriptures, when we consider." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Clement continues his defense for our continued childhood in God and our continued need for an Instructor. Here he is taking up the words of the apostle and the words of the scripture; one seeming to indicate that milk is only for the young and the other indicating that milk was to be part of our rest in the promise land, a rest that accompanies arrival, perfection, and maturity.

"For if the infancy which is characterized by the milk is the beginning of faith in Christ, then it is disparaged as childish and imperfect. How is the rest that comes after the meat, the rest of the man who is perfect and endowed with knowledge, again distinguished by infant milk? Does not this, as explaining a parable, mean something like this, and is not the expression to be read somewhat to the following effect: 'I have fed you with milk in Christ;' and after a slight stop, let us add, 'as children,' that by separating the words in reading we may make out some such sense as this: I have instructed you in Christ with simple, true, and natural nourishment,—namely, that which is spiritual: for such is the nourishing substance of milk swelling out from breasts of love." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Clement's contention is that milk, while appropriate for children, is is also useful for adults; milk simply referring to that which is simple, pure, and spiritual not that which is only for infants. While we grow up on the "pure milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2) we never grow out of our need of it or for its regenerative properties in our lives. Even as adults, we all need milk along with meat. Thus milk to to be part of our diet no matter how long we walk with the Lord.

"Thus, then, the milk which is perfect is perfect nourishment, and brings to that consummation which cannot cease. Wherefore also the same milk and honey were promised in the rest. Rightly, therefore, the Lord again promises milk to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly shown to be both, 'the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end;' the Word being figuratively represented as milk." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

However, Paul's words to the Corinthians that they could not eat meat but only drink milk was not because they remained children and had not grown into manhood but was because they were still acting carnal and not spiritual.

"so that the carnal may be understood as those recently instructed, and still babes in Christ. For he called those who had already believed on the Holy Spirit spiritual, and those newly instructed and not yet purified carnal; whom with justice he calls still carnal, as minding equally with the heathen the things of the flesh" (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Clement also reminds us that Paul says that he gave them milk to "drink" while infants "suck." Here obviously not separating milk for infants and meat for grownups.

"In saying, therefore, 'I have given you milk to drink,' has he not indicated the knowledge of the truth, the perfect gladness in the Word, who is the milk? And what follows next, 'not meat, for ye were not able,' may indicate the clear revelation in the future world, like food, face to face. “For now we see as through a glass,” the same apostle says, 'but then face to face.' Wherefore also he has added, 'neither yet are ye now able, for ye are still carnal,' minding the things of the flesh,—desiring, loving, feeling jealousy, wrath, envy." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

So what distinguishes milk from meat? Clement believes that the milk and the meat of the Word do not differ in substance, but in their administration and application to our life.

"regarding the meat not as something different from the milk, but the same in substance. For the very same Word is fluid and mild as milk, or solid and compact as meat. And entertaining this view, we may regard the proclamation of the Gospel, which is universally diffused, as milk; and as meat, faith, which from instruction is compacted into a foundation, which, being more substantial than hearing, is likened to meat, and assimilates to the soul itself nourishment of this kind." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Both milk and meat represent the Word of God and both are valuable in our lives. It is the milk that grows us up in Christ and the meat, along with the milk, that sustains us in our walk with the Lord. Milk is applicable for everyone, but as we learn to discern the Lord's voice and discipline our lives in obedience to that "milk", we grow in our ability to eat and assimilate meat. Milk is for everyone, but meat is only beneficial to the trained.

David Robison

When I was a child - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"Wherefore those things which have been concealed from the wise and prudent of this present world have been revealed to babes. Truly, then, are we the children of God, who have put aside the old man, and stripped off the garment of wickedness, and put on the immortality of Christ; that we may become a new, holy people by regeneration, and may keep the man undefiled. And a babe, as God’s little one, is cleansed from fornication and wickedness." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Clement contends that all who have fled from wickedness to righteousness, from death to immortality, from the old man to the new man in Christ, are children of God. As children, we are in need of an instructor and we have found one in Christ. However, if we are all children, then what does it mean when Paul said, "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11) Is our childhood in God and our need for an Instructor something that we should seek to outgrow? Is our need for an instructor to be seen as something lacking in ourselves or as a sign of immaturity? This is how Clement understands this saying by Paul.

"And the expression, 'When I was a child, I thought as a child, I spake as a child,' points out his mode of life according to the law, according to which, thinking childish things, he persecuted, and speaking childish things he blasphemed the Word, not as having yet attained to the simplicity of childhood, but as being in its folly... 'When I became a man,' again Paul says, 'I put away childish things.' It is not incomplete size of stature, nor a definite measure of time, nor additional secret teachings in things that are manly and more perfect, that the apostle, who himself professes to be a preacher of childishness, alludes to when he sends it, as it were, into banishment; but he applies the name 'children' to those who are under the law, who are terrified by fear as children are by bugbears; and 'men' to us who are obedient to the Word and masters of ourselves, who have believed, and are saved by voluntary choice, and are rationally, not irrationally, frightened by terror." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

When Paul was referring to his time as a child he was referring to his time under the law; trying to live by the law yet still blaspheming and persecuting the truth. However, when the truth of God came into his life he put away his life under the law and gave himself to more manly pursuits such as the obedience to the Word and mastery over himself.

One of the key difference between life under the law and life in Christ is the connection to terror. There is a fear that produces awe and a fear that produces terror. Those under the law live in terror of the law and the judgment that it demands upon its transgressors. However, those who live in Christ live in peace and in awe of God. The love of God has replaced the terror of the law as John said, "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." (1 John 4:17-18)

Thus Clement interprets this saying of Paul's as,

"Wherefore the expression, When I was a child,' may be elegantly expounded thus: that is, when I was a Jew (for he was a Hebrew by extraction) I thought as a child, when I followed the law; but after becoming a man, I no longer entertain the sentiments of a child, that is, of the law, but of a man, that is, of Christ, whom alone the Scripture calls man, as we have said before. 'I put away childish things.' But the childhood which is in Christ is maturity, as compared with the law." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

One is our childhood in relationship to our Instructor and the other of our manhood in relationship to the Law; one who has matured in Christ and no longer needs the tutelage of the Law. One having escaped sin and found righteousness in God and one having escaped the law and found freedom in Christ.

David Robison

The illumination of knowledge - The Instructor

This is a continuation of my series on Clement of Alexandria and his book, "The Instructor." If you are new to this series or are unfamiliar with Clement and his book, you may want to first read the introduction to this series.

"As, then, inexperience comes to an end by experience, and perplexity by finding a clear outlet, so by illumination must darkness disappear. The darkness is ignorance, through which we fall into sins, purblind as to the truth. Knowledge, then, is the illumination we receive, which makes ignorance disappear, and endows us with clear vision. Further, the abandonment of what is bad is the adopting of what is better. For what ignorance has bound ill, is by knowledge loosed well; those bonds are with all speed slackened by human faith and divine grace, our transgressions being taken away by one Poeonian medicine, the baptism of the Word. We are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangled in evil." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Paul, writing of our past sins says, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent." (Acts 17:30) Clement describes the darkness that is in us, a darkness that is due to ignorance; ignorance as to who God is, ignorance of His love for us, ignorance of His will and plan for our lives. It is in this ignorance of the truth that we stumble along in sin, transgressing the good way of God, and straying on a path of our own making. As our sin flows out of our ignorance, the remedy of sin is not to try and repress sin but rather to correct our ignorance with truth. There is one remedy for this ignorance and it is the baptism of the Word. Here Clement is not referring to water baptism or the baptism by which we join the church, but a baptism into God's Word and that Word is Jesus Christ.

"This is the one grace of illumination, that our characters are not the same as before our washing. And since knowledge springs up with illumination, shedding its beams around the mind, the moment we hear, we who were untaught become disciples... For that faith is the one universal salvation of humanity, and that there is the same equality before the righteous and loving God, and the same fellowship between Him and all." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

There is one faith that leads to salvation, one illumination of the soul that cleanses it from darkness, and one regeneration that changes us from the inside out. It is this transformation that unites us all as believers. It is our common participation in faith, illumination, and regeneration that makes us one. 

"Then he subjoined the utterance, clear of all partiality: 'For ye are all the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.' There are not, then, in the same Word some 'illuminated (gnostics); and some animal (or natural) men;' but all who have abandoned the desires of the flesh are equal and spiritual before the Lord. And again he writes in another place: 'For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and we have all drunk of one cup.'"  (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

In Clement's day there were several who attempted to make distinctions between those who thought themselves spiritual. For example, the Marcionites believed themselves to be of a higher enlightenment than others; they had obtained a higher knowledge and understanding that made themselves spiritual while all other men were animal. There were also the Montanist who claimed to be filled with and submitted to the Paraclete (the Holy Spirit). They believed themselves to be the truly spiritual believers while all other believers were "Psychics" or carnal Christians. In our day, during the Charismatic renewal, I saw the same distinctions being drawn. There were those who were "filled with the Spirit" and there was everyone else. The truth is, however, for all who have been illuminated by the Word of God, they have become spiritual. No longer living by the light of human wisdom and understanding, but living by a divine Word and revelation. It is the receiving of this Light that makes us spiritual and makes us one as believers.

"therefore, we also, repenting of our sins, renouncing our iniquities, purified by baptism, speed back to the eternal light, children to the Father. Jesus therefore, rejoicing in the spirit, said: 'I thank Thee, O Father, God of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes;' the Master and Teacher applying the name babes to us, who are readier to embrace salvation than the wise in the world, who, thinking themselves wise, are inflated with pride." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 6)

Those who seek to make distinctions among believers often see themselves as being superior in some way; by some special knowledge, some extraordinary experience, or some powerful endowment. Such people would often cringe at the thought of being referred to as "babes" by the scriptures. However, what makes us special to God is not the degree of our knowledge, the depth of our experience, or the rarity of our endowments, but our eagerness and readiness to return to our Father and to embrace His salvation over our lives; it is our child-like faith that drawing us back to Him, reaching up to Him for His light, love, and salvation.

David Robison