Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved? · §30 · Clement of Alexandria

Christ receives service to his disciples as service to himself

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Clement is explaining that the second way of loving Christ is to honor and care for those who have believed in him, and he quotes the judgment scene from Matthew 25 to show that Christ counts service to his least brothers as service to himself.

So the first person is the one who loves Christ. The second is the one who honors and cares for those who have believed in him. For whatever someone does for a disciple, the Lord receives as done to himself and makes it entirely his own. "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you gathered me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him, saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and gather you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Then, from the opposite side, he casts into the eternal fire those who did not provide these things to them, because they did not provide them to him.

Greek

Πρῶτος μὲν οὖν οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸν ἀγαπῶν. δεύτερος δὲ ὁ τοὺς ἐκείνῳ πεπιστευκότας τιμῶν καὶ περιέπων. ὃ γὰρ ἄν τις εἰς μαθητὴν ἐργάσηται, τοῦτο εἰς ἑαυτὸν ὁ κύριος ἐκδέχεται καὶ πᾶν ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖται. »δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, καὶ ἐδίψησα καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι πιεῖν. καὶ ξένος ἤμην καὶ συνηγάγετέ με. γυμνὸς ἤμην καὶ ἐνεδύσατέ με, ἠσθένησα καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με, ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην καὶ ἤλθετε πρός με. τότε ἀποκριθήσονται αὐτῷ οἱ δίκαιοι λέγοντες· κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν, ἢ διψῶντα καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν; πότε δὲ εἴδομέν σε ξένον καὶ συνηγάγομεν. ἢ γυμνὸν καὶ περιεβάλομεν; ἢ πότε σε εἴδομεν ἀσθενοῦντα καὶ ἐπεσκεψάμεθα; ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ ἤλθομεν πρὸς σέ; ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν. ἐφ᾿ ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων. ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε.« πάλιν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων τοὺς ταῦτα μὴ παρασχόντας αὐτοῖς εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐμβάλλει τὸ αἰώνιον, ὡς αὐτῷ μὴ παρεσχηκότας.

About this text

Clement explains Jesus' saying about the camel and the needle's eye, and shows how a rich person may be saved.

This homily was written by Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215), a Greek Christian teacher who led the Catechetical School of Alexandria. He addressed it to fellow Christians who were troubled by Jesus' saying about the camel and the needle's eye, and who either despaired of rich believers being saved or flattered the wealthy. Clement wrote to remove that false despair and to show how a rich person may be saved.

The occasion is a controversy over the moral danger of wealth and the question of who can be saved. Clement argues that Jesus' command to sell one's possessions is not a command to become outwardly poor, but to renounce the passions and attachments of the soul that wealth can excite. The rich man in the Gospel is not condemned for having wealth, but for loving it more than eternal life. Salvation depends on the soul's disposition, not on external possessions, and wealth can be used rightly for love of neighbor.

A reader will meet Jesus, whose words from the Gospels are quoted and interpreted throughout, along with Peter, Martha, Mary, Zacchaeus, Levi, Matthew, and Paul. Clement also cites the pagan philosophers Anaxagoras, Democritus, and Crates as examples of people who gave up wealth for the wrong reasons. The work closes with the story of the apostle John and a young robber, offered as proof that no sinner is beyond hope. To follow the argument, know that Clement uses 'passions' for the disordered attachments of the soul, 'freedom from passions' for the state required for salvation, and 'worldly wealth' for what the Gospels call mammon of unrighteousness. Bible books follow the Septuagint names and Psalm numbering, so Gospel passages correspond to Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 19:16-30, and Luke 18:18-30 in modern Bibles.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Clement of Alexandria Otto Stählin Stromata, Buch VII-VIII. Excerpta ex Theodoto. Eclogae prophetica. Hinrichs Leipzig 1909 Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.