Christ the Educator

Chapter 4

CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 11 of our Educator, that the ancient saying, 'according to His own image and likeness,'5 may be accomplished. But we wander in thick darkness; we need an unerring guide in life who will keep us from stumbling. The best guide is not that blind one who, in the words of Scripture, 'leads the blind into a ditch,'6 but the Word, keen of sight, penetrating into the secret places of the heart. Just as there cannot be a light that does not give light, nor a cause unless it produces some effect, nor a lover unless he loves, just so He can not be good unless He rendered us service and led us to salvation. Let us, then, express our love for the commandments of the Lord by our actions. (Indeed, the Word Himself, when He became flesh in visible form, unceasingly showed not only the theory but also the practise of virtue.) Further, considering the Word as our law, let us see in His commandments and counsels direct and sure paths to eternity. for His precepts are filled with the spirit, not of fear, but of persuasIOn. Chapter 4 ( 10) Let us welcome more and more gladly this holy subjection, and let us surrender ourselves more and more completely to the Lord, holding to the steadfast cable of His persuasion. Let us recognize, too, that both men and women practise the same sort of virtue. Surely, if there is but one God for both, then there is but one Educator for both. One Church, one virtue, one modesty, a common food, wedlock in common, breath, sight, hearing, knowledge, hope, 5 Cf. Gen. 1.26. 6 Matt. 15.14. 12 CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA obedience, love, all are alike [in man and woman]. They who possess life in common, grace in common, and salvation in common have also virtue in common and, therefore, education too. The Scripture says: 'For in this world, they marry and are given in marriage,' for this world is the only place in which the female is distinguished from the male, 'but in that other world, no longer.'l There, the rewards of this life, lived in the holy union of wedlock, await not man or woman as such, but the human person, freed from the lust that in this life had made it either male or female. ( 11 ) The very name 'mankind' is a name common to both men and women. Similarly, the Attic Greeks called, I believe, not only the boy but also the girl by the one name of 'child,' if Menander, the comic poet, is to be believed in a passage of his play Rapizomene: 'My little daughter, ... indeed, she is by nature an exceedingly loving child.'2 Notice, too, that 'sheep' is the general name used for the male and female. Yet, 'the Lord is our shepherd'3 for ever, Amen. 'Now, neither sheep nor any other animal should live without a shepherd, nor should children, without an educator , nor servants without a master.'4 Chapter 5 ( 12) That education is the training given children is evident from the very name.l It remains for us to consider who 1 Cf. Luke 20.114. 2 Fragment 428, T. Kock, CAF III 124. 11 Cf. Ps. 22.1. 4 Plato, Laws VII SOSD. 1 The Greek word for education, paidagogia, etymologically means the guidance or training of children, ...