Christ the Educator

Chapter 7

CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 49 turning away from sin and being reborn, after we have forgotten the sins that are behind, to faith in the only Perfect One. Chapter 7 (53) We have now shown that not only does Scripture call all of us children, but also it figuratively calls us who follow Christ, little ones, and that the only perfect being is the Father of all (in fact, the Son is in Him, and the Father is in the Son). If we would follow right order, we should now speak of the Educator of little ones and explain who He is. He is called Jesus. On occasion, He speaks of Himself as a Shepherd, as when He says: 'I am the Good Shepherd.'l In keeping with this metaphor of shepherds leading their sheep, He leads His children, the Shepherd with the care of His little ones. The little ones, in their simplicity, are given the figurative name of sheep; 'And there shall be one sheep-fold,' He says, 'and one Shepherd.'2 Therefore, the Word who leads us His children to salvation is unquestionably an Educator of little ones. In fact, through Osee, the Word says plainly of Himself: 'I am your Educator .'3 The material He educates us in is fear of God, for this fear instructs us in the service of God, educates to the knowledge of truth, and guides by a path leading straight up to heaven. (54 ) Education is a word used in many different senses. There is education in the sense of the one who is being led and instructed; there is that of the one who leads and gives instruction; and thirdly, there is education in the sense of 1 John 10.11 ,14. 2 Johll 10.16. 3 Osee 5.2. The word used is paideutes. 50 CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA the guidance itself; and finally, the things that are taught, such as precepts. The education that God gives is the imparting of the truth that will guide us correctly to the contemplation of God, and a description of holy deeds that endure forever. Just as the general directs a line of battle with the safety of his soldiers in mind, and as the helmsman pilots his ship conscious of his responsibility for the lives of his passengers , so the Educator, in his concern for us, leads His children along a way of life that ensures salvation. In brief, all that we could reasonably ask God to do for us is within the reach of those who trust in the Educator of little ones. Again, just as the helmsman does not always sail with the wind, but sometimes when there is a squall, sets his prow head on against it, so, too, the Educator never falls in with the winds sweeping through this world, nor does He suffer His children to be driven like a ship into a wild and unregulated course of life. Rather, assisted only by the favorable breeze of the Spirit of truth, He holds steadfastly to the rudder, that is, the hearing of His children, until He brings them safely to anchor in the port of heaven. The habits that men speak of as hereditary, for the most part pass away, but the education God gives is a possession that endures forever. (55) It is related how Phenix was the pedagogue of Achilles; Adrastrus, of the sons of Croesus; Leonides, of Alexander; and Nausithoon, of Philip. Yet one of them, Phenix, was mad with lust; another, Adrastrus, was a fugitive ; Leonides did not rid his Macedonian pupil of his vanity, and Nausithoon did not cure the Pellean of his drunkenness. Again, the Thracian Zoporus was unable to restrain Alcibiades from immorality, and, besides, he was a bought slave. The pedagogue of the children of Themistocles, Sicinnos, was a spineless menial. The story goes that he used to dance and invented the dance step called the Sicinnis. We must not for- CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 51 get, either, the so-called royal pedagogues of the Persian court, four in number, whom the Persian kings chose from all the Persians according to merit and set over their children; but the children learned only how to use the bow and arrow, and once they come of age begin to have intercourse with sister and mother, with married women and others without number, like wild boars well-practised in sexual indulgence. But...