Christ the Educator

Chapter 4

CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 129 their silliness to have privies made of gold. It is as if the wealthy were not able even to relieve nature except in a grandiose style. Yet I would wish that for the rest of their lives they considered gold worthy only of dung.Is But, as it is, love of money is proved to be the citadel of evil, and, as the Apostle says, 'the root of all evil.' 'Some in their eagerness to get rich have strayed from the faith, and have involved themselves in many troubles.'19 Poverty of heart is the true wealth,20 and the true nobility is not that founded on riches, but that which comes from a contempt for it.21 It is disgraceful to boast about one's possessions; not to be concerned about them any longer very dearly proves the just man. Anyone who wishes can buy such things from the market; but wisdom is bought, not with any earthly coin, nor in any market, but is acquired in heaven, at a good price : the incorruptible Word, the gold of kings. Chapter 4 (4-0) In the feasts of reason that we have, let the wild celebrations of the holiday season have no part, or the senseless night-long parties that delight in wine-drinking. The wild celebration ends up as a drunken stupor, with everyone freely confiding the troubles of his love affairs. But love affairs and drunkenness are both contrary to reason, and therefore do not belong to our sort of celebrations. And as for all-night drinking parties, they go hand-in-hand with the holiday celebration IS Cf. Phil. 3S. 19 Cf. I Tim. 6.10. 20 Cf. Matt. 5.3. 21 A play on words: 'true nobility' he calls megaio·phroneill, ('to think great things'), identifying it with ka!a.phronein ('to think down upon') . 130 CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA and, in their wine-drinking, promote drunkenness and promiscuity . They are brazen celebrations that work deeds of shame. The exciting rhythm of flutes and harps, choruses and dances, Egyptian castanets and other entertaiments get out of control and become indecent and burlesque, especially when they are re-enforced by cymbals and drums and accompanied by the noise of all these instruments of deception. It seems to me that a banquet easily turns into a mere exhibition of drunkenness. The Apostle warned: 'Laying aside the works of darkness, put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly as in the day, not occupying ourselves in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness.'! (41) Leave the pipe to the shepherd, the flute to the men who are in fear of gods and are intent on their idol-worshiping . Such musical instruments must be excluded from our wineless feasts, for they are more suited for beasts and for the class of men that is least capable of reason than for men. We are told that deer are called by horns and hunted by huntsmen to traps, there to be captured by the playing of some melody; that, when mares are being foaled, a tune is played on a flute as a sort of hymeneal which musicians call a hippothorus .2 In general, we must completely eliminate every such base sight or sound- in a word, everything immodest that strikes the senses (for this is an abuse of the senses) -if we would avoid pleasures that merely fascinate the eye or ear, and emasculate. Truly, the devious spells of syncopated tunes and of the plaintive rhythm of Carian music3 corrupt morals by their sensual and affected style, and insidiously inflame the passions. I Rom. 13.12. 2 Literally, 'horse's mating-song.' 3 Carian melodies were a sort of funeral dirge. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 131 The Spirit, to purify the divine liturgy from any such unrestrained revelry, chants: 'Praise Him with sound of trumpet ,'4 for, in fact, at the sound of the trumpet the dead will rise again; 'praise Him with harp,' for the tongue is a harp of the Lord; 'and with the lute, praise Him,' understanding the mouth as a lute moved by the Spirit as the lute is by the plectrum; 'praise Him with timbal and choir,' that is, the Church awaiting the resurrection of the body in the flesh which is its echo; 'praise Him with strings and organ,' calling our bodies an organ and its sinews strings...