2 Grant to every soul of man
that calleth upon his glorious and
holy name, faith, fear, peace,
long-suffering, patience, temperance,
holiness and sobriety, unto all
well-pleasing in his sight;
through our High-Priest and
Protector Jesus Christ, by whom
be glory and majesty, and power,
and honour unto him now and for
ever more, Amen.
3 The messengers whom we
have sent unto you, Claudius,
Ephebus, and Valerios Bito, with
Fortunatus, send back to us again
with all speed, in peace and with
joy, that they may the sooner
acquaint us with your peace and
concord, so much prayed for and
desired by us: and that we may
rejoice in your good order.
4 The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you, and with all
that are any where called by God
through him: To whom be honour
and glory, and might and majesty,
and eternal dominion, by Christ
Jesus, from everlasting to
everlasting, Amen.
REFERENCES TO CLEMENT'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
[Clement was a disciple of Peter, and afterwards Bishop of Rome. Clemens
Alexandrinus calls him an apostle. Jerome says he was an apostolic man,
and Rafinus that he was almost an apostle. Eusebius calls this the
wonderful Epistle of St. Clement, and says that it was publicly read in
the assemblies of the primitive church. It is included in one of the
ancient collections of the Canon Scripture. Its genuineness has been
much questioned, particularly by Photius, patriarch of Constantinople in
the ninth century, who objects that Clement speaks of worlds beyond the
ocean: that he has not written worthily of the divinity of Christ; and
that to prove the possibility of a future resurrection, he introduces the
fabulous story of the phoenix's revival from its own ashes. To the latter
objection, Archbishop Wake replies that the generality of the ancient
Fathers have made use of the same instance in proof of the same point;
and asks, if St. Clement really believed that there was such a bird, and
that it did revive out of the cinders of the body after burning, where
was the, great harm either in giving credit to such a wonder, or,
believing it, to make rich a use as he here does of it?—The present is
the Archbishop's translation from the ancient Greek copy of the Epistle,
which is at the end of the celebrated Alexandrine MS. of the Septuagint
and New Testament, presented by Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, to King
Charles the First, now in the British Museum. The Archbishop, in
prefacing his translation, esteems it a great blessing that this
"Epistle" was at last so happily found out, for the increase and
confirmation both of our faith and our charity.]
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF
CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS
CHAPTER I.