The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

Clemens Romanus (Clement of Rome)

Clement of Rome. The Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1. Lake, Kirsopp, editor. London: William Heinemann Ltd.; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1912.

The humility and obedient submission of so[*](Exhortation to peace) many men of such great fame, have rendered better not only us, but also the generations before us, who received his oracles in fear and truth.

Seeing then that we have received a share in many great and glorious deeds, let us hasten on to the goal of peace, which was given us from the beginning, and let us fix our gaze on the Father and Creator of the whole world and cleave to his splendid and excellent gifts of peace, and to his good deeds to us.

Let us contemplate him with our mind, let us gaze with the eyes of our soul on his long-suffering purpose, let us consider how free from wrath he is towards all his creatures.

The heavens moving at his appointment are[*](The peace and harmony of the Universe) subject to him in peace;

day and night follow the course allotted by him without hindering each other.

Sun and moon and the companies of the stars roll on, according to his direction, in harmony, in their appointed courses, and swerve not from them at all.

The earth teems according to his will at its proper seasons, and puts forth food in full abundance for men and beasts and all the living things that are on it, with no dissension, and changing

none of his decrees.

The unsearchable places of the abysses and the unfathomable realms of the lower world are controlled by the same ordinances.