Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90. This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3. Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I. Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews. Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews. Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches. Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos. The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90: CHAPTER 36 ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ, the High Priest of all our offerings, the defender and he
"Now go through the whole of your Bible and you will find that this is what it says everywhere about man in sin and about man outside Christ. It describes the kind of life people live, and then it asks its question, Why do they live like that? There is, says the Bible, only one explanation: the failure is in their minds, their intellects, and their understanding. The highest faculty in man has become blunted and blinded; he cannot see because of this pall that has descended upon him; he is surrounded by darkness. But let me put this a little more theologically. The most disastrous effect that the Fall of Man produced upon man was in his understanding. That is the whole of the biblical explanation of why man is as he is and why the world is as it is. God created man perfect, endowed him with amazing faculties, made him lord of creation and of the universe; and yet we see something so entirely different. Why the difference? What has happened is that man sinned, he disobeyed God, and he fell. And the Fall has had the most disastrous consequences upon man and upon his whole life and living; and of all its terrible effects the most disastrous and devastating is upon the mind of man. It has darkened his understanding."
Comments