Description
Das Schreiben der römischen Kirche an die korinthische aus der Zeit Domitians, Harnack’s ‘farewell gift’ on 1 Clement to his students, was formative for several decades after its publication, and remains an influential work even in contemporary discussions of this ancient letter. Harnack contends that 1 Clement is the most important witness to early Christianity, and that a close study of this work will equip the reader better to understand its later developments. Now translated into English for the first time, it is presented alongside four influential essays pertaining to 1 Clement that Harnack wrote throughout his career, as well as a historical introduction and assessment of Harnack’s work by Larry Welborn.
About the Author
Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930) was a world-renowned professor of church history at the Universities of Leipzig, Giessen, Marburg, and Berlin. His works History of Dogma (1895-1900), What Is Christianity? (1901), and New Testament Studies (1908-12) have left their mark on studies of both church history and the New Testament.
Jacob N. Cerone is a doctoral candidate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremburg. He is the editor of Jörg Frey’s Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation (2019) and the Apostolic Fathers Greek Reader: The Complete Edition (2019) and is a coeditor of The Pericope of the Adulteress in Contemporary Research (2016).
Contents
Series Foreword: Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers
Preface: Adolf von Harnack and 1 Clement, by Jacob N. Cerone
Acknowledgments, by Jacob N. Cerone
Foreword: Harnack’s Testament, by Larry Welborn
Preface
Introduction
1. The Transmission of the Letter
The Letter
2. The Author
3. Characteristics of the Letter and Its Religious Content
4. The Sources of Clementine-Roman Christianity
1. The Old Testament
2. Christ and the Christian
3. The Rational-Moralistic Idealism of the Age and Its Literary and Aesthetic Forms
Excursus: The Political Stance
5. The Struggle in Corinth over the Ecclesiastical Officials and the Order of the Office
Section I
Section II
Section III
Excursus: Is the Attitude of the Letter Specifically Roman?
6. Problems That Have not yet Been Conclusively Investigated Posed by 1 Clement, Which Can Also Be Addressed in Seminars
7. A Look at the Development of Church History, Which the Letter Grants and That Should Be Studied
8. Concluding Word
Notes
Appendix I: The Recently Discovered Latin Translation of 1 Clement
Appendix II: New Studies on the Recently Discovered Latin Translation of 1 Clement
Appendix III: The First Letter of Clement: A Study to Determine the Character of the Oldest Form of Gentile Christianity
Appendix IV: The Epithet “Servant of God” Used of Jesus and Its History in the Ancient Church
Bibliography
Index to 1 Clement by Harnack
Index of Authors
Index of Subjects
Index of Ancient Sources
Endorsements and Reviews
Many of Harnack’s analyses and insights into 1 Clement retain their value in today’s marketplace of historical inquiry. Cerone’s adept translation has done a great service to Anglophone scholarship, by converting this wealth into usable currency. Critical readers will discover a worthy return on investment.
Paul Hartog, Professor of Theology, Faith Baptist Theological Seminary
Jacob Cerone’s edition of Adolf von Harnack’s seminal study of 1 Clement is an outstanding premiere to what promises to be an impressive series, Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers. From the characteristically erudite introduction to Harnack’s essay by Prof. Larry Welborn, to the smooth translation of Harnack’s influential ‘farewell gift’ to his church history students, to the four still-valuable articles on 1 Clement by Harnack appended to the essay, this volume shines with insight. For anyone interested in 1 Clement – which should be any student of early Christianity – this is a must-have volume.
David J. Downs, author of Alms: Charity, Reward, and Atonement in Early Christianity
This fine little volume provides a clear and lucid rendering of a classic German study not widely known and only rarely used by English readers of 1 Clement. The vibrant contemporary style and careful sensitivity to von Harnack’s original emphasis is admirable. Cerone’s careful work is much appreciated, and serious students of the Apostolic Fathers do well to have this publication available for their own research.
Clayton N. Jefford, Professor of Scripture, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology
