Pope St. Clement I—Letter to the Corinthians

By James T. Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 22, 2019 | In Catholic Culture Audiobooks (Podcast)

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“But, if some shall disobey the words which have been spoken by Him through us, let them know that they will involve themselves in no small transgression and danger.”

November 23 is the memorial of St. Clement of Rome, a 1st-century successor of St. Peter said to have been consecrated by Peter himself. His letter to the Corinthians is his only extant work.

St. Clement, along with his Letter to the Corinthians, was recently the subject of an episode of Way of the Fathers with Mike Aquilina. Introducing that episode, Mike wrote:

‘Clement healed the Church in the way of the Apostles: by writing a winsome, reasonable, gentle letter. Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians is, says Johannes Quasten, “the earliest piece of literature outside the New Testament for which the name, position, and date of the author are historically attested.” It provides us a snapshot of Church life as the first Christian generation turned over to the second. And it reveals the origins of so many doctrines: apostolic succession, Roman primacy, the papal office, and the unity of the Old Testament and the New.’

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1608

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