The Man, the Myth, the Legend

Clement of Rome stands as the earliest Christian figure of the first century (not one of the 1st generation Apostles) whose writings we possess. He was born about 30 AD. Writing as an elder from the church at Rome, he addressed a crisis in the Corinthian church with a letter that demonstrates both pastoral wisdom and authority.

Irenaeus (c. 180 AD), recognized Clement as a man who had met and spoken with the Apostles. He wrote:

Clement was appointed bishop. He had seen the blessed Apostles and had talked with them. As a result, he still had the Apostles’ preaching echoing in his ears, and their traditions before his eyes (Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies III, 3:3).

Irenaeus also notes that during Clement’s pastoral ministry the Roman Christians sent “a most powerful letter” to the Corinthians. The letter renewed their faith and declared a particular "tradition" received from the Apostles. That tradition was about the importance of faith in the One God, the Father.

These are Irenaeus' exact words:

In the time of this Clement, no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church in Rome dispatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from the Apostles, proclaiming the One God…

An Abstract Philosophical God

Irenaeus' text (called Against Heresies) continues and provides us with key insights as to the theological battles of the Early Church. Irenaeus goes on to say this about Clement's letter:

From this document, whosoever chooses to do so may learn that he, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the churches, and may also understand the apostolical tradition of the Church, since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all existing things.

Note that men in the days of Irenaeus were “conjuring into existence” a god who was higher than the Father. Those men of whom Irenaeus was speaking were the Gnostics. The Gnostics called themselves "Christians" but were a heresy. Instead of teaching that the One God is the Father, they taught that there was another being greater than the Father. If that doctrine sounds similar to the “Godhead” or the “Triune God” of the Pseudo-Trinitarians, it’s because it is!

Both today’s Pseudos and the ancient Gnostics replace the simple biblical confession “there is One God, the Father” with an abstract divine Being that stands above the Father of the Bible. They treat the Biblical language of “One God, the Father” as incomplete. For them, it's "too simplistic" so it requires philosophical expansion. The Pseudos invented a Being they call the "Godhead" who, for them, is "Three Persons in One Essence." With this "Godhead," they get the philosophical complexity they desire.

Clement's Reputation

Back to Clement and his reputation. Approximately 74 years after he sent his letter to the Corinthians, near 170 AD, Dionysius of Corinth, communicated with the Roman church from Corinth and said:

Today we have passed the Lord’s holy day, in which we have read your epistle. From it, whenever we read it, we shall always be able to draw advice, as also from the former epistle, which was written to us through Clement (Eusebius’ Church History 4:23).

This demonstrates that Clement’s epistle was still being read publicly in Corinth nearly 80 years after it was written. And it was being read in Egypt too, as testified by Clement of Alexandria (c. 200 AD) who frequently quotes 1 Clement, referring to it as the work of “the apostle Clement.” And in the early 3rd century in Alexandria the famous Origen also quotes the letter, identifying its author with the Clement Paul called his fellow-worker in Philippians 4:3.

Here's an image of the famous Origen:

Tertullian (c. 200 AD) pointed out that his church in Rome had records that Clement was ordained by the Apostle Peter. Tertullian wrote:

This is how the apostolic churches present their lists of succession: the church of Smyrna records that Polycarp was appointed by John; the church of Rome records that Clement was ordained by Peter (Prescription Against Heretics 32).

Eusebius of Caesarea (early 4th century) in his Church History confirms that 1 Clement was universally recognized as genuine, that it was written by Clement “in the name of the Roman church,” and that it was still publicly read in many churches in his own day.

Here's an image of Eusebius, the most famous historian of the Church:

The Thrust of His Epistle

Clement’s epistle is sober, Scripture-saturated, and free from philosophical language. In other words, it’s simple Bible truth. In it, Clement repeatedly identifies the Father as the One God and Almighty, he presents Christ as sent from God, and he names the Holy Spirit in sequence after them. Clement never speaks of a “Triune God” or a co-equal mystery Being. Instead, he upholds the role of each One.

Clement put so much weight upon his faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that he compared that faith to the assurance of salvation. In other words, for Clement, our salvation is as certain as the Trinity itself. You’ll see that in the quote below, which proves that for the Church, Trinity theology was already settled by the end of the first century.

… as God lives, and the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit—who are the Faith and the Hope of the elect—so surely the one who… has performed the ordinances and commandments given by God will be enrolled and listed among those that are saved… (1 Clement 58:1-2)

Notice that Clement called the Trinity the Christian “Faith and Hope”—meaning that our religion is based on the Trinity. That is, our religion rests on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This must be why Jesus' Great Commission says that we baptize new converts in the name of each One. Jesus said:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

The Four Tenets

To conclude, let's examine how Clement affirmed the four tenets of Trinitarian faith:

1. The Father Is the One God

Clement consistently names the Father as the One God and God Almighty. He knew that the Father Alone is God. Here are three quotes from his epistle:

Do we not have One God and One Christ and One Spirit of grace poured out upon us? (1 Clement 46:6)

Grace to you and peace from God Almighty through Jesus Christ be multiplied (1 Clement 1).

Let all the nations know that you Alone are God, that Jesus Christ is your Servant, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture (1 Clement 59:4).

2. The Father Is the Source of the Divine Nature in the Son and the Spirit

Christ is “from God” and “sent from God.” The chain of origin runs from the Father to the Son and then to us, the believers, who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Consider these three texts Clement penned:

... Jesus Christ was sent from God. Christ therefore is from God, and the Apostles from Christ (1 Clement 42:1–2).

But of his Son this is what the Master said: ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you’ (1 Clement 36:4)

Have we not One God, and one Christ, and one Spirit of grace who was poured out upon us, and one calling in Christ? (46:6).

3. Hierarchy among the Three

Clement places the Three in clear order: the Father first as the Living God, then the Lord Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit. The same ordered chain appears in the sending of the Gospel, and it includes the Apostles, interestingly enough.

Here are two passages he wrote:

… as God lives, and the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit—who are the Faith and the Hope of the elect—so surely the one who… has performed the ordinances and commandments... be enrolled... among those that are saved… (1 Clement 58:2)

The Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent from God. Christ therefore is from God, and the Apostles from Christ.

Both therefore came in due order by the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the Word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Spirit, they went forth proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand (1 Clement 42:1–3).

4. Operational Economy / Division of Labor

Finally, Clement shows the ordered working of the Three. The Father is the Source and Master who sends. The Son is the one through whom the Gospel comes and through whom the Father instructs, sanctifies, and calls his people. The Spirit gives the credibility and confidence the Apostles need.

The Spirit also tests those appointed to lead. Consider this passage:

After receiving their orders and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the Word of God, they went out with the full assurance of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

Preaching throughout the countryside and the cities, they appointed the first converts of their labors — after testing them by the Spirit — to be bishops and deacons for those who would later believe (1 Clement 42:3–4).

We gather from this quote of Clement that the Spirit’s distinct role was to give confidence to Jesus’ Apostles of their mission and certainty regarding the men they would later appoint. This is very similar to what we are told in the Bible:

… how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will (Hebrews 2:3–4; NASB).

And we can see how the Father works through the Son in this next excerpt from Clement. Observe how frequently he uses the preposition "through":

… the Creator of the Universe may keep safe and unharmed the full number of his elect that has been counted throughout the whole World through his beloved Servant Jesus Christ. Through him he called us out of darkness into light, out of ignorance into the full knowledge of the glory of his name…

You multiply the nations on the Earth, and from among them all you have chosen those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Servant, through whom you taught us, sanctified us, and honored us (1 Clement 59:2–3).

Summary

Clement consistently identifies the One God as the Father. Christ is “from God” and “sent from God.” The Holy Spirit is named third in his famous "confession" of 58:2 and that same Spirit works in the ordered mission of the gospel. Clement's 3-chapter prayer of chapters 59–61 is addressed to the Father alone as the One God, through Jesus Christ his Servant.

Just as in our Bibles, language of a Triune Being people today call "the Godhead," is absent. Therefore, the One God of Clement was indisputably the Father. Clement had no other God. We follow the same Faith. Like Clement, we are the original Trinitarians. Nobody can take that away from us, just like nobody can take that away from Clement. He has left an indelible mark on Christian history.