Clement and the Church at Corinth
A friend of mine is an interim pastor at fractured congregation. He planned to lead a bible study on I Corinthians. The Lutheran Study bible lists some of the Corinthian congregation’s problems that Paul addressed. People promoted themselves based on who baptized them. They quarreled over whether Paul or Apollos were more important. Sexual immorality was a problem. They sued one another in court. They argued over spiritual gifts and some doubted the resurrection.
However, Paul not only took them to task, but he kept himself and the congregation centered on the Gospel. Luther writes, “St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to be one in faith and love, and to see to it that they learn well the chief thing, namely, that Christ is our salvation, the thing over which all reason and logic stumbles…”
In about 96 AD, Clement (35-100) wrote a letter to the still factious congregation in Corinth. It seems that some young men had been ringleaders of a revolt which succeeded in deposing the ruling elders. Clements letter is an example of pastoral care for God’s people. His letter was so highly regarded in the early church that for a time it was deemed to be part of the canon of scripture in Egypt and Syria.
Like Paul, he emphasized Jesus’ death and resurrection as the main thing: “Let us fix our eyes on the blood of Christ, realizing how precious it is to His Father, since it was poured out for salvation and brought the grace of repentance to the whole world” ( I Clement 6:31).
Clement continued to display such Christ centered love for God’s redeemed people. Though we don’t know much about his life, according to a history written by Dion Cassius (d.240) Clement suffered a martyr’s death by drowning at the order of Emperor Domitian. He was charged with atheism. That may sound strange to our ears, but Christians who refused to acknowledge the deity of the emperor and the other Roman gods were regarded as godless and a danger to the state.
Clement may be remembered as serving as an inspiration to future generations to build the church on the foundation of the prophets and apostles keep.ing Christ as the cornerstone.
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