Texts in Conversation
In Mark, Jesus warns that anyone causing a believer to sin deserves a millstone tied around the neck and to be drowned. 1 Clement quotes this as a saying of Jesus, but reshapes it into a warning against causing division in the Corinthian church.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Mark 9:42
New Testament
40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a cup of water because you bear Christ’s name will never lose his reward. 42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire. 44 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
1 Clement 46:8
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
5 Wherefore are there strifes and wraths and factions and divisions and war among you. 6 Have we not one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace that was poured upon us? And is there not one calling in Christ. 7 Wherefore do we tear and rend asunder the members of Christ, and stir up factions against our own body, and reach such a pitch of folly, as to forget that we are members one of another. 8 Remember the words of Jesus our Lord: for He said, “Woe to that man; it were good for him if he had not been born, rather than that he should offend one of My elect. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about him, and he be cast into the sea, than that he should pervert one of My elect.” 9 Your division has perverted many; it has brought many to despair, many to doubting, and all of us to sorrow. And your sedition still continues.
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Notes and References
“... 1 Clem. 46:8 provides us with another attestation of Q 17:2 // Mark 9:42. 1 Clem. 46:8 is composed of two parts. The first part begins with words that parallel those spoken by Jesus to Judas in light of his imminent betrayal "woe to that man, it would be better for him if he had not been born" (see Matt 26:24 // Mark 14:21). However, these words are applied to a new situation: causing one of his "elect" to fall away. This paves the way for the second part of the saying, which parallels Q 17:2 and Mark 9:42, "It would have been better for him to have been tied to a millstone and cast into the sea than that one of my elect should be perverted." 1 Clem. 46:8 addresses the Corinthian church's spirit of division and strife. It is used as a warning against those who would cause their brothers and sisters within the church to stumble and fall away from the church. ...”
Gregg, Brian Han
The Historical Jesus and the Final Judgment Sayings in Q
(pp. 337-338) University of Notre Dame, 2005
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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