Clement was probably a Gentile and a Roman. He seems to
have been at Philippi with St. Paul (a.d. 57) when that first-born of
the Western churches was passing through great trials of faith. There,
with holy women and others, he ministered to the apostle and to the
saints. As this city was a Roman colony, we need not inquire how a
Roman happened to be there. He was possibly in some public service, and
it is not improbable that he had visited Corinth in those days. From
the apostle, and his companion, St. Luke, he had no doubt learned the
use of the Septuagint, in which his knowledge of the Greek tongue soon
rendered him an adept. His copy of that version, however, does not
always agree with the Received Text, as the reader will perceive.
A co-presbyter with Linus and Cletus, he succeeded them in the
government of the Roman Church. I have reluctantly adopted the opinion
that his Epistle was written near the close of his life, and not just
after the persecution of Nero. It is not improbable that Linus and
Cletus both perished in that fiery trial, and that Clement's immediate
succession to their work and place occasions the chronological
difficulties of the period. After the death of the apostles, for the
Roman imprisonment and martyrdom of St. Peter seem historical, Clement
was the natural representative of St. Paul, and even of his companion,
the "apostle of the circumcision;" and naturally he wrote the Epistle
in the name of the local church, when brethren looked to them for
advice. St. John, no doubt, was still surviving at Patmos or in
Ephesus; but the Philippians, whose intercourse with Rome is attested
by the visit of Epaphroditus, looked naturally to the surviving friends
of their great founder; nor was the aged apostle in the East equally
accessible. All roads pointed towards the Imperial City, and started
from its Milliarium Aureum. But, though Clement doubtless wrote the
letter, he conceals his own name, and puts forth the brethren, who seem
to have met in council, and sent a brotherly delegation (Chap. lix.).
The entire absence of the spirit of Diotrephes (3 John 9), and the
close accordance of the Epistle, in humility and meekness, with that of
St. Peter (1 Pet. v. 1-5), are noteworthy features. The whole will be
found animated with the loving and faithful spirit of St. Paul's dear
Philippians, among whom the writer had learned the Gospel.
Clement fell asleep, probably soon after he despatched his letter. It
is the legacy of one who reflects the apostolic age in all the beauty
and evangelical truth which were the first-fruits of the Spirit's
presence with the Church. He shares with others the aureole of glory
attributed by St. Paul (Phil. iv. 3), "His name is in the Book of
Life."
have been at Philippi with St. Paul (a.d. 57) when that first-born of
the Western churches was passing through great trials of faith. There,
with holy women and others, he ministered to the apostle and to the
saints. As this city was a Roman colony, we need not inquire how a
Roman happened to be there. He was possibly in some public service, and
it is not improbable that he had visited Corinth in those days. From
the apostle, and his companion, St. Luke, he had no doubt learned the
use of the Septuagint, in which his knowledge of the Greek tongue soon
rendered him an adept. His copy of that version, however, does not
always agree with the Received Text, as the reader will perceive.
A co-presbyter with Linus and Cletus, he succeeded them in the
government of the Roman Church. I have reluctantly adopted the opinion
that his Epistle was written near the close of his life, and not just
after the persecution of Nero. It is not improbable that Linus and
Cletus both perished in that fiery trial, and that Clement's immediate
succession to their work and place occasions the chronological
difficulties of the period. After the death of the apostles, for the
Roman imprisonment and martyrdom of St. Peter seem historical, Clement
was the natural representative of St. Paul, and even of his companion,
the "apostle of the circumcision;" and naturally he wrote the Epistle
in the name of the local church, when brethren looked to them for
advice. St. John, no doubt, was still surviving at Patmos or in
Ephesus; but the Philippians, whose intercourse with Rome is attested
by the visit of Epaphroditus, looked naturally to the surviving friends
of their great founder; nor was the aged apostle in the East equally
accessible. All roads pointed towards the Imperial City, and started
from its Milliarium Aureum. But, though Clement doubtless wrote the
letter, he conceals his own name, and puts forth the brethren, who seem
to have met in council, and sent a brotherly delegation (Chap. lix.).
The entire absence of the spirit of Diotrephes (3 John 9), and the
close accordance of the Epistle, in humility and meekness, with that of
St. Peter (1 Pet. v. 1-5), are noteworthy features. The whole will be
found animated with the loving and faithful spirit of St. Paul's dear
Philippians, among whom the writer had learned the Gospel.
Clement fell asleep, probably soon after he despatched his letter. It
is the legacy of one who reflects the apostolic age in all the beauty
and evangelical truth which were the first-fruits of the Spirit's
presence with the Church. He shares with others the aureole of glory
attributed by St. Paul (Phil. iv. 3), "His name is in the Book of
Life."
