A New Look At An Old Letter

If you’re one for whom the first two hundred Anno Dominis seem like a distant fog in which nascent Christianity is hopelessly obscured, you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that there exists plenty of illuminating documents from that era. One of them is the first letter of Clement to the Corinthians. Thanks to the Catholic Company I’ve been reading a copy of Father Thomas Herron’s book about this ancient epistle. It’s quite a work. Just over 100 pages, it nevertheless packs in some amazing scholarship that helps us understand the meaning and importance of Clement’s letter.

For one, Father Herron challenges the long-standing assumption that the letter was even written by someone named Clement, at all. What’s more, it may not have been Pope Clement, even if it was a Clement, which it may not have been. Which leaves the question: what do we call this letter? The Artist Formerly Known As Clement’s 1^st Letter to the Corinthians? [pause for laughter]

I don’t mean to imply that Father Herron is a deconstructionist—that isn’t why I mention all that about the epistle’s author. The point is that Father Herron takes nothing for granted, but evenly examines the letter in the light of contemporary scholarship.

Ultimately, this famous epistle tells us a lot about 1^st century church hierarchy and structure, as well as about apostolic succession. It’s gratifying to consider those gifts and how the Catholic Church still possesses them even after 2,000 years. See? Jesus said he wouldn’t “leave us orphans,” and he wasn’t kidding.

If you decide to take a shot at Father Herron’s book I would advise having an actual copy of Clement’s 1^st Letter to the Corinthians on hand, as well. Excerpts are included, but not the full text. I happened to have a version on an almost equally ancient CD-ROM of the writings of the Church Fathers that I bought back in the twentieth century for 30 bucks, but these days you can view one online here.

It’s a great book, especially if you’re a catechist or a student of theology or of Church history—it isn’t light enough to qualify as “popular history,” I would say, but if you want to get a little deeper into a venerable Christian document without having to crack open some 700-page behemoth, then Father Herron’s wonderful little book may be for you.