About this work
Second Clement is one of the earliest surviving Christian homilies outside the New Testament. Though traditionally transmitted under the name of St Clement of Rome, the work itself speaks as a sermon addressed to a gathered Christian community. Its central call is practical and urgent: Christians should think rightly about Jesus Christ, value the salvation they have received, repent while there is time, and show their confession through holy deeds. Its witness to Christ, baptism, the resurrection of the flesh, the Church, almsgiving, and final judgment makes it an important voice from the early generations of Christian preaching.
Historical context
Church tradition preserved this work alongside First Clement and passed it down under Clement’s name. Eusebius already knew of a “second epistle” attributed to Clement, while noting that it did not enjoy the same recognition as the first. The surviving work has no letter opening or named author, and its own language points to public exhortation in a worshiping assembly. Modern scholarship therefore usually treats it as an anonymous homily, commonly dated to the first half or middle of the second century. Its exact place of composition is uncertain, but its early transmission shows that Christians valued it as a serious witness to apostolic faith and moral life.
Contents
The homily begins by urging Christians to think highly of Christ and of their salvation, then calls them to confess him not only with words but through obedience, purity, mercy, and freedom from love of money. It repeatedly contrasts this passing world with the life to come and urges repentance before death. Later chapters defend the resurrection of the flesh, speak of the pre-existent spiritual Church, encourage mutual correction and almsgiving, and warn of judgment. The final chapters address the congregation as brothers and sisters, urge perseverance under suffering, and close with hope in resurrection and a doxology to God.
Text & source details
Editions
- Edition
- Original Greek
- Reader label
- Ancient Greek
- Publication
- Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1 (Loeb Classical Library 24; London: William Heinemann; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1912).
- Date
- 1912
- Rights
- Lake’s 1912 edition is public domain in the United States. The OpenGreekAndLatin / First1KGreek digital encoding is CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Edition
- Voices of the Fathers Modern English
- Reader label
- Modern English — VOTF
- Translator
- Voices of the Fathers editorial project
- Publication
- Voices of the Fathers
- Date
- 2026
- Rights
- Voices of the Fathers Modern English is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), to the extent copyright and related rights subsist in the translation and associated editorial material. Commercial reuse requires separate permission from Voices of the Fathers. The underlying ancient text and identified public-domain source editions retain their respective status.
- Edition
- Kirsopp Lake (1912)
- Reader label
- English — Lake (1912)
- Translator
- Kirsopp Lake
- Publication
- Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1 (Loeb Classical Library 24; London: William Heinemann; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1912).
- Date
- 1912
- Rights
- Public domain in the United States.
Text and edition sources
Second Clement, Voices of the Fathers Modern English, Voices of the Fathers, 2026.
Applies to: Modern English — VOTF Voices of the Fathers Modern English is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 for noncommercial reuse with attribution, to the extent copyright and related rights subsist in the translation/editorial contribution. Underlying ancient texts and identified public-domain sources retain their own status. Source websiteSecond Clement, Voices of the Fathers Modern English, Voices of the Fathers, 2026, CC BY-NC 4.0.
Applies to: Modern English — VOTF Source websiteKirsopp Lake, trans., The Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, in The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, Loeb Classical Library 24 (1912).
Applies to: English — Lake (1912) Source websiteOverview research
Christopher M. Tuckett, “2 Clement and the Writings that later formed the New Testament,” in The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers, ed. Andrew F. Gregory and Christopher M. Tuckett (Oxford University Press, 2005).
Source websiteEusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3.38.4, on a second writing circulating under Clement’s name.
Source websiteKirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, Loeb Classical Library 24 (London: William Heinemann; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1912), introduction to II Clement.
Public domain in the United States. Source website