Clementiiies, I. (KXij/ilvria, KXnfihrnvoj or pseudo-Clementines), are the several writings, partly orthodox, partly heretical, fabely ascribed to Cksnent, one of the apostolic fathers, and bishop of Rome froB A.D. 92-102, for the purpose of giving them gieatoi weight and currency. These worlcs are .'
1. A SECOND EpISTLB TO THE CORIHTHIAIIS, eX-
tant only in fragments. These fragments are found, together with Clement's genuine or first Epistle to tbe Corinthians [see Clement of Rome], at the close of the Alexandrian Codex of the Bible (called Cod. A), dating from the filth century, and preserved in the British Museum. The earliest mention of such an epistle we me«t in Eusebins, who says (Bitt. Ecd. Hi, 88), '* We must know that there is also a second Epistle of Clement ; but we do not regard it as being equally notable with the former, since we know of none of the ancients that have made use of it."
The catalogue of writings contained in the Alexan- drian MS. ascribes it to Clement ; but this, in the ab- sence of other evidence, external and internal, is not of great weight, since Codex A cannot be traced be- yond the fifth century. A closer examination of tbe fragments shows that they are not an epistle, but a homily, containing general exhortations to active Christianity, and to fidelity in persecution, with po- lemical references to the Gnostic denial of the resur- rection. The document difiers so much in s^le and doctrinal importance from the genuine epistle of Clem- ent that it has been generally assigned by critics to a later date. It is orthodox in sentiment. The vaiy beginning contains a distinct confession of the divfai^ of Christ, who is called ** God, and the Judge of flw living and the dead.** Otherwise it is of no spedal account
CLEMENTINES
883
CLEMENTINES
2. Two eacjcUcal Lettebs to VntoiNs, first diB> oofvered by Wetstein in 1762, in a Syriac translation, and appended to his edition of the Greek Testament. They commend celibacy^ and ccmtain exhortations and ; rnles of discipline for monies and nons. I
8. Five Decretal Letters, which pseudo-Isidore has placed at the head of his collection of decretals , of Roman popes. Two of them are addressed to James, bishop of Jerusalem, and are older than the pseudo- Isidore of the eighth or ninth centuiy ; the three others were fabricated by him.
4. The Apostolical Conbtitutioks and Can- ons, including the LrrcROT of St. Clement, which is | a part of the eighth book of the Constitutions. This is a collection of ecclesiastical laws and usdge^ which j grew up gradually during the first four centuries, and | is yaluable chiefly as a rich source of information con- < ceming ancient Church government, worship, and 1 practice. The work professes to be a bequest of all { the ^)0stles handed down through the Boman bishop . Clement, or dictated to him. It begins with the words, | "The apoetles and elders to all who among the nations have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be to ' you and peace," etc. It contains, in eight books, a collection of moral exhortations, ecclesiastical laws, and liturgical formularies. The object of the compiler was to establish the episcopal hierarchy, and to fur- nish the clergy with a convenient guide in worship and discipline. The first six books were written at the end of the third century, the remaining two at the beginning of the fourth ; at all events, before the Coun- cil of Nicsea (326). The Apostolical Cakons are appended to the eighth book of the Constitutions, and pretend to be likewise of apostolical origin. They consist of 85, or, in other copies, 50 brief rules for the conduct of the clergy and laity, borrowed in part from the Pastoral Epistles, partly from decrees of early councils, and p4utly from oral tradition. They are also found separately in Greek, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Ar- abic manuscripts. They were collected by some un- known hand about the middle of the fourth century. The Greek Church in 692 adopted the whole collection of 85 canons ; the Latin retained only 50, which Dio- n3r8ius Exiguus translated into Latin about A.D. 500.
The Apostolical Constitutions and Canons are found in the larger editions of the works of the apostolic fa- thers, by Cotelier and Clericus (1672, 1698, 1700, 1724), in the first volume of Mansi's, and also of Harduin's CoUtctum ofCounciU, and have been separately edited by GulL Ueltzen, ConstiiutioTtet apostolica! (Rostochii, 1858), and by P. A. de Lagarde, ConttUutiones apoato- lorum (Lips. 1862). Among the many treatises on the Apost. Const, we mention Krabbe, Ueber den Urqtrung mdlnhaU der apo$t. Cotutitutionen (1829) ; S. von Drey, Nate UrUersuchunffen, etc. (1832) ; Chase, ConsUtuiioru qfthe holy ApottleSy including the Canons (1848) ; comp. Hefele, ConciUengesckichte, i, 767 sq. ; Schaff, Church History, i, 440 sq. ; Bunsen, Hippci. i, 319 sq.
5. 'Die pseudo-Clementine Homilies, to which the tifle Gemientinei (rd KXfifitvrux, CUmentma) is more particularly appUed, and the Recoonitioms {'Ava- yvtapifffjioi, Becognidones dementis Rom.\ which re- semble the former in form and contents. To these must be added the Epitome de oestis Petri, which is a summary of the Homilies. The Homilies are twenty in number, but the last has only recently been discovered. They figure very prominently in the history of the ancient heresies. They are a most cu- rious phfloaophico-religions romance. Clement, an educated Roman, and kinsman of the emperor Domi- tian, dissatisfied with heathenism and thirsting after truth, travels to Judsa, meets the apostle Peter, and is converted by him to the Christian faith. He ac- companies him on his missionary journeys, and takes down in writing the substance of the sermons and dis- putations with Simon Magus. Simon Peter is thus the proper hero of the romance, and ai^iears as the