The Clementine Homilies

The Clementine Homilies is a text with a very early origin. It preserves some of the earliest teaches of Jesus, many of which got discarded by later forms of Christianity. Below are some helpful introductory videos and a topical guide for people wanting to learn more about these ancient texts to gain a deeper understanding of what Jesus and His earliest followers were teaching and practicing.

This is where I would start. This first video (Part 1 of 4) introduces Clement as a historical figure and situates the Clementine Homilies into its historical context.

This next video (Part 2 of 4) discusses The Prophet Like Moses (aka The Prophet of Truth), a central title that was applied to Jesus by His earliest followers, but which later got marginalized by other titles.

This third video (Part 3 of 4) discusses The Key of Knowledge (aka The Key of the Kingdom), a central theme to describe how Jesus taught to read the Torah. This concept was later rejected by Christianity toward the end of the second century, despite it being impossible to correctly read the Bible without it.

This last video (Part 4 of 4) discusses The Table of Demons (aka The Table of Devils), a teaching that was set alongside the golden rule at the Jerusalem Council as one of two necessary things to abstain from in order to walk by the Holy Spirit. This concept shows up in Acts 15 and in 1 Corinthians 10, but it has mostly been obscured by later traditions that ignore its importance.

Below is a topical guide the groups some of these early teachings together for ease of reference. My recommendation is to read the Clementine Homilies all the way through to gain a familiarity with the overall text and then use this chart to look more closely at the major themes throughout the text. These topics are some of the most important teachings of Jesus and His earliest followers, many of which would have largely been lost to history if not for being preserved in the Clementine Homilies.

Here is a free online version of the Clementine Homilies:

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0808.htm

And here is the topical chart I made for my students:

TOPIC	KEY- WORD	CITATION	SUB-TOPIC
TORAH			JEREMIAH 8:8
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 2.38-52	EXTENDED TREATISE ON FALSE SCRIPTURES
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 3.2-5	HOW FALSE SCRIPTURES LEAD TO WRONG UNDERSTANDING OF GOD
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 3.9	SEARCHING SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT WRONG DOCTRINES
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 3.17	ADAM COULD NOT HAVE SINNED
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 3.21-27	FALSEHOODS IN GENESIS 1-3
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 3.39-53	DISCERNING TRUE/FALSE SCRIPTURES AS JESUS TAUGHT
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 16.5-21	TRUE AND FALSE CONCEPTIONS OF GOD IN SCRIPTURES
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 16.13	SCRIPTURE CHANGED AFTER BABYLONIAN EXILE
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 16.14	ANYTHING SAID AGAINST GOD IS FALSE
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 16.21	FALSE SCRIPTURES INTENDED TO TEST MAN
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 18.19	EXAMPLES OF FALSE SCRIPTURES
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 18.20	FALSE SCRIPTURES INTENDED TO TEST MAN
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 18.22	DISBELIEVE EVERYTHING WRITTEN AGAINST GOD
	FALSE SCRIPTURES	H 19.8	REVERENCE PRINCIPLE
FOOD			1 CORINTHIANS 10:21
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 4.4	EATING FLESH ATTRACTS DEMONS
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 7.4	DO NOT TASTE DEAD FLESH
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 7.8	ABSTAIN FROM TABLE OF DEMONS
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 8.19-20	LAW OF DEMONS TABLE
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 9.9-15	SACRIFICE / TABLE OF DEMONS
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 9.23	HOW TO ESCAPE DEMONS
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 11.15	INVITING DEMONIC POSSESSION
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 12.6	PETER VEGAN SINCE YOUTH
	TABLE OF DEMONS	H 13.4	NOT EATING WITH UNBAPTIZED
ETHICS			DEUTERONOMY 30:19
	THE TWO WAYS	H 7.7	PATH OF LOST AND PATH OF SAVED
	THE TWO WAYS	H 7.11	WAY OF SALVATION
	THE TWO WAYS	H 18.17	WAY OF LIFE AND DEATH
	IMAGE OF GOD	H 10.6	RESTORE DIVINE IMAGE
	IMAGE OF GOD	H 11.4	IMAGE OF GOD FOLLOWS GOLDEN RULE
	IMAGE OF GOD	H 16.19	MAN MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE THROUGH LOVE
	IMAGE OF GOD	H 17.7	FAITHFULNESS
	CONDUCT	H 11.16	KEEP TORAH LAW
	CONDUCT	H 12.32	GOLDEN RULE
	CONDUCT	H 15.10	BE CONTENT AS A FAITHFULLY POOR MINIMALIST
	CONDUCT	H 19.19	DO NO HARM
	INTERNAL	H 17.11-12	FEAR OF GOD / LOVE OF GOD
	INTERNAL	H 20.10	BELIEF IS DETERMINED BY FREE WILL
	FAITHFULNESS	H 13.14-20	FAITHFUL WOMAN
RITUAL
	BAPTISM	H 13.11-13	FAST BEFORE BAPTISM
	MOEDIM	H 19.22	FAILURE TO OBSERVE MOEDIM
	BORN AGAIN	H 19.23	MUST BE BORN AGAIN
	IDENTITY	H 20.23	FOLLOWERS OF JESUS IDENTIFY AS JEWS
ROLES
	TRUE PROPHET	H 1.19	TRUSTING TRUE PROPHET
	TRUE PROPHET	H 2.5-6	TRUE PROPHET’S KNOWLEDGE
	TRUE PROPHET	H 2.12	TRUE PROPHET’S KNOWLEDGE
	TRUE PROPHET	H 2.8-11	TEST OF TRUE PROPHET
	TRUE PROPHET	H 3.13-15	TEST OF TRUE PROPHET
	TRUE PROPHET	H 20.19	JESUS IS THE TRUE PROPHET
	BISHOP ROLE	H 3.59-73	HONOR THE BISHOP
	BISHOP ROLE	H 11.35	JAMES HEAD OF CHURCH
GOD
	CHARACTER OF GOD	H 3.31	RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
	CHARACTER OF GOD	H 8.9	GOD IS BLAMELESS FOR EVIL
	CHARACTER OF GOD	H 10.19	ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
	CHARACTER OF GOD	H 11.8	GOD IS GOOD, FREE WILL
	CHARACTER OF GOD	H 16.20	CHARACTER OF GOD
	CHARACTER OF GOD	H 18.2-3	GOD’S GOODNESS AND JUSTICE
	NATURE OF GOD	H 16.5-12	ONENESS OF GOD / TRINITY
	NATURE OF GOD	H 16.17-18	NAME OF GOD MOST HIGH
	NATURE OF GOD	H 17.8	GOD IS THAT WHICH EXISTS
	NATURE OF GOD	H 17.9	CREATED WORLD IN SIX DAYS THROUGH SON
	NATURE OF GOD	H 17.10	GOD IS ONLY ONE WHO EXISTS
	NATURE OF GOD	H 18.4-5	DEUT 32 CONCEPTION OF GOD
	LEFT/RIGHT HAND OF GOD	H 7.2-3	FUNCTIONS OF LEFT AND RIGHT HANDS OF GOD
	LEFT/RIGHT HAND OF GOD	H 18.10	HAND REVEALS KNOWLEDGE
	LEFT/RIGHT HAND OF GOD	H 20.3	LEFT HAND PUNISHES / RIGHT HAND SAVES
	PROVIDENCE OF GOD	H 2.36	PROVIDENCE DEFINED
	PROVIDENCE OF GOD	H 4.12-13	ASTROLOGICAL GENESIS OPPOSITE OF PROVIDENCE
	PROVIDENCE OF GOD	H 14.4-5	CONTRA ASTROLOGICAL GENESIS
CHRIST
	MIRACLES	H 2.33-34	SIMON AND JESUS MIRACLES
	CHRISTOPHANIES	H 3.20	CHRIST APPEARED IN DIFFERENT AGES
	NATURE OF CHRIST	H 16.14-16	CHRISTOLOGY
	WORDS	H 17.6	JESUS MADE CONCISE DECLARATIONS (CONTRA LONG JOHANNINE MONOLOGUES)
	MINISTRY	H 17.19	MINISTRY WAS ONE YEAR LONG
	TRUE PROPHET	H 20.19	JESUS IS THE TRUE PROPHET
EVIL ONE
	EVIL ONE	H 19.2	EXISTENCE OF EVIL ONE
	ORIGIN	H 19.15	ORIGIN OF EVIL AND DEATH
	POWER	H 19.16	SATAN’S LIMITED POWER
	EVIL	H 19.20	EVIL IS TEMPORARY
	NATURE	H 19.21	BAD USE OF GOOD ORDINANCES
	RULERS	H 20.2	TWO RULERS & FREE WILL
	SIN	H 20.4	MEN SIN THROUGH IGNORANCE
BIOGRAPHY
	CLEMENT’S BACKGROUND	H 4.7	NOBLE LIBERAL GREEK EDUCATION
	CLEMENT’S BACKGROUND	H 4.22	CONVERTS TO JUDAISM
	CLEMENT’S BACKGROUND	H 5.28	JEWISH RELIGION IS SUPERIOR TO GREEK PHILOSOPHIES
	CLEMENT’S BACKGROUND	H 12.8-10	CLEMENT BIOGRAPHICAL INFO
	CLEMENT’S BACKGROUND	H 13.7-8	BIO OF CLEMENT’S BROTHERS
	SIMON	H 2.22	SIMON’S DOCTRINES
	SIMON	H 2.23-25	SIMON’S BACKGROUND
	SIMON	H 5.2	SIMON HATES JEWS
	SIMON	H 2.26	SIMON’S WICKED PRACTICES
	SIMON	H 17.20	SIMON REFUSES TO FOLLOW JESUS
	SIMON	H 18.7	SIMON FALSELY CLAIMS TO BE STANDING ONE
	SIMON	H 18.12	SIMON’S FALSE DOCTRINES
	SIMON	H 2.33-34	SIMON AND JESUS MIRACLES
	SIMON	H 18.23	SIMON’S WICKEDNESS
KNOWLEDGE
	KEY OF KNOWLEDGE	H 3.18	KEY OF KNOWLEDGE
	KEY OF KNOWLEDGE	H 3.42	HARMONY WITH CREATION
	KEY OF KNOWLEDGE	H 18.15-16	KEY OF KNOWLEDGE
	KNOWLEDGE	H 17.13-19	DREAMS, DEMONIC APPARITIONS, AND CONFIDENCE IN TRUE PROPHET
	KNOWLEDGE	H 18.18	KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
HISTORY
	READING TORAH	H 2.15-16	GOOD-EVIL PAIRS IN TORAH TEXTS
	MOSES AND JESUS	H 8.7	MOSES AND JESUS TAUGHT THE SAME DOCTRINE
	ORIGINAL LAW	H 8.10	ORIGINAL LAW TO ADAM
	GENESIS 6-8	H 8.11-23	THE FALLEN ANGELS / FLOOD / DEMONS / SATAN (ENOCHIAN)
	CHARACTERS	H 18.13-14	SEVEN PILLARS OF WORLD
	ANGELS	H 20.7	ANGELS CAN TRANSFORM INTO FLESH

The chart can also be downloaded/printed as a pdf here:

Questions can be emailed to me at craig.wescoe@gmail.com

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