Studies on First Clement

by William Wrede, Clare K. Rothschild (Foreword), Jacob N. Cerone (Editor)

Inspired by the advice of his former teacher and mentor, Adolf von Harnack, William Wrede committed himself to the task of writing a dissertation on 1 Clement, which was originally published under the title Untersuchungen zum 1. Clemensbrief and has now been published here in English translation for the first time under the title Studies on 1 Clement. In this volume, Wrede investigates the ecclesiastical structure of the early church as well as the significance and function of the Old Testament in 1 Clement. Though overshadowed by his later work, The Messianic Secret, Wrede's work on 1 Clement served as a tempered and solid basis for later investigations of the letter, even when those investigations part ways with Wrede's conclusions.

Genres: Church History

269 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 29, 2023

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pickwick Publications’ series Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers provides the great service of reproducing and/or translating scholarship on early Christian witnesses of the first few years after the apostolic period. This fills an important need, because it is very helpful to get scholarly and critical background regarding these early Christian witnesses and how to best understand them in their context and as witnesses to our shared faith.

In Studies in 1 Clement by William Wrede, Jacob Cerone presents Wrede’s theses which he wrote about 1 Clement, showing his associations with von Harnack but also his own independent conclusions in contrast to the master. Wrede did consider the presbyter and bishop as different officers but did conclude that Clement used a variety of terms in ways which demonstrated a lack of standardization which would be expected at the time. Wrede also focused on how thoroughly Clement was saturated in and informed by the Septuagint in his writing with all of his quotations and citations of and allusions to the Old Testament and Apocrypha in what he wrote. The editor also presented other times at which Wrede wrote about 1 Clement and the preserved correspondence he maintained with von Harnack about subjects related to 1 Clement.

Wrede remains much more (in)famous for his research and conclusions regarding the historical Jesus, but much of what he has to say regarding 1 Clement remains relevant and important for consideration.