Donna’s Reviews > Clement of Rome and the Didache > Status Update

David said the sacrifice that pleases God is the crushed spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord is like a lamp that searches the depths of the heart.

Rahab the harlot was saved because of her faith and hospitality.

So what does faith mean in Clement's Letter to the Corinthians? It means trust in good promises of God, but it also means acting on those promises and cooperating with God's plan of salvation, just as Abraham and Rahab did. With the dire situation in the church at Corinth, faith means accepting the church order ordained by God.

When the fear of God is abandoned, then faith is obscured and moral disorder sets in, resulting in "each walking according to the desires of his own evil heart." When chaos reigns in the church, there is a complete loss of "justice and peace."

In Clement's letter, God is the protector of the lowly, the sick, the hungry, and the One who grants forgiveness. In Clement's way of thinking, the mighty and all-powerful God expresses his love most perfectly in Jesus Christ (descending down to us).

The purpose of Clement's letter to the Corinthians is to restore unity, harmony, and order within the Corinthian church because these are the true features of the church in its nature and structure.