Part 3 - Defending the WT 1956 August 15th Page 504
Here's what a certian "Catholic Theologian" by the name of PHOTIUS who lived in the 9th Century actually had to say about Clement of Alexandria:
“...Although in some cases what he says appears orthodox, in others he indulges in impious and legendary fables. For he is of opinion that matter is eternal and that ideas are introduced by certain fixed conditions; he also reduces the Son to something created. He talks prodigious nonsense...” - Photius, Bibliotheca or Myriobiblion 109. [Clement of Alexandria, Outlines]: (Cod. 1-165, Tr. Freese)The above is actually PHOTIUS own words about Clement of Alexandria
SOURCE: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/photius_03bibliotheca.htm
From an Orthodox Online Encyclopedia:
“...According to Clement, though Christ's goodness operated in the creation of the world, the Son himself was immutable, self-sufficient, and incapable of suffering. According to his interpretation, such are the characteristic qualities of the divine essence. Though the Logos is most closely one with the Father, whose powers he resumes in himself, to Clement both the Son and the Spirit are "first-born powers and first created"; they form the highest stages in the scale of intelligent being, and Clement distinguishes the Son-Logos from the Logos who is immutably immanent in God. Because of this Photius would later charge that he "degraded the Son to the rank of a creature..." - (Clement of Alexandria: Subheading: Charges Of Heresy)Note both sources go on to argue Clement taught a "Trinity" and was "Orthodox". Both sources of information are TRINITARIAN!
SOURCE: http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Clement_of_Alexandria
I would like to put a number of things straight here:
1.) I am NOT attempting to represent ANY of the quoted sources from the CONFIRMED trinitarins, above or in blogs to come, as being or believing Jehovah's Witness doctrine!
2.) Another thing, NEITHER am I representing CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA as a JW or believing JW doctrine!
3.) Jehovah's Witnesses do NOT accept the writings of professed "Christian" Post-Biblical writers as inspired or of equal weight doctrinally as the Bible.
Although I will say this, Clement did know God's name JEHOVAH!
"...The mystic name which is called the Tetragrammaton, by which alone they who had access to the Holy of Holies were protected, is pronounced JEHOVAH which means, "Who is, who shall be..." - Clement Of Alexandria (Fragments: Collection XI: Fragment: 9) translated by William Wilson.Both Photius and the writers of the Orthodoxwiki encyclopedia are or were firm TRINITARIAN believers.
SOURCE: http://www.logoslibrary.org/clement/fragments/1109.html
But they did admit the the things above by way of CONCESSION or GRUDGING ADMISSION.
Opposers of Jehovah's Witnesses have somehow got it into their heads, that EVERY JW thinks that when the WT quotes a source that they believe things that JW's do!
This is SIMPLY WRONG!
Your average JW understands that these quotations are nothing more than admissions or concessions, and nothing else! It's a no brainer! When a book is written by someone of ANOTHER RELIGION then it's obviously not going to teach what YOUR RELIGION teaches!
But opposer's, haters, detractors and apostates often resort to desperate and malicious misrepresentations and DISTORTED FACTS, in a vain attempt to make us look as bad as possible to the unwary and uninformed.
So the above quotations give us two basic facts:
1. Photius says Clement "reduced the Son to the rank of a creature"
2. The Orthodox Online Encyclopedia says: "to Clement both the Son and the Spirit are "first-born powers and first created" and repeats what Photius said.
So far we have discovered that there is SOME EVIDENCE TO SUBSTANTIATE the QUOTATION published in the Watchtower by Dr Alvin Lamson!
To be continued!
