Written from Rome to the church at Corinth around AD 96, during the reign of Domitian, 1 Clement is one of the earliest surviving Christian texts outside the New Testament. The letter addresses a crisis in the Corinthian church where younger members had deposed the established presbyters. Clement appeals to scriptural examples, the order of nature, and apostolic tradition to argue for the restoration of the deposed leaders and for harmony in the community. The letter offers invaluable evidence for early Roman Christianity, church organisation, and the development of the concept of apostolic succession. This edition follows the text of Kirsopp Lake (Loeb Classical Library, 1912).
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