Quotes for All
Now the images and temples constructed by mechanics are made of inert matter, so that they too are inert, material, and profane. Even if you perfect the art, it partakes of mechanical coarseness. Works of art cannot then be sacred and divine. Clement of Alexandria
But it is with a different kind of spell that art deludes you … it leads you to pay religious honor and worship to images and pictures. Clement of Alexandria
He alone can remit sins who is appointed our Master by the Father of all; He only is able to discern obedience from disobedience. Clement of Alexandria
He who prohibited the making of a graven image would never himself have made an image in the likeness of holy things [i.e., by creating an image of them here on earth]. Nor is there at all any composite thing or creature endowed with sensation [made by God here on earth] like those in heaven. … Read more
It is absolutely impossible at the same time to be a man of understanding and not to be ashamed to gratify the body. Clement of Alexandria
For, in truth, an image is only dead matter shaped by the craftsman’s hand. But we have no sensible image of sensible matter, but an image that is perceived by the mind alone: God, who alone is truly God. Clement of Alexandria
The law itself exhibits justice and teaches wisdom by abstinence from sensible images and by calling out to the Maker and Father of the universe. Clement of Alexandria
For the Divine Being cannot be declared as it exists: but as we who are fettered in the flesh were able to listen, so the prophets spake to us; the Lord savingly accommodating Himself to the weakness of men. Clement of Alexandria
If the Lord counts the natural beauty of the body inferior to that of the soul, what thinks He of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does all falsehood? Clement of Alexandria
It is far better to be happy than to have your bodies act as graveyards for animals. Accordingly, the apostle [St.] Matthew partook of seeds, nuts and vegetables, without meat. Clement of Alexandria