Bucket List Book #516 - The First Epistle of Clement: Order, Authority, and the Early Christian Church

Bucket List Book #516 - The First Epistle of Clement: Order, Authority, and the Early Christian Church

By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures

A Rite of Fancy Bucket List Book Adventure

Book #516 of the Bucket List Book Adventure is complete, The First Epistle to the Corinthians by St. Clement of Rome.

St. Clement of Rome is traditionally considered the third pope (or fourth, if St. Peter is counted). He served as bishop of Rome from approximately AD 92 to 101, and this letter is generally dated to around AD 96. It was written to the Christian community in Corinth, a church already well known for finding itself at the center of conflict.

Why Corinth? A remarkable number of early Christian letters were addressed there, and that is no accident. Corinth sat at a crossroads of both land and sea, one of the most strategically important cities in the ancient world. Merchants, sailors, soldiers, and philosophers passed through constantly, carrying with them ideas, beliefs, temptations, and unrest. What happened in Corinth rarely stayed there, and plenty of things happened.

There were deeper issues as well. The church in Corinth was one of the oldest Christian communities, founded by St. Paul himself. That distinction carried honor, and, perhaps, too much pride. By the time Clement wrote, internal disputes had led to the removal of established presbyters, threatening the unity and order of the church.

Clement’s letter is both firm and pastoral. He exhorts the Corinthians to obedience, humility, and fidelity to the commandments, grounding his argument in Scripture and tradition. The epistle is rich with Old Testament references, including a citation from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, suggesting Clement’s deep familiarity with Jewish Scripture and tradition. This is not innovation for its own sake, but continuity, faith carefully received and carefully preserved.

Like other early Christian writings, The First Epistle of Clement emphasizes adherence to tradition and proper order within the Church. What is striking is how consistent these teachings sound, even today. The concerns feel familiar, the moral framework recognizable. One cannot help but wonder what worship would have been like in those earliest gatherings, and how much of it we would recognize, how much would feel like home.

What struck me most about The First Epistle of Clement is how familiar it feels. Nearly two thousand years later, the concerns remain the same: pride, disorder, and the quiet danger of believing we know better than those who came before us. Clement does not write as a distant authority issuing decrees, but as a shepherd, reminding a restless people that faith is not something we reinvent in every generation. It is something we receive, protect, and hand on.

The language may be older and the world harsher, but the Church Clement describes is already shaped by Scripture, tradition, and a deep longing for unity rooted in humility. The First Epistle of Clement is not merely a historical document; it is a reminder that Christianity was never meant to be improvised. It was meant to endure.

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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller based in Tontitown, Arkansas.

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.

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