7/12/2026 – Below is a summary of a post by Bart Ehrman on his blog site here. A PDF titled 2 Clement.pdf of the article is in his Directory in Dropbox.
Ehrman on 2 Clement
Bart Ehrman’s piece (adapted from his Loeb Apostolic Fathers introduction) surveys 2 Clement, which he argues is the earliest surviving Christian sermon outside the New Testament.
What it is (and isn’t) – Despite the traditional attribution to Clement of Rome, the text is neither by Clement nor actually a letter — scholars widely recognize it as an early Christian homily: scripture reading, expository preaching, and moral exhortation delivered in a worship setting (drawing support from internal references at 2.1, 17.3, and 19.1). Ehrman notes parallel homiletic material embedded in Acts (3:12–26; 20:18–35) and possibly Hebrews.
Content and structure
- Opens with a possible high-Christology statement (Jesus and God should be regarded equivalently, 1.1)
- Expounds Isaiah 54:1 not historically but as addressed directly to the author’s congregation — a technique Ehrman compares to Qumran-style pesher exegesis and to Paul’s own use of scripture
- Moves into exhortation: gratitude for salvation, repentance, detachment from worldly life, good works, and readiness for judgment
- Cites Jesus-sayings both familiar (the “sheep among wolves” saying) and unusual (an extended Peter-Jesus exchange in 5.3–4), plus a saying paralleling Gospel of Thomas 22 on transcending male/female duality (12.2)
- Alludes to Pauline material (the athlete image in ch. 7 cf. 1 Cor 9:24–27; potter/clay in ch. 8 cf. Rom 9:19–24) without naming Paul directly
- Appeals to “the Bible and the apostles” (14:2) as dual authorities — an early witness to the emerging OT/apostolic-writings framework that would eventually become the two-testament canon
Authorship – Unknown and essentially unrecoverable. Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 3.37) already doubted Clementine authorship and noted the work’s limited circulation. Stylistic differences from 1 Clement rule out common authorship. Proposed locations (Alexandria, Corinth) remain speculative.
Date – No firm external anchors exist. Ehrman’s case for a mid-second-century date (roughly 120–170 CE) rests on cumulative internal evidence:
- Movement toward a canon of authorities, but no fixed one
- Jesus’s words called “Scripture” while still transmitted orally rather than from written Gospels
- A saying later branded gnostic/heretical (ch. 12) still cited approvingly
- Governance by a college of presbyters rather than a monarchical bishop, with the author distinguishing himself from that presbyteral group (17.3)
- Christological reflection present but pre-dating the more technical, nuanced formulations of later controversies
Significance – Ehrman frames 2 Clement’s value less in its theology (which is fairly undeveloped) than in what it reveals about: (1) an early, pre-canonical stage of authority-formation combining LXX and Jesus-tradition; (2) the shape of a mid-second-century worship service (reading, homily, presbyteral exhortation); and (3) a community whose overriding concern is ethical — repentance, charitable giving, fasting, and moral separation from pagan neighbors — rather than doctrinal precision.
