Editing Clement of Rome (section)

==== Theology ====
[[File:Pope Clement I.jpg|thumb|Clement of Rome]]
Clement's view on justification has had much scholarly discussion, as he is sometimes argued to have believed [[sola fide]], though others believe him as having [[Synergism|synergist]] views. Debate exists, because Clement directly stated that "we are not justified by ourselves but by faith", however in other places of the letter, he stresses judgement on sin.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Downs|first=David J.|date=2013|title=Justification, Good Works, and Creation in Clement of Rome's Appropriation of Romans 5–6|url=https://www.academia.edu/7541118|journal=New Testament Studies|volume=59|issue=3|pages=415–432|doi=10.1017/S0028688513000040|s2cid=170840708|issn=0028-6885}}</ref> The Protestant scholar Tom Schreiner argued that Clement of Rome believed in a grace oriented justification by faith, which will cause the believer to do works as a result,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Did the Early Church Teach 'Faith Alone'?|url=https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/did-the-early-church-teach-faith-alone|access-date=31 December 2021|website=Zondervan Academic|language=en}}</ref> [[Philip Schaff]] also said that Clement probably taught a faith alone doctrine<ref>{{Cite web|title=Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume II: Ante-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 100-325 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc2.v.xiv.xviii.html|access-date=21 January 2022|website=www.ccel.org}}</ref> while ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' wrote that Clement believed works to be part of justification.<ref name=CE1913/> Rudolf Knopf and Rudolf Bultmann also believed that Clement believed in [[synergism]], and that the believer needs to cooperate with the grace of God to be saved. Rudolf Knopf in his commentary on the letter of Clement to the Corinthians stated that: ''"Pre-Christian sins are wiped out by baptism. For those sins that follow, a person must have faith in divine mercy and, at the same time, that person must exhibit his or her own good deeds, apart from which the person cannot be saved"''<ref name=":1" /> David Downs argued against the view that Clement of Rome holds synergist views, he argued that Clement did not write a letter about deep soteriology, but instead to provide moral guidance to the Corinthians, David Downs stated "According to the soteriological economy of Clement everything rests on the goodness, mercy, and election of the Creator, which have befitted the 'chosen portion' through Jesus".<ref name=":1" />

[[Thomas R. Schreiner|Thomas Schreiner]] argued that Clement taught that faith was enough to be saved because of 1 Clement 32:4 where he stated:<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Schreiner |first=Thomas R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20dIBQAAQBAJ&q=faith+alone+history |title=Faith Alone---The Doctrine of Justification: What the Reformers Taught...and Why It Still Matters |date=15 September 2015 |publisher=Zondervan Academic |isbn=978-0-310-51579-1 |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>And so we, having been called through His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or piety or works which we wrought in holiness of heart, but through faith, whereby the Almighty God justified all men that have been from the beginning; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Clement 32:4)<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>The epistle has been cited as the first work to establish [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|Roman primacy]], because he wrote to settle a problem in the church,<ref>{{cite web|last=Mirus|first=Jeffrey|title=...and Protects His Church from Teaching Error in Faith and Morals'|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/and-protects-his-church-from-teaching-error-in-faith-and-morals-1127|access-date=6 January 2022|website=www.ewtn.com/|publisher=Eternal Word Television Network.|quote=}}</ref> but most scholars see the epistle as more fraternal than authoritative,{{efn|{{harvnb|Phan|2000|p=32}} writes, "Most scholars would now regard 1 Clement as an impressive example of fraternal correction rather than an authoritative intervention." }} and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] scholar [[John Meyendorff]] sees it as connected with the Roman church's awareness of its "priority" (rather than "primacy") among local churches.<ref name="Meyendorff1992">{{cite book|author=John Meyendorff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMjoJx8FD2wC|title=The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-88141-125-6|series=135-136}}</ref> It has also been argued by Dave Armstrong, that Clement supported [[Papal Infallibility]] in Letter to the Corinthians 1, 63. Because of him speaking of the Corinthians to "being obedient" to the things he has "written through the Holy Spirit" in order to correct and "root out the wicked passion of jealousy".<ref>{{cite web|date=18 September 2021|title=Christians Have Always Recognized the Pope's Authority — Here's Proof From the 1st Century|url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/christians-have-always-recognized-the-pope-s-authority-here-s-proof-from-the-1st-century?amp|access-date=6 January 2022|publisher=National Catholic Register|quote=Clement definitely asserts his authority over the Corinthian church far away… That is extraordinary, and very similar to what we see in the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:28 ("For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things") and in Scripture itself… infallibility (divine protection from error and the pope as a unique representative of God).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=|title=Authority of the Pope|url=https://www.churchfathers.org/authority-of-the-pope|access-date=6 January 2022|website=www.churchfathers.org/|publisher=Church Fathers Organization|quote=You will afford us joy and gladness if being obedient to the things which we have written through the Holy Spirit, you will root out the wicked passion of jealousy}}</ref>

It has also been argued that the epistle may contain early evidence for belief in [[universal salvation]].<ref>Cf. Downs, "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/abs/justification-good-works-and-creation-in-clement-of-romes-appropriation-of-romans-56/32B4E1D94BDF0B8E9AC25299283AD8B4 Justification, Good Works, and Creation in Clement of Rome's Appropriation of Romans 5–6]," in ''New Testament Studies''.</ref>

According to ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', the letter of Clement has [[Trinity|Trinitarian theology]] and Christ is frequently called as the [[High Priest of Israel|high priest]] by him.<ref name=CE1913/>