HistoricalChristian.Faith

Clement of Rome on the Old Testament Canon

Dates: c. 96 AD (floruit; bishop of Rome, d. c. 99) · Wikipedia
Summary: In 1 Clement — among the earliest post-apostolic writings, c. 95–96 AD — Clement weaves the deuterocanonical Wisdom of Solomon into authoritative argument alongside the Gospels and Psalms, and holds up "the blessed Judith" as an example of faith. He renders no canon-list and uses no "it is written" formula for these books, so he is a witness not to a verdict but to the earliest practical use of the disputed books as edifying, quotable Scripture — a full lifetime before the first Christian Old-Testament list.

Claims & evidence

He quotes the Wisdom of Solomon as authority, beside the Gospel and the Psalms

By the word of His might He established all things, and by His word He can overthrow them. "Who shall say unto Him, What hast thou done? or, Who shall resist the power of His strength?" When and as He pleases He will do all things, and none of the things determined by Him shall pass away. All things are open before Him, and nothing can be hidden from His counsel. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handy-work…"

— First Epistle to the Corinthians 27, source (Roberts–Donaldson translation; also at the Ante-Nicene Fathers). The framed sentence fuses two verses of the deuterocanonical Wisdom of Solomon — Wisdom 12:12 ("who shall say, What hast thou done?") and 11:21 (none may resist the power of God's arm) — and Clement sets it in the same breath as Matthew 24:35 ("none of the things determined by Him shall pass away") and Psalm 19:1 ("The heavens declare the glory of God"), with no mark separating the Wisdom material from the canonical Gospel and Psalm.¹ The force is real but should not be overstated: he introduces none of the three texts with a citation formula such as "it is written" — the authority is carried by the seamless weaving, not by an explicit appeal to Scripture.

He adduces "the blessed Judith" as an example of faith, paired with Esther

Many women also, being strengthened by the grace of God, have performed numerous manly exploits. The blessed Judith, when her city was besieged, asked of the elders permission to go forth into the camp of the strangers; and, exposing herself to danger, she went out for the love which she bare to her country and people then besieged; and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hands of a woman. Esther also, being perfect in faith, exposed herself to no less danger…

— First Epistle to the Corinthians 55, source (Roberts–Donaldson translation; also at the Ante-Nicene Fathers). This is the weaker of the two citations for canonical standing: Judith is invoked as a historical illustration of faith — set beside Esther, a protocanonical book — not quoted as an authority for doctrine. It shows the story of Judith treated as known, edifying sacred history in the Roman church of the 90s, but it does not by itself rank the book as Scripture.²

Notes

• Witness, not verdict. 1 Clement contains no enumeration of the Old Testament books, so Clement renders no "Yes" or "No" on a canon-list. What he supplies is evidence of use: the disputed books were already functioning as quotable, edifying Scripture in the earliest post-apostolic church — the datapoint that bears on the argument "Did the early church reject the deuterocanon…?" (assessed contested), since he predates every formal list and stands on the "using" side of the divide.
• Don't overclaim. Neither citation carries an "it is written" formula, and the Judith reference is a moral example rather than a proof-text. The honest reading is the modest one: early practical use, not a canon decision. Clement quotes other deuterocanonical and disputed material elsewhere in the letter in the same allusive manner.
• Place on the timeline. At c. 96 AD Clement is the earliest Christian witness on the Old Testament canon page, standing a lifetime before Melito of Sardis (c. 170), whose list is the first to count the books and the first to leave the deuterocanon out.

Sources