| Clement passage | Greek cited / alluded to | Synoptic locus | Markan corridor location | Gospel profile | Effect on Secret Mark / Canon thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strom. 5.1.13.4 | κἂν μὴ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία… οὐκ εἰσελεύσεσθε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν | Matt 18:3; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17 | Inside corridor (Mark 10) | Harmonized synoptic saying with Matthean wording | Mildly supportive (corridor-compatible, not determinative) |
In Stromateis 5.1.13.4 Clement cites the dominical saying concerning becoming “like children” as a condition for entering the kingdom. The formulation κἂν μὴ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία closely reflects Matthew 18:3 in diction and conditional structure, particularly in the negative construction and the explicit reference to entrance into the kingdom.
At the same time, the saying belongs to a shared synoptic tradition that is firmly located in the Markan discipleship corridor. In Mark 10:15, the logion appears within Jesus’ instruction following the reception of children, immediately adjacent to material on renunciation, reception of the kingdom, and the reorientation of status—core themes of the corridor (Mark 8:34–10:52). Luke 18:17 preserves the same dominical demand in parallel fashion.
Clement does not preserve the narrative setting or the gesture toward the children themselves. Instead, he abstracts the saying into a theological principle and integrates it into a symbolic construction of the believer as the “temple of God,” founded upon faith, hope, and love. The logion thus functions as an ethical–ontological axiom, not as part of a reconstructed gospel sequence.
From the standpoint of gospel profile, the passage is not strictly Matthean, despite its Matthean phrasing. It represents a harmonized dominical saying circulating independently of narrative context, one that Mark situates decisively within the discipleship corridor and that Clement is demonstrably willing to deploy without regard to gospel order.
Accordingly, Stromateis 5.1.13.4 is compatible with a Mark-shaped gospel horizon, but it does not advance the Secret Mark hypothesis in a strong sense. It neither presupposes an expanded Markan narrative nor exhibits signs of Clement privileging Mark over Matthew in diction. Its value lies instead in reinforcing the broader pattern that Clement repeatedly draws from sayings that, in Mark, occupy the corridor—even when he reproduces them in harmonized or Mattheanized form.
The passage therefore remains mildly supportive but evidentially neutral: it fits a Markan discipleship framework without independently demonstrating Clement’s reliance on a distinctive or secret Markan gospel tradition.
