| Clement passage | Greek cited by Clement | Synoptic locus | Markan corridor location | Gospel profile | Effect on Secret Mark / Canon thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strom. 4.7.42.3–5 | ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν κύριον… ἀρνεῖται τὴν ζωήν | Matt 10:33; Luke 12:9; cf. Mark 8:38 | Adjacent / threshold to corridor | Shared Synoptic saying, Johannine glossing | Mildly supportive (conceptual alignment) |
In Stromateis 4.7.42.3–5, Clement reflects on the dominical theme of denial of Christ, arguing that the one who denies the Lord effectively denies life itself. The conceptual core of the passage corresponds to the Synoptic saying preserved in Matthew 10:33 and Luke 12:9 (“whoever denies me before men…”), with a partial conceptual overlap with Mark 8:38 (“whoever is ashamed of me and my words…”), which lies at the entry point of the Markan discipleship corridor.
Clement does not reproduce a verbatim Matthean form, nor does he explicitly cite the Matthean judicial formulation (“I will deny before my Father”). Instead, he abstracts the saying into a theological syllogism: denial of Christ equals denial of life. This abstraction is reinforced by the Johannine gloss “ὅτι ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς” (cf. John 1:4), showing that Clement is harmonizing dominical tradition across gospel streams, not reproducing a single evangelist’s wording.
Structurally, the passage aligns more closely with Mark’s existential framing than Matthew’s forensic one. Mark 8:34–38 situates denial within the logic of discipleship, shame, and loss of life—precisely the axis Clement exploits here. The emphasis falls not on eschatological courtroom reversal (Matthew) but on present existential rupture: to deny Christ is already to forfeit ζωή. Clement’s language of hypocrisy (“name without reality”) echoes Mark’s repeated concern with false discipleship rather than Matthew’s ecclesial discipline framework.
Nevertheless, Clement does not embed the saying in a reconstructed Markan narrative sequence, nor does he signal Markan priority through diction or contextual markers. The logion functions as an ethical–ontological maxim, pressed into service for Clement’s polemic against nominal believers rather than as a narrative unit within a gospel storyline.
From the standpoint of the Secret Mark / Canon thesis, this passage is weakly supportive but non-decisive. It demonstrates Clement’s comfort operating with dominical material that, in Mark, belongs at the threshold of the discipleship corridor and shares its core logic of loss, denial, and authentic following. At the same time, the harmonized and Johannine-inflected presentation prevents the passage from serving as direct evidence of a Mark-shaped gospel axis comparable to what is observed in Quis Dives Salvetur.
Accordingly, Stromateis 4.7.42.3–5 should be classified as conceptually compatible with Markan discipleship theology, but structurally non-probative. It neither undermines nor materially advances the Secret Mark hypothesis, while remaining consistent with the broader pattern: Clement freely synthesizes Synoptic and Johannine traditions in Stromateis, reserving sustained Markan narrative deployment for other contexts.
