| Clement passage | Greek cited / alluded to | Synoptic locus | Markan corridor location | Gospel profile | Effect on Secret Mark / Canon thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strom. 7.1–2 | γνῶναι τὸν θεὸν … ἕνα καὶ ἀγαθὸν θεόν | Mark 10:18 (conceptual); John 17:3 (verbal affinity) | Inside corridor (Mark 10, conceptual) | Markan theology refracted through Johannine diction | Weakly supportive (thematic continuity) |
In Stromateis 7.1–2 Clement articulates what he calls “the greatest and most foundational lesson for life”: the knowledge of God as eternal, singular, supreme, and good. Although no gospel saying is cited verbatim, the formulation unmistakably echoes the theological core of Jesus’ response in Mark 10:18, where the notion of “goodness” is radically centralized in God alone. Clement’s insistence on God as “πρῶτον καὶ ὑπέρτατον καὶ ἕνα καὶ ἀγαθὸν” reproduces the same exclusivist theological move found at the opening of the rich man pericope, now elevated into a programmatic principle of Christian pedagogy.
At the level of diction, the passage also resonates strongly with John 17:3 (“this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God”), and Clement’s language of γνώσις and κατάληψις reflects his characteristic synthesis of gospel theology with philosophical epistemology. This Johannine coloration, however, does not negate the Markan substrate. Rather, it represents Clement’s habit of extracting a Markan theological shock—God alone is good—and restating it within a gnosticizing framework concerned with ascent through knowledge.
Crucially, Clement does not attach this teaching to a narrative moment, nor does he gesture toward the ethical escalation that follows in Mark 10 (commandments, renunciation, discipleship). The saying has been abstracted from its narrative corridor and universalized as a first principle of spiritual formation. As a result, the passage does not demonstrate narrative dependence on Mark, only theological consonance with a Markan moment that Clement elsewhere treats narratively in Quis Dives Salvetur.
From the standpoint of the Secret Mark and Eusebian Canon thesis, Stromateis 7.1–2 is therefore supportive only at the level of conceptual continuity. It reinforces the observation that Clement’s theology is deeply aligned with the Markan redefinition of goodness and eternal life found in the discipleship corridor, but it does not supply evidence for a continuous or harmonized Markan gospel operating behind the Stromateis. The passage confirms orientation, not structure.
Accordingly, Stromateis 7.1–2 should be classified as weakly supportive but non-advancing. It fits comfortably within a Mark-shaped theological universe without materially strengthening the case for a Secret Mark text underlying Clement’s systematic exposition.
