| Clement passage | Greek cited / alluded to | Synoptic locus | Markan corridor location | Gospel profile | Effect on Secret Mark / Canon thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strom. 21.1–21.7 | τὸ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον δυνατὸν θεῷ … ἴδε ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν πάντα καὶ ἠκολουθήσαμέν σοι | Mark 10:27–28 (cf. Matt 19:26–27; Luke 18:27–28) | Inside corridor (Mark 10) | Markan narrative core with ascetical intensification | Strongly supportive (corridor continuity + Petrine hinge) |
In Stromateis 21.1–21.7 Clement continues without interruption the Markan discipleship sequence already underway in the preceding section. The opening logion, “τὸ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον δυνατὸν θεῷ,” belongs to Mark 10:27 and functions there as the divine resolution to the disciples’ fear at the impossibility of salvation. Clement treats it not as an abstract maxim but as the direct answer to the crisis generated in the corridor.
Clement’s exegesis preserves a distinctly Markan tension between human incapacity and divine enablement. Salvation is neither automatic nor purely ascetical; human striving “καθ’ αὑτὸν” achieves nothing unless it is taken up by divine power. This corresponds exactly to the Markan pivot: impossibility for humans, possibility with God. Matthew’s didactic smoothing and Luke’s pastoral reassurance are again absent; Clement keeps the paradox sharp.
The decisive Markan marker appears with Peter’s intervention: “ἴδε ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν πάντα καὶ ἠκολουθήσαμέν σοι.” Clement explicitly identifies Peter as ὁ πρῶτος τῶν μαθητῶν, the spokesman who “snatches up” (ἥρπασε) the meaning of Jesus’ words. This corresponds precisely to Mark 10:28, where Peter’s claim initiates the next stage of instruction. Clement’s emphasis on Peter’s primacy and initiative is far stronger than in Matthew or Luke and aligns with a Markan–Petrine narrative logic.
At the same time, Clement introduces an ascetical deepening that does not alter the narrative spine. He distinguishes between abandoning trivial external possessions (“τέσσαρας ὀβολούς”) and abandoning νοητὰ κτήματα καὶ ψυχικὰ νοσήματα—the inner pathologies that truly enslave. This move does not replace the Markan story but interprets its demand at a deeper anthropological level, consistent with Clement’s Alexandrian mode of reading.
Crucially, Clement still defines authentic discipleship as ἀκολουθεῖν κατ’ ἴχνος τοῦ διδασκάλου, following “in the footsteps” of Jesus. The language of following, imitation, and conformity (κατ’ ἴχνος, κάτοπτρον, ῥυθμίζειν τὴν ψυχήν) preserves the Markan emphasis on enacted discipleship rather than purely verbal assent. The corridor remains intact: renunciation → fear → divine possibility → Petrine response → deeper clarification of following.
From the standpoint of the Secret Mark / Canon thesis, Stromateis 21.1–21.7 is decisively corroborative. Clement is not harmonizing disparate sayings, nor importing Matthean material to govern the sequence. He is moving step by step through Mark 10, treating the corridor as a continuous argumentative and spiritual pathway. The Petrine hinge, the preservation of narrative order, and the sustained focus on following confirm that Clement is reasoning within a Mark-shaped gospel framework.
Accordingly, this passage strengthens the case that Clement possessed and actively interpreted a Mark-based gospel tradition capable of sustaining extended exegetical development—fully consonant with the Markan profile evident in Quis Dives Salvetur and compatible with the hypothesis that such a Markan axis later informed Eusebius’s canonical organization.
