Letter to the newly Baptized (Clement of Alexandria)
“Take care never to speak what you have not weighed and pondered beforehand; nor interject your own words on the spur of the moment and in the midst of another’s; for you must listen and converse in turns, with set times for speech and silence.” “ Let everything you do be done for God, both deeds and words; and refer all that is yours to Christ;.... And often by day communicate your thoughts to men, but most of all to God night as well as by day; for let not much sleep prevail to keep you from your prayers and hymns to God, since long sleep is a rival of death.”
Importance: Since the author, Clement was writing this text after a series of mass trials and executions of Christians in Rome, he could have been briefly answering the question of ‘how shall we live during chaotic times?” Clement emphasizes on the themes of wisdom and faith. He encourages the newly converted Christians to pray regularly (may have been viewed as a means of communication between god and his followers) and to maintain absolute faith in God; he sees God as the supreme being. He could have possibly viewed prayer to God as a solution to the problems Christians were facing at that time in Rome. Clement also highlights the importance of having wisdom; he asks his readers to have rational thinking. He tells them to think before performing any particular action and to use one’s knowledge only when necessary.
