Clement of Rome

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“After the martyrdom of Paul and Peter,” records Eusebius, “the first man to be appointed Bishop of Rome was Linus … Then, in the second year of Titus’s reign Linus, Bishop of Rome, after holding his office for twelve years yielded it to Anencletus.” Practically nothing is known about either of these two men … “after twelve years as Bishop of Rome, was succeeded by Clement.” (1)

While much is known about Paul’s life, little is known of Clement, still less of Linus or Cletus — whose sole contributions seem to be that they are names on a list of “succession”. One would think that if these men were really that crucial to early church life, some living record would have remained to testify of them. Instead, for instance, what is known about Clement, is either from a singular letter to the Corinthians or from writers who wrote over one-hundred years after his death (often inconsistently). A second letter (once attributed to Clement), proved to be a sermon written by someone else entirely who was “inspired by Clement” or possibly a forgery written in his name (which was common in the time to give credence to a particular work).

It’s not known when he was born and the events surrounding his death are disputed. The general consensus is that he died a martyr, when he was thrown overboard from a boat with a ship’s anchor tied to him. However, this version of history didn’t start circulating until the ninth century — earlier records indicated he died a natural death, perhaps in Greece. (2) History often rests on shaky ground mixed with folklore, myth, and political agendas.

Whether Clement was the second or fourth “official” Bishop (er, Pope) following Peter and whether or not he died as a martyr is really a Roman Catholic concern. For our purposes these things really do not matter. However, as stated earlier, the crux of the whole Catholic religion holds or falls on the basket they put all their eggs in: Apostolic Succession.

If you can’t faultlessly prove the first four, it really doesn’t matter if you can systematically prove all those that followed. And without doubt, the first four cannot be proved by a credible source — they must be simply accepted by faith.

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Next up: Running With Blind Faith
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Footnote References:

(1) FOUR WITNESSES pg 80-81; original source chap. 2, in EHC 65; chap. 13, in EHE 80; and chap. 15, EHC 80, emphasis mine.

(2) Source: http://orthodoxwiki.org/Clement_of_Rome

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