Clement of Alexandria's treatise Quis dives salvetur (QDS) is
typically treated as a source for studying Clement's wealth ethics. The
body of the treatise consists of a figurative exegesis of the Rich Man
pericope in Mark 10 followed by a prescriptive section outlining how the
rich can obtain salvation. The main point of the prescriptive section
is usually taken to be a commendation of redemptive almsgiving, which
Clement boldly labels "buying incorruption with money."
This study will argue that the standard approach to this treatise overlooks a theme that is structurally emphasized even more than almsgiving. In the final chapters of QDS, charitable giving and the subject of wealth in general completely disappear. Instead, Clement's culminating exhortation regards the "absolute necessity" of the rich appointing a 'trainer' for their spiritual lives. This trainer provides in one person all the benefits that Clement earlier attributed to the recipients of almsgiving, implicitly undercutting the rationale for such charity. The lengthy story of St. John and the brigand that makes up the bulk of the treatise's conclusion presents John as just such a trainer, whose efforts single-handedly bring about the reconciliation of a lost soul.
Finally, I will contend that Clement attributes several of the characteristics of this salutary trainer to himself in the introduction of QDS. The ultimate answer to the titular question of this treatise, "Who is the rich man who will be saved?" is the rich man who submits to someone like Clement as a spiritual trainer.
This study will argue that the standard approach to this treatise overlooks a theme that is structurally emphasized even more than almsgiving. In the final chapters of QDS, charitable giving and the subject of wealth in general completely disappear. Instead, Clement's culminating exhortation regards the "absolute necessity" of the rich appointing a 'trainer' for their spiritual lives. This trainer provides in one person all the benefits that Clement earlier attributed to the recipients of almsgiving, implicitly undercutting the rationale for such charity. The lengthy story of St. John and the brigand that makes up the bulk of the treatise's conclusion presents John as just such a trainer, whose efforts single-handedly bring about the reconciliation of a lost soul.
Finally, I will contend that Clement attributes several of the characteristics of this salutary trainer to himself in the introduction of QDS. The ultimate answer to the titular question of this treatise, "Who is the rich man who will be saved?" is the rich man who submits to someone like Clement as a spiritual trainer.
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