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Early Church:
"Pseudo Clement"

"this flesh is the counterpart and copy of the spirit."

2Clem 9:5
"If Christ the Lord who saved us, being first spirit, then became flesh, and so called us, in like manner also shall we in this flesh receive our reward."

2Clem 14:1
"Wherefore, brethren, if we do the will of God our Father, we shall be of the first Church, which is spiritual, which was created before the sun and the moon; but if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall be of the scripture that saith, My house was made a den of robbers. So therefore let us choose rather to be of the Church of life, that we may be saved."

2Clem 14:2-3
And I do not suppose ye are ignorant that the living Church is the body of Christ: for the scripture saith, God made man, male and female. The male is Christ and the female is the Church. And the Books and the Apostles plainly declare that the Church existeth not now for the first time, but hath been from the beginning: for she was spiritual, as our Jesus also was spiritual, but was manifested in the last days that He might save us.

Now the Church, being spiritual was manifested in the flesh of Christ, thereby showing us that if any of us guard her in the flesh and defile her not, he shall receive her again in the Holy Spirit: for this flesh is the counterpart and copy of the spirit. No man therefore, when he hath defiled the copy, shall receive the original for his portion. This therefore is what He meaneth, brethren; Guard ye the flesh, that ye may partake of the spirit.

2Clem 15
"Wherefore, brethren, if we do the will of God our Father, we shall be of the first Church, which is spiritual, which was created before the sun and the moon; but if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall be of the scripture that saith, My house was made a den of robbers. So therefore let us choose rather to be of the Church of life, that we may be saved. And I do not suppose ye are ignorant that the living Church is the body of Christ: for the scripture saith, God made man, male and female. The male is Christ and the female is the Church. And the Books and the Apostles plainly declare that the Church existeth not now for the first time, but hath been from the beginning: for she was spiritual, as our Jesus also was spiritual, but was manifested in the last days that He might save us. Now the Church, being spiritual was manifested in the flesh of Christ, thereby showing us that if any of us guard her in the flesh and defile her not, he shall receive her again in the Holy Spirit: for this flesh is the counterpart and copy of the spirit. No man therefore, when he hath defiled the copy, shall receive the original for his portion. This therefore is what He meaneth, brethren; Guard ye the flesh, that ye may partake of the spirit. But if we say that the flesh is the Church and the spirit is Christ, then he that hath dealt wantonly with the flesh hath dealt wantonly with the Church. Such and one therefore shall not partake of the spirit, which is Christ. So excellent is the life and immortality which this flesh can receive as its portion, if the Holy Spirit be joined to it. No man can declare or tell those things which the Lord hath prepared for His elect."

2Clem 20:5 To the only God invisible, the Father of truth, who sent forth unto us the Savior and Prince of immortality, through whom also He made manifest unto us the truth and the heavenly life, to Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

EXTREME NON-HERMENEUTICAL ALLEGORIZATION

2Clem 14:2 And I do not suppose ye are ignorant that the living Church is the body of Christ: for the scripture saith, God made man, male and female. The male is Christ and the female is the Church.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

Eusebius
"It must not be overlooked that there is a second epistle said to be from Clement's pen, but I have no reason to suppose that it was well known like the first one, since I am not aware that the early fathers made any use of it. A year or two ago other long and wordy treatises were put forward as Clement's work. They contain alleged dialogues with Peter and Apion, but there is no mention whatever of them by early writers, nor do they preserve in its purity the stamp of apostolic orthodoxy."

Although known as 2 Clement, this document is in actuality an anonymous homily of the mid-second century. The author quotes from some document for the sayings of Jesus. Because the author betrays the redactional characteristics of both Matthew and Luke, it has been supposed that this author had access to a harmony." (III.38)

Udo Schnelle
"In 2 Clement a larger number of logia of Synoptic types are found (cf. 2 Clem 2.4; 3.2; 4.2; 6.1, 2; 8.5; 9.11; 13.4), which are in part introduced with quotation formulae. Alsongside these are found quotations of unknown origin; cf. 2 Clem. 4.5; 5.2-4; 12.2; 13.2. These data and the introductory formula in 2 Clem. 8.5 ([for the Lord says in the Gospel]) suggest that the author of 2 Clement used, in addition to the Old Testament, an apocryphal gospel that has not come down to us. There is a clearly recognizable tendency in 2 Clement to trace the authority of the Lord back to written documents." (The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings, p. 355)

Robert M. Grant
An early Christian epistle transmitted along with 1 Clement in the biblical Codex Alexandrinus (late 4th century) and the later Jerusalem Codex (1056) which includes the Didache, as well as in the Syriac version. It was not written by the author(s) of 1 Clement and, indeed, it is not a letter but a sermon on self-control, repentance, and judgment. The sermon begins abruptly: "Brothers, we must think about Jesus Christ as about God, as about the judge of living and dead; and we must not think little of our salvation." The preacher tells his "brothers and sisters" that he is reading them a "petition" or "plea" (Gk enteuxis) to "pay attention to what is written," i.e. to the scriptures which he frequently cites (along with quotations from "the prophetic word," otherwise unknown, and something like the apocryphal Gospel of the Egyptians). He himself refers to "the books (i.e., the OT) and the apostles" as authorities (14.2)." (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 1, p. 1061)

Scholars have noted the "synoptic-type" Jewish piety of the sermon, perhaps surprising around A.D. 140-160 (the epistle's approximate date). The work appears to rely upon the Gospel of John as well, however, notably in 9:5-6: "If Christ the Lord who saved us was spirit at first but became flesh [John 1:14] and so called us, so shall we receive the reward in the flesh. Let us then love one another [John 13:34] so that we may all come to the kingdom of God." The kingdom will come when truth and good works are accompanied by ascetic practise (chap. 12). Until then, Christians must preserve the "seal of baptism" (7:6, 8:6) and belong to "the first, spiritual Church, created [like Israel, according to some rabbis] before sun and moon," for Gen 1:27 refers to the male Christ and the female Church, both spiritual; Christ is also the Spirit (chap. 14). The theology is not altogether clear, and the author soon turns to the state that he has "given no trivial counsel about self-control," leading into his practical appeal for repentance and going so far as to say that "fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving is better than both" (16:4). (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 1, p. 1061)

THE SEEMING FUTURISM OF "CLEMENT"

2Clem 6:3 Now this age and the future are two enemies. 4 The one speaketh of adultery and defilement and avarice and deceit, but the other biddeth farewell to these. 5 We cannot therefore be friends of the two, but must bid farewell to the one and hold companionship with the other. 6 Let us consider that it is better to hate the things which are here, because they are mean and for a short time and perishable, and to love the things which are there, for they are good and imperishable.

Note that the sense of the term "future" is not earth's history, but the eternal realm. He constrasts the things of the world "which are here" with the things of the kingdom "which are there." See this later verse:

2Clem 20:2 Let us then have faith, brothers and sisters. We are trained by the present life, that we may be crowned with the future.

2Clem 7:1 So then, my brethren, let us contend, knowing that the contest is nigh at hand, and that, while many resort to the corruptible contests, yet not all are crowned, but only they that have toiled hard and contended bravely. 2 Let us then contend that we all may be crowned. 3 Wherefore let us run in the straight course, the incorruptible contest. And let us resort to it in throngs and contend, that we may also be crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at least come near to the crown.

That which was future was their opportunity to suffer for the sake of the Lord.. not some apocalyptic coming on earth. The show of this follows immediately:

2Clem 8:1 While we are on earth then, let us repent: for we are clay under the craftsman's hand. 2 For in like manner as the potter, if he be making a vessel, and it get twisted or crushed in his hands, reshapeth it again; but if he have once put it into the fiery oven, he shall no longer mend it: so also let us, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil things which we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet time for repentance. 3 For after that we have departed out of the world, we can no more make confession there, or repent any more.

2Clem 9:1 And let not any one of you say that this flesh is not judged neither riseth again.

Clement places both the judgment and the rising as being in the other realm. So though it is a relative future for the individual from a revelatory point of view, it is still in the timeless and eternal realm that is the actual field of fulfillment -- not earth's future.

2Clem 9:5 If Christ the Lord who saved us, being first spirit, then became flesh, and so called us, in like manner also shall we in this flesh receive our reward. 6 Let us therefore love one another, that we all may come unto the kingdom of God.

Both the reward, and the coming unto the kingdom are in the other realm. So though it is a relative future for the individual from a revelatory point of view, it is still in the timeless and eternal realm that is the actual field of fulfillment -- not earth's future.

2Clem 10:3 For this cause is a man unable to *attain happiness*, seeing that they call in the fears of men, preferring rather the enjoyment which is here than the promise which is to come. 4 For they know not how great torment the enjoyment which is here bringeth, and what delight the promise which is to come bringeth.

Again, the attaining of happiness, and the reception of the promise, are in the eternal realm. He is contrasting "which is here" with "which is to come." (cf. 19:3-4)

2Clem 12:1 Let us therefore await the kingdom of God betimes in love and righteousness, since we know not the day of God's appearing. 2 For the Lord Himself, being asked by a certain person when his kingdom would come, said, When the two shall be one, and the outside as the inside, and the male with the female, neither male or female. 3 Now the two are one, when we speak truth among ourselves, and in two bodies there shall be one soul without dissimulation. 4 And by the outside as the inside He meaneth this: by the inside he meaneth the soul and by the outside the body. Therefore in like manner as thy body appeareth, so also let thy soul be manifest by its good works. 5 And by the male with the female, neither male nor female, he meaneth this; that a brother seeing a sister should have no thought of her as a female, and that a sister seeing a brother should not have any thought of him as a male. 6 These things if ye do, saith He, the kingdom of my father shall come.

This passage equates the coming as personal and moral, not external and historical. Those who have their heart right (as the previous context shows), receive the kingdom -- whether in this life or the next.

2Clem 16:1 Therefore, brethren, since we have found no small opportunity for repentance, seeing that we have time, let us turn again unto God that called us, while we have still One that receiveth us. 2 For if we bid farewell to these enjoyments and conquer our soul in refusing to fulfill its evil lusts, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Jesus. 3 But ye know that the day of judgment cometh even now as a burning oven, and the powers of the heavens shall melt, and all the earth as lead melting on the fire, and then shall appear the secret and open works of men.

He may or may not have the material earth in view here, as the references for reception are consistently regarding things contrasted with the world. Here is a passage which speaks about resurrection as outside of the world in eternity:

2Clem 19:3 Let us therefore practice righteousness that we may be saved unto the end. Blessed are they that obey these ordinances. Though they may endure affliction for a short time in the world, they will gather the immortal fruit of the resurrection. :4 Therefore let not the godly be grieved, if he be miserable in the times that now are: a blessed time awaiteth him. He shall live again in heaven with our fathers, and shall have rejoicing throughout a sorrowless eternity.

"Clement" certainly had a view of an apocalyptic revelation in the future -- and it is possible that the overthrow of the Roman Empire (which took place about 200 years later, if Grant's dating is correct) would have fulfilled his vision on this account. Otherwise, the seat of blessing and inheritance of resurrection and mercy are in "the future" -- meaning the other world.. not this one.