Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; c. 150 – c. 215 AD),[4] was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A convert to Christianity, he was an educated man who was familiar with classical Greek philosophy and literature. As his three major works demonstrate, Clement was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy to a greater extent than any other Christian thinker of his time, and in particular, by Plato and the Stoics.[5] His secret works, which exist only in fragments, suggest that he was familiar with pre-Christian Jewish esotericism and Gnosticism as well. In one of his works he argued that Greek philosophy had its origin among non-Greeks, claiming that both Plato and Pythagoras were taught by Egyptian scholars.[6]
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens
c. 150 AD
Athens, Achaia, Roman Empire
c. 215 AD
Jerusalem, Syria Palaestina, Roman Empire
Pre-congregation
4 December (Eastern Catholicism, Anglicanism)
5 December (Episcopal Church, Anglicanism)
c. 1605 by Pope Clement VIII
Clement Alexandrine
Clement is usually regarded as a Church Father. He is venerated as a saint in Coptic Christianity, Eastern Catholicism, Ethiopian Christianity, and Anglicanism. He was revered in Western Catholicism until 1586, when his name was removed from the Roman Martyrology by Pope Sixtus V on the advice of Baronius. The Eastern Orthodox Church officially stopped any veneration of Clement of Alexandria in the 10th century. Nonetheless, he is still often referred to as "Saint Clement of Alexandria" by both Eastern Orthodox[7] and Catholic[8] authors.
Biography[edit]
Neither Clement's birthdate or birthplace is known with any degree of certainty. It is speculated that he was born sometime around 150 AD. According to Epiphanius of Salamis, he was born in Athens, but there is also a tradition of an Alexandrian birth.[9][10]
His parents were pagans and Clement was a convert to Christianity. In the Protrepticus he displays an extensive knowledge of Greek religion and mystery religions, which could have arisen only from the practice of his family's religion.[9]
Having rejected paganism as a young man due to its perceived moral corruption, he travelled in Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Egypt. Clement's journeys were primarily a religious undertaking. In Greece, he encountered an Ionian theologian, who has been identified as Athenagoras of Athens; while in the east, he was taught by an Assyrian, sometimes identified with Tatian, and a Jew, possibly Theophilus of Caesarea.[11]
In around 180 AD, Clement reached Alexandria,[12] where he met Pantaenus, who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria.[13] Eusebius suggests that Pantaenus was the head of the school, but controversy exists about whether the institutions of the school were formalized in this way before the time of Origen.[14][15][note 1][17] Clement studied under Pantaenus, and was ordained to the priesthood by Pope Julian before 189. Otherwise, virtually nothing is known of Clement's personal life in Alexandria. He may have been married, a conjecture supported by his writings.[18]
During the Severian persecution of 202–203, Clement left Alexandria. In 211, Alexander of Jerusalem wrote a letter commending him to the Church of Antioch,[19] which may imply that Clement was living in Cappadocia or Jerusalem at that time. He died c. 215 AD at an unknown location.
Clement of Alexandria
Pre-congregation
4 December (Eastern Catholicism, Anglicanism)
5 December (Episcopal Church, Anglicanism)
1586 by Pope Sixtus V
Theology[edit]
Gnosis[edit]
Clement taught that faith was the basis of salvation; he also believed that faith was the basis of gnosis—which to him meant spiritual and mystical knowledge. Clement of Alexandria appropriated the word gnosis from the Gnostics (whom he opposed) but reinterpreted the word in a more Christian manner.[119] He distinguished between two kinds of Christians: the pistic Christian who lives according to God's law, and the Christian gnostic who lives on the level of the gospel and responds by discipline and love. Clement's views of gnosis can be considered a forerunner of the Christian monastic movement that began in Egypt after his death.[120]
Philosophy[edit]
Clement suggested that philosophy was a preparatory discipline to the Greek world preceding its wide acceptance of Christianity and often sought to harmonize insights of Greek philosophy with biblical teaching. He defined philosophy as "the desire for true being and the studies which lead to it."[121] Clement has been described as "the founder of what was to become the great tradition of Christian philosophical theology."[122] He was a forerunner to some of the later views of Augustine, such as just war theory and the theory of the two cities.[120]
Universalism[edit]
Clement is often regarded[123] as one of the first Christian universalists;[124] he espoused a belief in the eventual salvation of every person (though not with the level of systematic clarity of his disciple Origen).[125] Clement believed divine punishment to be corrective and remedial rather than merely retributive or destructive. He writes, "[God] destroys no one but gives salvation to all."[126] "He bestows salvation on all mankind."[127] "He indeed saves all universally—some as converted by punishments, others by voluntary submission with dignity of honor—that to Him every knee shall bow, both of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth; that is, angels, and men, and souls departed this life."[128] "God's punishments are saving and disciplinary, leading to conversion; choosing rather the repentance than the death of a sinner."[129] "I will grant that He punishes the disobedient, for punishment is for the good and advantage of him who is punished, for it is the correction of a refractory subject."[130] "For all things are arranged with a view to the salvation of the universe by the Lord of the universe, both generally and particularly."[131]
Education[edit]
For Clement, disciplining the body would help the Christian discipline the soul; he gave detailed instructions on proper Christian conduct, decorum, and relationships in the second and third books of The Instructor. According to Clement, once the passions are subject to the authority of the Word (or reason), the Christian can embark on an advanced course of philosophical study and contemplation.[132]
Clement adopted a position that gave rise to a whole stream of later Christian thought: true philosophy and authentic human knowledge have their origin in the Logos, which is the unique source of all truth. He accepts the conception of παιδεία as he conducts the wisdom taught by the Logos through education in the sacred letters: on the one hand, the Greek παιδεία prepares the mind of the Christian to distinguish and defend the truth, and, on the other, the liberal arts help the new Christian to direct all his efforts towards the truly useful of each particular discipline, geometry, music, grammar and philosophy.[133]
Notably (considering the time period), Clement seemed to advocate for the equality of women and men in the area of education, at least within the context of Christian spirituality and ethics. He wrote, "Let us recognize, too, that both men and women practice the same sort of virtue; surely, if there is but one God for both, then there is but one Educator for both."[134]
Economics[edit]
Clement opposed a literal interpretation of the command "sell what you have and give to the poor," and argued that the Bible does not command every person to renounce all property, and that wealth can be used either for good or evil.[120] Yet he seems to have done so tentatively (and perhaps reluctantly),[135] to address the concerns of upper-class converts, while simultaneously warning of the dangers of wealth.[136]
Creation[edit]
Clement believed that the days mentioned in Genesis are allegorical.[137] Clement assumed a double creation, one of an invisible world and the second being material creation. He believed that formless matter existed before the creation of the world, being influenced by Plato.[138][139] Clement tried to interpret Genesis 6 in harmony with the Book of Enoch.[140]
Others[edit]
The first person in church history to introduce a view of an invisible and a visible church is Clement of Alexandria.[141][142] Because Clement saw the Protoevangelium of James as canonical, it could imply he believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary, though some have argued that he does not seem to believe in the sinlessness of Mary.[143][144]
Clement of Alexandria interprets "Fire of Wisdom" which prevades the soul as by a baptism.[145]
Clement of Alexandria used the word "symbol" to define the Eucharist, and interpreted John 6 to be an allegory about faith, however his views on real presence are disputed.[146][147]
Clement of Alexandria was apparently an amillennialist.[148]
