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88-408: It had been known from Clement of Alexandria that there was a sect of that name, though he tells nothing as to its tenets. Hippolytus was acquainted with more books of the sect than one. One called Oi Proasteioi appears to have been of an astrological character, treating of the influence of the stars upon the human race, and connecting various mythologies with the planetary powers. There was besides

176-474: A Jew, possibly Theophilus of Caesarea . In around 180 AD, Clement reached Alexandria , where he met Pantaenus , who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria . 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 . Clement studied under Pantaenus, and

264-558: A century. Eusebius , the fourth-century early church historian, is the first writer to provide an account of Clement's life and works, in his Ecclesiastical History , 5.11.1–5, 6.6.1 He provides a list of Clement's works, biographical information, and an extended quotation from the Stromata . From this and other accounts, it is evident that Clement was highly revered by his contemporaries and later patristic figures. As J.B. Mayor observes, “The piety and learning of Clement, his power as

352-562: A degree, and thus humans can become angels. Even the protoctists can be elevated, although their new position in the hierarchy is not clearly defined. The apparent contradiction between the fact that there can be only seven protoctists but also a vast number of archangels to be promoted to their order is problematical. One modern solution regards the story as an example of "interiorized apocalypticism": imagistic details are not to be taken literally, but as symbolizing interior transformation. The titles of several lost works are known because of

440-584: A friend” (Maurice). Nonetheless, there have been a few detracting voices. Photios I of Constantinople writes polemically against Clement's theology in the Bibliotheca , although he also is appreciative of Clement's learning and the literary merits of his work. In particular, he is highly critical of the Hypotyposes , a work of biblical exegesis of which only a few fragments have survived. Photios compared Clement's treatise, which, like his other works,

528-660: A list in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History , 6.13.1–3. They include the Outlines , in eight books, and Against Judaizers . Others are known only from mentions in Clement's own writings, including On Marriage and On Prophecy , although few are attested by other writers and it is difficult to separate works that he intended to write from those that were completed. The Mar Saba letter was attributed to Clement by Morton Smith , but there remains much debate today over whether it

616-519: A proof of this, they adduce the anatomy of the brain , assimilating, from the fact of its immobility, the brain itself to the Father, and the cerebellum to the Son, because of its being moved and being of the form of (the head of) a serpent. And they allege that this (cerebellum), by an ineffable and inscrutable process, attracts through the pineal gland the spiritual and life-giving substance emanating from

704-604: A saint. Saint Clement Coptic Orthodox Christian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, is specifically named after him. Clement is commemorated in Anglicanism . 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

792-534: A simple way of life in accordance with the innate simplicity of Christian monotheism . He condemns elaborate and expensive furnishings and clothing, and argues against overly passionate music and perfumes, but Clement does not believe in the abandonment of worldly pleasures and argues that the Christian should be able to express joy in God's creation through gaiety and partying. He opposes the wearing of garlands, because

880-622: A teacher and philosopher, are spoken of in the highest terms by succeeding fathers.” In the same work, Eusebius cites Alexander of Jerusalem (180–251) lauding “the holy Clement, who was both my master and benefactor,” describing him as one of the “blessed fathers who have trod the path before us,” while Eusebius himself is quoted as calling him “an incomparable master of Christian philosophy.” Jerome (342–420) calls Clement “the most learned of men,” recording that his writings are “full of eloquence and learning, both in sacred Scripture and in secular literature.” The aforementioned Alexander of Jerusalem

968-594: A treatise which resembles the doctrine of the Naassenes . The title "Peratic," as applied to the sect, is explained by Clement of Alexandria as one derived from place. In this sense it may have taken its origin from the phrase Ἅβραμ ὁ περατής ( Genesis 14:13 , LXX), which was understood to mean one who came from the other side of the Euphrates. Pliny , speaking of a certain gum which came from Arabia , India , Media, and Babylon , adds that that which came from Media

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1056-520: A view to the salvation of the universe by the Lord of the universe, both generally and particularly." 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),

1144-424: Is ambivalent about whether any believing Christians can become martyrs by virtue of the manner of their death, or whether martyrdom is reserved for those who have lived exceptional lives. Marcionites cannot become martyrs, because they do not believe in the divinity of God the Father, so their sufferings are in vain. There is then a digression to the subject of theological epistemology . According to Clement, there

1232-579: Is an authentic letter from Clement, an ancient pseudepigraph , or a modern forgery. If authentic, its main significance would be in its relating that the Apostle Mark came to Alexandria from Rome and there, wrote a more spiritual Gospel, which he entrusted to the Church in Alexandria on his death; if genuine, the letter pushes back the tradition related by Eusebius connecting Mark with Alexandria by

1320-515: Is an innately true primitive philosophy that is complemented by human reason through the Logos. Faith is voluntary, and the decision to believe is a crucial fundamental step in becoming closer to God. It is never irrational, as it is founded on the knowledge of the truth of the Logos, but all knowledge proceeds from faith, as first principles are unprovable outside a systematic structure. The third book covers asceticism . He discusses marriage, which

1408-516: Is chiefly important due to Clement's exposition of religion as an anthropological phenomenon. After a short philosophical discussion, it opens with a history of Greek religion in seven stages. Clement suggests that at first, humans mistakenly believed the Sun, the Moon, and other heavenly bodies to be deities. The next developmental stage was the worship of the products of agriculture, from which he contends

1496-535: 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. 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

1584-432: Is more important to give up sinful passions than external wealth. If the rich are to be saved, all they must do is to follow the two commandments , and while material wealth is of no value to God, it can be used to alleviate the suffering of neighbors. Other known works exist in fragments alone, including the four eschatological works in the secret tradition: Hypotyposes , Excerpta ex Theodoto , Eclogae Propheticae , and

1672-462: Is no sin in itself, it is too likely to distract one from the infinitely more important spiritual wealth that is found in Christ. The work finishes with selections of scripture supporting Clement's argument, and following a prayer, the lyrics of a hymn . The contents of the Stromata , as its title suggests, are miscellaneous. Its place in the trilogy is disputed – Clement initially intended to write

1760-401: Is no way of empirically testing the existence of God the Father , because the Logos has revelatory, not analysable meaning, although Christ was an object of the senses. God had no beginning, and is the universal first principle. The fifth book returns to the subject of faith. Clement argues that truth, justice, and goodness can be seen only by the mind, not the eye; faith is a way of accessing

1848-589: Is not likely that the one would have been designated after his town and the other generally after the island. Hippolytus, followed by Theodoret , speaks of the Peratae as founded by Euphrates the "Peratic," and Acembes the Carystian. There is certainly a case for suspicion that this Euphrates the Peratic, the supposed founder of the sect of Peratics, may be as mythical a personage as Ebion, the eponymous founder of

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1936-1198: Is quoted by Jerome praising “the blessed presbyter Clement, a man illustrious and approved.” According to Theodoret (393–450), “he surpassed all others, and was a holy man.” Likewise, Cyril of Alexandria (376–444) says Clement was “a man admirably learned and skillful, and one that searched to the depths all the learning of the Greeks, with an exactness rarely attained before.” Maximus the Confessor (580–662) refers to him reverentially as “the great Clement.” More recently, scholars have acknowledged Clement's primacy and importance in various respects. He has been called “the first Christian scholar” (Shelley), “the first systematic teacher of Christian doctrine” (Patrick), “the first great teacher of philosophical Christianity” (Hatch), “the first self-conscious theologian and ethicist” (Backhouse), “the first great Christian teacher in Alexandria” (Needham), “the founder of Christian philosophical theology” (Bray), “the true creator of ecclesiastical theology” (DeFaye), “the first major commentator on

2024-546: Is the treatise Salvation for the Rich , also known as Who is the Rich Man who is Saved? written c. 203 AD Having begun with a scathing criticism of the corrupting effects of money and misguided servile attitudes toward the wealthy, Clement discusses the implications of Mark 10:25. The rich are either unconvinced by the promise of eternal life, or unaware of the conflict between the possession of material and spiritual wealth, and

2112-531: Is the true religion and states they should be an example of what a true Christian is, even saying they are "holy and pious" and "worships the true God in a manner worthy of him". Clement then gives a description of the nature of Christ, and that of the true Christian, who aims to be as similar as possible to both the Father and the Son. Clement then criticizes the simplistic anthropomorphism of most ancient religions, quoting Xenophanes ' famous description of African, Thracian, and Egyptian deities. He indicates that

2200-574: Is treated similarly in the Paedagogus . Clement rejects the Gnostic opposition to marriage, arguing that only men who are uninterested in women should remain celibate, and that sex is a positive good if performed within marriage for the purposes of procreation. He argues that this has not always been so: the Fall occurred because Adam and Eve succumbed to their desire for each other, and copulated before

2288-624: The Adumbraetiones . These cover Clement's celestial hierarchy, a complex schema in which the universe is headed by the Face of God, below which lie seven protoctists , followed by archangels , angels , and humans. According to Jean Daniélou , this schema is inherited from a Judaeo-Christian esotericism, followed by the Apostles, which was only imparted orally to those Christians who could be trusted with such mysteries. The proctocists are

2376-552: The Book of Enoch . The first person in church history to introduce a view of an invisible and a visible church is Clement of Alexandria. 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 . Stoic physics Too Many Requests If you report this error to

2464-483: The Didasculus , a work that would complement the practical guidance of the Paedagogus with a more intellectual schooling in theology. The Stromata is less systematic and ordered than Clement's other works, and it has been theorized by André Méhat that it was intended for a limited, esoteric readership. Although Eusebius wrote of the eight books of the work, only seven undoubtedly survive. Photius , writing in

2552-620: The Ebionites . We do not read elsewhere of any Euphrates but the Stoic philosopher, who lived in the reign of Hadrian , whom we cannot suppose to have been a teacher of Ophite doctrine. But the name of the river Euphrates was largely used among the Peratae with a mystical signification; and it is conceivable that members of the sect, knowing the name to be held in honour among them, and knowing also that there had been an eminent teacher so called, may have been led to claim him as their founder. On

2640-460: The Epicurean belief that relationships between words are deeply reflective of relationships between the objects they signify. Clement argues for the equality of sexes , on the grounds that salvation is extended to all humans equally. Unusually, he suggests that Christ is neither female nor male, and that God the Father has both female and male aspects: the eucharist is described as milk from

2728-472: The Protrepticus , he devotes the Paedagogus to reflections on Christ's role in teaching humans to act morally and to control their passions. Despite its explicitly Christian nature, Clement's work draws on Stoic philosophy and pagan literature ; Homer, alone, is cited more than sixty times in the work. Although Christ, like a human, is made in the image of God , he alone shares the likeness of God

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2816-620: The Stoics . 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. Clement is usually regarded as a Church Father . He is venerated as a saint in Coptic Christianity , Eastern Catholicism , Ethiopian Christianity , and Anglicanism . He

2904-452: The gymnosophists is pointless. Clement begins the fourth book with a belated explanation of the disorganized nature of the work, and gives a brief description of his aims for the remaining three or four books. The fourth book focuses on martyrdom . While all good Christians should be unafraid of death, Clement condemns those who actively seek out a martyr's death, arguing that they do not have sufficient respect for God's gift of life. He

2992-540: The 17th century Clement was venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church . His name was to be found in the martyrologies, and his feast fell on the fourth of December, but when the Roman Martyrology was revised by Pope Clement VIII his name was dropped from the calendar on the advice of Cardinal Baronius . Benedict XIV maintained this decision of his predecessor on the grounds that Clement's life

3080-422: The 9th century, found various text appended to manuscripts of the seven canonical books, which led Daniel Heinsius to suggest that the original eighth book is lost, and he identified the text purported to be from the eighth book as fragments of the Hypotyposes . The first book starts on the topic of Greek philosophy. Consistent with his other writing, Clement affirms that philosophy had a propaedeutic role for

3168-543: The Bible” (Bray), “the founder of Christian literature” (ANF), “the great founder of the Alexandrian School” (Coxe), a “pioneer of Christian scholarship” (ACCS), “an intellectual giant in the early church” (Kruger), “that man of genius who introduced Christianity to itself, as reflected in the burnished mirror of his intellect” (Coxe), and “the most inquisitive and independent spirit that has perhaps ever appeared in

3256-407: The Christian can embark on an advanced course of philosophical study and contemplation. 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

3344-489: The Christian in reverence for the Creator. Following Socrates , he argues that vice arises from a state of ignorance, not from intention. The Christian is a "laborer in God's vineyard", responsible both for one's own path to salvation and that of one's neighbor. The work ends with an extended passage against the contemporary divisions and heresies within the church. Besides the great trilogy, Clement's only other extant work

3432-469: The Church” (DeFaye). Stylistically, it has been noted that “his writings shine with a happy, peaceful, optimistic spirit; reading them can be a remarkably uplifting experience” (Needham). “He loves God’s creation and sees it as good; he gives us a warm, joyous picture of life; he is richly human, sane, and moderate” (Ferguson). Additionally, Clement's works “are a storehouse of curious ancient lore—a museum of

3520-426: The Father. Christ is both sinless and apathetic , and thus by striving to imitate Christ , one can achieve salvation. To Clement, sin is involuntary, and thus irrational ( άλογον ), removed only through the wisdom of the Logos. God's guidance away from sin is thus a manifestation of God's universal love for mankind. The word play on λόγος and άλογον is characteristic of Clement's writing, and may be rooted in

3608-480: The Gnostics that faith , not esoteric knowledge ( γνῶσις ), is required for salvation. According to Clement, it is through faith in Christ that one is enlightened and comes to know God. In the second book, Clement provides practical rules on living a Christian life. He argues against overindulgence in food and in favour of good table manners . While prohibiting drunkenness, he promotes the drinking of alcohol in moderation following 1 Timothy 5:23. Clement argues for

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3696-462: The Greek deities may also have had their origins in the personification of material objects: Ares representing iron, and Dionysus wine. Prayer, and the relationship between love and knowledge are then discussed. Corinthians 13:8 seems to contradict the characterization of the true Christian as one who knows; but to Clement knowledge vanishes only in that it is subsumed by the universal love expressed by

3784-469: The Greeks, similar to the function of the law for the Jews . He then embarks on a discussion of the origins of Greek culture and technology, arguing that most of the important figures in the Greek world were foreigners, and that Jewish culture was the most significant influence on Greece. In an attempt to demonstrate the primacy of Moses , Clement gives an extended chronology of the world, wherein he dates

3872-522: The Logos, which is universal truth. The title of Paedagogus , translatable as "tutor", refers to Christ as the teacher of all humans, and it features an extended metaphor of Christians as children. It is not simply instructional: Clement intends to show how the Christian should respond to the Love of God authentically. Following Plato ( Republic 4:441), he divides life into three elements: character, actions, and passions. The first having been dealt with in

3960-494: The Peratics, the cosmos is one, but also consists of a threefold division; this rendering of the cosmos they symbolized by a circle circumscribing a triangle. The circle denoted the unity and oneness of the cosmos, while the triangle represented the "Three Worlds" of Patēr, Huios, Hulē [Greek: πατηρ, ὕιος, ὕλη]. These "three Minds" or "three Gods," as they were called, each possessed certain characteristics: In this conception of

4048-591: The Scripture says "that we should not be condemned with the world," by the world is meant the third part or the kosmos idikos; for that part must be destroyed, but the two superior parts freed from destruction. When the Saviour comes into the world, he would attract to himself those whose nature is such as to be capable of receiving his influence. Such persons are called Peratae because, by means of their gnosis they have learned how safely to pass through ( perasai )

4136-484: The allotted time. He argues against the idea that Christians should reject their family for an ascetic life, which stems from Luke , contending that Jesus would not have contradicted the precept to "Honour thy Father and thy Mother", one of the Ten Commandments . Clement concludes that asceticism will only be rewarded if the motivation is Christian in nature, and thus the asceticism of non-Christians such as

4224-634: 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." 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. Yet he seems to have done so tentatively (and perhaps reluctantly), to address

4312-455: The birth of Christ to 25 April or May, 4–2 BC, and the creation of the world to 5592 BC. The books ends with a discussion on the origin of languages and the possibility of a Jewish influence on Plato. The second book is largely devoted to the respective roles of faith and philosophical argument . Clement contends that while both are important, the fear of God is foremost, because through faith one receives divine wisdom. To Clement, scripture

4400-416: The breast (Christ) of the Father. Clement is supportive of women playing an active role in the leadership of the church and he provides a list of women he considers inspirational, which includes both Biblical and Classical Greek figures. It has been suggested that Clement's progressive views on gender as set out in the Paedagogus were influenced by Gnosticism , however, later in the work, he argues against

4488-481: The concerns of upper-class converts, while simultaneously warning of the dangers of wealth. Clement believed that the days mentioned in Genesis are allegorical . 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 . Clement tried to interpret Genesis 6 in harmony with

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4576-435: The constellation of Draco and opening the door of the divine power, through which human souls would be able to escape. The evil gods would be separated and left for punishment, while their third of the cosmos would be destroyed. When it is said "the Son of Man came not to destroy the world, but that the world through Him might be saved," by "the world" is meant the two superior parts, to agenneton and to autogenneton. When

4664-513: The corruption to which everything that is generated is subject. All the ignorant are Egyptians. Egypt is the body, coming out of Egypt is coming out of the body, and passing the Red Sea , that is the water of destruction; or, in other words, generation. Those, however, who suppose themselves to have passed the Red Sea, are still liable to be assailed by the gods of destruction, whom Moses called

4752-407: The cosmos was used to explain certain biblical verse. For example, when, Jesus says, "Your Father which is in heaven," they understood him to mean Patēr, the heavenly father, the first principle, from which the forms have been derived. But when he says "your father was a murderer from the beginning," he means the ruler and framer of Hulē, who, taking the forms transmitted by the Son, works generation in

4840-585: The cosmos, the Son sits as an intermediary between the immovable source of all existence (the Father) and the formless chaos of matter. The Son, as the Word [λογος] and represented by an ever-turning Serpent, first faces the Father, collecting the outflow of divine powers (or Ideas, Forms), then turns to face Hulē, pouring the powers upon the Matter. It is in this way that formless Hulē is transformed into material reality,

4928-439: The cults of Demeter and Dionysus arose. Humans then paid reverence to revenge and deified human feelings of love and fear , among others. In the following stage, the poets Hesiod and Homer attempt to enumerate the deities; Hesiod's Theogony giving the number of twelve. Finally, humans reached a stage when they proclaimed others, such as Asclepius and Heracles , as deities. Discussing idolatry , Clement contends that

5016-403: The earth; that is, angels, and men, and souls departed this life." "God's punishments are saving and disciplinary, leading to conversion; choosing rather the repentance than the death of a sinner." "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." "For all things are arranged with

5104-453: The extreme east. Bunsen has suggested that this designation can mean Euboean . He founds this conjecture on the facts that Acembes, with whom Euphrates is coupled, came from Euboea, and that Euboea is sometimes spoken of as ἡ πέραν, the other side. But this does not prove that the name "Peratic" would ever have been understood as equivalent to "Euboean;" it is nowhere stated that Euphrates and Acembes were fellow countrymen, and if they were, it

5192-553: The first beings created by God, and act as priests to the archangels. Clement identifies them both as the "Eyes of the Lord" and with the Thrones . Clement characterizes the celestial forms as entirely different from anything earthly, although he argues that members of each order only seem incorporeal to those of lower orders. According to the Eclogae Propheticae , every thousand years every member of each order moves up

5280-424: The fossil remains of the beauties and monstrosities of the world of pagan antiquity, during all the epochs and phases of its history” (Wilson). “His prodigious erudition was unsurpassed even by that of Origen” (Cayre). “I do not know where we shall look for a purer or a truer man than this Clemens of Alexandria; he seems to me one of the old fathers whom we should all have reverenced most as a teacher, and loved best as

5368-425: The generation of legitimate offspring. In his third book, Clement continues along a similar vein, condemning cosmetics on the grounds that it is one's soul, not the body, one should seek to beautify. Clement also opposes the dyeing of men's hair and male depilation as being effeminate . He advises choosing one's company carefully, to avoid being corrupted by immoral people, and while arguing that material wealth

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5456-471: The good Christian has a duty to guide them toward a better life through the Gospel. Jesus' words are not to be taken literally — the supercelestial ( ὑπερουράνιος ) meanings should be sought in which the true route to salvation is revealed. The holding of material wealth in itself is not a wrong, so long as it is used charitably, but Christians should be careful not to let their wealth dominate their spirit. It

5544-509: The grounds that they at least saw the flaws in paganism. However, his greatest praise is reserved for Plato, whose apophatic views of God prefigure Christianity. The figure of Orpheus is prominent throughout the Protrepticus narrative, and Clement contrasts the song of Orpheus, representing pagan superstition, with the divine Logos of Christ. According to Clement, through conversion to Christianity alone can one fully participate in

5632-516: The humans' spirits in a cycle of generation and destruction. In order to save the world from those gods, Christ was made to descend in the days of Herod , from the region of the unbegotten, a man himself threefold, having in himself powers from the three parts of the world, "for in Him the whole Pleroma was pleased to dwell bodily," and in Him was the whole Godhead. When he was crucified, he became another celestial ruler over all of them, taking control of

5720-730: The later views of Augustine , such as just war theory and the theory of the two cities . Clement is often regarded as one of the first Christian universalists ; he espoused a belief in the eventual salvation of every person (though not with the level of systematic clarity of his disciple Origen ). 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." "He bestows salvation on all mankind." "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

5808-519: The material cosmos, a work which is destruction and death (because of the transitory nature of the world of becoming). Peratic doctrine tells how some of the divinities that ruled the created universe under the three levels revolted and became evil. Those Archons were planets and constellations, and were identified with deities like Zeus / Jupiter , Cronus / Saturn , Osiris , Isis , Hades and Persephone , as well as heroes like Heracles / Hercules and Perseus . Among them, Cronus would have enslaved

5896-464: The objects of primitive religion were unshaped wood and stone, and idols thus arose when such natural items were carved. Following Plato , Clement is critical of all forms of visual art, suggesting that artworks are but illusions and "deadly toys". Clement criticizes Greek paganism in the Protrepticus on the basis that its deities are both false and poor moral examples. He attacks the mystery religions for their ritualism and mysticism. In particular,

5984-453: The other hand, it is plain that the Peratic treatise of which Hippolytus gives an abstract, and which may have been also seen by Origen, contained the name of Euphrates coupled with that of Acembes the Carystian, a personage whom there was no motive for inventing. There is nothing incredible in the supposition that these are the names of real Ophite teachers, too obscure to leave any record of their existence, outside their own sect. According to

6072-454: The picking of the flowers ultimately kills a beautiful creation of God, and the garland resembles the crown of thorns . Clement treats sex at some length. He argues that both promiscuity and sexual abstinence are unnatural, and that the main goal of human sexuality is procreation. He argues that adultery , sex with pregnant women, concubinage , homosexuality , and prostitution all should be avoided as they will not contribute toward

6160-488: The practice of his family's religion. 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

6248-414: 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. Notably (considering the time period), Clement seemed to advocate for the equality of women and men in

6336-537: The sensible cosmos that mirrors the divine, noetic one from which it receives its existence. By this way, the humans born from matter would have received their souls, portions of divine power. This process is akin to several other cosmogonic conceptions of the ancient world (especially those found in Stoicism (see also Stoic Physics ), Platonism (see also Plato's Theory of Forms ), Neoplatonism , Hermetism , and Aristotelian hylomorphism ). The Peratic conception of

6424-531: The serpents of the desert, who bite and destroy those who had hoped to escape the power of the gods of generation. For these Moses exhibited the true and perfect serpent, on whom they who believed were not bitten by the gods of destruction. None but this true serpent, the perfect of the perfect, can save and deliver those who go out of Egypt, that is to say from the body and from the world. We are given additional insight by Hippolytus into what G.R.S. Mead calls an "analogical psycho-physiological process in man": For

6512-467: The subject of sin and hell , arguing that Adam was not perfect when created, but given the potential to achieve perfection. He espouses broadly universalist doctrine, holding that Christ's promise of salvation is available to all, even those condemned to hell. The final extant book begins with Clement arguing that his version of Gnosticism (what he calls the ‘Christian gnostic’ earlier in Stromata )

6600-422: The unseeable. He stresses that knowledge of God can only be achieved through faith once one's moral faults have been corrected. This parallels Clement's earlier insistence that martyrdom can only be achieved by those who practice their faith in Christ through good deeds, not those who simply profess their faith. God transcends matter entirely, and thus the materialist cannot truly come to know God. Although Christ

6688-603: The vaulted chamber (in which the brain is embedded). And on receiving this, the cerebellum in an ineffable manner imparts the ideas, just as the Son does, to matter; or, in other words, the seeds and the genera of the things produced according to the flesh flow along into the spinal marrow . Employing this exemplar, (the heretics) seem to adroitly introduce their secret mysteries, which are delivered in silence. Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens , also known as Clement of Alexandria ( Ancient Greek : Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς ; c.  150 – c.  215 AD ),

6776-526: The word in a more Christian manner. 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. Clement suggested that philosophy

6864-470: The worshippers of Dionysus are ridiculed by him for their family-based rituals (such as the use of children's toys in ceremony). He suggests at some points that the pagan deities are based on humans, but at other times he suggests that they are misanthropic demons, and he cites several classical sources in support of this second hypothesis. Clement, like many pre-Nicene church fathers, writes favourably about Euhemerus and other rationalist philosophers, on

6952-555: Was God incarnate, it is spiritual, not physical comprehension of him that is important. In the beginning of the sixth book, Clement intends to demonstrate that the works of Greek poets were derived from the prophetic books of the Bible . In order to reinforce his position that the Greeks were inclined toward plagiarism, he cites numerous instances of such inappropriate appropriation by classical Greek writers, reported second-hand from On Plagiarism , an anonymous 3rd-century BC work sometimes ascribed to Aretades . Clement then digresses to

7040-468: 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

7128-419: 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." Clement has been described as "the founder of what was to become the great tradition of Christian philosophical theology." He was a forerunner to some of

7216-421: Was called by some Peratic. This seems to be the same as the Peratic frankincense spoken of by Arrian . It is probably a mere corruption that Sophronius of Jerusalem speaks of Euphrates "Persicus," for he clearly got the name from Theodoret; yet the corruption may have originated in the change of an unfamiliar word into a supposed equivalent. On the whole, we may conclude that this Euphrates, if he existed, came from

7304-527: Was highly syncretic, featuring ideas of Hellenistic, Jewish, and Gnostic origin, unfavorably against the prevailing orthodoxy of the 9th century. Amongst the particular ideas Photios deemed heretical were: However, it is not clear that these are accurate representations of Clement's actual beliefs, since his extant writings appear to be mostly in line with what would come to be considered orthodox Christian theology. It has been suggested that Photios may have misunderstood Clement to be speaking for himself when he

7392-631: Was little known, that he had never obtained public cultus in the Church, and that some of his doctrines were, if not erroneous, at least suspect. Although Clement is not widely venerated in Eastern Christianity , the Prologue of Ohrid repeatedly refers to him as a saint, as do various Orthodox authorities including the Greek Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa. The Coptic tradition considers Clement

7480-543: Was living in Cappadocia or Jerusalem at that time. He died c.  215 AD at an unknown location. Three of Clement's major works have survived in full and they are collectively referred to as a trilogy: The Protrepticus ( Greek : Προτρεπτικὸς πρὸς Ἕλληνας : "Exhortation to the Greeks") is, as its title suggests, an exhortation to the pagans of Greece to adopt Christianity. Within it, Clement demonstrates his extensive knowledge of pagan mythology and theology. It

7568-466: Was often quoting from Gnostics and other sects without agreeing with their teachings. As one of the earliest of the Church fathers whose works have survived, he is the subject of a significant amount of recent academic work, focusing on, among other things, his exegesis of scripture, his Logos-theology and pneumatology, his belief in apokatastasis , the relationship between his thought and non-Christian philosophy, and his influence on Origen . Up until

7656-455: 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. 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 , which may imply that Clement

7744-505: 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 sometimes referred to as "Saint Clement of Alexandria" by both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic authors. Neither Clement's birthdate or birthplace

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