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Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (Greek: Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; c. 150 – c. 215 AD), 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. 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 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.

Biography

Neither Clement’s birthdate or birthplace is known with any degree of certainty. It is conjectured 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 only have arisen from 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 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 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 persecutions 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 was living in Cappadocia or Jerusalem at that time. He died c. 215 AD at an unknown location.

Theological Works

Trilogy

Three of Clement’s major works have survived in full, and they are collectively referred to as a trilogy:

The Protrepticus (Exhortation) – written c. 195 AD
The Paedagogus (Tutor) – written c. 198 AD
The Stromata (Miscellanies) – written c. 198 AD – c. 203 AD

Protrepticus

The Protrepticus 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 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 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 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, 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 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 the Logos, which is universal truth.

Paedagogus

This work’s title, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, coitus with pregnant women, concubinage, homosexuality, and prostitution all should be avoided as they will not contribute toward 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 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.

Stromata

The contents of the Stromata, as its title suggests, are miscellaneous. Its place in the trilogy is disputed – Clement initially intended to write 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 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 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 (erroneously) 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 is no way of empirically testing the existence of God the Father, because the Logos has revelatory, not analyzable 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

Other works

Besides the great trilogy, Clement’s only other extant work is the treatise Salvation for the Rich, also known as Who is the Rich Man who is Saved? 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 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 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 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 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 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.

We know the titles of several lost works because of 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 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 a century.

Legacy

Eusebius 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 Eusebius provides a list of Clement’s works, biographical information, and an extended quotation from the Stromata.

Photios I of Constantinople writes against Clement’s theology in the Bibliotheca, although he 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, 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:

His belief that matter and thought are eternal, and thus did not originate from God, contradicting the doctrine of Creatio ex nihilo

His belief in cosmic cycles predating the creation of the world, following Heraclitus, which is extra-Biblical in origin

His belief that Christ, as Logos, was in some sense created, contrary to John 1, but following Philo

His ambivalence toward docetism, the heretical doctrine that Christ’s earthly body was an illusion

His belief that Eve was created from Adam’s sperm after he ejaculated during the night

His belief that Genesis 6:2 implies that angels indulged in coitus with human women (in Chalcedonian theology, angels are considered sexless)

His belief in reincarnation, i.e., the transmigration of souls

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, the relationship between his thought and non-Christian philosophy, and his influence on Origen.

The Reading Culture of Early Christianity

The Early Text of the New Testament

With what we have already discussed as to the level of skilled copying of the early papyri, Alexandria, Egypt’s scribal practices have played a significant role in this. As historical records have shown, Alexandria had an enormous Jewish population. We can imagine a large, predominately Jewish, Christian congregation early on as the gospel made its way throughout that land. This congregation would have maintained deep ties with their fellow Christians in Jerusalem and Antioch. Then, the Didaskelion catechetical school of Alexandria had some of the most influential Church Fathers as head instructors. As has already been noted, Pantaenus took over and was in charge from about 160–180 C.E., Clement being his greatest student, and Origen, who brought this school to Caesarea in 231, establishing a second school and scriptorium.

As the Greek Septuagint originated from Alexandria, and the vast majority of the earliest New Testament papyri also had their origins in Egypt (Fayum and Oxyrhynchus), it is quite clear that the above-mentioned Church Fathers would have accessed the Septuagint and the Christian Greek Scriptures in their writings and evangelistic work. Origen, who learned from both Clement and Pantaenus, wrote more than any of the earliest Christian leaders, and his writings are a reflection of the early New Testament papyri, as is true with Clement and his writings. Considering that Clement studied under Pantaenus, it is not difficult to surmise that his writings would also be a reflection of the early New Testament papyri. Therefore, it truly is not unreasonable to suggest that going in reverse chronologically: Origen, Clement, Pantaenus, and those who studied with Pantaenus and brought him into Christianity from Stoic philosophy, were using Alexandrian family texts-types that were mirror-like reflections of the original texts of the Christian Greek Scriptures. The church historian Eusebius helps us to appreciate just how early this school was; note how he expresses it:

About the same time, a man most distinguished for his learning, whose name was Pantaenus, governed the school of the faithful. There had been a school of sacred learning established there from ancient times [italics mine], which has continued down to our own times, and which we have understood was held by men able in eloquence and the study of divine things. The tradition is that this philosopher was then in great eminence, as he had been first disciplined in the philosophical principles of those called Stoics.^[1]

We have learned thus far that in the second and third centuries C.E., the scholarship and scribal practices of Alexandria had a tremendous impact on all of Egypt as far south as Fayum and Oxyrhynchus. This means that the standard text of the Christian Greek Scriptures reflecting the originals came up out of Egypt during the second century. The Alexandrian Library had been a force for influencing rigorous scholarship and setting high standards from the third century B.C.E. onward. Is it mere coincidence that the four greatest libraries and learning centers were located in the very places that Christianity had its original growth: Alexandria, Pergamum near Ephesus, Rome, and Antioch? Their book production would greatly influence the congregations within these cities and nearby ones.

Attribution: This article incorporates text from the public domain: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[1] Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5:10:1.