Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–216 ce) was an Athenian-born Christian theologian and philosopher, active for most of his career in Alexandria, where, according to Christian tradition, he was the teacher at a catechetical school. It is more likely that he was one of many teachers representing different forms of emergent Christianity in a metropolitan center known for its diverse intellectual life. He fled persecution of Christians in Alexandria in 202 and died in 216, probably in Antioch. Clement is best known for a trio of writings, the Protreptikos, Paedagogus, and Stromateis, which, respectively, exhort pagans to a progressive spiritual path of conversion, teach ethical formation, and advance ideals of contemplation. The last of these works, Stromateis, was written for more advanced and spiritually insightful male and female students of Clement’s teachings. Clement refers to those pursuing the most advanced stage as “gnostics”—but these are to be distinguished from the similarly named followers of the teachings of contemporary Alexandrian Christian teachers such as Basilides and the adherents of Valentinus. Five longer fragments of Clement’s works probably belong to the same spiritual program, specifically related to the third level. Another treatise, titled Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved?, takes the form of a sermon on Mk 10:17–31. Addressing the problem of attachment to money and other material goods, it offers valuable information about the wealth of some Christians in 2nd-century Alexandria. Clement’s works use an eclectic set of philosophical concepts drawn from Middle Platonism, Stoicism, and Aristotelianism to interpret the Bible and to outline the goals of Christian life. Like the earlier works of Philo, Clement’s writings attest to a synthesis, uniting an emergent religious tradition with Hellenistic philosophical ideals, that was formulated to shape ethical and spiritual teaching and to further theological insight.