Clement of Alexandria

Titus Flavius Clemens, known as Clement of Alexandria, was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria between the second and third centuries. He is regarded as one of the Church Fathers, and he is a key figure for understanding how Christianity engaged with Greek philosophy. His significance lies in building that bridge in a systematic way without giving up his faith.

He is usually dated to around 150. According to a tradition recorded by Epiphanius of Salamis he was born in Athens, though some accounts place his birth in Alexandria. His parents were wealthy pagans, which helps explain his thorough education in Greek poets and philosophers. After rejecting paganism he travelled through Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine and Egypt in search of Christian teachers. In Alexandria he studied under Pantaenus, whom he regarded as his finest teacher, and after Pantaenus died he took charge of the school, where Origen became one of his pupils. He was ordained a presbyter. During the persecution under Septimius Severus, in 202 and 203, he left the city and sought refuge in Cappadocia with Alexander, later bishop of Jerusalem. He died shortly before 215.

His thought is organised in a trilogy: the Protrepticus, the Paedagogus and the Stromata. The Protrepticus is an exhortation to the Greeks to give up myths and idolatry and follow the Logos, Christ, who completes the truth that philosophers had only glimpsed, with Plato playing a prominent role. The Paedagogus describes Christian moral education, with Christ as the teacher who guides desires and habits, and it offers advice on food, adornment and sexuality, always in favour of moderation. The Stromata, or "tapestries" and "miscellanies", is an unsystematic work proposing a gradual initiation into Christian knowledge. Beyond the trilogy, Clement wrote Quis dives salvetur, a homily on the rich young man in the Gospel arguing that wealth is not sinful in itself, but its misuse is.

Clement argued that Greek philosophy had roots among non-Greek peoples and that reason could lead toward God, though the fullness of knowledge comes through Christ. His influence was considerable in later theology, especially on Origen and the Alexandrian tradition. His name was removed from the Roman Martyrology in 1586, yet he remains venerated as a saint in several churches and is still called Saint Clement of Alexandria by Catholic and Orthodox writers.