The Mirror and i cor. 13,12 in the Epistemology of Clement of Alexandria

Abstract

It is well known that the epistemology of Clement of Alexandria has a strong Neoplatonist flavour, in that it stresses the need for a transcendent and extra-corporeal vision of the divine. However, unlike Plotinus, Clement uses the language of gnosticism to convey the fundamental aspects of his theory of knowledge. Again unlike Plotinus, and unlike Irenaeus, the first great Christian adversary of the gnostics, Clement's own polemic against gnostic speculation is mitigated by a genuine interest in this particular branch of heterodox Christianity: he even chooses to build his own theology around its key term, yvGat;. On the level of terminology this marks a clear break with earlier representatives of Christian thought, such as Paul, for whom the idea of niortt; was the cornerstone of religious epistemology. Statistically speaking yvoat;S is a minor term in Pauline vocabulary, whereas a glance at Stdihlin's index' shows it to be the principal technical term used by Clement. Clement's gnosis can of course be considered in two ways: as a body of esoteric teachings, or as a manner of grasping the deity. Clement may well have envisaged a detailed system of gnostic teaching, as is suggested by Danielou,2 but it is certain that the term designates a certain kind of approach to God. The true gnostic is destined to become a celestial creature, to gaze upon God face to face and to enter into a form of ontological union with this highest form of reality. Subjection to the body and to its imperatives was to be overcome in order to free the mind from the shackles which would mar its perception of supra-terrestrial reality. Accordingly ordinary human concepts are considered inadequate