Clement Of Alexandria Research Articles

A kóser törvények márki recepciója

Mk 7, 17-23 and its context is a two-level narrative. On the first level, the text is a prophetic critique initially directed against the Pharisaic tradition of handwashing or, more generally, against the Pharisaic understanding of purity. On this level, Jesus opened the way for a departure from Judaism in no way. In other words, Jesus did not teach against the Torah's dietary laws. The second level of the text is Mark's interpretation. For him, Jesus' saying about the food being eliminated into the sewer no longer meant (or primarily did not mean) only that morality is prior to purity questions but also that everything is pure (i.e. for Gentile Christians). Mark, therefore, found in Jesus' saying the basis for the Gentile Christians' exemption from kosher laws. However, it is important to emphasise that one can discover the problem of identity behind the Marcan interpretation. By eating what the Jews did not, Christians clearly signal that they were now outside Judaism. Eating non-kosher food was an identity marker for (Gentile) Christians, emphasising their separation from Judaism. The drawing of boundaries between Judaism and Christianity was and remained an important issue in early Christianity. Whether they interpreted the kosher laws allegorically (Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria) or accepted their literal meaning (Justin), the common theological position was that the kosher laws (Lev 11), as interpreted by Judaism, were not valid for Christians. However, the practice was sometimes quite different from theological thinking: the extent to which the dietary laws applied to Gentile Christian communities was and remains a serious problem.

An Earlier terminus ante quem for the Epistle of James? The Influence of James on Clement of Alexandria’s Transmission of 1 Clement 17

Abstract: The current terminus ante quem for the Epistle of James is the third century, with the first clear quotations of the epistle located in Origen. Aside from a few contentious correspondences with the Apostolic Fathers, no earlier allusions to James have received any serious consideration. I argue that an earlier reference should in fact be detected in Origen’s predecessor, Clement of Alexandria. In book 4 of his Stromata , the Alexandrian quotes from 1 Clement 17, a text that presents the figure of Job as an exemplum of humility. Clement significantly alters his source text in such a way that seems to betray knowledge of James, producing a synthesis of Joban tradition in early Christianity. If this claim is substantiated, it would effectively push the terminus ante quem for James back by one generation, to the late second century c.e.

Конрад Фоглер и его «Краткое изложение Суммы о религии Франсиско Суареса»: эволюция значения термина «религия»

The article discusses the evolution of the concept of religion from Cicero, who first defined this term, to the era of modern times. The concept of religion by Clement of Alexandria, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Francisco Suarez is analyzed. The Greek term “θρησκεία” found in the New Testament and the validity of its translation by the Latin word “religio” (in Jerome’s Vulgate) are discussed. The history of the gradual rooting of the term “religion” in the Russian language is also touched upon (it is shown that the word “religion” begins to be actively used in Russia only from the era of Peter the Great). The appendix contains a translation from Latin of the first two books of the work of the Austrian Jesuit Conrad Vogler (1665–1742) “A Brief Exposition of the Summa on the Religion of Francisco Suarez”, in connection with which a shift towards a legalistic understanding of religion in the theology of the Jesuits is revealed.

Theōria as Cure for Impiety and Atheism in Plato’s Laws and Clement of Alexandria

Theōria as Cure for Impiety and Atheism in Plato’s Laws and Clement of Alexandria

Учительство Христа в классической западноевропейской иконографии

The article examines the visual embodiment of the theme of Christ's teaching in the European visual tradition. The author shows that the pedagogical metaphors of the Teacher and the Educator, vivid in the New Testament texts and the works of the first Christian writers, were reflected in the fine arts through certain iconographic formulas. An assumption is made about the possibility of a pedagogical interpretation of the symbolic image of the Good Shepherd (basing on Clement of Alexandria). Variations in the image of the Teacher in the works of the 4-5th centuries are also analyzed: these are compositions with Christ the Wonderworker and Christ the Philosopher, which had different iconographic prototypes. Regardless of the characteristics of the portrait interpretation of Christ, special attributes (rhetorical gesture, pallium, scroll or open codex) allow to identify Him as a Teacher. The view on Christ as the Teacher and righteousness and divine wisdom, incomparable with earthly knowledge, is a specific of the patristic tradition. The development of Christian art under the influence of liturgical theological the formation caused appearance of new subjects and interpretations in medieval art. Plots previously associated with the theme of Christ’s teaching receive a different view within the framework of typological exegesis. The author shows that the main “pedagogical” plot, which received consistent development in the art of the Middle Ages, is the image of the young Christ in the Jerusalem temple (Luke 2:41-51). The plot was popular due to the veneration of the image of the baby Jesus, general interest in His childhood, and also in connection with the cults of the Mother of God. In the iconography of the 15-17th centuries the polemical component of the plot is often emphasized, with the scene being interpreted as a variant of a dispute. In apocryphal texts dedicated to the childhood of Jesus, there are episodes of interaction between the Divine Youth and school teachers, who generally showed pedagogical carelessness towards the child and recognized His “disability to learn.” In illustrations of the plot children sympathize and support their “classmate” and even glorify Him as God. Finally, in the late Middle Ages, the story of the giving of the Lord's Prayer was spread, with the direct interaction of the Teacher and Preacher with their listeners articulated.

The Origins of the Christian Idea of Trinity: Answering Jewish Charges of Heresy; Exhorting Pagans against Polytheism; Countering False Gnostics

In this essay I explain that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was first developed as a response to Jewish claims of Christian apostasy and polytheism. At the beginning of Christianity, most of its converts were observant Jews. The Jewish authorities took steps to reclaim their lost sheep and to stem the flow of departures. Their primary intellectual ammunition in that effort was the claim that the Christians were polytheists, because they claimed to believe in two Gods–the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. The Christians’ apostasy was manifest by simple referring to the Mosaic commandment that righteous Israel should have only one God. This Jewish accusation of polytheism also neatly answered the inflammatory Christian charge that the Jews had crucified God and raised significant doubt about their claims of a special resurrection. The doctrine of the Trinity answered all those criticisms. God and Jesus Christ together were the one true God. But the nature of that oneness took some time to work out, and it is within a process of contending with pagan philosophical arguments and intra-Christian heretical positions, that a Christian doctrine of the Trinity begins to congeal. The work of Ante-Nicene Fathers—Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, and others—whose voices we allow to be heard below—contain a trajectory of ideas that explain how the tri-unity is expressed in the momentous Creeds of Nicaea (AD 325) and Constantinople (381).

The Death of James the Just Revisited

Abstract: Based on the testimony of Josephus ( Jewish Antiquities 20.197–203), most scholars place the death of James, the brother of Jesus in 62 c.e. This article breaks with this consensus, arguing that the reference to Jesus "called Christ" in Jewish Antiquities 20.200 is a later Christian interpolation. If it can be shown that the Josephan account was not originally about James, the early Christian leader, then James's death cannot be linked to the high priesthood of Ananus in 62 c.e. It also means that if any of the historical circumstances surrounding James's death can be recovered, they must be sought in the Christian narratival accounts of early antiquity. After reviewing the complex source-critical relations between the James tradition in Hegesippus, Clement of Alexandria, the Second Apocalypse of James , and the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions , and establishing the earliest independent form of the tradition, I argue that the narrative logic of the martyrdom account depends on at least two minimal historical likelihoods: 1) that James was in fact killed; and 2) that his death occurred shortly before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 c.e.

«КАКИЕ МНЕНИЯ О ДЕМОНАХ У ЭЛЛИНОВ» МИХАИЛА ПСЕЛЛА (ТЕКСТ, ПЕРЕВОД И КОММЕНТАРИИ)

The publication presents a commented Russian translation of a short compilation entitled Τίνα περὶ δαιμόνων δοξάζουσιν Ἕλληνες (“What are the Hellenes’ Opinions of Demons”, Latin Graecorum opiniones de daemonibus) attributed to Michael Psellus (1018 – ca. 1078). The text is a compact overview of religious and adjacent practices of the “Hellenes”, meaning the pagan Greeks, from the Neoplatonic perspective, which goes back, eventually, to the Chaldaic Oracles, the “Bible of Neoplatonists” as Franz Cumont has named that fragmentarily extant collection of the 2nd century AD. Indubitably Michael Psellus has been strongly influenced by the Oracles, as well as by the lost commentary on this work by Proclus. Nevertheless, the attribution to Michael Psellus of the Opinions, as well as of the dialogue Timotheus, or On demons (Τιμόθεος ἢ περὶ δαιμόνων), another, somewhat more extensive essay on the same topics (demonology, sacrifices, mysteries, sorcery, magic, divination), seems to be definitively unconvincing, judging by purely formal (lingual) criteria. It would be much more plausible to attribute these writings to some students or followers of this prominent representative of Byzantine proto-Humanism, conveniently designating these anonymous authors as “Pseudo-Psellus”. The text of the Opinions allows to promptly identify many cross-references not only to Proclus, but also to other Neoplatonists (Porphyry, Iamblichus, Synesius), and the section on the mysteries almost literally borrows (though not without blatant distortions) from Clement of Alexandria’s Protrepticus. The Russian translation is based on Paul Gautier’s edition (1988), which is itself based on the oldest manuscript, Vaticanus gr. 1411 (fin. s. xiv), containing the text of the compilation (ff. 33r–34v).

Plutarch’s Parallel Lives and the Greek Christian Fathers of the 2nd Century, with special attention to Clement of Alexandria

It is well known the Plutarch’s influence on the Christian thought of the imperial era, especially in authors such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, the three Capadocian Fathers, John Chrysosthomos, Theodoretus, Cyrillus of Alexandria, or Synesius of Cyrene, who not only cite (with the exception of Clement) him, but even, without explicit citing, are directly inspired by some Plutarch’s theological and ethical treatises. In this sense, the use of the Moralia by Greek Christian Apologists and other Fathers of the Church has received sufficient attention from modern bibliography, especially in the last decades of the 20th Century and so far in the 21st Century. Less researched has been, however, the imprint left by the Parallel Lives on the Greek Christian authors of the first five centuries of our Age. My article will focus on this aspect of Plutarch’s reception, although restricted to the 2nd century AD. The first Section will provide an overview (based on modern literature about this topic and on the reading of Christian texts) of the importance of references in Ancient Christian Literature to the characters of Plutarch’s Lives or to specific passages in them. In the first and second Sections I will focus on the possible references to this Plutarch’s work in the 2nd Century apologists, Tatian, Athenagoras and Theophilus (first Section), and in Clement of Alexandria (second Section).

A Newly Identified Letter of Valentinus on Jesus’s Digestive System: Ps.-Basil of Caesarea’s ep. 366

Abstract A passage from Ps.-Basil of Caesarea’s ep. 366 contains verbatim parallels with a quotation of Valentinus given in Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.7.59.3. These parallels have rarely been recognized by scholars. Völker and Markschies have argued that Ps.-Basil was excerpting from Clement, but this paper argues that Ps.-Basil was independent of Clement and was likely Clement’s source. Overlooked evidence includes (i) the coherence of the parallel passages in the context of ep. 366 and their relative incoherence in the context of Strom. 3.7.59.3; (ii) Valentinian theology that is found throughout ep. 366, including the notions of spiritual bodies and Charis as God’s protological consort; (iii) grammatical errors in Clement that are not present in Ps.-Basil; and (iv) further textual evidence suggesting that ep. 366 has the original version of the passage. A plausible explanation of the evidence, this paper will argue, is that ep. 366 comes from the pen of Valentinus himself.

Luke 9:57–62: Ὁδός to Marcion’s God?

Abstract The first few centuries of the Common Era saw great theological fluidity in emerging Christian doctrine. A figure looming large in many early controversies is Marcion of Pontus. Not considered truly gnostic by modern scholars, Marcion fueled the ire of early Church Fathers—Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others—by spreading his apparently biblically-based, ditheistic theology of a superior Unknown Good God and an inferior Just Creator God. Additionally, Marcion’s gospel, generally considered a version of canonical Luke, witnesses the three Jesus sayings in Luke 9:57–62 (cf. Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem 4,23,9–11; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 3,4,25). This article examines these sayings—in light of both ancient and modern commentary—as representing a collective theological way or ὁδός to ideate Marcion’s Unknown Good God. Today Marcion’s voice is faint, but in ancient Christianity it was exceedingly strong. This article attempts to find a hint of its former strength.

Greek Literature and Christian Doctrine in Early Christianity: A Difficult Co-Existence

This paper traces the complex relationship between classical literature and Christian doctrine in the first four centuries. In the earliest period of Christianity, we can identify two attitudes of Christians towards Greek literature: the hostile attitude shown by Tatian, Theophilus, and Tertullian, and the openness to Greek culture and philosophy demonstrated by Justin the Martyr, Athenagoras of Athens, and Minucius Felix. A notable change happened in the Alexandrian milieu when Clement of Alexandria and Origen started considering Greek classics the embodiment of an authentic Christian spirit. In keeping with Origen, Basil of Caesarea realized a good synthesis between Greek thought and Christian faith. Noting germs of divine revelation in ancient Greek thought, Christian authors took the tools of Greco-Roman criticism and ancient philosophy to develop their doctrine.

Contemplation and “Non-doing” in the Christian Tradition: The Case of John of Ruusbroec

A recurrent theme in many forms of contemplative practice is the need to come to a state of outward solitude (i.e., being without distractions); this provides a framework for contemplation, which ultimately can give way to a suspension of all efforts, opening up a state of inner letting-be. This contribution explores these elements in the Christian tradition following the Biblical typology of Martha and Mary (Lk 10:38–42) with some leading authors (Clement of Alexandria, Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo, John Cassian and Gregory the Great). A specific aspect of the Christian interpretation is that the state of ‘non-doing’ is essentially relational. This relational dimension, in which contemplation and the state of ‘letting-be’ are understood as a response to the initiative of the divine Other who is ‘the origin’ (Lat. principium), provides John of Ruusbroec with the basis to explain how action and non-doing (i.e., contemplation) can coalesce perfectly.

Трансформация понятия «метанойя» в религиозной традиции

The article analyzes the ancient concept of ‘metanoia’ in the religious and philosophical tradition, carries out a historical and philosophical reconstruction of the term. The author considers the concept of ‘metanoia’ in the context of the problem of the relationship between mind and body. Tracing the transformation of the concept, coming from Aristotle, the author of the article shows that the Eastern religious tradition understands repentance as the integration of the divine mind, which exists separately, into the human body and the beginning of its existence according to new laws. Western scholasticism, following Aristotle, separates the active divine and passive human minds, but denies their union in the body, endowing repentance with a supra-individual meaning, interpreting it as a kind of turn towards the Divine light that occurs outside the physical body and is not the result of a genuine experience of union with Christ. The author considers understanding of the concept of ‘metanoia’ by such theologians as Gregory Palamas, Clement of Alexandria, Thomas Aquinas. It is concluded that the problem of the bodily localization of the mind, the essence of the mind, is closely related to the problem of repentance and the historical transformation of the concept of ‘metanoia’.

Promoting a New Kind of Education: Greek and Roman Philosophical Protreptic, by Daniel Markovich

Promoting a New Kind of Education: Greek and Roman Philosophical Protreptic, by Daniel Markovich

Clement of Alexandria’s Homily "Quis Dives Salvetur?" and Its Pastoral Challenges for Alexandrian Christians

The article reconsiders the structure of Clement’s writing Quis dives salvetur? and as a consequence questions the traditional designation of this text as a homily. In the first part, the article focuses on the Gospel text quoted by Clement and attempts to explain some of the unusual choices of the text. In the second part, it highlights some pastorally interesting or, on the contrary, controversial aspects of Clement’s interpretation: (a) the use of the Stoic concept of indifferent things, which makes it possible to give emphasis to the freedom of human decision; (b) the thorough justification of the allegorical interpretation of Mk 10, 21; (c) the pastoral project of the “divine business” based on Lk 16, 9 and finally (d) the possibility of a second repentance after baptism justified by the story of the Apostle John.

Clement of Alexandria’s Stromata in the Early 16th Century

Abstract This article examines the citations from Clement of Alexandria’s Stromata prior to the editio princeps by Piero Vettori (1550) and provides new data on the relationship between that edition and the manuscripts that have preserved this work for future generations.

The Reception of the Book of the Watchers in Valentinus’s Fragment 1 (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata II.36.2–4)

Abstract The article intends to argue in favor of the dependence of Valentinus’s Fragment 1 (Clement, Strom. 2.36.2-4) on the Greek text of the Book of the Watchers. Moving from Valentinus’s recourse to specific expressions of the latter – and in particular of his “technical” use of the term φόβος (“fear”) and of the verb ἀφανίζω (“to destroy”; “to disfigure”) – the aim is to throw new light not only on the origin of Valentinus’s anthropogonic narrative, but also on the reasons and the limits of the re-use of Enochian material in the extant Valentinian production.

“When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition

The article is devoted to the analysis of ideas about charity in early Christianity, Judaism and in the Greco-Roman pagan tradition. The focus is on the formation of the doctrine of “correct” alms in the New Testament texts, “Didache”, in Clement of Rome, Polycarp of Smyrna, in the “Shepherd” of Hermas, in the writings of Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria. These authors discussed questions about who and how to help, and what kind of reward awaits benefactors. At this time (1st — 2nd centuries), two discussions were going on in parallel in early Christian literature: about martyrdom “according to Christ” and about “correct” alms, and comparison of these discussions gives interesting results.

Терпкий вкус спасения (к вопросу использования Климентом Александрийским корня -στυφ-)

For describing the opposite (punishing and encouraging) methods of divine pedagogy, Clement of Alexandria used metaphors related to taste and medicine. God appears to him to be not a strict judge, punishing sinners, but a caring and wise doctor, prescribing bitter/tart medicine for them. Clement compares harsh but salutary experiences (mental suffering, fear) with astringents. He interprets physical punishment, which is written about in the Book of Proverbs (Prov. 23:13-14), as moral. In his opinion, Hellenic philosophy formed and strengthened morals in advance (προ-τυποῦσα καὶ προ-στύφουσα) (Strom. I, 16, 80, 6), and he intends to reinforce those with the help of the divine Scriptures, using the latter as an astringent (ἐπι-στύψω) (Paed. III, 2, 9, 1). Wateriness (ὑδαρότης, ὑδαρές, ὑδατῶδες) in some cases is associated with depravity, and reproof is regarded as an astringent medicine, relieving of excessive liquid and designed to stop the spread of sinful ulcers. The Alexandrian theologian draws the readers’ attention to points that are important to him, using both verbal play (for example, ἐπιστῦφον… σταφυλῆς) and the polysemy of words (for example, the verb ἐπι-στύφειν has the meanings ‘to exert an astringent effect’ and ‘to reprove’. Clement was not the only one who wrote about the usefulness of censure and astringents. In this he followed in the footsteps of authors such as Plato and Plutarch. The perception of God as a Physician became characteristic of the Orthodox Church and influenced the understanding of the essence of penance, considered as the healing of the penitent.