Clemens von Alexandrien: Sein Leben, Werk und philosophisch-theologisches Denken (review)

This publication is a comprehensive reworking of the author’s two previous studies, which he wrote as his dissertation. The first dissertation was philosophical in nature and focused on the life, work, spiritual environment, and philosophy of Clement of Alexandria, with special emphasis on the first book of the Stromateis. The second was more theological in character and dealt with Clement’s “pedagogy” of salvation; its center of interest was the first book of the Pedagogue.

From the start the new publication envisions a synthetic and interdisciplinary approach to Clement’s thought, and the author suggests that comparable multiplicity was not alien to Clement’s own work. In his treatment of the Clementine material, the author intends to discuss fundamental problems in the history of philosophy and theology, particularly the history of doctrine (pp. 9–10).

A first chapter describes the historical point of departure, in which Judeo-Christian traditions faced the Greco-Roman world. In this environment Clement tried to establish his own brand of Christian philosophy (p. 16), which can scarcely be separated from his theology; in fact, for Clement, theology was the ultimate philosophy (p. 19).

Subsequent chapters deal not only with the life and work of Clement but also with the question of what this Christian philosophy actually encompasses (pp. 62–65).The author elaborates on logic, knowledge, ontology, God, cosmology, and anthropology (pp. 82–130). The author concludes that Clement wanted to give philosophy a permanent place in the early Church and that he wanted to show that philosophy and theology were not conflicting but rather complementary forces in the search for God (p. 131). Clement called the way in which this process unfolds “gnosis,” while he made the “true gnosis” or true knowledge of God the foundation of faith (p. 131).

The second part of the book (pp. 135–210) deals with the history of doctrine in the Clementine writings, and it emphasizes the “pedagogy” of salvation, a concept that has both philosophical and apologetic implications (pp. 151–56). In this idea of salvational instruction, the author distinguishes traditional theological categories, such as God, the foundation on which instruction takes place; Christ, who is the instructor; and the human being, as the one to be instructed (p. 157).The education or instruction itself is equivalent to salvation through many of the subjects distinguished in the first part of the book—Greek philosophy, Jewish law, and knowledge of God. The new elements in this theological sequence are Christ as pedagogue and humans created in the image and likeness of God. The Church represents the pedagogical institution (p. 194), the sacraments the means of instruction (p. 199), and the world the boundary that delimits the instruction (p. 205).

The author concludes that the relationship between God and man forms the center of Clement’s theological thinking. Humans have to be redeemed, and the primary way in which this can happen is through the pedagogical process (p. 209).The intermediary between God and man is the divine Logos, the unique pedagogue, whom humans are required to follow and imitate. The secure place to do so is the Church, where humans receive their assistance through word and sacrament (p. 210). At the end of his book, the author quotes the concluding part of the Pedagogue (III 101, 1–2), a kind of divine glorification (p. 210).

The book has many learned observations and refers to a host of primary texts. The bibliography is elaborate and adequate, although not fully up to date; only a few publications of the twenty-first century appear on the list. The reader cannot escape the impression that in spite of a broad knowledge of philosophical and theological concepts, the author has positioned himself in the straitjacket of traditional dogmatic categories. This approach results in the portrayal of a second-century, (rather) early Christian writer as a kind of...