The
Fathers of the Church spread the gospel of
Jesus Christ, defended the Church in apologetic writing and fought the many
heresies of the first six centuries of Christianity. These men, also called
Apostolic Fathers, gave special witness to the faith, some dying the death of a
martyr. Like Jesus who referred to Abraham as a spiritual father (Luke 16: 24)
and St. Paul, who referred to himself in the same terms (1 Corinthians 4: 15), the
Fathers were zealous for the word of God. Their writings are a testimony to the
faith of the early Church, yet many Christians are unfamiliar with the work of
Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Justin the Martyr,
Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian of Carthage, Athanasius, Ephraim, Cyril of
Jerusalem, Hilary of Poitiers or Gregory the Great to name of few of the early
Fathers. Periodically we will provide biographical information and examples of
the writing of these great men of faith. This page will focus on St. Clement of
Alexandria.
Titus Flavius
Clemens, St. Clement of Alexandria
(150-216 A.D.)
was probably born a pagan in Athens about 150
A.D. He was one of the first great leaders in Christian Africa. After his
conversion, he traveled to Italy, Syria and Palestine seeking Christian
teachers. He met a most impressive one by the name of Pantaenus in Alexandria,
became his pupil, associate and succeeded him as the head of a school for
catechumens (converts) by 200 A.D. He speaks of the apostolic tradition he
received his teachers. He had no doubt, known some who recalled Ignatius and
Polycarp or perhaps, even some who as children had heard St. John speak of our
Lord's commands. He could claim to be in the next succession after the apostles.
A persecution by Septimius Severus in about 203 forced him to close the school
and flee to Egypt. His writings are the first to discuss the relationship
between faith and reason. His great treatises constitute a moral and dogmatic
theology as well as an apologetic (defense) of the faith. He died in Cappadocia
between 211-216 A.D.
Exhortation to the Greeks (ante 200A.D.):
405
[11, 111, 1] . . . The first man, when he was in Paradise, played in childlike
abandon, because he was a child of God; but when he gave himself over to
pleasure . . . he was seduced by lust, and in disobedience the child became a
man. Because he did not obey his Father, he was ashamed before God.
. . . [2] The Lord then wished to release him from his bonds. Having put on
flesh--this is a divine mystery--He vanquished the serpent and enslaved the
tyrant death; and most wonderful of all, man, who had been deceived by pleasure
and bound by corruption, had his hands unbound and was set free. [3] O mystic
wonder! The Lord was laid low, and rose up! He that fell from Paradise receives
even better as the reward for obedience: heaven itself.
407
[1, 6, 26,1] When we are baptized, we are enlightened. Being enlightened, we are
adopted as sons. Adopted as sons, we are made perfect. Made perfect, we are
become immortal. "I say,"
he declares, "you are gods and sons all of the Most High [Ps 81(82): 6]. [2]
This work is variously called grace, illumination, perfection and washing
[e.g., see Rom 5:2, 5:15 or Eph 5:26]. It is a washing by which we are cleansed
of sins; a gift of grace by which the punishments due our sins our remitted; an
illumination by which we behold that holy light of salvation--that is, by which
we see God clearly; and we call that perfection which leaves nothing lacking.
[3] Indeed, if a man know God, what more does he need? Certainly it were out of
place to call that which is not complete a true gift of God's grace. Because God
is perfect, the gifts He bestows are perfect.
The Instructor of Children [ante 202
A.D.]:
408
[1, 6. 41, 3] When the loving an benevolent Father had rained down the Word,
that Word then became the spiritual nourishment of those who had good sense.
[42, 1] O mystic wonder! The Father of all is indeed one and the same
everywhere; and one only is the Virgin Mother. I love to call her the Church.
This Mother alone was without milk, because she alone did not become a wife. She
is at once both Virgin and Mother: as a Virgin, undefiled; as a Mother, full of
love.
Calling her children about her, she nourishes them with holy milk, that is with
the Infant Word. . . . [3] The Word is everything to a child: both Father and
Mother, both Instructor and Nurse. "Eat My Flesh," He says," and drink My Blood
(3)." The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutriments. He delivers over His
Flesh, and pours out His Blood; and nothing is lacking for growth of His
children. O incredible mystery!
410
The Blood of our Lord, indeed is twofold. There is His corporeal Blood, by which
we are redeemed from corruption; and His spiritual Blood, that with which we are
anointed. That is to say, to drink the Blood of Jesus is to share in His
immortality . The strength of the Word is the Spirit, just as the blood is the
strength of the body. [20, 1] Similarly, as wine is blended with water, so the
Spirit with man. The one, the Watered Wine, nourishes in faith, while the other,
the Spirit, leads us on to immortality. The union of both, however,--of the
drink and of the Word,--is called the Eucharist, a praiseworthy and excellent
gift. Those who partake of it in faith are sanctified in body and in soul. By
the will of the Father, the divine mixture, man, is mystically united to the
Spirit and the Word.
Who Is The Rich Man That Is Saved?
[ante190-210 A.D.]
436a
[23,2] On the other hand, hear the Savior: ". . . . I am He that feeds you. I
give Myself as Bread, of which he that has tasted experiences death no more; and
I supply daily the Drink of immortality.
438
[42,2] After the death of the tyrant, the [Apostle John] came back again to
Ephesus from the island of Patmos; and, upon being invited, he went even to the
neighboring cities of the pagans, here to appoint
bishops,
there to set in order whole Churches, and there to ordain to the clerical estate
such as were designated by the Spirit.
Other Early Church Fathers and their Testimony