St. Clement of Alexandria (150-216 A.D.)
Titus Flavius Clemens, St. Clement of Alexandria 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 was ordained a priest by Pope Julian in 189 A.D. He succeeded Pantaenus as the head of a school for catechumens (converts) by 200 A.D., by now an established Greek theologian.
He speaks of the apostolic tradition he received from 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.
Principal works comprise a trilogy (Protrepticus or Exhortation; Paedagogus or Tutor; and Stromata or Miscellanies) focused upon Christ and this threefold relationship with the believer. He converts the heart/mind, disciplines and then imparts wisdom. His focus is upon Christ the Incarnate Word, whom he sees at work in the depths of our souls, leading us toward the moment of encounter in His divinizing presence. He contrasted the beauty of Christian liturgy and doctrine with the vileness of pagan rites and the hope in Christ with the weak hope of pagan poets and philosophers. He also contrasts the superiority of God's revelation to philosophy, though counsels that the Christian should not neglect to study both. In the tutor he says that the Word Incarnate, Jesus our Lord, is the perfect pedagogue to teach us how to live a transfigured life in Christ. We also have homilies he wrote on fasting and evil speaking.
He sees all the values the Greeks held dear, in mythology, philosophy and their mystery cults, fulfilled in Christ, who is the true mystagogue and the dispenser of wisdom. He see Christ as the ministrel who gives harmony to the universe and makes music to God. For Clement, the divine Word is the Sun of Righteousness enlightening the whole world. He urges converts to resist the siren call of pleasure and cling instead to the wood of the Cross in order to be freed from corruption. Cardinal Dulles in his book, A History of Apologetics, says, “he is above all a Christian humanist, who moves easily amid the arts and letters of classical civilization combining Christian piety with the highest values of ancient culture” (p. 41).
He has two quotations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
- “Just as God’s will is creation and is called ‘the world,’ so his intention is the salvation of men, and is called ‘the Church.’” (CCC 760)
- Speaking of the principle of the Church’s unity: “What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her ‘Church.” (CCC 813)
- 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. Similarly, as wine is blended with water [in the liturgy], 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.
Exhortation to the Greeks (ante 200A.D.):
405
. . . 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.
. . . 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. 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
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.
From The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter 2
But the good instructor, the Wisdom, the Word of the Father, who made man, cares for the whole nature of His creature; the all-sufficient Physician of humanity, the Saviour, heals both body and soul. "Rise up," He said to the paralytic; "take the bed on which thou liest, and go away home;" and straightaway the infirm man received strength. And to the dead He said, "Lazarus, go forth;" and the dead man issued from his coffin such as he was ere he died, having undergone resurrection. Further, He heals the soul itself by precepts and gifts--by precepts indeed, in the course of time, but being liberal in His gifts, He says to us sinners, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." (Quoted in Lectio: Mark by Tim Gray, p. 61).