Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria

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Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215 AD),[5] was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A convert to Christianity, he was an educated man who was familiar with classical Greek philosophy and literature. As his three major works demonstrate, Clement was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy to a greater extent than any other Christian thinker of his time.

Clement is usually regarded as a Church Father. He was the first member of the church of Alexandria whose writings have survived, and was one of its most distinguished teachers.

He developed a Christian Platonism and has been described by scholars as "the founder of what was to become the great tradition of Christian philosophical theology." Due to his teaching on salvation and divine judgement in passages such as Paedagogus 1.8 and Stromata 7.2, Clement is often regarded as one of the first Christian universalists. Like Origen, he arose from the Catechetical School of Alexandria and was well-versed in pagan and biblical literature.

Three of Clement's major works have survived in full and they are collectively referred to as a trilogy:

The Protrepticus (Exhortation) – written c. 195 AD
The Paedagogus (Tutor) – written c. 198 AD
The Stromata (Miscellanies) – written c. 198 AD–c. 203 AD

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