Clement of Alexandria.

In a lone autobiographical passage, Titus Flavius Clemens, born c. 150 in (perhaps) Athens, explains how he sought enlightenment in Greece, Italy, Lebanon, and Palestine from various unnamed teachers before "finding rest" in Alexandria with St Pantaenus, a converted Stoic philosopher (of great repute, says Eusebius; none of his writings survive), who took his new Christian message to the Far East, building on the apostolic foundations laid by St Bartholomew.

Succeeding Pantaenus c.190, Clement and his own star pupil Origen put the Catechetical School of Alexandria firmly on the Christian map--"It is directed by men of high standing, able in theology" (Eusebius).

Divided into elementary and advanced sections, the School (targetting the educated urban classes) emphasised Biblical allegory, subordination of the Old Testament to the New, dualistic anthropology, God's Transcendence, Trinitarianism, and the Divine Nature of Christ.

Clement himself had to flee anti-Christian disturbances in Alexandria. He apparently died around 215 in Cappadocia. Some early martyrologies gave him a Feast Day of December 4, but Pope Clement VIII (1536-1605) cancelled this on the advice of ecclesiastical historian Cesare Baronius (1538-1607). (Editor: for the unorthodoxy of some of his writings).

Clement's expertise in Hellenism (he is a key source for much religious detail) make it plausible that he was an active pagan before conversion.

While he was steadfast in his Christianity--he was proud to have studied under men who via their fathers traced their faith directly back to the Disciples ("sowing in me those apostolic seeds")--fusing the two traditions remained his prime concern. A big issue in his day ("What has Athens to do with Jerusalem, or Plato with Moses?"--Tertullian), it would remain so until settled by Basil and Jerome.

"Noted for his patient study of Holy Scripture" (Eusebius), Clement wrote prolifically. Tracts on Fasting, Passover, Slander, and Judaizers are lost. Only fragments survive of his Outlines, a massive Biblical commentary, neutrally summarised by Eusebius as "his own interpretations alongside traditional ones," but blasted by Photius as "blasphemous, heretical, and absurd." This, along with other Byzantine attacks, perhaps implies Clement's authority in the Western Church.

Along with excerpts from a rebuttal of the Gnostic Theodotus, there remain essays on Patience for the Newly-Baptised and an elegant exposition of Mark 10.17-31 entitled Which Rich Man Is Saved? An apparently genuine Letter discovered in 1958 contains two quotations from the so-called Secret Gospel of Mark.

His major work comprises the trilogy Protrepticus (Exhortation, for novice Christians and interested outsiders), Paedagogus (Exposition of Christian ethics, suffixing an early Christian hymn, notable for incorporating key thoughts and words from paganism, still vibrant in Orthodox Greek liturgy), and Stromateis (Miscellanies), "a work of immense erudition, a tapestry of Holy Writ and secular knowledge, a synthesis of Christian literature with Greek and Jewish that explains much history" (Eusebius).

Clement cast his net wide; e.g., apart from an anonymous pamphet Against Gambling sometimes attributed to Cyprian, only he mentions the Didache (circa 95AD), the earliest Christian manual on ethics and church routine. With customary eclecticism, he accepted that Gnosis (Religious Knowledge) was a keystone to Christian Perfection, while combatting the social extremism of Gnostic sects. For Clement, Logos (Reason), through which all God's actions are mediated, was the overriding principle. His understanding attitudes extended to the rich (deemed capable of salvation), and to marriage.

Befitting the author of Miscellanies, Clement offers multifarious interest. A passage (Paedagogus 3.59.2) on signet-rings with pious images is pivotal both for early Christian art and the issue of icons.

His prescribed avoidance of perfumes, fine clothes, and excessive hugging might well be heeded today, likewise his horror stories of athletes' diets and recipes for healthy eating (including bulbs), while his ban on haircuts and his observation "No sane man could love a stone" would have enlivened debates on modern fads for long hair and pet rocks.

Clement's influence has extended from Pseudo-Dionysus the Areopagite through mediaeval mystics and Renaissance Florentines to John Wesley, various 19th-century Anglicans, and scholars of all persuasions writing on early church life and literature--a rich tapestry indeed.

FURTHER READING: There are various translations of Clement; e.g., G.B. Butterworth's in the Loeb Classical Library series, and many books on him, notably that by S.R.C. Lilla (Oxford 1971). 84,900 'Google' sites include his substantial Catholic Encyclopedia notice.

Barry Baldwin is Emeritus Professor of Classics at the University of Calgary.