Fathers of the Church: Clement of Alexandria : Stromateis, Books One to Three

Titus Flavius Clemens Alexandrinus (ca A.D. 150-215) wrote the "Stromateis", possibly the third work in his trilogy - the "Protrepticus", the "Paedagogus", and the "Stromateis" - to direct Christian Gnostics toward the third stage of philosophy - "gnosis". For Clement the only true "gnosis" was that which presupposed the faith of the Church, that is, apostolic and divinely revealed. But for Clement the ideas of Greek philosophy were also a divine gift to mankind. All of his writings reflect this reconciliation of faith and knowledge. Books One to Three in this volume all revolve around the relation of Christian faith to Greek philosophy and establish Clement's fundamental theory - a harmony of faith and knowledge that places Greek philosophy at the service of faith, which is, to Clement, more important than knowledge. Clement's works remain for scholars today the first examples of Christian scholarship - writings that harmonize Christian doctrine and secular philosophy - enriched by his own comprehensive knowledge of early Christian literature and secular education.