The Teachers of the Church: Clement of Alexandria (Part 2)

The History of Christianity #48

Our Scripture verse today is Philippians 2:5 which reads: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."

Our quote today is from Clement of Alexandria. He said: "Let us realize how near he is, and that nothing escapes him, not our thoughts, or the plans we make."

Today, we are looking at "The Teachers of the Church" (Part 5) from Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez's fine book, The Story of Christianity (Volume 1).

Clement of Alexandria (Part 2)
But the reason why Clement calls upon Plato is not only that it is convenient for his argument. He is convinced that there is only one truth, and that therefore any truth to be found in Plato can be none other than the truth that has been revealed in Jesus Christ and in scripture. According to him, philosophy was given to the Greeks just as the Law was given to the Jews. Both have the purpose of leading to the ultimate truth, now revealed in Christ. The classical philosophers were to the Greeks what the prophets were to the Hebrews. With the Jews, God has established the covenant of the Law; with the Greeks, that of philosophy.

How can one see the agreement between scripture and the philosophers? At first sight, there seems to be a great distance between the two. But Clement was convinced that a careful study of scripture would lead to the same truth that the philosophers have known. The reason for this is that scripture is written allegorically or, as Clement says, "in parables." The sacred text has more than one meaning. The literal sense ought not to be set aside. But those who are content with it are like children who are content with milk and never grow to adulthood. Beyond the literal sense of the text there are other meanings that the truly wise must discover.

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