Clement of Alexandria
Christian theologian (c.150 – c.215)
b. c. 150 · d. c. 215
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria, 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, and in particular, by Plato and the Stoics. His secret works, which exist only in fragments, suggest that he was familiar with pre-Christian Jewish esotericism and Gnosticism as well. In one of his works he argued that Greek philosophy had its origin among non-Greeks, claiming that both Plato and Pythagoras were taught by Egyptian scholars.
Related people
- Tatian disciple of · traditional
- Athenagoras of Athens disciple of · traditional
- Pantaenus disciple of · traditional
- Origen teacher of · documented
Works
Events
Commemorated
Places
- Athens birth
- Caesarea in Cappadocia death
- Alexandria residence
How we know
Recorded as a historical figure.
- Ecclesiastical History 5 claims — Pantaenus at the school in Alexandria; Clement teaches at the school of Alexandria; Severan persecution
Also recorded as
- Clement of Antioch possibly same