Editing Clement of Alexandria (section)

== Legacy ==
[[Eusebius]], the fourth-century early church historian, is the first writer to provide an account of Clement's life and works, in his ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'', 5.11.1–5, 6.6.1{{NoteTag |Of the two sections dedicated to Clement, ''Eccl. Hist''. 6.6.1 seems decidedly out of place, and [[Henri Valois|Valesius]] argued that this was evidence that Eusebius never revised his work.{{sfnp|McGiffert|1890|p=253}}}} He provides a list of Clement's works, biographical information, and an extended quotation from the ''Stromata''. From this and other accounts, it is evident that Clement was highly revered by his contemporaries and later patristic figures. As J.B. Mayor observes, “The piety and learning of Clement, his power as a teacher and philosopher, are spoken of in the highest terms by succeeding fathers.”<ref>Mayor & Hort, ''Clement of Alexandria: Miscellanies Book VII'', lxi (cf. ''Testimonia Veterum'' in Dindorf's ed., vol. I. pp. lv to lxiv).</ref>

In the same work, Eusebius cites [[Alexander of Jerusalem]] (180–251) lauding “the holy Clement, who was both my master and benefactor,” describing him as one of the “blessed fathers who have trod the path before us,” while Eusebius himself is quoted as calling him “an incomparable master of Christian philosophy.” [[Jerome]] (342–420) calls Clement “the most learned of men,” recording that his writings are “full of eloquence and learning, both in sacred Scripture and in secular literature.” The aforementioned Alexander of Jerusalem is quoted by Jerome praising “the blessed presbyter Clement, a man illustrious and approved.” According to [[Theodoret]] (393–450), “he surpassed all others, and was a holy man.” Likewise, [[Cyril of Alexandria]] (376–444) says Clement was “a man admirably learned and skillful, and one that searched to the depths all the learning of the Greeks, with an exactness rarely attained before.” [[Maximus the Confessor]] (580–662) refers to him reverentially as “the great Clement.”

More recently, scholars have acknowledged Clement's primacy and importance in various respects. He has been called “the first Christian scholar” (Shelley), “the first systematic teacher of Christian doctrine” (Patrick), “the first great teacher of philosophical Christianity” (Hatch), “the first self-conscious theologian and ethicist” (Backhouse), “the first great Christian teacher in Alexandria” (Needham), “the founder of Christian philosophical theology” (Bray), “the true creator of ecclesiastical theology” (DeFaye), “the first major commentator on the Bible” (Bray), “the founder of Christian literature” (ANF), “the great founder of the Alexandrian School” (Coxe), a “pioneer of Christian scholarship” (ACCS), “an intellectual giant in the early church”  (Kruger), “that man of genius who introduced Christianity to itself, as reflected in the burnished mirror of his intellect” (Coxe), and “the most inquisitive and independent spirit that has perhaps ever appeared in the Church” (DeFaye).

Stylistically, it has been noted that “his writings shine with a happy, peaceful, optimistic spirit; reading them can be a remarkably uplifting experience” (Needham). “He loves God’s creation and sees it as good; he gives us a warm, joyous picture of life; he is richly human, sane, and moderate” (Ferguson). Additionally, Clement's works “are a storehouse of curious ancient lore—a museum of the fossil remains of the beauties and monstrosities of the world of pagan antiquity, during all the epochs and phases of its history” (Wilson). “His prodigious erudition was unsurpassed even by that of Origen” (Cayre). “I do not know where we shall look for a purer or a truer man than this Clemens of Alexandria; he seems to me one of the old fathers whom we should all have reverenced most as a teacher, and loved best as a friend” (Maurice).

Nonetheless, there have been a few detracting voices. [[Photios I of Constantinople]] writes polemically against Clement's theology in the ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Bibliotheca]]'', although he also is appreciative of Clement's learning and the literary merits of his work.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 16}} In particular, he is highly critical of the ''Hypotyposes'', a work of biblical exegesis of which only a few fragments have survived. Photios compared Clement's treatise, which, like his other works, was highly syncretic, featuring ideas of Hellenistic, Jewish, and Gnostic origin, unfavorably against the prevailing orthodoxy of the 9th century.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | pp = 17–8}} Amongst the particular ideas Photios deemed [[heresy|heretical]] were:
*The belief that matter and thought are eternal, and thus did not originate from God, contradicting the doctrine of ''[[Creatio ex nihilo]]''.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 23}}
*The belief in [[esoteric cosmology|cosmic cycles]] predating the creation of the world, following [[Heraclitus]], which is extra-Biblical in origin.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | pp = 40–43}}
*The belief that Christ, as Logos, was in some sense created, contrary to [[John 1]], but following [[Philo]].{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 75}}
*Ambivalence toward [[docetism]], the heretical doctrine that Christ's earthly body was an illusion.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 95}}
*The belief that [[Eve]] was created from Adam's sperm after he ejaculated during the night{{sfnp|Itter|2009|p=68}}
*The belief that Genesis 6:2 implies that angels indulged in sexual intercourse with human women.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 146}}
* The belief in reincarnation, i.e., the transmigration of souls.{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 115}}
However, it is not clear that these are accurate representations of Clement's actual beliefs, since his extant writings appear to be mostly in line with what would come to be considered orthodox Christian theology. It has been suggested that Photios may have misunderstood Clement to be speaking for himself when he was often quoting from Gnostics and other sects without agreeing with their teachings.<ref>Mayor & Hort, ''Clement of Alexandria: Miscellanies Book VII'', lxi.</ref>

As one of the earliest of the Church fathers whose works have survived, he is the subject of a significant amount of recent academic work, focusing on, among other things, his exegesis of scripture, his Logos-theology and pneumatology, his belief in [[Apocatastasis|apokatastasis]], the relationship between his thought and non-Christian philosophy, and his influence on [[Origen]].{{sfnp| Ashwin-Siejkowski | 2010 | p = 92–3}}

{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name= Clement of Alexandria
|image=Carton de vitrail de la chapelle Saint Ferdinand Saint Clément d'Alexandrie.jpg|feast_day=4 December ([[Eastern Catholicism]], [[Anglicanism]]) <br />
5 December ([[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church in the United States of America)|Episcopal Church]], [[Anglicanism]])
|venerated_in= [[Oriental Orthodoxy]]<br /> [[Eastern Catholicism]]<br />[[Anglican Communion]]

|titles=Church Father, Theologian
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|canonized_date= Pre-congregation
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=1586
|suppressed_by=[[Pope Sixtus V]]
|issues=Regarded as a [[heretic]] by [[Photius]].
}}

=== Veneration ===
Up until the 17th century Clement was venerated as a saint in the [[Catholic Church]]. His name was to be found in the martyrologies, and his feast fell on the fourth of December, but when the [[Roman Martyrology]] was revised by Pope [[Clement VIII]] his name was dropped from the [[General Roman Calendar|calendar]] on the advice of Cardinal [[Baronius]]. [[Benedict XIV]] maintained this decision of his predecessor on the grounds that Clement's life was little known, that he had never obtained public [[Cult (religious practice)|cultus]] in the Church, and that some of his doctrines were, if not erroneous, at least suspect.{{sfnp| Havey | 1908 }}

Although Clement is not widely venerated in [[Eastern Christianity]], the [[Prologue of Ohrid]] repeatedly refers to him as a saint,<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://westserbdio.org/en/prologue/505-may-12| publisher =Western American Diocese | title = May 12|date=May 2, 2017 | work = Prologue |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170502024636/http://westserbdio.org/en/prologue/505-may-12|archive-date= 2017-05-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://westserbdio.org/en/prologue/644-september-26| publisher =Western American Diocese | title = September 26|date=May 2, 2017 | work = Prologue |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170502150734/http://westserbdio.org/en/prologue/644-september-26 |archive-date=2017-05-02}}</ref> as do various [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] authorities including the [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek]] Metropolitan [[Kallinikos]] of Edessa.<ref>{{Cite web | publisher = Saint Andrew GOC | date = May 7, 2015 | url = http://saintandrewgoc.org/blog/2015/5/7/fruits-of-healing | title= Fruits of Healing | access-date= 2019-08-01 | archive-date= 2019-08-01 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190801164831/http://saintandrewgoc.org/home/2015/5/7/fruits-of-healing | url-status= live}}</ref>

The [[Coptic Christianity|Coptic]] tradition considers Clement a saint.<ref>{{Cite book | url= http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/patrology/schoolofalex/IV-StClement/chapter5.html | title= The School of Alexandria Before Origen | volume = Part IV | chapter = 5 – the Ecclesiology of St. Clement | access-date= 2019-08-01 | archive-date=2019-08-01 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190801184927/http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/patrology/schoolofalex/IV-StClement/chapter5.html | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2019/03-04/coptic-christianity-ancient-egypt/|title = Ancient Egypt gave rise to one of the world's oldest Christian faiths|website = [[National Geographic Society]]|date = 19 April 2019|access-date = 1 August 2019|archive-date = 14 July 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190714033751/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2019/03-04/coptic-christianity-ancient-egypt/ |url-status = dead}}</ref> Saint Clement Coptic Orthodox Christian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, is specifically named after him.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = St. Clement academy | work = About us |url= http://www.stclementacademy.com/about_us/our_saint |title=Our Saint |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181127112454/http://www.stclementacademy.com/about_us/our_saint |archive-date=2018-11-27 |access-date=2019-08-01}}</ref>

Clement is commemorated in [[Anglicanism]].<ref>{{cite book |title = Prayer book |url = http://prayerbook.ca/the-prayer-book-online/57-the-calendar-ix |chapter=The Calendar |page=IX |access-date= 2013-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131104172841/http://prayerbook.ca/the-prayer-book-online/57-the-calendar-ix |archive-date= 2013-11-04}}</ref>