c. 200–215

Clement of Alexandria: Philosophy as a "Covenant with the Greeks," Faith and Knowledge

In Alexandria Hellenic learning combined with the gospel and produced the Alexandrian type of theology (Berkhof); its background was the Neoplatonism of Plotinus (González). Clement, continuing the line of Justin and Athenagoras, did not doubt that there is truth in Greek philosophy: philosophy was given to the Greeks, as the Law to the Jews, to lead them to Christ. Faith is necessary for knowledge, but knowledge is also necessary for faith; for Tertullian faith is everything, for Clement it is the first step, on which the knowledge of the Christian Gnostic is built. His three works – the Protrepticus, the Paedagogus and the Stromata – correspond to stages of instruction.