Clement of Alexandria on perfection

Clement of Alexandria (c.150-215 A.D.) was a Christian philosopher and theologian associated with the rise of the "School of Alexandria" in the late second century. He spent a considerable part of his life in the Egyptian city of Alexandria at the mouth of the River Nile, where he studied under Pantaenus and was influenced by him to see how the Christian revelation in Scripture could be explained and supported by utilizing the philosophy of Middle Platonism.

Clement assumed the role of central Christian teacher in Alexandria after Pantaenus' death. Because Alexandria had long been considered one of the intellectual centers of the Greek world, the city attracted people eager to study with figures like Clement who understood biblical theology and Platonic philosophy as two aspects of the same truth.

Eusebius of Caesarea quotes Clement in various parts of his Ecclesiastical History, and he uses him as an historical source. But when he introduces Clement within the chronology of the church's development in Alexandria, he says rather simply, "In his time Clement was noted at Alexandria for his patient study of Holy Scripture" (Ecc Hist, 5.11). That's a sparse description for a theologian who was foundational for the development of the Alexandrian theology that ultimately had a profound influence on subsequent Christian thought.

Following Clement, figures such as Origen, Athanasius, and Cyril, all made substantive contributions to the development of Christian doctrine. Origen, for instance, was a theological giant, significantly influencing Christian understandings that ranged from the doctrine of God to biblical interpretation. The Cappadocian Fathers, who helped to work out the implications of the Council of Nicea for the doctrine of the Trinity in the late fourth century, were influenced by Origen's thought. And Origen himself was a pupil of Clement's; Origen's view of the Logos and his allegorical interpretation of the Bible most probably received their initial direction under Clement's tutelage.

One of Clement's contributions to Christian theology is in his expression of the doctrine of Christian perfection. In fact, John Wesley himself indicated that his apologetic treatise, "The Character of a Methodist," was inspired by Clement's discussion of perfection in the Stromateis (or, Miscellanies).

Clement focuses on the meaning of perfection - and the mode of life one must adopt to aim toward it - in Stromata 7. There, he alludes to the same passage of Scripture that Wesley and other figures in Christianity have pointed toward when discussing perfection - Philippians 3:12-14. This is what Clement says:

"Again, [the commandments of God] ordained that the soul that at any time improved as regards the knowledge of virtue and increase in righteousness, should obtain an improved position in the universe, pressing onwards at every step to a passionless state, until it comes to a perfect man, a preeminence at once of knowledge and of inheritance" (Misc. 7.2.10).

Clement does not believe every Christian should or even can walk this ascending path. But for the "true gnostic" as he calls such a person - the one who desires the wisdom of God - such a path is open. Christian gnostics will thus "keep on always moving to higher and yet higher regions, until they no longer greet the divine vision in or by means of mirrors, but with loving hearts feast for ever on the uncloying, never-ending sight, radiant in its transparent clearness, while throughout the endless ages they taste a never-wearying delight, and thus continue, all alike honoured with an identity of preeminence. This is the apprehensive vision of the pure in heart" (Misc. 7.3.13).

The life that one must adopt in order to move towards such perfection is one of contemplation - but for Clement, contemplation is only really possible when the passions (the appetites, desires) of the body have been tamed through a kind of holistic discipline. So he offers advice on proper (vegetarian) diet, the importance on perpetual prayer, the need to receive the "word of exhortation" from others, and the regular participation in the liturgy and worship of the church. All these together are practiced by the one who seeks that form of knowledge that is meant by the perfection in love (1 John 4:17). And, as Clement says, when the Christian gnostic has achieved such a perfection he does not stop. Rather, "the gnostic prays that the power of contemplation may grow and abide with him, just as the common man prays for a continuance of faith" (Misc. 7.7.46). Perfection is a state that can be attained, but it is also a state that admits of continual increase.

There are a few interesting things to note about Clement's doctrine of perfection besides the fact that it was influential on Wesley's own. One is that - like Gregory of Nyssa on perfection - Clement sees perfection not as a static state but as a path of continual sanctification.

And then another interesting point is that Clement adopts a much of the virtue language of the Greek philosophical tradition, which sees the character of a virtue as a certain habitus in the soul which is formed over time by either disciplined study or disciplined practice (depending on the nature of the virtue in question). By such discipline, our very souls are transformed and capable of a kind of knowledge we couldn't have possessed otherwise.

But what about faith, you might ask?

There's no sense in which this kind of virtue formation doesn't require faith. It's just that the faith it implies is a kind of trust that leads one to the willingness to adopt a form of life that the world would call foolish. I see it as a deeper understanding of faith that the almost magical notions of belief-without-understanding that are often traded in the contemporary church. And so I think an early church father like Clement has much to teach us still to this day.