Clement of Alexandria's
Stromateis takes a different approach to apologetics. Like Kierkegaard's Either/Or, it's considerably less systematic than most apologetic works. In a way, that's nice. One can open the book almost at random and pick up interesting lines of thought. Please take a quick look at "any" part of
Stromateis. Cite here any line you find of particular interest and explain why you think a philosophically-minded person might find the ideas of Clement attractive.
Chapter 1 (Introductory), Book II of Clement of Alexandria’s The Stromata contains some lines that I think would appeal to philosophically-minded persons. His approach is to “with propriety [take up] in a friendly exposure both their life and … the discovery of new dogmas, not in the way of our avenging ourselves on our detractors (for that is far from being the case with those who have learned to bless those who curse, even though they needlessly discharge on us words of blasphemy), but with a view to their conversion.” Personally, this approach would appeal to me. I don’t like people who are overly aggressive in espousing their views; it turns me off. I think for someone who does like to debate or argue, such as a trained philosopher, being too aggressive would cause them to become defensive and argue point for point, with the goal of winning the argument , perhaps missing the message in the process. This mild approach “in a friendly exposure” reminds me of “catching more flies with honey than with vinegar.”
ReplyDeleteI also like these lines: “True philosophic demonstration will contribute to the profit not of the listeners’ tongues, but of their minds … he who is solicitous about truth ought not to frame his language with artfulness and care, but only to try to express his meaning as he best can. For those who are particular about words, and devote their time to them, miss the things.” I am not impressed with someone who seems to be in love with his own voice and command of vocabulary, and I think someone who is seeking truth would appreciate having it laid out simply and without artifice. From what I understand, another Christian apologist of this time, Eusebius of Caesarea, lost his audience (at least today’s audience) because he made his language so difficult.
Two things stuck out to me in Book V, Chapter 1, On Faith. “The philosophers of the Greeks are called thieves, inasmuch as they have taken without acknowledgment their principal dogmas from Moses and the prophets.” Now, I don’t have enough knowledge regarding the philosophers or the prophets to know exactly what he is referring to here, but it seems like a philosophically-minded individual could be attracted to a claim such as this. If you are already a proponent of the ideas of the Greeks, and then you hear that they got their ideas from the Hebrews, aren’t you going to want to check out what the Hebrews had been saying? By doing so, you might come around to the ideas of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that caught my attention: “Faith, then, we say, we are to show must … be … accompanied with investigation. For I do not say that we are not to inquire at all. For ‘Search, and you shall find,’ Matthew 7:7 it is said.” I think a philosophically-minded person would appreciate this. A lot of people complain about organized religion that it’s just people being told what to think, how to feel, and who to believe. Clement is saying, “No, go ahead, investigate this for yourself.” He’s not telling people what to believe, but insisting that they find out for themselves what their faith entails and why. That’s good advice.
One thing that I found in the Clement reading that I thought was very interesting was in Chapter 2. "Moreover they say that we very absurdly welcome with the greatest eagerness the charges against their nation for the sins they committed". This oddly reminds me of the ending of World War 1 in a way. At the end of that war, everything was blamed on the Germans, and they were made to pay back every country that was involved in the war. The other countries were so eager to put the blame on Germany and charge them for the "sins" of the other countries.
ReplyDeleteIn talking about Clement of Alexandria, I must say he is not particularly one of my favored church fathers. The reason is that he spoke about women in a very demeaning way, and don't get me wrong, I do understand a lot of that was just the product of the times. However, other church fathers managed not to demean women from this historical period. So he is not without fault for the horrid ways he talked about women.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as this blog post poses, what did he offer that could be liked and appreciated from a philosophical perspective? For that, a ton can be enjoyed as he was great at incorporating philosophies into his writings for the church. One of my favorite lines from him is, "There is one river of truth in which receives tributaries from every side." This quote shows a great point of philosophical reasoning while also being very accurate about the truth Christianity offers. Christianity is the one actual truth, but following this truth will likely, at times, put you at odds with others in this world.
Tanner Simon