Clement of Alexandria and the Beginnings of Christian Apophaticism

327 Pages·2007·1.59 MB·English

by  Henny Fiska Hagg

OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES
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CyrilofAlexandriaandtheNestorianControversy
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Clement of
Alexandria and the
Beginnings of
Christian
Apophaticism
˚ ¨
HENNY FISKA HAGG
1
3
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Ha¨gg,HennyFiska˚.
ClementofAlexandriaandthebeginningsofChristianapophaticism:
knowingtheunknowable/HennyFiskHagg.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-19-928808-3(alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-19-928808-9(alk.paper)
1. Clement,ofAlexandria,Saint,ca.150-ca.215.2.
Negativetheology—Christianity—Historyofdoctrines.I. Title.
BR65.C66H342006
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2006006745
TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India
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ISBN0-19-928808-9 978-0-19-928808-3
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For Tomas
Even the most unlearned of men knows that the truly
importantmattersinlifearethosefor whichwehaveno
words. Yet we must speak of them. We speak, as it were,
around them, under them, through them, but not dir-
ectlyofthem.PerhapstheMasteroftheUniversethought
itbestnottogiveusthosewords,fortopossessthemisto
comprehend the awesome mysteries of creation and
death, and such comprehension might well make life
impossible for us. Hence in His infinite wisdom and
compassion the Master of the Universe gave us the ob-
scure riddle rather than the revealing word. Thus we
shouldgivethankstoHimandblessHisname.
ChaimPotok:TheGiftofAsherLev(1990),55–6
Acknowledgements
Thisbookistherevisedversionofathesissubmittedin1997
to the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bergen for the
degree ofDoctorartium.Iamgrateful to theFacultyof Arts
for funding the project through a four-year researchfellow-
ship.MygratitudealsogoestomycolleaguesattheInstitute
of Classics, Russian, and the History of Religions for pro-
viding a stimulating and friendly environment. Iwould like
tothankIngvildSælidGilhusandEinarThomassenfortheir
careful and generous supervision and the staff at the Uni-
versity Library for their helpfulness.
The revision of my manuscript was mainly carried out at
AgderUniversityCollege,Kristiansand,afterIhadtakenupa
permanent position in the Department of Theology and
Philosophy in1999.Iam grateful to the College forgranting
mereductioninmyteachingloadtopursuethistask.During
the revision process I have profited much from the encour-
agement as well as the detailed suggestions for improvement
from Oskar Skarsaune, Per Beskow, andAndrew Louth.At a
muchearlierstageofmywork,theadviceandsupportofthe
late John Whittaker was of particular importance.
My extended research periods abroad have been of the
utmost importance for progress in my work. In particular
my gratitude extends to the libraries of the University of
Oxford,PrincetonTheologicalSeminary,andtheMemorial
University of Newfoundland at St. John’s.
Kristiansand, June 2005 HennyFiska˚ Ha¨gg
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Contents
Abbreviations xi
1. Introduction 1
2. Clement: Christian Writer in Second-Century
Alexandria 15
Alexandria: The Social, Cultural, and
Religious World 15
The Origins of Alexandrian Christianity 34
Clement in Alexandria: Life, Works, and Audience 51
3. The Concept of God in Middle Platonism 71
The Middle Platonists, Who Were They? 75
Main Topics of Middle Platonic Philosophy 78
Theocentricity and the Platonic Background 87
Alcinous, Numenius, and Atticus as Sources for the
Middle Platonic Doctrine of the Divine 93
Hierarchy or Levels of Being 97
Ineffability, Divine Attributes, and the Knowledge
of God 120
The Question of Transcendence 129
4. Clement’s Method of Concealment 134
Esotericism and the ‘Secret Gospel of Mark’ 135
Esotericism and Concealment 140
Theory of Symbolism: The Inadequacy of Language 147
Esoteric Knowledge and Gnosis 150