Evil, Freedom, and the Road to Perfection in Clement of Alexandria (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae)

✍ Scribed by Peter Karavites

• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 210
• Series: Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 43
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This text deals with Clement of Alexandria's interpretation of evil and free will in the context of the rising Christianity, the influences of Near Eastern and Greek thought on him, his differences from St Augustine, and how his interpretation affected the rise of the Eastern Christian thought. The book also traces briefly the subject of man's personal aim in life, perceived by Clement as the suppression of his nature. Failure to realize this personal aim in life leads to alienation from God, and death. The moral dilemma of Clement's interpretation of evil as failure of life's aim is not a conventional explanation of good and evil, but something much more: the option between real life and death. Consquently, Clement's idea of evil refers to existential problems and ontological realities.

✦ Table of Contents

EVIL, FREEDOM, AND THE ROAD TO PERFECTION IN CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Abbreviations......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
Introduction......Page 14
Clement's Writings......Page 18
Tradition......Page 23
The Church......Page 25
The Gnostic......Page 26
Creation......Page 28
I. Evil: Its Antecedents and Clement's Views......Page 30
Evil in the Near East and the Greco-Roman World......Page 31
Clement on the Origins of Evil......Page 41
Pathe as Sin......Page 48
Pleasure (Ἡδονή)......Page 52
Κακία (evil)......Page 55
II. God's Righteousness......Page 68
Justice as Wisdom......Page 70
Divine Righteousness as Communion......Page 72
Justice and Love......Page 74
The Law, Its Redemptive and Pedagogical Qualities......Page 77
Pedagogic Methods of God: Fear......Page 86
Other Means for Man's Perfection......Page 89
III. Sexuality and Evil......Page 100
Clement, Sexuality, and Marriage......Page 110
Conclusion......Page 118
IV. Freedom of the Will......Page 122
The Influence of the Hellenistic Philosophy......Page 124
Epicureans......Page 126
Antitactae and Free Will......Page 137
Fear......Page 142
V. Clement's Gnostic......Page 152
Faith as a Prerequisite of Perfection......Page 155
Knowledge......Page 158
Knowledge and Truth......Page 163
Knowledge, the Few, and the Many......Page 174
Affections or Passions......Page 178
VI. Conclusion......Page 188
Bibliography......Page 194
Index......Page 200
Back Matter......Page 206