Clement of Alexandria (d. 215) was a highly influential Christian theologian who headed up the catechetical school in Alexandria. His writings display his mastery of Greek philosophy and his efforts to supplant its pagan undertones with a Christian interpretation. In this essay Professor Casey focuses on “the great trilogy,” as he calls it, consisting of Clement’s Protrepticus, the Paedagogus, and the Stromateis. His primary concern is with Clement’s conception of God, both God's own nature and God’s relationship with God’s creation. Other themes that receive considerable attention are the manner of humanity’s salvation, the role of the Logos in the divine economy, Clement’s notion of perfection, and his doctrine of prayer. It is not only Clement’s sources which are evaluated, however. Clement’s influence on contemporary and later thinkers, most especially Origen, is also addressed. Casey’s survey of the major theological arguments of each of these works reveals not only his adept insights into Clement’s thought but also the great breadth of his knowledge of the Greek philosophers and the early Jewish and Christian theologians in the Roman Empire.

Robert Pierce Casey (1897-1959) was educated at Harvard College, Harvard Divinity School, and Jesus College of the University of Cambridge where he was the first American to receive a PhD in theology. He taught at Brown University and Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge. He is known for such works as The De Incarnatione of Athanasius and Serapion of Thmuis Against the Manichees