CLEMENT on SUPERSTITION and RELIGIOUS BELIEF George

CLEMENT ON SUPERSTITION AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF

George Karamanolis

1. Introduction

In the preface to the sixth book of the Stromateis, Clement announces that the sixth and seventh books of his work will develop an ethical dis- course (ἠθικὸς λόγος), which will present the way of life of the true Chris- tian gnostic.1 This presentation, Clement tells us, involves an argument to the efect that the gnostic is not an atheist, as has been claimed by the Greeks, but rather the only truly pious person (θεοσεβής).2 Clement con- cludes book seven of the Stromateis by claiming that he has accomplished the task announced in the preface to book six.3 And he adds to this conclusion that his work, unlike those of the Greeks, is not characterized by stylistic elegance, rhetorical skill, or even clarity of exposition. This, however, does not mean that his work is lacking in substance and argument, he claims.4 Rather, Clement says, his work is written in such a way as to invite its reader to unveil its treasures, and he counts on the reader’s resourceful- ness and industry for that.5

1 I use the edition of Alain Le Boulluec of Stromateis VII, Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, Stromate VII, Introduction, texte critique, traduction et notes par A. Le Boulluec (SC 428; Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1997). For the rest of the Stromateis I use the edition of Otto Stählin, Ludwig Früchtel and Ursula Treu: Clemens Alexandrinus II, Stromata Buch I–VI (GCS 52; Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 19854) and Clemens Alexandrinus III, Stromata Buch VII– VIII,ExcerptaexTheodoto,EclogaePropheticae,Quisdivessalvetur,Fragmente (GCS 17; Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 19702). 2 On the concept of gnosis and the gure of the gnostic in Clement, see the monograph of Walther Völker, Der wahre Gnostiker nach Clemens Alexandrinus (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1952), and the remarks of Salvatore R.C. Lilla, Clement of Alexandria. A study in Christian Pla- tonism and Gnosticism (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), 170–174, and Raoul Mortley, ConnaissancereligieuseetherméneutiquechezClémentd’Alexandrie (Leiden: Brill, 1973), 126– 149. 3 Strom. VII 110, 4. 4 Strom. VII 111, 1–3. 5 Strom. VII 111, 3: Οὔτ’ οὖν τῆς τάξεως οὔτε τῆς φράσεως στοχάζονται οἱ Στρωµατεῖς, ὅπου γε ἐπίτηδες καὶ τὴν λέξιν οὐχ ῞Ε ηνες εἶναι βούλονται καὶ τὴν δογµάτων ἐγκατασπορὰν λεληθότως καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πεποίηνται, φιλοπόνους καὶ εὑρετικοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ἀναγιγνώσκοντας εἴ τινες τύχοιεν παρασκευάζοντες. 114 george karamanolis

The modern reader must take this statement of Clement into account when studying the Stromateis, especially book seven. Clement’s statement implies that the reader should work out the possible connections lurking in the text, and in this way one should arrive at the doctrines which are scat- tered through this work (τῶν δογµάτων ἐγκατασποράν). The ancient reader was often required to follow such a route.6 One important connection for the reader to work out in Stromateis VII is how the overall purpose of this book is realized in the individual sections, since these vary considerably in terms of their themes and, what is more, as is often the case in the Stro- mateis, they are rather loosely connected. This is one of the major challenges that the interpreter of Stromateis VII 22–34 will face, which make up a section devoted to superstition, as it is not entirely clear how this section ts in with the overall purpose of this book. In what follows I take up this ques- tion.7

2. The Purpose of Clement’s Treatment of Superstition

In Strom. VII 22, which marks the beginning of the section on superstition, Clement claims that the Greeks conceive of the gods as anthropomorphic (ἀνθρωπόµορφους) and liable to human afections (ἀνθρωποπαθεῖς), and he appeals to Xenophanes’ criticism of similar religious views to corroborate his point.8 Early Christians used to appeal to Xenophanes’ criticism of the anthropomorphic conception of God and to appropriate his account of an intelligible God because they considered it a con rmation of the irrational- ity of pagan religion and the rationality of the Christian conception of God.9 Clement’s critical point, however, comes as a contrast to the conclusion of the immediately preceding section, according to which the logos illumi- nates everything in the world and every action in man’s life (Strom. VII 21, 7).

6 Ancient Platonists often point out the di culty of Plato’s dialogues (see e.g. Plutarch, De Iside 370e–f). On the intended audience and the structure of the Stromateis, see Daniel Ridings, The Attic Moses. The Dependence Theme in Some Early Christian Writers (Göteborg: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1995), 29–50, 132–139. 7 The reader of this section of the Stromateis will pro t from the notes of Le Boulluec in the edition mentioned in note 1, and the article by Tatjana Aleknien˙e,“La piété véritable: de l’Euthyphron de Platon à la piété gnostique dans le livre VII des Stromates de Clément d’Alexandrie,” VChr 60 (2006) 447–460. 8 Strom. VII 22, 1; Xenophanes, fr. B 16 Diels-Kranz. 9 See, for instance, the de nition of God that Irenaeus gives in Adv. haer. III 8, 3 and IV 11, 2, which is a silent borrowing of Xenophanes’ de nition of God (B 24 D–K). On this see further Eric Osborn, Irenaeus of Lyons (Cambridge: University Press, 2001), 332–334.