Clement of Alexandria and the Beginnings of Christian Apophaticism

by Henny Fiska Hägg

Overview

Can humans know God? Can created beings approach the Uncreated? The concept of God and questions about our ability to know him are central to this book. Eastern Orthodox theology distinguishes between knowing God as he is (his divine essence) and as he presents himself (through his energies), and thus it both negates and affirms the basic question: man cannot know God in his essence, but may know him through his energies. Henny Fiska Hagg investigates this earliest stage of Christian negative (apophatic) theology, as well as the beginnings of the distinction between essence and energies, focusing on Clement of Alexandria in the late second century. Clement's theological, social, religious, and philosophical milieu is also considered, as is his indebtedness to Middle Platonism and its concept of God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199288083
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/24/2006
Series:	Oxford Early Christian Studies
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

Henny Fiska Hägg is Senior Lecturer, Department of Theology and Philosophy, Agder University College, Norway.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Clement: Christian Writer in Second-Century Alexandria3. The Concept of God in Middle Platonism4. Clement's Method of Concealment5. Clement's Concept of God. 1. The Apophatic Essence of the Father6. Clement's Concept of God. 2. The Son as Logos7. The Knowledge of God8. Apophaticism and the Distinction between Essence and Power9. Concluding Remarks