Clement was born in the middle of the second century. He was a cultured Greek philosopher who sought truth in many schools until he met Pantaneaus, founder of the Christian catechetical schoolat Alexandria in Egypt. Clement succeeded Pantaneaus as head ofthat school in about 190, and was for many years an apologist forthe Christian faith to both pagans and Christians. His learning and allegorical exegesis of the Bible helped to commend Christianity to the intellectual circles of Alexandria. His work prepared the way for his pupil Origen, the most eminent theologian of early Greek Christianity. During the persecution under the Emperor Severus in 202, he left Alexandria, possibly for Jerusalem or Cappadocia. The exact time and place of his death are unknown.

Clement lived in the age of “Gnosticism,” a comprehensive term for many theories or ways of salvation current in the second and third centuries, all emphasizing “Gnosis” or “knowledge.” Salvation,for Gnostics, was to be had through a secret and rather esoteric knowledge accessible only to a few. It was salvation from the world, rather than the salvation of the world. Clement asserted that there was a true Christian Gnosis, to be found in the Scriptures, available to all. Although his understanding of this Christian knowledge—ultimately knowledge of Christ—incorporated several tenets of Greek philosophy that the Gnostics also held, Clement dissented from their negative view of the world and their denial of the role of free will.

Among Clement’s writings are the hymns, “Sunset to sunrise changes now” (The Hymnal 1982, #163) and “Jesus our mighty Lord” (#478).