THE OTHER CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA:

COSMIC HIERARCHY AND INTERIORIZED

APOCALYPTICISM'
BY
BOGDAN

G. BUCUR

ABSTRACT:Clement ofAlexandria's Excerptaex Theodoto,

EclogaePropheticae,
and
Adumbrationes
depict a cosmic hierarchy featuring,in descending order, the
divine Face, the seven beings firstcreated, the archangels,and the angels.This
account is problematic in that it seems to incorporatea contradiction:one set
of textspresents a fixcosmic hierarchypopulated by differenttypeshaving at
A second setof texts,however, interpretsthisprocess
its top the sevenprotoctists.
of initiationas a continuous ascent on the cosmic ladder,marked by an ongo
ing cyclical transformation
of humans into angels, of angels into archangels,
and of archangels intoprotoctists.
This article sets forththe principles governingClement's hierarchical cos
mos, and proposes a solution to the apparent contradictionbetween the two
accounts. In essence,Clement ofAlexandria internalizesthe cosmic ladder and
the associated experience of ascent and transformation,
offeringan early exam
ple ofwhat scholarshave termed"interiorizedapocalypticism."

(*) An earlier version of this study was presented before the Seminar on the Jewish
at Marquette
of Eastern Christian Mysticism
University
(www.mu.edu/maqom), in
I would
and especially Fr. Alexander
like to thank the participants,
April of 2004.
and
Golitzin, Dr. Andrei Orlov, and Dr. Kevin
Sullivan, for their pertinent observations
Roots

Rebecca
thanks also to Fr. Elijah Mueller,
Luft, and Dr. Vlad
critique. Many
I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Julian Hills
who read the manuscript.
derful semester spent reading and discussing Clement's Eclogae Propheticae.

Niculescu,
for a won

text is that of the GCS

critical edition (O. St?hlin, L. Fr?chtel, U. Treu,
The Greek
For the Stromateis,
Clemens Alexandrinus [3 vols; 4th ed.; Berlin: Akademie Verlag,
1985?]).
I am using the text available
in the ANF
collection, with slight modifications
(indicated
as such); references to the Stromateis indicate book, chapter, and section. The passages
from the Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae Propheticae, and Adumbrationes are my own

Brill
C Koninklijke
NV,Leiden,2006

Also available online- www.brill.nl

translation.

Vigiliae
Christianae
60,251-268

BOGDAN

252

G. BUCUR

1. "The OtherClement" and theSecretTradition

Dwarfed and almost obscured by the "canonical" Clement of Alexandria
the Hellenist,

the Christian Middle

the precursor of Origen

voice of this "other Clement,"

"elders"-Jewish

Platonist and Stoic, the heir to Philo,

there exists, as itwere, "another" Clement. The

echoing the theology and practices of the

Christian teachers of earlier generations

is dominant in

the surviving fragmentsof the Hypotyposes:the Excerpta ex Theodoto,the Eclogae

Propheticae,
and theAdumbrationes.2
The

"other Clement"

ditions ascribed

is one of our most eminent witnesses of secret tra

to the apostles and circulating among Jewish Christian

teachers during the first three centuries of the common era.3 According
Jean Danielou,

to

this secret tradition, imparted orally, only to advanced

Christians, was "the continuation within Christianity of aJewish esotericism

that existed at the time of theApostles" and concerned in largemeasure

the

mysteries of the heavenly worlds; more precisely, amongJewish-Christians,

starting as early as the apostles themselves, the concern was

to relate the

mystery of Christ's death and resurrection to themysteries of the heavenly

world.4 In his own exploration of this topic, Gedaliahu

2 On
"La

Guy Stroumsa sug

in the Clementinian
their place
corpus, see Pierre Nautin,
Stromates et les Hypotyposes de Cl?ment
d'Alexandrie,"
VigChr 30 (1976),
to the origin and function of the
For a survey of other theories pertaining

the Hypotyposes and

fin des

268-302.

the presence
of Jewish and Jewish Christian'
Excerpta and the Eclogae, see 270-282. On
see Jean Dani?lou,
traditions in these works by Clement,
'Les traditions secr?tes des
this essay, the term Jewish
?ranos Jahrbuch 31 (1962),
199-215. Throughout
Ap?tres,'

in his classic work The Theology

will be taken in the sense described by Dani?lou
& Todd,
ofJewish Christianity (London: Darton,
1964). As long as the narrative
Longman
of an early and radical parting of the ways between
remains
'Christianity' and Judaism'

Christian'

normative, despite its inability to explain a great deal of textual evidence from the first
four centuries, the term Jewish Christianity'
remains useful as a description of 'Chris
see the essays collected
recent treatments of this problem,
in
tianity' itself. For more
A.H.
The
A.Y.
that
Parted
Reed
Mohr
Never
Becker,
(eds.),
Ways
(TSAJ 95; T?bingen:
Siebeck, 2003); Daniel Boyar?n, Border Lines: The Partition ofJudaeo-Christianity (Philadelphia,
Pa.: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 2004).
3
such Jewish Christian
Clement mentions
teachers?"the
elders"?and
their oral
teaching with great reverence: Eclogae 11; 27.1; Adumbrationes in 1Jn 1:1; fragments 8, 14,
and 25 (in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.14.5, 6.9.2, 6.13.9).
4
"Le contenu de cette tradition secr?te concerne les secrets du monde
c?leste, qui ?tait
tradition secr?te n'est donc ?
d?j? dans le juda?sme
l'objet d'un savoir r?serv?. Cette
aucun

et
degr? relative ? l'essence du message
apostolique,
qui est le Christ mort
sa relation
ressuscit?. Mais
elle correspond
? une explicitation
de ce myst?re
dans
avec le monde
c?leste. Les Ap?tres pensaient
que cette explicitation ne relevait pas de

THE

OTHER

CLEMENT

gested that Clement of Alexandria

OF ALEXANDRIA

253

lays out something quite similar to the

"secret tradition" of contemporary Rabbinic

circles (Mishna Hagiga 2:1): an

initiation to ma'asse bereshft

("the things pertaining to creation"), and an ini
tiation into themysteries of the divine throne (ma'assemerkavah),on the basis
of mystical exegesis of key-texts in Genesis

and Ezekiel.5 Stroumsa's brief

note isworth exploring in greater detail.

According

to Clement, "the gnostic tradition according to the canon of

the truth" comprises firstan account of theworld's coming into being (irep'
Koc,URoyovia;),beginning with "the prophetic utterances of Genesis" (aio tij;
npO(poyCT00Ci0%... y6V?Ce?5;),followed by an ascent to "the subject-matter
of theology" (?x1 tb OeoXoytcKOv
el6og).6 This 0?XooytKOV?60o; is elsewhere
(Strom 1.28.176) also described as a matter of visionary contemplation,
Fio7C0re_a,
and explained in light of Plato and Aristotle.7 Yet el6o; also hap
pens to be the term used by the LXX

version of Ezekiel

1:26 (6goigROxC
6;
ou).Moreover, we know thatJews and Christians of theGreek

el8og &vOp'
diaspora were fond of drawing a connection between Ezekiel
Platonic theory of forms (e.g.,

l60o;a&vpdoo

1:26 and the

in Parm 130 C).8 It appears

quite likely, then, that "the subject-matter of theology" thatClement has in

commun, mais d'une initiation plus pouss?e, de caract?re oral" (Dani?lou,

l'enseignement
"Les traditions secr?tes des Ap?tres," ?ranos Jahrbuch 31 (1962), 214.
5
in Early Christianity,"
"?Paradosis?:
Esoteric Traditions
Gedaliahu
G. Stroumsa,
in Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism
(Leiden/New
and Jewish
Brill, 1996), 42-43. See also his article "Clement, Origen,
York/Cologne:
in Hidden Wisdom, 109-131.
Esoteric Traditions,"
6
kocv?voc yvcocxiicfi? rcapccooaecoc
Strom 4.1.3:
\\ yoftv kcxxcx x?v xfj? ?A,r|6eia?
?K xo? rcepi Koauoyov?ac
(pvaio^oy?a,
?laXXov ?? enonxe?a,
f|pxr|xcxi taSyoa), ?vO?v?e
?m x? 0eoA,oyiK?v e??o?. ?9ev e?koxcoc xf|v ?pxfyv xfj? 7tapa?oaec?? ?rco xfj?
. . .
science of nature,
then?or
rather
yev?aeco?
rcpocp'nxe'oOeioTi? 7covna?u?9a
("The
as contained
to the rule of the truth, depends
in the gnostic tradition according
vision?,
on the account of the world's
thence to the subject-matter
coming into being, ascending
cxva?aivo'uocx

of theology. Whence,
then, we shall begin our account of what is handed down with
. . .," ANF
in Genesis
which was prophesied
modified).
7 'H
.xai xexapxov ?nlmai
u?v o\)v Kaxot Mayua?a
cpiXoaocp?a xexpa%fi x?uvexai..

that
x?

xcov jiey?taov ovxco? eivai uuaxripicov,

e??o?, f| ercoTcxe?a, f^v (pTioiv 6 ?^?xcov
is
x?
Kata?.
??
x?
xo?xo
fiex?
cuenca
e??o?
("Now, the Mosaic
'Apiaxox?Ari?
philosophy
divided into four parts . . . and the fourth, above all, is the subject-matter of theology, the
Oeo^oyiK?v

to Plato, of the truly great mysteries

250 BC; Symp. 210
[cf. Phaedr.
according
Aristode
calls
this 'meta-physics'"
A];
[ANF, modified]).
8
and Gnosticism,"
1.15-18a in the Light of Jewish Mysticism
Jarl Fossum, "Colossians
Mew Test. Stud. 35 (1989), 188. Cf. Alan Segal, Paul theConvert. The Apostolate and Apostasy
vision,

of Saul

thePharisee

(New Haven/London:

Yale

University

Press,

1990), 42.

BOGDAN

254

G. BUCUR

mind concerns both Plato's "vision of trulygreat mysteries," and Ezekiel's

vision of the divine chariot-throne.9
Within

this second area of speculative concern

"the ascent to the sub

in Strom 4:1:3

the following

pages will discuss the hierarchical cosmology that Clement

inherited from

ject-matter of theology," to use the phrase

earlier tradition, and theway inwhich he modified it to suit his own theo

logicalconcerns.
2. Clement
Celestial
Hierarchy
ofAlexandria's
the basis of a theological tradition inherited from Jewish Christian

On

"elders," Clement of Alexandria

furnishes a detailed description of the hier

archical structure of the universe.'0

a. 7he Pranciplesof theHierarchy
This celestial "hierarchy"

if the anachronism

descending order, the Face,

finally the angels." Clement's

"The

features, in

"celestial hierarchy" comprising the Logos,

similarity is, of course, not suggestive of any sort of direct borrowing.

not reflect living contacts with Jewish scholars" (Annewies van den Hoek,
'Catechetical'
School
of Early Christian Alexandria
and Its Philonic Heritage,"
are influential in
90 [1997], 80). However, Jewish traditions of the second Temple

The

"Clement
HTR

is acceptable

the seven beings firstcreated, the archangels,

oudined
does

the shaping of both Christianity and Judaism.

10The
universe goes back to earlier tradition
fact that Clement's
strictly hierarchical
source de Cl?ment
has been demonstrated
"Une
by older research: Paul Collomp,
et les Hom?lies
d'Alexandrie
Revue de philologie et litt?ratureet d'his
Pseudo?Cl?mentines,"
toire anciennes 37 (1913), 19-46; Wilhelm
Bousset, J?disch-christlicher Schulbetrieb inAlexandria
und Rom: Literarische Untersuchungen zu Philo und Clemens von Alexandria, Justin und Iren?us
& Ruprecht,
the pertinent critique of some of
1915). Despite
(G?ttingen: Vandenhoeck
conclusions
Bousset's
(Johannes Munck,
Untersuchungen ?ber Klemens von Alexandria [Stutt
gart: Kohlhammer,
1933], 127-204), the thesis of a Jewish and Jewish-Christian
literary
source behind Clement
remains solidly established
Studien zur
(see Georg Kretschmar,
fr?hchristlichen Trinit?tstheologie [T?bingen: Mohr,
1956], 68, n. 3).
11
term "hierarchy" was coined centuries later by the anonymous
The
author of the
use
to
I
have
taken
the
it
for
Clement's
liberty
Corpus.
Pseudo-Areopagitic
description
the fundamental operating principles of the Clementinian
realm, because
are quite
and Dionysian
universes
similar. This
in passing by
fact has been noted
Alexander Golitzin
(Et Introibo Ad Altare Dei: The Mystagogy ofDionysius Areopagita, with Special
Reference to itsPredecessors in theEastern Christian Tradition [Analekta Vlatadon 59; Thessalonica:
of the celestial

1994],

265), but has not yet received

adequate

treatment.

THE

OTHER

CLEMENT

OF ALEXANDRIA

255

the seven protoctists,the archangels, and the angels'2 seems to be continued

by an ecclesiastical hierarchy, since Clement affirms that "the advancements
(npoKonat) pertaining to the Church here below, namely those of bishops,
presbyters and deacons,

are imitations (pgi 'wxt)

of the angelic glory"

(Strom.6:13:107). The orienting principle (&pxi'j)of the hierarchy is the "Face

of God," a theme whose prominence in the apocalyptic literature of Second
Temple Judaism was only amplified with the emergence of Christianity.'3
More

than "the radiant facade of God's

anthropomorphic extent," more

than a code-expression for "a vision of the enthroned Glory,"'4 the Face of
God

as for some later Hekhalot

is for Clement,

"Face."'5 For Clement,

"the Face of God

traditions, a hypostatic

is the Son"

(Excerpta 10:6)

an

12 Since
is neither an accident
God
(Gi)u?e?r|KOc), nor described by anything acciden
tal (Strom. 5:12:81), he is beyond the hierarchy, and should not be counted as the first of
five hierarchical
levels (pace Collomp,
"Une source," 24, and Oeyen, Engelpneumatologie 20).
to the famous Platonic
To designate
the Father, Clement
repeatedly alludes
"beyond
ousia"

(?TCEKEiva xfj? o?G?ac, Rep 509b), which had

is one and
(?rc?iceiva 7iaofj? o?aioc?, Dial 4:1). God
cause
and
?rc?iceiva
a?xiov, Strom.
beyond
1:8:71),
(x?
13
in K. van der Toorn, B.
CL.
Seow, "Face,"

been already appropriated

by Justin
beyond the one and the monad
(Paed.

7:2:2).
(eds.),
Becking, P.W. van der Horst
Dictionary ofDeities and Demons in theBible (Leiden; Boston: Brill; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
to Andrei Orlov
Eerdmans,
1999), 322-325.
(The Enoch-Metatron Tradition
According
texts, such as
Mohr-Siebeck;
153, 279), early Enochic
107; T?bingen:
2005],
[TSAJ,
or the Book of Giants, make
1 Enoch, Jubilees, Genesis Apocryphon,
little use of "face"
in the context of an ongoing polemic against other Jewish traditions
imagery; however,
later Enochic
3 Enoch?produce
extensive
of divine mediatorship,
booklets?2
Enoch,
of the theme of the Face
in the
reflections on the Face. For a theological evaluation
see Orlov, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition', "Exodus
33 on God's
Face: A
Pseudepigrapha,
as the
"The Face
39 (2000),
130-147;
in
in
the
Slavonic
Ladder
C.A.
Evans
ofJacob,"
Heavenly
Counterpart
(ed.), Of Scribes and Sages: Early Jewish Interpretation& Transmission Of Scripture (London/New
York: T. & T. Clark International,
2004), 59-76; April De Conick,
"Heavenly Temple
Lesson

From

the Enochic

Tradition,"
of the Visionary

SBLSP

in the Second
A Case for First-Century Christology
Worship:
The
G.S.
eds.
Roots
Newman,
Davila,
Lewis,
Jewish
of Christological
J.R.
Century,"
Monotheism [JSJ 63; Leiden: Brill, 1999], 327-29.
14
Orlov, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition, 282: "It is evident that all four accounts, Exodus
39:3-6, represent a single tradition in
33:18-23, Psalm
17:15, 1 Enoch
14, and 2 Enoch
serves as the terminus technicus for the designation
of the Lord's
which
the divine Face
Traditions

and Valentinian
in C.C.

anthropomorphic
15
According

extent."
to Nathaniel

(Guardians of the Gate: Angelic Vice Regency In Late

Brill, 1999], 43), at least one Merkabah
passage
Antiquity [Leiden;
(?? 396-397),
so that "the tide sar ha
as the hypostatic face of God,"
Metatron
identifies
"explicidy
as
is better understood
See also Orlov, The
panim...
'prince who is the face [of God].'"
Deutsch

Boston:

Enoch-Metatron Tradition,

124-125.

BOGDAN

256

G. BUCUR

affirmation repeated elsewhere.'6 To describe the continual propagation of

light from the Face down to the lowest level of existence, Clement uses the
adverb npo?Ye%XC;,
suggesting immediacy, the lack of any interval between
the levels: each rank of spiritual entities is "moved" by the one above it, and
will, in turn, "move" the immediately lower level. The purpose of hierarchy
consists in the spiritual progress, or "advancement"

(7rpoKo7n)of each of the

spiritual levels, or
The firstlevel of celestial entities contemplating the Face

is constituted by

celestial beings "first created." On

the seven npConoKxtiarol,

the one hand,

are numbered with the angels and archangels, their subordi

these protoctists
nates.'8 On

the other hand, they are bearers of the divine Name,

and, as

such, they are called "gods."'9 Clement equates them with "the seven eyes
16
Excerpta 12:1: "But
vision'], called 'the Face

the Son

is the beginning of the vision of the Father [lit.: 'fatherly

(?p?Gomov) of the Father.'" April DeConick
("Heavenly Temple
states that "the image of the Son as the Father's Face may have
played

Traditions,"
325)
a
the repeated occurrence
of the
significant role in Valentinian
theologies." However,
same designation
in Clement
of Alexandria
(Paed 1:57 and 1:124:4, Strom 7:58, as well as
as a
in Tertullian
title was at least as
(Adv. Prax. 14), suggests that "Face"
Christological
use
in
the
"Great
Church"
Celsus'
(to
popular
designation: Origen, Against Celsus 5:59)
as itwas in Valentinian
tradition.
17
to Fran?ois Sagnard,
la continuit? dans l'espace, sans
7ipoae%co? "indique
According
interm?diaire. La dynamis (ou: le logos) du P?re passe continuellement
dans leMonog?ne
On
est
aussi
le
cette
dire
pour
peut
que
l'engendrer.
Monog?ne
dynamis du P?re"
"P u?tEpo^rj est la diff?rence entre deux ?chelons" de
(Excerpta, 79, n. 2; Emphasis mine);
7cpoK07TT| (Sagnard, Extraits 11, n. 3). Pointing
Stufen des Fortschrittes
explains: "Die verschiedenen
la

to Strom. 7:2:10,
. . .
la^ei?,

heissen

Christian

Oeyen
das Fortschreiten

von einer zur anderen

7CpoK07ir|" (Eine fr?hchristliche Engelpneumatologie bei Klemens von
Alexandrien [Bern, 1966], 9).
18
creatae
"Hae
virtutes ac primo
namque
TtpcoT?yovoi Kai
primitivae
(rendering
TCpcoT?KTiaxoi ?uvdcu?i?), inmobiles exsistentes secundum substantiam, cum subiectis ange
lis et archangelis"
(Adumbrationes in 1 Jn 2:1). St?hlin's critical edition
between
and "exsistentes."
I prefer to revert to Zahn's
"inmobiles"
comma. Thus,
I take "inmobiles
exsistentes secundum
substantiam"

introduces

a comma

text, which
to mean

has

no

that their

to substance,
i.e., does not undergo change. A num
according
identified these "powers" with two paracletes;
(Zahn, Kretschmar,
Barbel)
on the other hand, the idea that the
"powers" under discussion are the seven protoctists is
the
editor and translator of the Excerpta for Sources
supported by Fran?ois
Sagnard,
n.
more
Chr?tiennes
Ziebritzki
11',
and,
2),
(Excerpta
recently, by Henning
(Heiliger Geist
substance

is immovable

ber of scholars

undWeltseele: das Problem der dritten

Hypostase
Mohr
nished
19

Siebeck,

1994],

122, n.

148). But

bei Or?genes,Plotin und ihrenVorl?ufern [T?bingen:

the most extensive argumentation
has been fur

by Oeyen
(Engelpneumatologie, 31-33).
to Mark,
in the Gospel
according

"Now,

high priest

ifHe

was

'the Christ,

the Son

when

the Lord

of the blessed

God,'

was
He

interrogated by the
answered
saying, 'I

THE

of the Lord"

OTHER

CLEMENT

(Zech 3:9, 4:10; Rev

OF ALEXANDRIA

257

5:6), the "thrones" (Col 1:16), and the

"angels ever contemplating the Face of God"

(Mat 18:10).20 The protoctists

are seven, but they are simultaneously characterized by unity and multi
plicity: although distinct in number, Clement writes, "their liturgy is com
mon and undivided."21
The protoctistsfulfill
multiple functions: in relation to Christ, they present
the prayers ascending from below (Excerpta27:2); on the other hand, they
function as "high priests" with

regard to the archangels, just as

the

archangels are "high priests" to the angels, and so forth (Excerpta27:2). In

their unceasing contemplation of the Face of God,

they represent themodel

(npoKdvTRuu)of perfected souls (Excerpta10:6; 11:1).

Here we find a definite echo of theJewish andJewish-Christian traditions
about the highest angelic company. The group of seven is found in Ezekiel

am; and you

shall see the Son of man

But

indicates

seated at the right hand of power (a dextris virtutis).'

the
when He
Further,
says 'at the right hand of God,'
holy angels.
'powers'
he means
the same ones, on account of the equality and likeness of the angelic and holy
powers, which are called by the one name of God
(quae uno nominabantur nomine dei)"
text with
in the Gospel
in
Clement
here
equates
(Adumbrationes
Juda 5:24).
"power"
an earlier sentence, he had
in
with
"In
the
presence of
"glory"
"angels";
equated
"angels":

glory: he means before the angels ..." (Adumbrationes inJuda 5:24).

20
of the protoctists, see A. Le
Excerpta 10; Eclogae 57:1. For a synthetic presentation
tome
in
Cl?ment
d'Alexandrie:
Stromate
2
V,
Boulluec, Commentaire,
(SC 279; Paris: Cerf, 1981),
143.
21
Excerpta 10:3-4: oi ?? IIpcox?KXiaxoi, ei Kai ?piGuxp ?iacpopoi Kai 6 Ka9' emoxov

His

Kai 7cepiy?ypa7ixai, ?Xk' fj ouoi?xric xcov rcpayu?x?ov ev?xnxa Kai ?o?xr|xa Kai
?v?e?Kvuxai.
O? y?p xco?e u?v nX?ov, x??e ?? f|xxov 7rap?axr|xai xcov 'Ercxa,
ojioi?xrjxa
o\)?' hnoXeinexai
xr\ Tip xn
xi? amo??
TipoKOTciv ?? ?pxn? ?7iei?,r|(poxa)v xo x?taiov aua

rcepic?piaxai

yev?aei 7iap? xo? Qeov ?i? xot> Yio?> ("As for the protoctists, even while they are distinct
in number, and individually defined and circumscribed,
the similarity of [their] deeds
the seven, there has
nevertheless points to [their] unity, equality and being alike. Among
to the one and less to the other; nor is any of them lacking in
not been given more
advancement;
[they] have received perfection from the beginning, at the first [moment

I am using two different

of their] coming
into being, from God
through the Son").
our
the
post-Nicene
English words for ouoi?xric ("similarity" and "being alike"), because
the bearing of this word in Clement:
the sec
automatically weaken
ological bias would
to
has in mind
ond time he uses ?uoi?xnc, Clement
"being like" as opposed
"being
unlike,"

not to "being
11:4: Kai

the same as."

xcov rcveDuaxiKcov Kai

u?v i?iav
i?iav
?%ei emoxov
oi Ilpcox?Kxioxoi,
b\iov xe ?y?vovxo Kai x? ?vxe^?? ??iei^rjipaaw
on the one
Koivr|v xr|V A,eixoi)pyiav Kai ?ji?piaxov.
("And each of the spiritual beings has,
hand, both its proper power and its individual dispensation;
but, on the other hand, given
that the protoctists have come to be and have received [their] perfection at the same time,
their service is common and undivided.")
Excerpta
oiKovouiav

Ka0?

??

?uvauiv

BOGDAN

258

G. BUCUR

9:2-3 (seven angelic beings, ofwhich the seventh ismore important than the
other six), Tob

12:15

(seven "holy angels" who

have access before the

Glory, where theypresent the prayers of "the saints"), and 1 Enoch.22 A list
of references to "angel/angels

of the face" in the Pseudepigrapha

nished by Seow, in his article on "Face,"

is fur

referred to above.23 The notion of

"firstcreated" is important to the author of Jubilees: the angels of the pres

ence are said to be circumcised from their creation on the second day, thus
possessing a certain perfection, and functioning as heavenly models and final
destination of the people of Israel (Jub 2:2; 15:27). The Prayerof Josephseems
to imply that Israel ranks higher than the seven archangels, as chief captain
and firstminister before the face of God.24
Among

the Christian

texts available

to Clement, Revelation mentions

seven spirits/angels before the divine throne (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6; 8:2), and the
ShepherdofHermas knows of a group of seven consisting of the six "first cre
ated ones" (np&TotKTt6T0E'V;)who accompany

the Son of God

as their sev

enth (Vis 3:4:1; Sim 5:5:3).

on to laterJewish writings, 3 En 10:2-6 mentions thatMetatron

Moving

is exalted above the "eight great princes" who bear the divine Name.

Pirke

deRabbi Eliezer, composed around 750 CE, but incorporating material going
back to the Pseudepigrapha,

combines the number seven and the notion of

"first created."25
It is quite clear that Clement's
angelological

ever, it should be noted thatClement

izing interpretation and

22 1 En

20

first snow-white

references to protoctistsreflect ancient

speculations characteristic of Second Temple Judaism. How

subjects thismaterial

the Logos-theology

to the spiritual

inherited from Philo. The

(The Book of theWatchers) features seven archangels,

ones" in 1 En 90:21
(Dream Visions); 1 En 40:9

echoed by "the seven

(Similitudes) counts only

four archangels.

23
Jub 2:2, 18; 15:27; 31:14;T. Levi 3:5; 4:2; T. Judah 25:2 (tr.dejonge!); 1QH 6:13.

In 2 En

in the sixth heaven.

See also James
19:1, a group of seven angels is placed
The Book ofJubilees (Sheffield: Sheffield, 2001), 87-89,
126-127; Charles
Brill,
Angelomorphic Christology: Antecedents and Early Evidence (Leiden/Boston:

C. VanderKam,
Gieschen,

1998), 124-151.
24
See also the introductory study by J.Z. Smith in OTP
2:704, where Christ and the
seven protoctists in the Excerpta are offered as a
parallel!
25
God
"has a scepter of fire in his hand, and a veil spread before him, and his eyes
run to and fro throughout the whole earth, and the seven
angels which were created first
minister

before him within the veil, and this (veil) is called Pargod"
(Pirk? de Rabbi Eliezer
[The Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer the Great] According to the Text of theManuscript Belonging to
Abraham Epstein of Vienna [tr. G. Friedl?nder; New York: Hermon,
1965], iv:23).

THE

OTHER

CLEMENT

OF ALEXANDRIA

259

protoctistsare both "angelic powers" and "powers of the Logos"

thatmark

the passing of divine unity intomultiplicity, and, conversely, the reassembly

of cosmic multiplicity into the unity of the Godhead.26
The

entire hierarchy is characterized by relative corporality.27On

the

presupposition that anything that exists is an oi'ooa, and is implicitly char

acterized by form, nothing is "without form," whether angels, archangels,
or even Christ.28 However, Clement
protoctists,

immediately notes, this type

of "form" is entirely different from any earthly forms;29moreover,

the cor

porality of the spiritual beings is characterized by progressive "subtlety,"

in proportion to their position in the hierarchy.30 In fact, this type of cor
porality is entirely relative, since the beings on any given level can be

26 In Strom.
4:25:156,

Platonic cosmology, featuring

Clement presents a typical Middle
as
and
the
God's
transcendent
God,
agent, founds multiplicity of
utterly
Logos who,
to Lilla, "Clement found
creation, which eventually will be reduced to Logos. According
as the totality of powers which are
already formed in Philo the doctrine of the Logos

an

identical with the ideas" (Salvatore Lilla, Clement, 204. Eric Osborn
[The Philosophy of
the existence and nature of things by 'pow
Clement 41] affirms that Clement
"explained
ers' just as Plato had done by 'forms' and the earlier Stoics had done by immanent rea
son or divine fire"). However,
the simple equation of the "powers" with the Platonic ideas
does not account for the complexity of the text. I submit that he is here attempting to
with an earlier and established teaching on the "powers of the
fuse the Logos-speculation
a
tradition, but in Jewish or Jewish
spirit,"
teaching originating not in the philosophical
It is significant in this respect that Clement
Christian
speculation about angelic "powers."
"the Word
and the
the Book of Revelation:
is called the Alpha
immediately quotes

. . ."
he has
(Rev 1:8; also 21:6; 22:13). What
Omega.
of Revelation,
depicting Christ and the seven spirits
throne (Rev. 1:4; 8:2).
27As
("Une source," 34; 39) has already
Collomp
to be reworking a source either identical or similar
Ps.-Clementine
28
Excerpta
npcox?KTiaxoi,

inmind
or angels

here Clement
demonstrated,
to what has been preserved
cruder descriptions.

(17:7), featuring much

'AM/ o??? x? 7tv?U|LiaxiK? Kai voep?, ou??oi
Kai ?vei?eo?
o???
auopcpo?
\ir\v o??'
a?xo?,

Homilies
10:1:

is surely the throne-visions

in attendance before the
seems
in the

<o??e>
Apxayye?oi,
Kai ?axnuaxiaxo?

oi
Kai

Kai uop<pf|V e%ei ?S?av Kai acouxx ?v? X?yov xfi? bnepo%T\q xcov
?oxiv, ?kX?
nor the
the spiritual and
7iveu|iaxiKtt)v ?rc?vxcov
("But neither
intelligible beings,
even
are
nor
not
the
without
form, without
protoctists,
[Christ] himself,
archangels,
do
have
both
individual
form and
and
rather
without
bodiless;
frame,
they
shape,

aa?jiax?c

.
body.
.").
29
uiv, ov% ouoiov ?? uop(pf|v Kai
Excerpta 10:2-3: "Otao? yap x? yevnx?v o?k ?vouoiov
xa>
one
ocouaaiv
a
the
?v
xco?e
jia avouai xo??
hand, anything that has come
("On
K?ou?p
to be is not without ousia; on the other, they [referring back to the spiritual beings] do
not have a form and a body like the bodies
[to be found] in this world").
30The
to their degree
form, shape and body of spiritual entities is "in proportion

BOGDAN

260

G. BUCUR

described at the same time as "bodiless"

ranks

, and "bodily"

from the perspective of inferior

from the perspective of superior levels of being.3'

b. The Functionof theHierarchy

The

advancement on the cosmic ladder leads to the progressive transfor

mation of one level into the next, an idea forwhich Clement offers a highly
complex account.32 According

to Clement's Eclogae Propheticae,the believers

are being instructed by the angels; their horizon is one of angelification. At

the end of a millennial
while

cycle, they are translated into the rank of angels,

their instructors become

archangels, replacing their own instructors

who are also promoted to a higher level. All degrees of the hierarchy move
one step higher every one thousand years; humans become angels, and will
function as the angelic guides and teachers of humans:
For those among humans who start being transformed into angels are
instructedby the angels fora thousand years, in order to be restored to per
fection.Then the instructorsare translated into archangelic authority,while
will in turn instructthose among humans
thosewho have received instruction
who are transformedinto angels; thereupon theyare, at the specifiedperiod,
reestablishedinto theproper angelic state of thebody (Eclogae57:5).
This periodic "upgrading"
Even

also applies

to the top level of the hierarchy.

the protoctists,"the first-created, at the highest level of restoration"

(Eclogae 57:1)

are "set" higher,

so that theymay no longer exercise a definiteministry,according to provi

dence, but may abide in rest and solely in the contemplation of God alone.
But those closest to themwill advance to the degree that they themselveshave
left;and the same occurs by analogy with those on an inferiorlevel (Eclogae
56:5).

the protoctists have form and shape "in proportion

to the level of
spiritual beings";
the beings below them." I use "in proportion
to" to render ?v? ?oyov + G, and "level"
for i)7cepo%r|.
31
x v
Kai
Excerpta 11:3: '?2? Tcpo? xrrva?yKpiaiv
xfl?e acou?xcov (oiov aaxpcov) aocouaxa
<?Xk'>
xo?> Yio? o uaxa
?? rcp?? xf|v o?yKpiaiv
?vE??ea,
^i?uexpr|u?va Kai a?a9rjx?
among

to the bodies
7cpo? x?v ?ax?pa
oikco? Kai ? Yio?
7iapa?a^ou?voc.
("Thus, compared
to the Son, they
here (such as the stars) they are bodiless and shapeless; yet, compared
are measured
and sensible bodies. Likewise
is the Son in regards to the Father.")
32 See
"Une source," 23-24, and especially Oeyen, Engelpneumatologie, 8-9, 12.
Collomp,

THE

OTHER

CLEMENT

261

OF ALEXANDRIA

3. The Problem
As Christian Oeyen

has rightlynoted, in his fundamental study dedicated

this raises numerous problems.33 Have the

to Clement's Engelpneumatologie,
been created perfect and immutable (Excerpta10:3; 11:4), or have
protoctists
they acquiredperfection? (Eclogae 57)? How

be a group of
can the protoctists

no more and no less than seven, given that no limitation on the number of
in their stead has been mentioned?

those "promoted"

If the protoctistsare

"the highest level of disposition" (Eclogae 57:1), towhat "higher" level can
they be translated?34

4. Towards a Solution: "Interiorized

Apocalypticism"
To answer the questions just raised, it is necessary to determine in how far
the Alexandrian
Christian

master

is in agreement with

the Jewish and Jewish

traditions that he is drawing on. It is well-known that Clement

shares Philo's interest in "noetic exegesis."35 I submit that the result of such
exegesis is the internalization of the cosmic ladder and of the associated
experience of ascent and transformation.
Ascent
a. Clementon theInterior
In Strom 4:25:158,

Clement

discusses

the necessity of

the seven-day

purification required for the priestwho has touched a corpse (Ezekiel 44:26).
Since the entire text is a prophetic vision about the eschatological

temple

and itsministers, Clement can easily allude to an interpretation of the seven

days of purification and subsequent entry into the temple as a purification

33
Oeyen, Engelpneumatologie, 12.
34 It should be mentioned
that all
that the vast majority of scholars are in agreement
A
Alexandria:
to
Lilla
Clement.
Salvatore
of these passages
Study in
(Clement of
belong
Christian Platonism and Gnosticism [Oxford; Oxford
Press,
176-183)
1971],
University
source (179: "perhaps to Theodotus
himself"), argu
instead, attributes them to a Gnostic
into
in these passages
directiy
"plunges
ing that the type of Himmelsreise present
in
has
the
"Gnosticism"
of
The
cf.
Gnosticism"
183).
underlying understanding
(181,
character of
the Gnostic
become untenable. But even if one were to concede
meantime
then
27, the problem remains no less acute, because Eclogae 57 would
n. 6). In short, whether
"Gnostic"
labeled
(see Lilla, Clement, 185; 179,
a contradiction.
or Gnostic,
these passages
incorporate
Clementinian,
"Jewish-Christian,"
35
in The Studia
and Noetic Exegesis,"
"Philo and Clement: Quiet Conversion
Osborn,
Philonica Annual 10 (1998), 108-124.

Excerpta
also be

10-15 and

as

BOGDAN

262

G. BUCUR

frommoral corruption,36 followed by the ascent through the seven heavens.37

However, Clement moves beyond the traditional seven-storied cosmology:
Whether, then, the timebe thatwhich throughthe seven periods enumerated
returnsto thechiefestrest,or the seven heavens,which some reckonone above
the other; or whether also the fixed spherewhich borders on the intellectual
world be called the eighth, the expression denotes that theGnostic ought to
rise out of the sphere of creation and of sin.38
It seems that all imagistic details, such as specific intervals of space or time
are emptied of the literalmeaning

they had had in the apocalyptic cosmo

logy inherited from the "elders." Whether

"seven days," or "one thousand

years," or "seven heavens," or "archangels," or "protoctists,"

the details of the
cosmic-ladder

imagery become

images of interior transformation. This

why the inconsistencies in Clement's

apparent. At times,Clement

is

account about the protoctistsare only

refers to the data he has received from tradi

tion. Thus, in the Stromata,he shows himself familiarwith the idea that "the
whole world of creatures ... revolves in sevens" and that "the first-born
princes of the angels (npot6Oyovot
&1'CyXov i`pxovtr;),who have the greatest
power, are seven";39 and in the Excerptahe presents a detailed description of
the entire hierarchy. At other times, however, Clement

suggests that these

data ought to be further interpreted. For instance, he speaks of

... gnostic souls thatsurpass in thegreatnessof contemplation themode of life
of each of the holy ranks (tjn IsyaXoipeztei t IsOCpix;
ep oiaa;
,
tcEo) Tiv WoXTEiav)... evermoving to higher and yet higher
eKa, ll; &yia
places Pitt. "reachingplaces better than thebetterplaces," a&gcivoli;agEwvvow
not in mirrors or by
0ronovt6onou;],embracing the divine vision (O&opfrov)
means ofmirrors. This is the vision attainable by "the pure in heart"; this is
the function(?v?pysta)of theGnostic, who has been perfected, to have con
vene with God throughthe greatHigh Priest ... The Gnostic even formsand

36 Clement
but

ideas: "not that the body

explicitly rejects anti-somatic
were
that sin and disobedience
and dead,
incarnate, and embodied,

was
and

polluted,
therefore

abominable."
37 For
the origin of the seven-heaven
in Second
and
cosmology
Judaism
Temple
see Ioan-Petru
Culianu,
Psychanodia: A Survey of theEvidence Concerning the
Christianity,
Ascension of theSoul and itsRelevance (Leiden: Brill, 1983), and Adela Yarbro-Collins,
"The
in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses,"
in JJ. Collins, M. Fishbane
Seven Heavens
Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys (New York: SUNY,
1995), 59-93.
38
Strom 4:25:159, ANF.
39 Strom
6:16:142-143.

(eds.),

THE

OTHER

CLEMENT

OF ALEXANDRIA

263

creates himself (vai pi1v iautov ctil' icxi&igIoupyei?);and besides also, he,
like toGod, adorns thosewho hear him;40
... Then become pure in heart, and near (iccacat6 irpoaeX?;)to theLord, there
awaits them restorationto everlastingcontemplation; and theyare called by
the appellation of "gods," being destined to siton throneswith the other gods
thathave been firstput in theirplaces by the Savior;4'
. . . "This is the generation of them that seek theLord, that seek theFace of
theGod ofJacob" (Ps. 24:3-6). The prophet has, inmy opinion, concisely indi
cated theGnostic. David, as appears, has cursorilydemonstrated theSavior to
be God, by callingHim "the Face of theGod ofJacob" . . .42
In these passages, the "Gnostic soul" is described as possessing unmediated,
perfect access to the vision of the Face,

taking its stand in His

immediate

proximity, catC Toritpo%EX5;(cf. the repeated use of npo6%X&; in the Excerpta

to express the immediacy, the lack of any interval between the levels of the
hierarchy!). The

trueGnostic has been brought "in thepresenceofHis glory:he

means before the angels, faultless injoyousness,having become angels."43 The

Gnostic

"has pitched his tent in El, that is, in God."44 Clement arrives at

this conclusion after a creative exegesis of Ps 18:2 ("he pitched his tent in
the sun"), by moving from ?V TX i1iXis to ?v TX iX, on the basis of similar
ityof sound,45 and from

T X to ix t4 0e
?V

on the basis ofMark

15:34

("Eli, Eli, that is,my God, my God").46Moreover, when Clement says that "the
function (ixVipyeua)of theGnostic who has been perfected" is such that "he
even forms and creates himself (vac ,i1v E'uwotvKrti~E Kcat8qIoupyei" (Strom
7:3:13), the verbs (Kiccti and anotoVpyc?) are a transparent allusion to Gen

40 Strom
41

7:3:13, ANF

slightly modified.

Strom 7:10:56-57.

42 Strom 7:10:58.
43Adumbrationes in
Juda 5:24.
44
Eclogae 57.3.
45 It
that "aspiration
appears

had ceased in Athens already before the end of the clas

in script, itwas as an old relic, not as a living item of lan
observed
sical period. When
. . ."
The Development ofGreek and the
New Testament [WUNT
167;
guage
(Chris Caragounis,
to the rhetorician Tryphon,
Mohr
Siebeck,
living in
2004] 391). According
T?bingen:
set
the moderns
aspiration was "a rule of the ancients, which
n. 166).
(Caragounis, Development 391,
xi x? ??v xco r\km eOexo x? aicf|v?u?; a?xo??
ouxco? ?^aKo?exai
Eclogae 57:3: Kai ut|
?v xco f|X?co ?Gexo, xoux?oxw ?v xco r\k fjyouv 0ecp, co? ?v xco e?ayye^icp ?f|?,i T|A,l? ?vxi xo?
the first century BCE,

aside"
46

?6e? uou, 0e? uou?.

he set in the "sun,"
God, my God?").

as follows:
("And is not he set his tabernacle in the sun to be understood
that is "in El," or "God," just as in the Gospel: Eli, Eli instead of my

BOGDAN

264

G. BUCUR

1:26, and signal the transferof divine functions to the Gnostic.47 One

could

actually become protoctists,since Clement

well say that the Gnostics

states

that "they are called by the appellation of 'gods,' being destined to sit on
throneswith the other gods that have been firstput in their places by the
Savior."48
can be no doubt that Clement preserves something that will be

There

eliminated inmainstream Christian theology, but retained by certain strands

ofJudaism:

the real, ontological "angelification." In 2 Enoch,

the patriarch

is not merely a visitor to the heavenly realms, but "a servant permanently
installed in the office of the sar happanim."49Similarly, Test Levi 4:2 is explicit
about the possibility of becoming a "prince of the presence." Hekhalot
speaks about becoming
princes"

(3 Enoch

superior, more

10:2-6), becoming

glorious

lore

than the "eight great

"little YHWH"

12).50 In

(3 Enoch

Christian tradition, however, despite extensive talk about the ascetical holy
man

in the body," and despite the depiction of an

living as an "angel

angelic life in heaven, the transformed human being appears "angelomor

phic," rather than ontologically "angelic."51 The

"real angelification" of the

earlier tradition, echoed by Clement, was eventually discarded. The

cause

had probably something to do with the concern for the Incarnation as a

"confirmation" of human existence, and with an awareness of the difficulties
that Clement's worldview raises for eschatology.52

47
Alain

Le Boulluec,

series, draws

attention

the editor and

to the verbs

translator of Strom 1 for the Sources

(Clement d'Alexandrie, Stromate VII;

Chr?tiennes

[SC 428 Paris: Cerf,

1997] 70, footnote 2).

48 Strom 7:10:56-57.
49
Orlov, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition, 156.
50
. . transformation
to Deutsch
(Guardians of theGate,
32-34), "Metatron's.
According
an
an
a
from
human being into
angel reflects
ontological process which may be repeated
by mystics. ..."
51 I am
to the following definition:
the term "angelomorphic"
according
using
it has been used in different ways by various scholars, without clear definition,
"Though
we

propose

its use wherever

specifically angelic
to that of an angel"

there are

characteristics
(Crispin H.T.

an individual or
signs that
community possesses
or status, though for whom
identity cannot be reduced
Luke-Acts: Angels, Christology and Soteriology
Fletcher-Louis,

(WUNT 94; T?bingen:Mohr Siebeck, 1997), 14-15.

52 In his concise

eschatology, Brian Daley notes

of
"a
rather than . . . escha
dynamic conception
painstaking development
crisis" is consonant with his view of the punishments
after death as "a medici
but very dense

treatment of Clement's

that Clement's

tological
nal and therefore temporary measure"
(TheHope
Hendrickson,
Eschatology [reprint; Peabody, Mass.:

of theEarly Church: A Handbook

2003],

46).

ofPatristic

THE

I conclude

OTHER

that Clement

CLEMENT

OF ALEXANDRIA

265

interprets the tradition about millennial cycles

and the ascent on the cosmic ladder as descriptions of an interiorphenom

enon. He

also happens to have been the one to supply the convenient short

hand for this interiorized ascent to heaven and transformation before the
divine Face: Noxyt;, "deification."
b. The Relevanceof theChurchHierarchy
Confirmation of this view can be found in Clement's affirmations about the
church hierarchy. I have noted earlier his conviction that "the advance
ments

(mpoKonari)pertaining to the Church

bishops, presbyters and deacons,

here below, namely those of

are imitations (,ugi'gata) of the angelic

glory."53This would yield a model of "church hierarchy," composed of bish

ops, priests, and deacons, quite similar to that advocated

by Ignatius of

Antioch.
However,

Clement

undermines

this edifice, by offering the following

exegesis:
Such a one is in realitya presbyterof theChurch, and a trueminister (dea
con) of thewill of God, ifhe do and teachwhat is theLord's; not as being
ordained bymen, nor regarded righteousbecause a presbyter,but enrolled in
the presbyteratebecause righteous.And although here upon earth he be not
thrones,
honored with the chief seat, he will sit down on the four-and-twenty
judging thepeople, as John says in theApocalypse.54
Quite

clearly, Clement

takes "bishop," "priest," or "deacon"

nations of ecclesiastical office-holders

with those "ordained by men"

not as desig

he appears, in fact, quite unhappy

and "honored with the chief seat"

, but

rather as functional designations of the stages of spiritual advancement.55

For Clement
be more

(and, later, forOrigen),

accurate,

the function trumps the degree; or, to

the inner quality creates the function, which

is then

reflected in the degree.56

53 Strom

are "images"
of the
Cf. Strom 7:1:3: the presbyters and deacons
6:13:107.
of superordinate and subordinate activities (mx? xt]v eKK^naiav
xfjv uiv
(angelic) models
e?K?va, xf|v ?7ir|pexiKf|v ?? oi ?kxkovoi).
?e^xicoxiKTiv oi rcpec?uxepoi ocp?ouaiv
54
Strom 6:13:106, ANF.
55
assertions about Church
Evidently, Clement's
hierarchy
imply their real existence
office holders in Alexandria
of ecclesiastical
(Jakab, Ecclesia Alexandrina, 183).
56This
from Origen
and
and supported by quotations
point is argued emphatically
Dar
de
of
Histoire
al-Kalima,
1971),
Carthage,
by Roncaglia,
l'?glise copte (Beirut:
Cyprian
3:187-189,

192-194.

Jakab

(Ecclesia Alexandrina,

183)

offers

the

same

interpretation.

266

BOGDAN

G. BUCUR

"promotion" from one level of the hierarchy to the next reflects the

The

one's spiritual progress:

... thosewho, followingthe footstepsof the apostles, have lived in perfection
of righteousnessaccording to theGospel ... [are] takenup in the clouds, the
minister [as deacons], thenbe classed in thepresbyter
apostlewrites,will first
ate, by promotion in glory (forglory differsfrom glory) till they grow into
"a perfectman."57
If the affirmation that the church hierarchy is an imitation of the celestial
hierarchy is given fullweight, itwould seem logical forClement

to posit the

same sort of "promotion" and transformation on the cosmic ladder-from

"angels" to "archangels"

to "protoctists" as dependent solely upon the deg

ree of spiritual progress. Obviously,

the elders fromRevelation

the number twenty-four in the case of

is not taken any more

literally than the number

seven in the case of the protoctists.

Conclusions
The

"celestial hierarchy" echoed

by Clement,

goes back not only to

Pantaenus, but to an older generation ofJewish-Christian "elders."58

However,
hierarchy has, on this point, great affinities with that of Dionysius.
to uphold the perfect mirroring between
the celestial and the ecclesiastical hier
archies in spite of a disappointing
historical reality, they adopt divergent strategies: while
Clement
the
issue
from
the perspective of "function" and thus challenges
the
approaches

Clement's
in order

that does not fully mirror

authenticity of any "degree"
from the perspective
of "degree"
and is forced to paint
. . ."
the least?portrait
of the Christian
clergy
(Golitzin,
ing tension between hierarchy and personal holiness in
see Golitzin,

to Origen),
New

Nicetas

Theologian,

Strom 6:13:107,

58
On

Christianisme

ascetic

literature

(reaching

Anarchy? Dionysius Areopagita,

and Their Common
in Ascetical
Roots

Symeon

back
the

Tradition,"

ANF.
of Pantaenus

V??bus: Studies in Early

The

Versus

in the development
of Alexandrian
catechetical
tradition,
et le didascal?e
"Pant?ne
du Jud?o
d'Alexandrie:
Pellegrino Roncaglia,
au Christianisme
in Robert Fisher (ed.), A Tribute toArthur
Hell?nistique,"

the place

see Martiniano

(Chicago:
evidence

Stethatos,

(1994), 131-179.

SVTQ,38
57

"Hierarchy

the "function," Dionysius

writes
a
idealistic?to
say
"supremely
Et Introibo, 134). For the ongo

Lutheran

Christian Literature and Its Environment, Primarily in the Christian East

School of Theology,
scholars judge the
1977), 211-223. Other

about Pantaenus
insufficient for an assessment
of his theology: Attila Jakab,
Ecclesia Alexandrina: Evolution sociale et institutionelledu christianisme alexandrin (IIe et IIP si?cles)
a. M./New
York/Oxford/Vienna:
Peter Lang, 2004),
(Bern/Berlin/Bruxelles/Frankfurt
111, 115.

THE

OTHER

CLEMENT

OF ALEXANDRIA

A fittingformula to describe Clement of Alexandria's

267

treatment of the

inherited apocalyptic cosmology of the elders would be "interiorized apoc

in keeping with the established definitions,59 I

alyptic." This term-which,

would change to "interiorized apocalypticism"

has been proposed for the

use of apocalyptic motifs in Byzantine monastic

literature, and its definition

seems perfectly applicable

to Clement:

"the transposition of the cosmic set

ting of apocalyptic literature, and in particular of the 'out of body' experi

ence of heavenly ascent and transformation, to the inner theater of the
soul."60 Golitzin has furnished proof of this transposition as early as the
fourth and early fifthcentury Eastern monastic

literature; Stroumsa, on

the other hand, argues that the shiftwas completed, at least in theChristian
West, with Augustine of Hippo.6'
Clement of Alexandria

I believe that we may

safely affirm that

offers one of the earliest examples of "interiorized

apocalypticism."
The archaic theory of the elders, postulating the celestial hierarchy as the
locus of a real transformation from archangels into protoctists,from angels
into archangels, and from humans into angels, may prove illumining for our
understanding of Clement's

statements about the perfected human as "liv

ing as an angel on earth, but already luminous, and resplendent like the
sun," igayyEo;

,U?v?vrnaia

&6 iKaj
pweT1VO6;

b ijXto; XiRnOv (Strom

60; o

7:10:57). Clearly, such views are not unrelated to the later notion of the

worldviewechoedby
However, iftheJewish-Christian
asceticalbiosangelikos.
Clement

constitutes the original framework of the "angelification," provid

ing itwith a very specificmeaning,

itwould be interesting to see towhat

degree later ascetical literature retained these cosmological associations.

59

to John J. Collins
(The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to theJewish
York:
Crossroad,
1984], 2-11) for the distinction between
of Christianity [New
as a literary form. Apocalypticism
is
as a worldview
and
"apocalypse"
"apocalypticism"
Credit

goes

Matrix

the heavenly world and eschatological

revelation,
supernatural
an
role"
essential
(10).
judgment play
60
the Old Testament
Golitzin,
Pseudepigrapha,
"Earthly Angels and Heavenly Men:
in Eastern Christian
Nicetas
of Interiorized Apocalyptic
Stethatos, and the Tradition
"a worldview

in which

and Mystical
Ascetical
Literature," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 55 (2001), 125-153.
61 "For him
are no longer those of God, but those of the
[Augustine], the real secrets
individual, hidden in the depth of his or her heart, or soul. With him, we witness more
the end of esotericism and the devel
the link between
clearly than elsewhere, perhaps,
a process of
opment of a new interiorization. This process of interiorization is ipsofacto
in such an approach"
for esoteric doctrine
there remains no place
demotization:
(Stroumsa, Hidden Wisdom, 1).

BOGDAN

268

The

G. BUCUR

texts discussed in these pages are paradigmatic

for the widespread

hierarchical cosmology in the early centuries of the common era, as well as

for the type of difficulties faced by the emerging Christian
most acute problem was

theology. The

the necessity of adapting the hierarchical frame

work to a theology of the Trinity; more precisely, the difficultyof "fitting"

theHoly Spirit in the hierarchy. In relation to Clement of Alexandria,
topic has been dealt with masterfully and

this

in great detail by Christian

in his Engelpneumatologie.
A larger presentation would have to take
into account the conjunction of hierarchy, prophecy, and the angelic spirit,

Oeyen,

characteristic not only of "the other Clement,"

but also of other early

Christian authors. I leave the demonstration of this thesis for a later and
much

larger undertaking.

MarquetteUniversity,
Milwaukee, WI

U.S.A.

53233