Clement of Alexandria and the beginnings of Christian apophaticism
Subtitle: knowing the unknowable
By: Henny Fisk Hagg
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 314
Subjects: Clement, -- of Alexandria, Saint, -- ca. 150-ca. 215; Negative theology -- Christianity -- History of doctrines
Description: 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. -- PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Clement : Christian writer in second century Alexandria; title: Alexandria : the social, cultural and religious world; title: The origins of Alexandrian Christianity; title: Clement in Alexandria : life, works and audience; title: The concept of God in middle platonism; title: The middle platonists, who were they?; title: Main topics of middle platonic philosophy; title: Theocentricity and the platonic background; title: Alcinous, Numenius, and Atticus as sources for the middle platonic doctrine of the divine; title: Hierarchy or levels of being; title: Ineffability, divine attributes and the knowledge of God; title: The question of transcendence; title: Clements method of concealment; title: Esotericism and the secret Gospel of Mark; title: Esoteric knowledge and gnosis; title: Theory of symbolism : the inadequacy of language; title: Clements concept of God (i) : the apophatic essence of the Father; title: The dilemma of transcendence : the ineffability of God; title: The essence of God; title: Clements concept of God (ii) : the son as logos; title: The doctrine of the logos; title: The generation and incarnation of the logos; title: Unity and distinction; title: The knowledge of God; title: The concept of knowledge; title: The one and the onemany; title: The via negativa; title: The son as the revealer of the father : the kataphatic way; title: The son as the dynamis of God; title: Apophaticism and the distinction between essence and power; title: Historical sketch; title: The distinction between essence and dynamis; title: Concluding remarks; title: The reception of Clement; title: Clements contribution to apophatic theology