SOURCE: “Teaching and Writing in the First Chapter of the Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria,” in The Journal of Theological Studies, Vol. XVII, No. 66, January, 1916, pp. 335-43.

In the following excerpt, Osborn explains Clement's justifications for writing: to spread the word of God, to carry on tradition, and to battle heresy. Additionally, Osborn advances arguments that the Stromateis is actually the Didaskalos.

I. the Argument

The prejudice against writing was strong in the Church of the second century. The living voice was the best medium for the communication of Christian truth.¹ Writings were public and it was wrong to cast pearls before swine. To write implied that one was inspired by the Holy Spirit and this was a presumptuous claim.² If one must write, it were better that one should write badly. The heretics had shown that a clever style could mislead and corrupt. The first chapter of...