SOURCE: “The Deification of Man in Clement of Alexandria,” in The Journal of Theological Studies, Vol. XVII, No. 66, January, 1916, pp. 157-69.

In the following excerpt, Butterworth explores the influence of Greek thought on Clement's teachings concerning the process of man achieving union with God both on earth and after death.

I

The possibility of man being deified, or becoming a god, is asserted by many Christian Fathers from the middle of the second century onwards, but by none more frequently or unreservedly than by Clement of Alexandria. In the following pages all the passages of Clement which bear upon this subject will be examined, and an attempt made (i) to fix his meaning with certainty; and (ii) to trace his thought to its origins.

Ii

Deification, according to Clement, is a process that begins on earth. It is made possible by the fact that man contains within himself...