Enculturating Christian Spirituality

Clement of Alexandria

Alfred Pach, Amanda Avila Kaminski and Roger Haight

Past Light on Present Life: Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality

Pages: 160

Fordham University Press

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ISBN: 9781531512804

Published: 07 October 2025

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ISBN: 9781531512811

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Description

Clement of Alexandria represents Christianity at the end of the second and early in the third century. He reminds us of the pervasiveness of Greek culture at the time of Jesus that accompanied Roman imperium in the East. The New Testament was written in Greek even though its content was Jewish and appealed back to Jewish history. As Christianity spread north and westward it was received by Jews and Gentiles who were familiar with Greek culture, which strongly affected Latin culture and Roman law and order. As one would expect, corporate Christian faith slowly took on the cultural forms of the places where it was accepted and internalized. Theologians can argue whether or in what respects Hellenization saved or distorted evangelical Christianity, but the early appropriation of Christian beliefs into a form of Greek wisdom that made sense in a critical and speculative culture ultimately provided the medium for central and still authoritative doctrines. Greek Christian wisdom in turn assigned values and influenced practices of Christian spirituality that spanned both the Eastern and the Western churches. Clement of Alexandria was one of the earliest and most thorough interpreters of Christian faith in the terms of Greek reflective thought. We still live by suppositions that were formulated in a way that made Christian faith in God something that Greeks and Romans and Mediterranean culture could understand, spiritually appropriate, and live out. We have to consider whether and in what measure these ancient spiritual ideas still communicate to us, for they have left their mark on Christian language and life in our own day.

Praise

Listening to Christian spirituality carefully and liberatingly for the present is neither simple nor necessarily welcome in pluralistic and secular contexts. This series, intended for respectful existential, secular and pluralistic engagement, promotes a deep conversation about how Christian spiritual heritage matters today. Readers are invited into the art of interpretation with—and beyond—these influential texts and authors, into difficult and urgent questions about how we live well together in a world where no one single vision prevails, but where we help each other clarify what matters most, making a world with room for all spiritual paths promising justice. For the everyday quest to live well together in a world we must equally share, Christian tradition offers spiritual wisdom—and this series offers able guides in recovering that wisdom and suggesting how it can be practiced today.—Tom Beaudoin on the Past Light on Present Life: Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality series

Past Light on Present Life is a brilliantly dynamic series. It weaves together theological frameworks, ethical implications and spiritual mindsets in interpreting texts of numerous great personages in the history of Christian Spirituality. Importantly, in doing so it responds to searing questions of our current age. The genius of the series lies in the precise choices of the original texts at the heart of each concise volume, which provide the key for such pertinent interpretation. These volumes provide much needed fresh insight for experts in the field, as they also will prove invaluable for undergraduate teachers, graduate students, religious seekers and spiritual directors.—Julia D.E. Prinz on the Past Light on Present Life: Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality series

Author(s)

Alfred Pach (Edited By)
Alfred Pach III is an Associate Professor of Medical Sciences and Global Health at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an MDiv in Psychology and Religion from Union Theological Seminary.

Amanda Avila Kaminski (Edited By)
Amanda Avila Kaminski is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Texas Lutheran University, where she also serves as Director of the program in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship. She has written extensively in the area of Christian spirituality.

Roger Haight (Edited By)
Roger Haight is emeritus Visiting Professor at Union Theological Seminary. The recipient of the Alumnus of the Year award from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago in 2006, he is a Past President of the Catholic Theological Society of America and a recipient of the John Courtney Murray award for achievement in theology.