The Importance of Alexandria in Early Christianity

     Alexandria, Egypt was extremely important in the early centuries of the Christian Church. It was the seat of the largest theological school in the world at that time and produced great thinkers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen. Alexandria was known as the "pride of Africa" and was considered by some to be larger than Rome and Antioch. The city was also the intellectual center of the Mediterranean throughout the first centuries AD (Oliver, 01).

    Alexandria was home to the most prestigious catechetical school in the world at that time. It only increased in status after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. Many Jews who would later become known as Christians fled to Alexandria and started a school to develop and project Christian thought. Alexandria was originally founded by Alexander the Great who promoted religious tolerance. Thus, from Alexander's reign all the way up to the first centuries AD, many religions and cults were present in the city. This allowed Christianity to dialogue with other faiths and also engage in rivalries. One of the effects of this dialogue was that classical philosophy soon entered Christian thought. The Catechetical School was first developed to provide basic facts to new converts and guide them as they approached baptism. This school would later develop further to provide the first complete systematic theologies of the Christian faith (Oliver, 02).

    The Catechetical School of Alexandria had three prominent forms of teaching. These were allegory, philosophy, and Gnosis. Allegorical teaching focused on finding the mystical or allegorical interpretations of Scripture instead of rendering a literal meaning. This form of teaching found its root in rabbinic thought when approaching the Old Testament. The teachers and students at the school studied classical philosophy and tried to apply that philosophy to Christian teachings. Platonism was an extremely popular philosophy that found its way into early Christian thought. Clement of Alexandria even claimed that a large amount of Christian doctrine depended on Platonic philosophy in order to be properly understood. This use of philosophy aided early Christians who were determined to show the intelligentsia of the day that Christianity was an intellectually rigorous faith. Finally, the school focused on gnosis which meant that the students and teachers were focused on increasing their knowledge. They saw Christ as the source of all knowledge and that divine knowledge could be granted by the Holy Spirit. This divine knowledge often referred to God's message as provided through Scripture. Thus, it can be said that the school focused on increasing knowledge of God's message as it was proclaimed in Scripture (Oliver, 07-09).

    I find the school of Alexandria to be fascinating. I greatly enjoy reading about early leaders like Clement and Origen. They had a wide-reaching influence on early Christianity and their ideas can still be found today. I highly recommend doing an independent study of Origen or Clement. I believe you will learn a lot and that their ideas may help you grow in your faith. Peace!


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