Introduction
“What has Jerusalem to do with Athens, the Church
with [the] Academy, the Christian with the heretic? Our principles come from
the Porch of Solomon, who has himself taught that the Lord is to be sought in
simplicity of heart. I have no use for a Stoic or a Platonic or dialectic
Christianity. After Jesus Christ, we have no need of speculation, after the
Gospel no need of research. When we come to believe, we have no desire to
believe anything else; for we begin by believing that there is nothing else
which we have to believe.[i]
These
provocative words by Tertullian have stimulated much discussion through the
years. It seems to imply a negative answer. However, it demonstrates his
rhetorical abilities and classical education. This paper will examine the
thinking of four leaders in the Christian church — Clement of Alexandria, St.
Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, and John Henry Newman— and how they might
answer Tertullian’s question. We will also try to determine what lessons might
be learned from historical interactions between Christianity and the liberal
arts.
Clement
of Alexandria
Titus
Flavius Clement, popularly known as Clement of Alexandria was born around AD
150 in Athens, came to Alexandria, Egypt, between AD 175 and 180, and left
Alexandria during the persecution of AD 202 and spent the remaining ten years
of his life in Palestine.[ii]
He was one of the first great Christian scholars. Before going to Alexandria, Clement
had traveled widely in Southern Italy and Palestine, learning from various
teachers. In Alexandria, he studied under many teachers, the greatest of whom
was Pantaenus, head of the Catechetical school of Alexandria in about AD 180.
Clement would remain here to study and later to become one of the leading
scholars in Alexandria. He would also succeed Pantaenus as head of the
Catechetical school.[iii]
Alexandria
was one of the leading intellectual centers of the ancient world. Ptolemy had
established a famous museum with a huge library in this famous city. It
attracted scholars from various cities. Alexandria was also a major center for
Christian life and thought. It was a cosmopolitan city with a very broad
intellectual environment. Many of the leading thinkers of the time lived or
visited in Alexandria and the major ideas of classical authors like Plato and
Aristotle were discussed openly.[iv]
In
this environment Clement “thrived” and became one of the leading thinkers of
his day. He demonstrated a vast knowledge of both Christian and pagan thought.
He esteemed literature and had an extensive knowledge of both pagan poets and
philosophers. He interacted with and quoted more pagan poets and philosophers
than anyone in the second century. “Clement serves as an instructive guide,”
observes David Dockery, because “of his wide range of learning, his love of
philosophy and literature, his concern for the cultivation of an intellectually
serious Christianity, his interaction with the issues and trends in the
changing world of his day, and perhaps most importantly because he was a lay
person— which is the case for more than 90 percent of faculty and staff, as
well as students at most Christian colleges and universities.”[v]
Clement believed that “all truth is God’s truth no
matter where it is found.”[vi]
This is the reason why liberal learning and Christianity is compatible. If all
truth is God’s truth wherever it is found, it follows that truth can never
contradict itself. Arthur F. Holmes believes this idea is the “theological
basis of Christian higher education.”[vii]
[i]
Tertullian, “What Has Jerusalem to Do with Athens?” in Sources of the Western Tradition, Volume 1: From Ancient Times to the
Enlightenment, Brief edition. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006), 107.
[ii]
Eric Osborn, “Clement of Alexandria,” in the
First Christian Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Church.(Malden,
MA: Blackwell, 2004), 127.
[iii]
Ibid.
[iv]
Ibid.
[v]
David Dockery, Renewing Minds: Serving
Church and Society through Christian Higher Education (Nashville: B&H
Academic, 2008), 54.
[vi]
Arthur F. Holmes, Building the Christian
Academy (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2001), 20.
[vii]
Ibid.
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