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Alexandrian school From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Alexandrian school is a collective designation for certain tendencies in literature, philosophy, medicine, and the sciences that developed in the Hellenistic cultural center of Alexandria, Egypt around the 1st century. Alexandria was a remarkable center of learning due to the blending of Greek and Oriental influences, its favorable situation and commercial resources, and the enlightened energy of some of the Macedonian Dynasty of the Ptolemies ruling over Egypt. Much scholarly work was collected in the great Library of Alexandria during this time.

The name of "Alexandrian school" is also used to describe one of the 2 great schools of biblical interpretation in the early Christian church. They incorporated Greek Pagan philosophical beliefs from Plato's teachings into Christianity (Neoplatonism), and interpreted much of the Bible allegorically. It was established in Alexandria, in the late 2nd century. Many scholars regard Clement as the founder of the Alexandrian school of Christian theology, which emphasized the divine nature of Christ.[citation needed]

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 Alexandrian School From HowStuffWorks.com

Alexandrian School, a name given to various groups of persons engaged in artistic and intellectual activities in Alexandria, Egypt, during the Hellenistic and Roman eras. Subject to common influences, members of each group tended to show similarity in their style, attitudes, or methods. Such groups produced work of a unique character in sculpture, literature, science, philosophy, and theology.

From about 300 B.C., when the Alexandrian Museum and its library were created, for some 600 years Alexandria was the intellectual capital of the ancient world. While its origins were Macedonian-Greek, as were its royal house (the Ptolemies) and its ruling class of citizens until the Roman conquest, the city absorbed much of the Egyptian tradition. The population, cosmopolitan in character, included Jews, Syrians, and other Middle Easterners who brought with them ideas and customs foreign to Greek and Roman culture. The blending of Western and Eastern knowledge and thought was the distinguishing feature of the schools.

The Arts

The Alexandrian school of sculpture was one of the three Hellenistic styles of the third century B.C. It was a naturalistic style, but one in which some detail was suggested rather than delineated. The individuality and human quality of the subjects were stressed, with touches of humor such as the classic Greek sculptors had never shown. Allegorical figures were an innovation, as were realistic portraits of old people and children.

Literature of the Alexandrian school was based on scholarship rather than on originality. The writers working in the Museum and library catalogued, analyzed, and edited more than they wrote. When they composed poetry, it was usually in studied imitation of older forms. Callimachus introduced the epyllion, a short epic poem, and his pupil Apollonius of Rhodes revived the long epic. Theocritus, however, created an original variety of verse, the pastoral poem, for which the Alexandrian school of literature is chiefly remembered.

The Sciences

The mathematician Euclid came to Alexandria about the time the Museum and library were founded. His teaching and writing were the foundation for 600 years of invention and discovery in mathematics, astronomy, and physics.

Apollonius of Perga (third century B.C.) founded the study of conic sections, and Hipparchus (second century B.C.) originated plane and spherical trigonometry. In the third century A.D. Diophantus invented algebraic symbols, and Pappus laid the foundations for analytical geometry.

In the third century B.C. Eratosthenes of Cyrene used astronomy to form geographical conclusions, and Aristarchus of Samos theorized that the earth revolves about the sun. Ptolemy (second century A.D.) made major contributions to trigonometry and to astronomy but supported the theory that the sun revolves about the earth.

Ctesibius (second century B.C.) experimented with water pressure and air pressure. In the early Christian Era Hero operated devices with water, air, and steam—including a forerunner of the jet engine.

Egypt had long been a leader in medical knowledge when the Hellenistic era began. Alexandria quickly became the medical center of the Mediterranean world. Among the major physicians and their fields of discovery were Herophilus of Chalcedon, anatomy, and Erasistratus, physiology (third century B.C.); Marinus, skull surgery (late first century A.D.); and Soranus, gynecology (second century). There were, in fact, few notable advances in surgery from the Alexandrian era to the 19th century.

Philosophy and Theology

During the pre-Christian era, Athens retained supremacy over Alexandria as the center of philosophy. When an Alexandrian school of philosophy developed, it reflected the mysticism found throughout the Middle East. About 100 B.C. there originated in Alexandria a new philosophy, Neopythagoreanism, in which Pythagorean doctrines were given a mystical interpretation. Renunciation of worldly things and recognition of one supreme deity were emphasized.

As the Christian Era began, the Alexandrian Jew Philo, combining Jewish religious ideas with Greek philosophy, emphasized the mystical quality of man's relationship to God. Philo influenced two late-second-century Greek Fathers of the Church, Clement of Alexandria and his pupil Origen. These two in turn headed Alexandria's catechetical (Christian religious) school, where both Christian and pagan (Greek) writings were studied and where the philosophy later known as Neoplatonism evolved.

Plotinus (third century), who probably attended the school, formulated the doctrines of Neoplatonism, in which the soul was glorified and the physical senses ignored, and carried them to Rome. Although Neoplatonism was a pagan philosophy and Origen, after his death, was disowned by the Church as a heretic, much of the mysticism of the Alexandrian school of theology was absorbed into Christian thinking.

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Alexandrian Theology By Gilbert Sanchez

The Alexandrian school of theology is best characterized by examining some of the teachings of its two best know representatives, Clement and Origen, and the overall shift in Biblical exegesis they practiced.Clement of Alexandria
Clement is known in the history of the church as the first Christian scholar. He was well taught and knowledgeable in the areas of classical literature, Greek philosophy, and the Scriptures. This well-grounded education elevated his teaching above his contemporaries and added to his ability to communicate to his generation. Clement saw himself in a position to reach the Hellenistic intellectuals of his day; and he was comfortable using their expressions and language in describing the Christian religion. His knowledge of philosophy gave way to an overstated support of it. So much was this the case that Clement considered philosophy a preparation for Christianity. He said that as the law of God was a schoolmaster to lead the Jews to Christ; similarly, philosophy served as a schoolmaster for the Greeks. The Scriptures do not support this claim, nor is it demonstrated logically. In fact, the philosophical ideas taught led in a direction antithetical from the throne of God. The vain speculations of mankind can never serve as a replacement for the revelation of the Lord. In regard to the incarnation, Clement taught that the logos came down from heaven and clothed Himself with man. In other words, the logos, or Word of God, entered into and attached Himself to human flesh. Clement also accepted the idea that Christ was exempt from all desires. Instead, the logos would direct the God-man.

Although this description of the incarnation appears to be an incomplete one, it is difficult to judge Clement and other early church fathers too harshly. The development of doctrine took many turns as various questions were raised. The clarity of doctrine that we enjoy in our age was simply not available to Clement. His efforts at describing the incarnation are not necessarily dealing with all the various aspects of the doctrine that need to be stressed, or that we are accustomed to reading. The concept of Christ being exempt from all desires stems from Greek thought. This erroneous way of viewing the material world would only serve as a negative factor in the history of the church.

Origen of Alexandria
Origen was the brilliant student of Clement who, at the young age of eighteen, was put in a position so that he could take the reigns at the school at Alexandria. In addition to his great intelligence, Origen was a magnetic teacher and was a big draw for the masses. Some in his own day accused Origen of heresy, as did others throughout the later development of theological thought. Origen felt free to speculate where the teaching of the church and the Scriptures were not explicitly clear. This led Origen to many ideas that are totally unfounded and objectionable. This basic tenant in Origen's thought is an extremely dangerous one. He taught that there exists a world of spiritual beings, including souls, who pre-existed from all eternity. The souls of mankind are taken from this pool of souls, including the soul of the Christ. One of the pre-existent souls was that which was to be the soul of Jesus. This particular soul had a special attachment to the logos and never fell away from Him as all other souls had. Origen also taught that all creatures, including even the devil, would one day be reconciled with God. Origen's teachings and the freedom he took upon himself to speculate is difficult for the modern Christian to bear; it was also difficult for some of his contemporaries to bear. His exegetical route is dangerous and leads to speculation and error as his own teachings attest.

Biblical Exegesis
In the Alexandrian school of thought, allegory was taught and spread as an acceptable mode of Biblical exegesis. The argument for the use of allegory can be better understood within the context of that time period. Some of the Jewish apologists attempted to press the point that the Old Testament, if taken literally, would lead to contradiction with the New. This caused doubt for some regarding the unity and consistency of the entire Bible. Some of the early fathers, in an attempt to answer these charges, claimed that the solution was found in the allegoric interpretation. Some even rejected the Old Testament altogether, as well as some of the New. In defense of the Old Testament, it was said that the value of the Old Testament was not found in literal exegesis. Origen taught that there were three senses of Biblical interpretation could be found for every text in Scripture: the literal, the moral, and the spiritual, which contained the more "complete" meaning. This approach was considered necessary because it thought impossible to take the Bible literally if there were what seemed to be contradictions in it.

This allegorical exegesis of the Scriptures must be rejected. The argument in favor of the allegorical method cannot be substantiated. There is no need to allegorize the Scriptures to protect them from contradiction. There is a harmony throughout the entire Old and New Covenants that are easily reconciled without the use of allegory. The description of the three senses of interpretation is merely speculative and cannot be defended scripturally.

Founded in about 180 CE by Pantaenus (a former Stoic philosopher), the theological School of Alexandria in Egypt was the first-known organized Christian institution of higher learning. It became a leading center of the allegorical method of Scripture interpretation, which was the same exegetical method practiced by Palestinian Rabbinical schools. Allegorical exegesis involves, as St. Augustine noted, understanding one passage of Scripture by virtue of example, concept, or another passage. Allegory differs from the parable method in its statement of doctrinal truths rather than practical advice. It also differs from the literal method of Scripture interpretation, in which the surface meaning of a passage is the passageís meaning. An example of allegory in the Bible is that of the vine, found in Psalm 80:8–16 and Isaiah 5:1–6.

Under such leaders as Clement (c. 150–215) and Origen (c. 185–254), the theological school of Alexandria endorsed a reestablishment of relations between Christian faith and Greek culture (including the Platonic philosophical tradition), and attempted to preserve Orthodox Christianity in the face of heterodox theologies during periods of doctrinal transition. The Alexandrians typically found allegory in most every passage of Scripture. Moreover, in their accounts of the person of Christ, they tended to focus almost exclusively on His divinity.

Some critics have noted that the Alexandrians, in trying to protect against an overemphasis on the humanity of Christ (which they felt led to such heresies as Nestorianism; see below), they sometimes leaned toward tritheism, into which Origen is said to have drifted. Monophysitism (the view that virtually negates Christ’s humanity by claiming Him to be divine only) is thought to have been an extreme form of Alexandrian Christological thinking.

Opposing the School of Alexandria was the School of Antioch, which emphasized the literal interpretation of the Bible. Founded circa 200, the theological school of Antioch in Syria stressed Scriptural literalism and the completeness of Christ’s humanity. Flourishing in the 4th-6th centuries, the School of Antioch gave rise to several significant theologians, including Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and St. John Chrysostom.

What is known of the school of Antioch’s founder, the martyr-presbyter Lucian (d. 312), is minimal, with the exception of his having been a keen Biblical student who revised the Greek texts of the Septuagint and the New Testament. Evidently his strictly theological perspectives were heterodox, for Arius and Eusebius of Nicomedia claimed to be his students, even calling themselves Lucianists.

Concerning Arianism, it is important to remember that the Church in the 4th century was dominated by controversy over the propositions of an Alexandrian priest, Arius (c. 250–336), who held that the Son was not eternal but created by God as an instrument for creation of the earth. In other words, Christ, though higher than humanity, was inferior to God, non-eternal, and with a definite beginning. In 325 the Council of Nicaea condemned Arianism and affirmed to Nestorianism, the majority of his exegetical and theological writings were destroyed or lost.

Unlike Theodore, St. John Chrysostom was foremost a preacher, aptly earning the title Chrysostomos, or Golden-Mouthed. The vast majority of Chrysostom’s writings were expositions of the Bible, in which he demonstrated himself to be a rigid proponent of Antiochene literalism. His sermons are reflections of the ecclesiastical, cultural, and social status of Constantinople and Antioch in that day. Not hesitant to denounce and condemn heresy, Chrysostom’s legacy to Orthodoxy is that of an outstanding rhetorician, writer, homilist, and liturgist.

The final renowned Antiochene bishop, Theodoret of Cyrrhus (c. 393–458), was also a prolific author. His writings were extensive in range, but the most noteworthy are his Ecclesiastical History, which continued Eusebius’ work to 428, and his Remedy for Greek Maladies, which was a series of ancient apologies against paganism. Theodoret also zealously defended Antiochene Christology against Bishop Cyril of Alexandria’s theology.

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