Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Orpheus, Clement, Alexandria, iconography, New Song, theology of music
Proposal
Alexandria in Northern Egypt during the second century of the Christian era was a thriving multicultural metropolis not unlike many urban centers of today. Second only in size to Rome itself, it attracted many races, practices, and philosophies, all facilitated by the Pax Romana. In particular, many cultured Greeks came to study in Alexandria’s famous library. One such Greek, who came to be known simply as Clement of Alexandria, arrived around AD 150 as a convert to Christianity. With the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180, a period of relative peace began for Christians. Clement found a nearly ideal platform for spreading the good news of Christ. As a cultured Greek himself, Clement directed much of his teaching to his fellow Greeks. His goal, like the author of Hebrews, was to unveil the superiority of Christ to the religious background of Greek mythology. One of his most famous comparisons was of Christ to Orpheus, a mythological demi-god who was able to tame wild animals and conquer death by singing and by playing his magical lyre. In his first writing, the Protreptikos, loosely translated as Exhortation to the Gentiles, Clement argues that at best Orpheus’s song is but music of the old creation, an old song, and does not have the ultimate power of salvation that can overcome man’s fallen condition. But Christ as the New Song is powerful and able to save man both from himself and the destiny of the fall. The New Song proclaims the victory of Christ’s redemption, purchasing men from every tribe and tongue, making them a kingdom to God, and who will reign on the earth (Rev. 5:9-10).
This paper examines the main points of comparison of Orpheus with Christ in the Protreptikos. It then explores the legitimacy of such methodology by comparing Clement’s practice to that of Paul in Acts, when he took the opportunity of revealing to the Athenian’s exactly who was the “unknown god” that the Greeks worshipped (Acts 17:23). Are there points in Clement’s approach that should give us pause as Christians, or is this a model for us today?
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Sing to Him a New Song: Early Christians in the Midst of Myths of Competing Culture
Alexandria in Northern Egypt during the second century of the Christian era was a thriving multicultural metropolis not unlike many urban centers of today. Second only in size to Rome itself, it attracted many races, practices, and philosophies, all facilitated by the Pax Romana. In particular, many cultured Greeks came to study in Alexandria’s famous library. One such Greek, who came to be known simply as Clement of Alexandria, arrived around AD 150 as a convert to Christianity. With the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180, a period of relative peace began for Christians. Clement found a nearly ideal platform for spreading the good news of Christ. As a cultured Greek himself, Clement directed much of his teaching to his fellow Greeks. His goal, like the author of Hebrews, was to unveil the superiority of Christ to the religious background of Greek mythology. One of his most famous comparisons was of Christ to Orpheus, a mythological demi-god who was able to tame wild animals and conquer death by singing and by playing his magical lyre. In his first writing, the Protreptikos, loosely translated as Exhortation to the Gentiles, Clement argues that at best Orpheus’s song is but music of the old creation, an old song, and does not have the ultimate power of salvation that can overcome man’s fallen condition. But Christ as the New Song is powerful and able to save man both from himself and the destiny of the fall. The New Song proclaims the victory of Christ’s redemption, purchasing men from every tribe and tongue, making them a kingdom to God, and who will reign on the earth (Rev. 5:9-10).
This paper examines the main points of comparison of Orpheus with Christ in the Protreptikos. It then explores the legitimacy of such methodology by comparing Clement’s practice to that of Paul in Acts, when he took the opportunity of revealing to the Athenian’s exactly who was the “unknown god” that the Greeks worshipped (Acts 17:23). Are there points in Clement’s approach that should give us pause as Christians, or is this a model for us today?
