The Thoughtful Christian

When I am in a conversation and doing a lot of listening, the other will ask, “So what do you think?”  That’s a good question.  The person believes that there may be another point of view.  There may be another perspective.  After all, there is not just one way to think, even (or especially) in matters of faith.

            There’s another question, and a more important one.  In my college education, one of the most valuable lessons I learned was to be able to think critically and carefully.  The question in a conversation, then, is more than what I think.  More than that, it’s how I think.  We need much more critical and careful thinking in our culture.

            Today, in the church calendar, we remember Clement of Alexandria.  He is one of the most intelligent of all of the saints.  Born of Greek parents and steeped in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle, he moved to Alexandria (Egypt, not Virginia) and opened his own school of philosophy.  Around the year 190, he accepted the teachings of Christian disciples and committed his life to Christ.

            It was then that he devoted his intellectual powers to the Gospel.  While many disciples were in the streets and shops sharing their faith in Christ, Clement focused his attention on the academy.  He wanted to shape the intellectual leaders and philosophical discussions of his day.  He sought not just information and ideas, but Wisdom and Truth as it became real in Jesus Christ.

            He accomplished two things that have shaped the Church ever since.  First, he challenged those who said that any way of knowing a Greater Power.  To these teachers, called Gnostics, they said that there was no way for God to take human form.  Clement countered that claim by saying that real Truth in human life could be known only by knowing Christ.  He asked these teachers, not what they thought, but how they thought—and how they could deny Christ in life.

            Clement also shaped another amazing teacher, Origen, who did even more to challenge the thinking of the day.  God was in Christ, reconciling the world to the divine.  He showed us not what to think about that claim, but how to think about God’s love for us.

            As a priest, I try constantly to help people get the information straight as we find it in the Scriptures.  Then I want to work with them to develop their reason.  I want them to learn how to think about the biblical message and the presence of Christ in life.  Thank you, Clement, for giving us such a great example of what it means to be a thoughtful Christian.