The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The article raises the question of the attitude towards classical education and culture in early Christianity. Although authors such as Tertullian opposed secu­lar education (“what is Athens to Jerusalem?”), many ecclesiastical writers believed in the need to use the achievements of classical paideia to develop theo­logy. To justify the possibility of Christians using pagan philosophy and other “liberal arts”, a number of Christian authors used the metaphor of the “plundering” of Egyptian treasures during the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt (for exam­ple, Origen, Blessed Augustine, and others). The serious study of rhetoric and philosophy in the Alexandrian school under Clement of Alexandria and Origen was later adopted by the Cappadocian Fathers through Origen’s disciple, St. Gregory the Wonderworker. Nowadays, this approach could be described as an attempt at cultural absorption. Mastering the art of words helps us better understand the Word of God as written in the Holy Scriptures and to have a genuine ­experience with Christ. A philosophical vision of pure ideas, foundations and principles, and the pursuit of knowledge can form the basis for Christian contemplation and knowledge of God. On the other hand, the Christian tradition was characterised by a desire to see in everything authentic that existed in human culture before Christ the true seeds of the Logos.