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With regard to the actual salvation of all, the following are, perhaps, his fullest and most pointed expressions: "How is he a Saviour and Lord, unless he "is the Saviour and Lord of all? He is certainly the "Saviour of those who have believed; and of those "who have not believed, he is the Lord, until by be"ing brought to confess him, they shall receive the proper and well adapted blessing for themselves." "The Lord," says he, "is the propitiation, not only "for our sins, that is, of the faithful, but also for the "whole world: (1 John, ii. 2,) therefore he indeed 66 saves all; but converts some by punishments, and "others by gaining their free will; so that he has "the high honor, that unto him every knee should "bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the "earth; that is, angels, men and the souls of those "who died before his advent."11

It is remarkable that Clemens, unlike the other ancient fathers who believed in Universalism, appears to have avoided the use of such epithets and phrases as everlasting, forever and ever, &c. in connexion with misery.12 Nor does he seem to have considered the torments of the future state very intense, as he never represents them in terrific colours, nor dwells upon them in a way to agitate the mind with fear. When the virtuous Christian dies, he enters upon a mild and

10. Stromat. Lib. vii. cap. 2, p. 833. 11. Fragmenta. Adumbrat. in Epist. I. Johan. p. 1009.

12. The only place I recollect in all his writings, where any of these controverted words is applied to suffering, is Pædagog. Lib. i. cap. 8, end, p. 142. "When the soul has ceased to "grieve for its sins, it is not, even then, a time to inflict upon it "a deadly wound, but a healthful one, that by a little grief it may 66 escape eternal death,"

grateful discipline, which, by purifying his remaining faults, and supplying his imperfections, elevates him by degrees from glory to glory, till he arrives at perfection; but the soul of an obstinate and vicious infidel must, before it can begin this sublime progression, be overcome by severe chastisement, instructed in the knowledge of the truth, and brought to control its passions.

II. Like all the early fathers, Clemens held the entire and permanent freedom of the human will, contrary to the present orthodox doctrines of predestination and irresistible grace. Original sin and total depravity were unknown in his day; as was also the modern notion of a mysterious and counter-natural conversion.

We may now complete the sketch of his general system of doctrine: God, infinitely and unchangeably good, created man upright, though not entirely13 perfect, and designed him, and all his posterity for happiness. But Adam, being left to his own free will, yielded to temptation; and so, in a greater or less degree, have all mankind, after him. As the world thus began to grow up in ignorance of God, in the indulgence of vice, and under the dominion of evil demons, the Almighty gave, as a partial remedy, the Law to the Jews, and Philosophy to the Gentiles, in order to restrain and enlighten them in some measure, till the coming of Christ. Both the Law and Philosophy were preparatory to the Gospel; and so far as the Hebrews on the one hand, and the Heathens on the

13. Stromat. Lib. iv. cap. 23, p. 632.

other, preserved and practised their respective systems in their pristine purity, they were justified; though they still needed evangelical faith to prepare them for heaven. At length, God was pleased to grant the world a full and perfect revelation; and for this purpose sent his Son, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, who was a divine agent, begotten of the Father. He came, not to appease God, whom Clemens thought originally and immutably good, but to crush the power of the evil demons, to impart the knowledge and commend the love of God to mankind, to instruct them in religion, and to set before them a perfect example of piety and virtue. That these means may become effectual to the salvation of the world, the whole system of divine providence and government is constantly directed to induce mankind to believe and obey their Saviour. To this end, the Almighty urges them by threatenings and punishments, and allures them by promises and rewards; and if they die impenitent or unbelieving, a similar course is pursued with them after death, until they are brought to submission. After all, faith and obedience depend both here and hereafter, on the free will of the creature; though God, by his holy spirit, communicates impulses to all, and, by his grace, assists those who strive to obey. Such were

his views.

He was a hearty champion of the orthodox church against the heretics, particularly against all the Gnostics; and he has had the good, or indifferent, fortune, that notwithstanding his manifest Universalism, his doctrine was reprehended by none of his cotemporaries, nor his standing ever impeached, even in after

ages, when the works of Origen came to be anathematized, partly on account of the same sentiment.

It

III. Titus Flavius Clemens, usually called Clemens Alexandrinus, or Clement of Alexandria, is thought, by some, to have been a native of Athens, and by others, of Alexandria in Egypt, where he certainly spent the most memorable part of his life. The precise dates of his birth and death are unknown; and not the slightest account is preserved of his childhood and youth. appears that, after travelling through many countries in pursuit of philosophical and religious knowledge, he sat down at last under the instructions of the learned Pantænus, a Christian philosopher in Egypt. Here, Clemens studied, in conformity with the plan of his master, to extract from all the schemes of philosophy then in vogue, from the Oriental as well as the Grecian, what he deemed their original principles, and to form a system for himself out of all these combined; though he gave a decided preference to the tenets of the Stoics. About the year 195, he was ordained a presbyter in the church at Alexandria; and, near the same time, was appointed, in the absence of Pantænus, to supply his place as President of the famous Catechetical School in that city. In addition to the cares and labors which necessarily devolved upon him from these two offices, he composed, it is thought, at about this period, those of his works which are yet extant.14

14. These are-1, His Exhortation to the Gentiles, designed to confute the notions of the heathens, and to convince them of the truth of christianity; 2, his Pædagogue, written to instruct new converts, and to train them up to a holy and truly Christian life; 3, his Stromata, a miscellaneous work, containing a more particular illustration of the Christian doctrine, together with confutations both of the heathen religions, and of the heretical opinions, par

Alexandria, next to Rome, the most populous and frequented city of that age, was then the great emporium of literature, philosophy and religion. The splendor of learning, which had once beamed so full upon Athens, seemed returned, though with many fantastic colours, to shine upon the native land of letters and of science. Some of the celebrity, and many of the advantages, which the capital of Egypt now enjoyed, arose, undoubtedly, from its immense library, the largest the world had ever seen. Seven hundred thousand manuscripts, deposited in two sections of the city, offered to the inquisitive geniuses who assembled from every region, all the treasures of ancient wisdom and folly.

Ever since the days of the apostles, the Christians of this city had supported a school, founded, it is said, by St. Mark; but it had always been obscure, and kept in rather a private manner, till the time of Pantænus. When he succeeded to its care, he brought it into public notice, and soon rendered it the first in character and renown, of all the ancient Christian seminaries.

While Clemens presided here, with distinguished reputation, he had the honor of instructing some who

ticularly those of the Gnostics; 4, his Tract, entitled, What rich man shall be saved: 5, his Epitome of the Oriental Doctrine of Theodotus; and 6, his Comments on some of the Epistles of the New Testament. These Comments were formerly thought supposititious; but they are now generally considered fragments from his Hypotyposes, a work which is lost. His exhortation to the Gentiles, Pædagogue and Stromata, are supposed to have been written between A. D. 193, and 195; (Dodwell. Dissert. iii. in Irenæum, and Dissert. de. prim. Pontif. Roman. successione. Mosheim. Dissertationes ad Hist. Eccl. vol. 1, pp. 34-38.) his Hypoty poses perhaps earlier.