Clement of Alexandria

I'm not gonna lie. I'm super anxious to put Irenaeus behind us and take a deep dive into Clement of Alexandria. The readings will be about a 1/2 hour per day for the summer. We'll begin with his Exhortation to the Heathen before taking up his magnum opus The Stromata.

The chart below, which I've borrowed from here, gives us a nice picture of where we are and where we're going. I can't say that I endorse all of the notes. In any case, big names on the horizon!

Person or Event	Flourished	Notes
Apostolic Fathers, those whom tradition says knew the apostles
Author of the Epistle of Barnabas	70–130	Anonymous.
Author of the Didache	80–120	Anonymous.
Clement of Rome	85–100	Bishop of Rome. Traditional author of several letters, which assert apostolic succession.
Ignatius	85?–115	Bishop of Antioch. Student of the apostle John and friend of Polycarp. Author of seven letters, about which there is much dispute. Advocate of episcopal supremacy. Creates the cult of martyrs, and coins the term catholic.
Papias	95–120 or 110–140	Bishop of Hierapolis. Student of John and companion to Polycarp. Only known by quotations in later Fathers
Author of the Shepherd of Hermas	100–160	Anonymous.
Polycarp	100–155/165	Bishop of Smyrna. Student of John and companion to Papias. Reluctant martyr.
Cerinthus	100	Early Gnostic. Supposed opponent of the evangelist John.
2nd Century
Basilides	120–140	Early Gnostic.
Valentinus	135–165	Early Gnostic.
Marcion	140–160	First to compile a canon for the NT. Marcion broke from mainstream Christianity when the Roman Jesus club rejected his proposed canon. He constructed his own canon, consisting of an abridged version of Luke, and some of Paul's letters. His organisation vexed the other Jesus clubs for centuries.
Justin Martyr	150–165	Prolific apologist and exegete, the most important thinker between Paul and Origen.
Melito	150–180	Bishop of Sardis. First Christian to refer to the Jewish scriptures as the OT.
Irenaeus	150–200	Bishop of Lyon. Knew Polycarp as a boy. Author of the massive work Against the Heretics, which provides us with invaluable information about earliest Christianity.
Tatian	160–185	Compiler of the Diatessaron, a synthesis of the four gospels.
Clement of Alexandria	180–215	Theologian. Influenced by Hellenistic philosophy
3rd Century
Origen	200–250	Compiled the Hexapla. First Christian Bible scholar.
Tertullian	200–240	First Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. Later converted to Montanism.
Cyprian of Carthage	245–260	Pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Christianity until Jerome and Augustine.
4th Century
Edict of Toleration	313	Christianity legalised.
Eusebius	310–340	Bishop of the old Roman capital of Judea, Caesarea Maritima. Important Church historian. His works are often the sole source we have for earlier church fathers.
Council of Nicaea	325	Basic creed of Christianity established.
Athanasius	330–375	Patriarch of Alexandria.
Ambrose	375–395	Bishop of Milan. Major influence on church-state relations through the Middle Ages.
Edict of Thessalonica	380	Christianity made the state religion.
5th Century
Jerome	380–420	Compiler of the Latin Vulgate. Correspondent of Augustine.
Augustine	390–430	Bishop of Hippo. Most influential theologian of all the Fathers in the West.
John Chrysostom	390–407	Patriarch of Constantinople. Greatest preacher of the Fathers.