Léon-Ferdinand KARUHIJE: L'ecclésiologie de Clément d'Alexandrie à la lumière de sa doctrine de l'Incarnation

The doctrine of the Incarnation occupies an important place in the ecclesiological thought of Clement of Alexandria. According to him, the Church belongs to the very same project than the Incarnation; it extends and updates it. This is illustrated by a passage in the Eclogae Propheticae, where Clement says that the words and healings of the incarnated Logos built a bridge between what was formerly done, “by the prophets,” and now, “by the Apostles and the didascals” (Ecl. Proph. 23). Thus, the Church is the means by which the Lord's activity (ἐνέργεια) is revealed, just as his incarnated life was the means by which the Father's will (θέλημα) was revealed.In this presentation, I will show the different ecclesiological facets revealed by Clement's discourse on the Incarnation of the Logos. I will particularly analyze the texts where the Alexandrian Father comments on the prologue of the Gospel according to St. John and on the Passion of Christ.