The Jews in Clement of Alexandria

While the anti-Jewish rhetoric of several other second-century Christian authors is both apparent and well-attested, Clement of Alexandria’s (c. 150–215 CE) stance toward contemporary Judaism is considerably more difficult to gauge, since he barely mentions Jews and avoids making a point out of other authors’ anti-Judaism even when quoting it. This paper analyses the instances where Clement does refer to Jews as a contemporary religious community, and concludes that although he participates in second-century anti-Jewish polemic, he maintains a critical distance from it, as he views contemporary Judaism as a valuable religious tradition, second only to Christianity, although it has a central flaw in not trusting in Jesus.