Stromateis, Book 4 as Context of the Four Chapters on Women

I begin with context. Each book of the Stromateis treats a few main themes through a series of self-contained chapters that are often quite loosely con­nected to each other. For example, book 3 is a critique of Marcion and var­ious gnostic teachers that focuses on the themes of marriage, the body, and creation; book 5 considers symbolic speech, Scriptural exegesis, and the knowledge of God; and book 7 provides a picture of the perfect Christian, whom Clement calls the “true Gnostic.” In the first sentence of Stromateis 4, Clement announces two main topics for this book:

Now it is time, I think, to discuss martyrdom/witness (περί τε μαρτυρίου)^[1210] and also who is the perfect one (ο τέλειο?), along with related points that will have to be consid­ered, and likewise how both slave and free are to cultivate the philosophical life (φιλοσοφητεου),^[1211] whether they be men or women.

As the book proceeds, it becomes evident how the two topics of martyr­dom and Christian perfection relate to each other. Clement’s observations about martyrdom are directed against two extreme positions: on the one hand the view that Christians are to seek out a martyr’s death and on the other what Clement calls the “sophisms of cowardice,” by which some had rationalized their refusal to suffer as martyrs (4.4.16.3-17.1). While he praises those who are clearly called to die for their faith (4.4.13.1-14.3), he opposes those who court martyrdom^[1212] and insists that one can be a true martyr/witness for God in other ways:

Thus we call martyrdom (το μαρτυρίου) perfection (τελείωσις), not because a person comes to the end (τέλος·) of his life just like the rest, but because he has displayed the perfect work of love.... If confession to God is martyrdom/witness (μαρτυρία), every soul that has lived purely in the knowledge of God and has obeyed the commandments is a witness (μάρτυς) both by life and word, in whatever way it is released from the body.

In other words, as Clement will go on to argue, willingness to die a mar­tyr’s death is only one aspect of a life devoted to the pursuit of perfection.

If the connection between the themes of martyrdom and perfection is fairly easy to see, it is less obvious why Clement mentions woman and slaves in the opening words of Stromateis 4, or why he devotes four chap­ters in this book to the life of women. The presence of pairs of opposites - slave and free, women and men - suggests a Scriptural connection, in par­ticular Gal 3:28 where Paul says that in Christ Jesus “[t]here is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave or free, there is no male and female; for all

of you are one in Christ Jesus”^[1214] - a text that Clement had cited a few chap­ters before in Strom. 3.13.93.2.

C.