I worked for a few years at a public high school adjacent to a catholic seminary. The seminary library was open to anyone interested in theology, and I spent many hours between the stacks reading books by church leaders from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries. People like Origin and Augustine and Clement and Tertullian offered perspectives of God and church that were new to me at that point in my life. Tertullian of Carthage and Clement of Alexandria stood out for me because they seemed so different; they stood on opposite sides of the spectrum regarding evangelism and understanding the relationships between Christians and non-christian folk. Tertullian was the conservative, and Clement; the liberal. I have always made it a habit to draw from liberal and conservative sources when hearing news stories or learning about social issues. So I took an interest in these two individuals.

For instance, Tertullian was a lawyer and a student of rhetoric. He applied his legal skills to make cases against various groups, individuals, or ideas. He was intent on dividing whatever it means to be Christian from that which is not Christian. Moreover, he supported his view of Christianity with all the legal training he had to offer. But his work always struck at the foundation of the Christian faith. For instance, he wrote papers arguing against those teaching that Christ was human and not divine. And against those who taught that Jesus was divine but not human. He applied his apologetic skills to defend the fundamental tenets of his faith and to attack whoever–in his view–perverted these most basic beliefs.

Clement, on the other hand, was open to all kinds of ideas. I don’t remember if it was before or after he moved to the city of Alexandria that he became a Christian. Still, he was drawn into the intellectual and philosophical life and discourse of this diverse and vibrant city. Centered around the most outstanding library of the age, the city of Alexandria drew thinkers and artists from around the Mediterranean; it drew Clement. But unlike Tertullian, Clement wasn't focused on dividing but on embracing. He reached out to intellectuals and philosophers, and poets. Clement quoted them in his discussions of Christianity. He sought to open the door as wide as possible to those who did not know Christ by finding common ground and encouraging people to consider the way of Jesus.

But as I got to know these two writers better, I realized they were, in fact not so very different. Tertullian acknowledged that to be a Christain, one had to believe in a fundamental set of ideas he came to know as the Rule of Faith. For instance, one could hardly be an authentic Christian if one were not on board with the idea that God exists. However, upon the Rule, Tertullian believed a Christian could give full reign to her imagination!

“So long as the rule of faith exists…in its proper order, you may seek and discuss as much as you please–you may give full reign to your imagination in whatever seems to hang in doubt or to be shrouded in obscurity.” (Prescription Against Heretics 14)

On the other hand, Clement saw wisdom and beauty outside the realm of biblical stories. He saw the hand of God working in the lives of people outside of the church. And it was in finding this common ground that he attempted to draw the intellectual leaders of his day into the light, life, and truth of the Gospel. He wrote:

"All things are right," says the Scripture, "to those who understand."

For Clement, this understanding was based on and rooted in the Rule of Faith. He saw that there were slivers of truth glimpsed in God's reality in those extra-biblical works. But that they existed only in a partial understanding of what was true or correct. In other words, both writers planted their flag firmly and squarely on that foundation they called the Rule of Faith and they understood that true believers (all believers) must do likewise. But, upon that foundation, we are free to search, explore, and imagine as part of our worship.