School of Alexandria

The Catechetical School of Alexandria was a school of Christian theologians and bishops and deacons in Alexandria.[1] The teachers and students of the school (also known as the Didascalium) were influential in many of the early theological controversies of the Christian church. It was one of the two major centers of the study of biblical exegesis and theology during Late Antiquity, the other being the School of Antioch.

According to Jerome the Alexandrian school was founded by John Mark the Apostle. The earliest recorded dean was supposedly Athenagoras (176).[citation needed] He was succeeded by Pantaenus 181, who was succeeded as head of the school by his student Clement of Alexandria in 190.[2]

Other notable theologians with a connection to the school include Origen, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Heraclas, Dionysius "the Great", and Didymus the Blind. Others, including Jerome and Basil, made trips to the school to interact with the scholars there.

Continuity with the ancient school is claimed by the Coptic Theological Seminary, Cairo.

  1. ^ How Alexandrian was Clement of Alexandria? Reflections on Clement and his Alexandrian Background A Hoek - The Heythrop Journal, 1990 "... Eusebius had a special connection with Alexandrian theology.6 He had direct contact with the tradition of the catechetical school of Alexandria via his teacher Pamphilus, a presbyter of Caesarea who was martyred around 310"
  2. ^ Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Clement of Alexandria, St.". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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