Klement Alexandrijský o smyslu utrpení věřícího

In his Stromata (book IV, chapter 12) Clement of Alexandria touches briefly on the theme of the value of suffering, only to break off abruptly in the middle of a promising comment, noting that although much more needs to be said, this must be left to be continued later "at the appropriate time". The theme was never dealt with by Clement systematically, however. Based on individual ideas in Stromata, Paedagogus, Protrepticus, Quis dives salvetur and the surviving fragments of the Hypotyposes, the paper depicts Clement’s thoughts concerning suffering as a consequence of a Christian’s sin, about the suffering of an innocent person and spiritual struggle and about the cross and vicarious suffering. The statements contained in the post­-stromatic material (the so-called Stromata VIII, Excerpts from Theodotus and Eclogae propheticae), which is the collection of Clement’s preparatory notes and excerpts from various sources, are not considered in this article.