Apotheosis (humans becoming gods) is an important part of my current research. I stumbled across this yesterday.
ναί φημι, ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος, ἵνα δὴ καὶ σὺ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου μάθῃς, πῇ ποτε ἄρα ἄνθρωπος γένηται θεός
Quote:
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Yes I say, the word of god became man, so that even you might learn from a man how it could ever be possible for a man to become a god. -- Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Greeks), chapter 1, section 8 (Mondésert numeration)
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The writings of Clement are vast and interesting. He was clearly well read and worked to incorporate both Hebrew scripture and Greek literature into his writings on Christianity.
One of my favorite of his tracts is "The Rich Man's Salvation" where he explains (to the relief, I'm sure, of the rich who had begun to accept Christianity in big numbers) that the story of the Rich Young Man (Mark 10.17-25) was symbolic - not literal. Jesus doesn't really want us to sell all our stuff. Instead, he wants us to get rid of our wants and greed and lust. Those are our only "possessions." Everything else belongs to God, so we should hold onto the good stuff (houses, money, etc.) Indeed, if we give too much to the poor, we can't do very much good and we just end up wishing we had more stuff - both sins. So, jet the bad desires and keep the nice possessions.
It's as fine of a piece of rationalization as you'll ever read.