Krisis in Alexandria: the Beginnings of Christian Exegesis

Abstract

In this contribution an original perspective is proposed for elucidating the judgment made by Clement and Origen as for to the crisis of interpretation that emerg from the struggle between the exegesis of Scripture and the moral interpretation of the classic pagan texts that were common in the rhetoric schools of late antiquity. Namely, our concern is the relationship established between the elements of truth unearthed by Greek philosophical research and the Christian proclamation. The features for a comparison are manifold and spring from the conception of historia and of oikonomia, in their mutual relationship, developed by both the authors.