Ricerca della verità, metodo apodittico ed esegesi biblica. Riflessioni sul significato del primo capitolo del libro VIII degli Stromati di Clemente Alessandrino

In the first chapter of the so-called Eighth Stromateus, Clement of Alexandria provides an exegesis of the Gospel verse: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matt. 7,7). The aim of this paper is to show that through his reading of the Gospel verse Clement sketches the main lines of the biblical exegetical method he used in the Stromateis. This would show that the first chapter of the Stromateis VIII is not a part scarcely related to the rest of the book but is instead a useful introduction to understand Clement's interest in the technical explanation of a theory of demonstration. So, the first chapter plays an important role of trait d'union between the logical chapters of the eighth Book and the rest of the Stromateis, because it explains when and how Greek philosophy must be used.