Clement of Rome

c. 35 – c. 99 · b. Rome · Bishop of Rome

bishopmartyr

Bishop of Rome late in the 1st century. Author of 1 Clement to the Corinthian church c. AD 96 — the earliest surviving Christian document outside the New Testament.

Why Clement matters

1 Clement is the oldest surviving piece of Christian writing outside the New Testament. Around AD 96, the Roman church wrote to Corinth telling them to stop deposing their elders — and the letter doesn't read like scripture, it reads like a pastor writing a problem letter. That's invaluable. It shows what the second-generation church actually believed about church order, succession, and authority, before any of those things became contested. Some early Christian communities read it alongside the New Testament for centuries.

Chain to Jesus

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Common questions

Who was Clement of Rome?: Clement of Rome (35–99) — Bishop of Rome late in the 1st century. Author of 1 Clement to the Corinthian church c. AD 96 — the earliest surviving Christian document outside the New Testament.
Who taught Clement of Rome?: Peter.
Who did Clement of Rome meet?: Hermas.
Who did Clement of Rome succeed as bishop of Rome?: Anacletus of Rome.

Works

1 Clement (Letter to the Corinthians)c. 96
Earliest surviving non-canonical Christian writing — a letter from Rome calling Corinth back to order.
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Sources for biography

1 Clement (entire) primary
Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.3.3 primary
Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 3.4, 3.15-16 primary

tradition connections(4)

succeeded in see Anacletus of Rome
Roman succession list reconstructed by Irenaeus c. 180; the order Linus-Anacletus-Clement is not contemporaneously attested.
Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.3.3 · Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 3.15
taught by Peter
Tertullian (De Praesc. 32) says Clement was ordained by Peter. Origen and others identify him with the Clement of Phil 4:3. No first-person testimony survives — marked tradition per the brief.
Tertullian, De Praescriptione 32 · Jerome, De Viris Illustribus 15
knew of Paul of Tarsus
1 Clement 5 speaks vividly of Paul's martyrdom in the first person plural ('our generation'); patristic tradition (Origen, Eusebius, Jerome) identifies Clement with the fellow worker of Phil 4:3.
1 Clement 5 · Philippians 4:3 · Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 3.15
met (incoming) Hermas
The Shepherd (Vis. 2.4.3) instructs Hermas to give a copy of the book to 'Clement', who will send it abroad. The identification with Clement of Rome is plausible but traditional, and the Muratorian Fragment dates Hermas under Pius I (mid-2nd c.) which would post-date Clement.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.4.3