Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 2

I have this to say to lovers of learning regarding the notes that have gathered up Greek wisdom at the critical moments: first, even if philosophy were useless, proving its uselessness would itself be useful; so it would still serve a purpose. Moreover, you cannot dismiss the Greeks merely by quoting the doctrines they hold without entering into the detailed exposition that leads to genuine understanding. Experience shows that the most perfect proof comes from knowing what has been examined and found wanting. A craftsman, after all, uses many pieces that do not directly serve the final product. In the same way, wide learning assists the teacher who presents the most important doctrines to persuade the hearers and awaken wonder in the instructed, thereby introducing them to the truth. Such guidance of the soul is trustworthy: through it, lovers of learning accept the truth even when it is veiled, so that they do not suppose philosophy ruins life by fabricating falsehoods and worthless deeds, as some have slandered it, but recognize it as a vivid image of truth, a divine gift given to the Greeks; and so that we ourselves are not torn from the faith, as though bewitched by some deceitful art, but rather, so to speak, employ a fuller veil, gaining from it a kind of training that proves faith. Indeed, the interplay of doctrines through comparison engages the truth, and knowledge has followed this path—not because philosophy intervened first, but because we take the fruit of knowledge as a sure pledge of true comprehension through the science of what is conjectured. I pass over in silence the fact that the Stromata, clothed in wide learning, artfully conceal the seeds of knowledge. Just as the hunter who seeks, searches, tracks, and runs down his quarry finally captures the beast, so the truth appears sweet when sought and is won through toil. Why, then, were these notes arranged in this way? Because there is great danger that the secret discourse of true philosophy may be betrayed to those who shamelessly contradict everything without justice, reject every name and word in utter disorder, deceiving themselves and seducing those who follow them. For the Hebrews ask for signs, as the apostle says, but the Greeks seek wisdom (1 Cor 1:22).