| Philosophical Schools & Traditions | Middle Platonism | The philosophical movement occurring between Plato and Plotinus/Neoplatonism that synthesized Platonic, Stoic, and Peripatetic ideas, serving as a primary intellectual foundation for early Christian theology, Hermeticism, and Gnosticism. |
| Theological Philosophy | Logos / Logos Theology | The divine cosmic reason, principle of order, or mediating entity between the fully transcendent God and creation; identified in early Christian theology (e.g., Gospel of John) with Christ. |
| Philosophers | Justin Martyr | A 2nd-century Christian apologist who studied Stoicism, Peripatetic philosophy, Pythagoreanism, and Platonism before converting to Christianity, arguing that philosophers like Socrates and Heraclitus were proto-Christians. |
| Philosophers | Origen of Alexandria | An early Christian theologian and student of Ammonius Saccas who authored 'De Principiis' ('On First Principles'), constructing a systematic Christian theology using Middle Platonic metaphysics. |
| Philosophers | Clement of Alexandria | An early Christian thinker who argued that Greek philosophy acted as a propaedeutic (preparatory training) leading to Christian faith and authentic living. |
| Philosophers | Tertullian | A Latin Christian apologist critical of Greek philosophy ("What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"), who nevertheless utilized Stoic concepts (such as physicalism) and coined Latin terms like 'Trinitas' and 'persona'. |
| Philosophers | Philo of Alexandria | A Hellenistic Jewish philosopher whose integration of Middle Platonism with the Hebrew Bible provided the intellectual bridge and hermeneutical scaffolding used by early Christian theologians. |
| Metaphysical Concepts | Demiurge (Demiourgos) | The divine craftsman or secondary creator entity in Platonic philosophy that forms the material universe, identified in early Christian texts with the Logos / Son. |
| Theological Philosophy | Transcendent God (Monad) | The Platonic concept of the supreme divine entity as immaterial, uncontainable, incomprehensible, and beyond essence, reason, and being. |
| Theological Philosophy | Subordinationism | The early theological view prior to Nicene orthodoxy suggesting that the Logos/Son came into existence as a creation or secondary derivation from God the Father. |
| Ethical Frame | Apatheia | A Stoic ethical ideal representing freedom from destructive emotional passions (pathē), which Clement of Alexandria attributed to Christ as an exemplar of the Stoic sage. |
| Theological Philosophy | Apokatastasis | A concept adapted from Stoic cyclical restoration, speculatively used by Origen to describe the eventual universal restoration or salvation of all souls. |
| Epistemology & Metaphysics | Propaedeutic | Preparatory or introductory instruction; used by Clement to explain philosophy's role as a discipline preparing the human mind for divine faith. |
| Epistemology & Metaphysics | Esoteric Hermeneutics | Allegorical or spiritual methods of interpreting scriptural texts to uncover hidden philosophical or theological truths. |
| Ethics & Worldviews | Apocalypticism | A Jewish and early Christian worldview characterized by revelations, cosmic tribulation, dualistic conflict between good and evil, and eschatological expectation of world end/restoration. |
| Theological Philosophy | Theosis | The doctrine or process of divine transformation, wherein human souls achieve spiritual unification or deification with God. |
| Hellenistic Philosophy | Stoicism | A Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on virtue, living according to nature/reason, emotional self-mastery, and a materialist cosmology of divine logos/fire. |
| Philosophical Schools & Traditions | Neoplatonism | The successor to Middle Platonism, pioneered by Plotinus, centering on a transcendent reality ("The One") from which all lower registers of existence emanate. |