This work investigates the historical and intellectual synthesis between early Christian theology and the philosophical framework of Platonism as it developed in Alexandria. Charles Bigg, a scholar of the late nineteenth century, examines the lives and writings of key figures such as Clement and Origen to determine how they reconciled Greek metaphysical thought with the emerging doctrines of the Church. By analyzing the cultural climate of the second and third centuries, the author argues that this intellectual integration was foundational to the development of Christian dogmatic tradition.

Experts frequently cite this text as a foundational academic resource for understanding the historical intersection of Greek philosophy and early Christian thought. Readers often note the dense, scholarly nature of the prose, which reflects the rigorous academic standards of the late nineteenth-century Bampton Lectures.