We have recently received the great news that the Academy of Finland has granted Sami Yli-Karjanmaa, a postdoctoral researcher in CSTT’s team 4, a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship. 

About Sami Yli-Karjanmaa’s project

Clement of Alexandria’s Position on Reincarnation
This project focuses on Clement of Alexandria’s (d. c. 220 CE) stance on the tenet of reincarnation. It is usually assumed in scholarship that Christianity inherited from Judaism a negative attitude towards this Pythagorean–Platonic doctrine, but I have shown in my doctoral thesis (Åbo Akademi University 2013) that the most important representative of Hellenistic Judaism, Philo of Alexandria (1st century CE) accepted the doctrine. It played an important part in Philo’s thought, although it seems to have been an esoteric tenet. Clement, a church father with a Platonist orientation, is the first person known to have extensively used Philo’s writings. His explicit endorsement of esotericism and ambiguous references to reincarnation, which are in sharp contrast with the attacks on the tenet by other church fathers, and my results on Philo give ample reason for critically re-examining his stance. This study has the potential of groundbreaking discoveries concerning early Christian views.

About the Academy of Finland’s postdoctoral funding

The Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Culture and Society has granted funding to 30 new Postdoctoral Researchers. The aim of the three-year funding for research posts as Postdoctoral Researcher is to advance the professional competence of the most promising researchers who have recently earned their doctorate.

Further information: Academy of Finland