As an essential part of the bridge built to connect greek philosophy to judeochristian religion, philos works provide powerful insight into. Philo and the church fathers a collection of papers brill. Philo made extensive use of allegory in his writings, but it would be a mistake to. Although many of philos writings have survived, little is konwn about his life. This page is dedicated to studies of philo of alexandria. That is, if the question concerns philos usefulness in helping us to see more clearly the new testament writings and earliest christianity in the firstcentury. It is impossible to give precise dates for philos birth. A prominent scholar and exegete, philos writings are considered the most thorough and most representative documents illuminating hellenistic judaism. Pdf philo of alexandria represents a hellenistic tradition of reading the scriptures in. Only fragments of philo s works remain, but numerous quotations from his writings are found in early christian literature. Greek interpretation of the hebrew myth and foundations of christianity.
Pdf early christian writings download full pdf book. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early christian writings investigates portrayals of one particular jew, the firstcentury philosopher and allegorical interpreter of the bible, philo of alexandria, in the works of three prominent early christian thinkers, clement of alexandria, origen, and eusebius. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early christian writings investigates portrayals of the firstcentury philosopher and exegete philo of alexandria, in the writings of clement of alexandria, origen, and eusebius. The major part of philos writings consists of philosophical essays dealing with the main themes of biblical thought that present a systematic and precise exposition of his views.
A clear implication is that philo belonged to an extremely prominent family in the large jewish community at alexandria. The introduction situates philos christian reception in relation to a number of highly contentious issues in the study of early christian representations of jewishness. The introduction situates philo s christian reception in relation to a number of highly contentious issues in the study of early christian representations of jewishness. Philo judaeus, also called philo of alexandria, born 1510 bce, alexandriadied 4550 ce, alexandria, greekspeaking jewish philosopher, the most important representative of hellenistic judaism. Philos writings can be seen as a crucial link between hellenistic judaism and early christianity, particularly in his way of drawing on greek philosophy in reading the scriptures. It also notes supplementary lemmas and other grammatical variations in brackets after the primary term. A member of the jewish diaspora, he was raised with a jewish and greek education, giving him an impressive status in a nonjewish city like alexandria. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early christian writings oxford early christian studies otto, jennifer on. Does philo help explain early christianity larry hurtados blog. The first group comprises writings that paraphrase the biblical texts of moses. Sanchuniathon had composed writings in the phoenician language, and these philo had translated into greek. Christian spiritual writers, like origen, found in philos approach to the. But the story of how this process of reception and appropriation took place has never been systematically. Unfortunately, nearly all the other early christian writings have been lost or destroyed.
Philo of alexandria internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Based on the four major translations of philos writings cohnwendland, colson, petit, and paramelle this index eases word study by including contracted words and words with variant spellings into a single listing. More often, he refers to philo obliquely as one of our predecessors or, more literally, one of those who came before us. Pdf the holy logos in the writings of philo of alexandria. While it would not be correct to say that philo s works have been lost scholars have always known and used philo they have essentially been misplaced as far as the average student of the bible is concerned. The works of philo ebook christian book distributors. It is very tempting to deal with it in a primarily narrative way, for the story of how philos writings were taken up in the christian tradition and preserved for posterity is a fascinating one, one moreover which has seldom been told. His writings provide the clearest view of this development of judaism in the diaspora.
This study looks at the impact that the study of the hebrew bible had on the philosophical thinking of the most important hellenistic jewish philosopher, philo of alexandria. While it would not be correct to say that philos works have been lost scholars have always known and used philothey have essentially been misplaced as far as the average student of the bible is concerned. The writings of philo judaeus philo of alexandria, c20 bc c50 ad are important to the historical examination of late second temple judaism, the religious world into which christ came. Antiochus was a student and follower of philo of larissa, head of the school at that time. There seems to be a subtle connection between their exegetical. Email citation sound general introduction by a new testament scholar. Concerning the last years of the first century, church historians admit. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early christian writings oxford. His ancestors and family were contemporaries to the rule of the ptolemaic dynasty and the rule of the seleucid empire. The site provides translations and commentary for these sources, including the new testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, and some nonchristian references. The connection between philo and the intellectual leaders of the early church, however, is clear.
But approximately twentyfive books written at about the same time as the new testament have survivedbooks that reveal the rich diversity of early christian views about god, jesus, the world, salvation, ethics,and ritual practice. Philo was probably born with the name julius philo. Students use for expert academic writing tutorials. The holy logos in the writings of philo of alexandria. Although the names of his parents are unknown, it is known that philo came from a family which was noble, honourable and wealthy. Early christian writings is the most complete collection of christian texts before the council of nicaea in 325 ad. Origen mentions philo by name only three times in his surviving works. His ancestors and family were contemporaries to the rule of the ptolemaic dynasty and the rule of the seleucid. Message of philo judaeus of alexandria philo in early christian literature. A philo of byblos, is quite distinct from the more famous philo, the jewish philosopher, of alexandria, and from another. One has the impression that he attempted to show that the philosophical platonic or stoic ideas were nothing but the. We do not even know when he was born or when he died.
Jesus christs birth and life and to make plain how to understand early church history. Cambridge commentaries on writings of the jewish and christian world, 200 bc to ad 200, vol. The massive and complex writings of philo of alexandria have long occupied an intermediate space in religious scholarship. Jennifer ottos detailed yet eminently readable monograph sees in philo of alexandria a hermeneutic of collective identity for three early christian writers, clement of alexandria, origen, and eusebius of caesarea. The logos and its function in the writings of philo of alexandria. An analysis of origens references to philo in light of his usage of the terms jew, hebrew, israel, and ebionite in contra celsum and the commentary on matthew reveals origens approval of. Read download early christian writings pdf pdf download. Permission is given to link to any html file on the early jewish writings site.
Philo of alexandria stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Pdf the philosophy of early christianity, acumenroutledge 20. Naturally my theme is a broad one, and could be dealt with in various ways. The philo index a complete greek word index to the. The early christian research library online includes the complete works of flavius josephus, writings of philo of alexander, apostolic fathers writings, and selections of apocryphal writings. Each section of these writings has its own designated search feature and most are in. In this book the author first examines how philos works are related to the new testament and the earliest chritian writing, and then how they were used by greek and latin church fathers up to 400 c. A prominent scholar and exegete, philo s writings are considered the most thorough and most representative documents illuminating hellenistic judaism. Otto further contends that philo was harnessed by christians not simply to elaborate the. The contemporary of josephus, translated from the greek.
The logos and its function in the writings of philo of. Although many of philo s writings have survived, little is konwn about his life. Hurtado, university of edinburgh to pose such a large question in the limited space provided by this essay will seem unwise, and justifiably so, and may even be mistaken as a trivializing of the issue. Philo of alexandria biblical studies oxford bibliographies. Runia it is a remarkable fact that the writings of philo, the jew from alexandria, were preserved because they were taken up in the christian tradition. The consensus is that he lived between the end of the first century bce and the middle of the first century ce, during a period of acute agitation and interethnic tensions in alexandria. It is very tempting to deal with it in a primarily narrative way, for the story of how philo s writings were taken up in the christian tradition and preserved for posterity is a fascinating one, one moreover which has seldom been told. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early. So important was philo to the early church writers that some, such as eusebius and jerome even went so far as to claim that he was a christian.
Each section of these writings has its own designated search feature and most are in mp3 audio for listening while you read. A citizen of the place which was at once the chief home of the jewish dispersion and the chief centre of hellenistic culture, he owes his position in the history of religious thought mainly to that remarkable fusion of hellenism and judaism which we find in his voluminous writings. It is one of celsus criticism against the christians. All works in format pdf christian classics ethereal. The resource pages for biblical studies are intended as a resource for serious, scholarly studies of the early christian writings and their social world. On abraham, on the decalogue, on joseph, the life of moses, on the creation of the world, on rewards and punishments, on the special laws, on the virtues. Sound general introduction by a new testament scholar. An account of certain apocryphal sacred writings of the jews and early christians william j. Along with the logos, philo posited a whole realm of beings or potencies that bridge the gap between the creator and his creation. It is a remarkable fact that the writings of philo, the jew from alexandria, were preserved because they were taken up in the christian tradition. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in. It seems likely philo wrote this after listening to their expositions of the holy scriptures, and it is very probable that what he calls short works by their early writers were the gospels, the apostolic writings, and in all probability passages interpreting the old prophets, such as one contained in the epistle to the hebrews and several.
This impact is demonstrated using the example of the motif of holiness in relation to the concept of the logos. Philos historical writings, on the other hand, play no role among his early christian readers. But the story of how this process of reception and appropriation took place has never been systematically research. Only fragments of philos works remain, but numerous quotations from his writings are found in early christian literature. Torrey seland philos exposition of the law and social history. A citizen of the place which was at once the chief home of the jewish dispersion and the chief centre of hellenistic culture, he owes his position in the history of religious thought mainly to that remarkable fusion of hellenism and judaism which we find in. Clement of alexandria and his use of philo in the stromateis pdf epub download. The present collection of papers, written from 1989 to 1994, is published as a companion volume to the authors monograph philo in early christian literature. Philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early christian writings investigates portrayals of the firstcentury philosopher and exegete philo of alexandria. Whatever may be the limits of my sagacity, however, i can give the strongest assurance. Thus, he did not use the greek nt or the original texts of the early christian writers as his sources but rather the latin vulgate and latin translations of greek texts. Philos nephew tiberius julius alexander, alexanders son, abandoned his ancestral religion, became the roman procurator in judea in 4648 ce, and played an important role for. Their writings preserve much ancient literature and philosophy, making manifest their good knowledge of both. It argues that early christian invocations of philo are best.
Jul 24, 2018 philo of alexandria and the construction of jewishness in early christian writings oxford early christian studies otto, jennifer on. Philo of alexandria, sometimes known as philo judaeus, was a firstcentury philosopher who was born sometime between 1530 bc in alexandria, egypt. The remaining thirty years of the first century are involved in mysterious darkness, illuminated only by the writings of john. The site provides translations and commentary for these sources, including the new testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, and some non christian references. Eusebius records a legendary meeting between philo and peter in rome 22 and both writers argue that philo s work concerning jewish ascetics on the contemplative life is a first hand report of the. In this book the author first examines how philo s works are related to the new testament and the earliest chritian writing, and then. Eusebius records a legendary meeting between philo and peter in rome 22 and both writers argue that philos work concerning jewish ascetics on the contemplative life is a first hand report of the.
In this book the author first examines how philos works are related to the new testament and the earliest chritian writing, and then. The church preserved philos writings because church historian, eusebius of caesarea. Read download clement of alexandria and his use of philo. On the birth of abel and the sacrifices offered by him and by his brother cain.
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