Philo of Alexandria - the first-century Jewish philosopher

Philo of Alexandria (Judea) is a theologian and religious thinker who lived in Alexandria from around 25 BC. E. To 50 year n. E. He was a representative of Jewish Hellenism, whose center was then in Alexandria. Great influence has had on the development of all theology. Widely known as the creator of the Logos doctrine. We will talk about the philosophical doctrine of this thinker in this article.

Philo of Alexandria: Philosophy and Biography

In those years, when the noble Alexandrian Jew Philo came to Rome, Caligula ruled the city. The philosopher was then the ambassador of the Jews, who sent him to solve important problems that arose between them and Rome. Already in those years, Philo, who received a Greek education in Alexandria, was known as a thinker, seeking to combine the ideas of stoic and platonic philosophy with the Old Testament religion. In particular, he said that the thoughts expressed by ancient Greek philosophers, the Jews long before had been derived from divine revelations.

In an effort to prove his case, Philo and other Jewish philosophers who adhere to his way of thinking were engaged in modifying the scriptures according to the stoic and platonic concepts. This was not a great success for their pagan contemporaries, but later, in the II-III century AD. E., had a great influence on the development of Christian thought and the Greco-Roman philosophy associated with religion.

Thinking and Faith

Philo of Alexandria, speaking of him as a representative of the Jewish faith, was an idealist, like Plato in paganism. The thinker was well versed in Greek philosophy, from which he borrowed concepts to explain the divine miracles. Nevertheless, despite the scientific approach to religion, he remained a devout believer who honored the sacred books. Moreover, what he wrote in the divine revelations, he perceived as the highest wisdom.

The main goal of all philosophical treatises of Philo was one thing - to glorify the religion of his people and protect her from attacks. And the thinker saw his main task in proving one single statement: Plato's doctrine of God and good, as well as the teachings of the Stoics about the virtues and soul of the universe are the same as the basic tenets of the Jewish religion. And all this work was for one thing - to prove to the Gentiles that all the ideas of their ancient philosophers belonged and belong to the Jewish people.

Reflections on God

Philo of Alexandria, like any religious thinker, believed that the main intellectual aspiration for the philosopher was meditation on God. The world seemed to him inseparable from God, a kind of divine shadow, which completely depends on his creator. However, the Old Testament Yahweh could not fully satisfy the demands of the philosopher because of his anthropomorphism. Far from his sanctuary, the Jerusalem temple, the deity lost its concrete national character.

Russian translations of the treatises of Philo talk about the fact that the thinker tried to philosophically comprehend the act of creating the world represented in the Old Testament, actively using the term "logos", borrowed from Stoicism. However, this concept in the interpretation of Philo has undergone strong changes. So, the thinker called the Logos of God's son, who acts as an intermediary between the world and God, man and God. In addition, the logo is endowed with features of the defender of mankind. Thus, Philo also lays the foundation of the Christian doctrines of the God-man, the deity-savior.

Theology

The whole complexity of monotheistic religions, one of which Filon of Alexandria tried to comprehend, is that it is necessary to philosophically explain its positions. Hence the connection of philosophy with religion, first in the teachings of Philo, and then in Christianity. Thus, theology (theology) becomes here a real theoretical basis for monotheistic dogma. And the basis of this doctrine is the Logos, which is represented by the divine word with the help of which God created the world: "In the beginning was the Word ...".

The Russian translations of the records of Philo testify that in this definition of the Logos the ideas about this term of the Stoics themselves and the notion of the Jewish doctrine about the angels, messengers of Yahweh have merged. Present in the interpretation of the Logos and thought of Plato, who understood this concept as a set of ideas that formed all things in our world. Thus, theology turns into one of the aspects of philosophy.

Basic concepts of Philo's teaching

The teachings of Philo of Alexandria indicate that the apex of the corporeal world is man. And in the reasonable part of the human soul, the Logos is manifested. However, logos, according to Philo, is not a material object. And consequently, in man two forces are opposed - spiritual (immaterial) and earthly, connected with nature. The soul is understood as an imperfect likeness of God.

As for the ethical side of Philo's doctrine, it is completely ascetic and based on the opposition of body and soul. In this case, it is the material shell that inclines a person to sin. Moreover, according to Philo, a man who has lived on earth for one day has lost his purity. And the statement of the philosopher that all people are "children of God," who are equally sinful, makes him the forerunner of Christian thought.

Philo of Alexandria: works

All the books of the philosopher are divided into 4 groups:

1. Historical and biographical works, which were written in a rhetorical syllable. Among them there are "Life of Abraham", "Three books about Moses", "Life of Joseph". All of them were written on the basis of legends and the Holy Scriptures and were intended for the Gentiles.
2. Treatises on morality, the most famous of which - "On the Ten Commandments."
3. Works on political topics, descriptions of social activities of the philosopher. For example, the argument "About the Embassy."
4. Proceedings in which the Holy Scripture is interpreted allegorically. These books were for the Jews. Wrote them already in old age Philo of Alexandria. "Rules of allegory" - the main composition of this group. Here the philosopher comments on various fragments of the Pentateuch - about the cherubim, the sacred laws, the sacrifices of Abel and Cain, about Noah's ark, dreams, etc.

In this list are only the main books of the thinker. In addition to them, Philo has many other treatises, which largely repeat the thoughts expressed by his contemporaries from among Jews and Greeks.

Conclusion

Such was the philosophical teaching of Philo of Judea, if we describe it in general terms. However, already from the above, you can see how close the Christian teaching to the thoughts of the Jewish philosopher. Thus, Philo became one of the founders of the Christian dogma. And it is not surprising that his treatises enjoyed such great popularity among early Christian theologians.