Philo of Alexandria (Judea) - the theologian and religious thinker who lived in Alexandria from about 25 BC. e. 50 year old e. He was a representative of Jewish Hellenism, whose center then was just in Alexandria. He had a great influence on the development of all theology. Widely known as the creator of the doctrine of the Logos. We will talk about the philosophical teachings 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 philosophies with the Old Testament religion. In particular, he talked about the fact that the thoughts expressed by the ancient Greek philosophers, the Jews, long before that, had learned from divine revelations.
In an effort to prove their case, Philo and other Jewish philosophers, adhering to his way of thinking, engaged in the modification of scripture according to the Stoic and Platonic concepts. This did not have much success with their pagan contemporaries, but later, in the II-III century BC. e., had a great influence on the development of Christian thought and Greco-Roman philosophy associated with religion.
Thinking and faith
Philo of Alexandria, speaking of him as a representative of the Jewish doctrine, was an idealist, like Plato in paganism. The thinker was well versed in Greek philosophy, from which he borrowed concepts to explain divine miracles. Nevertheless, despite the scientific approach to religion, he remained a devout believer who reads the holy books. Moreover, what was written in divine revelations, he perceived as the highest wisdom.
The main goal of all the philosophical treatises of Philo was one - to glorify the religion of his people and protect it from attacks. And the thinker saw his main task in proving one single statement: the teachings of Plato about God and good, as well as the teachings of the Stoics about the virtues and soul of the Universe are the same with the basic tenets of the Jewish religion. And all these works were 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 a philosopher was thinking about God. The world seemed to him inseparable from God, a kind of divine shadow, which completely depends on its creator. However, the Old Testament Yahweh could not fully satisfy the requirements of the philosopher because of its anthropomorphism. Far from its sanctuary, the Jerusalem Temple, the deity lost its concrete national character.
Russian translations of Philo’s treatises suggest that the thinker tried to philosophically comprehend the act of creating the world presented in the Old Testament, actively using the term “logos”, borrowed from Stoicism. However, this concept in the interpretation of Philo has undergone strong changes. Thus, the thinker called the logo of the son of God, who acts as an intermediary between the world and God, man and God. In addition, the logo is endowed with the features of the intercessor of mankind. Thus, Philo lays the foundation of Christian teachings about the God-man, the deity-savior.
Theology
The whole complexity of monotheistic religions, one of which Philo of Alexandria tried to comprehend, is that it is necessary to philosophically explain its provisions. 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 at the heart of this creed 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 ...".
Russian translations of Filon's records indicate that in this definition of the Logos the ideas about the given term of the Stoics themselves and the concept of the Jewish doctrine of the angels, the messengers of Yahweh merged. Present in the interpretation of the logo and thoughts of Plato, who understood this concept as a set of ideas that shaped all things in our world. Thus, theology turns into one of the aspects of philosophy.
The basic concepts of the teachings of Philo
The doctrine of Philo of Alexandria suggests that the peak of the bodily world is man. And in the rational part of the human soul the logo appears. However, the logo, according to Philo, is not a material object. And therefore, two forces are opposed in a person - spiritual (intangible) and earthly, associated with nature. The soul is understood as an imperfect likeness of God.
As for the ethical side of the doctrine of Philo, it is completely ascetic and is based on the opposition of body and soul. Moreover, it is the material shell that inclines a person to sin. Moreover, according to Philo, a person who has lived on earth for at least one day has lost its 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: Proceedings
All books of the philosopher are usually divided into 4 groups:
- Historical and biographical works that were written in a rhetorical syllable. Among them are “The Life of Abraham”, “Three Books of Moses”, “The Life of Joseph”. All of them were written on the basis of legends and scripture and were intended for the Gentiles.
- Treatises on morality, the most famous of which is On the Ten Commandments.
- Works on political topics, descriptions of the philosopher's social activities. For example, the argument "On the embassy."
- Works in which the Holy Scriptures are treated allegorically. These books were intended for the Jews. They were written already in old age by Philo of Alexandria. The Rules of Allegory is the main work of this group. Here, the philosopher comments on various fragments of the Pentateuch - about cherubs, sacred laws, the sacrifices of Abel and Cain, about the Noah's ark, dreams, etc.
This list contains only the main books of the thinker. In addition to them, Philo has many other treatises that largely repeat the thoughts expressed by his contemporaries from among the Jews and Greeks.
Conclusion
Such was the philosophical doctrine of Philo of Judea, if to describe it in general terms. However, from the foregoing, one can notice how close Christian teaching is to the thoughts of the Jewish philosopher. Philo, therefore, became one of the founders of Christian doctrine. And it is not surprising that his treatises enjoyed such great popularity among early Christian theologians.