Philo of Alexandria the contemplative life, the giants, and selections

379 Pages·1981·20.77 MB·English

by  Alexandrinus Philo

PHILO of ALEXADDRIA
THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE, THE GIANTS, AND SELECTIONS
TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION
BY
DAVID WINSTON
PREFACE
BY
JOHN DILLON
II
PAULIST PRESS
NEW YORK • RAMSEY • TORONTO
Cover Art
The Artist LIAM ROBERTS was born in Ireland and now lives in New York City.
After attending the National College of Art in Dublin, he studied at the Academy of
Fine Arts in Florence, at the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, and at the
Academy of Fine Art in Rome. In this cover Mr. Roberts has produced an up-dated
version of the ancient image of Philo.
Design: Barbini, Pesce & Noble, Inc.
Copyright ci 1981 by
David Winston
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permis
sion in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress
Catalog Card Number: 80-84499
ISBN: 0-8091-0315-X (cloth)
0-8091-23 33-9 (paper)
Published by Paulist Press
545 Island Road, Ramsey, !':.J. 07446
Printed and bound in the
United States of America
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Xl
FOREWORD xv
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS
XVll
INTRODUCTION 1
I. PHILOSOPHICAL EXEGETE OF ALEXANDRIAN JEWRY 2
II. PHILO'S THEORY OF CREATION 7
III. PHILO'S MYSTICISM 21
IV. PHILO'S SIGNIFICANCE 35
THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE 39
THE GIANTS 59
SELECTIONS FROM PHILO'S OTHER WORKS 73
I. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL 75
II. SCRIPTURAL EXEGESIS 79
III. THE DIVINE MIND 87
IV. COSMOGONY 96
V. SOULS, ANGELS AND DAEMONS 118
VI. THE DIVINE TRANSCENDENCE 124
\'II. KNOWLEDGE AND PROPHECY 143
VIII. WORSHIP 157
IX. MYSTICISM 164
X. PRO\TIDENCE, THEODICY AND MIRACLES 174
XL ETHICAL THEORY 187
XII. MOSES AND THE LAW 267
XIII. UNIVERSALISM AND PARTICULARISM 286
NOTES 299
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 391
INDEXES 397
Editor of this Volume
David Winston is Professor of Hellenistic and Judaic Studies at the
Graduate Theological Union (GTU), director of its Center for Judaic
Studies, and visiting professor in the Department of Near Eastern
Studies at the University of California In Berkeley. After completing
his Ph.D. in Greek and Latin at Columbia University and receiving
his ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary, he taught at Wes
leyan and Columbia universities and the University of Judaism before
coming to the GTU in 1966. He was a Fellow at the Institute for Ad
vanced Studies at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, in 1976, and re
ceived a senior NEH fellowship for 1978. In 1977 he was elected
Fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research. He is a mem
ber and trustee of the Philo Institute, and was director of the Philo
Project at GTU-UCB, 1976-1978, funded by an NEH grant. He is
currently vice-president of the Society of Biblical Literature, Pacific
Coast Section. Dr. Winston has published many scholarly articles and
is the author of a new translation and commentary on the wisdom of
Solomon in the Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1979).