RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Philo of Alexandria
The Scriptures — Philo having in mind the Septu-
agint — are capable of a double sense, and must not
be understood otherwise than as allegorical. The
immediate sense is the literal, fit only
6. The for weaker minds; it is the outer integ-
Scriptures. ument which the mediate or allegorical sense penetrates and fills as the soul does the body. The formal criteria for preferring the allegorical are, (1) when the literal represents something unworthy of God; (2) when there is apparent contradiction; and (3) when the text itself is figurative. In a series of instances a deeper sense is implied, (1) by a duplication of expression; (2) a redundant word or words; (3) repetition with slight variation; and (4) play of words and the like. In the doctrine of the moral law Philo stands on strict monotheistic, Old-Testament ground; in the doctrine of virtue he adheres to Plato and the Stoics. The divine moral law appears to him
7. Ethics, the entire natural and moral, worldcomprehending order. The law of Moses is the visible transcript of the natural law. The Hebrew ceremonial law requires in all points a spiritual or allegorical interpretation. The virtues are arranged in the order of importance according to the Platonic-Stoic scheme, with the exception that piety is supreme. The strict ascetic retirement of the Therapeuta? and Essenes is commended for the culture of the virtues. The Logos is given an important place in the ethical sphere, as the teacher of virtues, the conqueror of evils, and the heavenly model for men. He operates on the one hand in the human conscience as judge; on the other, as mediator before God for man.
In his doctrine on immortality and retribution, so far as it affects the individual, Philo stands on Hellenic ground; in his expectation for the future of the people of God, he is Jewish par- 8. Eschatol- ticularist. Man is designed to be imogy. mortal by virtue of his godlike nature. Actual immortality is attained through virtue, especially piety; also by philosophy, apprehended and realized in life. Though the life of the sinner continues after death, yet it is not really immortal; this property belongs to those only who carry their blessedness attained in this world into the highest ether of the world beyond, where they behold God. The fate of the godless is that the punishment which sin carries within itself in this world, such as fear, sadness, and strife, continues into the next. The misery involved in sin is the place of its condemnation and not the mythical Hades. Philo knows nothing of a trans-mundane hell as a place for torment, the devil, or malevolent angels.
IV. Later Influence: Philo 's religious philosophy exerted a profound influence upon the early Christian theology and the development of Christianity. It has been termed " an outline of the kernel of Christian history formed by the Jew Philo before it went into effect," and the Logos doctrine has been called " the Jewish prologue of Christianity." But such generalizations can be supported only so far as the coincidences of individual concepts and expressions of Philo with those of the New Testament and some of the early Christian
writers. The teachings of Philo differ as much as possible from the fundamental doctrines of Christianity regarding the person and work of Christ. In his treatment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament he either preoccupies himself with abstractly spiritualistic allegory or with a one-sided national hope, stopping short of a deeper ethical interpretation. His Logos doctrine is one only in name with that of the New Testament; the former is a cosmic potency without true personal character, the latter is above all else a personal being of ethical godlike significance. The former is unrelated to the theocratic national expectations of Israel; the latter is the incarnate Son of the Father, the Messiah. However, this is not equally true of the influence of Philo upon the formal dogma and exegesis of the Fathers, which were both far-reaching and persistent. As already upon Josephus and upon the later exegetes of the Targum and the Midrash, the Cabalists, and the religious philosophers of the Middle Ages; so the influence of Philo's phraseology and allegorical exegesis shows itself upon a considerable number of the early Christian writers, particularly of the Alexandrian school; and even in a certain sense upon New-Testament writers like Paul, John, and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Of the Greek Fathers, especially Barnabas, Justin, Theophilus of Antioch, Clement, Origen, Eusebius, and, among the Latins, Ambrose and Jerome, show a similar influence. (O. ZocKLERf.)
Bibliography: The best ed. of the " Works " is by L. Cohn and P. Wendland, in an editio major and minor, vols. i.-v. and ix. , Berlin, 1896-1909. There is also an editio stereotypa in course of issue from Leipsic, vols, i., v., vi., 1898-1905; The editio princeps by A. Turnebus was issued Paris, 1552; an edition which has long been standard is that by T. Mangey, 2 vols., London, 1742. There is an Eng. transl. by C. D. Yonge, 4 vols., London, 1854-55; and a new Germ, transl. was begun under the editorship of L. Cohn, vol. i., Breslau, 1909. Special mention should be made of Neu entdeckte Fragmenta Philos, ed. P Wendland, Berlin, 1891; Fragments of Philo Judmus, newly ed., J. R. Harris, Cambridge, 1886; and the Eng. transl., Philo about the Contemplative Life, by F. C. Conybeare, Oxford, 1895 (contains a full bibliography). Very useful as covering the whole subject are : DCB, iv. 357-388 (a notable discussion); Schiirer, Geschichte, iii. 487-562, Eng. transl., II.. iii. 321-381; DB, extra vol., pp. 197-208; and Vigouroux', Dictionnaire, fasc. xxxi., cols. 300-312. Consult further: J. Bryant, The Sentiment of Philo Judmus, London, 1798; C. G. L. Grossmann, Quwstiones Philoneos, part 1, De theologian Philonis fontibus et auctoritate, Leipsic, 1829; A. Gfrorer, Philon und die alexandrinische Theosophie, Stuttgart, 1831; A. F. Dahne, Geschichtliche Darstellung der judisch-alexandrinischen Religionsphilosophie, 2 vols., Halle, 1834; F. Keferstein, Philo's Lehre vom den gvttlichen Mittelwesen, Leipsic, 1846; J. Bucher, Philonische Studien, Tubingen, 1848 ; C. Morgan, An Investigation of the Trinity of Plato and Philo, London, 1853; J. T. Delaunay, Philon d' Alexandrie, Paris, 1867; M. Heinze, Lehre vom Logos, Leipsic, 1872; B. Bruno, Philo, Strauss und Renan, und das Urchristenthum, Berlin, 1874; J. W. Lake, Plato, Philo and Paul; or the pagan Conception of a " Divine Logos " the Basis of the Christian Dogma, Edinburgh, 1874; C. Siegfried, Philon von Alexandrien als Ausleger des Alten Testaments, Jena, 1875; H. Soulier, La doctrine du logos chez Philon a" Alexandrie, Turin, 1876; F. Klasen, Die alttestamentliche Weisheit und der Logos der judisch-alexandrinischen Philosophic, Freiburg, 1878; J. Reville, Le Logos d'apres Philon a" Alexandrie, Geneva, 1877; P. E. Lucius, Die Therapeuten Eine kritische Untersuchung der Schrift " De
vita contemplativa," Strasburg, 1879; J. Reville, La Doctrine du logos dans le quatrieme evangile et dans les eeuvres de Philon, Paris, 1881; S. Weiss, Philo von Alexandrien und Moses Maimonides, Halle, 1884; J. Drummond, Philo
Philo Byblius Philoxenus