Philo of Alexandria
The Bible and Greek philosophy teach the same truth if you read the Bible symbolically – and the divine Word links God to the world.
Placement
Jewish thinker in Alexandria who read the Hebrew Bible allegorically through Plato and the Stoics; his doctrine of the Logos shaped early Christian theology.
Key ideas
- Allegorical interpretation
- The Logos as mediator
- Creation read through the Timaeus
Influence
Influenced by 3
Pythagoras
influenced by
Philo used Pythagorean number lore, praising the hebdomad at length in his account of creation, and Clement of Alexandria called him ‘the Pythagorean’. Philo, De opificio mundi 89–128; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata I–II; D. T. Runia, ‘Why does Clement of Alexandria call Philo “the Pythagorean”?’, Vigiliae Christianae 49 (1995)
Evidence: AI draft
Pythagoras › traditionally c. 570–495 BCE
Plato
influenced by
Philo read Genesis through Plato’s Timaeus: God makes the world after an intelligible model, the ideas in the divine Logos (De opificio mundi). Philo, De opificio mundi 16–25; D. T. Runia, Philo of Alexandria and the Timaeus of Plato (1986); IEP “Philo of Alexandria”
Evidence: AI draft
Plato › 428–348 BCE
Chrysippus
influenced by
Philo used Stoic doctrines as systematised by Chrysippus, such as the grades of pneuma as cohesion, nature and soul, in his allegorical reading of Scripture. Philo, Quod Deus sit immutabilis; Legum allegoriae II; IEP “Philo of Alexandria”
Evidence: AI draft
Chrysippus › c. 279–206 BCE
Influenced 1
Origen
influenced
Origen took over Philo’s allegorical reading of Scripture and used his exegesis, naming him only occasionally; Philo’s works survived through Origen’s library at Caesarea. D. T. Runia, Philo in Early Christian Literature (1993); IEP “Philo of Alexandria”
Evidence: AI draft
Origen › c. 185–253
Works
The Genesis account of creation read in the light of Plato’s Timaeus.
Position
Philo sought to show that the Jewish Bible and the best of Greek philosophy teach the same truth. Beneath the literal sense of Scripture he found an allegorical meaning: Abraham’s journeys become the soul’s path from the senses to the knowledge of God. God himself is utterly transcendent; we can know that he is, not what he is. He acts in the world through his powers and above all through the Logos, the divine reason containing the ideas after which the world was made – a reading of creation shaped by Plato’s Timaeus. Preserved by Christians, his works deeply influenced Church Fathers such as Clement and Origen.
Life & context
Philo was born around 20 BCE into a wealthy and influential Jewish family in Alexandria, then the intellectual capital of the Greek-speaking world. He received a thorough Greek education and read the Bible in its Greek translation, the Septuagint. After anti-Jewish riots in the city in 38 CE, he led a delegation to Emperor Caligula in Rome. He died around 50 CE.
Further main works
- Allegorical Interpretation (Legum allegoriae, early 1st century CE)
- On the Migration of Abraham (De migratione Abrahami, early 1st century CE)
- On the Embassy to Gaius (Legatio ad Gaium, after 41 CE)
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