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The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition
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$ 15.81
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Item Description...
While it would not be correct to say that Philo's works have been "lost" scholars have always known and used Philo" they have essentially been "misplaced" as far as the average student of the Bible is concerned. Now the translation of the eminent classicist C. D. Yonge is available in an affordable, easy-to-read edition, with a new foreword and newly translated passages, and containing supposed fragments of Philo's writings from ancient authors such as John of Damascus. The title and arrangement of the writings have been standardized according to scholarly conventions.A contemporary of Paul and Jesus, Philo Judaeus, of Alexandria, Egypt, is unquestionably among the most important writers for historians and students of Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. Although Philo does not explicitly mention Jesus, or Paul, or any of the followers of Jesus, Philo lived in their world. It is from Philo, for example, that we learn about how, like the Gospel of John, Jews (and Greeks) in the Greco-Roman world spoke of the creative force of God as God's "Logos." Philo, too, employs interpretive strategies that parallel those of the author of Hebrews. Most scholars would agree that Philo and the author of Hebrews are drawing from the same, or at least similar, traditions of Hellenistic Judaism. With these kind of connections to the world of Judaism and early Christianity, Philo cannot be ignored. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 944
Dimensions: Length: 9.52" Width: 6.36" Height: 1.79"
Weight: 2.62 lbs.
Binding Hardcover
Release Date Aug 1, 1993
Publisher AUTHENTIC UK
ISBN 0943575931
EAN 9780943575933
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Availability 13 units.
Availability accurate as of May 24, 2012 05:54.
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 | Dated but useful collection of Philo Oct 22, 2006 |
This collection of Philo's works, translated by the classicist C.D. Yonge, represents an affordable though dated collection of the Jewish mystic's works.
Philo is extremely important from the point of view of early Christianity, since he is a contemporary of Jesus and St Paul, and his allegorical method of interpreting the Bible had a strong impact on many important Christian Church Fathers, especially Origen, who introduced the allegorical method of reading the Bible into Christianity.
Philo interprets the Bible in an allegorical fashion (that is, he seeks for meanings past the literal sense of the letter of the text) to seek deeper spiritual truths about God and the cosmos. Philo justifies this using the assumption the Bible is the word of God, and because it is inspired it has infinite layers of meaning which delve into the deeper infinite mystery of God himself. In this sense, Philo is completely the opposite of scientific historians like Herodotus, Thucydides or Josephus, who read their sacred texts or cultural documents in terms of scientific history, and were averse to any myth-mongering or allegory. However, valuable historical information is especially to be found in Philo's 'Embassy to Gaius', and also his works on the Essene sect of Judaism, both very valuable sources of historical information for those interested in the time of Jesus and St Paul.
Philo's more mystical works interpret the Bible in terms of Neo-Platonic philosophy, which was flourishing in Alexandria where Philo studied and worked. He interprets key Old Testament texts in terms of the journey of the mind to God, leaving behind the body and the visible creation to the invisible realm of spirit where the incomprehensible God dwells, formless and in mystery. Philo is especially interesting in the way he treats many old testament characters and places in terms of stations on the mystical journey to the ineffable, a method which was taken over brilliantly by Origen and later applied extensively to the Old and New Testaments to read Christ into scripture. Also of interest is Philo's introduction of the Greek and Stoic concept of the logos, an intermediate agent between God and the world which comes from God, which God uses to form and create the world. It is possible the writer of the Gospel of John was influenced at least in part by this idea, when meditating on how Jesus could be both human and also the son of God, as Christian tradition was to believe, and the writer of the Gospel took this concept and adopted it to Christian belief in the appropriate way.
In any case studying Philo's works is essential for understanding the mindset of the world in the time of Christ, the Apostles and St Paul, and this collection represents a readily available and affordable copy of Philo's works. | | |  | Bible commentary and historical documents Mar 23, 2006 |
| It's a lot to read, but you don't have to read it all cover to cover in one evening. Allegorical and philosophic Bible commentary. Fascinating reading and undoubtedly the foundation on which Augustine of Hippo built his "City of G-d". Also some of the documents included give the reader a real feel for what it was like to be Jewish during the early Roman imperial period. | | | | Philo in One Book! Oct 8, 2004 |
| Philo's complete works, are very difficult to come by, yet this book makes his work accessible! This is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as the Loeb edition is massive, and expensive. This is a must-have for all scholars, laymen, and those who enjoy extra-canonical literature, especially for insight to the Judaic background of the New Testament. | | | | Surprizingly Readable, Insightful and Enjoyable Aug 24, 2002 |
| As tantalized and delighted as I was by the Classics of Western Spirituality anthology of Philo selections, I avoided buying this Hendrickson edition of the C.D. Yonge translation of the complete works of Philo of Alexandria until I could stand it no longer. Because Yonge worked in the 19th century, I thought his work would be as stilted as Hendrickson's Josephus by Whiston. I was wrong. Yonge's translation has been updated here by David Scholer to accord with a text discovered after Yonge wrote, keyed to Loeb Library numbers, with passages unavailable to Yonge newly translated. The text occasionally creaks, but it generally very readable, and actually enjoyable (not something that can be said of most ancient philosophical/theological texts!). The more modern Winston selections from the texts and their superior notes in the CWS edition are still excellent to have, but you really need to read more complete treatises to get into Philo's remarkable, even amusing, mind. | | | | A window in time. Jul 25, 2002 |
The writings of Philo Judaeus (Philo of Alexandria, c20 BC - c50 AD) are important to the historical examination of late Second Temple Judaism, the religious 'world' into which Christ came. A prominent scholar and exegete, Philo's writings are considered the most thorough and most representative documents illuminating Hellenistic Judaism. Philo is interesting to Christians because, like Saul of Tarsus (Paul the Apostle), he was a Pharisee, a student and interpreter of Hebrew Scripture. (The Pharisees were a scholarly rabbinical sect particularly known for their studies of the Pentateuch. Their exegetic work was esteemed such that they were held by many to be the spiritual "rulers" of Judaism. The Torah commentators who wrote the Talmud were Pharisees. They are generally criticized by Christians but it should be noted that they shared some important beliefs with Christians, namely the priority of the immaterial to the material, the promise of the Messiah, the existence of angelic beings, and of the Divine gift of eternal existence for those who enter a right relationship with God. The Pharisees famously opposed Jesus, but it is also known that a number of them became Christians. Philo however, who spent most of his life in Alexandria, and died c.50 AD, likely had little or no contact with Jesus' followers.) Not only a Hebrew scholar but a noted scholar within Alexandrian academe, Philo is an interesting expositor of Greek philosophy and mathematics of the period, showing a great fondness for Euclidean geometry and number theory. However, the exegesis of the scriptural Creation account and of the special laws and the Decalogue is the author's central focus. This complete and unabridged volume is no trivial work, perhaps only approached by the most serious-minded student.
From Philo's examination of the Creation account we learn that [two millennia ago] leading scholarship did not hold Genesis 1 to be a literal (i.e., scientific) accounting. Philo expresses certainty that Genesis 1 can only be rightly understood as spiritual allegory. "Literal" interpretations of Moses' language [within Genesis 1] must produce a god with a localized body, nostrils, mouth, hands, etc., wholly incompatible with the incorporeal God revealed in scripture (and required by reason, what kind of matter could the Maker of matter be made of?). The Creation account is rather understood as describing the relationship of Creator and creation -- God's intimacy ("hovering", Gen 1:2) and God's ultimacy ("over" the abyss, Gen 1:2). Philo's rejection of literal interpretations is often strongly worded: "let us take care that we are never filled with such absurdity..." and "let not such fabulous nonsense ever enter our minds."
We note that the ideas contained in modern philology are often not the concepts which were understood in earlier ages. For example, "the heavens and the earth" was understood [at least by some] to mean three-dimensional space itself plus time -- as "the heavens", and the constituents of the matter contained within space and time -- as "the earth". Thus Genesis 1:1 speaks of creation ex nihilo, everything from nothing [interestingly, as does the inflationary big bang theory]. The creation of light, the "separation" of light and darkness; God's "breath", "image", "likeness", speech, sight -- all of these expressions are understood as spiritual revelations into the nature of God's relationship to his creation (and not as a science text). The modern fundamentalist "literal" interpretation of Genesis 1 tends to overlook significant theological and philological indicators and ignores ancient expositors like Philo, Origen, Augustine, and Aquinas, disingenuously [or ignorantly] claiming that interpretations other than the supposed "obvious" one are modern inventions. Philo examines several allegorical interpretations in depth. Of comparisons of man to God, Philo states: "Moses says that man was made in the image and likeness of God. And he says well; for nothing that is born on earth is more resembling God than man. And let no one think that he is able to judge of this likeness from the characters of the body: for neither is God a being with the form of a man, nor is the human body like the form of God; but the resemblance is spoken of with reference to the most important part of the soul, namely the mind: for the mind which exists in each individual has been created after the likeness of that one mind which is in the universe as its primitive model, being in some sort the god of that body which carries it about and bears its image within it." | | | Write your own review about The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition
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