SPECIAL TOPIC: PHILO

1. He (20 B.C.-A.D. 55) was an intellectual Jewish Neo-Platonist from Alexandria, Egypt.
2. He learned his method from the allegorical tradition of the Greeks. They had wed the religious writings of Homer to the philosophical and historical writings by the use of allegory. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer were used to teach logic, ethics, and science. Philo was heavily influenced by Plato and Pythagoras (160 B.C.) another Alexandrian Jew.
3. He was not influential among the Palestinian rabbis because he lived in the Diaspora and was not a rabbi.
4. He found hidden philosophical meaning in the Old Testament by purposely disregarding the historical setting and the intent of the original biblical author's message.
5. He allegorized the Old Testament passages if:
   1. the text spoke of that which seemed unworthy of God
   2. the text contained any perceived inconsistencies
   3. the text contained any perceived historical problems
   4. the text could be allegorically applied to his Greek mindset and culture
6. He attempted to remove the exclusiveness of Israel and the physical aspects of YHWH (i.e., anthropomorphism following Aristobulus of Alexandria).
7. He allegorized the Old Testament in an attempt to make it relevant to his day and culture.
8. He believed that God spoke to humans supremely through the Jewish Scriptures but also by His Spirit through the Greek philosophers.

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