PHILO JUDAEUS

born 15-10 BC, Alexandria died AD 45-50, Alexandria also called Philo of Alexandria Greek-speaking Jewish philosopher, the most important representative of Hellenistic Judaism. His writings provide the clearest view of this development of Judaism in the Diaspora. As the first to attempt to synthesize revealed faith and philosophic reason, he occupies a unique position in the history of philosophy. He is also regarded by Christians as a forerunner of Christian theology. Additional reading H.L. Goodhart and E.R. Goodenough, "A General Bibliography of Philo Judaeus," in Goodenough's The Politics of Philo Judaeus, Practice and Theory, pp. 125-348 (1938), an exhaustive classified listing of books and articles to date of publication; L.H. Feldman, Scholarship on Philo and Josephus, 1937-1962 (1963), a classified critical bibliography; Studia Philonica (annual since 1972), a journal, exclusively devoted to Philo, published by the Philo Institute at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago. Greek text. Leopold Cohn and Paul Wendland (eds.), Philonis Alexandrini Opera quae supersunt, 7 vol. (1896-1930), definitive, but lacks the fragments, the treatises extant only in Armenian, and Pseudo-Philo. English translation. F.H. Colson, G.H. Whitaker, and R. Marcus, Philo ("Loeb Classical Library," 10 vol. and 2 supplementary vol., 1929-62), an extremely careful translation, with analytical introductions to each treatise. Pseudo-Philo. M.R. James, The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, prolegomenon by L.H. Feldman (1917, reprinted 1971), a clear, accurate translation. Introductory works and surveys. E.R. Goodenough, An Introduction to Philo Judaeus, 2nd ed. rev. (1963); H. Chadwick, "Philo," in A.H. Armstrong (ed.), The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, pp. 137-157 (1967), the best balanced, brief, comprehensive survey of Philo's thought. Major works on Philo. E.R. Goodenough, By Light, Light: The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism (1935, reissued 1969), a challenging, if one-sided, presentation of Philo as a mystic; Samuel Belkin, Philo and the Oral Law (1940, reprinted 1968), presentation of Philo as thoroughly acquainted with Palestinian Halakha; H.A. Wolfson, Philo, 2 vol. (1947), stresses Philo's relationship to Palestinian Pharisaic Judaism and his importance for the history of philosophy; Samuel Sandmel, Philo's Place in Judaism (1956), a case study of the account of Abraham in Philo as compared with rabbinic and other contemporary literature.