Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

88 part two
sees a contradiction in Philo: he regards myth as foolishness, but he also makes
use if it. On this score, he resembles Plato, who speaks negatively about myth,
but tells his own stories as conveying philosophical truth, i.e. as a ‘logical myth’.
Philo implicitly treats the creation account in Genesis as such a logical myth,
making good use of Plato’s Timaeus in his interpretation. (ACG)
9878.H.Ohme,Kanon ekklesiastikos: die Bedeutung des altkirchlichen
Kanonbegriffs, Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 67 (Berlin 1998), esp. 30–
36.
This Habilitationsschrift studies extensively the concept of canon in the 1st
to 4th century c.e. A section is dedicated to the LXX and Philo. The latter uses
κανών in the sense of ‘normative rule’; in a juridical context this can be nature
(Spec. 3.137); in particular the Decalogue has a canonical function vis-à-vis the
rest of the commandments. The expression κανν τς ληείας is contrasted
to myth and sophistry. Ultimately it consists in the cosmic order, incorporated
in the Law. (DZ)
9879.E.F.Osborn,‘PhiloandClement:QuietConversionandNoetic
Exegesis,’ The Studia Philonica Annual 10 (1998) 108–124.
Osborn returns once more to the question of the relation between Philo and
Clement. The question of Philo’s influence on Clement is not the right question
to ask, but rather, to what use did Clement put what he read in Philo. But
here again one should not just look at the passages and words taken over. The
question is: what did Clement do with them? Osborn suggest that two main
purposes can be discerned. Firstly Clement quietly wants to convert Jews to
the Christian faith and Philo could supply apologetic instruments to this end.
Secondly Philo could supply the method of noetic exegesis of Scripture to show
how the hidden meaning could be uncovered. Logical analysis is linked to divine
vision. The techniques of logic and philosophy are not made redundant by
prophetic inspiration, because its meaning is hidden, and has to be brought
out in lucid teaching. In the final pages of the article Osborn returns to the
methodological problems involved and makes a comparison with the method
of Justin. Justin’s dialogue with Trypho was noisy. Clement’s appropriation of
Philo was quiet and all the more effective. (DTR)
9880. A. Passoni Dell’Acqua, ‘Innovazioni lessicali e attributi divini:
una caratteristica del giudaismo alessandrino?,’ in A. C. di Rinaldo
Fabris, (ed.), La parola di Dio cresceva (At 12,24): scritti in onore di Carlo
Maria Martini nel suo 70˚/ compleanno, Supplementi alla Rivista Biblica
33 (Bologna 1998) 87–108, esp. 87–90.
The attributes of unnameability, ineffability and incomprehensibility of God
in Philo are expressed in a language taken from Greek philosophy. The same can
be said of the two powers, creative and ruling, which correspond to two differing