Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 1999 123
When the early Christians developed their distinctive spirituality they
claimed that they were singing a ‘new song’. But this does not mean that they
did not have antecedent traditions which exerted a strong influence on them.
The article first examines the spirituality of the Greek philosophical tradition. It
then turns to the tradition of Hellenistic Judaism and explores the characteristic
spirituality found there. In the third and final part it investigates how these
two traditions actually make their presence felt in early Christian spirituality,
using the ‘New song of the Logos’ in the opening chapter of Clement’s Protrepticus
as an example. In the section devoted to Philo’s spirituality (pp. 16–20)
particular attention is paid to the views of Marguerite Harl and David Winston.
(DTR)
9971. K.-G. Sandelin, ‘Filon från Alexandria och den grekisk-romerska
kulturen’ [Swedish: Philo of Alexandria and the Graeco-Roman Culture],
Finsk Tidskrift 6 (1999) 367–380.
In this printed version of a lecture delivered to a Finnish Classics society,
Sandelin briefly presents Philo’s attitudes to the Graeco-Roman culture of his
time as exhibited by his attitudes to four aspects of this culture: the aesthetic,
the religious, the intellectual and the political. Philo describes several aspects of
the aesthetic in positive terms, but his own attitudes are more ambiguous; concerning
religion, the author finds that Philo’s use of mystery terms demonstrate
more that he was well versed in the culture of his time than a reflection of his own
religious praxis. Furthermore, Philo is a person of considerable intellectual status
and learning, and demonstrates great respect for philosophers such as Plato:
he has a dualistic anthropology, he uses allegory in his expositions of Scripture,
and he is influenced by Stoic traditions. Philo’s political views are demonstrated
by his attitudes to the Roman prefect Flaccus, he criticizes Caligula, but praises
Augustus for his reign of order. Hence Philo is presented here as one who tries to
integrate while trying to keep a critical distance from his contemporary Graeco-
Roman culture. (TS)
9972. P.Schäfer,Guideofobia. L’ antisemitismo nel mondo antico,
translated by E. Taglioferro and M. Lupi (Rome 1999).
Italian translation of the monograph originally published in 1997 (= 9769).
(DTR)
9973. B. Schaller, ‘4000 Essener–6000 Pharisäer. Zum Hintergrund
und Wert antiker Zahlenangaben,’ in B. Kollmann, W. Reinbold and A.
Steudel (edd.), Antikes Judentum und frühes Christentum. Festschrift für
Hartmut Stegemann zum 65. Geburtstag, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 97 (Berlin–New York 1999) 172–182.
Both Philo Prob. 75andJosephusAnt. 18.20 give the number of the Essenes
followingacommonsource;thesamesourceorNicholasofDamascusis