Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2002 203
his reading, not only of Plato, but also of Aristotle’s political thought. To some
degree he shows nostalgia for the institutions of the classical polis as set out in
4th century philosophical writings. But at the same time he stands in the middle
of the volatile political situation of his own time, in which Alexandria is ruled
from Rome. Philo thus combines being both a bookish figure and one who is
very much involved in contemporary politics. In both cases his Jewish identity is
paramount. The dissertation was published in 2008 in the series Monothéismes
et Philosophie (Turnhout). (DTR)
20221. J.C.Cavadini,‘ExegeticalTransformations:theSacrificeof
Isaac in Philo, Origen, and Ambrose,’ in P. M. Blowers, A. Russell
Christman, D. G. Hunter and R. D. Young (edd.), In Dominico Eloqui:
In Lordly Eloquence. Essays on Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis
Wilken (Grand Rapids–Cambridge 2002) 35–49.
The author considers how Origen and Ambrose receive and transform Philo’s
interpretation of the #Aqedah (Gen 22:1–19). Philo understands Abraham to
be an unwritten law, and his identity is closely bound up with God. He is
therefore ‘always ready to renounce’—as shown by his willingness to leave home
and to sacrifice his ‘beloved and only son’ (Abr. 168). Answering ‘unnamed
‘quarrelsome critics” (Abr. 178), Philo emphasizes Abraham’s obedience to God
as the motivation behind his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. Philo also allegorizes
the story to mean that the sage must sacrifice his joy to God, i.e., recognize that
‘his joy is only in God’ (p. 38). Origen focuses on Abraham as an archetype of
faith—rather than of law, as in Philo—ready to give up his identity by sacrificing
God’s promises, an act that may suggest martyrdom on Abraham’s part. Origen’s
Abraham is also ‘a kind of figure for God the Father’ (p. 42), and Isaac and the
ram are figures for Christ. Ambrose builds on and transforms elements from
Origen and Philo, but in Ambrose’s exegesis, Isaac plays the primary role as a
type for Christ, and Abraham becomes a mere onlooker. Cavadini ends with
some reflections on how to evaluate ‘precritical’ exegesis and observes that,
because Ambrose minimizes the role of Abraham as depicted in the biblical
narrative, his exegesis ‘seems less successful’ than that of Philo and Origen
(p. 48). (EB)
20222.A.Choufrine,Gnosis, Theophany, Theosis: Studies in Clement
of Alexandria’s Appropriation of his Background, Patristic Studies 5 (New
York 2002).
Choufrine examines how Clement draws from and synthesizes different elements
from his background in his interpretations of Christian baptismal initiation
(the ‘gnosis’ part of his title), scriptural accounts of Abram’s conversion
and the creation of primordial Light (‘theophany’), and of ‘assimilation to God’
(‘theosis’). Sources from Clement’s background studied here include Basilides
and Valentinus, Philo, and Middle Platonic notions influenced by Aristotle’s concept
of the telos. Besides Clement’s synthesis of sources, Choufrine discusses his