Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2003 275
203111.D.T.Runia,‘Plato’sTimaeus, First Principle(s) and Creation
in Philo and Early Christian Thought,’ in G. Reydams-Schils (ed.),
Plato’s Timaeus as Cultural Icon (Notre Dame 2003) 133–151.
The aim of the article is to examine the role that Plato’s Timaeus and the
tradition of its interpretation played in the questions of first principles and
the relation between God and creation in Philo and early Christian thought.
First background issues are sketched, including a summary of schemes of first
principles in Platonist thought, based on the research of Matthias Baltes. The
article then first analyzes a number of Philonic texts, notably Opif.8,Prov. 1.20–
22, 2.50–51. Philo’s thought is continued by Justin and Clement. Characteristic
of their views is that matter is not really regarded as a principle in the full sense.
God is the sole creator and first principle of reality, but for a philosophical
account of created reality something beside God is required. The author uses
the term ‘monarchic dualism’ to represent this position. Next the thought of
Tatian, Theophilus and Irenaeus is discussed. In their case too there can be
no question that matter is not a principle beside God. In their view matter is
createdbyGod,i.e.thedoctrineofcreatio ex nihilo, but it is difficult for them to
avoid the derivationist language of Platonism when they try to explain how this
occurs. The final part of the article gives a brief survey of later treatment of the
same question in Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine. It concludes with a
question: is it a coincidence that both Platonism and Christian thought give up
the basic creational model of the Timaeus involving multiple principles at the
same time? (DTR)
203112. D. T. Runia, ‘Theodicy in Philo of Alexandria,’ in A. Laato
andJ.C.deMoor(edd.),Theodicyinthe World of the Bible (Leiden 2003)
576–604.
The chapter forms part of a substantial volume devoted to the theme of
theodicy in ancient Near Eastern, biblical and Jewish texts (Greek philosophical
texts are conspicuous by their absence). The first part of the article gives
background material on Philo and the main features of his Judaism, followed
by similar material on theodicy in the Greek philosophical tradition. In the
main body of the article texts on the theme in Philo’s writings are analyzed,
beginning with his two books on Providence, which focus heavily on the theme
and are strongly indebted to Greek philosophical models, followed by passages
from the exegetical works (esp. Opif. 21–23, 72–75, Abr. 143, Praem. 32–34,
Det. 47–49, Post. 8–9,QG 1.76). The final section treats the theme in relation
to the contemporary situation of the Jews, as depicted especially in Flacc.
and Legat. The author concludes that Philo uses four main strategies in confronting
the theological problem of God’s responsibility for evil. Firstly God
is consistently dissociated from the causation of any kind of evil. Secondly
Philo argues that apparent evils contribute to the good of the whole. Thirdly
he is convinced that God in his concern for the world always has positive
intentions. Fourthly, when all else fails, he resorts to the argument that God’s
ways are inscrutable and only known to Himself. Of these it is the third that