Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2005 365
studies could learn from New Testament scholarship. The volume under review
is based on the papers of the conference, which divide into four parts: three
survey articles, twelve articles in six pairs by a Philonist and a New Testament
specialist looking at the same theme, two further articles on separate themes,
and three detailed readings of Philonic texts (Opif.15–25, Mos. 1.60–62, Spec.
2.39–48). The article summarizes all the contributions and concludes that the
volume is ‘warmly to be recommended to all scholars interested in the relation
between Philo and . . . the New Testament’ (p. 151). (DTR)
20563. K.-G. Sandelin, ‘Philo and Paul on Alien Religion: a Comparison,’
in A. Mustakallio (ed.), LuxHumana,LuxAeterna.Essayson
Biblical and Related Themes in Honour of Lars Aejmelaeus,Publicationsof
the Finnish Exegetical Society 89 (Helsinki–Göttingen 2005) 213–246.
After a sketch of the social situations of Philo and Paul, the author discusses
their treatment of various aspects of alien religion under headings such as ‘The
Evaluation of alien Gods,’ ‘Participation in alien religious activities,’ ‘Arguments
from the Bible,’ ‘Conversion and apostasy,’ and ‘The rescue from polytheism and
idolatry.’ The main text of Paul investigated here is 1Cor 8:1–11:1. From Philo
he draws on a wider set of texts. He emphasizes that Philo considers polytheism
a strong evil force, and he may attribute it both to ignorance and to an
evil aim in the minds of those who have introduced polytheism. Furthermore,
Philo apparently considers club-meetings as a dangerous arena of polytheism,
and he uses the episode of the golden calf in the desert as a warning example.
Finally, in Philo’s view the rejection of polytheism cannot be achieved by human
beings through their own powers, but they are in need of God’s help. The author’s
main conclusion is that the way Paul handles what he sees as idolatry demonstrates
that he is an heir of the same Jewish tradition which Philo represents.
(TS)
20564. K. Schenck, ABriefGuidetoPhilo(Louisville Ky. 2005).
This book serves as a helpful introduction to Philo and his writings. Ch. 1
summarizes scholarly portraits of Philo and discusses Philo as a biblical interpreter,
philosopher, and mystic. Ch. 2 provides an overview of scholarly consensus
on Philo’s family, education, and political involvement, and of how scholars
categorize Philo’s writings. Ch. 3 traces the fine line Philo walked between
loyalty to Judaism and love of Hellenism. Ch. 4 presents Philo’s relationship to
Jewish interpretive traditions in Alexandria and to Greek philosophical traditions.
Philo’s views of God, the Logos, creation, humanity, truth, ethics, society,
and women are summarized. Ch. 5 sketches a common Jewish Hellenistic
milieu in which Philo and certain New Testament writers moved. Many similarities
between Philo’s writings and the Book of Hebrews and the Letters of
Paul (1Cor 15:39–49; Col 1:15–20) suggest the authors lived in a similar linguistic
universe. John’s use of Logos at John 1:1–14 is compared with Philo. Ch. 6
provides a brief summary of each Philonic treatise. The book concludes with