Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2006 377
20607. P. Borgen, ‘Crucified for His Own Sins—Crucified for Our
Sins: Observations on a Pauline Perspective,’ in J. Fotopoulos (ed.), The
New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context:
Studies in Honor of David E. Aune, Novum Testamentum Supplements
122 (Leiden 2006) 17–36.
In this article Borgen focuses on Rom 1:18–32 and 7:7–8:3 in order to show
that it was part of the aim of Paul to document that although Jesus Christ
was executed as a criminal, he did not die for his own crimes, but for ours.
Both Rom 1:22–23 and Rev 18:4–8 are seen as a crime-and-punishment list,
comparable to Philo’s Flacc. 170–175. Rom 7:7–8:4 is another way of reporting
on crime and punishment in the form of a story. Thus this passage is studied
in light of Sophocles’ Antigone,Philo’sFlacc., Joseph and Asenath and Gen 2–3.
Borgen argues that both Rom 1:18–32 and 7:7–8:3 reveal how Paul transforms
traditional Jewish understanding of the relationship between Jews and non-Jews:
Jesus Christ did not die for his own sins but for ‘our sins’. The passages thus
expound the crime story of humankind in texts having the form of crime-andpunishment
reports about Jesus Christ. (TS)
20608.P.Borgen,‘SomeCrime-and-PunishmentReports,’inJ.Neusner,
A. J. Avery Peck, A. Laato, R. Nurmela and K.-G. Sandelin
(edd.), Ancient Israel, Judaism, and Christianity in Contemporary Perspective:
Essays in Memory of Karl-Johan Illman (Lanham Md. 2006) 67–80.
In setting out to analyse some crime-and-punishment reports, the author
chooses to discuss first the Philonic example Flacc. 171–175; then further examples
follow in Josephus War 7.437–453, 2Macc 7:7–9:29, and Acts 12:1–24. His
main points of focus are on what is seen as the basic principles for evaluating
the crimes committed: is the perspective extra-mural, concerning the relations
between Jews and non-Jews? Or are there intra-mural aspects present? Based
upon his findings he suggests that there are reasons to ask whether the form of
crime-and-punishment reports should be classified as a genre of its own, distinct
from biographies. Furthermore, if so, one might ask whether the Gospel of John
as well as the Gospel of Mark follows the structure of crime-and-punishment
reports. (TS)
20609. P.R.Bosman,‘ConscienceandFreeSpeechinPhilo,’The
Studia Philonica Annual 18 (2006) 33–47.
The word συνειδς (conscience), which occurs 32 times in Philo’s writings,
has a predominantly negative connotation: having a ‘conscience’ means having
a ‘guilty awareness’. The conscience, which is a component of the soul, can be
regarded as the inner court of law and acts as a prosecutor and admonisher.
Philo combines ‘conscience’ with ‘free speech’ (παρρησία). It is only possible to
speak freely if one has a clear conscience. Both a pure conscience and freedom
of speech result from living virtuously. (ACG)