Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

72 part two
of the divine message, does he still have an active role? In fact both conditions
occur: as prophet the passive role predominates, as interpreter and lawgiver the
active. But the process of mediation from God to humankind through Moses
also involved an ontological leap, a shift from the spiritual to the material realm.
For this reason the figure of Aaron is introduced. It is also emphasized that
the translation of the LXX is strictly analogous to the transmission of the text
via Moses. (2) The biblical Laws do not have an exclusively ethical or political
role, but propagate a state of order and harmony which applies both to the
cosmos and to the human realm. In the former no transgression is possible,
in the latter it is. The author discusses how this is in the context of creation.
For Philo’s political thought it is essential to recognize that the first founder
of the state is actually external to the state, i.e. God. This means that ethics
is superior to politics. Differently than in Plato, however, the goal of political
legislation cannot be the felicity of the polis, but rather the realization of a
cosmic and human order. (3) The process of the transmission of the Law is
continued in human exegetical activity. The riches of the biblical text admit
a plurality of interpretations, a characteristic which makes the Torah different
to what occurs in philosophical texts. This plurality allows different levels of
interpretation and authority, from the text itself which cannot be changed to
the opinion of philosophers which are fully disputable. Calabi emphasizes two
further aspects of the biblical record. Firstly, no reference is made to non-written
traditions, because scripture contains the whole of what is revealed (but it then
has to be interpreted). Secondly the entire Torah is unitary and uniform; no one
part is more or less important than the other. The final part of this chapter gives
examples of biblical interpretation based primarily on Mut. Themainquestion
discussed is how God, who is essentially unknowable, can still be known in
some ways at the human level. Reviews: M. Hadas-Lebel, REJ 160 (2001) 272;
A. Kamesar, Adamant 7 (2001) 340–341. (RR)
9832.F.L.Canale,‘PhilosophicalFoundationsandtheBiblicalSanctuary,’
Andrews University Seminary Studies 36 (1998) 183–206.
The notion of the biblical sanctuary expressed in Exod 25:8, which calls
for building a sanctuary so that God ‘may dwell among’ the Israelites, poses a
challenge to philosophical principles. Surveying classical and modern thinkers,
Canale shows that the philosophical approach, including that of Philo (pp. 189–
190), requires a metaphorical understanding of the building. This is because
from the philosophical perspective, God is either timeless or spaceless, and the
sanctuary building exists in both time and space. Canale suggests taking a prescientific
Biblical approach based upon Exod 3:14–15, which would allow for a
view of God that is compatible with time and space and would thereby also allow
for a literal understanding of the sanctuary. (EB)
9833. J. Cazeaux, ‘Philon ou la tapisserie de Pénélope,’ in C. Lévy
(ed.), Philon d’Alexandrie et le langage de la philosophie, Monothéismes
et Philosophie (Turnhout 1998) 287–312.