Philo of Alexandria 25 BC – 50 AD
Philo of Alexandria was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who synthesized the Hebrew scriptures with Greek philosophical thought, especially Platonism and Stoicism. He developed an allegorical method of reading the Pentateuch in which the literal text encodes deeper philosophical and ethical meanings. His doctrine of the divine Logos as mediator between the transcendent God and the created world influenced early Christian theology and the trajectory of Western religious thought. He also led a delegation of Alexandrian Jews to the emperor Caligula on behalf of his community.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Hellenistic Jewish
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Jewish, Platonism, Hellenistic
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“The mind is the eye of the soul.”
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“What is essential is invisible to the eye; only the mind discerns it.”
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“He who runs from God in the morning will have him for his companion before night.”
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“Take pains to know that nothing arose by chance, and that everything in the world came into existence through the providence of God.”
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“Learning is by nature curiosity.”