Sunday, May 30, 2010

Philo

Philo

Philo (20 BC – 50 AD), known also as Philo of Alexandria (gr. Φίλων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς), Philo Judaeus,Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia and Philo the Jew, was an Hellenistic Jewish philosopher born inAlexandria.Philo used allegory to fuse and harmonize Greek philosophy and Judaism. His method followed the practices of both Jewish exegesis and Stoic philosophy. His work was not widely accepted. "The sophists of literalness," as he calls them[1], "opened their eyes superciliously" when he explained to them the marvels of his exegesis. Philo's works were enthusiastically received by the Early Christians, some of whom saw in him a cryptic Christian. His concept of the Logos as God's creative principle apparently influenced early Christology. To him Logos was God's "blueprint for the world", a governing plan.The few biographical details concerning Philo are found in his own works, especially in Legatio ad Gaium ("embassy to Gaius"), and in Josephus.[2] The only event in his life that can be determined chronologically is his participation in the embassy which the Alexandrian Jews sent to the emperorCaligula at Rome as the result of civil strife between the Alexandrian Jewish and Hellenized communities. This occurred in the year 40 CE. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo 

De Vita Contemplativa

"De Vita Contemplativa" (on the different titles comp. Schürer, l.c. p. 535). This work describes the mode of life and the religious festivals of a society of Jewish ascetics, who according to the author, are widely scattered over the earth, and are found especially in every home in Egypt. The writer, however, confines himself to describing a colony of hermits settled on the Lake Mareotis in Egypt, where each lives separately in his own dwelling. Six days of the week they spend in pious contemplation, chiefly in connection with Scripture. On the seventh day both men and women assemble together in a hall; and the leader delivers a discourse consisting of an allegorical interpretation of a Scriptural passage. The feast of the fiftieth day is especially celebrated. The ceremony begins with a frugal meal consisting of bread, salted vegetables, and water, during which a passage of Scripture is interpreted. After the meal the members of the society in turn sing religious songs of various kinds, to which the assembly answers with a refrain. The ceremony ends with a choral representation of the triumphal festival that Moses and Miriam arranged after the passage through the Red Sea, the voices of the men and the women uniting in a choral symphony until the sun rises. After a common morning prayer each goes home to resume his contemplation. Such is the contemplative life (βίος θεωρητικός) led by these Θεραπευταί ("servants [of God]").The ancient Church looked upon these Therapeutæ as disguised Christian monks. This view has found advocates even in very recent times; Lucius' opinion particularly, that the Christian monkdom of the third century was here glorified in a Jewish disguise, was widely accepted ("Die Therapeuten," 1879). But the ritual of the society, which was entirely at variance with Christianity, disproves this view. The chief ceremony especially, the choral representation of the passage through the Red Sea, has no special significance for Christianity; nor have there ever been in the Christian Church nocturnal festivals celebrated by men and women together. But Massebieau ("Revue de l'Histoire des Religions," 1887, xvi. 170 et seq., 284 et seq.), F. C. Conybeare ("Philo About the Contemplative Life," Oxford, 1895), and Wendland ("Die Therapeuten," etc., Leipsig, 1896) ascribe the entire work to Philo, basing their argument wholly on linguistic reasons, which seem sufficiently conclusive. But there are great dissimilarities between the fundamental conceptions of the author of the "De Vita Contemplativa" and those of Philo. The latter looks upon Greek culture and philosophy as allies, the former is hostile to Greek philosophy (see Siegfried in "Protestantische Kirchenzeitung," 1896, No.42). He repudiates a science that numbered among Its followers the sacred baud of the Pythagoreans, inspired men like Parmenides, Empedocles, Zeno, Cleanthes, Heraclitus, and Plato, whom Philo prized ("Quod Omnis Probus," i., ii.; "Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit," 43; "De Providentia," ii. 42, 48, etc.). He considers the symposium a detestable, common drinking-bout. This can not be explained as a Stoic diatribe; for in this case Philo would not have repeated it. And Philo would have been the last to interpret the Platonic Eros in the vulgar way in which it is explained in the "De Vita Contemplativa," 7 (ii. 480), as he repeatedly uses the myth of double man allegorically in his interpretation of Scripture ("De Opificio Mundi," 24; "De Allegoriis Legum," ii. 24). It must furthermore be remembered that Philo in none of his other works mentions these colonies of allegorizing ascetics, in which he would have been highly interested had he known of them. But pupils of Philo may subsequently have founded near Alexandria similar colonies that endeavored to realize his ideal of a pure life triumphing over the senses and passions; and they might also have been responsible for the one-sided development of certain of the master's principles. While Philo desired to renounce the lusts of this world, he held fast to the scientific culture of Hellenism, which the author of this book denounces. Although Philo liked to withdraw from the world in order to give himself up entirely to contemplation, and bitterly regretted the lack of such repose ("De Specialibus Legibus," 1 [ii. 299]), he did not abandon the work that was required of him by the welfare of his people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo%

Φίλων ο Αλεξανδρεύς

Ο Φίλων ο Αλεξανδρεύς ή Φίλων (ο) Ιουδαίος (λατ. Philo Judaeus) (20 π.Χ. - 50 μ.Χ.) ήτανελληνιστής Ιουδαίος φιλόσοφος ο οποίος γεννήθηκε στην Αλεξάνδρεια της Αιγύπτου, η οποία αποτελούσε εκείνη την εποχή κέντρο της εβραϊκής διασποράς.  Οι ελάχιστες βιογραφικές πληροφορίες για τον Φίλωνα προέρχονται από τα δικά του έργα, συγκεκριμένα στο έργο του Πρεσβεία προς Γάιον, και από τον Ιώσηπο στο έργο του Ιουδαϊκή Αρχαιολογία.

Το έργο του

Ο Φίλων χρησιμοποίησε την αλληγορία για να αναμείξει και να εναρμονίσει την ελληνική φιλοσοφίακαι τον Ιουδαϊσμό—αν και δεν θεωρείται ότι αυτή η προσέγγιση ήταν αντιπροσωπευτική των Ιουδαίων της διασποράς[1]. Η μεθοδολογία του περιλάμβανε πρακτικές τόσο της ιουδαϊκής ερμηνευτικής όσο και της στωικής φιλοσοφίας. Ορατές είναι επίσης οιπυθαγοριστικές επιρροές, όπως η κρυπτοσυμβολιστική και η προσκόλληση στην αυτοπειθαρχία ως προετοιμασία για την αθανασία. Αν και τα έργα του δεν έγιναν ευρέως αποδεκτά από τους συγχρόνους του, οι χριστιανοί εκκλησιαστικοί πατέρες, από το 150 μ.Χ. και μετά, έκαναν δεκτό το έργο του με ενθουσιασμό εντοπίζοντας σε αυτό μια μορφή κρυμμένου Χριστιανισμού. Οι φιλελεύθεροι, εκκοσμικευμένοι Ιουδαίοι της Αλεξάνδρειας αντιμετώπιζαν τον Φίλωνα ως ιουδαϊκό αντίστοιχο του Πλάτωνος[2].  Ο Φίλων ταύτισε τον Λόγο των Στωικών, δηλαδή την αρχή που συγκροτεί το σύμπαν, με την πρωτόκτιστη σοφία του Θεού που αναφέρεται στη Μετάφραση των Εβδομήκοντα της Εβραϊκής Βίβλου, διά της οποίας πλάστηκε ο κόσμος, και αυτός ο συσχετισμός επηρέασε εμφανώς την πρωτοχριστιανική Χριστολογία[3]. Ο Ευσέβιος Καισαρείας έκανε την υπόθεση ότι οι Εσσαίοι «θεραπευταὶ καὶ θεραπευτρίδες» στην έρημο της Αιγύπτου, οι οποίοι αναφέρονται από τον Φίλωνα (Περί Βίου Θεωρητικού ή Ικετών), ήταν στην πραγματικότητα μια χριστιανική ομάδα, «ὅτι δὲ τοὺς πρώτους κήρυκας τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διδασκαλίας τά τε ἀρχῆθεν πρὸς τῶν ἀποστόλων ἔθη παραδεδομένα καταλαβὼν ὁ Φίλων ταῦτ’ ἔγραφεν, παντί τῳ δῆλον». (Εκκλησιαστική Ιστορία 2.17.24) Ο Φίλων απέδιδε την προέλευση της ελληνικής φιλοσοφίας στην Πεντάτευχο. Σαν τον απόστολο Παύλο, ο Φίλων θεωρούσε ότι η σεξουαλική διαστροφή και αταξία αποτελούν σύμπτωμα ειδωλολατρίας. Απέρριπτε την ελληνική ηθική παράδοση και θεωρούσε την αποκαλυμμένη θρησκεία ανώτερη από τη φιλοσοφία. Αν και εξυμνούσε τη σπουδαιότητα της μελέτης των επιστημών η οποία με τη σειρά της προωθεί την εμβάθυνση στη φιλοσοφία με απώτερο σκοπό την υψηλού επιπέδου θεολογία, ο ίδιος υπήρξε εκλεκτικιστής, χωρίς να εντάσσεται σε κάποια συγκεκριμένη φιλοσοφική σχολή. Η αντίληψη του Φίλωνος περί Θεού επηρεάστηκε έντονα απόπλατωνικές ιδέες. Ο Φίλων θεωρούσε ότι ο Θεός είναι Ένας, η απόλυτη Μονάδα, πέρα από κάθε έννοια πολλαπλότητας, και ότι δεν υπάρχει καμία γλώσσα που θα μπορούσε να περιγράψει την ύπαρξή Του.Ο Φίλων θεωρείται ως ο ιδρυτής της θρησκευτικής φιλοσοφίας στον Ιουδαϊσμό, τον Χριστιανισμό και το Ισλάμ. Σύμφωνα με τον Τσάντγουικ (Henry Chadwick), «η ιστορία της χριστιανικής φιλοσοφίας αρχίζει όχι με έναν Χριστιανό, αλλά με έναν Ιουδαίο, τον Φίλωνα της Αλεξανδρείας, έναν ηλικιωμένο σύγχρονο του Αγίου Παύλου». Μάλιστα «ο Φίλων είναι πλήρως εξελληνισμένος, παρουσιάζοντας ένα κατά πολύ ελληνικό πρόσωπο στον κόσμο». Ο Φίλων «γνώριζε ελάχιστα ή καθόλου» την εβραϊκή γλώσσα, καθώς «η εβραϊκή γλώσσα και ο εβραϊκός πολιτισμός εξελληνίσθηκαν βαθμιαία και εύποροι Εβραίοι γονείς (όπως οι γονείς του Φίλωνος) εξασφάλιζαν για τα παιδιά τους φιλελεύθερη μόρφωση από Έλληνες εκπαιδευτές». Η άποψη που διακρατούσε ότι η μετάφραση τωνΕβραϊκών Γραφών (Παλαιά Διαθήκη) των Εβδομήκοντα στην ελληνική γλώσσα «ήταν θεόπνευστη, τον απάλλασσε από την ανάγκη ή την ευθύνη να κάνει αναφορές από το πρωτότυπο [εβραϊκό] κείμενο».Η αλληγορική ερμηνεία των Γραφών χρησιμοποιήθηκε ευρύτατα από τον Κλήμεντα Αλεξανδρείας, ενώ συστηματοποιήθηκε από τονΩριγένη και μετέπειτα από τον Αθανάσιο Αλεξανδρείας.

http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Φίλων_ο_Αλεξανδρεύς


Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of CaesareaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eusebius of Caesarea, c. 263–339 AD, called Eusebius Pamphili, became the Bishop of Caesarea inPalestine about the year 314. Eusebius, historian, exegete and polemicist is one of the more renowned Church Fathers. He (with Pamphilus) was a scholar of the Biblical Canon. He wroteDemonstrations of the Gospel, Preparations for the Gospel, and On Discrepancies between the Gospels, studies of the Biblical text. As "Father of Church History" he produced the Ecclesiastical History, On the Life of Pamphilus, the Chronicle and On the Martyrs.


Church History

Main article: Church History (Eusebius)In his Church History or Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius wrote the first surviving history of the Christian Church as a chronologically-ordered account, based on earlier sources, and complete from the period of the Apostles to his own epoch. He also wrote that Matthew composed theGospel according to the Hebrews. The time scheme correlated the history with the reigns of the Roman Emperors, and the scope was broad. Included were the bishops and other teachers of the Church; Christian relations with the Jews and those deemed heretical; and the Christian martyrs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusebius_of_Caesarea

Church History (Eusebius)
The Church History (Latin: Historia Ecclesiastica or Historia Ecclesiae) of Eusebius of Caesarea was a fourth-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the first century. It was written in Koine Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts.[1] The result was the first full-length historical narrative written from a Christian point of view.[2] In the early fifth century two advocates in Constantinople, Socrates Scholasticus and Sozomen, and a bishop, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Syria, wrote continuations of Eusebius' church history, establishing the convention of continuators that would determine to a great extent the way history was written for the next thousand years. Eusebius' Chronicle, that attempted to lay out a comparative timeline of pagan and Old Testament history, set the model for the other historiographical genre, the medieval chronicle or universal history.Eusebius made use of many ecclesiastical monuments and documents, acts of the martyrs, letters, extracts from earlier Christian writings, lists of bishops, and similar sources, often quoting the originals at great length so that his work contains materials not elsewhere preserved. For example he wrote that Matthew composed the Gospel according to the Hebrews and his Church Catalogue suggests that it was the onlyJewish gospel. It is therefore of historical value, though it pretends neither to completeness nor to the observance of due proportion in the treatment of the subject-matter. Nor does it present in a connected and systematic way the history of the early Christian Church. It is to no small extent a vindication of the Christian religion, though the author did not primarily intend it as such. Eusebius has been often accused of intentional falsification of the truth; in judging persons or facts he is not entirely unbiased.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_History_(Eusebius)

Ευσέβιος ο Καισαρείας

Ο Ευσέβιος ο Καισαρείας, ή Ευσέβιος της Καισάρειας, (περ. 275 – 30 Μαΐου 339 Κ.Χ.), ο οποίος ονομάζεται και Ευσέβιος ο Παμφίλου (στη λατινική, Eusebius Pamphili), υπήρξε επίσκοπος τηςΚαισάρειας της Παλαιστίνης, εξηγητής και ιστορικός.Συνήθως αναφέρεται ως ο πατέρας της εκκλησιαστικής ιστορίας λόγω του έργου του, της καταγραφής της ιστορίας στις απαρχές της Χριστιανικής εκκλησίας, που είναι γνωστό ως Εκκλησιαστική Ιστορία.
http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ευσέβιος_ο_Καισαρείας


Eusebius (PG 20) - Church History - Chanting

This quote from Eusebius describes the chanting syle of the Therapeuton Θεραπευτών, considered to be an early sect of Egyptian crypto-Christians by early Church writers like Eusebius. (There is some modern scholarship that does not agree with this). The quote in Eusebius' Church History, appears to be a summary of another account by Philo in his own historical work, Περί Βίου θεωρητικόυ.