Did Philo believe the Logos was created?
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 7:24 am
Or did he think it was a infinite part of God like the Wisdom?
Thx
Thx
Investigating the roots of western civilization (ye olde BC&H forum of IIDB lives on...)
https://earlywritings.com/forum/
earlydude wrote:Or did he think it was a infinite part of God like the Wisdom?
Thx
earlydude wrote:Ok, so Genesis 1:3, the part that says:
"said"
Did God have to create that?
Peter_Schäfer devotes a chapter to Philo inThe Logos is a kind of shadow cast by God, having the outlines but not the blinding light of the Divine Being.
I don't know the official commentary on this but it looks like this refers to the SephirotThe LORD founded the earth by wisdom; He established the heavens by understanding;
(Pro 3:19 TNK)
It's doesn't seem real Jewish to imagine these created separately.2 Chokhmah - "Wisdom"
3 Binah - "Understanding"
The talk portion of the wiki mentions a creepy incursion by Mormonism into the article (which was expunged) and points to -The spiritual realm of Adam Kadmon represents the sephirah (divine attribute) of Keter ("crown"), the specific divine will and plan for subsequent creation.
That Philo's philosophic views are grounded on the Midrash, and not vice versa, is evident from his seemingly senseless statement that the "heavenly man," the οὐράνιος ἄνθρωπος (who is merely an idea), is "neither man nor woman." This doctrine, however, becomes quite intelligible in view of the following ancient Midrash. The remarkable contradiction between the two above-quoted passages of Genesis could not escape the attention of the Pharisees, to whom the Bible was a subject of close study. In explaining the various views concerning Eve's creation, they taught ('Er. 18a, Gen. R. viii.) that Adam was created as a man-woman (androgynos), explaining (Gen. i. 27) as "male and female" instead of "man and woman," and that the separation of the sexes arose from the subsequent operation upon Adam's body, as related in the Scripture. This explains Philo's statement that the original man was neither man nor woman.
His attributing this to the Pharisees seems questionable. I wonder if this is some relic of conservative/reform Judaism, it seems to me that current academic thought doesn't go there.This doctrine concerning the Logos, as also that of man made "in the likeness" ("De Confusione Linguarum," xxviii.), though tinged with true Philonic coloring, is also based on the theology of the Pharisees. For in an old Midrash (Gen. R. viii. 1) it is remarked: "'Thou hast formed me behind and before' (Ps. cxxxix. 5) is to be explained 'before the first and after the last day of Creation.' For it is said, 'And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,' meaning the spirit of the Messiah ["the spirit of Adam" in the parallel passage, Midr. Teh. to cxxxix. 5; both readings are essentially the same], of whom it is said (Isa. xi. 2), 'And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.'" This contains the kernel of Philo's philosophical doctrine of the creation of the original man. He calls him the idea of the earthly Adam, while with the rabbis the (spirit of Adam) not only existed before the creation of the earthly Adam, but was preexistent to the whole of creation. From the preexisting Adam, or Messiah, to the Logos is merely a step.
the "ah" ending indicates that this word is feminine?2 Chokhmah - "Wisdom"
It's feminine. The "ah" ending doesn't always work.theterminator wrote:the "ah" ending indicates that this word is feminine?2 Chokhmah - "Wisdom"