The Holy Logos in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria

0451974 - FLÚ 2016 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Hoblík, Jiří
The Holy Logos in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria.
Communio Viatorum. Roč. 56, č. 3 (2014), s. 248-266. ISSN 0010-3713
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GBP401/12/G168
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : Philo of Alexandria * Ancient Jewish philosophy * Logos * holiness
Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

This study looks at the impact that the study of the Hebrew bible had on the philosophical thinking of the most important Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria. This impact is demonstrated using the example of the motif of holiness in relation to the concept of the Logos. Only rarely did Philo directly call the Logos 'holy', perhaps because he called the Torah the 'Holy Logos' in connection with the Mystery tradition. For Philo, the holiness of Logos was not the question, although there was a significant association. This is clear where the Logos is symbolized by a priest, where it acts as an agent that causes revelations and miracles, but also through its connection with God. The Logos appears supremely as the highest sub-divine power of reason in Quaestiones et solutiones in Exodum, where it is described as an agent of sacred action in the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem, where the processes of the cosmos were represented. The transcendent character of the Logos as externalized as a character of God's reason also involves a crossing distance between God and the world that in its paradoxical character closely corresponds to its holiness.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0253026