God's Acting, Man's Acting: Tradition and Philosophy in Philo of AlexandriaThe topic tackled in this book is Philo's account of the complex, double-sided nature of God's acting - the two-sided coin of God as transcendent yet immanent, unknowable yet revealed, immobile yet creating - and also the two sides of acting in humans - who, in an attempt to imitate God, both contemplate and produce. In both contexts, divine and human, Philo considers that it would not be proper to give precedence to either side - the result would be barren. God's acting and man's acting are at the same time both speculative and practical, and it is precisely out of this co-presence that the order of the world unfolds. Philo considers this two-sided condition as a source of complexity and fertility. Francesca Calabi argues that, far from being an irresolvable contradiction, Philo's two-fold vision is the key to understanding his works. It constitutes a richness that rejects reduction to apparently incompatible forms and aspects. |
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God's Acting, Man's Acting: Tradition and Philosophy in Philo of Alexandria Francesca Calabi No preview available - 2008 |
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Abraham according activity Adam and Eve angels archetype Archytas aspects attributes autonomous biblical Calabi Callicratides Cher cherubim Christian clarified connection contemplation cosmos created creation creative D. T. Runia daemons Delatte demiurge Deus Didaskalikos Dieu Dillon distinction divine earth Ecphantus essence Essenes Eve’s evil exegesis existence Filone di Alessandria Galen Genesis God’s Hellenistic human hypothesis ideas imitation intellect interpretation Judaism king knowledge light logos means mediating Middle Platonic Middle Platonists Migr mortals Moses nature negative theology Nikiprowetzky noetic one’s Opif Origen Parmenides passage perceived Philo of Alexandria Philon d'Alexandrie philosophy pleasure Plutarch possible powers Praem principle Pythagorean quoted reference regard relationship role sense Septuagint Siegert snake Somn soul speaks Spec SPhA sphere Stobaeus Stoic Studies tetragrammaton theme Therapeutae things Timaeus transcendency unknowable virtue vision vita contemplativa Wolfson words