Philo of Alexandria was a prominent Jewish philosopher who lived from approximately 20 BC to 50 AD. Residing in the vibrant Egyptian city of Alexandria—the intellectual capital of the Roman Empire—he served as a crucial bridge between Hebrew Scripture and Greek philosophy. Philo is best known for his attempt to harmonize the Torah with the teachings of Plato and the Stoics, a mission that deeply influenced early Christian thought.
A Leader of the Jewish Community
Philo was not just a scholar hidden away in a library; he was a significant political leader. He belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish families in Alexandria. His brother, Alexander the Alabarch, was a high-ranking official, and his nephew, Tiberius Julius Alexander, eventually became the Roman governor of Judea and Egypt.
In AD 38, Philo led a dangerous diplomatic mission to Rome. Following a series of violent anti-Jewish riots in Alexandria, he traveled to petition Emperor Caligula for the protection of Jewish rights and to protest the forced placement of statues of the Emperor in synagogues. Though the mission was terrifying and Caligula was famously unpredictable, Philo’s courage helped preserve the identity of his people during a time of intense persecution.
The Master of Allegory
Philo’s greatest contribution to history was his method of interpreting the Bible. He believed that the Old Testament contained deep, hidden philosophical truths that weren’t always obvious on the surface. To uncover these, he used allegory—a method of treating physical stories as symbols for spiritual or psychological realities.
For Philo, the characters in Genesis were more than historical figures; they represented the journey of the human soul. For example, he might interpret the journey of Abraham as the soul leaving behind sensory perceptions to seek the light of God. While he maintained that the literal laws of Moses must be kept, he argued that the “soul” of the law was found in its philosophical meaning.
Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.
The Architect of the Logos
Philo is most famous for his development of the “Logos” (the Word). Because he believed God was completely transcendent and “other,” he struggled to explain how a holy God could touch a physical, messy world. He proposed that the Logos was the intermediary—the “mind” of God expressed in creation.
While Philo remained a committed Jew and never (to our knowledge) met Jesus, his vocabulary provided a framework for the early Church. When the Apostle John wrote that “the Word [Logos] became flesh,” he was using a term that Philo had already made famous in the Mediterranean world, but John gave it a revolutionary new meaning by identifying the Logos as a person, Jesus Christ.
Philo’s Lasting Influence
Interestingly, Philo’s work was largely preserved by the Christian Church rather than by later Jewish tradition. Early Church Fathers like Origen and Ambrose of Milan were deeply influenced by his writing style and his focus on the spiritual meaning of Scripture. Philo showed the ancient world that one could be a person of deep faith while also engaging with the highest levels of human reason and philosophy.
Romans 1:20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
The Takeaway
Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish philosopher and leader who spent his life showing that the God of the Bible is the source of all true wisdom and reason. By blending the Greek pursuit of logic with the Hebrew commitment to revelation, he created an intellectual language that the early Christians would eventually use to explain the significance of Jesus to the entire world.
