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Chapter 1 - Theories of Prophecy in Philo of Alexandria

from Part I - Philosophical Perspectives on Divination, Revelation, and Prophecy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

By
Elsa Giovanna Simonetti
Edited by
Elsa Giovanna Simonetti  and
Claire Hall
Elsa Giovanna Simonetti
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Claire Hall
Affiliation:
University of Durham
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Summary

While scholarship has always underlined Philo’s debt to the preceding philosophical tradition, this chapter instead intends to shed light on his critical attitude towards some key traditional aspects of prophecy and divination endorsed by Graeco-Roman thinkers. This contribution thus explores which kinds of prophecy, inside and outside the Scriptures, are dangerous and impious according to Philo, and why. Special focus is laid on: the conceptual categories of ‘truth’, ‘authority’, and ‘appropriate time’ – crucial and widespread notions in the debates on prophecy at the turn of the millennium – and on the complex relation between contingency and transcendence in Philo’s thought.

Keywords

PhiloScriptureswrong prophecyPlatonism
Type
Chapter
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Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity , pp. 17 - 31
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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