The Syncretism Between Faith And Reason--A Study On The Thought Of Philo Judaeus

The thesis focuses on one of the most famous thinkers Philo Judaeus at the Hellenistic times. It is an all-round studies in order to master the Philo's thought wholly, and then to discuss the developing direction when the ancient Greek culture and ancient Jewish culture met and began to effect mutually in order to get the bi-directional culture development at the Hellenistic Times, and then aims to find some inspiration for today's culture communication and culture syncretizing between East and West by Philo.Philo was an devout Jew who had good education in Greek philosophy. He admired Greek philosophy and even called Greek famous philosopher Plato "the most divine Plato". He also admired Moses and thought he had reached the summit of philosophy and he was the teacher of all Greek philosophers. By Philo Greek philosophy was the natural development of Mosaic philosophy. He used the allegorical interpretation to bridge and syncretize two old different culture ----Greek philosophy and Jewish Bible. By the allegorical interpretation, he read Greek philosophy into Jewish Bible, and then deduced the philosophical ideas from the Bible. Most of Philo's works were the allegorical interpretation for the Bible. He did not discuss philosophical questions systematically, but he always inserted his philosophical discussion by the inspiration from the words of Bible, that is, he put forward his philosophical ideas when he interpreted the Bible allegorically.Philo was a key figure to bridge ancient Greek culture and ancient Hebrew culture. The core of ancient Greek culture was Greek philosophy whose prominent feature was pursuing reasons. What Greeks pursued was what their logical rationality disclosed to them. The core of ancient Hebrew culture was Judaism whose prominent feature was to believe One and Only Absolute Holy God. What Hebrews pursued was what the God's revelatory principles are. By the allegorical interpretation for the Bible, Philo bridged and syncretized these two different cultures. He expressed the Jewish faith in a philosophical way while he expressed Greek philosophy in words of Bible. In another words, Philo spoke out the contents of the Bible in Greek philosophical terms and made Judaism Hellenized; at the same time, he also judaised the Greek thought. This is a bi-direction process. At last he made faith and reason syncretize together. Philo's allegorical interpretation for the Bible was the start of the allegorical interpretation for the Bible and it benefited greatly the development of Christianity doctrine. Philo's doctrine for God's nature and beings had dominated the whole philosophy history of the whole Middle Ages. What Philo did in bridging Greek culture and Hebrew culture could also give us some inspiration for today's Chinese culture and West culture meeting. We should treat today's culture communication and culture syncretization with outside foresight and great verve, to dive into this great culture communication actively. This will benefit the renovation of Chinese culture and will also benefit Chinese culture to be one of the most important cultures among the world culture in the future.