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Philo of Alexandria, The Migration of Abraham 69:
They (= the Chaldeans) glorified visible existence and had no conception of what was invisible and intelligible, but in exploring the order in numbers. … and the sympathy between heaven and earth, they supposed that the cosmos itself was god, thereby unlawfully likening what has come into existence to the one who had made it.
Philo of Alexandria, Congregation 49:
He (= Nahor) does not emigrate from the land of Chaldea, that is he does not sever himself from the study of astrology, but instead honours what has come into existence instead of the maker and the cosmos instead of God, and regards the cosmos itself as an autonomous god and not as a work of God who is absolute in power.
Philo of Alexandria, Questions on Genesis 3.1:
The “land of the Chaldeans” (Genesis 15:7) is symbolically mathematical theory, of which astronomy is part. And in this field the Chaldeans labour not unsuccessfully or slothfully. … The Chaldean doctrine … persuades men to honour and worship the works of the world instead of the creator of the world.
Philo of Alexandria, On the Creation 2 (7):
There are some people who, having more admiration for the cosmos than for its maker, declared the former both ungenerated and eternal, while falsely and impurely attributing to God much idleness. What they should have done was the opposite, namely be astounded at God’s powers as Maker and Father, and not show more reverence for the cosmos than is its due.
Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Genesis 15:7
Philo of Alexandria, Congregation 49
Philo of Alexandria, The Migration of Abraham 69
Philo of Alexandria, On the Creation 2 (7)
Philo of Alexandria, Questions on Genesis 3.1
Bibliography
| Colson and Whitaker 1958 | Colson, F. H. and G. H. Whitaker. Philo. 10 Vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1958. |
Amar Annus
URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001167.php
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