"Philo’s Ethical Discourse: Living in the Power of Piety" Now Available

Philo of Alexandria was a Hellenistic Jew, a contemporary of Jesus and Paul. In his writings he interprets the Pentateuch allegorically and philosophically, especially Genesis. The book, "Philo’s Ethical Discourse: Living in the Power of Piety" by Sr. Nelida Naveros Cordova, CDP, shows Philo’s presentation of his ethical teaching in a language that was familiar to his Greek and Jewish audiences. He promoted the observance of the Mosaic Law (the Decalogue) and the practice of virtues within the context of Greek philosophical ethical systems and Hellenistic Jewish tradition. When reading this book, the reader is transported to the complex world of the first century C.E., the same world of Jesus and Paul, and comes to understand that early Hellenistic Jewish writers were not isolated thinkers; rather their thinking and writings were very much influenced by their larger Greek context. Within the complexity of that world, Philo was able to exhort faithfulness to God and speak of God’s love and mutual love among people. This book offers a window through which the reader can see and have a picture of what early Christianity in the first century was and also compare Philo’s ethics with Paul’s teaching about virtues and other ancient writers.