"cosmology" as a Key to the Thought-world of Phil0 of Alexandria1

Much of the charm of the "allegorical method" lies in the fact that under its influence difficult texts that seem to evoke the deepest truths and inconsistencies turn out to point subtly to higher things. In a word, difficulties dissolve. The negative side of this is that not only the difficulties of the text dissolve, but so also does the original meaning. Applied enthusiastically, the allegorical method turns a text into a cryptogram which points directly to the "higher truths" that the interpreter wishes his audience to consider. The text can thereby become a vehicle for the thoughts of the interpreter, rather than those of the original author. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria was one such enthusiastic practitioner of the allegorical method. The OT became for him a vehicle with which he could present his oyn ideas-ideas that were congenial to his time and locale. They were, in fact, also congenial to a number of prominent Christian thinkers in the early and medieval church. However, the modern reader, Christian or otherwise, often finds Philo anything but congenial. Philo's world of thought appears to be an alien and frustratingly inconsistent universe that moves according to unfamiliar principles. Indeed, one of the main challenges of modern research into Philo is to understand how his thought-world fits together, to perceive the underlying principles behind what he says. The present essay has grown out of research into this question. In it, I investigate the possibility that Philo's cosmology may provide the unifying key to unlock the mysteries of his thoughtworld. "Cosmology" is, of course, a word that can be used to