20 BC – 50 AD

Philo of Alexandria and Hellenized Judaism

The Jewish thinker Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Jesus, lived in Alexandria and wrote a detailed commentary on the Pentateuch. In it he sought to reconcile the Jewish Scriptures with the teaching of the Platonic Academy, without denying the literal meaning of the Law. He presented Moses as a teacher of the highest philosophy.

His ideas became one of the sources of Christian thought, and his works were held in respect by Christian theologians.