Apophatic and Anthropomorphic Visions of God in Philo of Alexandria

Scott D. Mackie

Chapman University , United States
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9686-8466


Abstract

Despite his core theological convictions that God is incorporeal, formless, invisible, and unchangeable, in some of his most carefully crafted visio Dei texts Philo portrays God “changing shape” and temporarily adopting a human form. However, these are only “seeming appearances” and actually involve God projecting a human-shaped “impression,” or “appearance” (φαντασία) from his shapeless, immaterial being. By accommodating the overwhelming reality of God’s being to the perceptual and conceptual limitations of the human percipient, these docetic theophanies allow humans to more confidently relate to the deity, while at the same time preserving God’s absolute transcendence and apophatic otherness.

Keywords:

Philo of Alexandria, apophaticism, negative theology , anthropomorphism, transcendence, ineffability, theophany, visions of God, mysticism, allegorical interpretation

Sources

Philo in Ten Volumes (and Two Supplementary Volumes) (trans. F.H. Colson – G.H. Whittaker – R. Marcus; Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1929–1962).

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Published
2023-10-03


Mackie, S. D. (2023). Apophatic and Anthropomorphic Visions of God in Philo of Alexandria. Verbum Vitae, 41(3), 529–546. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.16317

Scott D. Mackie  scottdmackie@gmail.com
Chapman University

Scott D. Mackie teaches biblical studies at Chapman University. In addition to Eschatology and Exhortation in the Epistle to the Hebrews (WUNT 2/223; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), The Letter to the Hebrews: Critical Readings (T&T Clark Critical Readings in Biblical Studies; London: Bloomsbury, 2018), and Ancient Texts, Papyri, and Manuscripts (ed. David T. Runia, Alan T. Farnes, and Scott D. Mackie; NTTSD 64; Leiden: Brill, 2022), he has written a number of essays, which have appeared in such journals as New Testament Studies, Journal of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Journal for the Study of Judaism, Studia Philonica Annual, and Journal of Theological Studies.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9686-8466



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