Normativas para hablar sobre Dios: Presencia de los platónicos τύποι περὶ θεολογίας en los κεφάλαια περὶ αἰτίου de Filón de Alejandría

Abstract

Within his comment to Gn 6,7 in which Gods anger is referred Philo introduces a discussion about anthropomorphism in the Scriptures. According to the author, in order to speak properly about God, language should agree with two capital principles (κεφάλαια περὶ αἰτίου), namely, "God is not like man" (principle in Nm 23,19) and "God will educate his son like men do" (Dt 8,5). In this paper, the purpose is to show that norms indicating how to speak about God exposed by Philo in his treatise The Immutability of God (Deus) § 53- are an argumentative resource of Platonic origin. In order to show this, I present an examination on the remarkable correspondence I see between how Philo treats anthropomorphism in the treatise and the section 2.377-3.414 of Republic, in which Plato builds τύποι περὶ θεολογίας in order to ensure an adequate production of representations of gods.

Within his comment to Gn 6,7 – in which God’s anger is referred – Philo introduces a discussion about anthropomorphism in the Scriptures. According to the author, in order to speak properly about God, language should agree with two capital principles (κεφάλαια περί αἰτίου), namely, “God is not like man” (Nm 23,19) and God “will educate his son like men do” (Dt 8,5). In this paper, the purpose is to show that norms indicating how to speak about God – exposed by Philo in his treatise The Immutability of God (Deus) § 53- are an argumentative resource of platonic origin. In order to show this, I present an examination on the remarkable correspondence I see between how Philo treats anthropomorphism in the treatise and the section 2.377-3.414 of Republic, in which Plato builds τύποι περί θεολογίας in order to ensure an adequate production of representations of gods.