19. Alexandrian Judaism: the Precursor of Christianity

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           12 During the persecutions of Antiochus IV in Palestine (in the 160s BCE) Onias IV, the son of the high priest Onias III, escaped persecution and went to Alexandria. Ptolemy VI Philometor, the Greek king of Egypt, received him with kindness and gave him a disused Gentile temple in the town of Leontopolis. Onias converted it into a Jewish temple.  God’s sanctuary in Leontopolis was a former idol worshipping temple. This is another clue that in the Hellenistic era Judaism absorbed elements from the Gentile religions. The Jews of Alexandria were a major segment of the city population. Two major sections of the city were predominantly Jewish.There were more Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria than all the Jews in Jerusalem. The Alexandrian Jews had equal status and privileges with the Greeks of Alexandria.

      The Jewish historian Josephus wrote, “... Alexander {the Great}, upon finding the readiness of the Jews {in Egypt} in assisting him against the Egyptians, and as a reward for such assistance, gave them {the Jews} equal privileges in this city {Alexandria} with the Greeks ... his successors {the Ptolemies} ... also gave them this farther privilege that they should be called Macedonians.”  The Hellenist Jews of Alexandria were called Macedonians. This impacted the Judaism of Alexandria.
            It is because of this large number of Greek-speaking Jews that in 250 BCE King Ptolemy II Philadelphus arranged the translation of the Pentateuch into Greek (the Septuagint). This was a pivotal point in the syncretism of Judaism with the Greek culture and the Greek mystery religions. Josephus wrote that when Ptolemy Philadelphus II procured this translation he liberated about 100,000 Jews.  He redeemed them with 20 drachmas each.  Josephus wrote that Philadelphus showed “great humanity and generosity” toward the Jews. Philo praised Philadelphus as “the most distinguished {among the Ptolemies}; for all the rest of them put together scarcely did as many glorious and praiseworthy deeds as this king did by himself.” 
            The translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint) can be regarded as the conception of Christianity, because the Septuagint was the official Bible of the non-Palestinian Hellenist Jews, who brought about Gentile Christianity. The Septuagint became the Bible of all the Gentile Christians. The New Testament writers borrowed most of their Old Testament quotations from the Septuagint. The Palestinian Jews rejected the Septuagint because it deviated considerably from the Hebrew text. It contained extra books such as the Old Testament Apocrypha. The Jews rejected the Apocrypha. They did not even consider them in the meeting in Jamnia at 90 CE. The Daniel of the Septuagint contained three sections, which were not part of the Hebrew Daniel: The Prayer of Azariah and The Hymn of The Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon.  The Septuagint Psalms included an extra psalm, psalm 151. These insertions and most of the Old Testament Apocryphal books remained part of the Septuagint (the Bible of Christianity) until the Council of Trent (1545-1563 CE) removed them (the Catholics kept some of them, and called them Deutero-canonical).
            The Septuagint became an international book. Philo wrote, “The entire race of mankind might be benefited, by using these philosophical and totally beautiful commandments {the Septuagint} for the correction of their lives.”  Its translation was celebrated yearly by Hellenist Jews and Gentiles. Philo wrote, “Even to this very day, there is every year a solemn assembly held and a festival celebrated in the island of Pharos {where the lighthouse of Alexandria was located}, to which not only the Jews but a great number of persons from other nations sail across {to attend}.”  The Septuagint made available to the Gentiles the god of the Jews. It also fueled the Hellenistic Jewish movement in Alexandria and the writings of Philo, which brought about the birth of Gentile Christianity.
            Since Alexander the Great gave the Alexandrian Jews special privileges, and his successors gave them the privilege to be called Macedonians, they were by far more Hellenized than the Jews of Palestine. They studied Greek philosophy, they embraced the terms and ideas of the Stoics, of the Middle Platonists, and of Pythagoras. The Alexandrian Hellenist Jewish writers asserted that Pythagoras taught the doctrines of Judaism. They claimed that the fallen angels of God (the “sons of God” mentioned in the 6th chapter of Genesis) taught God’s doctrines to Pythagoras. They used Greek stories (which they altered to fit their message) and Greek sayings to promote Hellenistic Judaism to Gentiles. During the Christian era Paul used the same method to promote Gentile Christianity to Gentiles. He employed popular Greek beliefs and sayings to attract the Gentiles. Paul explained his method like this: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews. ... to those who are without law, as without law ... so that I might win those who are without law. ... I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel ...” (1 Corinthians 9:20-23 NASB)
            Aristobulus of Alexandria (flourished at about 150 BCE), the first Jewish “religious philosopher,” made a very affirmative evaluation of the Pythagoreans . He made extensive use of the Pythagorean numerological doctrines. Later, the writer of the apocryphal book Wisdom of Solomon, who probably was an Alexandrian Hellenist Jew,  promoted Judaism using Pythagorean beliefs.  Aristobulus wrote The Explanations to the Book of Moses, of which only short fragments have been preserved to us by Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius. Clement of Alexandria wrote that Aristobulus’ aim was “to bring the Peripatetic philosophy out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets.” In one of his surviving fragments Aristobulus made the assertion that Plato and Pythagoras borrowed much of their philosophy from an early Greek translation of Moses’ law.  (There was no Greek translation of Moses’ law before the Septuagint.) By claiming that Moses inspired Plato and Pythagoras, Aristobulus linked Judaism with Greek philosophy to win Gentiles over to Judaism. He interpreted the Pentateuch according to Greek philosophy, primarily Stoic and secondarily Platonic and Pythagorean.  He interpreted the law allegorically  to make Judaism palatable to the Gentiles. Aristobulus was one of the first Hellenist Jews to use the allegorical method of interpretation, a method founded by Plato. This method of interpretation led to the creation of Christianity. Two hundred years later, Paul used Aristobulus’ method. He, too, interpreted the law allegorically, to make his religion palatable to the Gentiles.
            Aristobulus’ efforts to popularize Judaism were not successful. At about the middle of the first century BCE the Alexandrian Greeks looked down on Judaism for its lack of philosophy. They labeled the Jews atheists because they rejected the idols. Artapanus (ca. 100 BCE), the second Jewish “religious philosopher” of Alexandria, and an apologist of Alexandrian Judaism, responded to the mockery and slander in philosophical terms. He attempted to clarify their misconceptions about Judaism and thereby gain respectability for his religion. Artapanus added to the pre-Christian foundations laid by Aristobulus. He furthered the blending of Alexandrian Judaism with the Greek culture. He wrote a novel titled Concerning the Jews (or On the Jews ). In one of the surviving fragments of this novel he focused on Moses but included many non-biblical features, which gave his story a distinctly Egyptian flavor. In this novel Moses, the originator of philosophy, emerged as the benefactor of the Egyptians. He identified Moses with the god Hermes. He wrote that Pharaoh died for blaspheming God, but Moses resurrected him. Artapanus blended Judaism with Greek mythology and with Egyptian motifs to attract Gentiles to Judaism.  He wrote that Moses invented philosophy and taught it to Orpheus: “And this Moses, they say, was the teacher of Orpheus ... and invented philosophy.”  From that time on, the Hellenist Jews of Alexandria opened the doors of their synagogues to proselytize Gentiles. They invited them to come and worship “the one God.”
            Then came Philo (ca. 20-15 BCE to 45-50 CE),  the third Jewish “religious philosopher” of Alexandria, who added to the pre-Christian foundations of Aristobulus and Artapanus. He expanded on Pythagorean numerology (the study of the occult significance of numbers). He considered the number 3 the perfect number and used it to declare that God is a trinity. He was the first to declare that God is a trinity, a doctrine that became an abomination to the Jews. (Egypt, the home of Philo, was the native land of trinities.) He aspired to advance Judaism as an attractive universal religion, which would be acceptable to the philosophically minded Gentiles of his time  and put it in competition with the contemporary Greek mystery religions. To achieve this, he promoted Judaism as a mystery religion. He reinterpreted the Old Testament in terms of Greek philosophy, using the allegorical system of Plato. His interpretation departed from the Judaism of Jerusalem. As we will examine later, Philo’s writings brought forth Gentile Christianity.
(Continue reading  in How Philo Laid the Foundations of Christianity.)

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