Philosophical cosmology and religious polemic: The “worship of creation” in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and the Wisdom of Solomon

Emma Wasserman

doi:10.1177/09518207211041308

Philosophical cosmology and religious polemic: The “worship of creation” in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and the Wisdom of Solomon

Emma Wasserman

School of Arts and Sciences, Religion

Rutgers, The State University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article treats Hellenistic Jewish literature that ridicules the alleged worship of the elements, the heavens, the heavenly bodies, or other “parts” of the cosmos, especially as developed in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and Ps-Solomon. It is argued that such claims constitute a distinctive sub-type of religious polemic that draws on and adapts from Platonic and Stoic traditions of cosmology. Such polemics are most clearly developed in Philo’s treatises and in chapter 13 of the Wisdom of Solomon, but they also appear in more abbreviated form in the fragments of Philo of Byblos and Aristobulus. I suggest that these traditions of invective may bear on the interpretation of Rom 1:19–23, but only in an indirect way.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	6-28
Number of pages	23
Journal	Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
Volume	31
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/09518207211041308
State	Published - Sep 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Religious studies

Keywords

Aristobulus
Philo of Alexandria
Philo of Byblos
Romans 1
Wisdom of Solomon
idolatry
philosophical cosmology

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10.1177/09518207211041308

Cite this

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Philosophical cosmology and religious polemic: The “worship of creation” in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and the Wisdom of Solomon

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

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