Le De somniis est le traité que Philon d’Alexandrie consacre aux récits bibliques de rêves. Notre travail ne s’arrête pas au seul thème du rêve, mais cherche à étudier ce traité dans son ensemble et à enquêter sur la façon dont Philon écrit son exégèse et élabore sa réflexion. En effet, c’est en transposant le vocabulaire de la philosophie et en le renouvelant que l’exégète parvient à livrer un enseignement fidèle au monothéisme ; à l’inverse, c’est en effectuant un travail sur le texte scripturaire que l’Alexandrin rend la Bible conforme à son argumentation. Pour mieux comprendre comment Philon compose son commentaire, nous étudions tout d’abord la structure du traité : nous nous demandons comment Philon parvient à lier ses exégèses les unes aux autres en un traité suivi. L’étude des citations bibliques permet ensuite de comprendre que l’exégète, tout en commentant précisément chaque mot de la Bible, construit son commentaire en réécrivant et en reformulant le texte biblique. Enfin, nous observons le travail sur la langue grecque auquel se livre Philon : les jeux de mots et les créations lexicales montrent que l’auteur réfléchit avec la langue grecque ; les mots bibliques éveillent, pour l’auteur, des réminiscences littéraires et philosophiques, grâce auxquelles il écrit son commentaire / The De somniis is the treatise that Philo of Alexandria devotes to biblical dreams. The present work does not only focus on the question of dreams, but analyses the treatise as a whole and investigates the way Philo writes his commentary and builds up his exegesis. Philo indeed transposes the vocabulary of philosophy and renews it in order to produce an appropriate discourse on monotheism; on the other hand, he rewrites the Bible to make it fit his argumentation. To better understand how Philo composes his commentary, I study first the structure of the treatise: I ask myself how Philo manages to bind together his interpretations into a literary whole. Then, the study of biblical quotations reveals that, although Philo explains carefully every biblical word, he often rewrites and rephrases the Bible. Finally, I investigate the way Philo uses the Greek language: puns and verbal creations reveal that the Greek language supports his thought. For Philo, the words of the Bible are reminiscent of Greek literature and philosophy.

This thesis is a context-sensitive study of key epistemological commitments and concerns presented in Philo’s two series of exegetical writings. The major conclusion advanced in this thesis is that two theological epistemologies, distinct yet related, can be detected among these writings. The first epistemology is specific to the Allegorical Commentary. The second epistemology is specific to the ‘Exposition of the Law.’ The epistemology of the Allegorical Commentary reflects a threefold conviction: the sovereignty of God, the creaturely contingency of the human mind and its inescapable limitations. In conversation with key epistemological notions of his day, Philo develops this threefold conviction in exegetical discourses that are grounded in Pentateuchal texts portraying the God of Moses as both possessing epistemic authority and aiding the aspiring mind to gain purification and perfection in the knowledge of God. Guided by this threefold conviction, Philo enlists key metaphors of his day – initiation into divine mysteries and divine inspiration, among others –in order to capture something of the essence of Moses’ twofold way of ascending to the divine, an approach which requires at times the enhancement of human reason and at other times the eviction of human reason. The epistemology of the ‘Exposition’ reflects Philo’s understanding of the Pentateuch as a perfect whole partitioned into three distinct yet inseverable parts. Philo’s knowledge discourses in the ‘creation’ part of the ‘Exposition’ reflect two primary movements of thought. The first is heavily invested with a Platonic reading of Genesis 1.27 while the second invests Genesis 2.7 with a mixture of Platonic and Stoic notions of human transformation and well-being. Philo’s discourses in the ‘patriarchs’ segment reflect an interest in portraying the three great patriarchs as exemplars of the virtues of instruction (Abraham), nature (Isaac), and practice (Jacob) which featured prominently in Greek models of education. In the ‘Moses’ segment of the ‘Exposition,’ many of Philo’s discourses on knowledge are marked by an interest in presenting Moses as the ideal king, lawgiver, prophet and priest who surpasses Plato’s paradigm of the philosopher-king. In keeping with this view, Philo insists that the written laws of Moses represent the perfect counterpart to the unwritten law of nature. The life and laws of Moses serve as the paradigm for Philo to understand his own experiences of noetic ascent and exhort readers to cultivate similar aspirational notions and practices.

[pt] Fílon de Alexandria, filósofo judeu do século I, surge como o primeiro pensador a tentar conciliar o conteúdo bíblico à tradição filosófica ocidental. Neste sentido, é mais conhecido por sua doutrina do Logos, sobre a qual ainda se encontram à espera de solução inúmeras controvérsias. Esta Dissertação assume a tarefa de investigar as acepções desse Logos na obra de Fílon, abordando suas relações com a tradição filosófica e com as fontes judaicas. Considera-se sua importância para teologia cristã posterior e o papel da tradição filosófica, sobretudo do platonismo e do estoicismo, na formulação da doutrina do Logos. No entanto, o pensamento filoniano ainda se mostra original e marcado por contribuições alheias à cultura helênica, a saber, judaicas. Esta combinação tem por resultado instigantes reflexões acerca de questões metafísicas, teológicas, éticas e epistemológicas da maior relevância, revelando Fílon como pensador de grande importância na História da Filosofia, pelo que a Dissertação pretende resgatar inúmeras questões que, ao que parece, ainda hoje não foram adequadamente respondidas. Também são questionados o próprio papel da filosofia na busca humana pela sabedoria e o da fé na obtenção da virtude. No que diz respeito especificamente ao Logos filoniano, ele é a ação de Deus no mundo, o instrumento da Criação, modelo do mundo e imagem de Deus, a Palavra reveladora e o único meio a partir do qual a alma humana adquire o conhecimento verdadeiro, que vem do conhecimento de Deus. Esta faculdade, porém, não pertence ao homem senão como dom divino, como graça. / [en] Philo of Alexandria, a first century Jewish philosopher, appears as the first thinker who tried to conciliate biblical contents and western philosophical tradition. In this way, he is better known by his Doctrine of the Logos, about which many controversies are still waiting to be solved. This Dissertation claims the task to examine the meanings of that Logos in Philos works, dealing with its connections to philosophical tradition and Jewish sources as well. We pay regard to its significance to Christian theology and to the role played by philosophical tradition, especially by Platonism as by Stoicism. Otherwise, the Philos thinking still shows itself original and marked by contributions external to the hellenistic culture: Jewish ones. This combination has, by result, provocative ideas on most important metaphysical, theological, ethical and epistemological questions, revealing Philo as a very weighty thinker in the History of Philosophy. For this, the Dissertation aims to restore many questions that we see not yet properly answered. Also questioned are the role played by philosophy in the human search for wisdom and the role played by faith in the attainment of virtue. More strictly concerning philonic Logos, it means Gods action in the world, an instrument for Creation, pattern and example for the world and Gods image, the revealing Word and the sole way by which human soul acquires true knowledge, that comes from the knowledge of God. This power does not belongs to man, but its a gift from God, a grace.

Interpretation of the Life of Moses according to Gregory of Nyssa and Its Inspiration by the Thought of Philo of Alexandria Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC - c. 40 CE) and his allegorical interpretation of the Bible (especially the Pentateuch) had a strong influence on early Christian writers including Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 - c. 395 CE). It is obvious that Gregory was inspired by Philo judging from the fact that Gregory's treatise The Life of Moses (De vita Moysis) has the same name and a partly similar topic as one of Philo's writings. For Gregory, Moses is an ideal example of perfect virtue which consists in a continual progression toward the Good. The main topic of the thesis is Philo's influence on Gregory's interpretation of Moses. The work discusses the following issues in the thought of both authors: the treatise De vita Moysis, the person of Moses, exegetical principles, perfection that could be demonstrated on the life of a good person, the question of knowledge and unknowability of God and the mediation between God and men. Since Gregory's reception of Philo was influenced by Origen of Alexandria, Origen's biblical exegesis and exegetical theory are also briefly presented. In the centre of the thesis, there are those questions: In what way was Gregory's concept of perfect virtue inspired by the...

Cette nouvelle édition critique du De fuga saeculi d’Ambroise de Milan repose sur la collation de nouveaux témoins manuscrits et sur la révision de ceux utilisés par C. Schenkl, dont les valeurs respectives sont évaluées à l’aide d’un stemma absent de son édition de 1897. Le texte ainsi édité est assorti d’une traduction originale en langue française. Le De fuga saeculi, œuvre spirituelle et morale publiée par Ambroise avec trois autres textes au sujet proche, est replacé dans le contexte milanais de la fin du IVe siècle : mutations des modes de vie chrétiens, intérêt pour la vie monastique, concurrence avec les partisans du néoplatonisme et devoir pastoral de guider et former la communauté d’une capitale impériale. L’enquête sur les sources révèle que le De fuga saeculi est à la fois l’héritier des traditions philosophiques platoniciennes et stoïciennes relues au prisme de la pensée de Philon d’Alexandrie, et le promoteur d’une fuite du monde spécifiquement chrétienne inspirée d’épisodes et de préceptes de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament. Le commentaire éclaire les enchaînements d’une pensée kaléidoscopique, mettant en évidence les thèmes principaux, leurs reprises et leurs variations. Est ainsi soulignée l’originalité ambrosienne de la fuga saeculi sur un sujet d’actualité à la fin du IVe siècle et au début du Ve siècle : une fuite intra-mondaine qui est différente de celle encouragée par ses contemporains, Jérôme, Paulin de Nole et Augustin. / This new critical edition of De fuga saeculi by Ambrose of Milan is based on the collation of new witness manuscripts and the revision of those used by C. Schenkl (their respective worth was examined thanks to a missing stemma in the 1897 edition). The edition is accompanied by an original French translation. A spiritual and moral work published by Ambrose along with three other texts on a similar topic, De fuga saeculi is placed in its Milanese context of the end of the 4th century : transformations in Christian ways of living, an interest in monastic life, competition with advocates of Neo-Platonism and a pastoral duty to guide and train the community of an imperial capital. An enquiry into the sources reveals that De fuga saeculi both inherits the Neo-Platonician and Stoic philosophical traditions – reinterpreted through the thought of Philo of Alexandria –, and advocates a specifically Christian escape out of the world, inspired by events and precepts from the Old and New Testaments. The commentary displays the sequences of a kaleidoscopic thought and highlights its majors themes, re-uses and variations. Inner-wordly escape is a topical issue of the late 4th and early 5th centuries, but Ambrose’s conception expressed in De fuga saeculy is original given that it differs from those of contemporary writers such as Jerome, Paulinus of Nola and Augustine.

Cette dissertation a pour objectif de fournir un éclairage nouveau sur la cosmologie philonienne à la lumière de la littérature apocalyptique judéo-chrétienne. Il s'agit reposer la question du lien entre Philon d’Alexandrie et la tradition apocalyptique judéo-chrétienne dans une optique qui se veut à la croisée de l’histoire des religions et de l’histoire de la philosophie. Après délimitation du corpus, on y aborde la question du rapport au mythe et à la théologie. La place est ensuite faite à la question des intermédiaires célestes (Anges, Logos, Esprit), ainsi qu’à la liturgie. Ce point nous mène à la figure du messie et aux raisons du silence de Philon à ce sujet. Cette étude entend ainsi porter un regard nouveau sur la pensée d’un auteur majeur de l’Antiquité qui accomplit la première grande synthèse entre le judaïsme et l’hellénisme, anticipant ainsi l’émergence des conditions métaphysiques du christianisme. / Doctorat en Philosophie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

My primary argument in this thesis is that creation theologies significantly influenced early developments in the doctrine of the Trinity, especially in Augustine of Hippo’s theology. Thus this is a work of historical theology, but I conclude with proposals for how Augustine’s theologies of creation and the Trinity can be read fruitfully with modern theology. I critically analyse developments in trinitarian theologies in light of ideas that were held about creation. These include the doctrine of creation ‘out of nothing’ and ideas about other creative acts (e.g., forming or fashioning things). Irenaeus and other early theologians posited roles for God (the Father), the Word / Son, the Spirit, or Wisdom in creative acts without working out formal views on economic trinitarian acts. During the fourth century trinitarian controversies, creation ‘out of nothing’ and ideas about ‘modes of origin’ influenced thinking on consubstantiality and relations within the Trinity. Basil of Caesarea and others also presented ideas about trinitarian acts of creation and the Trinity in hexaemeral works. I will argue that in Augustine’s views of trinitarian acts of creation, he attributes roles to God (the Father), the Word / Son, and the Spirit. In his mature theology, he attributes the giving of formless existence, differentiated existence, and perfected existence to the three Persons respectively, while depicting shared roles. He also attributes to the Spirit the giving of the capability of ‘dynamic abiding’ to creatures, which gives them agency in continuing their existence. Augustine’s theologies of creation and the Trinity were significantly influenced by his exegesis of Gen. 1, John 1. 1-3, Wisdom, and other scriptures, and his ideas resonate with the hexaemeral works of Basil and Philo of Alexandria. I argue that scholars should examine these sources and Augustine’s own hexaemeral commentaries to gain a deeper understanding of his trinitarian theology.