Plato, Philo, and Paul: The Influence of Platonic Thought on Paul's Theosophy

As I read Phaedo by Plato, I realized the similarities between Plato's choice of words and the writings of Saint Paul in the New Testament. There were so many concepts common to both writers that I could not dismiss their existence as coincidence. As a Protestant, my religious philosophy, doctrines, and beliefs depend on the validity and sanctity of the New Testament. I began to wonder if Paul's writings express an influence from Plato's philosophical beliefs. If these influences exist, do they negate the basis of my personal beliefs? Before I began this study, I had no knowledge of any potential extra-biblical influences, except for translational issues. The bulk of my Biblical instruction was strictly from the Bible, and a modern interpretation of the scriptures. The translation issues I consider insignificant. The ancient texts are available, and can be studied by any person and translated "correctly." In my mind, setting aside religious and philosophical judgment, I am satisfied with the accuracy and veracity of the modern Bible as a complete work of literature.

As I began my research in the philosophical similarities between Plato and Paul, I discovered that there is quite a bit of research into (and debate over) the so-called "Platonism of Paul." The current research, centered on the rhetoric, writing, and grammatical style used by Paul, focuses on the ancient Greek texts and extra-biblical accounts of the Pauline era. To place Paul's writing in a historic context for the reader, Paul of Tarsus (d. 64 A.D.) was a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth (d. 33 A.D.), the Twelve Apostles, the noted historian Josephus (37 A.D. - c. 100 A.D.), and a Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, Philo Judaeus (20 B.C. - 50 A.D.). Philo is one of the major Greek writers whose manuscripts, preserved through the centuries, are available to study. His writings include treatises on philosophy as well as commentary on the Hebrew law. Philo is the first writer to link Jewish law and wisdom literature with Greek wisdom literature (Schwartz). Reading some of Philo's work, I found that his writing was very similar in language style to the Old Testament. At the same time, I could feel undertones of Platonism in the text. Philo considered Plato second only to Moses in philosophical importance, so the Platonic tone of his work is understandable. Moses had a distinct advantage over Plato; he was (quite literally), taught by God on Mount Sinai and in the confines of the tabernacle (Ex. 3, Ex.20, Ex. 33). Philo equates Moses' experiences with God to Plato's quest for the Good (Wilson 153). Philo considers Plato's writings to be sacred, and uses Plato's concepts to defend the laws and customs of the Jewish people (Benson). Philo also contends that the Greek philosophers derived their "wisdom" from Moses and the Laws of God. Jerome, the Catholic historian, includes him as a father of the Christian Church; there is even some Church folklore that Philo eventually became a Christian.

While Paul and Philo were contemporaries, there is no primary evidence indicating that they ever met or corresponded. However, if we examine their education, their writing styles, their travels, and their common heritage, the probable influence of Philo (and by extension, Plato) on Paul becomes startlingly clear. My theory is that Philo's writings were the medium of transmission for Plato's ideas to the Apostle Paul. Historically, we know that Philo was born and raised in Alexandria, home of the Great Library of Alexandria, which was still in existence during Philo's lifetime. He was educated in the Greek tradition, attending a gymnasium, and learned declamation from a rhetor and quite possibly another philosopher (Yonge, Benson, Wilson 65). His brother, Alexander (Gaius Julius Alexander Lysimachus), was the father of King Herod Agrippa II, who interviewed Saint Paul; Paul's speech to King Agrippa is recorded in Acts 26 (Smith).

Philo's declamation training is evident, given the autobiographical record of his travel to Rome to plead a case before Emperor Gaius "Caligula". (His selection to lead the delegation is probably also a reflection of his family ties to the Roman government.) The deliberate thought and structure of his writing is such that Saint Jerome, writing in Lives of Illustrious Men, records, "...there is a proverb among the Greeks: 'Either Plato philonized, or Philo platonized;' that is, either Plato followed Philo, or Philo, Plato, so great is the similarity of ideas and language" (Jerome Ch. XI). Philo's writing demonstrates a deliberate and thoughtful study of the Hebrew Pentateuch (the first five books of the modern Old Testament). Philo spent several years traveling the world, and went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the Jewish Temple. Philo's usage and development of allegorical interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures is the basis for much of the doctrinal and theological writings of Christianity during the Middle Ages; his influence on Scriptural interpretation continues even to this day (Benson, Schwartz).

Leaving Philo at Jerusalem, let us turn to the life of Paul of Tarsus. Tarsus was a university town, renowned for its university and its rhetorical schools (Baird). As Paul was growing up, he not only learned Hebrew, but Greek as well. By his own account, Paul studied the Hebrew laws diligently; becoming a devout Pharisee, and eventually traveled to Jerusalem to study with the legendary Rabban Gamaliel (the Elder) (Acts 22.3). Gamaliel the Elder was the first rabbi given the honorific, "Rabban." Gamaliel was the master of the Hillel school, a center for rabbinical study. Simeon ben Gamaliel, his son, records in the Talmud that there were 500 students of the Talmud (oral law) and 500 students of Greek wisdom enrolled at the school (circa 40 CE) (Mishnah Sotah 49b). The historical records are unclear as to when the study of Greek wisdom began in Jerusalem; the spread of Hellenism in the wake of Alexander the Great's conquests certainly brought the Hebrews into contact with Greek language and culture (Columbia Encyclopedia). During the time of Jesus, there was a long-standing debate over the translation of the Torah and other Jewish law into Greek and/or other languages. Based on Philo's writings, one can infer that he might have been involved with the debate by shipping his manuscripts to Jerusalem. His arguments concerning the interpretation of scripture are in line with the Pharisaical beliefs of the time. I can imagine Paul and Gamaliel sitting in the courtyard of the Hillel School, discussing Philo's Commentaries on the Hebrew Law.

Having brought together the influences of Plato, Philo, and Paul, let us examine excerpts from their writings and see the common threads behind their individual stitches in the cloth of philosophy. Plato writes in Sophist that the Sophists of his day were "imitators of realities"; Paul, in an ironic twist of Plato's comment, commands the Ephesians and Thessalonians both to be "imitators of God," (Winter 88, 1 Thess. 1.6, Eph. 5.1) thus living in pursuit of the truth of Plato's "Good." Paul writes, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ... and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it [the member that suffers]; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it [the member that rejoices]. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor. 12.12, 26-27; see also Rom. 12.4-5). Socrates says this in Book V of The Republic, "For example, if the finger of one of us is wounded, the entire community...is made aware, and all of it [the community] feels the pain as a whole." (Powell) Paul writes, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1.21). Socrates, speaking in Apologia, says, "I say that to die is gain." Paul writes, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Cor. 3.3) Socrates, speaking in Plato's Phaedo: "For whence come wars, and fightings, and factions? Whence but from the body and the lusts of the body?" Paul writes, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Cor. 13:12) Socrates, again in Phaedo, takes the other side of the argument: "I am very far from admitting that he who contemplates existence through the medium of ideas, sees them only 'through a glass darkly,' any more than he who sees them in their working and effects."

There are many more examples of Biblical parallels between Platonian philosophy and the theosophy (philosophy based on a divine revelation of wisdom) of Paul. Paul echoes Plato in the use of a tent as a metaphor for the human body and his description of Christ as the "head of the body [of Christ]." Paul and Philo both use the metaphor of a race to describe the life that a person should live. Coupled with his strong political and religious links to Jerusalem, evidence therefore exists that Philo exerted some influence on Paul. Does the evidence herein detract from the sanctity or truth of the Scripture? By no means! Truth remains; truth does not depend on whose hand dipped the quill in the ink, but in the essence of the thought. Paul of Tarsus was simply the right man at the right time to translate the ancient Hebrew traditions into the contemporary world of Greek wisdom and Roman dominance.

Without Paul's deliberate development of Christianity, the Church, as known today, would not exist. In my opinion, without the influence of Philo, Paul would not have been able to cross the boundaries between so many cultures and belief systems. Paul expounded on the foundations of Jewish written and oral law, Philo's allegorical interpretation of scripture, and the teachings of Jesus as transmitted to him by the early Church. The result is a thoughtful, logical, inspired explanation and defense of the Christian belief system as based on Jewish law - the Theosophy of Paul.

Discussion of the Paper and Summary

I was reading a philosophy assignment on Plato, specifically the Phaedo, when I realized that I had heard one of the phrases that Plato used in the Bible -- in the writings of Saint Paul. I was surprised to find the same phrases used in both places, so I decided to research the topic and learn about the similarities between Paul and Plato. I was also curious to know if any links existed between Paul's writings and Plato.

The link that I uncovered in my research was the 1^st century author Philo Judaeus, of Alexandria. Philo and Paul faced off against the same cultural influences, and had similar approaches to dealing with the atheism and polytheism of their time. Both men were expatriate Jews (Paul was from Tarsus, in the Roman province of Cicilia; Philo was from Alexandria, Egypt.) Both grew up in centers of education and trade. Both men traveled the world extensively, and looked to Jerusalem as the center of their religious thought. Paul studied there with Gamaliel the Elder, while Philo's formal education was centered in Alexandria.

Behind the scenes in all of this research is the history of debate over translating the Hebrew Torah into other languages. The Greek version (known to us as the Septuagint version) was grudgingly accepted, but only because Greek was a better language than Aramaic, according to the Hebrew Talmud. The belief that the Laws should only be read in Hebrew remains in the Orthodox Jewish communities to this day. In the days of Paul and Philo, the argument was quite heated; based on some of the comments Philo made in his commentaries, I believe that Philo was directly involved in the debate. Greek was the language of educated men, government agents, and traders. Why shouldn't the Torah be translated into Greek, so that more men may come to know God?

This same type of argument is found in Paul's writing, as he had to defend the Gentiles from the legalistic Jews that wanted to force them to be circumcised and to follow the Laws of Moses. Paul argued that the "new covenant" exempted the "Christian" from the covenant provisions of the Torah. Paul used allegorical interpretation of the Law to make his case for the divinity and the ministry of Jesus, as well as to cross cultural boundaries between Jews, Romans, Greeks, and other cultures that he dealt with.

Philo believed that Plato had been divinely inspired in his writing, and believed him to be second in importance only to Moses in terms of philosophical importance. Moses, if you remember, was the first man in the Bible record to receive the Laws of God from God directly. Paul probably studied Plato; whether his study was in Tarsus or in Jerusalem is unknown. However, the Philonic/Platonic influence in Paul's writing is very clear. There are several examples of exact phrases or concepts used by Plato that were re-written by Paul in the main body of my paper.

The main thrust of my paper is that even as we rely on the work of others to prove our theses today, so too, did Paul and Philo rely on the writings of others to prove their beliefs and provide examples that readers could understand. Why do we rely on the work of others? To establish, as Cicero writes, "a process of reasoning that leads from things perceived to something not previously perceived..." Or as Quintilian writes, "a clear proof...is a method of proving what is not certain by means of what is certain."
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