Philo of Alexandria: Philosopher, Mystic and Defender of His People Lecture 1 8 20 2 14

This is the first of an 8 part lectures series on the life and times of Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE to c. 50 CE) who is considered by many scholars to have been the founder of religious philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This first lecture series looks at the history and culture of the Jews of Egypt and Alexandria in the Second Temple period.

[@MatthewDanielsTV]

I am SOOOOOO glad I found your channel. These lectures are amazing. Thank you for the time and energy you have put into documenting and sharing this vital information. Your work is greatly appreciated.

[@FloridaMugwump]

I enjoy coming back to listening to Rabbi Troster. It's like meeting old friends again.

[@Epileptisk]

mugwump666 Yes, same here. Two years ago I listened through all these recordings, and since then I have been going back sometimes to relisten... and there they are Troster and his pupils, It really feels like I know them a tiny bit.

[@fratertenc7589]

Really appreciate this as a Gentile (considering Jewish conversion) who is currently interested in Philo's information on the Essene Jews and their potential connection with the Aten cult of Egypt under the 18th Dynasty... hrmmm. G-d bless, Rabbi.
-Chris

[@christopherpetersen4671]

Orthodox Christian here. I'm just getting into Philo. I found this lecture to be very informative on Hellenistic Judaism, Philo, and his times.

[@josephrawlins]

Interesting. Good conversation.

[@ezrapound6063]

Great talk.

[@liberalinoklahoma1888]

Philo lived during the supposedly life of Jesus and went to Jerusalem but doesn't mention him !?!?

[@pasquino0733]

It would be great if you could hand a microphone to the readers, so your online audience can listen without watching the screen for the primary source material.

[@tbillyjoeroth]

How is the lecture titled "Philo....."? Seems like a history of the whole Mediterranean, including Cleopatra etc etc ad nauseum. When do we get to Philo? Maps of Alexandria? WTH?

[@mieliav]

as a college student, I always prefer the lecturers who give extensive background!

[@approvedofGod]

You really need to brush up on Philo and his contributions to Christianity. This is why he is still remembered today.

[@approvedofGod]

Nice presentation, but very generic! There is a lot more to Philo than what the presenter alludes to. Sorry. This presenter, I might add, is not the only one who does this. Most teachers on Philo only teach the most basic of his ideas without mentioning the influence he had on institutionalized Christianity.

[@user-sw5bq3ek8q]

if macedonians wer not greeks, why Alexander the Grate had a greek name? why Alexander's father and his grand fathers had greek names? why all Alexander's colonies wer "greek speaking colonies" and not "macedonian speaking colonies" ? why the epistoles of PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS in NEW TESTAMENT are written in greek language and not in macedonian language?

[@ElCineHefe]

ΑΝΤΩΝΗΣ ΣΜΥΡΝΙΟΣ - Because their names were transliterated into the Greek language, in which the records were written.
You'll also see the name Jesus Christ transliterated into English, knowing that it was Iousos Christos in Greek. It depends on the language of who is making the record.

[@mieliav]

the Macedonians (starting w/ Philip II) claimed to be greek, wanted to be greek, spoke a dialect of greek. at the time, 'greek' was synonymous w/ 'cultured'.

[@ceh5526]

Everyone spoke Greek. Paul may not have know Macedonian, I guess

[@boliussa]

What does a rabbi know about Philo anyway!! almost never hear any rabbi talking about Philo.

[@pirbird14]

According to Dr, Joseph Abramson, Philo was ignored by Jewish thinkers until the 19th century. Who Was Philo Judaeus of Alexandria? Dr. Henry Abramson

[@boliussa]

@@pirbird14 The term "jewish thinkers" is such a general term it's pretty useless. There may be academics in jewish studies departments that have an interest in him but not rabbis(from time to time an academic happens to be a rabbi but it's coincidental). And there was no such thing as jewish academia in the 18th century! Orthodox judaism had rabbis writing philosophical works for centuries but they aren't interested in philo to this day.

[@pirbird14]

@@boliussa You'd have to take that up with Dr. Abramson

[@boliussa]

@@pirbird14 that's up to him, if he looks at comments or not. (And often he does). But if you are so desperate for him to reply to that then you can try 'taking it up with him'. I wasn't asking you where to 'take it up'

[@mikedunningham9614]

Did this intelligent, centrally placed gentleman write of the complete truth regarding Jewish history? Did he ,as a contemporary, purposely disregard Jesus. Did he purposely discard the raising of the dead, the sun sitting still in the sky, the resurrection. The dozens of authors of the day were obviously fast asleep.