VI. Process Whereby the Jews Changed Their Anthropology

1. SHIFTING FROM THE ANCESTRAL FOUNDATIONS

Commendably the Jews held tenaciously to their monotheism. On this they never yielded, never ceasing to denounce the multiple gods of the polytheistic nations. But they began to borrow Greek terms to expound their own distinctive beliefs. In the Septuagint translation, for example, they did not coin new Greek terms, but employed existing Greek ideology, thus opening the door to misunderstanding, confusion, and compromise.CFF1 649.4

Next, they found and studied those Greek philosophers who had risen above idol veneration and worshiped the one invisible God. They then sought to show that the supreme god of the philosophers is actually the same as the one Supreme God of the Hebrews.CFF1 650.1

Finally, they began to present their beliefs in accommodated philosophical form. For instance, they attempted to show that the Moses story of Creation really sets forth the best in pagan cosmogony. They felt that with God as Creator there was a basis of kinship here, and common ground. And there was much emphasis on—divine wisdom, as in the apocalyptic “Wisdom” literature (the collected sayings and parables of Israel’s sages), ^{1212) For example, The Wisdom of Solomon For whoso despiseth wisdom and nurture, he is miserable, and their hope is vain, their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable:
The Apocrypha : King James Version. 1995 (Wis 3:11-12). For he shall rend them, and cast them down headlong, that they shall be speechless; and he shall shake them from the foundation; and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be in sorrow; and their memorial shall perish.
The Apocrypha : King James Version. 1995 (Wis 4:19), in the Apocrypha, Greek and English, Septuagint Version, pp. 56, 58.} appearing about this time, which paralleled certain pagan positions.CFF1 650.2

2. PRESENTED RELIGIOUS VIEWS IN PHILOSOPHICAL SETTING

The Alexandrian Jews did not repudiate Greek philosophy, but used it to set forth their own viewpoint. They made it clear that, while the Jews rejected the heathen deities, they were not atheists. Instead, they sought to present their religion as a superior “philosophy,” somewhat akin to Platonic philosophy, which they often cited. That was the situation when PHILO (c. 20 B.C.-c. A.D. 50) appeared, and carried the principle of synthesis to its disastrous ultimate lengths. And this involved in particular a radical departure on the nature and destiny of man—or their anthropology.CFF1 650.3

3. TRANSMITTED FROM JEWS TO CHRISTIANS

The apocryphal literature was often characterized by weird, cryptic, and mysterious but intriguing imagery. Nevertheless it exerted a widespread influence. Apocalyptic imagination was given full rein, and there were multiple assurances of the restoration of Israel through divine judgments and supernatural intervention, destined to end the reign of sin and establish God’s kingdom. As stated, fourteen of these apocryphal writings were included, in whole or part, in the canon list of the Greek Septuagint of Alexandria. And as mentioned, these were later incorporated in Jerome’s Vulgate, and finally by the Roman Catholic Church in the Douay Version of Counter Reformation fame. That is the line of transmission from Jewish to Christian ranks.CFF1 650.4

As one able writer aptly put it, the apocalyptic imagination “swept the strings,” and “soared on the wings of speculation.” While the Sacred Canon had closed, pseudonymous writers continued to assume the prophetic role and the predictive style, often, as mentioned, feigning the name of a former prophet or leader in order to obtain prestige—such as “Enoch,” “Baruch,” “Solomon,” “Ezra.” And though these pseudepigraphal writings did not find their way into the canon, they were widely read notwithstanding, some being quoted even more widely than the incorporated apocryphal books, strange as it may seem.CFF1 651.1

4. PHILO FUSES IT INTO A SYSTEM

Such was the situation when Philo of Alexandria appeared on the scene, which was now all set for revolutionary “advances”—or at least for sweeping changes. In him this Alexandrian trend came to a climax, and sporadic thinking on the Innate Immortality of the soul and the Eternal Torment of the wicked was fused into a movement, a system, and a school of thought. And students came from all parts to study under him. A revolutionary change of thinking was taking place.CFF1 651.2

Let us now note these general developments in more specific form as they pertain to the soul, the hereafter, and the unseen world.CFF1 651.3