God's Acting, Man's Acting: Tradition and Philosophy in Philo of Alexandria (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9789004162709)

The topic tackled in this book is Philo's account of the complex, double-sided nature of God's acting - the two-sided coin of God as transcendent yet immanent, unknowable yet revealed, immobile yet creating - and also the two sides of acting in humans - who, in an attempt to imitate God, both contemplate and produce.
In both contexts, divine and human, Philo considers that it would not be proper to give precedence to either side - the result would be barren. God's acting and man's acting are at the same time both speculative and practical, and it is precisely out of this co-presence that the order of the world unfolds. Philo considers this two-sided condition as a source of complexity and fertility. Francesca Calabi argues that, far from being an irresolvable contradiction, Philo's two-fold vision is the key to understanding his works. It constitutes a richness that rejects reduction to apparently incompatible forms and aspects.

Author: Francesca Calabi
ISBN-10: 9004162704
ISBN-13: 9789004162709
Publisher: Brill
Language: English
Published: 11/27/2007
Pages: 266
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.70h x 6.50w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2008 pg. 3