Philo

Philo of Alexandria was born in 20 BC. He was a hellenized Jew who attempted to merge and reconcile the works of the Greek poets and philosophers with the Torah. Much of his work was greeted with skepticism by other Jews, but many Christians enthusiastically accepted his works and even considered him to be Christian at heart. His works touched on platonic, stoic, Neo-Pythagorean and even Heraclitean thought. Philo was also a meticulous analyst of the Jewish Torah. He believed that there are two meanings in the Holy Book. The first is for everyday use and is the literal translation of the words into one's life. However, more important than this is the allegorical interpretation of the real meaning behind the words. In many cases, Philo would disregard words in the Torah as being meant to be ignored. He usually justified his methods by showing a that all the parts to be cut out were in fact pointing to a deeper meaner as evidenced by anomalies in the actual original language. In 40 AD Philo was chosen by the Jews in Alexandria to represent them to the emperor Caligula in a dispute with the Greek community. A decade later in 50 AD he died.