Justification by faith, and Philo’s Logos

Paul introduced many doctrines that became the foundation of Christian teaching. One of the most important is justification by faith. In his letter to the Galatians he writes:

16εἰδότες δὲ ὅτι οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἵνα δικαιωθῶμεν ἐκ πίστεως Χριστοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σάρξ.

16Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.¹

Beyond the doctrine of salvation through faith, Paul often uses language that stresses his personal experience of Christ:

20ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.

20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.²

On the surface the verse looks like an expression of self-surrender. Closer analysis suggests Paul may have used it to reinforce his standing as an individual with a special relationship to Christ. Tying himself directly to the life of Christ raises the question whether the aim was to support his own authority over the other disciples.

Vis-à-vis the disciples, who received their mandate directly from ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, Paul lacked the same legitimacy. With statements of this kind he may have been trying to establish himself as the chief channel of Christ’s teaching, with the potential to displace the original tradition of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam.

Statements of this kind also raise theological concern, above all from the Islamic perspective, because they blur the boundary between creature and Creator. The Qurʾān plainly stresses tawḥīd (توحيد, “the oneness of God”) and the standing of the prophets as His servants without any attribute of divinity.

ʿĪsā ibn Maryam says: “I am the servant of God.”³ Nothing in the tradition of the prophets resembles what Paul expresses here, which stresses himself over his apostolic mission.

Such language also leaves room for misinterpretation among his followers. By stressing “Christ liveth in me,” Paul shifts the focus from the worship of God to himself and his personal spiritual experience. That invites a cult of personality and reinforces doctrines such as redemption through faith alone, contrary to the teaching of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, which stressed righteous deeds and obedience to the law.

Paul also taught that Christians are free of the law of the Torah. In his letter to the Romans he writes:

4τέλος γὰρ νόμου Χριστὸς εἰς δικαιοσύνην παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι.

4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.⁴

The teaching gave Gentiles freedom to embrace Christianity without keeping all the laws of the Torah. Paul also declared that “there is nothing unclean of itself,”⁵ in direct contradiction of the dietary practice held by ʿĪsā ibn Maryam and the disciples. By simplifying the teaching to attract Gentiles, Paul introduced elements better suited to Graeco-Roman culture than to the tawḥīd founded by ʿĪsā ibn Maryam.

Philo’s Logos

In spreading his teaching to Gentiles, Paul adapted concepts from Greek philosophy into his theology. A key figure in the Graeco-Jewish philosophical tradition was Philo of Alexandria, known for combining the Torah with Platonic philosophy.⁶

Among Philo’s main concepts was the Logos (Λόγος), introduced as an intermediary between God (ὁ Θεός, ho Theos) and creation.⁷ In his works the Logos is described as God’s “firstborn” (πρωτόγονος, prōtogonos), the “image of God” (εἰκὼν Θεοῦ, eikōn Theou) and the “eternal High Priest” (ἀρχιερεὺς αἰώνιος, archiereus aiōnios), the agent of creation and the mediator between God and the world.⁸

Paul’s letters use terms that reflect this concept of the Logos: Christ is “the image of God” and the “one Lord” “by whom are all things.”⁹ The letters written in his name go further, with “the firstborn of every creature … the image of the invisible God” and the “mediator between God and men,”¹⁰ and the letter to the Hebrews, long credited to him, has Christ “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”¹¹ References such as “the bread of life” and “living water”¹² come from the Gospel of John, itself shaped by the Logos concept.¹³

The use of these terms shows how Greek philosophy seeped into Christian theology, whether through Paul or other writers. Direct proof that Paul read Philo is lacking. The similarity of concept and vocabulary makes it very likely that both were shaped by the same Hellenistic intellectual climate.¹⁴

1. Galatians 2:16 (SBLGNT; KJV). ↩
2. Galatians 2:20 (SBLGNT; KJV). ↩
3. See Sūrah Maryam 19:30. See also New Testament passages such as John 5:30, where ʿĪsā ibn Maryam says, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Other verses that stress his obedience to God include Matthew 26:39, John 14:28, Mark 10:45 and Luke 22:42. ↩
4. Romans 10:4 (SBLGNT; KJV). ↩
5. Romans 14:14. ↩
6. Philo of Alexandria, De Opificio Mundi, in The Works of Philo, https://bit.ly/3IEE9gM. ↩
7. Philo of Alexandria, On the Confusion of Tongues §146 and On Dreams I, §§215–217, trans. C. D. Yonge, Early Christian Writings, https://bit.ly/4muE8LL and https://bit.ly/3Fs1HUK. ↩
8. M. Todorovska, “The Concepts of the Logos in Philo of Alexandria,” Antiquitas Viva 65, nos. 1–2 (2015), pp. 37–56. ↩
9. 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Corinthians 8:6. ↩
10. Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 2:5. ↩
11. Hebrews 1:3. ↩
12. John 6:35; 4:14. ↩
13. See John 1:1. ↩
14. Socrates, “Philo’s breakthrough with Logos – from Greek abstraction to living being,” Socrates Journey, 11 April 2021, https://bit.ly/4muEkut. ↩