“DIVINE NATURE” IN 2 PET 1,4 WITHIN ITS ESCHATOLOGICAL CONTEXT 87 für den Menschen letzlich auf die Verwirklichung seiner wahren Natur und auf das Akzeptieren der Weltordnung, d.h. von ‘allem, was der Natur entsprechend hervorgebracht ist’ (to. kata. th.n o[lhn fu,sin sumbainonta)” 27. , III. Fύσις in Hellenistic Judaism It is well known that Philo self-consciously sought to show the unity between biblical revelation and the best philosophies of his day. In line with the prevailing view of φύσις as the active, effective cause of its consequences, Philo consistently used “nature” to refer to the inherent character of a thing or being (human or supernatural) that ex- presses itself in word, desire, capability, and deed, whether good or bad 28. The characteristics and actions of all things and beings, includ- ing God, are an expression of their particular “nature” (φύσις) (cf. Cher. 19; Opif. 44). When used of God, it means that God creates out of his own good nature (φύσις), as the expression of his powers, which are “overwhelmingly vast” (ai` duna,meij u`perba,llousi) (Opif. 21, 23; cf. the link between θεία φύσις and θεία du,namij in 2 Pet 1,3-4). Instructive is Spec. 1.30, where Philo uses φύω to describe God, since “stability and fixity and lordship are by nature vested (pe,fuke) in Him alone” (LCL); as an expression of his nature, God is “the Framer and Maker of all things”, “the Lord of created beings” (kti,sthj kai. poihth.j twn o[lwnà ku,rioj tw/n gegono,twn; LCL). In short, the divine nature / is seen in what God does. Hence, God himself, as “the Deity” (to. qeion), can be identified as a “nature” (φύσις, Leg. 3.7, 84), as can / creation (Leg. 3.7). For Philo, as for the Stoics, it is therefore φύσις BRISSON, “Natur”, 734, referring to Diogenes Laertius, Vit. 7.105, 491; 27 Plutarch, Mor. 1069e. Cf. also, ENGBERG-PEDERSEN, Stoic Theory, 58, and the texts he cites. See, e.g., Her. 234; Opif. 84; Gig. 30; Agr. 168 (here “nature” grants 28 the gifts associated with virtue); Plant. 135; Fug. 14.22; Abr. 102 (for Philo, areth, though a feminine noun, must be masculine “by nature”, since it causes v , movement and conditions); Abr. 275 (“nature” gave Abraham the zeal to obey God’s unwritten law); Ios. 37-38; Mos. 1.83; 2.5; Spec. 3.173-176; etc. The exception highlights the rule: in Decal. 64 the consequence of action can be described as determining one’s nature rather than the other way around, i.e., the heavenly bodies are said to be “by nature our brothers” (oi` avdelfoi. fu,sei), since they too have been created. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati