The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life: A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa

In this study, Romulus D. Stefanut offers a contextual reading of Philo's De vita contemplativa, exploring its background, genre, composition, and function beyond the so-calledapologetic and historical worksof Philo. Often, scholars have lost the hermeneutical focus of the treatise itself and have concentrated their attention solely on the historical existence of the Mareotic community described in the treatise, advancing arguments related to its historicity or lack thereof. The author ther...