Jerome's Latin Vulgate

Moving forward in time a bit; because of the numerous variant readings in Alexandrian manuscripts, Pope Damasus requested the scholar Jerome to revise and correct the New Testament. This he did in seclusion, it was a private enterprise. St. Jerome began his revision with the four Gospels and then more hurriedly revised the remaining books of the New Testament. The work was completed at Rome about A.D. 383-4. 

So, was Jerome influenced by the sophistry of the Alexandrians? Well, curiously Philo, an Alexandrian secular statesman was included by Jerome in his work De viris illustribus (On illustrious men). This was a thumb-nail compilation of 135 men of prominence in Church history up until that time. All but three were Christians. It is striking that Jerome includes sketches of Philo the Roman statesman, the philosopher Seneca, and the Jewish historian Josephus among all these Christian worthies. Of these three chapters, the one on Philo is the longest. Why is the Alexandrian Jew Philo given such a prominent place in this work?

It is apparent that Philo was well-known in some "Christian" circles and that his works were enthusiastically received. In fact a close reading of the sources shows that most Christian intellectuals were quite well aware that Philo was a Jew who had lived at about the time of Jesus, may have met the Apostle Mark, and they were familiar with his writings. It is most revealing that Jerome includes a list of his writings, something he also does for Josephus and various Christian protagonists. He does not tell us from where he gets this list. 

Jerome also informs us that Philo had countless outstanding writings on the five books of Moses to his credit. Jerome gives us a long list, which he concludes with the following words:

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Concerning this man the following statement is in circulation among the Greeks: h Platwn filwnizei h, filwn platonizei (either Plato philonizes or Philo platonizes), that is to say, either Plato follows Philo or Philo follows Plato, so great is the similarity of thought and style.
 
Philo regarded the physical nature of man as something defective and as an obstacle to his development that can never be fully surmounted, but still as something indispensable in view of the nature of his being. Philo is not entirely certain whether the body in itself or merely in its preponderance over the spirit is evil. But the body in any case is a source of danger.  His concept of the Logos as God's creative principle apparently influenced early Christology. To him Logos was God's "blueprint for the world", a governing plan. (3)   

Philo used allegory to fuse and harmonize Greek philosophy and Judaism. His method followed the practices of both Jewish exegesis and Stoic philosophy. "The sophists of literalness," as he calls them, "opened their eyes superciliously" when he explained to them the marvels of his exegesis. In other words, those who simply read the bible literally were made to realize just how little they knew once Philo expounded on his allegorical (spiritual) interpretations. Sound familiar?

If Arius was a forerunner of Charles Taze Russell in his jettisoning of the divinity of the Son, then certainly Philo is a forerunner of Fred Franz with all his "type" and "anti-type" interpretations. In other words, the practice of spiritualizing any scripture that is not to your liking has a very long history, apparently back to the days of the apostles through the unsaved bible critic Philo of Alexandria.

Also listed as "illustrious men" are both Clement of Alexandria and Origen of Alexandria. They both heavily drew upon Philo and furthered his methods and philosophy into the Christian era applying them to Christian teachings. Origen went so far as to castrate himself. 

These are just some of the Alexandrian influences that Jerome bore as he carried out his solitary work in creating the Latin Vulgate, which was the bible of the Catholic Church for well over a thousand years. In addition to these influences, we have Jerome's own words here:   

"I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but Your Blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house is profane. Anyone who is not in the ark of Noah will perish when the flood prevails."
Letter of Jerome to Pope Damasus, 374 A.D. 15,2 J1346 .
 
"Heretics bring sentence upon themselves since they by their own choice withdraw from the Church, a withdrawal which, since they are aware of it, constitutes damnation."
Commentaries on the Epistle to Titus, 376 A.D. 3,10 J1371a

It is obvious from these quotes that Jerome was a "company man" and regarded church membership as a prerequisite for salvation and that faith outside of that organizational structure would constitute damnation. Over 20 Catholic Popes over an 800 year period carried on inquisitions enforcing this view whereby up to 50 million European people were excommunicated, had their property confiscated and were murdered in horrific ways for the crime of exercising faith in Christ alone outside of the Catholic hierarchy.  The Walsensenses, Vaudois, and other indigenous Christians throughout Europe were virtually wiped out during the Catholic Inquisitions. 

Eventually, the dark ages began to fade and a new day began to dawn during the 16th and 17th centuries when a number of "recognized" bibles began to be produced. (These readings had in fact always abundantly existed) These were based upon the very different "majority text" (99% of all known manuscripts) of Antioch origin. They were discretely copied and handed down throughout Europe during the unrestrained governance of the Popes. Centuries of bible burnings, tortures, and burning Christians while alive at the stake could not wipe out these texts. The greatest of these compilation works resulted in the King James 1611 version. 

The King James or Authorised Version reigned supreme for 277 years until two men revived the Alexandrian influence that had effected Christianity for most of the previous 1800 years.