Philonis Judaei Opera Omnia (Vol. 3)

PHIL. IUD. ON THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS §. 1.

governor of the universe (25-32). This Reason, because it distributed the whole world and all its parts equally, is rightly called the author of justice; for equality is the fountain of justice (33-36). For this reason, it is also seen to be present in the sacred rites which were instituted by Moses, for example, in the ten commandments, the offering of sacrifices, the distribution of the blood of the victims (37-39), in the celebration of the Passover (40), in the sacred offerings of the twelve princes, and others (41). And thus, divine Reason itself holds the place of a mediator between the holy and the impious, between God the Creator and created things (42). It is also its work that opposites are opposed to opposites (43), of which fact the sacred candelabra provides a most clear symbol (44), to which the chorus of the seven planets, in the middle of which is the sun, is referred (45-47). Two reasons are not subject to this division of all things: the archetypal (logos theios divine Reason), which is the image of God, and the human, which is a reflection of it. For both are indivisible, although established for the purpose of dividing other things (48). Like birds, which are said to have descended into bodies, the souls of good men fly from earth to heaven; the souls of the evil, on the contrary, cling to bodies (49-50). Of the various kinds of ekstasis ecstasy/transcendence, the soul is most adorned by that prophetic madness by which a wise man, being seized, interprets divine things. Such befell Abram, and befalls all upright men (51-52). By that madness, the divine light is kindled in man, by which whatever is lowly and sordid in the human mind is extinguished (53). If we allow this to happen in us, we will migrate from this earth to sublime seats (54-55). This is hinted at by the fact that a return to his fathers was promised to Abram by God (56-57). But in order that we may all attain that, care must be taken that, nourished by peace—that is, by driving away malice through piety—we form our soul with liberal education, lest the love of divine wisdom be extinguished in us by the base fallacies of the sophists (58-60). Therefore, God is to be prayed to, that He may stir up the sparks of virtue in us into a flame, so that, finally kindled by this, we may lead a life adorned by wisdom, and thus become heirs of the most excellent good (61-62).

473 §. 1. In the book before this one, we went through 481 M. the rewards as accurately as possible. Now P. it is proposed to inquire who is the heir of divine things. For since a divine oracle has been declared