Complete Works of Philo Judaeus (Vol. 6)

it remains forever, though those in their individual species perish, a work truly wondrous and divine. But if man, a small portion of the whole, is eternal meaning existing in a continuous chain of generation, then surely the world is also unbegotten, and thus indestructible.

§. 9. Critolaus a Peripatetic philosopher, arguing in support of this, used an argument such as this: "The cause of its health is free from disease, and the cause of its wakefulness is awake; if this is so, the cause of its existence is eternal." The world is the cause of its own existence, if indeed it is also the cause for all other things; therefore, the world is eternal. Furthermore, it is worth observing that everything that comes into being must necessarily be imperfect at the beginning, but as time progresses, it grows until it reaches complete perfection. Therefore, if the world has come into being, it was at one time—to use the names for ages—an infant; but passing again through cycles of years and lengths of time, it was perfected late and with difficulty. For the prime of life of the longest-lived being is of necessity slow. If anyone thinks the world has ever undergone such changes, let them not be unaware that they are mastered by an incurable madness. For it is clear that not only would its bodily form increase, but its mind would also receive advancement, since even those who argue for its destruction suspect it to be rational. Therefore, in the manner of a human, it would be irrational at the beginning of its generation, and rational at its prime, which is impious not only to say but even to think. For how is it not fitting to assume that the most perfect visible enclosure, and the ruling powers contained within its parts, is always perfect in body and soul, free from the corruptions to which all generated and perishable things are yoked?

§. 10. In addition to these things, he says that there are three causes of death for animals, apart from external forces: disease, old age, and deficiency, none of which the world is susceptible to. For the whole referring to the composition of the universe from all the elements...