PHIL. IUD. DE ABRAHAMO. §. 9. 10.

§. 9. Such was the best of those of his own time, and such were the prizes set before him, as the sacred word has shown. The order of the three aforementioned men, or types of soul, is harmonious. The perfect one is whole from the beginning. The one who has been "transferred" a reference to Enoch, who according to tradition was "transferred" or "taken up" by God is half-finished, devoting the former part of his life to vice, and the latter to virtue, to which he moved and migrated. The one who hopes, as the name itself signifies, is incomplete; desiring the good always, but not yet able to attain it, resembling those sailing who, eager to reach port, are still navigating the sea, unable to anchor.

§. 10. The former triad of those who longed for virtue has thus been explained. But there is another, greater one, of which we must now speak. For that former one resembles lessons in childhood, while this one resembles the exercises of athletic men who are anointed for the truly sacred contests; who, despising bodily exercise, prepare the health of the soul, desiring victory over the opposing passions. We will speak more accurately later about the ways in which each differed, while still hastening toward one and the same end. But it is necessary not to pass over in silence what ought to be said briefly about the three. It so happens that these men belong to one house and one lineage; for the last is the son of the middle one, and the grandson of the first, and all are equally God-loving and God-beloved, having loved the true God and having been loved in return by Him. He deemed them worthy, as the oracles show, because of the excess of the virtues with which they lived, to share in the invocation of their names. For He fitted and joined His own name to theirs, attaching the name composed of the three to Himself. "For this," He says, "is my name forever, God of Abraham, and...