127

is of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty. Therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.” So says the Scripture. But Philo the Hebrew, interpreting the meaning of the doctrine more clearly, presents it in this way:

11.15.1 10. FROM PHILO, ON THE SECOND CAUSE “For it is seemly for those who have made a companionship with knowledge to long to see the Existent One; but if they cannot, then at least His image, the most holy Word.” 11.15.2 And in the same writing he says these things also: “And even if one is not yet worthy to be called a son of God, let him strive to be adorned according to his firstborn Word, the eldest of the angels, 11.15.3 as being an archangel with many names; for he is called beginning, and name of God, and Word, and the man after his image, and he who sees, Israel. Wherefore a little earlier I was led to praise the virtues of those who say, 11.15.4 “We are all sons of one man.” For even if we are not yet fit to be considered children of God, yet we are of his invisible image, the most holy Word. For the image of God is the most ancient Word.” 11.15.5 And again he adds: “I have heard, however, one of the companions of Moses uttering such a saying: ‘Behold, a man whose name is the East;’ a most novel appellation, if you think it is spoken of one who is composed of body and soul, but if of that incorporeal one who bears the form of the divine image, you will agree that a most appropriate name 11.15.6 was given to him, the East. For him, the most ancient son, the Father of all made to rise, whom elsewhere he named firstborn. And he who was begotten, indeed, imitating the ways of the Father, looking to his archetypal patterns, formed the species.” 11.15.7 Let these things from Philo the Hebrew be set here by me, taken from the work which has the title *On the Worse Attacking the Better*. Now at another time, when I set forth the doctrines of the piety of the ancient Hebrews in the *Praeparatio Evangelica*, the things concerning the second cause have also been sufficiently discussed, to which I shall now refer the studious. Since, therefore, so many things have been theologized among the Hebrews in this manner concerning the second cause of all things, it is now time to listen also to Plato saying these things in the *Epinomis*:

11.16.1 17. FROM PLATO, ON THE SECOND CAUSE “And let us not pay honors by assigning to one a year, to another a month, and to others no portion or time at all, in which it traverses its own circuit, completing the order which the Word, most divine of all, has ordained. Which the happy man first marveled at, and then conceived a desire to learn as much as is possible for mortal nature.” 11.16.2 And in the Epistle to Hermeias, Erastus, and Coriscus, the doctrine is set forth very cautiously, writing thus word for word: “This letter all three of you should read, preferably together, but if not, two by two in common as often as possible according to your ability, and treat it as a compact and a law and as this binding thing, which is just, swearing by it with a zeal that is at once not uncultivated and with the sister of zeal, culture, and the

127

ἐστι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀπόρροια τῆς τοῦ παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής. διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν μεμολυσμένον εἰς αὐτὴν παρεμπίπτει. ἀπαύγασμα γάρ ἐστι φωτὸς ἀϊδίου καὶ ἔσοπτρον ἀκηλίδωτον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνεργείας καὶ εἰκὼν τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ. διατείνει δὲ ἀπὸ πέρατος εἰς πέρας εὐρώστως καὶ διοικεῖ τὰ πάντα χρηστῶς.» ταῦτα μὲν ἡ γραφή. τὴν δὲ τοῦ δόγματος διάνοιαν Φίλων ὁ Ἑβραῖος λευκότερον ἑρμηνεύων τοῦτον παρίστησι τὸν τρόπον·

11.15.1 ιʹ. ΦΙΛΩΝΟΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΟΥ ΑΙΤΙΟΥ «Εὐπρεπὲς γὰρ τοῖς ἑταιρείαν πρὸς ἐπιστήμην θεμένοις ἐφίεσθαι μὲν τοῦ τὸ ὂν ἰδεῖν· εἰ δὲ μὴ δύναιντο, τὴν γοῦν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ τὸν ἱερώτατον λόγον.» 11.15.2 Ἐν τῷ δ' αὐτῷ συγγράμματι καὶ τάδε φησί· «Κἂν μηδέπω μέντοι τυγχάνῃ τις ἀξιόχρεως υἱὸς θεοῦ προσαγορεύεσθαι, σπουδαζέτω κοσμεῖσθαι κατὰ τὸν πρωτόγονον αὐτοῦ λόγον, τὸν ἀγγέλων 11.15.3 πρεσβύτατον, ὡς ἂν ἀρχάγγελον πολυώνυμον ὑπάρχοντα· καὶ γὰρ ἀρχὴ καὶ ὄνομα θεοῦ καὶ λόγος καὶ ὁ κατ' εἰκόνα ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὁ ὁρῶν Ἰσραὴλ προσαγορεύεται. διὸ προήχθην ὀλίγῳ πρότερον ἐπαινέσαι τὰς ἀρετὰς τῶν φασκόν11.15.4 των ὅτι «πάντες ἐσμὲν υἱοὶ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου.» καὶ γὰρ εἰ μή πω ἱκανοὶ θεοῦ παῖδες νομίζεσθαι γεγόναμεν, ἀλλά τοι τῆς ἀειδοῦς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ λόγου τοῦ ἱερωτάτου· θεοῦ γὰρ εἰκὼν λόγος ὁ πρεσβύτατος.» 11.15.5 Καὶ πάλιν ἐπιλέγει· «Ἤκουσα μέντοι καὶ τῶν Μωσέως ἑταίρων τινὸς ἀποφθεγξαμένου τοιόνδε λόγιον· «Ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος ᾧ ὄνομα Ἀνατολή·» καινοτάτη πρόσρησις, ἐάν γε τὸν ἐκ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς συνεστῶτα λέγεσθαι νομίσῃς, ἐὰν δὲ τὸν ἀσώματον ἐκεῖνον θείας ἰδέαν φοροῦντα εἰκόνος ὁμολογήσεις ὅτι εὐθυβολώτατον ὄνομα 11.15.6 ἐπεφημίσθη τὸ Ἀνατολῆς αὐτῷ. τοῦτον μὲν γὰρ πρεσβύτατον υἱὸν ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἀνέτειλε πατήρ, ὃν ἑτέρωθι πρωτόγονον ὠνόμασε. καὶ ὁ γεννηθεὶς μέντοι μιμούμενος τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς ὁδοὺς πρὸς παραδείγματα ἀρχέτυπα τὰ ἐκείνου βλέπων ἐμόρφου τὰ εἴδη.» 11.15.7 Ταῦτά μοι ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἑβραίου Φίλωνος ἐνταῦθα κείσθω, ληφθέντα ἐκ συγγράμματος ᾧ τέθειται ἐπιγραφὴ Περὶ τοῦ τὸ χεῖρον τῷ κρείττονι φιλεῖν ἐπιτίθεσθαι. ἤδη δέ μοι καὶ ἄλλοτε τὰ τῆς τῶν παλαιῶν Ἑβραίων εὐσεβείας δόγματα παρατιθεμένῳ ἐν τοῖς τῆς Εὐαγγελικῆς Προπαρασκευῆς καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ δευτέρου αἰτίου διείληπται αὐτάρκως, ἐφ' ἃ καὶ νῦν τοὺς φιλομαθεῖς ἀναπέμψω. τοσούτων οὖν παρ' Ἑβραίοις καὶ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον περὶ τοῦ δευτέρου τῶν ὅλων αἰτίου τεθεολογημένων καιρὸς ἤδη καὶ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἐν Ἐπινομίδι τάδε λέγοντος ἐπακοῦσαι·

11.16.1 ιζʹ. ΠΛΑΤΩΝΟΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΟΥ ΑΙΤΙΟΥ «Καὶ τιμὰς ἀποδιδῶμεν μὴ τῷ μὲν ἐνιαυτόν, τῷ δὲ μῆνα, τοῖς δὲ μή τινα μοῖραν τάττωμεν μηδέ τινα χρόνον, ἐν ᾧ διεξέρχεται τὸν αὑτοῦ πόλον, συναποτελῶν κόσμον, ὃν ἔταξε λόγος ὁ πάντων θειότατος· ὃν ὁ μὲν εὐδαίμων πρῶτον μὲν ἐθαύμασεν, ἔπειτα δὲ ἔρωτα ἔσχε τοῦ καταμαθεῖν ὁπόσα θνητῇ φύσει δυνατά.» 11.16.2 Καὶ ἐν Ἐπιστολῇ δὲ τῇ πρὸς Ἑρμείαν Ἔραστόν τε καὶ Κορίσκον εὖμάλα πεφυλαγμένως τέθειται τὸ δόγμα, ὧδε πρὸς λέξιν ἐπιστέλλων· «Ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πάντας ὑμᾶς τρεῖς ὄντας ἀναγνῶναι χρή, μάλιστα μὲν ἀθρόους, εἰ δὲ μή, κατὰ δύο κοινῇ κατὰ δύναμιν ὡς οἷόν τέ ἐστι πλειστάκις, καὶ χρῆσθαι συνθήκῃ καὶ νόμῳ καὶ κυρίῳ τούτῳ, ὅ ἐστι δίκαιον, ἐπομνύντας σπουδῇ τε ἅμα μὴ ἀμούσῳ καὶ τῇ τῆς σπουδῆς ἀδελφῇ παιδείᾳ, καὶ τὸν