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heaven and the earth; but the earth was invisible.” Then he adds: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” But in the sensible cosmogony, He creates a firm heaven, and the firmament is 11.25.3 sensible, and visible earth and seen light. Does it not seem to you that from this Plato leaves the ideas of living things in the intelligible world, and creates the sensible forms according to 11.25.4 the intelligible kinds? Reasonably, then, Moses says that the body is formed from earth, which Plato calls an earthly tabernacle, but that the 11.25.5 rational soul was breathed from above by God into the face. For here they say the ruling principle is established, interpreting the soul’s entrance through the organs of sense into the first-formed man, for which reason also man was made “in the image and after the likeness.” For the image of God is the divine and royal Word, a man without passion; but an image of an image is the human mind.” But let us also hear what is about to be said:

11.26.1 27. OF THE HEBREWS AND PLATO CONCERNING THE OPPOSING POWERS

Further to this, Plato, following the Hebrew accounts, says that there are not only incorporeal and good powers, but also opposing ones, writing something like this in the tenth book of the Laws: 11.26.2 “Must we not say that a soul, which directs and inhabits all things that are moved in every way, also directs the heaven? Why not? One, or more? I will answer on your behalf. Let us posit no fewer than two, the beneficent one and the one capable of working the opposite.” 11.26.3 Then, further down, he says: “Since, then, we have agreed among ourselves that heaven is full of many good things, but also of the opposite, and of more of those which are not, such a battle, we say, is immortal and requires a marvelous watchfulness, and our allies are gods and spirits, and we in turn are the possessions of gods and spirits.” 11.26.4 From where Plato got these things I could not say; but what I can say is true, that ten thousand years before Plato was born, this dogma was also acknowledged 11.26.5 by the Hebrews. So then, the scripture among them says: “And it was, as on this day, that the angels of God came to present themselves before God; and the devil came in their midst, having gone around the earth and walked up and down in it,” calling the opposing power the devil, and the good ones angels 11.26.6 of God. And these good powers he also calls divine spirits and ministers of God, in what he says: “Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers 11.26.7 a flame of fire.” But he also presents the conflict of the opposites thus, when he says: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, 11.26.8 against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” And Plato seems to be translating Moses’ saying directly, which said: “When the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God,” by which he determined that the whole race of men are “the possessions of gods and spirits.”

11.27.1 28. CONCERNING THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL OF THE HEBREWS AND PLATO

And in the things concerning the soul’s immortality, Plato in no way differs from Moses in his opinion. The first, at least, defined the soul in man to be an immortal substance, saying that it is an image of God, or rather that it came to be in the image of God. “For God said,” he says, “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. And God made

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οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος.» εἶτ' ἐπιφέρει· «Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Γενέσθω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς.» ἐν δὲ τῇ κοσμογονίᾳ τῇ αἰσθητῇ στερεὸν οὐρανὸν δημιουργεῖ τὸ δὲ στερεὸν 11.25.3 αἰσθητόν γῆν τε ὁρατὴν καὶ φῶς βλεπόμενον. ἆρ' οὐ δοκεῖ σοι ἐντεῦθεν ὁ Πλάτων ζῴων ἰδέας ἐν τῷ νοητῷ ἀπολείπειν κόσμῳ καὶ τὰ εἴδη τὰ αἰσθητὰ κατὰ 11.25.4 τὰ γένη δημιουργεῖν τὰ νοητά; εἰκότως ἄρα ἐκ γῆς μὲν τὸ σῶμα διαπλάττεσθαι λέγει Μωσῆς, ὃ γήϊνόν φησιν ὁ Πλάτων σκῆνος, ψυχὴν δὲ τὴν 11.25.5 λογικὴν ἄνωθεν ἐμπνευσθῆναι ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἰς πρόσωπον. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ἱδρῦσθαι λέγουσι, τὴν διὰ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων ἐπεισόδιον τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου εἴσοδον ἑρμηνεύοντες, διὸ καὶ «κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν» τὸν ἄνθρωπον γεγονέναι. εἰκὼν μὲν γὰρ θεοῦ λόγος ὁ θεῖος καὶ βασιλικός, ἄνθρωπος ἀπαθής· εἰκὼν δὲ εἰκόνος ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς.» Ἀκούσωμεν δὲ καὶ τῶν ῥηθησομένων·

11.26.1 κζʹ. ΕΒΡΑΙΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΛΑΤΩΝΟΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΩΝ ∆ΥΝΑΜΕΩΝ

Ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ὁ Πλάτων τοῖς Ἑβραίων ἐπακολουθήσας λόγοις οὐ μόνον ἀσωμάτους καὶ ἀγαθὰς δυνάμεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐναντίας φησὶν εἶναι, ὧδέ πη γράφων ἐν τῷ δεκάτῳ τῶν Νόμων· 11.26.2 «Ψυχὴν διοικοῦσαν καὶ ἐνοικοῦσαν τοῖς πάντη κινουμένοις οὐ καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνάγκη διοικεῖν φάναι; Τί μήν; Μίαν, ἢ πλείους; ἐγὼ ὑπὲρ σφῶν ἀποκρινοῦμαι. δυοῖν μέν που ἔλαττον μηδὲν τιθῶμεν, τῆς τε εὐεργέτιδος καὶ τῆς τἀναντία δυναμένης ἐξεργάζεσθαι.» 11.26.3 Εἶθ' ὑποβάς φησιν· «Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ συνεχωρήσαμεν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς εἶναι μὲν τὸν οὐρανὸν πολλῶν μεστὸν ἀγαθῶν, εἶναι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων, πλειόνων δὲ τῶν μή, μάχη, φαμέν, ἀθάνατός ἐσθ' ἡ τοιαύτη καὶ φυλακῆς θαυμαστῆς δεομένη ξύμμαχοί τε ἡμῖν θεοί τε καὶ δαίμονες, ἡμεῖς δ' αὖ κτήματα θεῶν καὶ δαιμόνων». 11.26.4 Πόθεν καὶ ταῦτα τῷ Πλάτωνι ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιμι φράζειν· ὃ δ' ἔχω φάναι, ἀληθές, μυρίοις πρόσθεν ἢ Πλάτωνα γενέσθαι χρόνοις καὶ τοῦθ' 11.26.5 Ἑβραίοις ἀνωμολογῆσθαι τὸ δόγμα. λέγει δ' οὖν ἡ παρ' αὐτοῖς γραφή· «Καὶ ἦν ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη, καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ παραστῆναι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ ὁ διάβολος ἦλθεν ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, περιελθὼν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσας αὐτήν,» διάβολον μὲν τὴν ἐναντίαν δύναμιν, ἀγγέ11.26.6 λους δὲ θεοῦ τὰς ἀγαθὰς προσειποῦσα. ταύτας δὲ τὰς ἀγαθὰς δυνά μεις καὶ πνεύματα θεῖα καὶ λειτουργοὺς θεοῦ προσαγορεύει ἐν οἷς φησιν· «Ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ 11.26.7 πυρὸς φλόγα.» ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν διαμάχην τῶν ἐναντίων ὧδε παρίστησιν ὁ φήσας· «Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τού11.26.8 του, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις.» ἄντικρυς δ' ἔοικεν ὁ Πλάτων τὸ Μωσέως λόγιον μεταφράζειν τὸ φῆσαν· «Ὅτε διεμέριζεν ὁ ὕψιστος ἔθνη, ὡς διέσπειρεν υἱοὺς Ἀδάμ, ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ,» δι' ὧν «κτήματα θεῶν καὶ δαιμόνων» τὸ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων εἶναι ὡρίσατο.

11.27.1 κηʹ. ΠΕΡΙ ΨΥΧΗΣ ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΑΣ ΕΒΡΑΙΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΛΑΤΩΝΟΣ Καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ψυχῆς δὲ ἀθανασίας οὐδὲν Μωσέως ὁ Πλάτων διέστηκε τῇ δόξῃ. ὁ μέν γε πρῶτος ἀθάνατον οὐσίαν εἶναι τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ ψυχὴν ὡρίσατο, εἰκόνα φήσας ὑπάρχειν αὐτὴν θεοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γεγενῆσθαι. «Εἶπε γὰρ ὁ θεός» φησίν· «Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν. καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς