Works of Philo of Alexandria

Philo — Works Vol. I, Yonge — Section 38

XXV. And some one may inquire the cause why it was that man was the last work in the creation of the world. For the Creator and Father created him after every thing else as the sacred scriptures inform us. Accordingly, they who have gone most deeply into the laws, aud who to the best of their power have investigated everything that is contained in them with all diligence, say that God, when he had given to man to partake of kindred with himself, grudged him neither reason, which is the most excellent of all gifts, nor anything else that is good ; but before his creation, provided for him every thing in the world, as for the animal most resembling himself, and dearest to him, being desirous that when he was born, he should be in want of nothing requisite for living, and for living well ; the first of which objects is provided for by the abun- dance of supplies which are furnished to him for his enjoyment, and the other by his power of contemplation of the heavenly bodies, by which the mind is smitten so as to conceive a love and desire for knowledge on those subjects ; owing to which desire, philosophy has sprung up, by which, man, though mortal, is made immortal. As then, those who make a feast do not invite their guests to the entertainment before they have provided everything for festivity, and as those who celebrate gymnastic or dramatic contests, before they assemble the specta- tors, provide themselves with an abundance of competitors and spectacles, and sweet sounds, with which to fill the theatres and the stadia ; so in the same manner did the Ruler of all, as a man proposing games, or giving a banquet and being about to invite others to feast and to behold the spectacle, first provide everything for every kind of entertainment, in order that when man came into the world he might at once find a feast ready for him, and a most holy theatre ; the one abound- ing with everything which the earth, or the rivers, or the sea, or air, brings forth for use and enjoyment, and the other being I ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 23