h the mind imagines that it is itself
capable of production, must we therefore abolish the law of
fleshly circumcision. We should have to neglect the service
of the temple, and a thousand other things, if we were to
restrict ourselves only to the allegorical or symbolic
sense. That sense resembles the soul, the other sense the
body. Just as we must be careful of the body, as the house
of the soul, so must we give heed to the letter of the
written laws. For only when these are faithfully observed,
will the inner meaning, of which they are the symbols,
become more clearly realized, and, at the same time, the
blame and accusation of the multitude will be avoided."[168]

Philo's position is, then, that man on the one hand owes loyalty to
his nation, and on the other is not only a creature of spirit, but has
a body and bodily passions. He cannot, therefore, have a religion
which is individual or merely spiritual, but he requires common forms
and ceremonies that can bind him with the rest of the community, and
train his body by good habit to obey his reason. We do not reach the
spirit by denying but by obeying the letter. To the mere formal
observance of the law and the unreasoning custom which blindly follows
the practice of our fathers [Greek: synetheia] Philo is equally
opposed, and he protests, with the earnestness of an Isaiah, against
superstitious sacrifice and against the lip-service of the
materialist.[169]

"If a man practices ablutions and purifications, but defiles
his mind while he cleanses his body; or if, through his
wealth, he founds a temple at a large outlay and expense; or
if he offers hecatombs and sacrifices oxen without number,
or adorns the shrine with rich ornaments, or gives endless
timber and cunningly wrought work, more precious than silver
or gold--let him none the more be called religious ([Greek:
eusebes]). For he has wandered far from the path of
religion, mistaking ritual for holiness, and attempting to
bribe the Incorruptible, and to flatter Him whom none can
flatter. God welcomes genuine service, and that is the
service of a soul that offers the bare and simple sacrifice
of truth, but from false service, the mere display of
material wealth, he turns away."

Lot's daughter, born of a pillar of stone, symbolizes this unthinking,
hypertrophied religion; and custom, it