ry in Genesis, that "God placed at the east of the garden of
Eden the two Cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to
keep the way of the tree of life" (Gen. iv. 24). The Cherubim are the
symbols of the powers of majesty and goodness; the flaming sword is
the Logos; "because," says our author quaintly, "all thought and
speech are the most mobile and the most ardent (_i.e._, the most
intensive) of things, and especially the thought and speech of the
only Principle."[226]

To correspond with the descending attributes of God we have the
ascending dispositions of man towards Him, fear, love, and thirdly
their synthesis in loving knowledge. When we are in the first stage of
religion we obey the law in hope of reward or fear of punishment; when
we have progressed higher in thought, we worship God as the good
Creator; when we have ascended one further stage, we surpass both fear
and love in an emotion which combines them, realizing, as Browning
puts it, that "God is law and God is love." In illustration of this
scheme of Philo's we may examine two passages out of his philosophical
commentary. In the first he is commenting upon the appearance of the
three angels to Abraham as he sat outside his tent (Gen. xviii).[227]
And, by the way, it may be remarked that the Midrash commenting on
this passage notes that it begins, "And the Lord appeared unto
Abraham," and then continues, "And he lifted up his eyes and looked,
and, lo, three men stood before him." Hence we may learn that it was
really the one God who appeared to the Patriarch, and that the three
angels were but a vision of his mind. This is the dominant note of
Philo's interpretation, but he as usual elaborates the old Midrash
philosophically.

"The words," he says, "are symbols of things apprehended by
intelligence alone--the soul receives a triple expression of
one being, of which one is the representative of the actual
existent, and the other two are shadows, as it were, cast
from this. So it happens also in the physical world, for
there often occur two shadows of bodies at rest or in
motion. Let no one suppose, however, that shadow is properly
used in relation to God. It is only a popular use of words
for the clearer understanding of our subject. The reality is
not so, but, as one standing nearest to the truth might say,
the middle one is the Father of the universe, who is called
in Scripture the