CHRISTIANITY AND HEATHEN WISDOM
At the time of the first beginnings of Christianity, there appear in
heathen civilisation conceptions of the universe which seem to be a
continuation of the Platonic philosophy, and which may also be taken
as a deepening and spiritualisation of the wisdom of the Mysteries. The beginning of such conceptions is to be dated from Philo of Alexandria (B.C. 25-A.D. 50). From his point of view the processes which lead to the divine take place in the innermost part of the human soul. We might say that the temple in which Philo seeks initiation is wholly within him, and his higher experiences are the Mysteries. In his case processes of a purely spiritual nature replace the initiatory ceremonies of the sanctuary.
According to Philo, sense-observation and knowledge gained through the
logical intellect do not lead to the divine. They have merely to do
with what is perishable. But there is a way by which the soul may rise
above these methods. It must come out of what it calls its ordinary
self: from this it must withdraw. Then it enters a state of spiritual
exaltation and illumination, in which it no longer knows, thinks, and
judges in the ordinary sense of the words; for it has become merged, identified with the divine, which is experienced in its essence, and cannot be imparted in thought-concepts or abstract ideas. It is experienced, and one who goes through this experience knows that no one can impart it, for the only way of reaching it is to live it. The visible world is an image of this mystic reality which is experienced in the inmost recesses of the soul. The world has come forth from the invisible, inconceivable God. The harmony of the cosmos, which is steeped in wisdom, and to which sense-phenomena are subject, is a direct reflection of the Godhead, its spiritual image. It is divine spirit poured out into the world,—cosmic reason, the Logos, the offspring or Son of God. The Logos is the mediator between the world of sense and the unimaginable God. When man steeps himself in knowledge, he becomes united with the Logos, which is embodied in him. The person who has developed spirituality is the vehicle of the Logos. Above the Logos is God; beneath is the perishable world. It is man's vocation to form the link between the two. What he experiences in his inmost being, as spirit, is the universal Spirit. Such ideas are directly reminiscent of the Pythagorean manner of thinking (cf. p. 57 et seq.).
The centre of existence is sought in the inner life, but this life is
conscious of its cosmic value. St. Augustine was thinking in virtually
the same way as Philo, when he said: "We see all created things
because they are; but they are, because God sees them." And he adds, concerning what and how we see: "And because they are, we see them outwardly; because they are perfect, we see them inwardly."
Plato has the same fundamental idea (cf. p. 63 et seq.). Like
Plato, Philo sees in the destiny of the human soul the closing act of
the great cosmic drama, the awakening of the divinity that is under a
spell. He thus describes the inner actions of the soul: the wisdom in
man's inner being walks along, "tracing the paths of the Father, and
shapes the forms while beholding the archetypes." It is no personal
matter for man to create forms in his inner being; they are the
eternal wisdom, they are the cosmic life.
