'Self-existent'; and those on either side
of Him are the two oldest and chief powers, the Creative and
the Regal. The middle one, then, being attended by the
others as by a bodyguard, presents to the contemplative mind
a mental image or representation now of one and now of
three; of one whenever the soul, being properly purified and
perfectly initiated, rises to the idea which is unmingled
and free from limitation, and requires nothing to complete
it; but of three whenever it has not yet been initiated into
the great mysteries, and still celebrates the lesser rites,
unable to apprehend the Being in itself without
modification, but apprehending it through its modes as
either creating or ruling. This is, as the proverb says, a
second-best course, but yet it partakes of godlike opinion.
But the former does not partake of--for it _is_ itself--the
Godlike opinion, or rather it is truth, which is more
precious than all opinion.

"Further, there are three classes of human character, to
each of which one of the three conceptions of God has been
assigned. The best class goes with the first, the conception
of the absolute Being; the next goes with the conception of
Him as a Benefactor, in virtue of which He is called God;
the third with the conception of Him as a Ruler, in virtue
of which He is called Lord. The noblest character serves Him
who is in all the purity of His absolute Being; it is
attracted by no other thing or aspect, but is solely and
intently devoted to the honor of the one and only Being; the
second is brought to the knowledge of the Father through His
beneficent power; the third through His regal power."

In the second passage, which occurs in the treatise on flight from the
world,[228] Philo is allegorizing the law about founding six cities of
refuge (Exodus xxxii). These are but material symbols for the six
stages of the ascent of the mind to the pure God-idea. The chief city,
the metropolis, is the Divine Logos, next come the two powers already
considered, and then three secondary powers, the retributive, the
law-giving, and the prohibitive. "Very beautiful and well-fenced
cities they are, worthy refuges of souls that merit salvation." Each
of these cities is an aspect of the religious mind; when it settles in
the first it obeys the law from fear of punishment and think