Analysis of the Biblical Account of Creation Last Wednesday we began this series of reflections on the reply Christ gave to his questioners on the subject of the unity and indissolubility of marriage. As we recall, the Pharisees who questioned him appealed to the Mosaic Law. However, Christ went back to the "beginning," quoting the words of Genesis. The "beginning" in this ca…

Water also is one of the four elements, the most beautiful of God's creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great readiness. It is this the Holy Scripture has in view when it says, And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2 For the deep is nothing else than a …

The four rivers flowing from Eden represent the four cardinal virtues: prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. The river that divides into four streams is generic Virtue (arete), which is one in essence but manifests in these four particular forms. Philo uses this allegory to argue that Moses anticipated the best insights of Greek philosophy, since Plato himself taught thes…