The
mental activity which this growth of sects exemplified was in some
respects a healthy sign, but it contained seeds of religious chaos,
which bore their fruit in the next century. Men started by thinking
out a philosophical Judaism for themselves; they ended by ceasing to
be Jews and philosophers. Philo foresaw this danger, and he tried to
combat it by presenting his people with a commentary of the Bible
which should satisfy their intellectual and speculative bent, but at
the same time preserve their loyalty to the Bible and the law. To the
Greek world he offered a philosophical religion, to his own people a
religious philosophy. Thus the allegorical commentary is the crowning
point of his work, the offering of his deepest thought to the most
cultured of the community; and though much of its detail had only
relevancy for its own time, and its method may repel our modern taste,
yet the spirit which animates it is of value to all ages, and should
be an inspiration to every generation of emancipated Jews. That spirit
is one of fearless acceptance of the finest culture of the age
combined with unswerving love of the law and loyalty to catholic
Judaism.
We have already treated of the general characteristics of Philo's
method of allegorical interpretation, but we must now consider rather
more closely the way in which he employs it.
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