i. e. intellect, a profundity, rilence, truth, and witdon, which as Gale well observe* in his note* ou lamblichua de Mysteriis, &c. prove their dogmas to be of Chaldak origin. For these words per- petually occur in the fragments of the Chaldaic oracles. And the middle of die Chaldean intelli- gible triad is denominated «*» «eon,' i. e. eternity, aud is also perfectly conformable to the theology of Plato, at is very satisfactorily shown by Proclus in the third book of the following work. According to the Chaldeans therefore, the a-ones are Gods ; and considered as the exem- plars of the risible universe, they are analogous to the ideas of Plato, which also are Gods, as is evident from the Parmenides of that philosopher.1 According to Paul too, as die teones are the i of the visible world, they must be beings of a much higher order than angels, and con- be Gods ; productive power being one of the great characteristics of a
Again, m the Epistle to the Ephesiaiis, chap. i. v. 21. Paul says that God has exalted Christ « for »»»/»«» every principality, and power, and might, and dominion," mftan s-arq; agW **» i Suwumsw «" wgtvnrrtf. And in the 6th chapter and 12th verse be conjoins with princi- powera, the rulers of the world, i. e. the seven planets, «-po( to; ufxaf, tqo; t«$ #fow- 'jet t*{ xtsaftQxqttTogai. Augustut' c oof esses that he is ignorant what the difference is between those four words, (principality, power, might, and dominion,) in which the Aposde Paul seems to comprehend all the celestial society. " Quid inter se distent quatuor Ula vocabula, quibua univcraam ipsam caelestem societatem videtur Apostolus esse complexus, dicant qui poasunt,
Trallianos) speaks of the angelic orders, the diversities of archangels and armies, the differences of the orders characterised by might and dominion, of thrones and powers, the magnificence of the etonet* and the transcendency of Cherubim and Seraphim," tuu yoy ryes eu xaS' o, ri &tS§fuu, xai Uirau.ai vofir r» treufana, xjxi toj ayytKtn.au T«{"5> »« t«j rauv agyayytA** not OTftmsv rfoMwyo;,
■ Proelos begins the ilxth book of die following werk with o Wring that he hat celebrated in the preceding book the bebdanadlc «m at the intellect sal Godj, The <tetut therefore-, thouth the cause of then rxiits in the intelligible, pro. perly belong to the Intellectual order j and Ike Deainrgiu or artificer of the universe tabmts at the extremlly of that order. Bat the deminrgni according to Orpbew, prior to lbs nuVrication of the world absorbed in himself Pbanet the exemplar of the nriTene. Hence he became fell of Idea* of which the form, la theseasible anWene are the images. And as all katellectaal natarn are ia each, it is evident Ibal tlurngt wtiek art m ic«r« g mental fnm tkc conlunnably to the »«*<-Ttiun of Ptnl.
1 I refer the reader who is dreiroas of being folly conviaeed of this to the notei accompanying my t
dialogue, in vol. 3 of any Plato.
5 Ad Leerentium, c. ifi.
•HoreweseotUe-eae.areackaowledf.dby trenssos to be beings of so .
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>»> IMTIODDCTIOW.
The opinion of Grotius' therefore, is highly probable, that the Jews obtained the names of Powers, Dominations, and Principalities, from their Babylonic captivity; ami Gale in his notes on Iamblichos* says, that certain passages of Zoroaster and Ostanes cited by the author of Arithm. Theolog. confirm this opinion of Grotius- Indeed, the appellation of aftpu principle*, which are the first of the four powers mentioned by Paul, was given by the < called by the Grecian uWogists supermundane and assimilative, the nature of i by Produs in the sixth book of the following work ; and Prod us in the fourth book of bis MS. Commentary On the Parmenides of Plato shows that the order of Gods denominated roersc nmt »o»f4f, intelligible and at the tome time intellectual, is according to the Chaldean oracles' princi- pally characterized by domination. In proof of this, the two following oracles are cited by him, the first, concerning the empyrean, and the ,
EiMfi hvknwr; wrrgof mini&t /buAi.
i. e. " All things yield ministrant to the intellectual prcsters of intellectual fire, through (he per- wiU of the father." And
i. e. " But likewise such as are m subjection to the material Synoches.'*
Farther still, Paul m the Epistle to the Romans, chap. viii. v. 38, says, " For 1 am that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to wparate us from the love of God, &c." From this arrangement therefore, it is evident that principalities and powers are not the same with angels ; and as according to Paul they are beings *o exalted, that in his Epistle
• Ad Cap. IB. sftattfcaL > D« My»t. ». «*6.
: .Hm my Collection of tbt*« Or»de» in th« old Montldy Mag»»D*.
« The SyuKlK. fo™ tht secoed triad of Uw mUUir.,bW, aad at UM sum USM iataOectusI trdei of God..
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Co the Epb«i»ft.,he could not find nn> thing more magnificent lu say of Christ, than that he is raised even above them, it follows that ihey must be Gods, since they are superior to the angelic order. It is remarkable too, that he courtages height and depth (vfout »** fia6a;) with | ties and powers ; and is one of the *o«« a« curdiug to the Valentinians.
In the first Epistle to the Corinthians likewise, chap. viii. v. j. Pmil t xprrs*ly assert* that tier* is a divine multitude. For be says, « Though there be that arc called ( W», whether in heaven or in earth, fas there l>e Gods many uud Lord, many ;)" i„ the pu.cuthcsi, of which verse, it i» incon- trovertibly evident that he adn.its the existence of a plurality of Gods, though as weU as the heathens he believed that . ue Coa only m supreme and the father of all things. Nor am I singu- lar in asserting that this wa, admitted by Paul. For the Pwido-Dionysius the Arcopagile in the second oliapterof his treatise O., the Divi::e Name* observe! concerning what is here said by Paul a* follows : « Again, from the deife ev^y of God, by which «vry thing according to its »bili:y become, dciform, many Gods are generate □ : in consequence of which there appears and ia said to be a separation and multiplication of ihe one [spireme] God. Nc\eilhelc?s, God himself, who is the chief deity, and is supereiiehlially die suprcm-, is >till one G mI, remaining impartible w the Gods distributed from him, united to iiimsdf, unmiugleH witli th* many, and void of multitude." And he afterwards adds, " mat litis was in a transcendent manner understood by Paul, who was the leader both of him and hli preceptor, to divine illumination," in the above cited verse. And, « that in divine natures, unions vanquish and precede separations, and yet nevertheless tbey are' united, after the separation wliich does not in proceeding depart fioru the one, and is unical."1 Pad therefore, according to this Dionysiu*, considered the Gods, conformably to Plato and the best of his disciples, as deiform processions from the one, and which at the same time that they have a dis- tinct subsistence from, are profoundly united to their great producing cause. Dionysius also employs tlie very same expression which Proclus continually uses when speaking of the separation of the Gods from iheir source ; for he says -bat the divine multitude rsv „„, i. e. doe,
not depart from, but abides in the on. Hence Proclus in the fifth book of his MS Commentary Oo the Parmenides of Plato, speaking of tlie divine unities says, " Whichever among these you assume, it is the same with ihe others, because all of them are in each other, and are rooted in tht
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Ufi miKODUCTlOlt.
Mr. For u 1mm by their •ummiu (i. a. tbeir rooU) we fixed in lb* earth, and through the* are earthly, after the wine manner al*o divine nature* are rooted by their aumaiu m the one, and each of then ia a unity aad one, through uncoofuaed union with the one ittdf." H* ya* m, rwrm km- fiji, tv camp rmi aXXtuc Aop£«n«, turn wturai hi n «AAaAjuf ttrt, xcu m^orreu rueru Kmtang yaq ra hvlpa Taif Montn K»gw$«jf mSgvrrai Tp yy, xcu i«ti yima x«t" txuraf, Toy sutov Tpoiroy imu t» ftia nu< Mimr* ««f*n]Ttv iM^itwM t» r»i, mi m««ym> «vrwy rv«f «m, am r», Si« ran t» ** awtiyxuro*
Thia Dioayaiui, who certainly lived posterior to Proclus, became he continually borrow* from kia worki, barbaroutly confounding that scientific arrangement of theae deiform pioceesions from I he -one, which is so admirably unfolded by Proctus in the following work, classes i\vem a* follows, like first order, according to him, conaist* of Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones. The second of the divine essence* characterized by dominion, might, and power. Ami tba third of Principalities, Archangels, end Angels. Hence he haa transferred the character- ise* of the iotclIigibU triad of Goda to Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones. For symmetry, train, aad beastly, which characterize this triad, are raid by Plato in the Phikbua to subsist ia the veetibule of the good ; (eri u*» tcij t<w mytAov m *Sig wjotupoif ttttrrotm) and Dionyskis says1 •f bis first order that "it it as it were arranged in the vestibule* of deify." Goodness, wisdom, aad beauty also, are ebowo by Proclu* in the third book of the following work to belong to the intelligible triad; goodness to it* summit, wisdom to the middle of it, and 6t««ry to its extremity. And Diowyaiua aays, that according to the Hebrews, the word Cherubim signifies a multitude of knowledge, or an efution of witdom, ta* it X'r^^r* ymermt, a yvvn n^tmf. The
characteristics of the Gods called wirrai sum rwaai intelligible and at the tame time intellectual, and of the Gods that arc otisoi intellectual alone, be appear* to buvc transferred to hi* middle triad which is characterized by dominion, might, and power. Aad be has adapted hi* third triad consist- ing of Principalities, Jrchaitgels, and Angelt, to the supermundane, liberated, and mundane orders of Gods. For the supermundane Goda are called by Proclus in the sixth book of the fol- lowing work «»x<u Principalities, or rulert, which is the word employed by Dionjsius and Paul. Aud the mundane God* are said by Proclu* (in Parmenid.) to be the sources of a winged life, and angels are celebrated by Dionysius as having Brings. Hence it is evident that Dtonysius has accom- modated the peculiarities of the different orders of God* to the nine orders which be denominates celestial powers ; and his arrangement has been adopted by all succeeding Christian theologiata.
m> fin vty&ZwMH yt>«^«f Jt»/«t«t, turn? nmn um.,wMMf» *•» rv »|«rx«»'. D« CoUatt. Mitrarch.
c.ip. 7.
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IrfTBODtfCTlOH. Xivii
Vestiges therefor* of the theology of Plato nay be seen both i. the Jewish u tad in a similar manner, a resemblance m the religions of all other nations to it might be easily pointed out, and it* universality be clearly demonstrated. Omitting however, • discussion of this kind for the preterit, I (hall farther observe respecting this theology, that the deification of dead men, and the worshipping men at Gods form no part of it when it ia eooaidered according to it* getrume purity. Numerous instances of the truth of thu might be adduced, but I shall mennon for thu purpose, as unexceptionable witnesses, the writings of Plato, the Golden Pythagoric wees/ and the treatise of Plutarch On Isis and Osixi*. All the works of Plato indeed, evmce the truth of this position, but this is particularly manifest from his Laws. The Gulden verses order, that the immortal Gods be honoured first as (hey are disposed by law ; afterwards the illastrious Heroes), under which appellation, the author of the verses comprehends also angels and daemon* property v to called : and in the last place the terrestrial damons, i. e. such good men as transcend in virtue the But to honour the Gods as they are disposed by taw, is, as Hieroele* observe*, i they are arranged by their fabricator and father j and this ia to honour them a* beings superior to man. Hence, to honour inert, however excellent they may be, as Gods, is not to honour the Gods according to the rank in which they are placed by their Creator, for it is con- founding the divine with the human nature, and is thus acting directly contrary to the Pythagorie