And some of them indeed are the suppliers of union to their progeny ; others,of indissoluble permanency; others, of perfection ; and others, of life. But others preside over regeneration, and being allotted in a distributed manner in the universe, the powers which subsist unitedly in the one demi- urgus, they are subservient to the providence of the father. And every thing which is generated by the many demiurgi, is in a much greater degree produced by the one fabrication ; which governs mortal natures indeed, eternally, things that are moved, immoveably, and partible natures impartibly. It is not however necessary that the progeny of that one demiurgus should be suspended from the motion of the junior Gods. For every where the one fabrication is more comprehensive than that which is multiplied. And the more causal of divine natures energize prior to their own offspring, and together with them constitute the progeny that proceed from them. The first [demiurgic] God, therefore, produces from and through himself the divine genera * of the universe, according to his beneficent will. But he governs mortal natures through the junior Gods, generating indeed these also from himself,' but other Gods producing them as it were with their own hands. For he says, " these being generated through me will become equal to the Gods." The cause, therefore, through which, is to be attributed to the junior Gods; but the cause d/row which, even in the production of mortal
' It appears from the version of Portus that the words ».»» yfri are omitted in the original.
Proo. Vol. I. 2 Z
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362 ON THC THEOLOGY BOOK V.
natures is to be referred to the whole demiurgus. For always the first of those things that are constituted, produce in conjunction with their monad the generation of secondary natures. And all things indeed proceed from that monad, but some things immediately ; and through it, but some things through other media receive the providence that emanates from it. For these middle genera of causes are allotted the providential inspection of secondary natures from the first effective monad.
Concerning the words, therefore, in the Tiraaeus, which the demi- urgus delivers to the Gods in the world, thus much may suffice at present. But after these, it is fit to survey the second measures of total demiurgic providence, which the demiurgus extends from himself to the many and divisible souls. For having constituted these, divided them equal in number to divine animals, and disseminated them about the world, he inserts in them fabricative boundaries, defines the whole periods of them, inscribes in them the laws of Fate, proposes the apparent measures of their generation-producing life, legally institutes, and adorns in a becoming manner all the rewards of virtue, and the works of vice, intellectually comprehends in one the end of every period, and coarranges with a view to this the whole polity of partial souls. All' souls, therefore, of an immortal condition, being allotted a pro- gression from the demiurgus, are filled from him with an united and
' For it U necewary to read
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intellectual providence. Because, however, progeny which are suspended from their causes participate of the perfective efficacy which proceeds from them, divine souls, indeed, primarily subsisting from thence, become auditors of the words of their father immediately ; but partial souls participate of the uniform providence of the demiurgus secondarily, and with greater partibility. Hence also the demiurgus, as a legislator, denning to these all the measures of their life, he thus extends demiurgic words, unitedly comprehending the divided nature of the whole of their life, convolving in sameness without time their temporal mutability, and collecting uniformly, according to one simplicity, the multiform and diversified nature of the energy which exists about them. But to divine souls he immediately unfolds the providence of himself, and exhorts them to join with him in a providential inspection of the whole world, to fabricate, adorn and dispose in conjunction with him, mortal natures, to govern generated beings according to the measures of justice, and to . lead and convolve all things, following demiurgic providence. Very far therefore, are those interpreters of Plato from according with the fabri- cation of the universe, who admit that partial are the same with whole souls, and who attribute the same essence to all souls ; because all of them are allotted their generation from one demiurgus.
For in the first place, the father in the course of his fabrication adorning, and disposing in an orderly manner partial souls, poured mingling, the remainder of the former mixture, says Timseus, and produced the second and third genera. But in a progression of this kind, the words effective of conversion which he extends to divine souls, arc intellectual, and demiurgic, and impart to them generative powers, and perfective goods ; but those which he extends to partial souls, are the definite sources of generation, of the laws of Fate, of justice, and all-various periods. If, therefore, every thing which proceeds from the demiurgus is essentially imparted to souls, it is indeed necessary that different measures of words should be the causes of different powers ; and that to some among the number of divisible souls, the demiurgus should distribute a polity exempt from mundane affairs, but to others
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On This Theology
a polity arranged under these souls, and supernally governed by them. These things, however, may elsewhere be more copiously demonstrated.
After the demiurgic words therefore, again returning to the demiurgic intellect, let us survey following Plato, who the demiurgus is, who convolves the end itself of the intellectual triad to the beginning, and after what manner it is fit to denominate him according to the Grecian theology. Or rather, prior to this let us summarily show what we may assume concerning him according to the narration of Timaeus. For we shall more easily learn those particulars, if we assent to these. For di- rectly, in the beginning of the theology concerning him, he is celebrated as the fabricator and father of the world. And he is neither called fabri- cator alone, nor father and fabricator, but at one and the same time manifestly possessing both peculiarities, he is rather characterized by the fabricative, than by the paternal cause. But he is denominated the demiurgus of wholes, according to his goodness, unenvying and exuberant will, and his power which is able to adorn and arrange all things, and even such as are of a disorderly nature. He is however particularly unfolded to us as the supplier of beauty, symmetry aud order, and as the best of causes; and this because he is allotted the uniform, and first effective power of the whole demiurgic series. But he gives subsistence to intellect and soul, and at the same time to all the life in the world ; since he fabricated the whole world an animal animated, and endued with intellect. Beiug likewise full of every intelligible, and extending himself to intelligible and all-perfect animal and conjoining this to himself through
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similitude, he fabricates the sensible universe only-begotten, in the same manner as the separate paradigm [animal itself] transcending wholes, unitedly constitutes the intelligible universe.
Moreover, he is likewise the fabricator of bodies, and the perfector of works, binding all things by the most excellent analogies, and co-adapt- ing their powers, bulks, and numbers by the most beautiful bonds. Farther still, he constituted the universe a whole from wholes, and perfect from perfect parts, that it might be free from old age and disease, and might contain in itself all the genera of the elements. He likewise adorned it with the first figure, and with the most simple and most com- prehensive of all figures. Besides these things, he is also the cause of self-sufficiency to the universe, and of a circulation into itself, in order that suffering all things from, and effecting all things in itself, it might not be in want of any thing externally situated. And he is indeed the supplier of intellectual motion, and of a life which is evolved according to time, and which effects * a mutation always according to the same, and similarly, and about the same things. Farther still, he is the father of soul, and of all the genera in soul, of the division in it, and all the harmonic reasons it contains, constituting it in the world, as a self-moved and immortal lyre ; and he is also the divider of the one, and the seven circles in it, and in short, is the maker and fabricator of figure and morphe.*
In addition to these things likewise, he generates from himself the whole of time, according to the imitation of eternity, together with all the measures of time, and the Gods that unfold these measures into light. But he especially constitutes the whole sun, enkindling its light from his own intellectual essence, in order that possessing a transcendency exempt from the other Gods it might be the king of the universe. Moreover, he fabricates ' all the multitudes of mundane Gods and daemons, and all celestial and sublunary natures, in order that he may evince this only-
■ For vtMVfuwv, it is necessary to read wwfumif.
* Morphe pertain* to the colour, figure, and magnitude of superficies.
1 For intutvpyn, h it necessary to read h^opr*'-
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366 ON THE THEOLOGY BOOK V.
begotten and self-sufficient God [the world] to be the image of the intel- ligible and all-perfect God ; fixing the earth indeed, as a firm seat or Vesta, in it, but distributing by lot the other elements to divine souls and daemons. Besides all this likewise, he converts to himself the genera of Gods that have proceeded from him, and fills all things with undented generation, with perpetual life, demiurgic perfection, and generative abundance. He also constitutes divisible souls together with their vehi- cles, divides them about their leading Gods, arranges different souls under different Gods, unfolds to them the laws of Fate, measures their descents into generation, establishes rewards to their contests in their periodic revolutions, and institutes, as I may say, the whole of their polity in the world.
But after all these things, he introduces a boundary to the providence of wholes, and returning to his own place of survey, delivering to the junior Gods the superintendence of mortal natures, and abiding in his own accustomed manner, is the paradigm to the demiurgi in the world of providential attention to beings of a second order. And as in the fabri- cation of wholes the paradigm is intelligible animal, so in the arrange- ment of partial natures, the paradigm is intellectual animal, in which all forms shine forth in a divided manner, according to their own nature. For Timaeus says, " the children understanding the order of their father, were obedient to it," and he abiding, and paternally, and eternally pro- ducing all things, they adorn and arrange the mortal genera demiurgi- cally, and according to time. Hence the providence of the demiurgus presents itself to the view, extending from on high as far as to the produc- tion of these, and what is here said by Plato, is as it were a hymn to the demiurgus and father of this universe, celebrating his productions, and the benefits which he confers ou the world.
And it is requisite that being persuaded by what is here clearly written, we should investigate all the other enquiries about the demiurgus. My meaning is, that we should investigate what we mentioned a little before, who the demiurgus is, and how we ou$ht to denominate him according to the sentiments of the Greeks; and on what account, Timteus neither delivers the name of him, nor unfolds to us who he is, but says, " that it
CH AP. XXI.