Theological Antecedent of Plotinus' Doctrine of Divine Simplicity
An introduction to the doctrine of Simplicity
Scriptural preemption and reproof of the error.
Philo of Alexandria (c.20 BC – c. 50) - Jewish master of allegory
But the better way of understanding this passage is the following : God is alone : a single being : not a combination : a single nature : but each of us, and every other animal in the world, are compound beings : for instance, I myself am made up of many things, of soul and body. Again, the soul is made up of a rational part and an irrational part : also of the body, there is one part hot, another cold ; one heavy, another light ; one dry, another moist. But God is not a compound being, nor one which is made up of many parts, but one which has no mixture with anything else ; for whatever could be combined with God must be either superior to him, or inferior to him, or equal to him. But there is nothing equal to God, and nothing superior to him, and nothing is combined with him which is worse than himself; for if it were, he himself would be deteriorated ; and if he were to suffer deterioration, he would also become perishable, which it is impious even to imagine. Therefore God exists according to oneness and unity ; or we should rather say, that oneness exists according to the one God, for all number is more recent than the world, as is also time. But God is older than the world, and is its Creator.
(On the allegories of the sacred laws. Second book)
But those who enter into agreements and alliances with the body, being unable to throw off the robes of the flesh, and to behold that nature, which alone of all natures has no need of anything, but is sufficient for itself, and simple, and unalloyed, and incapable of being compared with anything else, from the
same notions of the cause of all things that they do of themselves ; not considering that in the case of a being who exists through a concurrence of many faculties, he has need of many parts in order to supply the necessities of each of those faculties. (On the unchangeableness of God, XI)
...there are two principal positions laid down with respect to the great cause of all things : one, that God is not as a man ; the other, that God is as a man. But the first of these assertions is confirmed by the most certain truth, while the latter is introduced for the instruction of the many. In reference to which, it is said concerning them, " as a man would instruct his son." And this is said for the sake of instruction and admonition, and not because he is really such by nature. (On the unchangeableness of God, XI)
But the better way of understanding this passage is the following : God is alone : a single being : not a combination : a single nature : but each of us, and every other animal in the world, are compound beings : for instance, I myself am made up of many things, of soul and body. Again, the soul is made up of a rational part and an irrational part : also of the body, there is one part hot, another cold ; one heavy, another light ; one dry, another moist. But God is not a compound being, nor one which is made up of many parts, but one which has no mixture with anything else ; for whatever could be combined with God must be either superior to him, or inferior to him, or equal to him. But there is nothing equal to God, and nothing superior to him, and nothing is combined with him which is worse than himself; for if it were, he himself would be deteriorated ; and if he were to suffer deterioration, he would also become perishable, which it is impious even to imagine. Therefore God exists according to oneness and unity ; or we should rather say, that oneness exists according to the one God, for all number is more recent than the world, as is also time. But God is older than the world, and is its Creator.
(On the allegories of the sacred laws. Second book)
But those who enter into agreements and alliances with the body, being unable to throw off the robes of the flesh, and to behold that nature, which alone of all natures has no need of anything, but is sufficient for itself, and simple, and unalloyed, and incapable of being compared with anything else, from the
same notions of the cause of all things that they do of themselves ; not considering that in the case of a being who exists through a concurrence of many faculties, he has need of many parts in order to supply the necessities of each of those faculties. (On the unchangeableness of God, XI)
...there are two principal positions laid down with respect to the great cause of all things : one, that God is not as a man ; the other, that God is as a man. But the first of these assertions is confirmed by the most certain truth, while the latter is introduced for the instruction of the many. In reference to which, it is said concerning them, " as a man would instruct his son." And this is said for the sake of instruction and admonition, and not because he is really such by nature. (On the unchangeableness of God, XI)
Theology
Ministry of God's Word
Evolution Rome EU
Islam/ The Satanic verses
The land of Israel
Christian anti-Semitism
Ministry of God's Word
Evolution Rome EU
Islam/ The Satanic verses
The land of Israel
Christian anti-Semitism