A collection of several philosophical writings

This philosophy, which now deserves to be called Cartesianism—because Descartes so successfully brought it back into view—was originally part of the ancient Jewish Cabbala. It was part of the Philosophy of Pythagoras, which he received from the Jews (as is widely confirmed by ancient writers). I omitted to list the succession of the Pythagorean School, though it would have been relevant to our goal. Therefore, I will provide it here from Diogenes Laërtius, who records the lineage as follows: Pherecydes, Pythagoras, Telauges, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, Leucippus, Democritus, and then many others, including Nausiphanes and Naucydes, and finally Epicurus.

* Appendix to the Defense of the Philosophical Cabbala, chapter 7, section 5.

This group was called the Italic School. The first in this succession, Pherecydes, is said to have obtained certain secret writings from the Phoenicians or Hebrews, as I have already noted from Hesychius. Nor is there any need to repeat the extensive evidence proving that Pythagoras, the immediate successor of Pherecydes, learned his Philosophy from the Jews. I also needn't repeat how the Cabbala was kept intact by him and some of his successors. That is to say, the physical or mechanical part was not separated from the theological or metaphysical—the body was not separated from the soul. This separation seems to have occurred with Leucippus and Democritus, and the philosophy finally became decaying original: "cadaverous" and foul-smelling in the hands of Epicurus and all those who have followed in his footsteps to this very day.

Specific considerations from Pherecydes, Parmenides, and Aristotle that might lead one to believe that the entire Pythagorean Philosophy—both physical and metaphysical—was the ancient wisdom of the Jews.

Aristotle, Metaphysics, book 1, chapter 5.

15. In the meantime, I must note that the lineage of that School is strong evidence for two things: first, that Pythagoras’s philosophy was the ancient Wisdom of the Jews; and second, that the Atomic or Mechanical Philosophy (similar to what I have applied to the Text of Moses) was also part of that Wisdom. It is unnecessary to repeat what I have already observed to show that Pythagoreanism relates to the text of Moses. However, besides what I noted regarding Pherecydes mentioning Ophioneus A giant or serpent-like figure in Greek mythology often identified by More with the biblical serpent or fallen angels. as the leader of the rebel spirits, the beginning of one of his books (which Laërtius quotes) seems to me like a fragmented reflection of the beginning of Genesis:

"God and Time and the Ground existed eternally; but the Ground was named Earth after God gave it honor." original Greek: Ζεὺς μὲν καὶ χρόνος εἰς ἀεὶ καὶ χθὼν ἦν· χθονὶ δὲ ὄνομα ἐγένετο γῆ, ἐπειδὴ αὐτῇ Ζεὺς γέρας διδόῖ.

The simple meaning of this is: God and Time (I suppose he means Duration) and the Ground existed eternally: But the Ground, once God adorned it, was called Earth. This latter part is likely a reference to the work of the third day of creation. But the first part, which claims the Ground is eternal, reflects the first day. This word chthon, which I have translated as the Ground, is Hyle Hyle: A philosophical term for primordial, unformed matter or the "potential" for physical existence., which Plotinus calls the "pedestal" and "the ancient nature"—the Ground or Foundation. This Hyle, or the possibility of the external Creation being eternal, is a kind of Non-Entity, yet it is the lowest basis of Actual Being.

Parmenides (the fifth in this Italic succession) should also be understood in this sense when he makes his two primary principles Fire and Earth, as seen in Aristotle:

"He posits two principles, the hot and the cold, speaking of them as fire and earth; of these he ranks the hot with 'being' and the other with 'non-being'." original Greek: Δύο τὰς ἀρχὰς τίθησι, θερμὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν, οἷον πῦρ καὶ γῆν λέγων· τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν κατὰ τὸ ὂν τὸ θερμὸν τάττει, θάτερον δὲ κατὰ τὸ μὴ ὄν.

On this point, the learned Stagirite Stagirite: A common title for Aristotle, who was born in the city of Stagira. is completely wrong in his interpretation, as if Parmenides meant nothing more by Fire and Earth than heat and cold, thereby making two "accidents" (temporary qualities) the primary principles of all things. But by the way, he has lent unto