INDEX

That man is His handiwork. That one must look toward the one God. That thanks ought to be offered to Him for His benefits.

XI That the philosophers who followed held the same views concerning the supreme and singular God. Iamblichus A Neoplatonist philosopher, c. 245–325 AD affirms that God is the beginning, the middle, and the end, and that happiness consists in looking toward and following Him. That He is the Lord of all good things, the beginning of blessedness, and the end of all philosophy. That happiness is to follow His commands.

XII Porphyry A Phoenician Neoplatonist, c. 234–305 AD commemorates the singular and unique God, who must be appeased with a rational sacrifice and pure thoughts. That He is omnipotent; the author of every virtue.

XIII Likewise from Simplicius A late Greek philosopher, c. 490–560 AD comes profound theology concerning the one source of goodness, the unique and singular principle of things, upon whom all causes and all principles depend. And that He inclines Himself to bring aid to the wretched.

XIIII From the same Simplicius: that God is the beginning and end of the absolute good of our souls, toward whom alone one must look; as long as the soul clings to Him, it remains attached to its root, but if torn away, it withers. That God created the world.

XV From Proclus A Greek Neoplatonist, 412–485 AD concerning the singular God: that He is One, that He is the Good, that He is the first cause, the Author of all good things, and even the Creator of the gods. That He is ineffable, unthinkable, of infinite Virtue, and of unfailing Nature.

IN THE SEVENTH BOOK IS TREATED

Concerning the creation of the World.

CHAPTER I That every nation from the most ancient ages, by a tradition descending through all generations, confesses that the world was created. That the ancients saw certain signs of a Created world. That the report of a Created world was very frequent among the ancients. The reasons why some were unwilling to believe the world was created.

II The arguments concerning the Eternity of the world are resolved. That Eternity The idea that the world has no beginning or end profits no one, but is vehemently harmful. That this is the source of all impiety and all unhappiness for mortals, and the confusion of human affairs. That no account of providence can be given for eternal things. That souls cannot be immortal in the context of eternal things: or that they do not ascend into heaven: and that there are no rewards for virtues after life. That they are fools who wish for inferior things to be eternal, which serve as an impediment to better things. That it is not an evil to destroy the world for the sake of greater goods.

III The second reason is dissolved: that in creating the world there is no "before" and "after" in time. Whenever the world might have been created, it could have been asked why it was not created sooner. In eternity there is no before and after. That human minds hallucinate in many things just like the senses. That all infinity is absurd and unbecoming, except for the divine. That Eternity belongs naturally to One alone. That God, in setting aside the Creation of the world i.e., before He began it, was neither slow nor a loiterer. Nor can He be said to have desisted or delayed.

IIII The reasons of the Philosophers are examined, first those of Aristotle concerning Eternity. That Aristotle does not simply attack Creation, but rather the kind of creation some before him had preached, who asserted an eternal Chaos and a Creation occurring within time. That the ancients did not believe in eternal time in the way Aristotle falsely claims. That the ancients asserted that time and heaven were created, and the heaven was created from the liquid substance of water.

V The reasons of Proclus are dissolved, drawn partly from nature and partly from the opinion of Plato. That the time in which the world was established is not celestial time. That there are several...