The six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on the theology of Plato (vol. 1 of 2) : $b translated from the Greek, to which a seventh book is added, in order to supply the deficiency of another book on this subject, which was written by Proclus, but since lost, also, a translation from the Greek of Proclus' Elements of theology, to which are added a translation of the treatise of Proclus, On providence and fate, a translation of extracts from his treatise, entitled, Ten doubts concerning — Plato — John Shaqi
The six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on the theology of Plato (vol. 1 of 2) : $b translated from the Greek, to which a seventh book is added, in order to supply the deficiency of another book on this subject, which was written by Proclus, but since lost, also, a translation from the Greek of Proclus' Elements of theology, to which are added a translation of the treatise of Proclus, On providence and fate, a translation of extracts from his treatise, entitled, Ten doubts concerning
Plato · en
Indeed, that after the great incomprehensible cause of all, a divine
multitude subsists, co-operating with this cause in the production and
government of the universe, has always been, and is still admitted by
all nations, and all religions, however much they may differ in their
opinions respecting the nature of the subordinate deities, and the
veneration which is to be paid to them by man; and however barbarous
the conceptions of some nations on this subject may be when compared
with those of others. Hence, says the elegant Maximus Tyrius, “You
will see one according law and assertion in all the earth, that there
is one God, the king and father of all things, and many Gods, sons of
God, ruling together with him. This the Greek says, and the Barbarian
says, the inhabitant of the Continent, and he who dwells near the
sea, the wise and the unwise. And if you proceed as far as to the
utmost shores of the ocean, there also there are Gods, rising very
near to some, and setting very near to others.”[4] This dogma, too,
is so far from being opposed by either the Old or New Testament, that
it is admitted by both, though it forbids the religious veneration of
the inferior deities, and enjoins the worship of one God alone, whose
portion is Jacob, and Israel the line of his inheritance. The following
testimonies will, I doubt not, convince the liberal reader of the truth
of this assertion.
In the first place it appears from the 32d chapter of Deuteronomy, v.
8. in the Septuagint version, that “_the division of the nations
was made according to the number of the angels of God_,” and not
according to the number of the children of Israel, as the present
Hebrew text asserts. This reading was adopted by the most celebrated
fathers of the Christian church, such as, among the Greeks, Origen,
Basil, and Chrysostom, and among the Latins, Jerom and Gregory. That
this too, is the genuine reading, is evident from the 4th chapter of
the same book and the 19th verse, in which it is said, “And lest thou
lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the
moon, and the stars, _even_ all the host of heaven, shouldst be
driven to worship them, and serve them, _which the Lord thy God hath
divided unto all nations under the whole heaven_.” Here it is said
that the stars are divided to all the nations, which is equivalent
to saying that the nations were divided according to the number of
the stars; the Jewish legislator at the same time, considering his
own nation as an exception, and as being under the government of the
God of Israel alone. For in the following verse it is added, “But the
Lord hath taken you (i.e. the Jews), and brought you forth out of
the iron furnace, _even_ out of Egypt, to be unto him a people
of inheritance, as _ye_ are to this day.” By the angels of God
therefore (in Deuteron. 32. v. 8.) the stars are signified; and these
in the same book (chapter 17. v. 3.) are expressly called Gods; “And