Elements of Theology

 as one subsisting, but according to participation not one, the one will be multiplied, just as the multiplicity is unified through the one. Therefore

 activity is better than that which is not self-sufficient but has the cause of its perfection dependent on another substance. For if all beings by nat

 it desires that also, how most of all the good? or if it does not desire, how does it not desire the cause of all things, having proceeded from it? Bu

 is itself, and the mover and the moved are one and the same. For either it moves in one part and is moved in another part, or as a whole it moves and

 beginning from a monad, it proceeds into a multitude coordinate with the monad, and the multitude of every order is led back to one monad. For the mon

 the one being divided. But if it is in one of all things, it will no longer be of all things, but of one. If, therefore, it is both common to those ab

 the thing produced is other than it. Therefore, that which begets is established as unchangeable and undiminished, multiplying itself through a genera

 from something and reverting has a cyclical activity. For if it reverts to that from which it proceeds, it joins the end to the beginning, and the mot

 procession. For since each occurs through likeness, that which has proceeded immediately from something has also reverted immediately to it (for the l

 has reverted to itself according to nature and is perfect in its reversion to itself, and would have its being from itself for that to which the reve

 the self-subsistent is set apart from things measured by time in respect to its substance. For if the self-subsistent is ungenerated, it would not be

 having received the power to produce from the cause which is superior to it, it has from that cause its being the cause of those things of which it is

 Thus the producer in relation to the produced, taken in relation to each other, but that which is able to do more has a greater and more universal pow

 a cause has pre-contained in itself the effect, being primarily what that is secondarily or in the thing produced the producer (for this too, partici

 suffers from the former) and when the second in turn acts, that also co-acts, because whatever the second does, the more causal also co-begets with i

 being, or needing it somehow in order to be, would be in this respect more imperfect than the effect. But that which is in the result is a co-cause ra

 passible, being in every way divisible, and in every way to infinity. But the incorporeal, being simple, is impassible for the indivisible can neithe

 undiminished it contains in itself. But surely infinity in respect to magnitude and in respect to multitude is a complete privation and a falling away

 set apart and if all things enter into it, yet it has something hidden and incomprehensible to secondary things and if it unfolds the powers within

 but nowhere for thus it would be divided and separate from itself, if indeed one part of it is everywhere and in all things, but the other part nowhe

 all things. For since each thing exists either according to cause or according to existence or according to participation, in the first the rest exist

 a turning back as if through similars, dissimilar <being>. For the one is similar as a particular to a particular, the other is kindred as being of th

 a hypostasis but no longer a henad, it would be assigned to another order on account of the alteration of its property. 115 Every god is supra-essenti

 supra-essential, being nothing other than the one for each is not one thing, and then good, but only good, just as it is not one thing, and then one,

 is and in beings has the power of apprehending truth (for it both grasps thoughts and has its subsistence in acts of intellection) but the gods are b

 having set the same before itself, is most self-sufficient and such is all that is divine. Therefore it needs neither other things, being goodness-it

 is more unified than beings. All divine genera, therefore, are bound together by their proper intermediaries, and the first do not proceed immediately

 of a henad working, with which it is connate. This, then, is that which in itself defines the being that partakes of it and shows essentially the supr

 to the gods so that, while they are present to all things in the same way, all things are not present to them in the same way, but as each is able, i

 For the one, having a most unitive power, sends itself through the entire union and unifies all from above, while remaining in itself. But the mean, s

 proceeds from the infinity of the divine power, multiplying itself and passing through all things, and pre-eminently demonstrating the unfailing in th

 presides over composites and of their order and of their division according to number, and is of the same series as the paternal in more partial produ

 they have intelligible [qualities]. In the same way, therefore, that those, by illuminating Being, are intelligible, so also these, by illuminating th

 and sees itself. But seeing that it is thinking and seeing, it knows that it is Intellect in actuality and knowing this, it knows that it thinks, and

 Therefore it has the causes of all things intellectually. So that every intellect is all things intellectually, both the things before it and the thin

 more akin, contracted in quantity, in power surpasses the things after it and conversely the things further from the one. Therefore, those that are h

 on the one hand, but being only intellectual, is participated by souls that are neither divine nor come to be in a state of change from intellect to u

 by its very being, if the participant is suitable, it immediately becomes ensouled and living, not by the soul reasoning and choosing, nor giving life

 and to the soul that substantiates the essential principles of all things in it for everything that produces by its being, which it is primarily, thi

 of the motions it will also have restorations for every period of the eternal things is restorative. 200 Every period of a soul is measured by time

 the relation to the secondary ones, which the divine has to the intellectual, and this to the psychical and the quantities of the lower ones are grea

 it admits of every kind of change, being moved together with their own ruling causes. But indeed that it is also indivisible, is clear. For everything

beginning from a monad, it proceeds into a multitude coordinate with the monad, and the multitude of every order is led back to one monad. For the monad, holding the principle of a beginning, generates the multitude proper to itself; wherefore also one series and one order, which in its entirety has from the monad its descent into multitude; for there is no longer an order nor a series, if the monad remains barren in itself. And the multitude is led back again to the one common cause of all things of the same order. For that which is the same in the entire multitude did not have its procession from one of those in the multitude; for that which is from only one of the many is not common to all, but is the special property of that one alone. Since therefore in each order there is a certain community and continuity and identity, by which these are called of the same order, and those of a different order, it is clear that from one principle comes that which is the same for the whole order. There is therefore one monad before the multitude in each order and series, providing the one principle to the things ordered in it, both in relation to one another and to the whole. For let one thing be the cause of another of those under the same series; but the cause of the series as one must be before all, and from it all things are generated as of the same order, not each as a particular thing but as belonging to this order. From these things it is clear that both the one and the multitude belong to the nature of body, and the one nature has the many natures connected to it and the many natures are from the one nature of the whole, and it is possible for the order of souls both to begin from one first soul and to descend to a multitude of souls and to lead the multitude back to the one, and for the intelligible substance there is both an intelligible monad and a multitude of intellects proceeding from one intellect and returning to it, and for the one before all things, the multitude of henads, and for the henads the ascent to the one. After the first One, therefore, are the henads, and after the first Intellect, intellects, and after the first Soul, souls? and after the whole Nature, the many natures. 22 Everything that is primarily and principiantly in each order is one, and neither two nor more than two, but everything is unique. For let there be, if possible, two; for the same impossibility holds also if there are more. Therefore either each of these is what is called primary, or that which is from both. But if it is that which is from both, it would be one again and not two primary things. But if each is, either one is from the other, and each is not primary; or both are on an equal footing. But if they are on an equal footing, neither will be primary any longer. For if one is primary, and this is not the same as the other, what will be of that order? For that which is nothing other than what it is called, this is primary; but each of these, being other, both is and is not what it is called. If therefore these differ from one another, but they do not differ insofar as each is what is called primary (for this primarily has suffered the same thing), both will not be primary, but that, by participating in which both are said to be primary. From these things it is clear that the primarily existent is one only, and not two or more primarily existents; and the first Intellect is one only, and not two first Intellects; and the first Soul is one; and for each of the Forms, such as the primarily beautiful, the primarily equal, and for all similarly; so also the form of Animal is one and first, and that of Man; for the proof is the same. 23 Everything unparticipated establishes from itself the participated things, and all participated substances are extended up to unparticipated existences. For the unparticipated, having the character of a monad as being of itself and not of another and as being set apart from the participants, generates the things able to be participated. For either it will stand barren in itself, and would have nothing of value; or it will give something from itself, and that which received it participated, and that which was given subsisted in a participated manner. And every participated thing, having become of something by which it is participated, is secondary to that which is present to all alike and has filled all things from itself. For that which is in one is not in the others; but that which is present to all in the same way, so that it may illuminate all, is not in one, but before all. For it is either in all or in one of the all or before all. But that which is in all, being divided into all, would again need another to unify that which is divided; and all would no longer participate in the same thing, but one in one thing, and another in another,

ἀπὸ μονάδος ἀρχομένη πρόεισιν εἰς πλῆθος τῇ μονάδι σύστοιχον, καὶ πάσης τάξεως τὸ πλῆθος εἰς μίαν ἀνάγεται μονάδα. ἡ μὲν γὰρ μονάς, ἀρχῆς ἔχουσα λόγον, ἀπογεννᾷ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἑαυτῇ πλῆθος· διὸ καὶ μία σειρὰ καὶ μία τάξις, ἣ ὅλη παρὰ τῆς μονάδος ἔχει τὴν εἰς τὸ πλῆθος ὑπόβασιν· οὐ γὰρ ἔτι τάξις οὐδὲ σειρά, τῆς μονάδος ἀγόνου μενούσης καθ' αὑτήν. τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ἀνάγεται πάλιν εἰς μίαν τὴν κοινὴν τῶν ὁμο ταγῶν πάντων αἰτίαν. τὸ γὰρ ἐν παντὶ τῷ πλήθει ταὐτὸν οὐκ ἀφ' ἑνὸς τῶν ἐν τῷ πλήθει τὴν πρόοδον ἔσχε· τὸ γὰρ ἀφ' ἑνὸς μόνου τῶν πολλῶν οὐ κοινὸν πάντων, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐκείνου μόνης ἰδιότητος ἐξαίρετον. ἐπεὶ οὖν καθ' ἑκάστην τάξιν ἐστί τις καὶ κοινωνία καὶ συνέχεια καὶ ταυτότης, δι' ἣν καὶ τάδε μὲν ὁμοταγῆ λέγεται, τάδε δὲ ἑτεροταγῆ, δῆλον ὡς ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς ἥκει πάσῃ τῇ τάξει τὸ ταὐτόν. ἔστιν ἄρα μονὰς μία πρὸ τοῦ πλήθους καθ' ἑκάστην τάξιν καὶ εἱρμὸν τὸν ἕνα λόγον τοῖς ἐν αὐτῇ τεταγμένοις παρεχομένη πρός τε ἄλληλα καὶ πρὸς τὸ ὅλον. ἄλλο μὲν γὰρ ἄλλου αἴτιον ἔστω τῶν ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτὴν σειράν· τὸ δὲ ὡς μιᾶς τῆς σειρᾶς αἴτιον ἀνάγκη πρὸ τῶν πάντων εἶναι, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ πάντα ὡς ὁμοταγῆ γεννᾶσθαι, μὴ ὡς τόδε τι ἕκαστον ἀλλ' ὡς τῆσδε τῆς τάξεως ὑπάρχον. ἐκ δὴ τούτων φανερὸν ὅτι καὶ τῇ φύσει τοῦ σώματος ὑπάρχει τό τε ἓν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ ἥ τε μία φύσις τὰς πολλὰς ἔχει συνηρτημένας καὶ αἱ πολλαὶ φύσεις ἐκ μιᾶς εἰσι τῆς τοῦ ὅλου φύσεως, καὶ τῇ τάξει τῶν ψυχῶν πάρεστιν ἐκ μιᾶς τε ἄρχεσθαι ψυχῆς τῆς πρώτης καὶ εἰς πλῆθος ψυχῶν ὑποβαίνειν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος εἰς τὴν μίαν ἀνάγειν, καὶ τῇ νοερᾷ οὐσίᾳ μονάδα τε εἶναι νοερὰν καὶ νόων πλῆθος ἐξ ἑνὸς νοῦ προελθὸν καὶ εἰς ἐκείνην ἐπιστρέφον, καὶ τῷ ἑνὶ τῷ πρὸ τῶν πάντων τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἑνάδων καὶ ταῖς ἑνάσι τὴν εἰς τὸ ἓν ἀνάτασιν. μετὰ τὸ ἓν ἄρα τὸ πρῶτον ἑνάδες, καὶ μετὰ νοῦν τὸν πρῶτον νόες, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν πρώτην ψυχαί; καὶ μετὰ τὴν ὅλην φύσιν αἱ πολλαὶ φύσεις. 22 Πᾶν τὸ πρώτως καὶ ἀρχικῶς ὂν καθ' ἑκάστην τάξιν ἕν ἐστι, καὶ οὔτε δύο οὔτε πλείω δυεῖν, ἀλλὰ μονογενὲς πᾶν. ἔστω γάρ, εἰ δυνατόν, δύο· τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ ἀδύνατον καὶ πλειό νων ὄντων. ἢ οὖν ἑκάτερον τούτων ἐστὶν ὃ λέγεται πρώτως ἢ τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν. ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν, ἓν ἂν εἴη πάλιν καὶ οὐ δύο τὰ πρῶτα. εἰ δὲ ἑκάτερον, ἢ ἐκ θατέρου θάτερον, καὶ οὐ πρῶτον ἑκάτερον· ἢ ἐπίσης ἄμφω. ἀλλ' εἰ ἐπίσης, οὐδέτερον ἔτι ἔσται πρώτως. εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἕτερον πρώτως, τοῦτο δὲ οὐ ταὐτὸν τῷ ἑτέρῳ, τί ἔσται τῆς τάξεως ἐκείνης; ὃ γὰρ μηδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ ὃ λέγεται, τοῦτο ἔστι πρώτως· τούτων δὲ ἑκάτερον ἕτερον ὄν ἐστί τε ἅμα καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ λέγεται. εἰ οὖν ταῦτα διαφέρει μὲν ἀλλήλων, οὐ καθόσον δέ ἐστιν ὃ λέγεται πρώτως διαφέρει (τοῦτο γὰρ πρώτως ταὐτὸν πέπονθεν), οὐκ ἄμφω ἔσται πρώτως, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνο, οὗ ἄμφω μετασχόντα πρώτως εἶναι λέγε ται. ἐκ δὴ τούτων φανερὸν ὅτι καὶ τὸ πρώτως ὂν ἕν ἐστι μόνον, ἀλλ' οὐ δύο τὰ πρώτως ὄντα ἢ πλείω· καὶ ὁ πρώτιστος νοῦς εἷς μόνος, ἀλλ' οὐ δύο οἱ πρῶτοι νόες· καὶ ἡ πρωτίστη ψυχὴ μία· καὶ ἐφ' ἑκάστου τῶν εἰδῶν, οἷον τὸ πρώτως καλόν, τὸ πρώτως ἴσον, καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων ὁμοίως· οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ τοῦ ζώου εἶδος ἓν τὸ πρῶτον, καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· ἡ γὰρ αὐτὴ ἀπόδειξις. 23 Πᾶν τὸ ἀμέθεκτον ὑφίστησιν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ τὰ μετεχόμενα, καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ μετεχόμεναι ὑποστάσεις εἰς ἀμεθέκτους ὑπάρξεις ἀνατείνονται. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀμέθεκτον, μονάδος ἔχον λόγον ὡς ἑαυτοῦ ὂν καὶ οὐκ ἄλλου καὶ ὡς ἐξῃρημένον τῶν μετεχόντων, ἀπογεννᾷ τὰ μετέχεσθαι δυνάμενα. ἢ γὰρ ἄγονον ἑστήξεται καθ' αὑτό, καὶ οὐδὲν ἂν ἔχοι τίμιον· ἢ δώσει τι ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ τὸ μὲν λαβὸν μετέσχε, τὸ δὲ δοθὲν ὑπέστη μετεχομένως. τὸ δὲ μετεχόμενον πᾶν, τινὸς γενόμενον ὑφ' οὗ μετέχεται, δεύτερόν ἐστι τοῦ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως παρόντος καὶ πάντα ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ πληρώσαντος. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἑνὶ ὂν ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις οὐκ ἔστιν· τὸ δὲ πᾶσιν ὡσαύτως παρόν, ἵνα πᾶσιν ἐλλάμπῃ, οὐκ ἐν ἑνί ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τῶν πάντων. ἢ γὰρ ἐν πᾶσίν ἐστιν ἢ ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν πάντων ἢ πρὸ τῶν πάντων. ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἐν πᾶσιν ὄν, μερισθὲν εἰς πάντα, πάλιν ἄλλου ἂν δέοιτο τοῦ τὸ μερισθὲν ἑνίζοντος· καὶ οὐκέτ' ἂν τοῦ αὐτοῦ μετέχοι πάντα, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἄλλου, τὸ δὲ ἄλλου,