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

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 supra-essential property in it; for from that which is primarily everywhere, there belongs to that which is secondarily this being, which it is. Whatever, then, is the supra-essential property of the divinity, this also belongs essentially to being, which partakes of it. 138 Of all things that partake of the divine property and are deified, being is the very first and highest. For if being is beyond both intellect and life, as has been shown, since this is the cause of most things after the One, being would be the highest. For it is more unified than these, and for this reason altogether more venerable; and there is nothing else before it except the One. For before the unitary multitude what is there other than the One? And being is a unitary multitude, as being from limit and the unlimited. And in general, before substance is only the supra-essential; since even in the illuminations into secondary things, only the One reaches beyond being, and being is immediately after the One. For that which is potentially being, but not yet being, is one according to its own nature; and that which is after this is already being in actuality. And so in the principles, immediately beyond being is not-being as superior to being, and as one. 139 All things that partake of the divine henads, beginning from being, end in corporeal nature; for the first of participants is being, and the last is body (for we say that there are also divine bodies). For the highest of all genera are assigned to the gods, of bodies, of souls, of intellects, so that in every order things analogous to the gods may exist as cohesive and preservative of the secondary things, and each number may be a whole in the manner of the whole in the part, having in itself all things and before the others the divine property. The divine genus, therefore, exists corporeally and psychically and intellectually. And it is clear that all these are divine by participation; for that which is primarily divine subsists in the henads. The participants of the divine henads, therefore, begin from being, and end in corporeal nature. 140 All the powers of the gods, beginning from above and proceeding through their proper intermediaries, descend to the last things and the regions around the earth. For neither does anything separate them or prevent their presence to all things (for they do not require places and dimensions, because of their unconditioned superiority to all things and their unmingled presence everywhere), nor is that which is fit to partake of them hindered from participation, but as soon as something becomes ready for participation, they are present, not having arrived then nor having been absent before, but always being in the same state. If, therefore, anything of the things around the earth is fit to partake, they are present to this also; and they have filled all things with themselves, and are present to the higher things in a greater degree, to the intermediate things according to their own order, and to the last things in a final degree. They extend themselves, therefore, from above down to the last things; whence also in these there are manifestations of the first things, and all things are in sympathy with all things, with the secondary things pre-existing in the first, and the first things being manifested in the secondary; for each thing existed in a threefold way, either by cause or by subsistence or by participation. 141 All divine providence is either exempt from the things provided for, or co-ordinate with them. For some, according to their subsistence and the property of their order, are completely extended above the things they illuminate; while others, being of the same cosmic arrangement, exercise providence over the subordinate members of the same series, these also imitating the providential activity of the exempt gods and desiring to fill the secondary things with the goods of which they are capable. 142 The gods are present to all things in the same way; but not all things are present to the gods in the same way, but each partakes of their presence according to its own order and capacity, some in a unified manner, others in a multiplied manner, and some eternally, others according to time, and some incorporeally, others corporeally. For the different participation of the same things must either become different on account of the participant or on account of the participated. But everything divine always has the same order, and is unconditioned with respect to all things and unmingled. It remains, therefore, that the variation subsists only on account of the participant, and that the "not in the same way" is in these, and that these are present to the at different times in different ways, and others in other ways.

ἑνάδος ἀπεργαζομένης, ᾗ ἐστι συμφυές. αὕτη οὖν ἐστιν ἡ καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἀφορίζουσα τὸ μετέχον αὐτῆς ὂν καὶ τὴν ἰδιότητα τὴν ὑπερούσιον ἐν αὐτῷ δεικνύουσα οὐσιωδῶς· ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ πρώτως πανταχοῦ τῷ δευτέρως ὑπάρχει τὸ εἶναι τοῦτο, ὅ ἐστιν. ἥτις οὖν ἐστι τῆς θεότητος ὑπερούσιος ἰδιότης, αὕτη καὶ τοῦ ὄντος ἐστί, τοῦ μετέχοντος αὐτῆς, οὐσιωδῶς. 138 Πάντων τῶν μετεχόντων τῆς θείας ἰδιότητος καὶ ἐκ θεουμένων πρώτιστόν ἐστι καὶ ἀκρότατον τὸ ὄν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ νοῦ καὶ τῆς ζωῆς ἐπέκεινα τὸ ὄν, ὡς δέδεικται, εἴπερ πλείστων τοῦτο μετὰ τὸ ἓν αἴτιον, ἀκρότατον ἂν εἴη τὸ ὄν. τούτων μὲν γὰρ ἑνικώτερον, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντως σεμνό τερον· ἄλλο δὲ πρὸ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν τοῦ ἑνός. πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ ἑνιαίου πλήθους τί ἄλλο ἢ τὸ ἕν; πλῆθος δὲ ἑνιαῖον τὸ ὄν, ὡς ἐκ πέρατος ὂν καὶ ἀπείρου. καὶ ὅλως πρὸ τῆς οὐσίας τὸ ὑπερούσιον μόνον· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν ταῖς εἰς τὰ δεύτερα ἐλλάμψεσι μόνον τὸ ἓν ἐπέκεινα φθάνει τοῦ ὄντος, τὸ δὲ ὂν εὐθὺς μετὰ τὸ ἕν. τὸ γὰρ δυνάμει ὄν, οὔπω δὲ ὄν, ἕν ἐστι κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν· καὶ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ἤδη ἐνεργείᾳ ὄν. καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἄρα τοῦ ὄντος ἐπέκεινα εὐθὺς τὸ μὴ ὂν ὡς κρεῖττον τοῦ ὄντος καὶ ἕν. 139 Πάντα τὰ μετέχοντα τῶν θείων ἑνάδων, ἀρχόμενα ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄντος, εἰς τὴν σωματικὴν τελευτᾷ φύσιν· τὸ γὰρ πρῶτόν ἐστι τῶν μετεχόντων τὸ ὄν, ἔσχατον δὲ τὸ σῶμα (καὶ γὰρ σώματα θεῖα εἶναί φαμεν). πάντων γὰρ τῶν γενῶν τὰ ἀκρότατα τοῖς θεοῖς ἀνεῖται, σωμάτων, ψυχῶν, νόων, ἵνα ἐν πάσῃ τάξει τὰ τοῖς θεοῖς ἀνα λογοῦντα συνεκτικὰ καὶ σωστικὰ τῶν δευτέρων ὑπάρχῃ, καὶ ἕκαστος ἀριθμὸς ὅλος ᾖ κατὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ μέρει ὅλον, ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ πάντα καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων τὴν θείαν ἰδιότητα. ἔστιν οὖν καὶ σωματικῶς καὶ ψυχικῶς καὶ νοερῶς τὸ θεῖον γένος. καὶ δῆλον ὅτι πάντα ταῦτα θεῖα κατὰ μέθεξιν· τὸ γὰρ πρώτως θεῖον ἐν ταῖς ἑνάσιν ὑφέστηκε. τὰ ἄρα μετέχοντα τῶν θείων ἑνάδων ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄντος, λήγει δὲ εἰς τὴν σωματικὴν φύσιν. 140 Πᾶσαι τῶν θεῶν αἱ δυνάμεις ἄνωθεν ἀρχόμεναι καὶ διὰ τῶν οἰκείων προϊοῦσαι μεσοτήτων μέχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων καθήκουσι καὶ τῶν περὶ γῆν τόπων. οὔτε γὰρ ἐκείνας διείργει τι καὶ ἀποκωλύει τῆς εἰς πάντα παρουσίας (οὐδὲ γὰρ δέονται τόπων καὶ διαστάσεων, διὰ τὴν ἄσχετον πρὸς πάντα ὑπεροχὴν καὶ τὴν ἄμικτον πανταχοῦ παρουσίαν), οὔτε τὸ μετέχειν αὐτῶν ἐπιτήδειον κωλύεται τῆς μεθέξεως, ἀλλ' ἅμα τέ τι πρὸς τὴν μετουσίαν ἕτοιμον γίνεται κἀκεῖναι πάρεισιν, οὔτε τότε παραγενόμεναι οὔτε πρότερον ἀποῦσαι, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχουσαι. ἐὰν οὖν τι τῶν περὶ γῆν ἐπιτήδειον ᾖ μετέχειν, καὶ τούτῳ πάρεισι· καὶ πάντα πεπλη ρώκασιν ἑαυτῶν, καὶ τοῖς μὲν ὑπερτέροις μειζόνως πάρεισι, τοῖς δὲ μέσοις κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν τάξιν, τοῖς δὲ ἐσχάτοις ἐσχάτως. ἄνωθεν οὖν μέχρι τῶν τελευταίων ἐκτείνουσιν ἑαυτάς· ὅθεν καὶ ἐν τούτοις εἰσὶ τῶν πρώτων ἐμφάσεις, καὶ συμπαθῆ πάντα πᾶσιν, ἐν μὲν τοῖς πρώτοις τῶν δευτέρων προϋπαρχόντων, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δευτέροις τῶν πρώτων ἐμφαινομένων· τριχῶς γὰρ ἦν ἕκαστον, ἢ κατ' αἰτίαν ἢ καθ' ὕπαρξιν ἢ κατὰ μέθεξιν. 141 Πᾶσα πρόνοια θείων ἡ μὲν ἐξῃρημένη τῶν προνοου μένων ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ συντεταγμένη. τὰ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ὕπαρξιν καὶ τὴν τῆς τάξεως ἰδιότητα παντελῶς ὑπερήπλωται τῶν ἐλλαμπομένων· τὰ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς ὄντα διακοσμήσεως προνοεῖ τῶν ὑφειμένων τῆς αὐτῆς συστοιχίας, μιμούμενα καὶ ταῦτα τὴν τῶν ἐξῃρημένων θεῶν προνοητικὴν ἐνέργειαν καὶ πληροῦν ἐφιέμενα τὰ δεύτερα τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ὧν δύνανται. 142 Πᾶσι μὲν οἱ θεοὶ πάρεισιν ὡσαύτως· οὐ πάντα δὲ ὡσαύτως τοῖς θεοῖς πάρεστιν, ἀλλ' ἕκαστα κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν τάξιν τε καὶ δύναμιν μεταλαγχάνει τῆς ἐκείνων παρουσίας, τὰ μὲν ἑνοειδῶς, τὰ δὲ πεπληθυσμένως, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀϊδίως, τὰ δὲ κατὰ χρόνον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀσωμάτως, τὰ δὲ σωματικῶς. ἀνάγκη γὰρ τὴν διάφορον μέθεξιν τῶν αὐτῶν ἢ παρὰ τὸ μετέχον γίνεσθαι διάφορον ἢ παρὰ τὸ μετεχόμενον. ἀλλὰ τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἀεὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει τάξιν, καὶ ἄσχετόν ἐστι πρὸς πάντα καὶ ἄμικτον. παρὰ τὸ μετέχον ἄρα μόνον λείπεται τὴν ἐξαλλαγὴν ὑφίστασθαι, καὶ τὸ οὐχ ὡσαύτως ἐν τούτοις εἶναι, καὶ ταῦτα ἄλλοτε ἄλλως καὶ ἄλλα ἄλλως παρεῖναι τοῖς