Demiurges in Early Imperial Platonism

Opsomer, Jan

doi:10.1515/9783110924282.51

Cited by 10 publications

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“…Plato sees all things in relation to god and as derived from god, for he says that Opsomer (2005) argues for a general tendency among Middle Platonists to give the world soul itself demiurgic responsibility, and one have might wondered whether this is what is reflected in the present passage: in other words, whether Atticus in fact only has the world soul, qua demiurgic, in mind. But it happens that Atticus is the one person for whom we can be sure this is not the case.…”

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confidence: 86%

Providence and Religion in Middle Platonism

Boys‐Stones¹

2016

Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion

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confidence: 86%

Providence and Religion in Middle Platonism

Boys‐Stones¹

2016

Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion

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“…Hierdie onderskeiding tussen 'n transendente God en 'n immanente goddelike krag is soortgelyk aan 'n tendens wat in Platoniese en Neopitagorese tekste van die vroeë Keisertydperk gevind word, naamlik om die demiurggod in twee (of meer) beginsels te verdeel: 'n volledig transendente god en 'n laer beginsel op wie die demiurgiese funksies afgewentel word. Hierdie tweede beginsel word onder meer die wêreldsiel genoem, die kosmiese intellek, 'n tweede demiurg, ensovoorts (Opsomer 2005(Opsomer , 2006 meen dat die begin van hierdie proses reeds in die De mundo voorkom). In hierdie tekste, soos in die De mundo, dien die onderskeid tussen verskillende goddelike beginsels (in die De mundo tussen God in sy essensie en sy krag) om God se transendensie te handhaaf.…”

Section: Kosmoteologie En Kosmiese Mag In Die De Mundounclassified

Kosmiese mag in Pseudo-Aristoteles, <i>De mundo</i>, en die Nuwe Testament

Thom

2012

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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Cosmic power in Pseudo-Aristotle, De mundo, and the New Testament. In order to locate the cosmological views underlying the writings of Paul and other New Testament (NT) authors within their historical contexts it is necessary to compare them with other contemporary worldviews, such as those expressed in philosophical writings of the period. New Testament research has thus far concentrated on the most popular and influential philosophical traditions of NT times, that is, Stoicism and Middle Platonism. Other philosophical traditions may however also offer valuable insights. In this article I suggested that the De mundo attributed to Aristotle but probably dating from the 1st century BCE or CE provides early evidence for a splitting up of the demiurgic function of God in order to preserve God's transcendence. I furthermore argued that a similar division of divine functions is also evident in some NT texts, for example, John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1. This notion is explored using Colossians 1 as example. InleidingIn resente Nuwe Testament (NT) navorsing is daar 'n toenemende belangstelling in kosmologie, veral wat Paulus betref (vgl. bv. Adams 2000; Van Kooten 2003; Engberg-Pedersen 2010). Ten einde die kosmologiese opvattinge van Paulus en ander NT skrywers binne hulle onderskeie historiese kontekste te kan plaas, is vergelykings met ander tydgenootlike wêreldbeelde noodsaaklik. Sodanige vergelykbare kosmologieë kom veral in filosofiese tekste van die tyd tot uitdrukking, en NT navorsing het tot dusver hoofsaaklik op die mees populêre en invloedryke filosofiese tradisies van die NT tyd, naamlik Stoïsisme en Middel-Platonisme, gefokus. Tekste uit ander tradisies kan egter ook 'n waardevolle bydrae lewer tot 'n beter insig in die denkwêreld van die tyd waarin die NT ontstaan het. 'n Teks wat tot dusver nie genoegsaam aandag geniet het nie, is die De mundo (Περὶ κόσμου [Oor die kosmos]) wat aan Aristoteles toegeskryf word, maar heelwaarskynlik rofweg rondom die eeuwending gedateer moet word. In hierdie artikel wil ek dus 'n uiteensetting van relevante fasette van die kosmologie van die De mundo gee. Ek sal eers kortliks die inleidingsvraagstukke aangaande die De mundo bekyk, dit wil sê die outeur en datering, genre en funksie, komposisie en inhoud. Dit sal gevolg word deur 'n bespreking van die kosmoteologie van die teks waarin God en die mag wat hy oor die wêreld uitoefen, aan die orde sal kom. Aan die einde sal ek 'n paar tentatiewe opmerkings maak waarin verbande tussen die De mundo en NT tekste uitgewys sal word. 1 Pseudo-Aristoteles, De mundo: Inleidingsvraagstukke Outeur en datumDie egtheid van die De mundo bly 'n omstrede aangeleentheid. 2 In die manuskripte word die teks weliswaar aan Aristoteles toegeskryf 3 en in die onlangse navorsingsgeskiedenis het enkele geleerdes moedig probeer om die egtheid van die teks te verdedig (kyk Gohlke 1968;Bos 1989Bos , 1990 Reale & Bos 1995), maar 'n Aristoteliese outeurskap word nogtans deur die meeste geleerdes betwyfel. Argumente teen egtheid sluit onder meer in die...

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“…On the identity of Numenius' third God seeDodds (1960: 13-15). See alsoOpsomer (2005), andJourdan (2021). We must keep in mind that Plato, in the Timaeus, defines the cosmos as a "blessed God".…”

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Causality at Lower Levels: The Demiurgical Unity of the Second and Third God according to Numenius of Apamea

Volpe

2023

peitho

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Numenius is an author who straddles the line between Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism. In this contribution, I focus on the differences between the second and the third God, which emerge from analyses of the relevant fragments. Numenius emphasizes, on several occasions, how the second God (i.e., the demiurge) has a dual nature. In this paper, I investigate the role of the demiurge in Numenius and examine in what sense the second and third God are “one.” On the one hand, Numenius seems to be stressing the unity of the second and third levels of reality, but on the other hand, he also appears to be differentiating them. The present analyses concentrate on fragments 19F, 24F, 29T and 30T (respectively 11, 16, 21, and 22 in des Places’ edition). My purpose is to demonstrate that, according to Numenius, the second and the third God are one because they both can be regarded as demiurgic. Thus, Numenius conceives a kind of “double demiurgy,” which preserves the distinction between the second and the third God, who are distinguished from an ontological point of view, but who, at the same time, share a demiurgic function. The second God is then the paradigm, whereas the third God is immanent in matter as a ruling principle of the cosmos, which is similar to the World Soul, as he operates on matter in order to make it rationally ordered.

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Demiurges in Early Imperial Platonism

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Providence and Religion in Middle Platonism

Providence and Religion in Middle Platonism

Kosmiese mag in Pseudo-Aristoteles, <i>De mundo</i>, en die Nuwe Testament

Causality at Lower Levels: The Demiurgical Unity of the Second and Third God according to Numenius of Apamea

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