J.

"immutable in its nature, and above the power C E N T "of mortality, was called, by the philosophers, PART II. "aon [m]," a term which signifies, in the Greek language, an eternal nature. How many in number these aons were, was a point much controverted among the oriental sages.

VIII.

not to give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, &c.

[m] The word aids, or con, is commonly used by the Greek writers, but in different senses. Its signification in the Gnostic system is not extremely evident, and several learned men have despaired of finding out its true meaning. Awv, or

on, among the ancients, was used to signify the age of man, or the duration of human life. In after times, it was employed by philosophers to express the duration of spiritual and invisible beings. These philosophers used the word xg, as the ineasure of corporcal and changing objects; and awv, as the measure of such as were immutable and eternal. And as God is the chief of those immutable beings which are spiritual, and, consequently, not to be perceived by our outward' his infinite and eternal duration was expressed by the senses, term aw, or con, and that is the sense in which that word is how commonly understood. It was, however, afterwards attributed to other spiritual and invisible beings; and the oriental philosophers, who lived about the time of CHRIST'S appearance upon earth, and made use of the Greek language, understood by it the duration of eternal and immutable things, the space, or period of time in which they exist. Nor did the yariations, through which this word passed, end here; from expressing only the duration of beings, it was, by a metonomy, employed to signify the beings themselves. Thus the Supreme Being was called air, or con, and the angels distinguished also by the title of cons. All this will lead us to the true meaning of that word among the Gnostics. They had formed to themselves the notion of an invisible and spiritual world, composed of entities or virtues, proceeding from the Supreme Being, and succeeding each other at certain intervals of time, so as to form an eternal chain, of which our world was the terminating link; a notion of eternity very different from that of the Platonists, who represented it as stable, permanent, and void of succession. To the beings that formed this eternal chain, the Gnostics assigned a certain term of duration, and a certain sphere of action. Their terms of duration were, at first, called alaves, and they themselves were afterwards metokymically distinguished by that title.

CENT.

PART II.

66

66

VIII. "Beyond the mansions of light, where I. "dwells the Deity with his celestial offspring, there lies a rude and unwieldy mass of matter, Concerning agitated by innate, turbulent, and irregular the origin of this world, "motions. One of the celestial natures descend"ing from the pleroma, either by a fortuitous 'impulse, cr in consequence of a divine com"mission, reduced to order this unseemly mass, "adorned it with a rich variety of gifts, created "men, and inferior animals of different kinds, to "store it with inhabitants, and corrected its malignity by mixing with it a certain portion of light, and also of a matter celestial and divine. "This creator of the world is distinguished from "the Supreme Deity by the name of demiurge. "His character is a compound of shining quali"ties, and insupportable arrogance; and his ex“cessive lust of empire effaces his talents and his "virtues. He claims dominion over the new "world he has formed, as his sovereign right; and, excluding totally the Supreme Deity "from all concernment in it, he demands from mankind, for himself and his associates, divine "honours."

the state and

66

46

XII. "Man is a compound of a terrestrial Concerning and corrupt body, and a soul which is of destination" celestial origin, and, in some measure, an "emanation from the divinity. This nobler

of human

souls.

part is miserably weighed down and encum"bered by the body, which is the seat of all “irregular lusts and impure desires. It is this "body that seduces the soul from the pursuit of "truth, and not only turns it from the contem

66

plation and worship of the Supreme Being, so "as to confine its homage and veneration to the "Creator of this world, but also attaches it to "terrestrial objects, and to the immoderate pursuit of sensual pleasures, by which its nature "is totally polluted. The sovereign mind em

"ploys

66

I.

9

PART II.

ploys various means to deliver his offspring c E N T. "from this deplorable servitude, especially the "ministry of divine messengers, whom he sends "to enlighten, to admonish, and to reform the "human race. In the mean time, the impe"rious demiurge exerts his power in opposition to "the merciful purpose of the Supreme Being, "resists the influence of those solemn invitations by which he exhorts mankind to return to him, " and labours to efface the knowledge of God in "the minds of intelligent beings. In this con

66

46

flict, such souls, as, throwing off the yoke of "the creators and rulers of this world, rise to "their Supreme Parent, and subdue the turbu"lent and sinful motions, which corrupt matter "excites within them, shall, at the dissolution "of their mortal bodies, ascend directly to the pleroma. Those, on the contrary, who remain "in the bondage of servile superstition, and cor"rupt matter, shall, at the end of this life, pass "into new bodies, until they awake from their "sinful lethargy. In the end, however, the "Supreme God shall come forth victorious, tri

66

66

umph over all opposition, and, having deli"vered from their servitude the greatest part of "those souls that are imprisoned in mortal bodies, shall dissolve the frame of this visible world, and involve it in a general ruin.

66

After "this solemn period, primitive tranquillity shall "be restored in the universe, and God shall reign "with happy spirits, in undisturbed felicity, "through the everlasting ages."

X. Such were the principal tenets of the orien- of the Jewish philosotal philosophy. The state of letters and philoso-phy. phy among the Jews comes next under consideration; and of this we may form some idea from what has been said already concerning that nation. It is chiefly to be observed, that the

dark

1.

PART II.

C E N T. dark and hidden science, which they called the kabbala, was at this time taught and inculcated by many among that superstitious people [n]. This science, in many things, bears a strong resemblance to the oriental philosophy; or, to speak more accurately, it is indeed that same philosophy accommodated to the Jewish religion, and tempered with a certain mixture of truth. Nor were the doctrines of the Grecian sages unknown to the Jews at the period now before us; since, from the time of ALEXANDER the GREAT, some of them had been admitted, even into the Mosaic religion. We shall say nothing concerning the opinions which they adopted from the philosophical and theological systems of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Syrians [o].

'The state of

Greece.

XI. The Greeks, in the opinion of most learning in writers, were yet in possession of the first rank among the nations that cultivated letters and philosophy. In many places, and especially at Athens, there were a considerable number of men distinguished by their learning, acuteness, and eloquence; philosophers of all sects, who taught the doctrines of PLATO, ARISTOTLE, Zeno, and EPICURUS; rhetoricians also, and men of genius, who instructed the youth in the rules of eloquence, and formed their taste for the liberal arts. So that those who had a passion for the study of oratory, resorted in multitudes to the Grecian schools, in order to perfect themselves in that noble science. Alexandria, in Egypt, was also

1

much

[n] See Jo. FRANC. BUDDEI Introductio in Historiam Philos. Hebræorum; and also the authors which B. WOLF mentions with encomiums, in his Bibliotheca Hebraica, tom.

iii.

[] Sce Jo. FRANC. BUDDEI, Introductio in Historiam Philos. Hebræorum; as also the authors recommended by WOLF in his Bibliotheca Hebraica, tom. iii.

1.

much frequented for the same purpose, as a great C EN T. number of the Grecian philosophers and rhetori-PART II. cians dwelt in that city.

XII. The Romans also, at this time, made a At Rome. shining figure among the polished and learned nations. All the sciences flourished at Rome. The youth of a higher rank were early instructed in the Greek language and eloquence. From thence they proceeded to the study of philosophy, and the laws of their country; and they finished their education by a voyage into Greece, where they not only gave the last degree of perfection to their philosophical studies, but also acquired that refined wit and elegance of taste, that served to set off their more solid attainments in the most advantageous manner [p]. None of the philosophical sects were more in vogue among the Romans than the epicureans and the academics, which were peculiarly favoured by the great, who, soothed by their doctrines into a false security, indulged their passions without remorse, and continued in their vicious pursuits without terror. During the reign of AUGUSTUs, the culture of polite learning, and of the fine arts, was held in great honour, and those that contributed with zeal and success to this, were eminently distinguished by that prince. But after his death learning languished without encouragement, and was. neglected, because the succeeding emperors were more intent upon the arts of war and rapine, than those more amiable arts and inventions that are the fruits of leisure and peace.

XIII. With respect to the other nations, such In the other as the Germans, Celts, and Bretons, it is certain, nations. that they were not destitute of learned and inge

nious

[p] See PAGANANI GAUDENTII Liber de Philosophiæ apud Romanos initio et progressu, in TERTIO FASCICULO Nova CalLectionis Variorum Scriptorum. Hala, 1717.