Book 5 — V. RESEMBLANCES TO CHRISTIANITY.

TRINITARIAN SIGNIFICANCE OF PLOTINOS.

Plotinos's date being about A.D. 262, he stands midway between the Christian writings of the New Testament, and the Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325. As a philosopher dealing with the kindred topics—the soul and its salvation,—and deriving terminology and inspiration from the same sources, Platonism and Stoicism, we would expect extensive parallelism and correspondence. Though Plotinos does not mention any contemporaneous writings, we will surely be able to detect indirect references to Old and New Testaments. But what will be of most vital interest will be his anticipations of Nicene formulations, or reflection of current expressions of Christian philosophic comment. While we cannot positively assert this Christian development was exclusively Plotinian, we are justified in saying that the development of Christian philosophy was not due exclusively to the Alexandrian catechetical school; that what later appears as Christian theology was only earlier current Neoplatonic metaphysics, without any exclusive dogmatic connection with the distinctively Christian biography. This avoids the flat assertion of Drews that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was dependent on Plotinos, although it admits Bouillet's more cautious statement that Plotinos was the rationalizer of the doctrine of the Trinity.509 This much is certain, that no other contemporaneous discussion of the trinity has survived, if any ever existed; and we must remember that it was not until the council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, that the Nicene Creed, by the addition of the Filioque clause, became trinitarian in a thoroughgoing way; and not until fifty years later that Augustine, again in the West, fully expressed a philosophy and psychology of the trinity.

To Plotinos therefore is due the historical position of protagonist of trinitarian philosophy.

NON-CHRISTIAN ORIGIN OF PARALELLISMS TO CHRISTIANITY.

Christian parallelisms in Plotinos have a historical origin in Christian parallelisms in his sources, namely, Stoicism, Numenius and Plato.

To Christian origins in Plato never has justice been done, not even by Bigg. His suggestion of the crucifixion of the just man, his reference to the son of God are only common-places, to which should be added many minor references.

The Christian origins in Numenius are quite explicit; mention of the Hebrews as among the races whose scriptures are important, of Moses among the great religious teachers, of the Spirit hovering over the waters, of the names of the Egyptian magicians which, together with Pliny, he hands down to posterity. He also was said to have told many stories about Jesus, in an allegorical manner.

The Christian origins in Stoicism have been widely discussed; for instance, by Chaignet. But it is likely that this influence affected Christianity indirectly through Plotinos, along with the other Christian ideas we shall later find. At any rate Plotinos is the philosopher who uses the term "spiritual body" most like the Christians.510 The soul is a slave to the body,511 and has a celestial body512 as well as a spiritual body.513 Within us are two men opposing each other,514 the better part often being mastered by the worse part, as thought St. Paul,515 in the struggle between the inner and outer man.516

With Plotinos the idea of "procession" is not only cosmic but psychological. In other words, when Plotinos speaks of the "procession" of the God-head, he is not, as in Christian doctrine, depicting something unique, which has no connection with the world. He is only referring to the cosmic aspect of an evolution which, in the soul, appears as educational development.517 As the opposite of the soul's procession upwards, there is the soul's descent into hell,518 or, in other words, the soul's descent and ascension.519 This double aspect of man's fate upward or downward is referred to by Plotinos in the regular Christian term "sin," as consisting in missing one's aim.520 The soul repents,521 and its duty is conversion.522 As a result of this conversion comes forgiveness.523

OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES.

The famous "terrors of Jeremiah"524 might have come mediately through the Gnostics, who indeed may have been the persons referred to as Christians.525 More direct no doubt was God admiring his handiwork526 and the soul breathing the spirit of life into animals.527 God is called both the "I am what I am"528 and "He is what He ought to be."528 He sits above the world,529 as the king of kings.530

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES.

Plotinos says that it would be a poor artist who would conceive of an animal as all covered with eyes. There is hardly such a reference outside of Revelations,531 to which we must also look for a new heaven and a new earth.532 Then we have practically a quotation of the Johannine prologue "In the beginning was the Logos," and by him were all things made.533 Light was in the beginning.534 We are told not to leave the world, but not to be of it.535 The divinity prepares mansions in heaven for good souls.536

Pauline references seem to be that sin exists because of the law.537 God is above all height or depth.538 The vulgar who attend mystery-banquets only to gorge are condemned.539 There are several heavens.540 The beggarly principles and elements towards which some turn, are mentioned.541 The genealogies of the Gnostics are held up to ridicule.542 General references are numerous. Diseases are caused by evil spirits.543 We must cut off any offending member.544 Thus we are saved.545 In him we breathe and move and have our being.546 The higher divinity begets a Son, one among many brethren.547 As the father of intelligence, God is the father of lights.548

However, the most interesting incident is that scriptural text which, to the reflecting, is always so much of a puzzle: "If the light that is in them be darkness," etc.549 This is explained by the Platonic theory550 that we see because of a special light that is within the eye.

THEOLOGICAL REFERENCES.

General theological references may be grouped under three heads: the soul's salvation, the procession of the divinity, and the trinity.

As to the soul's salvation, God is the opposite of the evil of beings,551 which, when created in honor of the divinity552 is the image of the Word, the interpreter of the One,553 and is composed of several elements;554 but it is a fall from God,555 and its fate is connected with the "parousia."556

This going forth of the soul from God, when considered cosmically, becomes the "procession of the soul."557 This is the "eternal generation,"558 whereby the Son is begotten from eternity,559 so that there could be no (Arian) "ên hote ouk ên," or, "time when he was not."560 This is expressed as "light of light,"561 and explained by the Athanasian light and ray simile.562 We find even the Johannine and Philonic distinction between God and the Good.563 The world is the first-begotten,564 and the Intelligence is the logos of the first God,565 as the hypostasis of wisdom is "ousia," or "being,"566 and it is the "universal reason."567

As to the trinity, Plotinos is the first and chief rationalizer of the cosmic trinity, which he continuously and at length discusses.568 God is father and son,569 and they are "homoousian," or "consubstantial."570 The human soul (as image of the cosmic divinity), is one nature in three powers.571 Elsewhere we have discussed the history of the term "persons," but we may understand the result of that process best by Plotinos's simile of the trinity as one head with three faces,572 in which the "persons" bear out their original meaning of masks, "personare." Henceforward the trinity was an objective idea.

NOTE

Although mentioned above, special attention should be given to the parable of the vine and the branches (iii. 3.7.—48, 1088 with Jno. xv. 1–8), and the divinity's begetting a Son (v. 8.12—31, 571). The significant aspect of this is that it is represented as being the content of the supreme ecstatic vision; what you might call the crown of Plotinos' message. "He tells us that he has seen the divinity beget an offspring of an incomparable beauty, producing everything in Himself, and without pain preserving within Himself what He has begotten.... His Son has manifested Himself externally. By Him, as by an image (Col. i. 15), you may judge of the greatness of His Father ... enjoying the privilege of being the image of His eternity."