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The Golden Verses of Pythagoras · 22 of 122 · tr. Florence M. Firth

Section 10 (part 3)

Speak not of God to every man. 79. It is dangerous and the danger is not small, to speak of God even things which are true. 80. A true assertion respecting God is an assertion of God. p. 61 81. You should not dare to speak of God to the multitude. 82. He does not know God who does not worship Him. 83. The man who is worthy of God is also a God among men. 84. It is better to have nothing, than to possess much and impart it to no one. 85. He who thinks that there is a God, and that nothing is taken care of by him, differs in no respect from him who does not believe that there is a God. 86. He honours God in the best manner who renders his intellect as much as possible similar to God. 87. If you injure no one, you will fear no one. 88. No one is wise who looks downward to the earth. 89. To lie is to deceive in life, and to be deceived. 90. Recognise what God is, and what that is in you which recognises God. 91. It is not death, but a bad life, that destroys the soul. 92. If you know him by whom you were made, you will know yourself. 93. It is not possible for a man to live p. 62 conformable to divinity, unless he acts modestly, well, and justly. 94. Divine Wisdom is true Science. 95. You should not dare to speak of God to an impure soul. 96. The wise man follows God, and God follows the soul of the wise man. 97. A king rejoices in those whom he governs, and therefore God rejoices in the wise man. He who governs likewise, is inseparable from those whom he governs; and therefore God is inseparable from the soul of the wise man, which he defends and governs. 98. The wise man is governed by God and on this account is blessed. 99. A scientific knowledge of God causes a man to use few words. 100. To use many words when speaking of God, produces an ignorance of God. 101. The man who possesses a knowledge of God, will not be very ambitious. 102. The erudite. chaste, and wise soul, is the prophet of the truth of God. 103. Accustom yourself always to look to Divinity. 104. A wise intellect is the mirror of God. Footnotes 54:1 For as every cause of Existence to a thing, is better than that thing, so far as the one is cause and the other effect; thus also, that which gives a name to any thing is better than the thing named, so far as it is named, i. e. , so far as pertains to its possession of a name. For the nominator is the cause, and the name the effect.
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Themes
Active Contemplationpraxis

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

[auto] Verse 37 commands the accustoming of the soul to conceive greatness, indicating an active mental practice.

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Archonscosmology

Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.

Verse 77 mentions impure daemons that vindicate themselves to the impure soul, resembling obstructive spiritual powers.

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Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] Verse 36 references the dissolution of the body and Verse 40 suggests material excess is hostile to man.

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Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

The text establishes a sharp opposition between the body (source of no good) and the soul/intellect (divine).

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Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

Verses 38 and 40 advise esteeming nothing external as precious and viewing excess as hostile to man.

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

Verse 49 states divinity presides over men, and verse 68 contrasts the wise with those who deny providence.

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Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology

Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.

Verse 77 implies a post-mortem consequence where impure daemons claim the impure soul.

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Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

Evil is described as a disease of the soul or ignorance rather than a positive ontological force in verses 52 and 74.

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Fasting And Prayerpraxis

Ascetic disciplines that prepare the body and mind for spiritual receptivity or purification.

The text advises moderation in consumption and invoking God as a witness.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] Verse 46 explicitly states that knowledge and imitation of divinity are alone sufficient for beatitude.

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Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

[auto] Verse 43 implies the intellect contains a divine presence or quality akin to an inner light.

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Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] Verse 43 declares that God dwells within the intellect of the wise man, indicating divine immanence.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

[auto] Verses 43 and 49 depict divinity as actively dwelling in the intellect and presiding over men.

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Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

Verses 53 and 55 instruct using all men well and wishing to benefit even enemies.

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Meditationpraxis

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

Verse 58 commands placing God before one's eyes in all actions, and verse 37 advises accustoming the soul to conceive great things.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] Verses 42 and 43 describe the intellect of the wise man being with divinity and God dwelling within it.

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Pneumatic Electsoteriology

A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.

The text distinguishes the wise man who participates in God from the bad man who does not.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

Verse 67 instructs invoking God as a witness to actions, and verse 36 discusses asking of divinity.

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Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics

Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.

[auto] Verses 47 and 48 condemn lying as poison and identify truth as peculiar to wisdom.

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Renunciation Of Wealthethics

The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.

[auto] Verses 38 and 40 advise against valuing material possessions that can be taken or are more than necessary.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

Verse 50 defines the end of life as living conformably to divinity, implying a return to the divine state.

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Ritual Puritypraxis

The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.

Verse 76 commands preserving the body pure as the garment of the soul to avoid impure daemons.

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Self Examinationpraxis

Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice.

Verse 67 advises invoking God as a witness to whatever one does, implying review of actions.

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Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] Verse 37 instructs the soul to conceive something great of itself after conceiving divinity.

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Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

Verse 70 states the wise man participates of God, and verse 46 claims imitation of divinity is sufficient for beatitude.

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Tripartite Soulanthropology

Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).

The text distinguishes between the body, the soul (psyche), and the intellect (nous) as distinct principles of human existence.

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