Corpus Hermeticum 6: The All-Father · 2 of 2 · tr. G.R.S. Mead
Section 1b
So then, Asclepius, the name alone of Good is found in men, the thing itself nowhere [in them], for this can never be.
For no material body doth contain It - a thing bound on all sides by bad, by labors, pains, desires and passions, by error and by foolish thoughts.
And greatest ill of all, Asclepius, is that each of these things that have been said above, is thought down here to be the greatest good.
And what is still an even greater ill, is belly-lust, the error that doth lead the band of all the other ills - the thing that makes us turn down here from Good.
4.
And I, for my part, give thanks to God, that He hath cast it in my mind about the Gnosis of the Good, that it can never be It should be in the world.
For that the world is "fullness" of the bad, but God of Good, and Good of God.
The excellencies of the Beautiful are round the very essence [of the Good]; nay, they do seem too pure, too unalloyed; perchance 'tis they that are themselves Its essences.
For one may dare to say, Asclepius - if essence, sooth, He have - God's essence is the Beautiful; the Beautiful is further also Good.
There is no Good that can be got from objects in the world.
For all the things that fall beneath the eye are image-things and pictures as it were; while those that do not meet [the eye are the realities], especially the [essence] of the Beautiful and Good.
Just as the eye cannot see God, so can it not behold the Beautiful and Good.
For that they are integral parts of God, wedded to Him alone, inseparate familiars, most beloved, with whom God is Himself in love, or they with God.
5.
If thou canst God conceive, thou shalt conceive the Beautiful and Good, transcending Light, made lighter than the Light by God.
That Beauty is beyond compare, inimitate that Good, e'en as God is Himself.
As, then, thou dost conceive of God, conceive the Beautiful and Good.
For they cannot be joined with aught of other things that live, since they can never be divorced from God.
Seek'st thou for God, thou seekest for the Beautiful.
One is the Path that leadeth unto It - Devotion joined with Gnosis.
6.
And thus it is that they who do not know and do not tread Devotion's Path, do dare to call man beautiful and good, though he have ne'er e'en in his visions seen a whit that's Good, but is enveloped with every kind of bad, and thinks the bad is good, and thus doth make unceasing use of it, and even feareth that it should be ta'en from him, so straining every nerve not only to preserve but even to increase it.
Such are the things that men call good and beautiful, Asclepius - things which we cannot flee or hate; for hardest thing of all is that we've need of them and cannot live without them.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The divine is described negatively by stating what it does not inhabit ('no material body doth contain It').
All passages →◆Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The realities of the Beautiful and Good do not meet the eye and are concealed from ordinary perception.
All passages →◆Kenomacosmology
The void or emptiness outside the pleroma; the realm of matter, ignorance, and deficiency.
The material world is described as the 'fullness of the bad,' conceptually aligning with the realm of deficiency and ignorance outside the divine.
All passages →◆Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The identification of Good with God suggests a singular, undivided first principle from which existence flows.
All passages →◆Pleromacosmology
The divine fullness or totality of the highest realm, populated by aeons and divine attributes, contrasted with the deficient material world.
God is described as the 'fullness' of Good, contrasting with the world's fullness of bad, mirroring the divine totality concept.
All passages →◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The text describes humanity as turned down from Good and enveloped in bad, indicating a state of exile from the divine.
All passages →◇Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
[auto] The text states that no material body can contain the Good because it is bound by bad, pains, and desires.
All passages →◇Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The passage centrally contrasts God/Good with the material world/bad, establishing an ontological opposition between spirit and matter.
All passages →◇Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
[auto] The assertion that 'Good is God Himself' implies an undivided, simple divine essence without composite attributes.
All passages →◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] The speaker explicitly thanks God for the 'Gnosis of the Good,' highlighting direct knowledge as a key spiritual attainment.
All passages →◇Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics
Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.
[auto] The passage critiques humans for possessing only the 'name alone of Good' while lacking the thing itself, highlighting form without substance.
All passages →Related passages · 24 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1s
“And if any one says that it is productive, and that by the destruction of one thing it giveth birth to somewhat else, the true answer is that it doth not so qua destructive.
Qua destructive and evil it only destroys and debases; but it tak…”
Both passages explore the relationship between good and evil, emphasizing the primacy and purity of the Good. They agree that evil is a lack of good and that the Good is the source of all being and goodness, though they express these ideas in different theological contexts.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1v
“cannot be free from pain, nor without a feeling of ill, since there would be something causing Him trouble, yea, all things must in that case be in a state of disorder and perpetual strife; whereas the Good imparts a principle of harmony to…”
Both passages discuss the nature of Good and its relationship with God, emphasizing that true Good is not found in the material world but is inherent in the divine. They also highlight the human tendency to mistake evil for good.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 8, Section 1d
“Thus, ‘tis true to say that it is more in accordance with Divine Righteousness not to lull into its destruction the manliness of the noblest characters through bestowing material goods upon them, nor to leave them without the aid of Divine…”
Both passages explore the nature of the divine good and its relationship to the material world. They share a common theme of the divine good being separate from and superior to the imperfections of the material world, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 13
“Section 9 9. That Soul, then, in us, will in its nature stand apart from all that can cause any of the evils which man does or suffers; for all such evil, as we have seen, belongs only to the Animate, the Couplement. But there is a difficul…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil, the separation of the divine from the material world, and the human tendency to mistake evil for good. They also emphasize the role of higher knowledge or understanding in distinguishing the true nature of good.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 68
“Section 7 7. Therefore we must ascend again towards the Good, the desired of every Soul. Anyone that has seen This, knows what I intend when I say that it is beautiful. Even the desire of it is to be desired as a Good. To attain it is for t…”
Both passages discuss the concepts of purity, beauty, and the divine, emphasizing the separation of the soul from the body and the worldly to achieve a higher, divine state. They both highlight the idea that true goodness and beauty are attributes of the divine and not of the material world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 79
“Section 4 4. The bodily Kind, in that it partakes of Matter is an evil thing. What form is in bodies is an untrue-form: they are without life: by their own natural disorderly movement they make away with each other; they are hindrances to t…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil, the corruption of the soul by matter, and the separation of the divine from the material world. They share a mystical perspective on the purity of the soul and the ultimate source of good.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 80
“Section 5 5. But, it will be objected, if this seeing and frequenting of the darkness is due to the lack of good, the Soul's evil has its source in that very lack; the darkness will be merely a secondary cause- and at once the Principle of…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil, emphasizing that true goodness is found only in the divine and not in the material world. They also highlight the corruption of the soul by material desires and the illusion of good in the world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 81 (part 1)
“Section 6 6.
If this be so, how do we explain the teaching that evils can never pass away but "exist of necessity," that "while evil has no place in the divine order, it haunts mortal nature and this place for ever"?
Does this mean that h…”
Both passages explore the nature of Good and Evil, emphasizing that true Good is found only in the divine and that material existence is inherently tainted by Evil. They also discuss the human tendency to mistake Evil for Good.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 84
“Section 9 9. But what approach have we to the knowing of Good and Evil? And first of the Evil of soul: Virtue, we may know by the Intellectual-Principle and by means of the philosophic habit; but Vice? A a ruler marks off straight from croo…”
Both passages explore the concept of evil and its relationship with matter and the divine. They share a mystical perspective on the corruption of pure forms or goodness when they interact with material reality, though they come from different philosophical and religious traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 85 (part 2)
“We teach that Virtue is not the Absolute Good and Beauty, because we know that These are earlier than Virtue and transcend it, and that it is good and beautiful by some participation in them.
Now as, going upward from virtue, we come to th…”
Both passages explore the nature of evil and good, discussing how evil is not a substantial entity but rather a lack or privation of good. They also touch on the idea that true goodness is found in the divine, not in the material world.
14 more
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 86
“Section 11 11. It may be suggested that Vice is feebleness in the Soul. We shall be reminded that the Vicious Soul is unstable, swept along from every ill to every other, quickly stirred by appetites, headlong to anger, as hasty to compromi…”
Both passages discuss the nature of Good and Evil, the transcendence of the Divine, and the corruption of human virtue. They share a conceptual framework where the Divine is the source of all Good, and human vice leads to a state of unlikeness to the Divine.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 173 (part 1)
“Section 17 17.
Perhaps the hate of this school for the corporeal is due to their reading of Plato who inveighs against body as a grave hindrance to Soul and pronounces the corporeal to be characteristically the inferior.
Then let them for…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and its relationship with the material world. They emphasize the transcendence of the divine and the imperfection of the material realm, though they use different metaphors and conceptual frameworks.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 173 (part 2)
“Nothing base within can be beautiful without- at least not with an authentic beauty, for there are examples of a good exterior not sprung from a beauty dominant within; people passing as handsome but essentially base have that, a spurious a…”
Both passages explore the relationship between inner beauty and goodness, emphasizing that true beauty and goodness are intrinsic and not merely superficial. They also share the idea that the ultimate reality (the All or God) is inherently good and beautiful.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 192
“Section 5 5. Now, once Happiness is possible at all to Souls in this Universe, if some fail of it, the blame must fall not upon the place but upon the feebleness insufficient to the staunch combat in the one arena where the rewards of excel…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil, emphasizing that true goodness is divine and not found in the material world. They also highlight the human tendency to mistake evil for good and the ineradicable presence of evil in the world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 193
“Section 6 6. As for the disregard of desert- the good afflicted, the unworthy thriving- it is a sound explanation no doubt that to the good nothing is evil and to the evil nothing can be good: still the question remains why should what esse…”
Both passages explore the nature of good and evil, and the relationship between divine providence and human suffering. They share a mystical perspective that transcends material conditions to understand the essence of good and evil.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 194
“Section 7 7. A preliminary observation: in looking for excellence in this thing of mixture, the Kosmos, we cannot require all that is implied in the excellence of the unmingled; it is folly to ask for Firsts in the Secondary, and since this…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil, emphasizing that true goodness is divine and not found in the material world. They also highlight the human tendency to mistake evil for good and the ineradicable presence of evil in the world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 195 (part 1)
“Section 8 8.
Thus we come to our enquiry as to the degree of excellence found in things of this Sphere, and how far they belong to an ordered system or in what degree they are, at least, not evil.
Now in every living being the upper parts…”
Both passages explore the nature of good and evil, and the relationship between divine providence and human suffering. They share a mystical perspective on the transcendence of ultimate good, though they come from different traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 278 (part 1)
“Section 1 1.
"The Intellectual-Principle" [= the Divine Mind]- we read [in the Timaeus]- "looks upon the Ideas indwelling in that Being which is the Essentially Living [= according to Plotinus, the Intellectual Realm], "and then"- the text…”
Both passages explore the nature of The Good and its relationship with intellect and the material world. They share a mystical focus on the transcendent nature of The Good, which is beyond intellect and material concerns, though they come from different philosophical and religious traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 466
“Section 13 13. The Supreme, as the Absolute Good and not merely a good being or thing, can contain nothing, since there is nothing that could be its good. Anything it could contain must be either good to it or not good; but in the supremely…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the Supreme Good as transcendent and beyond all qualities, emphasizing that it cannot be contained or described by any attributes. They share a mystical perspective on the absolute nature of the Good, which is beyond the realm of material existence.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 473
“Section 6 6. If this reasoning is valid, The Good has no scope whatever for intellection which demands something attractive from outside. The Good, then, is without Act. What Act indeed, could be vested in Activity's self? No activity has y…”
Both passages explore the concept of the Good as transcendent and inseparable from the divine. They emphasize that the Good is not found in the material world and can only be truly understood through divine connection or gnosis.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 673
“Section 34 34. No longer can we wonder that the principle evoking such longing should be utterly free from shape. The very soul, once it has conceived the straining love towards this, lays aside all the shape it has taken, even to the Intel…”
Both passages explore the nature of The Good and its relationship to the material world and human perception. They share a mystical perspective on the transcendence of The Good and its distinction from worldly goods, though they come from different traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 674
“Section 35 35. Such in this union is the soul's temper that even the act of Intellect, once so intimately loved, she now dismisses; Intellection is movement and she has no wish to move; she has nothing to say of this very Intellectual-Princ…”
Both passages explore the nature of the Good and its relationship to the divine. They discuss the idea that the Good is not found in the material world but is instead associated with the divine or higher realms. However, they come from different mystical traditions, Plotinus representing Neoplatonism and the second passage representing Hermeticism.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 675
“Section 36 36. We need not carry this matter further; we turn to a question already touched but demanding still some brief consideration. Knowledge of The Good or contact with it, is the all-important: this- we read- is the grand learning,…”
Both passages explore the nature of the good and its distinction from mere pleasure or material satisfaction. They emphasize that the true good is not found in transient or material things but is instead a higher, more transcendent concept.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 677
“Section 38 38. And yet this "He Is" does not truly apply: the Supreme has no need of Being: even "He is good" does not apply since it indicates Being: the "is" should not suggest something predicated of another thing; it is to state identit…”
Both passages explore the relationship between good and evil, matter and form, and the ultimate nature of the Good. They share a mystical perspective that the highest good is separate from the material world and is associated with divine essence.