Chapter XVb

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The text negates the adequacy of human manners and corporeal offerings to describe the divine nature.

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

The passage explicitly contrasts corporeal offerings with incorporeal forms, implying material limitations.

The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.

It describes a hidden affinity ('alliance, or similitude') that allows contact between supplications and the Gods.

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The Gods are described as being immediately present but not accessible through ordinary human perception.

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

The text emphasizes the simplicity of divine forms and measures compared to composite powers.

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

The distinction between Gods and sensitive natures implies a hierarchical structure of being.

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.

Human manners are described as unable to easily equal the purity of the divine nature.

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

The passage focuses on the ontological contact with Gods rather than ritual efficacy alone.

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

The text discusses the esoteric nature of offerings and divine forms beyond ordinary understanding.

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

The Gods are described as immediately present and conjoined with offerings despite their transcendence.

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

The text describes a direct contact or connexion between supplications and the Gods themselves.

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

The passage centrally discusses the nature of supplications and their connexion with the Gods.

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

The text emphasizes the purity required for offerings to reach the Gods effectively.

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.

The Gods are described as present in the offerings, suggesting a transformation of the material into the divine.

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

The passage discusses the efficacy of offerings and supplications in engaging the Gods directly through consecrated forms.