Chapter XIV

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The text describes Gods as presiding over matter and having dominion over material bodies like animals.

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

The passage establishes a fundamental ontological distinction between material and immaterial Gods as the primary structure of reality.

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

Immaterial Gods are described as perfectly exempt from and transcending matter, implying their concealment from material perception.

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.

Corruption is listed among the phenomena governed by material Gods, aligning with the idea of evil as a lack or distortion.

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

The passage explicitly discusses dead bodies and the slaying of animals in the context of sacrificial worship.

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

Material Gods are described as presiding over matter and having dominion over material bodies.

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

The passage outlines an ascent from material Gods to immaterial Gods as the goal of theurgical worship.

Fire as medium of divine presence.

Fire is mentioned as a medium for divine presence in the context of sacrificial offerings.

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

The text emphasizes the necessity of beginning operations with material Gods to effect an ascent, implying a state of preparedness.

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

The passage references the 'sacred law of sacrifices' and theurgy, implying the use of specific divine formulas or laws.

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 goal is described as becoming familiar with Gods through appropriate worship, implying a transformation into their likeness.

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 centrally defines theurgical worship as the appropriate mode for engaging material Gods and ascending to immaterial ones.