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Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 157 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Chapter IV

Divine divination, therefore, which is conjoined with the Gods, alone truly imparts to us a divine life; since it participates of [divine] foreknowledge, and divine intellections, and renders us in reality divine. It likewise causes us to be genuine participants of the good , because 331 the most blessed intellectual perception of the Gods is filled with all good. Hence those who possess this divination “ do not ,” as you conjecture, “ foresee future events, and are nevertheless unhappy .” For all divine foreknowledge is boniform. Nor “ do they foresee, indeed, what is future, but do not know how to use this knowledge properly .” For, together with the foreknowledge, they receive the beautiful itself, and true and appropriate order: and utility is also present with it. For the Gods, in conjunction with it, deliver a transcendent power of defence against the inconveniences which accede from nature. And when it is necessary to exercise virtue, and the ignorance of future events contributes to this, then the Gods conceal what will be for the sake of rendering the soul better. But when the ignorance of what is future does not at all contribute to this, and foreknowledge is advantageous to souls, for the sake of their salvation and reascent [to divinity], then the Gods insert the foreknowledge which pertains to divination in the penetralia of the essences of souls. 332
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Themes
Cosmic Sympathycosmology

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.

The text describes how the Gods conceal knowledge for the sake of rendering the soul better, implying a dynamic relationship where divine action influences human condition.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

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

The Gods conceal knowledge about the future to render the soul better, indicating a hidden aspect of divine action.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

The passage explicitly defines divine divination as imparting a divine life through direct participation in divine foreknowledge and intellections.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The Gods insert the foreknowledge of divination into the penetralia of the essences of souls, implying esoteric knowledge reserved for the initiated.

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Inner Lightanthropology

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

Divine divination is described as rendering the soul divine and filled with all good, suggesting an internal luminous quality.

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Living Godtheology

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

The Gods are depicted as active agents who conceal knowledge and deliver power of defence against nature.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

Divine divination causes the practitioner to be a genuine participant of the good and renders them in reality divine.

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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.

The text mentions the reascent [to divinity] as a goal for souls possessing foreknowledge.

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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.

Divine divination renders the practitioner divine and filled with all good, implying an internal transformation of self-awareness.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The text mentions the reascent [to divinity] as a goal for souls possessing foreknowledge.

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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.

The passage explicitly states that divine divination renders the practitioner in reality divine and a genuine participant of the good.

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