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Victorinus Circa
281/291-370 A.D.

The Bridge Between Greek and Latin
Neoplatonism

A Trinitarian Syncretist

“In Rome, Victorinus (d.c. A.D. 370), an African by birth
and a teacher of rhetoric, translated some of the works of the earlier
Neoplatonists into Latin, then at last moved from Neoplatonism into
Christianity (Jerome, Illustrious Men 101).  Augustine (A.D.
354-430) read the translations of Victorinus and was deeply influenced by
Neoplatonism as he likewise moved on (baptized in 387) into the Christian
faith (Confessions 8.2).  He later declared that of all other
philosophers “none come nearer to us than the Platonists” (City of
God 8.5).  Likewise the Roman Christian theologian Boethius
(c.A.D. 470-525), who wrote commentaries on works of Porphyry and
translated Porphyry’s Isagoge, reflects Neoplatonism in his own major work
On the Consolation of Philosophy.  Together Augustine and
Boethius were mainly responsible for the introduction of Neoplatonic ideas
into Latin Christianity.  Nevertheless Roman Neoplatonism as a school
was at end by the latter part of the sixth century”  (Finegan,
Myth & Mystery, p. 184).

To Be  (the One)
or to be (the Many)

That is the Mystery of
the Trinity

“The name of Marius Victorinus is not a familiar one in the
history of ideas or of education.  He was, nevertheless, an
outstanding educator of the late Roman Empire and an important link in
intellectual history with the periods that would follow.  He formed a
new philosophical language, which was of great help to logicians
[philosophers skilled in logic, i.e.; the science of formal reasoning,
using principles of valid inference.  Paul refers to such reasoning
as the use of clever words] and the metaphysicians [philosophers skilled
in first principles, i.e.; ontology, the science or theory of being,
cosmology, the science or theory of universal order, and epistemology, the
science or theory of knowledge] of the Middle Ages.  Indeed, it has
been said that he should have a place among those whom E. K. Rand has
called the Founders of the Middle Ages.  Long passages from
Victorinus were copied by Alcuin in his De fide and a citation from
Victorinus appears in Hincmar, while, earlier, Boethius borrowed heavily
from Victorinus.  Not only is he important in the history of Latin
and Greek Neoplatonism by reason of his translation of the “Platonic
books” significantly mentioned by Augustine [Confessions 7.9.13] --
books now believed to be treatises of Plotinus and Porphyry—but Victorinus
also made use of traditional themes from the entire philosophical and
religious tradition in new ways.  Philosopher and theologian, he
affirmed the Neoplatonic distinction between, on the one hand, “To Be,”
pure Act transcending every form, and, on the other, being, a subject
receiving a determined form of “to be [the author comments in a footnote
that “...Victorinus deserves special consideration for his pioneering
exploitation of the substantive infinitive [to be as a direct
derivative of To Be], a syntactical device especially important for
the expression of philosophical and theological ideas.”]”  In
asserting the direct derivation of the “to be” of beings [the Many, or the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit] from the first “To Be [the One],” he
transmitted through Boethius one of the great insights of medieval
metaphysics [the great Chaldean Mystery of the One and the Many now
packaged for the Latin mind!].  The importance Victorinus gave to
existence and his effort to understand existence put him in touch with the
Twentieth Century [by this she means Existentialism—a philosophic teaching
that existence precedes essence.  By essence philosophers mean the
purpose or function of a thing; function(s) which uniquely define(s) it;
that without which it would not be what it is.  In existentialism,
essence is self-defined.  Applied to the One—it means that the One
has no preestablished nature but rather defines itself through its own
freely chosen actions, thus when the One’s potentiality is actualized then
and only then does it become the Many, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit—i.e.; the Mystery of the Trinity]” (Clark, Marius Victorinus:
Theological Treatises On The Trinity, pp. 3-4).

Sound familiar?  “There is one God, and that one God is
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  They are distinct, but not
separate....Therefore, God is everything we can conceive of and more!”
(Joseph W. Tkach Sr., July 27, 1993.)

Victorinus Priest of
Isis and Osiris

“Born and married in Africa, Victorinus later moved to
Italy.  ...He is first heard of around 350 [25 years after the
Council of Nicaea I], in Rome, where his statue in the Forum of Trajan is
a tribute to his eloquence and to the gratitude of the senators he
taught.  He was steeped in Neoplatonism and was initiated into the
mysteries of Osiris.  His exaggerated spiritual philosophy made him
hostile to the body and therefore to the “Word made flesh,” ...In reading
the Christian Scriptures, however, Victorinus discovered a deep harmony
with his own philosophical ideas on the first principles [ontology, the
science or theory of be(ing), cosmology, the science or theory of
universal order, and epistemology, the science or theory of
knowledge].  Apparently this reading of Scripture opened the mind and
heart of Victorinus to receive the gift of faith in Christ as the Divine
Son of God.  The year 356 has been declared the most likely date for
this conversion, ... Victorinus’s Letter to Candidus was written around
359.  Victorinus lived under three Emperors:  Constantine,
Constantius and Julian, disciple of the Neoplatonic philosopher,
Iamblichus” (Clark, Marius Victorinus: Theological Treatises On The
Trinity, p. 4).

“To understand Victorinus we must be aware of the traditions
from which he emerged.  He stood at the crossroads of three different
paths:  The traditions of classical Rome—Cicero, Virgil; the new
trends in philosophic thought—Plotinus, Porphyry; the new positions of
Christianity, with the crisis in conscience these brought for the Roman
citizen.  The foundation of Constantinople, the new Christian Rome,
reduced the rank of ancient Rome; in 357 the Senate of Constantinople
became the equal of the Roman Senate.  Because these three paths meet
in Victorinus, he became the leader of the spiritual movement of
Platonic Christianity which gained its full strength between 380
and 415.  The whole Fourth Century was a century of conflict between
pagan [Mystic or irrational] and [Platonic or rational] Christian culture:
the renaissance of pagan culture, the birth of [Platonic] Christian
culture.  In the pagan renaissance there was a joining of forces with
the magical element in eastern Neoplatonism”  (Clark, Marius
Victorinus: Theological Treatises On The Trinity, p.
4).

Proclus The
Chaldean410-485 A.D.

“Proclus (A.D. 410-485) was the most important figure in the
later Neoplatonism that began with Iamblichus.  Proclus was a Greek
born in Constantinople (Byzantium), studied in Alexandria and with
Plutarch and Syrianos in Athens, and became the head for the rest of his
life of the Platonic academy at Athens (as the heir to this position and
to distinguish him from others of the same name he is known as Proclus
Diadochus, the “successor”).  Proclus wrote commentaries and an
exegetical work (Platonic Theology) on Plato, essays (On Providence and
Fate, and others), hymns (of which only a few survive), and major
systematic texts (Elements of Physics; Elements of Theology)” (Finegan,
Myth & Mystery, p. 182).

Marinus The
Chaldean

Proclus’ Convert from
Samaritan Judaism

“The pupil and immediate successor of Proclus in the academy
at Athens was Marinus, who came from Neapolis (Shechem) [the ancient home
of Simon Magus] in Palestine, and was a convert to Neoplatonism from
Samaritan Judaism” (Finegan, Myth & Mystery, p.
182).

Proclus’ Great
Admiration for Timaeus of Plato and Chaldean
Oracles

“Marinus wrote a biography of Proclus, in which we are told
that Proclus once said that if he could, out of all ancient books, he
would leave current only the Timaeus of Plato and the Chaldean Oracles”
(Finegan, Myth & Mystery, p. 182).

Proclus Worshipper of
the Sun

“We are also given a description of the religious life of
Proclus who, in addition to his heavy schedule of lecturing and writing,
worshiped the sun three times a day, observed all the Egyptian holy days,
and spent part of the night in prayer and praise” (Finegan, Myth &
Mystery, p. 183).

Proclus’ Hymn to the
Sun

“... In a Hymn to the Sun Proclus salutes the sun and
prays:  Image of nature’s all-producing god, And the soul’s leader to
the realms of light—Hear! and refine me from the stains of guilt; The
supplication of my tears receive ... The punishments incurred by sin remit
... By thy pure law, dread evil’s constant foe, Direct my steps, and pour
thy sacred light In rich abundance on my clouded soul” (Finegan, Myth
& Mystery, p. 183).

Proclus’ Great
Influence upon Christian Thought

“The Neoplatonism enunciated at the height of the movement
by Proclus in Athens was influential in the system of Christian thought
set forth in a series of writings composed in the late fifth century and
circulated under the name of Dionysios the Areopagite (Acts
17:34).  In these the unknown author, often considered the father of
Christian mysticism, outlines the Celestial Hierarchy [the One] and
the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy [the Many—both represent the ancient
Chaldean worldview of heaven and earth.  This is the fountainhead of
all subsequent Catholic Church doctrine of the hierarchy, see Human
Rights in the Middle Ages by Ulhmann], treats the Divine Names
[the sacred names of actual demons in high places] that contain the
mystery of the divine being [the One], and in Mystical Theology
describes the ascent of the soul [of the Many] to the vision of God [the
Beatific Vision] (Finegan, Myth & Mystery, p.
183).

“In spite of this positive relationship with some Christian
thought, in A.D. 529 the academy at Athens was shut down by a decree of
Justinian I, and Athenian Neoplatonism came to an end.  Some of its
leaders, however, established themselves thereafter in Byzantium
(Constantinople), where later Psellus (A.D. 1018-1079) was notable for his
continuation of the ideas of Proclus”  (Finegan, Myth &
Mystery, p. 183).

The Demise of the
Alexandrian School 642 A.D.

“... in A.D. 415 and under Cyril archbishop of Alexandria
(d. A.D. 444) Hypatia, the head of the Neoplatonic school at Alexandria
and a lady of high attainment in literature and philosophy, was dragged
from her carriage by a mob of fanatical Christians and murdered at the
church called Caesareum (Socrates, Church History 7.15).
Finally, with the capture of the city by the Arabs in A.D. 642 the school
was shut down.

“The long line of thought from Orpheus to Pythagoras to
Plato and on to Plato’s followers would, however, not end,...” (Finegan,
Myth & Mystery, pp. 184-185).

The Philosophic
(Chaldean) One

Notice the Philosophic
Eternal Distinctions of Pater, Logos and
Pneuma

in the Trinitarian
Formulation

“There are then (as the statement may run) three Persons
(Hypostases) or real distinctions in the unity of the divine Nature or
Substance [ousia], which is Love.

Notice the Philosophic
Consubstantiality of the Logos in the Trinitarian
Formulation

The Persons are co-equal, inasmuch as in each of them the divine
Nature is one and undivided, and by each the collective divine attributes
are shared.  As a ‘person’ in Trinitarian usage is more than a mere
aspect of being, being a real ground of experience and function, each
divine Person, while less than a separate individuality, possesses His own
hypostatic character or characteristic property (...).

Notice the Philosophic
Logos of the Greeks in the Trinitarian
Formulation

The hypostatic characters of the Persons may be viewed from
an internal and an external standpoint, i.e. with reference to the inner
constitution of the Godhead or to the Godhead as related to the
cosmos or world of manifestation.

Notice the Philosophic
Eternal Generation of the Logos in the Trinitarian
Formulation

Viewed ab intra, the hypostatic character of the Father
is ingeneration (...), of the Son; filiation, of the Spirit
procession; wherefore, ‘the Father is of none, neither begotten nor
proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy
Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.’ [Westminster
Confession, ii,3].

Notice the Philosophic Double Procession
from the Father and the Son in the Trinitarian Formulation

Viewed ab intra, the hypostatic character of the Father is
ingeneration (...), of the Son; filiation, of the Spirit
procession; wherefore, ‘the Father is of none, neither begotten nor
proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost
eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.’ [Westminster
Confession, ii, 3].

The Philosophic
(Chaldean) Many

Viewed ab extra (for Love functions externally as well as
internally, is centrifugal as well as centripetal [Cf. S.A. McDowall,
Evolution and the Doctrine of the Trinity, Cambridge, 1918, p. 53
f.], the hypostatic character of the Father is made manifest in creation,
whereby a world is provided for beings who should be capable of
experiencing fellowship with the divine Love; the hypostatic character of
the Son in redemption, whereby the alienating power of sin is overcome;
and the hypostatic character of the Spirit in sanctification, whereby
human nature is quickened and renewed and shaped to the divine
likeness.  Yet, while this is said, as there is no separation in the
unity of the Godhead, so the one God is manifested in the threefold work
of creation, redemption, and sanctification; moreover, each of the Persons
as sharing the divine attributes is active in the threefold work, if with
varying stress of function.  Verily the doctrine of the Trinity
exit in mysterium”  (Fulton, Trinity, Encyclopedia of
Religion and Ethics, pp. 459-460).

A P P E N D I
X

Origin and History of
the Magi

The year 2094 B.C. was critical in the developing history of
the Middle East.  100 years (2194-2094 B.C.) after Shem began the
re-conquest of the Middle East at Erech by routing the forces of Nimrod;
the “reincarnated” Nimrod launched an expeditionary force against
Erech.  That same year Horus opened a second front by leading an
expedition into the territory of Shem and Japheth who had colonized the
Danube Valley, the part of Europe we know today as Yugoslavia, Hungry,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Austria and Germany.

Horus led the first Assyrian and Elamite migrations into
Europe in the year of 2094.  The Assyrians were his kinsmen, the
Elamites were his slaves.  This expeditionary force swept up the
Mesopotamian Valley, into Asia Minor and up the Danube into Europe.
At some point Horus turned west toward what is today France and Belgium
and settled in the uncolonized areas of Western Europe.  Horus ruled
in Western Europe until 2048 at which time he was forced to return to
Mesopotamia due to the activities of his duplicitous mother
Semiramis.  Horus or Zames relinquished personal dominion over
Western Europe to his son Magus and returned to Assyrian
Mesopotamia.  Following is a short listing of the dynasty Horus
founded in Western Europe as preserved by Aylett Sammes in his work:
Britannia Antiqua Illustrata: or, the Antiquities of Ancient
Britain.  London, 1676.

King

Years of
Reign

Commentary

Horus

2094-2048

Son of
Asshur and Semiramis. Called Samothes, Zeus, Jupiter. Is the
Gilgamesh of Erech.

Magus

2048-1997

Son of
Horus. Father of the Magi who migrated into Persia from Europe soon
after the collapse of the Celtic Empire of Western Europe, circa
1076 B.C.

Thus, the rulers of early France and Belgium were Assyrians
of the line of Asshur, Semiramis and Horus.  The Celts were Assyrian
and not Aramean Goths. The main settlements of Chaldean Hebrews was
centered around the Danube in the region of Yugoslavia, Hungary and
Romania.

The Magi show up in Near Eastern history in the 900’s B.C.
as the sixth tribe of the Medes.  “The Old Persian word magu,
rendered in Greek by magos, is of uncertain etymology.  It may
originally have meant “member of the tribe,” as in the Avestan compound
magu-tbish (“hostile to a member of the tribe”).  This meaning would
have been further restricted, among the Medes, to “member of the priestly
tribe” and perhaps to “priest” (Benveniste, 1938; Boyce,
1982).  The term is probably of Median origin, given that Herodotus
mentions the “Magoi” as one of the six tribes of the Medes.”
(Eliade, Magi, The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 9, p.
79.)

In 612 B.C., the Medes and their Chaldean confederates
toppled the Assyrian Empire forever.  The new Median Empire stretched
from an area running just below the Black Sea in Asia Minor to the Indus
Valley of India, while the confederate Babylonian Empire straddled the
ancient Fertile Crescent!  With this conquest came the ancient Magi
of the Medes.  The Roman Geographer Strabo attests to the numeric
strength and influence of these Chaldean and Magian priests of the Kingdom
of Pontus well down into the period of the Roman Empire and its long rule
over Asia Minor.

Rulers of Middle
Eastern Empires at the time of Plato

Nation

King

Years

Dates

Persia

Artaxerxes II
Mnemon

404-358

Egypt

Yewepet
Mendes XXIX

21

399-378

Egypt

Myrtaios Ammonodotos,
Amyrteos
or Amonortais Sais
XXVII

22

421-399

Egypt

Smendes Tanis XXI

26

417-391

Egypt

Psusennes
I Tanis XXI

46

391-345

Judah

John (Jonathan)
the murderous High Priest

The White Canaanites of
Arcadius

Arcadius, one of the white sons of Canaan, was migrating
toward the Grecian peninsula.  These sons of Arcadius were the
original Greeks!  Arcadius is the father of the Arkites (Gen
10:17).  The Arcadians migrated toward Greece beginning in 2189 B.C.
arriving in Arcadia Peloponnese by 2063 B.C., founding Sicyon, the oldest
city-state in Greece.

King list of Aegialea
(Sicyon)

Aegialeus
52     2063-2011    Eber-father of
Hebrews

Europs
45     2011-1966

Telchin
20     1966-1946

Apis
25     1946-1921

Thelxion
52     1921-1869

Aegydrus
34     1869-1835    Argos founded in
1858

Line of Agamemnon

Tiras, son of Japheth.  His white descendants settled
Thrace.

Javan Father of the “Hellenistic”
Greeks

Javan, son of Japheth.  His white descendants settled
in Greece in 2189 B.C.  “but from Javan, Ionia, and all the Grecians
are derived.  ...Of the three sons of Javan also, the son of Japhet,
Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, who were his subjects; they are now the
Aeolians” (Josephus Bk I, Ch V, p.40).  They lived in a large
part of east-central Greece before 1150 B.C.  “Toward the end of the
1100’s, other Greeks called Dorians [Midianites] invaded Aeolian
territory, and many Aeolians moved to the western coast of Asia Minor, the
nearby islands of Lesbos and Tenedos.  The coastal district was known
as Aeolis”  (Aeolians, World Book Encyclopedia).

© Carl D.
Franklin

September 16, 1993

June 5, 1996

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