Folia Theologica 17. (2006)
László Perendy: A Christian Platonist
194 L. PERENDY consists of elements which have the characteristics of createdness. Because God is the principle of its creation, the cosmos will always exist. The source of other souls is the World Soul and not the Demiurge: it creates the individual souls.56 The famous physician, Galen wrote a commentary on the Timaeus, but the parts now extant mostly deal with physiological questions. He accepts the doctrine of the irrational soul and he is under the influence of Aristotelian and Stoic logic.57 Numenius was not only born but probably he also taught in Apamea, in Northern Syria. His floruit was about 150, which makes him the contemporary of Taurus and Albinus. His works survived only in fragments, which show remarkable similarities with the Chaldaean Oracles. He emphasized the importance of the teaching of the Brahmans, Jews, Magi, and the Egyptians. His fragments mainly can be found in the works of Eusebius, Calcidius, Origen, and Proclus. He belongs to the Neopythagorean group of the Middle Platonists. In his system the First God is above all activity. He is the Good, the first principle of Being. The second member of his triadic scheme is the Demiurge, who is good only by participation. Gnostic tendencies are observable in this less-than-good figure, who is the god of generation. This god is not too skilful in creating the world. He is not an evil principle, but his ignorance causes a lot of trouble aboard the ship of the cosmos. His image as a helmsman betrays Hermetic influence and also suggests that cycles of order and disorder alternate in the cosmos. 56 CF. J. DILLON, o. c. 306-326. The following contributions are also important: J. P. MAGUIRE, The Sources of Pseudo-Aristotle De Mundo, in Yale Classical Studies 6 (1939) 111-167. C. MORESCHINI, La posizione di Apuleio e della scuola di Gaio nell'ambito del medioplatonismo, in Annali delle Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa 2/33 (1964) 28-39. E. PETERSON, Frühkirche, Judentum und Gnosis. Studien und Untersuchungen, Roma—Freiburg-Wien, 1959. 57 J. DILLON, o. c. 339-340. See also: A. J. FESTUGIÈRE - R. M. TONNEAU, Le "Compendium Timaei" de Galien, in Revue des études grecques 65 (1952) 97-118.
