Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

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billd89
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Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by billd89 »

For Philo, the Fifth Essence is Indescribable, so left largely unspoken. FIVE unifies: it is both divine and divinizing, like a metacosmic glue, a force operating at the substratum of Reality. It effects a God-becoming Synthesis. The implications are vast!

Two examples:
So the Chrism or Water baptism is not really symbolic; it has become the Quintessence. Rather, the consummated matter itself has become symbolic; by divinization such is transformed (by Spirit) into something Holy. Become a transferrent agent?

Where appears a 'Four Step' Outline for Palingenesia or Metempsychosis, ACTUALLY a 'Fifth Step' is tacitly implied. God's Divinization (the Process itself) is effected through this mysterious Fifth Essence, which we might call: the Holiness. It is implicit in the process of Divine Reality unfolding, and in the Power known to and channelled by the Jewish A. A. in Egypt, c.25 AD. (Obviously, Jesus wasnt the first, nor would he be the last, to tap and express that Power. But the myth was successfully hijacked by his followers, YES.) The esoteric concept must have been developed several generations before Philo, it was already 'well-known' to Jewish mystics, perhaps c.150 BC.

I only sensed this theory must be evident; I have not yet seen it elucidated. But I thought the scholars of the Philonica must surely know this! There MUST be evidence in Philo Judaeus; the Tetrad of Material Elements is incomplete. I was disappointed by David T. Runia's Philo of Alexandria and The 'Timaeus' of Plato [1986], pp.294-5:
it is virtually certain that Philo's very limited interest in Plato's {number} theory was stimulated by the reading of arithmological literature rather than through a detailed study of the Timaeus itself. In contrast to the arithmological sources, however, Philo's remarks are consistently called forth by explanations of Biblical symbolism (unless the fragment is part of the περὶ ἀριθμῶν {Philo’s ‘On Numbers’}, but even this lost work may well have been meant primarily as a source-book for illustratory material required in exegesis). […] In presenting Philo's thought on the creation and structure of the cosmos Wolfson (1.310) declares: “As in Plato, the elements are described by him [i.e. Philo] as having certain geometrical figures.’ This statement, based on the passage in Quaestiones et solutiones in Genesin 3.49 alone, is formulated in an excessively 'doctrinal' manner. Philo is convinced that the ordered structure of the cosmos is achieved by means of number, also at the elemental level. But he is not very interested in Plato's subtle theory of the primary bodies.

Runia gets close, but misses the mark. There is a more important passage, I think. I'd be surprised if Wolfson also neglected this; I havent yet confirmed, but it seems he did. Hello?!

The Four are 'completed' by Five! Because that's Cosmic Reality. See Quaestiones et solutiones in Genesin 3.6:
{God} is shadowing forth a fifth and cyclic nature, from which the ancients say that the heaven was perfected. For the four elements are mixtures rather than elements: by which they sub-divides those already divided into materials of which they are mixed. Thus, the earth contains within itself a water element, and an aerial one, and also of fiery one: more by our our comprehension of it, than by sight. And water is not so pure and unmixed that it has no wind and earth. And so in each of the others there are mixtures. But the fifth substance {quintessence} only is made unmixed and pure, so it was not usually mentioned at all.[…] the simpler and unmixed fifth essence, and therefore this nature, therefore more closely resembles Unity, is indivisible.

The divine goo holds it All together. In the Platonic system, Five completes and divinizes Four: 'Five' brings God into or upon the Cosmic 'Four'. In De E apud Delphos, Plutarch {c.115 AD} says, “it appears that someone earlier than Plato {c.425 BC} realized this and therefore established Five for the god, an indication and symbol of the number of everything” (ἔφθη δή τις ταῦτα πρότερος συνιδὼν Πλάτωνος, διὸ εἶ καθιέρωσε τῷ θεῷ, δήλωμα καὶ σύμβολον τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν πάντων; 391c).

I'm not sure how well understood the concept is, though it's pretty easy to grasp. See Michael Leo Samuel, Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator ... [2016], p.121 n.129.
According to Aristotle, this essence exhibits many properties: it is un-generated, un-aging, incorruptible, eternal, constant and unchanging. In theological terms, quintessence points to the indescribable spiritual essence origin of all possible phenomenal forms in the space-time continuum.

This. So very, very this! Everything is really THIS.

In theological terms, quintessence points to the indescribable spiritual essence origin of all possible phenomenal forms in the space-time continuum.

Impossible to visualize. For Philo Judaeus, the Torah would be the neatest expression of this metacosmic glue, the spiritual laws undergirding the Universe.
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Leucius_Charinus
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Re: Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by Leucius_Charinus »

After almost 10 years I was wondering whether I am still banned on this public discussion forum.



And they allowed Apollonius to ask questions;
and he asked them of what they thought the cosmos was composed;
but they replied:

"Of elements."

"Are there then four" he asked.

"Not four," said Iarchas, "but five."

"And how can there be a fifth," said Apollonius,
"alongside of water and air and earth and fire ?"

"There is the ether", replied the other,
"which we must regard as the stuff of which gods are made;
for just as all mortal creatures inhale tbe air,
so do immortal and divine natures inhale the ether."

Apollonius again asked which was the first of the elements,
and Iarchas answered:

"All are simultaneous, for a living creature is not born bit by bit."

"Am I," said Apollonius, "to regard
the universe as a living creature?"

"Yes," said the other, "if you have a sound knowledge of it,
for it engenders all living things."

- The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus, 220 CE

http://mountainman.com.au/aetherqr.htm
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DCHindley
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Re: Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by DCHindley »

Hi Pete,

Looks like you re-did your web pages to make them more compact and also cover all of your many interests.

Nice to hear from you again.

DCH
Leucius_Charinus wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 5:55 pm After almost 10 years I was wondering whether I am still banned on this public discussion forum.

And they allowed Apollonius to ask questions;
and he asked them of what they thought the cosmos was composed;
but they replied:

"Of elements."

"Are there then four" he asked.

"Not four," said Iarchas, "but five."

"And how can there be a fifth," said Apollonius,
"alongside of water and air and earth and fire ?"

"There is the ether", replied the other,
"which we must regard as the stuff of which gods are made;
for just as all mortal creatures inhale tbe air,
so do immortal and divine natures inhale the ether."

Apollonius again asked which was the first of the elements,
and Iarchas answered:

"All are simultaneous, for a living creature is not born bit by bit."

"Am I," said Apollonius, "to regard
the universe as a living creature?"

"Yes," said the other, "if you have a sound knowledge of it,
for it engenders all living things."

- The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus, 220 CE

http://mountainman.com.au/aetherqr.htm
Leucius_Charinus
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Re: Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by Leucius_Charinus »

DCHindley wrote: Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:53 am Hi Pete,

Looks like you re-did your web pages to make them more compact and also cover all of your many interests.

Nice to hear from you again.
G'day Dave,

No the web pages are just archives of my notes. The page (of 2005) cited about the aether represents about 10 years of discussion in sci.physics (1995-2005). The "Fifth Element" of nature as aether may relate to (quantum "foam") space itself. The Indians call it akasha. Yes I do find theoretical physics an interesting subject. Christian origins is another interesting subject.

Thanks for the greeting. It's been a while.
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Peter Kirby
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Re: Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by Peter Kirby »

Leucius_Charinus wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 5:55 pm After almost 10 years I was wondering whether I am still banned on this public discussion forum.
Welcome back. You're unbanned and can also use your other handle (without the underscore in it) again.
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Leucius Charinus
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Re: Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by Leucius Charinus »

Thanks for the welcome back.


RE: C14 news

You may be interested to learn that there were indeed C14 radiocarbon dating tests conducted on the leather cover of Nag Hammadi Codex I, and on a papyrus fragment from the cartonnage of the cover of Codex I.

The results of these tests were for some reason not published. This and three other recent C14 tests are discussed by Hugo LUNDHAUG in an article:

"DATING AND CONTEXTUALISING THE NAG HAMMADI CODICES AND THEIR TEXTS
A MULTI-METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH INCLUDING NEW RADIOCARBON EVIDENCE"

I don't have a link. I had to ask the author for a copy. Happy to share.
StephenGoranson
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Re: Quintessence: The Fifth Essence is (like God) Unmentioned

Post by StephenGoranson »

And published in:
Texts in context :
essays on dating and contextualising Christian writings from the second and early third centuries /

Joseph Verheyden; Jens Schröter; Tobias Nicklas
2021
English Book Book viii, 319 pages color illustrations ; 25 cm.
ISBN: 9042943890 9789042943896

"The essays collected in this volume contain the proceedings of a colloquium held in Leuven in December 2018. The overall purpose was to study Gnostic and other second- and early third-century Christian texts in search for indications and criteria for determining their place in the development of early Christian theology. A good deal of attention is given to dating and identifying these often anonymous writings, but other aspects are also addressed, but other aspects are also addressed. The essays illustrate in various ways that this development was not a uniform process. The many problems involved in studying these texts from such a perspective have brought some scholars to question what should be the main focus: the (presumed) original context or their transmission and use by later generations. The collection includes essays by P. Foster (Ignatius), C.M. Tuckett (1-2 Clement), J.S. Kloppenborg (the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions), J. Frey (Jewish-Christian gospels, especially the Gospel according to the Hebrews), H. Lundhaug (methodology in studying Gnostic texts), C. Jacobi (Gospel of Philip), K. Schwarz (Gospel of Thomas), F. Watson (Apocryphon of James), J.-D. Dubois (criteria for dating Gnostic texts, applied to the Apocryphon of John), D.M. Burns (Nag Hammadi tractates with philosophical interests), and A. Van den Kerchove (Gospel of Judas)."
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