xxiv PREFACE. 



that none of the works of The God can become extinct or 

 perish, but, if disappearing, are resolved into some other 

 essence or nature, and renovated in another form; thus, it 

 would appear, affirming the future eternity of existing 

 matter, and deducing from this the immortality of the 

 human body. His reasoning resembles that of S. Paul, 

 1 Cor. xv. 36 : " Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself 

 so west is not quickened except it die," &c. It is, of course, 

 impossible in this volume to contrast the theology and 

 philosophy of our Hermes, with that of Philo Judseus, with 

 which it has many points of resemblance, or with that of 

 the Grecian sages generally; but in the notes several 

 extracts have been given from the Dialogues of Plato (as 

 edited by C. F. Hermann, at Leipsic, in 1877) and from 

 other authors illustrative of the text. Many passages of 

 Holy Scripture from the Septuagint and the Eevised 

 Version of the New Testament have likewise been noted 

 with the same view. 



Finally, it is desirable to state that the language and style 

 of our Hermes is semi-classical, though Alexandrian, and 

 without dialect; but often rugged, involved, mystical, tauto- 

 logical, and obscure, with a number of technical words 

 belonging to the Greek philosophy which renders it difficult 

 to translate. It bears much resemblance to that of Plato, 

 whose writings he had certainly studied. The aim of the 

 translator has not been to produce a flowing version, or an 

 elegant paraphrase, or a pithy abbreviation, but to render 

 the original into English with as much literal exactness as 

 practicable. 



