POEMANDEES. V. 41 



those nonentities ; for the Entities He hath manifested, . ! 

 but those nonentities He hath in Himself. 



10. This the God is superior to a name; This the un- 

 manifest, This the most manifest, to be contemplated by 

 the mind; This visible to the eyes; This incorporeal, 

 multicorporeal yea, rather of every body (a); for there is 

 nothing which This is not. For This is alone all things. [ 

 And because of this He has all names, that He is One 

 Father, and because of this He has not a name 1 that He 

 is Father of all. Who, then, is able to bless (6) Thee 

 concerning Thee, or to Thee? Looking whither shall I 

 bless Thee, above, below, within, without? for there is 

 no condition (c), no place about Thee, nor anything else 

 of the Entities; for all things are in Thee, all things 

 from Thee, having given all things and receiving nothing ; 

 for Thou hast all things, and nothing that Thou hast 

 not. 2 



11. When, Father ! shall I hymn Thee ? for neither thine 



(a) 7To6!/roV auf4,a,TQ$. (b) gyAoyijo'oc/. (c) 



1 " But proper name for the Father of all things Who is unbegotten 

 there is none; for whoever is called by a name has the person older 

 than himself who gives him that name. But the terms, Father, God, 

 and Creator, and Lord and Master, are not names, but terms of 

 address derived from His benefits and His works" (Just. Martyr, 

 Apolog. ii. 6). 



This passage is cited with the highest approbation by Lactantius 

 (Divin. Instit., L ch. 6), and again in a different sense (ibid. iv. 7). 

 See post, Part III. 



2 " For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things " 

 (Rom. xi. 38). It is impossible to lay down in stronger terms the 

 doctrine of the all-pervading and particular providence of God, and of 

 His being the actual and present prompting author of every thing 

 and event. (See Psalm cxxxix. 1-12). Cudworth, in the Intellectual 

 System (ch. iv. 33), ascribes these sentiments to the old Egyptian 

 Theology, apparently quoting this and other passages of the Poem- 

 andres and " the Asclepian dialogue," where it is repeated from the 

 Poemandres ; and "Wilkinson (Ancient Egyptians, iii. 178), and after 

 him Kawlinson (History of Egypt, i. 314), reiterate this statement. 

 Without denying that the ancient Egyptians were Monotheists, such 

 a statement cannot be proved from the above-named authorities 

 which were both posterior to the Christian era. 



