142 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 



bers, relating to the knowledge of divine things, in which 

 he asserts the Majesty of The Supreme and Only God, and 

 makes mention of Him by the same names which we use, 

 ' God and Father.' And that no one might inquire His 

 name, he said that He was without name, and that on 

 account of His very Unity He does not require the pecu- 

 liarity of a name. These are his own words: 1 The ' God is 

 One, but He who is only One does not need a name; for 

 He Who is Self Existent is without a name.' " 



Hid. i. ch. 11. 



" Therefore it appears that Saturn was not born from 

 heaven, which is impossible, but from that man who 

 bore the name of Uranus. And Trismegistus asserts the 

 truth of this ; for when he said that very few existed 

 in whom there was perfect learning, he mentioned by 

 name among these his forefathers Uranus, Saturn, and 

 Mercury." 2 



Hid. ii. ch. 9. 



" For that the world was made by Divine Providence, 

 not to mention Trismegistus, who proclaims this." 



Ibid, and Epitome, ch. 4, ad Jin. 



" His (God's) works are seen by the eyes, but how He 

 made them is not even seen by the Mind; because, as 

 Hermes says, Mortal cannot draw nigh to (that is approach 

 nearer and follow up with the understanding) the immor- 

 tal; the temporal to the eternal, the corruptible to the 

 incorruptible." " And on this account the earthly animal 

 is as yet incapable of perceiving heavenly things, because 

 it is shut in and held as it were in custody by the body." 3 



1 Vide Poemandres, ch. v. 10; Parthey's Edit., p. 47, and note 

 there ; ch. xi. 7-12, ibid. 92. Asclepius I. It may be here observed 

 that when Lactantius quotes the genine Hermes, he always transcribes 

 the original Greek. 



2 Poemandres, ch. x. ; Parthey's Edit., 70. 



3 Hermes, from " The things to Tat," extracted by Stobams, Flori- 

 leginm, ch. 80 ; Meineke, iii. 104. 



