Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

• John 1:1-9

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

• Romans 1:20

“Born in Egypt, Plotinus studied in Alexandria, then considered the intellectual hub of the world. He later moved to Rome, where he taught his own brand of Platonism, known as Neo-Platonism. Plotinus divided the cosmos into layers, with the indefinable source of all being-the ‘One’-at the top, followed by Mind, Soul, Nature, and finally the Material World. He believed in reincarnation and the immortality of the soul; by striving for enlightenment individuals could achieve mystical union with the ‘One’, and so escape the cycle of rebirth. His ideas, presented in the Enneads, were widely influential, particularly those that supported Christianity, which was taking root in the Roman Empire at the time.”

• Sam Atkinson (senior editor), The Philosophy Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained

Plotinus (200AD-270AD) was a Greek philosopher, born in Alexandria in Egypt.  There was a center of culture there that was influential.  Plotinus was the founder of Neo-Platonism, which was adopted by many early Christian thinkers of that time, but Plotinus never mentions Christianity.  It is thought that his philosophy was seen by many as an alternate idea of how the universe began outside Christianity, but it is amazing that his philosophy has all things emanating from “the One.”  While not identifying Christianity by name in his writings, he wrote a paper against Gnosticism.

But now we see a different mixture of “elements.”  We see the mind, soul, nature, and material world.  And when considering the early philosophers, getting away from earth, wind, fire, and water is a big adjustment.

Also important is that Plotinus suggests that the “One” created the mind and the soul.  He makes a distinction between the two.  To differentiate between the brain, which is in his terms part of the material world, and the mind, the mind represents consciousness and sentience.  While the soul, to a Christian is that part that lives on.  This may not reflect his definitions, but it may give light into his philosophy.  The soul, for someone who believed in reincarnation, would probably be the essence that continued on in the next rebirth.

It is very telling in his philosophy that he accounts for someone breaking free of the reincarnation cycle if they have a relationship with the “One.”  Other than Christians understanding that we just have one chance at this life and reincarnation is not going to happen, Plotinus mirrors Christianity in that it seems that the best option would be to have that relationship with the “One.”

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.