Descent of the soul (1)

Text
Iamblichus, On the Soul 378-380:
The platonists of the school of Taurus say that souls are sent down by the Gods to earth - some of them, following the Timaeus, declaring it to be for the completion of the universe, so that there should be as many living things in the cosmos as there are in the noetic realm, others describing the purpose of the descent as being the manifestation of divine life. For this, they say, is the will of the Gods, to make their divinity manifest through the pure and uncontaminated life of souls. … The pure and perfect souls come to settle in bodies in a pure manner, without being subject to passions and without being deprived of the power of intellection; for souls of a contrary character, the opposite is the case. … Furthermore, in my opinion, the variety of purposes creates differences in the modes of descent of souls. For the soul that comes down for the purpose of salvation and purification and perfection of the material realm is immaculate in its descent; that soul, on the other hand, which has turned to bodies for the exercise and correction of its moral life will not be entirely free of passions, nor will it be left free on its own; while that soul which has come down here by way of punishment and judgement seems, as it were, to be dragged and driven along.

Source (list of abbreviations)
Iamblichus, On the Soul 378-380

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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