NEOPLATONISM
160word of God in faith and morals, and a
resistance to natural theology.
NEOPLATONISM. Modern term for
the stage of Platonic philosophy from the
third to the sixth century CE. The found-
ing figure is Plotinus (205–270) whose
meditation on Plato’s Parmenides is an
imaginative reading of the dialogue in
which reality is defined as levels of unity.
However, the ultimate unity is not a
pantheistic totality but a transcendent
and immaterial cause of all beings. All of
metaphysics culminates in a philosophi-
cal theology of the One, and practical
philosophy is concerned with the imma-
terial soul’s return to this transcendent
Source. Iamblichus (250–330) is the great
watershed figure in Neoplatonism: he
replaces philosophical theory with magi-
cal practices or theurgy. After Iamblichus,
the return to the One is a ritual and
liturgical rather than a purely contempla-
tive exercise. Proclus (412–485) is the last
major Neoplatonic philosopher in late
antiquity. Neoplatonism has a strong reli-
gious dimension and it became a source
of opposition to Christianity, especially
under Emperor Julian (the Apostate,
331–363). However, it exerted a vast and
lasting influence upon medieval Christian,
Muslim, and Jewish theology. The term
can also be used for the dominant philos-
ophy of the Italian Renaissance under
Ficino and for speculative developments
in European Romanticism from Hegel to
Emerson.
NEWTON, ISAAC (1642–1727). In phi-
losophy of religion Newton is known for
his correspondence with Samuel Clarke
on whether God interferes with the
creation. Newton also thought of absolute
space as a divine property. On this view,
we literally move and have our being
in God insofar as we and the cosmos
exist in space. Newton is the author of
Mathematical Principles of Natural Phi-
losophy (1687), usually referred to as the
Principia.NICAEA, COUNCIL OF (325 CE). The
first of seven ecumenical councils in the
early Christian Church. Organized by
the Emperor Constantine, the Council of
Nicaea was an attempt to form a consen-
sus among all the churches on official
teachings. Between 250 and 318 bishops
attended.
The main topic was the relationship
between the Father and the Son (Jesus).
Arius argued that the Father and the
Son were one in purpose only, while
St. Alexander of Alexander and Athanasius
(who was only a deacon at the time)
argued that the Father and the Son were
one in purpose and in being. According
to Arius and his supporters, the Son was
a creation of, and thus subsequent to,
the Father. The homoousians (Gk, “same
essence”), represented by St. Alexander
of Alexander and Athanasius, on the
other hand, believed that the Father and
the Son were of the same substance
and were co-eternal. The Council ruled