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PLATO.
the best and fairest work in nature. And therefore, using the language of probability, we may say that the world became a living soul, and truly rational, through the providence of God." It was created of four entire elements, blended together in geometrical proportion; and its form was a perfect and solid sphere, smooth and complete, and moving in a circle. In the centre was the soul (also compounded according to a scale of harmony), and circulating all impressions from the ideal essence through every part of this vast and visible animal, which included in itself all visible creation.
"When the Father and Creator saw the image that he had made of the eternal gods moving and living, he was delighted, and in his joy determined to make his work still more like the pattern; and as the pattern was an eternal creature, he sought to make the universe the same as far as it might be. Now the nature of the intelligible being is eternal, and to bestow eternity on the creature was wholly impossible. But he resolved to make a moving image of eternity, and as he set in order the heaven, he made this eternal image having a motion according to number, while eternity rested in unity; and this is what we call time. For there were no days and nights, and months and years, before the heaven was created, but when he created the heaven he created them also. All these are the parts of time, and the past and future are created species of time, which we unconsciously but wrongly transfer to the eternal essence for we say indeed that he was, he is, he will be; but the truth is that he is' alone truly expresses him, and that 'was' and 'will be' are only to be spoken in the generation in time, for they are motions; but that which is immovably the same cannot become older or younger by
