Empedocles’ Sky, Sun, Earth and Sea

This book consists broadly of two parts. The first part contains a translation and commentary on Empedocles' 'On Nature'. This translation is preceded by an introduction to Greek thought. This will show, amongst other things, that Empedocles is primarily engaged in dialogue with Parmenides, whose ideas he further develops. For both thinkers, knowledge of nature ultimately serves the purpose of healing living beings. >Empedocles speaks of a single divine force with two faces, those of Love and Hate, symbolised by Aphrodite and Ares. Love blends the elements into life, and Hate separates the elements, so that they may rest purely within themselves, which leads to the death of the living mixture. Hate, death, therefore also plays a role in the growth of mixtures, living beings. Empedocles instructs his pupil in the knowledge of this force and the elements, with the aim that his pupil may master this force and, through it, the elements, thereby enabling him to fulfil the desires of embodied souls and even to bring the dead back to life. This, however, requires wisdom, for if power over the elements is misused, his pupil will swiftly lose that power. >The second part of this book explores thinking in terms of four-fold units in greater depth, presenting a section of 'The Tables of James' and the highest theology, which describes how that One becomes God, how the Immaculate Conception is possible, and how the dead can be brought back to life. In this respect, the first part serves as a backdrop against which part two and the whole of 'Magical Humanism' - the title of James Paul Roolvink's magnum opus - can be brought into sharper focus. This book has been translated from Dutch into English by the translation machine DeepL.