The Demiurge in Ancient Thought

This book examines religious and 'scientific'/philosophical accounts of world-generation as represented by the figure of the Demiurge, or Craftsman-god.

1. Demiurgy and other approaches to world-generation; 2. Plato's Timaeus, the original concept of the Demiurge and the exegesis of the dialogue; 3. Logos into Demiurge: Philo of Alexandria as witness to developments in contemporary Platonism; 4. Plutarch and the Demiurge of Egyptian mythology; 5. A simplified understanding of God: Maximus of Tyre; 6. Numenius and his doctrine of three Gods; 7. On the fringes of philosophy: speculations in Hermetism; 8. The ignorant Demiurge: Valentinus and the Gnostics; 9. Origen, the Demiurge and Christian theology; 10. Plotinus and the demise of the Demiurge; 11. Concluding remarks.