Page 85 - STOLEN LEGACY By George G. M. James

(4) The purpose or end for which the organism is created (i.e., final cause). In other words,
matter, type, creation and purpose are the four principles which underlie all existing things. (B.
D. Alexander's History of Philosophy, p. 97–100; Aristotle, Meta. I, 3; Wm. Turner's History of
Philosophy, p. 136140. Alfred Weber's Hist. of Phil., p. 80–84).

III. Doctrines concerning the existence of God.

(1) Although motion is eternal, there cannot be an indefinite series of movers and the moved,
therefore there must be One, the first in the series which is unmoved (proton kinoun akineton)
i.e., The Unmoved Mover.

(2) The actual is antecedent to the potential for although last in appearance, is really first in
nature. Therefore before all matter and the composition of actual and potential, pure actuality
must have existed. Therefore actuality is the cause of all things that exist and since it is pure
actuality, its life is essentially free from all material conditions. It is the thought of thought, the
absolute spirit, who dwells in eternal peace and self enjoyment, who knows himself and the
absolute truth, and is in need of neither action nor virtue.

(3) God is one, for matter is the principle of plurality, and the First Intelligence is free from
material conditions. His life is contemplative thought: neither providence nor will is comparable
with the eternal repose in which He dwells. God is not concerned with the world.

IV. The doctrine of the origin of the world.

The world is eternal, because matter, motion and time are eternal.

V. The doctrine concerning Nature.

Nature is everything which has the principle of motion and rest. It is spontaneous and self
determining from within. Nature does nothing in vain, but according to definite law. It is always
striving for the best according to a plan of development, which is obstructed only by matter. The
striving of nature is through the less perfect to the more perfect.

VI. The doctrine concerning the Universe.

The world is globe shaped, circular and most perfect in form. The heaven, which is composed of
ether, stands in immediate contact with the First Cause. The stars, which are eternal come next in
order, the earth-ball is in the middle, and is the furthest from the prime mover, and least
participant of divinity.

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Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook