​Occidental Commonwealth

 

 

Monotheism emerges as a philosophical distortion:

“Interpreting "all in each" God as "all in one" God, it "pollutes divine uniqueness" by imposing otherness where none exists primordially.”

“In his *Life of Plotinus*, Porphyry reports that in Plotinus’ era there were “many Christians and others, and sectarians [αἱρετικοί] who had abandoned the old philosophy,” producing a flood of “treatises” and “revelations” (ἀποκαλύψεις) that deceived many by claiming Plato had failed to reach the depths of intelligible reality; Plotinus repeatedly attacked their views in lectures and devoted an entire treatise—titled by Porphyry *Against the Gnostics* (*Vita Plotini* 16.1–11)—to refuting them, a task so central that Porphyry and fellow student Amelius also wrote multiple works against them. In Plotinus’ day, so-called Gnostics and Christians were barely distinguishable, and no one could foresee any sect gaining hegemony, let alone one that, by capturing imperial power, would eradicate millennia-old cults; thus Plotinus opposed these sectarians not as a menace to the Pagan world but as a distortion of Platonism, since they appropriated Platonic elements and risked passing themselves off as Plato’s true heirs—indeed, modern scholarship shows these Gnostics were often colleagues in a shared Platonic interpretive community, pioneering ideas later taken up by Platonists, making any sharp Gnostic-Platonist divide untenable on specific doctrines. Yet from Plotinus’ explicit treatise we know his chief objection was that they “contract the divine into one” (II.9.9.36–7), i.e., embraced what would later be called monotheism, rendering his sustained engagement the earliest known intensive intellectual critique of monotheism.”​ ~ Edward P. Butler, PhD.

https://henadology.wordpress.com/philosophy/

 

​

 

Core Metaphysics: Polycentric Polytheism as Ontologically Prior

​

Gods as Absolute Individuals: In polytheism (e.g., Platonism, Vedic bhakti), divinity precedes all categories.

Each God is "a unique individual, a one as such," with total will and power, encountered via **theophany** (direct revelation).

"All the Gods are in each God," enabling harmonious cosmic order without conflict or division of labor.

Pantheon as Society, Not Class: Gods form a "society" via narrative bonds (myths, rituals), not logical unity.

Their number is finite but indeterminate (at least as many as classes of beings), culturally specific (e.g., Greek, Egyptian pantheons untranslatable).

 

       Aspect                            Polycentric Polytheism                                      Monotheism (Critiqued)                          

​

Divine Uniqueness           Positive: Pure "this one" (pre-relational).                  Negative: "Unlike all others" (categorical exclusion). 

Multiplicity                      Primordial; Gods co-present in each.                      Collated into "one kind" with single instance.      

Cosmos Relation.            Each God providentially contains *all* uniquely.       Singular creator sustains via mediation/emanation.  

Experience.                    Theophany of living individuals.                              Appropriates one, negates others.                   

 

**Monotheism emerges as a philosophical distortion**: Interpreting "all in each" God as "all in *one*" God, it "pollutes divine uniqueness" by imposing otherness where none exists primordially.

 

Origins: Not Evolution, But Negation

​

-No Historical "Rise" from Polytheism: Prof. Butler rejects evolutionary models (polytheism → henotheism → monotheism) as monotheistic polemics. Terms like "henotheism" or "monolatry" (e.g., Biblical Yahweh-worship amid other gods) artificially distance advanced polytheism from "primitive" forms.

-Founding Moment: Intellectual negation, not theophany. "Monotheism per se [is] atheism," as it negates all experiences not fitting its parameters—ultimately even its own devotees'.

-No Single Originator: Dismisses figures like Akhenaten (no lasting Egyptian influence). Biblical: Gradual shift from monolatry (e.g., Exodus) to exclusive monotheism. Philosophical roots in misreadings of Plato/Neoplatonism (e.g., Idea of Good as "God").

 

Propagation: Christian Hegemony

​

-Primary Propagators: “Christianity” (hard power: 529 CE edict closing Athens' Academy, silencing polytheistic Platonists; soft power: "monotheizing" philosophy). Later, missionaries/secular ideologies frame polytheisms as "degenerate" from "primordial monotheism" (e.g., Africa, China, India).

-“Mechanism”: “Weaponizes philosophy”—creates false tension (reason vs. piety), alienates polytheists from their traditions. E.g., Plato/Plotinus read as "proto-Christian."

 

Why? Control and Totalization

​

| Motive                                                 Explanation                                                                 

|

| Intellectual                                           Fails polytheism's "logic of unity/multiplicity"; simplifies to supreme being. 

| Political/Hegemonic                              Suppresses alterity; justifies conquest (polytheisms as "idolatry").         

| Existential                                            Negates rival experiences, creating monopoly on "truth" and devotion.        

| Endpoint: Atheism                                 Logic concludes in negation of *all* divinity.                              

 

Prof. Butler’s Call: Reclaim polytheistic philosophy (Occidental, Greek, Indian) to critique monotheism, ensuring polytheisms' survival amid shared threat.

 

Sources: Henadology (henadology.wordpress.com), *Essays on the Metaphysics of Polytheism*, *Polytheism in Greek Philosophy*, interviews/articles.