Early Greek Philosophers and The Primary Source
by slaveofone

What follows is a brief list of early Greek Philosophers and what they had to say on the nature of God that I compiled years ago.

Thales, 624-546 BC, there is a Primary Source

Concluded that despite the differences between various things, there is, nevertheless, a fundamental and foundational Thing behind everything and from which everything comes. The Thing is One, and out of this Single Thing, everything comes to be. He called this the One. (Unfortunately, he believed this One was material... water)

Anaximander, 580? BC, there is a Primary Source, it is indefinite and boundless

Agreed with Thales in seeing the reasoning and requirement for a Primary Source. He was convinced that the One from which the finite and bound comes to be, must be of its nature infinite and boundless.

Anaximenes, 585-528 BC, there is a Primary Source, it causes change and motion

Unable to fathom what an indefinite boundless might be, he decided to pick a more definite substance (air), on the basis that whatever it was, the One had to account for change and motion in things. Though he believed this meant that it too moved and changed, providing the movement and change for everything else, he understood that if there was an effect, there must also be a cause, and if this was true, something must ultimately be causing the entire system of cause and effect from which there is no other cause other than itself-something which began the change and motion that is exhibited since change and motion could not begin on its own.

Pythagoras, 525-500 BC, there is a Primary Source, it is ordered and constitutes order in the universe

First codified the foundational basis of science: that the world is governed by a permanent, structured, and ordered system. He called this system mathematics. Because he saw that all physical things had form, that all form was composed of matter, and that all forms were limited, he concluded that all matter was limited. (This presumably was the beginning of the understanding that the Primary Source could not be matter)

Heraclitus, 500 BC, there is a Primary Source, it makes or allows things to change, but itself is always

Heraclitus noticed that though all things are in flux and change, they remain relatively the same, so his version of the Primary Source was an Ever-living Fire. He thought that the most real thing of all is the soul. He said that the universe was ordered. He was a pantheist.

Parmenides, 500 BC, there is a Primary Source, it is impossible for anything to be without it, it must be objective

He said it is impossible that anything should come into being...out of non-being. There must be an absolute. Nothing can change from non-being to being or from being to non-being. For example: if something arises out of being, there is no coming-into-being, for if it arises out of being-it already is. Also, if something arises out of non-being, one assumes that non-being is something, for something cannot come from nothing unless that nothing is something. He also said that appearance cannot produce anything more than opinion, whereas reality is the basis of truth.

Zeno, reality cannot be understood by the senses, only by knowledge

He said that the senses give us no clue of reality, only an appearance. Reality can only be understood by sensing and understanding-or having knowledge. Therefore, if there must be a Primary Source, and this is the ultimate, objective reality, then for us to have any idea of this, we must have knowledge-or the ability to understand-because our senses only show us an appearance, not the true reality.

Empedocles, 490-430 BC, the Primary Source must exist, it must be eternal and changeless

Anaxagoras, 500-438 BC, the Primary Source is a mind with knowledge and power, it is impossible for order and intricate structure to exist without it

The world and everything in it are in a well-ordered and intricately structured requiring a Primary Source with knowledge and power. This rational principle he called the Mind. Nous (Mind) set in order all things that were to be and are now and that will be...