Page "Iamblichus" Paragraph 4

Only a fraction of Iamblichus ' books have survived.

For our knowledge of his system, we are indebted partly to the fragments of writings preserved by Stobaeus and others.

The notes of his successors, especially Proclus, as well as his five extant books and the sections of his great work on Pythagorean philosophy also reveal much of Iamblichus ' system.

Besides these, Proclus seems to have ascribed to him the authorship of the celebrated treatise Theurgia, or On the Egyptian Mysteries.

However, the differences between this book and Iamblichus ' other works in style and in some points of doctrine have led some to question whether Iamblichus was the actual author.

Still, the treatise certainly originated from his school, and in its systematic attempt to give a speculative justification of the polytheistic cult practices of the day, it marks a turning-point in the history of thought where Iamblichus stood.