Ammonius Saccas was a theosophist and may be considered the first Neoplatonist. Among other things, he warned about the dangers of drawing too rigid a division between pagans and Christians. He was born in Alexandria and established the Neoplatonic School there in 193. He became the teacher of Clement, Origen, and
Plotinus. Although people spoke of him as
theodidaktos, or “god-taught,” he was a modest man who considered himself merely a
Philalethian, or lover of truth. His school aimed at universal brotherhood, a view of the essential unity of all religions, and making the study of philosophy a living power in people’s lives.
The philosophical system of Orpheus was revived in Egypt by Ammonius Saccas. The central idea of his Eclectic Theosophy was that of a single Supreme Essence, Unknown and Unknowable. The system was characterized by three distinct features: first, the theory of this Supreme Essence; second, the doctrine of the human soul, called an emanation of the Supreme Essence and therefore considered to be of the same nature; and third, theurgy, the art of using the divine powers of man to rule the blind forces of nature.