Gnostics believe that only the Truth exists, and multiple existents are His manifestations and determinations. However, while accepting the principle of the oneness of being, the question is what the place of names is in the philosophical system of gnostics, and, if the
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Gnostics believe that only the Truth exists, and multiple existents are His manifestations and determinations. However, while accepting the principle of the oneness of being, the question is what the place of names is in the philosophical system of gnostics, and, if they exist, what the quality of their existence is, and, if they do not exist and are non-existent, what the meaning of their non-existence is. Divine names mediate between the emergence of the Truth at the levels of invisibility and visibility. In the first determination (the first invisibility level), they are identical with the essence of the Truth; however, in the second determination, they experience cognitive appearance, and the relationship between the names and archetypes appears at the second invisibility level. At the level of visibility, the names grant external existence to archetypes based on their potentials, and existential relation (external entities and names of acts) appears. Nevertheless, the names themselves – since they indicate the appearance of existence – lack independent external existence and, rather, enjoy existential existence and external appearance based on manifestations (one side of the relation). Whenever manifestations possess the least potential for receiving objective appearance, the names (the other side of the relation) appear as well, and if there is no potency, the names refer to their own source (level of invisibility). In fact, names lack objective existence and exist through their effects.
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