ABSTRACT
Oracles, ritual and philosophy were inextricably linked within late Neoplatonism. Indeed, oracles and other forms of inspired divination were central to theurgy, for they were considered to act as guides and sources of wisdom, insight and initiation at every stage of the theurgist's development. In Late Antiquity, pagan-Christian debates often focused on the nature and roles of oracles as a potential source of religious authority and validity significant role of divination in Neoplatonism and within theurgy. For Porphyry and Iamblichus, oracles have a soteriological function: they can aid the salvation of the soul at every stage of the soul's journey for those who use them in the appropriate manner. Oracles thus become a form of philosophical initiation and divine vision. The oracles contained within the work were viewed as symbols which, when read in an allegorical manner, could help the intelligent, pagan reader to understand the nature of the gods and the metaphysical structure underlying the cosmos.
