From the book
The Sophic Hydrolith, Water Stone of the Wise
Anonymous and companion authors · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordElection names divine choosing, while hiddenness names the restricted disclosure of the art or heavenly truth.
- In the Sophic HydrolithConclusion · unit 9 couples the contrast with claims of small expense, accessible matter and slight labour.
- In this editionThe English conclusion reproduces the emphatic 'most impossible', a rhetorical intensification beside 'hardest', rather than quietly turning it into a measured probability.
- A place to readThe art is simple for the devout chosen by God, hardest for the wicked.
Meaning
Election names divine choosing, while hiddenness names the restricted disclosure of the art or heavenly truth. In the main treatise these ideas intersect but do not always have the same object. Being chosen for knowledge of the art, belonging among the elect in a Christian account of suffering, and receiving a revelation hidden from the world are related claims that must be distinguished.
The terms also prevent skill and social resources from becoming sufficient explanations of attainment. The art is described as plain for the devout person chosen by God and supremely difficult for the wicked. That contrast expresses the author's theology of reception rather than an observable rule by which readers can judge another person's salvation or experimental ability.
Use in the book
Conclusion · unit 9 couples the contrast with claims of small expense, accessible matter and slight labour. The point is paradoxical: scarcity of knowledge is not explained by the intrinsic costliness of the material. The exclusions for ordinary sustenance and tending fire also qualify the cost claim. A statement about simplicity for the chosen must not be detached from the treatise's other distinctions concerning stages and skilled handling.
The prayer in Prayer · unit 2 directly addresses God as the one who hides the wondrous stone from the world and reveals it only to the elect. It asks for measured guidance, right understanding, steadfast continuation and a blessed completion. Revelation does not abolish the need for ongoing work. The prayer closes through Jesus Christ and the inseparable divine unity, placing the request within worship rather than presenting it as a demand on a neutral technique.
Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 51 uses election in a pastoral argument attributed to Augustine. Sharing Christ-like suffering can signify God's purpose to place a believer among the elect. Tribulation is read through the relation of head and members, with Peter, Paul and John as examples. That argument is not simply the claim that a laboratory success certifies election: its immediate object is Christian life and perseverance through affliction.
Places to read
- Conclusion · unit 9The art is simple for the devout chosen by God, hardest for the wicked.
- Prayer · unit 2The wondrous stone is hidden from the world and revealed only to the elect.
- Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 51The attributed Augustine passage takes similar persecution as God’s discipline and inclusion among the elect.
Translation
The English conclusion reproduces the emphatic 'most impossible', a rhetorical intensification beside 'hardest', rather than quietly turning it into a measured probability. The prayer's 'only' likewise restricts disclosure, not the range of all divine benevolence. The Augustine passage has an explicit quotation boundary; its voice should not be merged with the anonymous author's personal testimony elsewhere. These distinctions keep different uses of choosing from becoming one flattened doctrine of access.
Attested forms
erwehlten; Gottlosen; vnmüglichst; Welt verborgen; nur deinen Außerwölten offenbaren; Außerwehlten; züchtiget