 Iamblichus’ programme of a scientific theology is based on newly developed terminology, of which we have already seen several examples. It also relies on new structures such as divine orders (diakosmoi, taxeis), a notion foreign to Plotinus. Their proliferation does not bother Iamblichus in the least, since centrifugal tendencies are curbed by constantly reasserting the fundamental unity of reality. This is provided for through the return of the same processes in a more or less absolute form (for instance, what exists in a unified manner in the universal Paradigm as a whole appears again in individual paradigms, yet only partially: see In Timaeum [D-1973: Fr. 43]). Recurring metaphysical laws serve the same purpose, as do schemes such as the regrouping of divine entities in accordance with meaningful numbers, e.g., triads, a structure that adequately accounts for uni-multiplicity in reality since it treats as one single process the succession of an immobile first state (monē), a dynamic procession (proodos) and a return or “conversion” to the first element (epistrophē; see In Timaeum [D-1973: Fr. 53]). Triads are thus a prime example of what modern commentators have named the “law of mean-terms”, i.e., the need for a tertium quid to provide a mediation between two levels. Continuity is thereby introduced in the picture, although the latter remains resolutely holistic. The whole stands in relation to its parts as a cause to its effect: in this sense, it may be said that Iamblichus created and almost deified the Neoplatonic system as a unified and coherent account of reality, avoiding any recourse to dualism.