Part Nine - The Nine Subjects
1. Because everything that exists is implicitly contained in nine subjects outside of which there is nothing, we want to include them in this art to make the art general through them, since they are general to all things. Now by combining the said subjects with the sequence of principles and rules we can get to know these subjects. And if any doubt arises about anything regarding these subjects, the question can be applied to its subject as we will explain further on, as exemplified in the treatise on application. And first let us deal with the first subject, or God signified by B.Section 1 - The First Subject
2. This subject is divided in two main parts. In the first part, God is discussed in combination with the sequence of principles. In the second part, God is discussed in combination with the sequence of rules. And the first part is divided into five parts.
The first deals with investigating the divine dignities or reasons.
The second deals with their intrinsic and consubstantial acts.
The third deals with the infinity of the dignities.
The fourth deals with the infinity of their acts.
The fifth part deals with God discussed in combination with the principles.
The second main part is divided into ten rules, as shown.Now let us begin with the first part.
Chapter 1 - Investigating the Divine Dignities
3. First we suppose that God exists, and we will prove this in the second main part of the said division, chapter 4 article 1.God exists, and His existence is good; now His existence cannot be good without goodness just as colored things cannot be colored without color: therefore His goodness must exist for His existence to be good.
God exists, and His existence is great, for if it were not great, He would not qualify as God; hence it follows that divine greatness is a real being.
God exists, and His existence is eternal; otherwise, if He had an inception, He would not qualify as God; therefore, eternity exists, without which there can be no eternal being.
God exists, and since He exists, He has the power to exist; therefore power exists, without which God cannot exist.
God exists, and He knows Himself; otherwise His being could not qualify as God; therefore divine wisdom exists, without which God cannot know Himself.
God exists, and He loves Himself; otherwise He would not qualify as God; therefore, divine love exists, without which God cannot love Himself.
God exists, and His being is virtuous; otherwise God would be vicious and his being would not qualify as God; therefore virtue exists, without which God cannot be virtuous.
God exists, and so His existence is true; otherwise, if He were false, He would not qualify as God; therefore divine truth exists, without which God cannot be true.
God exists, and His existence is glorious, because if it were not, He would not qualify as God; therefore divine glory exists, without which God cannot be glorious.
4. We have proved that the divine dignities really exist, as without them, God cannot be God; and thus they can be numbered, each existing in its own numerical identity. And this is because God would not exist if they did not have each its own numerical existence. Therefore, for God to exist, in Him there must be several real reasons or dignities. However, in essence they are not different as they are all one and the same divine essence so that each one is essentially each of the others, otherwise goodness would be great by accident and vice versa, and the same can be said about the other dignities. And here the human intellect recognizes that God, inasmuch as He considers His essence as One, does not consider several reasons; but inasmuch as He considers that He cannot exist without several reasons, He really enumerates them. Just like man, when considering himself as one, does not consider himself as several beings; but inasmuch as he considers that he cannot exist without several reasons, he really enumerates them and recognizes that he is comprised of many things.
5. We have inquired into the divine dignities and found that in God they are coessential and substantial from eternity and in eternity. The final purpose of their existence is found in themselves and not outside, for otherwise they, as well as God, would exist by accident, which is impossible. And this argues against certain Saracens who believe that they have an elevated and subtle knowledge of God when they say that God is One and as such has no dignities in Himself, but only has them for the purpose of acting in creatures; in other words, He is good in order to create good creatures, and great in order to create great creatures, eternal so that creatures can last etc. And here it is clearly obvious that their statements involve a contradiction, because if things were as they say, then if God were infinite by reason of His dignities, He would create infinite and eternal creatures, which He does not do, for as they themselves say, the world is new and limited in size. They imply a further contradiction when they call God the prime cause, because He would not be the prime cause if His reasons were only meant for the world, and thus God would exist with His dignities only so the world can exist, which is a totally absurd thing to say.
Chapter 2 - The Intrinsic Acts of the Divine Reasons
6. It is said that a power is useless if it is not brought into actuality. And it is also said that powers are known through their ats, and acts are known through their objects. This means that the divine dignities have acts, for without acts they would be infinitely and eternally useless, and God would neither know His dignities, nor would God objectify Himself; thus it would follow that God would not exist by reason of His dignities. This is false, as was proved in the previous chapter.7. Further, if divine goodness and the rest of the dignities had no acts, they would be idle, empty and void of any kind of final purpose, which is impossible and contrary to rule E as well as the second species of rule C. Therefore, the divine dignities have their own intrinsic, coessential and natural acts.
8. Further: if the dignities did not have coessential acts, each one would be a privative act; now just as blindness is a privative act because it does not have the act of seeing, likewise, divine goodness would be a privative act if it did not have its own intrinsic, coessential act of bonifying; and likewise with greatness if it had no magnifying act, or eternity without eternalizing, power without powering, wisdom without knowing, will without willing, virtue without virtuifying, truth without verifying, or glory without glorifying, and God would not qualify as God if He had privative coessential habits, which is impossible: therefore, the divine dignities have their own real, intrinsic and coessential acts.
9. In addition, we argue as follows: all perfect goodness has an act; but divine goodness is perfect, therefore it has an act. Further: no goodness is perfect without an act; but divine goodness is perfect, therefore it is not perfect without an act; and the same can be said about divine greatness and eternity; therefore we conclude, through affirmation and negation, that the divine dignities have their own intrinsic and coessential acts.
Chapter 3 - The Infinity of the Divine Reasons
10. Divine goodness is a reason for good to produce good. And it was already proved in chapter 2 that it has its act of bonifying; hence, as greatness is a being by reason of which goodness is great, goodness is also a reason for good to greatly produce great good; and as eternity is a reason for goodness and greatness to last eternally, so goodness is a reason for good to produce great and eternal good; but goodness cannot be such a reason unless it is infinite and boundless: therefore, infinite goodness must necessarily exist.11. Divine greatness exists (as proved in the first chapter) and has its act of magnifying; and since eternity is a being by reason of which greatness endures; and as power is that by reason of which greatness can exist and act; consequently, there exists an infinite and boundless subject through which the act of magnifying can spread from eternity through eternity, and we call this subject "infinite greatness".
12. Eternity is a measurement that exists at one and the same time, it has nothing before it and nothing after it, and its subject is eternal from eternity and in eternity, and thus, eternity is an infinite reason. And this is a good and great thing that can exist through power.
13. Power exists (as was proved in chapter 1) and has its act of powering, and power can exist and act infinitely; therefore it necessarily follows that infinite power exists; for without power, eternity can have neither an infinite act nor an infinite essence.
14. Divine wisdom or intellect exists, as proved above in chapter 1; and eternity is that by reason of which wisdom lasts, and through power it can exist and act, and power can spread immensely through greatness, and the infinity of intellect is good by reason of goodness, and lovable by reason of the will; because of this, the existence of the intellect's infinity is so necessary that it cannot be otherwise.
15. Divine will exists, and so does its act, as was proved above in chapters 1 and 2; and if it is infinite from eternity and in eternity, it is infinitely intelligible; but if it is finite, it is not infinitely intelligible, so that consequently the divine intellect is neither lovable nor loved from eternity and in eternity. And this would eliminate the definitions of goodness, greatness etc., which is impossible; therefore it has been proved that divine will is infinite.
16. Divine virtue exists, and so does its act, as was proved above in chapters 1 and 2. And so, if it is infinite, it is good; but if it is not infinite, then it is vitiated on account of some vice impeding it from being infinite, and consequently all the other reasons are vitiated, as they allow virtue to be finite while they themselves are infinite. And because a finite being cannot extend itself as much as an infinite one, it is patently clear that the other divine dignities would be partly vitiated and partly not, which is utterly impossible; therefore, divine virtue is infinite.
17. Divine truth exists, and so does its act, as was proved above in chapters 1 and 2; since it is true that goodness, greatness etc. are really infinite reasons, then truth must necessarily be infinite, otherwise, the infinity of the other reasons would not be true, as it would have no way to be true.
18. Divine glory exists, and so does its act, as was proved above in chapters 1 and 2; but the essence of this glory is either finite or infinite, or partly finite and partly infinite; if it is absolutely infinite, it is good, and there is no inconvenience to itself or to the other dignities; however, if it were partly finite and partly infinite, this would entail the utmost inconvenience, for none of the other dignities would have an infinite subject of glory and repose, so that the finiteness of glory would be a privative habit through which the other dignities would be in pain, which is utterly impossible. Therefore it necessarily follows that divine glory is infinite.
Chapter 4 - The Infinity of the Acts of the Divine Reasons
19. Divine goodness is a reason for good to produce good. And since goodness is great by reason of greatness, eternal by reason of eternity, and can exist and act through power, and is understood by the intellect and loved by the will, and is virtuous by reason of virtue, true by reason of truth and glorious by reason of glory, it necessarily follows that the act of goodness, or bonifying, is infinite just as goodness, as well as all the other divine reasons or dignities are infinite.20. God's greatness is infinite and has an act, as said above in chapters 1 and 2. And therefore its act of magnifying is either infinite or finite: if it is infinite, it is good, but if not, then ti is like a tree in which the elementative is more extended than the vegetative because there are sometimes dry branches at the extremities of a tree where the vegetative power is absent and only the elementative power is present; the same would happen to infinite greatness if its act were finite and not infinite, which is evil against good and smallness against greatness; and consequently magnifying and eternalizing could not convert, all the acts of the other divine dignities would be absent from the act of greatness and the act of greatness would be absent from them, which would make them small. Hence it would follow that the infinity of essence would repose in the finiteness of its act, far removed from an infinite act, and contrary to its nature; and it would have more repose in a small act than in a great one, which is dissonant with reason and contrary to the infinity of the act of bonifying, whose existence was proved in the previous number. We therefore conclude that divine magnifying is infinite.
21. Eternalizing exists, as proved above in chapter 2, and so do infinity and eternity. Now the act of eternity, namely eternalizing, is either finite or infinite; if it is infinite, it is good and there is no inconvenience. But if it were finite, then there would be great inconvenience because eternalizing would be limited by time and consequently eternity would be subject to time from eternity and in eternity, which is utterly impossible and contrary to the infinity of the divine dignities that we dealt with in the previous chapter; we therefore conclude that eternalizing is an infinite act.
22. Powering is the act of power, as proved in chapter 2; but powering is either infinite or finite: if it is infinite, it is good, because just as finite powering convenes with finite power, so does infinite powering convene with infinite power whose existence was proved above in chapter 1. But if it is finite, there is inconvenience as created powering would be consistent with infinite power, so that divine power and created power would degenerate and deviate from its nature; further, bonifying, magnifying and eternalizing could not be infinite acts because no one can give what he does not have; and this would entail a contradiction where the acts of bonifying, magnifying and eternalizing that are infinite as proved in numbers 1, 2 and 3, could not be infinite. And as this is an untenable contradiction, we therefore conclude that divine powering is an infinite act.
23. Divine understanding is either infinite or finite: if it is infinite, it is good; but if it is finite, there is great inconvenience whereby the infinite essence of intellect would not be understood and would thus be partly subject to ignorance, a privative habit with which the infinity of the acts of the divine reasons is ignored, which is evil against good and smallness against greatness. We therefore conclude that divine understanding is an infinite act.
24. Divine loving, or willing, is either infinite or finite: if it is infinite, it is good; but if it is finite, then the infinity of the divine reasons and of their acts would not be infinitely lovable nor loved, so that the intellect's infinity and that of its act would not be infinitely lovable, and same can be said about the infinity of goodness, etc. which is impossible. We therefore conclude that divine loving is infinite.
25. The act of divine virtue is either infinite or finite in the essence and numerical identity of virtue: if it is infinite, it is good; but if it is finite, it follows that it is infinite in the essence and numerical identity of the other dignities (because they are infinitely virtuous) and not in its own identity, which is utterly impossible.
26. The act of divine truth is either infinite or finite in the essence and numerical identity of truth: if it is infinite, it is good; but if it is finite, it follows that it is infinite in the essence and numerical identity of the other dignities (because they are infinitely true) and not in its own identity, which is utterly impossible.
27. The act of divine glory is either infinite or finite in the essence and numerical identity of glory: if it is infinite, it is good; but if it is finite, it follows that it is infinite in the essence and numerical identity of the other dignities (because they are infinitely glorious) and not in its own identity, which is entirely absurd and impossible, as no act can be greater in anything else than in itself.
Chapter 5 - God in Combination with the Principles
28. In this chapter we will deal with God in combination with the principles in two modes. The first mode is intrinsic and deals with His essence; the second mode is extrinsic and deals with His enjoyable relations with creatures. And we will deal with God in these two ways in each article. And so, in this way, with God's help, the human intellect can learn about God's essence, its intrinsic operations, as well as the way He relates to creatures.Article 1 - God in Combination with Goodness
29. God is good, and He is His own goodness; hence it follows that goodness is a reason for Him to produce good necessarily. This is because goodness and God convert in natural unity. And this is shown by the definition of goodness. Now just as the vegetative power in a plant is a reason for it to necessarily produce vegetated being with its conditions for vegetating, so God in His intrinsic goodness has His conditions for producing bonified being; therefore God produces intrinsic bonified being, and He does this with His infinite bonifying throughout the entirety of His infinite goodness.30. As God knows that He is good in producing bonified being, He considers that it is good to produce created good that can understand, love, remember and praise His intrinsic bonification, and so that God can bonify these powers when they objectify Him well. And for this purpose He created the powers of intellect, will and memory in angels and in rational souls along with all their respective conditions so that they can perfectly enjoy God and acquire good merit. And here the human intellect recognizes the prime intention that God had in creating good creatures.
Article 2 - God in Combination with Greatness
31. God is great, and He is His own infinite greatness with which He has infinite magnified being, and without which He can have neither infinite greatness nor its infinite act. And since greatness is that by reason of which goodness and eternity are great, these dignities with their acts concur in producing infinite magnified being that is bonified, eternalized etc. so that each dignity has its infinite act in infinite magnified being.32. As God knows that He is great and infinite in existence and action, He knows that He is well ordered and disposed to create great created being, even to the extent that He would produce infinite created being, if created being had the capacity to receive infinite greatness; just as fire, given a sufficient quantity of logs, would magnify and increase its flames all the way up to the lunar sphere. And thus God created great created beings like heaven, angels, rational souls as well as all other creatures that are habituated with greatness. And here the human intellect recognizes one great created being who is greater than all creatures; I do not propose to explain or demonstrate this here, for this is a general art, as we already said.
Article 3 - God in Combination with Eternity
33. God is eternal, and He is His own eternity. And thus God must necessarily produce eternalized being without which eternity would neither be infinite nor have an infinite act. And all the dignities with their acts concur in this so that eternalized being is infinitely magnified etc. and so that these dignities exist in actuality with their acts in eternalized infinite being. And the human intellect is in great admiration before this sublime production.34. As God thus considers His eternalizing, He understands that He is personally disposed and ordered for producing the world from eternity and in eternity, but He cannot create it from eternity, because the world is deficient since its inception makes it finite, like heaven that does not exist from eternity just as it is not infinite and boundless in size, as its body is habituated with quantity, surface, shape and motion; nonetheless it can be eternal in the aevum so that angels and humans can know, love, remember and praise God's divine production.
Article 4 - God in Combination with Power
35. God is powerful, and He is His own power.and so God necessarily produces an infinite empowered being so that His power can be infinite and have an infinite act. And as it is through power that divine goodness, greatness etc. can exist and act infinitely, so all the other dignities with their acts concur in producing an empowered being so that the empowered being is bonified, magnified etc.36. And as God knows that He is powerful in existence and action, He knows that He is disposed and ordered for producing created power that is neither infinite nor eternal; now God knows that He has absolute and ordered intrinsic power, but that His extrinsic power is only ordered, because God does not produce creatures from His own nature, but as an effect, like a real man making a painting on a wall of a man who does not belong to his own nature. And thus the human intellect knows what God intended when He made created powers; namely, that creatures could use these powers to understand, love, remember and praise God. And so the human intellect knows that the infinite, intrinsic empowered being is the cause of all finite and extrinsic empowered beings.
Article 5 - God in Combination with Wisdom
37. God is wise, and He is intellect, and God is His own wisdom. And by reason of this wisdom the wise One understands that He must necessarily produce an understood being in the infinity of His wisdom with infinite understanding throughout the entire infinite essence of His intellect; just as fire, with its natural appetite, must necessarily produce ignited being by igniting it throughout its entire essence. Thus, all the divine reasons concur in producing an infinite understood being in an act of production where every dignity naturally has its infinite act.38. As God thus knows Himself, He knows that it is worthy and just that there be created intellect to know and honor His infinite intellect, and so He created intellect in angels and men. But the human intellect wonders, given that it was created for understanding the supreme intellect, why does created intellect ignore it? But then it recognize that sin is the cause that made evil angels and sinners deviate from the purpose for which they exist.
Article 6 - God in Combination with Will
39. God is willing, and He is His own will. Therefore He knows that with His infinite willing he must necessarily produce an infinite desired or beloved being throughout the entire infinite essence of His will, and thus He produces in keeping with what He knows and wants. And as all the other dignities are lovable, so they concur with their acts in producing an infinite desired being so that every dignity can have an infinite act in the desired being that is bonified, magnified etc.40. As God thus knows and loves Himself, He goes on to make created will so that His desired being be understood, loved, remembered and praised by it above everything else; and so that the infinite desired being can love created will in eternity by rewarding it and giving it glory. And here the intellect knows the origin of God's justice; for just as God knows that He is disposed and ordered to create, so also does He know that He is ordered for justifying and rewarding. And it also knows this about divine mercy, with which God knows that He is disposed to forgive, inasmuch as the sinner has remorse for his sin and promises to do what he can to make reparation.
Article 7 - God in Combination with Virtue
41. God is virtuous, and He is His own virtue and its coessential, natural acts. And so, just as He loves the fact that He must necessarily produce an infinite beloved, so does He also know and love the fact that He must necessarily produce an infinitely virtuous being. And all the dignities with their acts concur in this, so that they are all virtuous with infinite virtue, and cannot possibly be otherwise.42. As God thus loves and knows Himself intrinsically, He has the inclination to go on and to love and know that He is ordered and disposed to create natural virtues to stand as signs and figures of infinite, eternal etc. virtue; and through these created virtues, the infinite, eternal etc. virtue is known, loved, remembered and praised. Further, He goes on to create moral virtues (that we will deal with further on, in the ninth subject) because they are paths to paradise, and so that God can reward men through them with His virtuous glory.
43. And as the intellect considers these things, it wonders why in this life are not more morally virtuous than vicious, given that the virtues originate in supreme virtue, which is not the case for the vices? Then it recognizes that this is because men have the free will to do either good or evil, and are more inclined to heed their sensitive powers and love them more than their power of reasoning.
44. The intellect then asks: why does God permit this to happen, given that He is virtuous and spiritual, not sensual? Then the intellect recognizes that this is so, in order to provide God's justice with subjects in which it can act. Now we must know that the free will inclines toward two diverse parts: namely the created good part with which it does good, and the increate evil part with which it does evil and commits sins; and this increate part accidentally comes from the increate nothingness; because man, inasmuch as he was made from nothing, is inclined to return to nothingness which is contrary to being; and here we see that the free will partly convenes with being and partly with non being, or nothingness, which is the same, and both inclinations are equal.
45. Now the intellect asks: given that God knows that man will sin, why did He create man? And it realizes that God endowed man with free will, whereby man can refrain from sin and hate sin if he wants to. Now if God did not create man, He would do wrong to His own justice, by not providing it with a subject in which to act.
Article 8 - God in Combination with Truth
46. God is true, and He is His own truth; and thus He truly loves and knows the fact that He must necessarily produce an infinite verified being through His entire essence; and He produces this being through it so that His infinite verifying can have sufficiency from eternity and in eternity, and so that the other dignities can have infinite and eternal acts through this verified being.47. As God thus loves and knows that he must necessarily produce infinite true being, so does He also love and know that He can truly create natural as well as moral created truth so that the infinite verified being can be understood, loved, remembered and praised by it. But now the intellect wonders and asks: where does mendacity arise from? And then it realizes that it arises from the nothingness from which man was created, like a falling stone that has an appetite to gravitate toward the earth's center.
Article 9 - God in Combination with Glory
48. God is glorious, and He is His own glory, and thus He knows and loves the fact that He must necessarily produce an infinite glorified being produced from infinite glory. Now it cannot be produced from any other essence, for all the other essences are finite and new. Nor can it be produced from nothingness, because that would make it finite and new, which is impossible. And all the other dignities with their acts concur in this infinite glorified being, so that they can have their glorious acts in it.49. As God thus knows and loves the fact that He must necessarily produce an intrinsic infinite glorified being, He then knows and loves the fact that it is glorious to create extrinsic glorified being placed in aeviternity and by which the supreme and infinite glorified being is understood, loved, remembered and praised as the infinite glorified being gives it glory. But here the intellect wonders and asks why God did not dispose all men to understand and remember Him and receive glory from Him? And it remembers the chapter on justice that deals with free will: now if men were unable to sin, then they would not be able to love very much, for great is the love of those who could refrain from loving, or choose either to love or not to love. And if there were no punishment, glory would not be as well known, because an opposite is known through its counterpart.
Article 10 - God in Combination with Difference
50. The human intellect remembers the scale of difference in the second figure, and finds that the difference that exists in God is neither between sensual and sensual nor between sensual and intellectual because it is not corporeal; but that it is difference between intellectual and intellectual beings that exist in one and the same essence. And here we realize the meaning of what was said about the principles of the first figure in the previous chapters, for without difference or distinctness, the divine dignities or reasons cannot have infinite acts. And this is clearly seen in goodness, now without difference between the bonifier and the bonified, the bonifying act of goodness cannot possibly exist; just as acting cannot exist without difference between the actor and the acted, so also bonifying cannot exist without the said correlatives.51. Here the intellect asks: does the said difference posit many essences in God? And it considers the matter and recognizes that it does not; just as there are not several goodnesses in God. And this is because the bonifier, who is goodness in its entirety, produces in itself the entire infinite and eternal bonified being, so that bonifying and eternalizing are produced from the entirety of both. And here the intellect realizes that there is clear difference without confusion in this infinite goodness, as it posits that the bonifier is one number, distinct from the bonified and bonifying; and the bonified is another being distinct from the bonifier and bonifying, and likewise, bonifying is another being distinct from the two others, each one exists in its own numerical identity while all three nonetheless exist as one identical essence; otherwise, the difference among them would be confused, which would make eternity deficient and thus, none of the three said correlatives would keep its own number, which is impossible. Further, divine intellect would be deficient as it would not know the different roles of the bonifier, the bonified and bonifying. And a deficiency in these two dignities would incur deficiencies in all the other dignities and their acts, which would make them into privative habits, and this is impossible. However, we must rightly understand that this difference is not above the said dignities, nor is it above the said correlatives, namely the bonifier, the bonified and bonifying, but it is an essentially and equally identical reason with them as it differentiates just like goodness bonifies, greatness magnifies etc.
52. As God knows that in Himself He has he said difference whereby His reasons are clear and able to have infinite acts, He also knows that it is good to create differences with which many creatures can exist, who can understand, remember, love and praise His reasons. And here the intellect knows what causes the existence of a multitude of things that are different in genus, species and individuality.
53. Further, the intellect asks whether the difference between God and man is real, or merely intentional and conceived by the rational soul. And it knows that God and creatures are really different through the coessential and natural difference intrinsic to God, and the natural and coessential difference intrinsic to creatures; for without these differences, they would not be really different, but only through intentional difference conceived by the rational soul, which is utterly impossible: therefore it is obvious that they differ through differences that are real and not intentional.
Article 11 - God in Combination with Concordance
54. God is concordant, and He is His own concordance whereby His dignities concord in unity and plurality, as His goodness in bonifying, His greatness magnifying, His eternity in eternalizing, etc. all concord in identity of essence that is one nature and one Godhead; and they concord in plurality because there are several reasons: the bonifier, magnifier, eternalizer are one number, the bonified, magnified, eternalized etc. are another number and bonifying, magnifying and eternalizing are another number. And all these are related and refer to one absolute being, namely God.55. As God thus considers Himself by reason of difference and concordance, He creates one world by reason of His unity, and by reason of His plurality He creates a variety of things that comprise the numerous signifiers that constitute one world as shown in the ladder of concordance; and He creates one substance made of form and matter, and He creates on man made of body and soul, and He creates the conjunction between them, and He creates one intellect with its correlatives similar to one syllogism made of two propositions and one conclusion; and likewise with other similar things: and He does this to reflect and show His concordance and so that He can be praised and served.
Article 12 - God in Combination with Contrariety
56. God opposes, but He is not contrariety, now He opposes sin by giving penance to sinners, but He causes contrarieties as an effect, as shown in the ladder of contrariety. God Himself is not contrariety, rather, He is infinite concordance that has an infinite and eternal act.57. Here the intellect wonders: given that God is infinite concordance, why does He then allow contrariety to exist? And to this we answer that there is contrariety between God and the sinner so that God's justice can exercise its act in the sinner: now just as a mirror is disposed to receive all the figures reflected in it, so is God disposed to torment sinners. Further, if God did not create natural contrarieties, the world would not be what it is.
58. Again, the intellect wonders: given that there is infinite willingness in God's will, why then does God not want certain things? And to understand this, the intellect gets help from the example given above: now just as a mirror receives the likenesses of black and white, so also does God love virtuous men by willing and hate sinners by not willing.
Article 13 - God in Combination with Principle
59. God initiates, and He is His own origin: for instance, in His goodness, God initiates but is not initiated, He is the bonifier who has nothing else existing before Him. And He is an initiated initiator in the bonified that proceeds from the bonifier. And He is initiated but does not initiate in His coessential bonifying that does not initiate anything in the nature of His goodness, but is only initiated by the initiator and the initiated, just as loving is initiated by the lover and the beloved.60. And as God considers Himself to be such a perfect principle, He goes on to create the world from nothingness, and in such a way that individuals generate other individuals, like one man begets another man, one plant another plant similar to itself, and they do this through substantial and natural initiating. And He also creates another principle, like the knower who objectively causes knowledge, and the knower together with knowledge accidentally cause the act of knowing so that the intellect can acquire science. And the same can be said about the will as it clothes itself with the habit of love.
Article 14 - God in Combination with Medium
61. In God there is a medium, like the bonifying in His goodness, the magnifying in His greatness etc. and because He is infinite, He is His own medium with which He measures Himself inasmuch as He is just as infinite in His intrinsic action as in His existence. In this mediating, the mediator and the mediated join together so that they are one continuous and absolute medium.62. As God thus knows that He is a medium, He goes on to the causes caused by Himself, as shown in the definition of medium as well as in the ladder of medium proposed in the second figure, like acting that is a medium existing between the actor and the acted, and like loving between the lover and the beloved.
Article 15 - God in Combination with the End
63. God is His own end, and He is not a privative end. But in this end there are many termini, like in His goodness where the bonifier is one terminus, the bonified is another and bonifying is another terminus, and all three repose in one goodness.64. As God thus knows Himself with respect to the end, He goes on to create many ends in the world, like the habit of goodness, which is one moral end with which the bonifier habituates itself as it produces the bonified as another end, and the same thing can be said about bonifying in its own way; and all three termini repose in one goodness which is their end. But when man inclines toward sin, the habit of goodness is deprived, and so are its termini, so that man deviates from his end, and for this reason, he declines into aeviternal toil.
Article 16 - God in Combination with Majority
65. God is greater than the world and whatever the world contains, for His reasons are infinite and have infinite acts. And because He is greater than the world in goodness, greatness, His majority exists before the world's existence. And just as God with His substance is greater than the world, so also with His eternity He is greater than the world which exists in newness. Also, as divine substance is greater than accident, so does divine substance exist before the world's accidents. And here the intellect knows that it is impossible for the world to exist eternally.66. As God knows His majority, He goes on to create majorities whereby His majority, as signified in the ladder of the second figure, is known and loved.
Article 17 - God in Combination with Equality
67. In God there is equality, as seen in His coessential goodness etc. where the bonifier has two substantial actions because it bonifies the bonified and the bonifying; the bonified has one passion from the bonifier and one action whereby it bonifies the bonifying, and bonifying has the two passions just described. And as divine goodness is infinite and has an infinite act, as already proved above, so divine equality is infinite and removed from all accidents, as no accident can exists in an infinite being.68. As God thus considers His equality, He goes on to create finite substantial equality as well as accidental equality. He creates substantial equality so that infinite equality can be known through its likeness. And He also creates accidental equality so that infinite equality can be known through its unlikeness, as opposites are known through their counterparts.
Article 18 - God in Combination with Minority
69. In God there is no minority, because He is infinite and eternal majority, otherwise, an opposite would be identical to its counterpart, which is impossible. And thus, God operates by majorifying and not by minorifying. But as the world cannot exist at all without minorities, God is disposed to create minorities in the world, so that through finite minorities, His infinite majority can be known, as opposites are known through their counterparts. Hence, the intellect knows the God is absolutely major by reason of eternity, whereas the world is minor, by reason of minority and newness.70. God knows that He is more disposed to create majority than to create minority, and so He creates minorities to serve majorities, like the human body which is meant to serve the soul, and all corporeal things are meant to serve the human body, and leaves and flowers are meant to produce fruit, and likewise with other secondary intentions that are subject to primary intentions.
71. We have investigated God with the said explicit principles in order to get to know Him, and as we gave examples with explicit principles, this can also be done with implied principles by following the mode we followed.
Chapter 6 - God in Combination with the Rules
Article 1 - God in Combination with Rule B
72. We ask: does God exist? To investigate and prove God's existence, we want to follow the mode of the art, namely to mix the principles with the rules and to make eternity the subject that will be applied to the other principles. And first let us prove the existence of God with eternity, and then with eternity applied to the other principles as will be shown in the process.Eternity exists, for if it did not exist, the world would give rise to itself and thus it would exist before existing, which is impossible, for no being can give rise to itself; therefore eternity exists, and consequently, so does its concrete, namely eternal being, as no essence can exist without its concrete, or vice versa.
73. Infinite duration exists, and its infinity is good; hence it follows that goodness is a reason for eternal being to do good from eternity and in eternity throughout its infinite and good duration; therefore there is an infinitely good being whose goodness is a reason for it to do good infinitely and eternally. And this is the being whom we call God; therefore it is obvious by the above that God exists. And the human intellect following the mode of this art cannot deny this fact.
74. Eternity exists, as already proved above; and it is as immensely and infinitely great in greatness as its greatness is infinite in duration or eternity. And this eternal being that exists as the subject of the said eternity and greatness is the One we call God, Who necessarily exists by reason of the above; now infinite end eternal being exists so necessarily that it cannot be otherwise.
75. Eternity exists, as proved above, and because it exists, infinite power exists without which eternity cannot be infinite, for power is the reason why eternity can exist and act infinitely. And the subject of the said eternity is the One we call God.
76. Eternity exists, and its infinite being is intelligible, so it follows that some eternal being is alive, or has life, without which it cannot be eternally intelligible. And this eternal and infinite being is the One we call God.
77. Eternity is infinite duration, and it is lovable; so it follows that eternal being has life, without which it cannot be loved from eternity and in eternity. And this eternal and beloved being is the One we call God.
78. Eternity is infinite, and thus it is virtuous, because without infinite virtue it cannot be virtuous at all. Hence it follows that first: its virtue is infinite so that no vice can be pre existent to it. Secondly, it follows that eternity has an act, namely eternalizing, in which all the principles of the first figure have eternal acts, for instance, goodness has its act of bonifying, eternity has its act of infinitizing or eternalizing, power has its act of powering, etc. otherwise, this virtue would be idle and virtuous, which is impossible. And this eternal and virtuous being is the One we call God.
79. Eternity exists, and as it is infinite, so there is an infinite and glorious being, and also infinite glory without which no eternal, glorious and infinite being can exist in any way. And in this being, eternalizing and glorifying exist in the end, for without them, eternal being would be in eternal pain, which is false and impossible. And this being in Whom eternalizing and glorifying proceed, is the One we call God.
80. Eternity exists, its intrinsic coessential reasons are clear without confusion and its concrete is eternal being that is good in goodness, great in greatness, powerful in power etc. These reasons are not different in existence, but only in action; now this eternal being's intrinsic goodness, greatness etc. are one identical essence so that eternity is good, great etc, per se and not by accident; and the reasons for action are clear because eternity is a reason for eternal being to produce eternal being, and for greatness to produce great being etc. and thus, eternalized being is produced by reason of eternity. Hence it necessarily follows that in eternity's essence there is a good, great and productive eternalizer, distinct from the good, great and eternalized product, and that both are distinct from eternalizing, bonifying and magnifying while existing as one essence through coessential relation, for otherwise, the relations would be confused. And this eternal, absolute being is the One we call God.
81. Eternity exists, and consequently eternal being exists, and this eternal being's intrinsic coessential reasons concord in unity and plurality; now just as eternity is infinite duration, so its goodness is infinite bonification, its greatness is infinite magnification, its power is eternal powering, its intellect is infinite intellection, its will is infinite volition etc. and all are one good, great etc. being and this being has an infinite act of bonifying through goodness, magnifying through greatness etc. And this the being we call God.
82. Eternity exists, and consequently eternal being exists. And because eternity is infinite, it follows that eternal being is infinite, and as this being is good, no finite being can contradict eternal and infinite being or prevent it from doing what is eternally good, great etc. nor can this eternal being contradict itself in any way, given that its coessential reasons are infinite and have infinite acts. And this the being we call God.
83. Eternity exists, and time exists; but eternity is infinite duration, whereas time cannot be infinite duration, and this is because time cannot be without motion, on the other hand, eternity is without any motion. Hence it follows that eternity is a primordial and ultimate principle, absolutely preexistent to time. And this being Who exists as the prime and ultimate principle is the One we call God.
84. Eternity exists, and since it is an absolutely infinite essence, it then follows that in it there is an act of eternalizing that is the medium between the eternalizer and the eternalized; otherwise, eternity would be infinite in existence but finite in action, and by reason of this, its infinity would be absolutely destroyed, which is impossible. And this eternity in which there is essential eternalizing is the being we call God.
85. Eternity exists, and as it is infinite in existence, so is it infinity in action, so that its end is equal to its existence; now just as it is infinite in existence, so is it disposed to infinite action by the eternalizer, the eternalized and eternalizing. And this eternity, that is its own ultimate end, we call God.
86. Eternity exists, and it is the greatest duration that can be, with the greatest goodness that can be, and with the greatest magnitude that can be, and that minority cannot contradict or prevent from being infinite reasons in existence and action. And this major duration is God.
87. Eternity exists, and consequently eternal being exists, and the intrinsic and coessential goodness, greatness etc. of this eternal being are equal to eternity, so that its goodness, greatness etc. are as infinite in bonification as is eternity in duration. And we call this eternal being God.
88. Eternity exists, and as it is infinite duration, it is infinitely removed from minority, which is finite, and so also from finiteness that is lesser than eternity, and the same can be said about minor existence and action of every kind.
89. We posited God's existence with all the principles; however, it can also be proved by these principles by making syllogisms as follows: no infinite being is without infinite power; eternity is infinite being, therefore eternity is not without infinite power; and this being that has infinite power is not heaven or anything contained in it, and this is why we call this infinite being God. Further, no infinite being is without infinite powering; eternity is an infinite being, therefore eternity is not without infinite powering.
90. We proved God's existence, and solved the question that asks whether God exists. And as we proved it with the principles and rule B, we can learn about His existence and intrinsic action, with the help of His grace. However, we can partially apprehend these things, as we cannot totally comprehend them because God is infinite and our intellect is finite.
Article 2 - God in Combination with Rule C
91. With the first species of rule C we ask: "What is God"? To gain better knowledge of God through His definitions, we want to define Him with necessary and substantial definitions, in which the subject and predicate are convertible as neither can be without the other on account of the natural conjunction between the two: like when we ask: "What is substance?" and the answer is that substance is being that exists per se and also, when we ask "What is being that exists per se?" and the answer is, that it is substance.92. God is the being whose intrinsic reasons are convertible: the being whose intrinsic reasons are convertible is God.
God is the being whose divine reasons have infinite acts, like infinite goodness has an infinite act of bonification, infinite magnitude has an infinite act of magnificence, etc. and the being whose intrinsic goodness has an infinite act, etc. is God.
God is the being whose coessential goodness is its reason for doing infinite and eternal good: the being whose coessential goodness is its reason for doing infinite and eternal good is God.
God is the being who cannot be without infinite reasons: the being who cannot be without infinite reasons is God.
God is the bonifying being who cannot be without an infinitely bonified being and an infinite act of bonification: the infinitely bonified being and the infinite act of bonification that cannot be without an infinite bonifier is God.
God is substance free from all accidents: substance free from all accidents is God.
God is absolute being, not dependent on anything: absolute being not dependent on anything, is God.
God is the being that needs nothing outside itself: the being that needs nothing outside itself, is God.
God is the being that cannot be otherwise than the way it is: the being that cannot be otherwise than the way it is, is God.
God is the being that entirely fulfills its purpose with its whole being: the being that entirely fulfills its purpose with its whole being is God.
God is the being that can act entirely within itself and of itself: the being that can act entirely of itself and in itself is God.
God is the being unsurpassed by any majority: the being unsurpassed by any majority is God.
God is the being that is aware that it is in action with its entire being: the being that is aware that it is in action with its entire being is God.
God is the being for whom it is impossible not to be: the being for whom it is impossible not to be is God.
93. We defined God with 14 reasons in which the subject and predicate are necessarily convertible as shown by rule B, and definitions like these greatly help to clarify the human intellect's knowledge of the divine essence and its intrinsic and natural acts.
94. Accidental descriptions of God can also be made, describing God as the creator, ruler and first cause, first mover, savior, etc. But these descriptions do not clarify the understanding nearly as much as do the above substantial definitions.
95. With the second species of rule C we ask: What does God essentially and naturally have in himself? And the answer is that He has coessential, substantial and natural correlatives as for instance, on account of His goodness He has an infinite bonifier, bonified and act of bonification; and on account of His greatness He has an infinite magnifier, an infinite magnified and an infinite act of magnificence, and on account of His eternity He has the eternalizer, the eternalized and the act of eternalizing. Without these correlatives the above reasons or definitions of God cannot be made, nor can our intellect know anything about the divine essence, because without them the reasons or dignities would be empty, idle and defective and each one would be a privative habit and consequently divine being would be wanting in dignity because its reasons would lack perfection as the intrinsic natural relationship within Godhead would be destroyed if God did not intrinsically have these things.
96. With the third species of rule C we ask: "What is God in other things"? And the answer is that He is the first cause of His effect, as well as the prime mover, ruler and governor, who absolutely does whatever He pleases with His effect, without the least resistance from it.
97. With the fourth species of rule C we ask: "What does God have in other things"? And the answer is that outwardly, God has absolute power and dominion over creatures with which He does whatever He pleases, like an absolute cause in its effect. God also has the ultimate judgment of creatures as their creator and ruler, disposed to judge sinners in accordance with their deeds. Now He created creatures to serve Him, and this is the ultimate purpose of creatures.
Article 3 God in Combination with Rule D
98. With the first species of rule D we ask: what is God's origin? And we answer that God exists on His own, for a being that has infinite reasons with infinite acts cannot originate from any preexisting being, but it is preexisting to all beings that are different from it in essence; for instance, divine goodness is primordial to every other goodness just as infinite being is primordial to finite being. And the same can be said about divine greatness, eternity etc. Here the human intellect knows that God is a pure act.99. With the second species of rule D we ask: what does God consist of? And we answer that He belongs to His correlatives as previously described, for instance, divine goodness, which is God, consists of its bonifier, bonified and bonifying, all three of which belong to the selfsame goodness like a concrete that belongs to its essence, or man to his humanity, or a lion to his leoninity etc. And here our intellect knows that in God, there can be no smallness, no malice, no newness.
100. With the third species of rule D we ask: to whom does God belong? And we answer that He is not subject to anyone or anything else, because He is infinite and eternal. However, in paradise He is subject to all the saints who receive glory from Him.
Article 4 - God in Combination with Rule E
101. With the first species of rule E we ask: why does God exist? And we answer that He exists formally through His constituting correlatives and consequently, through His coessential reasons. And He exists because the subject and predicate convert in Him, as proved above in article 2 of the present distinction, like substance that exists by reason of the fact that it consists of its matter, form and conjunction. And the same can be said about a syllogism, whose middle term joins its upper and lower parts. Further, God exists because His infinite reasons convert in essential identity, for all of them are but one, singular divine essence. Moreover, God exists because all His dignities have infinite acts and the subject and predicate essentially convert in His definition, as shown in article 2. And here the intellect knows that God is immutable, and that His existence cannot be otherwise than the way it is.102. With the second species of rule E we ask: why does God exist? And we answer that He exists for His own absolute purpose, as an infinite and eternal being cannot be subject to any finite purpose. Now it is clear that God exists for His own absolute purpose and for no other purpose, for each correlative of His dignities is for the other correlatives and each one is so the others can be, otherwise, none of them could have infinite goodness, greatness etc. Further, God exists so that His action can exist, and vice versa. And God's intrinsic coessential reasons exist so that with them He can have infinite intrinsic acts to make His action as infinite as His existence. And here the intellect recognizes the error of those who say that God has reasons for acting in a finite, extrinsic and accidental way with His reasons, as an efficient cause in an alien subject; now this is an obvious error, because without coessential and natural reasons with infinite intrinsic acts, God could not be the supreme and infinite being as He would not be supremely good, great, eternal, powerful etc. per se, but on account of something else, so that a man, or a lion, or a rose would have a greater purpose than God, as they have their own natural purposes they seek so that they can be what they are. And this clearly shows how obvious the said error is.
Article 5 - God in Combination with Rule F
103. We ask: what quantity doe God have? And we answer that quantity is considered in two ways: as real quantity and as numerical quantity. Real quantity is like bodily size, but numerical quantity is like enumerating one, two etc. and real quantity signifies continuous quantity, whereas numerical quantity signifies discrete quantity. God does not have a body, therefore He has no real quantity (for all corporeal beings have quantity) but God has a continuous essence, goodness etc. Now in an infinite subject, there is no way for quantity to exist, just as time and motion have no way of existing in eternity.104. Numerical quantity can exist in God by reason of His correlatives, for instance, in divine goodness, the bonifier knows that He is one distinct entity Who knows that the bonified ie another entity distinct from Himself, and both the bonifier and the bonified know that the act of bonifying is another entity distinct from them both, and thus it follows that there is numeral quantity in them, namely one, two and three. And here the intellect wonders whether three correlatives are sufficient for divine goodness, or should there be more? But it remembers divine unity and singularity whereby God is one and singular, just as He is good through His goodness, great through His greatness etc. so that it is sufficient to have one singular non bonified bonifier, one singular bonified bonifier and one singular bonified entity that does not bonify. But if there were a fourth number here, the unity and singularity would be destroyed because the fourth number would be either a non bonifier bonifier, or a bonified bonifier, or a non bonifying bonified entity, which would be redundant and evil against the nature of infinite goodness, vitiated against the great and eternal virtue of infinite divine goodness, and would act against the glory of divine goodness, and would be an evil, privative habit like deafness, ignorance etc. which is impossible.
105. Further, the intellect considers numerical quantity, which is the origin of numbers, where the second unit arises from the first and the third from both, like a conclusion from two premises, and here we have the perfect number because it includes every kind of number, namely odd and even, because two is an even umber and three is an odd number. And this clearly shows that a fourth unit would be superfluous, and likewise with a fifth one etc. as we already have odd and even; and as the fourth unit would be disconnected from the second unit which is a medium between the first unit and the third; as shown in the mode of the first figure, as the middle term is where the predicate of the major premise and the subject of the minor premise join together so that in the conclusion the subject and predicate naturally convene, as shown in this syllogism: all animals are substance, but all men are animals, therefore all men are substance. Here the intellect recognizes that the divine intellect that the number three is sufficient for the divine essence and that there can be no greater or smaller number in it. However, species contain more than three individuals, like one man, two, three, four men etc. in the human species, and these are properly enumerated with many units or numbers, as is self evident.
Article 6 - God in Combination with Rule G
106. With the first species of rule G we ask: what qualities does God have? And here we must answer that He has the qualities of His properties or reasons and their own coessential acts, so that He is good through His goodness, great through His greatness, eternal through His eternity and so with the other reasons. Further, given that goodness is a reason for good to produce good, and this goodness is great through greatness and eternal through eternity, it follows that goodness is a reason for God to have the proper quality of producing good, great, infinite and eternal being, even more than heat is a reason for fire to have the quality of heating its good, great and durable heated matter. And this is signified by the correlatives in the second species of rule C, for without such proper substantial qualities, God could not have His own being, or exist on His own, because He would have none of His own intrinsic, infinite and eternal acts. Further, He could not, by appropriation, create anything in any subject outside Himself because all appropriated qualities must be caused by some proper quality, like air and water that are heated by the proper heat of fire.107. With the second species of rule G we ask: what qualities does God have? And we say that God has appropriated qualities through His outward description, whereby He is the creator, governor, savior etc. Now God is disposed to be just and merciful, compassionate and benign, as the efficient cause in its effect from which it is different in essence and nature.
Article 7 - God in Combination with Rule H
108. We ask whether God exists in time? And the answer to the question is that He does not exists in time in the proper sense, but by accident, because an eternal being with an eternal act cannot exist in time, no more than an infinite being can exists in quantity, or the number six in the number five, or an evil essence in a good essence, or sight in blindness, or hearing in deafness, or understanding in ignorance etc. All these things are obvious through rules C, D and K to the subtle and diligent reader, to whom we leave this exercise, for the sake of brevity.Article 8 - God in Combination with Rule I
109. We ask: does God exist in some locus? And we answer that God does not exist in any locus in the proper sense, but by accident; now just as eternity cannot exists in time, nor goodness in evil, nor a truly understanding intellect in ignorance, so God, in His infinity and immensity, cannot be located in any locus, because God's infinity and immensity are the reasons for which He enfolds and penetrates every locus. And thus it is obvious that He is immensely and infinitely inside and outside every locus, free of any quantity or surface. And rules B, C, D, and K prove this.Article 9 - God in Combination with the Rule of Modality
110. With the first species of rule K we ask: how does God exist, and how does He act? We answer the first question by saying that God has a mode for being what He is through the mode of His coessential, natural reasons. And this is shown in #109 of article 8 in answer to the question of whee God exists. And to answer the second question, it is obvious for those who know this art, that God has a mode for acting with His correlatives, as with His goodness that is a reason for producing good, and His greatness that is a reason for producing magnificence, and eternity for producing eternal being; hence, His goodness is a reason for good to produce good, great, eternal being etc. which it does intrinsically, within its own essence and nature without any accident.111. Further, God has a mode for acting outwardly with the conversion of His dignities: now as God created the world, His intellect understood this creation, His will willed it, His power powered it, His goodness bonified it, for it was good to create the world. And this was done instantaneously, without any succession of the divine reasons. And this is the same mode whereby God does miracles, in judging, forgiving, giving graces and so forth; because He objectively wants to act and knows how to act, and His power empowers His acts, and His truth verifies them, or makes them true. And created subjects are obedient to such an agent, because finite being cannot resist infinite being.
Article 10 - God in Combination with the Rule of Instrumentality
112. We ask: with what does God exist and act? And we answer that He exists with His coessential correlatives and equal reasons without which He cannot be what He is, nor be the supreme being, just as a man cannot be a man without a soul, a body, a head etc. Now if God were supreme without His goodness, He would have no natural way to be separated from evil, and thus He would not be supreme, but rather the lowest of the low, which is impossible. And if He were supreme without immensity, He would not have the wherewithal to be removed from quantity, and if He were not eternal, He could not segregate Himself from time, and if He were not powerful per se, He could not exist per se, and so with the other reasons. And because He exists per se, as proved above in article 4 #102, it is therefore obvious that He exists with His coessential reasons, without which God would not be supreme.113. Further, God acts intrinsically with His reasons, as seen in His correlatives designated by the second species of rule C. And with these reasons and correlatives, He acts extrinsically as a cause producing effects, but not naturally, now He inclines Himself morally to produce His effect just like a just man is inclined to judge with justice, or a logician to syllogize with reason and so forth.
114. We have dealt with God in combination with the sequence of the rules, and according to the things we explicitly said about Him, the artist can deal with God by using implicit principles reduced to the explicit ones, as we did. We dealt at length with the first subject because it covers a vast amount of subject matter; but we will not go into such length into the other subjects because their subject matter is not as vast, and also because the other subjects can be known through what was said about the first subject. And this is observed in paradise, where the saints, as they objectify God, know everything else.