INTRODUCTION
Lord
GOD, with your mercy,
Here
begins the Book on your memory
As
we know less about divine memory than about divine intellect and will,
we intend to investigate divine memory, so as to know it as well as we
know divine intellect and will. And through this we will have a greater
science of GOD than we had before, because the secrect of divine memory
is hidden from us.
There
are some who deny that there is any memory in GOD, because they consider
memory to be a power that presently recalls things that were in the past.
They further say that there is no question of time in GOD, as He is an
eternal being free of any motion or time. And as they make no distinction
between eternal memory and memory that exists in time, they are deceived.
So as to prevent them from deceiving themselves, we write this book so
they can find out about divine memory.
How
this book is divided
This
book is divided into five sections. In the first section, we will deal
with human memory. In the second, we will investigate divine memory through
divine intellect, in the third through divine will, in the fourth through
the divine Trinity, and in the fifth and last part through the divine reasons.
So let us deal with the first section first.
SECTION
ONE
Human
memory is a power with which man recalls past things. To clarify this,
we give the following example.
The act of the imaginative power, namely imagining, does not occur while
the sensitive power is attaining its object, as for instance: Peter sees
William right now. But if Peter closes his eyes, then he can imagine William,
and this is something that anyone can know by their own experience. Likewise,
while a man is presently attaining some object, either sensed or imagined,
memory cannot remember that object because the man's intellect and will
prevent memory from acting at the same time as the senses or the imagination
attain the object they imagine or perceive, because the intellect is in
the process of understanding it, and the will is either loving or hating
it. And this shows that memory is a power per se. And this is an argument
against those who say that memory is not a power per se, but is rooted
in the intellect, with which it forms one single power, which is false,
as we explained above.
Further: if the intellect and memory were but one single power, no object
could be either ignored or forgotten, as power and duration would be generally
common to both. And the will would be immobilized, thus losing its freedom
of choice, and consequently its merit, which is impossible.
Further: if memory were not a power per se, or if it did not exist at all
as a power of the soul, whenever the intellect and the will would seek
to acquire other objects, they would have nowhere to store the previous
objects, and so there could be no science of past things. But since memory
is a power within the soul, it receives the previous species by remembering
them, and it keeps them, organizes them and plays them back whenever the
intellect or the will require their retrieval. And in such a way, science
is multiplied through memory, as we all have experienced.
We have spoken about memory in the context of the objects of imagination
and sense. But now we intend to speak about objects completely removed
from any sense or imagination, such as genus and species, or for instance,
God, an angel, the essence of whiteness, the essence of blackness, and
things like these. And likewise with the virtues and vices, which are objects
beyond the reach of imagination or sense because they are abstracted from
their subject, like the essence of whiteness from the white color. And
the said objects can be objectified at the same time by understanding,
willing and remembering them. And through this, the human intellect builds
its science, which science it could never build, unless memory existed
as a power per se.
Let me give the following example: in the human intellect there are three
correlatives, namely the intellective, the intelligible and the act of
understanding. And they differ from one another, otherwise there would
be no relation among them. And the intellect understands these three correlatives,
and the will loves these three correlatives with their distinctness, and
memory remembers the same correlatives and gives them names. Now without
memory of things past, the intellect and the will would have no way of
objectifying these three distinct correlatives.
It
has therefore been shown that memory is a power per se, distinct from the
intellect and the will, and that together they compose one rational human
soul.
We have clarified the first section, and proved that memory is a power
on its own. Now in the rest of this book, let us consider divine memory.
SECTION
TWO
About
divine memory and divine intellect
This
section is about divine memory and divine intellect, which I clarify as
follows:
GOD
understands himself, and He understands that He is both intellective and
intelligibe. He is therefore, in the same instant, both an objectifier
and an object. And He understands the act of understanding, without which
He can neither understand anything nor be understood. And memory enumerates
these distinct correlatives and gives them number and name, namely the
correlatives called the intellective whereby He understands, and the intelligible
which He produces and whereby He is understood. And as the intellective
cannot produce itself because beings do not produce themselves, memory
remembers the distinction between the intellective, the intelligible and
their act of understanding, and it remembers that these three correlatives
are one in essence and substance and nature. Given all this, we have clearly
shown how the divine memory shines in the divine intellect.
SECTION
THREE
About
divine memory and divine will
This
section is about divine memory and divine will. And we will investigate
memory in the will, in the same way that we investigated it in the divine
intellect. And we say the following:
Divine
will within itself loves its coessential lover, beloved and act of love,
so that it is full of these, and neither empty, nor idle, nor separated
from divine nature. And so that the will can love these correlatives, divine
memory remembers the lover and gives him his proper name, so that the lover
cannot be varied or changed, and it does the same with the beloved and
the act of love. And relation, perfection and repose are governed like
this. Otherwise, without divine memory existing in divine will, the lover
could turn into the beloved, and vice versa, and likewise for the act of
love, and there would be no real relation in this will, but rather confusion,
which is impossible. It has therefore been clarified, in what way divine
memory exists in divine will, and vice versa.
SECTION
FOUR
About
divine memory and divine trinity
According
to the light of faith, I suppose in this book that the divine trinity exists.
And this trinity is clearly seen in the second and third sections, and
will also be clearly seen in the fifth section. And I make this supposition
so that through the divine trinity we can discover divine memory. And I
set out to seek it first in this way:
God the Father, from his whole self, generates GOD the Son, so that the
Son is as perfect as the Father. And if the Father communicated whatever
He has to his Son, without remembering his own Paternity in communicating
his entire essence to the Son his Paternity would be entirely lost: but
this property cannot be lost, because memory keeps this property or name
from eternity and in eternity.
And if memory did not remember the Son, with his own property of Sonship,
this Sonship whereby the Son is essentially one with the Father would be
lost. An this kind of loss cannot occur, as the real personal relation
cannot be destroyed, so it has been shown that divine memory is a real
and necessary being.
As memory is clearly seen in divine fatherhood and sonship, so it is seen
in another way in divine spiration. And I show this in the following way:
GOD the Father and GOD the Son both uniformly spirate the Holy Spirit from
their entire essence, so that the Holy Spirit is equally proportioned to
them. And if divine memory did not remember the Father and the Son as well
as the relation and the distinction between them, the whole essence of
the Father and Son would be transmuted and turned into the person of the
Holy Spirit, and both Fatherhood and Sonship would be lost. But they cannot
be lost, because divine memory remembers the Father, because it gives him
a name, and remembers the Son with another name. And as memory remembers
each person with each person's proper name, it likewise remembers the person
of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the whole intrinsic relation would be confused
and destroyed, which is impossible. Therefore divine memory clearly exists
in the said persons that it enumerates.
SECTION
FIVE
About
divine memory and the divine dignities
This
distinction is divided into ten divine dignities, and these are: GOD's
unity, goodness, greatness, eternity, power, virtue, truth, glory, simplicity
and perfection. With these, we intend to seek out divine memory, and we
will investigate it in the same way, as we investigated it with divine
intellect and will. And first, let us speak about divine unity.
1.
Divine Unity
Divine
unity is infinite. It is not infinite without one infinitely productive
infinite being, another infinite being that is infinitely produced, and
without another being which is the infinite act of producing infinity.
Because without these, it would be empty, idle and void of its nature,
as it would not have anything with which to be infinite in existence and
in action. And because these correlatives exist, they are remembered and
numbered, and without memory, this number would be destroyed, and divine
unity would lose its infinity. This is impossible, as understanding with
remembering is something greater than understanding without remembering,
and loving with remembering is something greater than loving without remembering.
And as greater things, and not lesser ones are applicable to infinite divine
unity, divine memory has therefore been clarified, and a science of it
has been made.
2.
About Goodness
In
divine goodness, there are distinct coessential correlatives, namely active
good, passive good and the act of doing good. And if this relation is objectified
by understanding, loving and remembering it, goodness is more greatly objectified.
And without any memory, it is less greatly objectified, and even diminished,
which is impossible. Therefore divine memory in divine goodness has been
clarified.
3.
About Greatness
If
there is memory in divine greatness, then divinity or godhead, which is
the divine essence, is more great, and if not, then it is less great. And
the reason for this is, that in this greatness, the one who magnifies and
remembers is one person, and the one who is magnified and remembered is
another person, and the act of magnifying and remembering is another person.
And if there is no memory in this greatness, then the magnifier is not
as greatly objectified by GOD, nor are the magnified and the magnification.
And thus, the object would be diminished. And because such a decrease is
impossible in the greatness of GOD, it necessarily follows that divine
memory exists in divine greatness, so that this greatness can be a supreme
object for GOD.
4.
About Eternity
GOD
understands and loves his eternity. And if He understands and loves it,
with memory existing in this eternity, He can understand, love and remember
it more, and without memory, less. Because in eternity, the eternally productive
and understanding, loving and remembering being is one person, and the
eternally produced, understood, loved and remembered being is another person,
and the eternal act of understanding, loving and remembering is another
person. And because that through which GOD understands and loves his eternity
more greatly must necessarily exist, so it necessarily follows, that there
is memory in divine eternity.
5.
About Power
If
there is memory in divine power, divine power can, with its memory, remember
its essence with its intrinsic operation, because it exists with its active
remembering power, its passive remembered power and its act of remembering
and empowering. And if there is no memory in this power, divine power is
less powerful in objectifying its essence with its intrinsic operation.
And as such a decrease is impossible, it has therefore been demonstrated
that there is divine memory in divine power.
6.
About Virtue
If
there is divine memory in divine virtue, this virtue is more convertible
with divine unity, goodness, magnitude, etc. And if not, then it is less
convertible with them. And as that, whereby divine virtue in more convertible
or applicable to divine unity, goodness, and greatness etc. must necessarily
exist, it necessarily follows that there is divine memory in divine virtue,
with which divine virtue is entirely remembered throughout all of divine
unity, goodness, greatness, etc.
7.
About Truth
Divine
truth is an infinite essence. In it, divine unity, goodness, and the other
dignities have infinite objects, as unity has its infinitely united object,
and goodness has its infinitely well produced good object, etc. And all
these infinite objects truly exist through divine truth, because divine
truth has its own infinitely true and verified object. None of this would
be possible, if there were no infinite memory in the divine essence, having
an infinite object that it remembers, so that a reason can exist, for all
the divine dignities to have an infinite object remembered infinitely by
divine memory, as they have an infinite object verified through divine
truth, otherwise the dignities would defective and unbalanced as they objectify
their infinite object.
And to clarify this, I am taking the following example. All bodies have
six dimensions or terminations which are: up, down, front, back, right
and left. Outside of these six boundaries, no corporeal thing can either
exist or act in any way. And thus, as divine truth is a true reason for
divine unity, goodness etc. to have infinite objects beyond these six dimensions,
so also divine memory, through remembering, is a reason for all the dignities
to have infinite objects outside of these six dimensions.
This therefore proves, that in divine essence there is a divine memory,
so that through it, each dignity can remember that it has an infinite object.
And here the contemplative can rejoice, who knows how to contemplate in
this way the infinite objects in the divine essence, outside of the directions
above and below, front and back, right and left, because contemplation
cannot rise to any loftier height than this
8.
About Glory
The
things we have said about memory in divine virtue, can likewise be said
about divine glory. Because divine unity, goodness, etc.cannot have any
rest in the glorification of their glory, without having infinite objects
through infinite glory, which they can have by having one infinite glorious
object in this glory. Nor can they have infinite rest in this glory without
infinite memory, with which they can objectify infinite objects by remembering
them.
And to clarify this, I will take the following example. The saints in glory
enjoy the utmost glory, by the fact that they remember everlasting glory
in eternity, and without this remembering, the glory of GOD cannot perfectly
glorify them, as it cannot glorify anything perfectly without perfectly
uniting it, etc. And the saints cannot have any such memory without the
existence of divine memory, which is the cause of their own memories. And
as this must be so, it is therefore shown that in divine glory, memory
is both in existence and in action.
9.
About Simplicity
Divine
simplicity is infinite. And through it, divine unity, goodness, etc. have
infinite and utterly simple objects, so that unity objectifies itself as
being infinite simplicity, and likewise goodness, which through infinite
simplicity objectifies itself as being infinite simplicity, both in existence
and action. This could not be so, unless divine unity, goodness, etc. remembered
themselves as being infinite simplicity in existence and action. Because
without divine memory, the infinite objects would be unbalanced, and such
an imbalance cannot possibly exist in divine simplicity.
10.
About Perfection
The
nature of divine perfection consists in superior, and not in inferior things.
And if in the essence of GOD there is infinite memory, with which divine
unity, goodness, etc. remember their infinite objects, namely supremely
united, optimized, magnified, eternally produced being, etc., this perfection
would be superior through its memory , with which it remembers that it
is infinite perfection, having a perfect infinite object. And if it did
not have such a memory, perfection would be inferior, which is impossible.
Therefore, the existence of divine memory has been proved. And we have
proved it through the infinite objects, these objects that cannot be infinite
without being infinitely remembered.
We
have made our proof of divine memory. And with this proof, we have increased
the science that we had regarding GOD and his dignities. And such science
is very lofty and profound, and a great source of rejoicing for the soul
To
the praise and honor of GOD, Raymond finished this book, regarding divine
memory, in the city of Messina, in the month of March in the year 1314
of the incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
FOOTNOTE
An
excerpt from Ars Generalis Ultima, "The hundred forms"
Article
49: the Directions
There
are six general directions, and their center is the body through the diametric
lines in which the body can move, namely up, down, to the front, to the
back, to the right and to the left.. These six directions are coessential
with movement. But the intellect wonders why there are six directions,
and neither more nor less. And it remembers that motion cannot be perfect
without these. If indeed they were more or less than six, there would be
some imperfection, as can be seen with species 3. and 4. of rule C. And
the second species of the same rule signifies that the said directions
are essential parts of movement in which bodies are habitually situated.
But the intellect wonders, why a spherical body does not have the said
directions, such as a human head, an eye, an apple, and things like these?
But then, it understands that the universe is a spherical body, and that
this universe is not itself enclosed by any such directions, because it
is the ultimate body, and causes its likenesses to be produced in the said
spherical bodies, so the intellect can have knowledge of it. And the rules
B. and K. consent to this.
Furthermore,
the six directions correspond to
six
notes of the scale
Raymond
in Ars Generalis Ultima, the 100 Forms, form number 82, Music
136.
Music
is an art invented for organizing many concordant voices in one song, like
many principles or beginnings to one end. And this definition is signified
by the definitions of concordance and beginning. This definition is also
based on the correlatives of music: in the same way as a carpenter conceives
the figure of a chest in his mind, and then brings it from potentiality
into actuality, likewise, a musician conceives of organized voices in his
mind, and then brings them from potentiality into actuality through the
third species of Rule C. whereby music is a habit with which musicians
practice their art. Musicians practice their art through six degrees of
a scale, ascending and descending, while saying ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la.
137.
At this point, the intellect wonders: why are there 6 degrees, neither
more nor less? Then it remembers article 49 of the hundred forms, which
deals with the six directions; here the intellect knows how it should get
help from the general forms dealt with above, by applying them to any doubtful
question it might be inquiring into.
138.
Further, the intellect wonders why there are not more or less than five
vowels in the Latin alphabet. Then it remembers the four spheres of the
elements and the quintessence, which are signified by the third and eighth
subjects: and as these things are in constant motion, and motion generates
sound, and musicians extract voice from sound, so the intellect knows that
organized voice first comes from the five simple voices or vowels from
which the compound letters, or consonants arise. And thus it knows why
there are no more nor less than five vowels.
139.
Then the intellect wonders: why is the letter E. more often found in composition
with the other letters of the alphabet, than the letter A., and A. more
than U.? And why the vowels I. and O. do not cause any consonants, as do
A. and U.? Then it remembers the triangle composed of majority and minority
as the vowels enter into it: Now E. has more matter than A. The vowel E
causes B.C.D.F.G.L.M.N.P.R.S.T.X. in the alphabet, while A. only causes
H.and K.; and A. is greater than U, which only causes Q. And as majority
and minority are found between the said vowels, so consequently there is
equality between O. and I. as neither of them causes any consonants.
140.
As the intellect thus considers that E. is greater than A. by reason of
its matter, it recognizes that E. corresponds to the motion of the element
earth, and A. to the motion of water. This is because earth has more matter
than water. But U. corresponds to the motion of air, which has less matter
than water. And I corresponds to fire on account of its slenderness and
sharpness because it has less matter. O. corresponds to the motion
of heaven, and the mouth makes a circular shape to pronounce it.
Note:
these meanings of the letters are not taken into consideration at all in
the application of B., C., D., etc. in Ars infusa, where only the sequence
of the letters is considered, as is stated in the first part of that book
regarding the alphabet..
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