2. Order of Origin
15. There is another way in which every creature declares that God is: according to the order of origin . If, indeed, there is a created being, there is an uncreated Being; if there is a being by participation, there is a Being by essence; if there is a composite being, there is a simple Being; if there is a multiform being, there is a uniform or identical Being. 15. Alio modo omnis creatura dicit, Deum esse secundum rationem originis: ut si est ens creatum, est ens increatum; et si est ens per participationem, est ens per essentiam; si est ens per compositionem, est ens per simplicitatem; si est ens per multiformitatem, est ens per uniformitatem vel identitatem.
16. First it should be established that every created being demands a cause, and that the sum total of caused beings supposes a universal first Cause. Then I ask about this Cause: "Is it created or is it not?" If it is, we recede into an infinite series; if not, the point is made. Again, then, a being by participation receives being from One that is being by essence, for it flows from Him. Likewise, every composite being is made of component parts; and parts, while depending upon each other, must proceed from Something that is absolutely simple. And the same with multiformity: if a multiform being exists, there must be One that is uniform, as is the case with numbers, for it is necessary to return to the unit. And this is the argument by way of origin. 16. Primo dicendum, quod omne creatum ponit causam, et universitas causatorum ponit causam primam universalem. Tunc quaero de causa illa: aut est creata aut non; si sic, erit abire in infinitum; si non, habeo propositum. -- Item, ens per participationem ab eo habet esse, quod est ens per essentiam, quia fluit ab eo. -- Similiter, omne compositum est a componentibus; similiter et partes, cum sint dependentes ad invicem, sunt ab aliquo simplicissimo absoluto. -- Similiter de multiformitate; si enim est ens per multiformitatem, est ens per uniformitatem, ut in numeris, quia necesse est devenire ad unitatem. Hoc ergo ratione originis.
3. Order of Fulfillment
17. The third way is in the order of fulfillment . If a potential being exists, there is an actual Being; if a mutable being exists, there is an immutable Being; if a qualified being exists, there must be an unqualified Being; if a dependent being exists, there must be an absolute Being; if a being exists within a genus, there must be a Being outside of all genera. And so a potential being comes forth from an actual Being, which is necessary in case diverse beings exist. Likewise, a mutable being flows from an immutably fixed Being. Again, a creature essentially depends upon a first Being, and matter and form and even accident depend more upon God than upon its own subject: for God may make it exist without subject, as is the case with the Sacrament of the altar, but He cannot make it escape from depending upon Him. Once more, if a qualified being exists, there must be an unqualified Being under those aspects which by nature are apt to exist unqualifiedly. If, for instance, a qualifiedly wise being exists, there must be One that is wise unqualifiedly, so that the qualification is removed. If "white" is found in white teeth, there must exist pure whiteness. Finally, if there exists a being within a genus, there must be one outside of all genera. For a being within a genus has limiting differences: and such a being does not enjoy power, being and action in a universal sense. Hence God is Being outside of genus and above genus. 17. Tertio modo ratione completionis. Si est esse potentiale, est esse actuale; si est esse mutabile, est esse immutabile; si est esse secundum quid, est esse simpliciter; si est esse dependens, est esse absolutum; si est esse in genere, est esse extra genus. -- Ens autem potentiale venit ab esse actuali necessario in diversis; sed in eodem esse potentiale praecedit esse actuale. -- Similiter, mutabile est fluens ab immutabili fixo. -- Similiter, creatura essentialiter dependet a primo, et materia et forma, et etiam accidens magis dependet a Deo quam a suo subiecto; quia Deus potest facere, ut sit sine subiecto, ut in Sacramento altaris, sed non, quod non dependeat ab eo. -- Similiter, si est ens secundum quid, est et ens simpliciter in his quae nata sunt esse simpliciter; ut si est sapiens secundum quid, est sapiens simpliciter, ut removeatur instantia: est albus dente: ergo est albus simpliciter. -- Si est ens in genere, est ens extra genus. Ens enim in genere habet differentias coarctantes; et tale non habet posse, esse et agere universaliter. Unde Deus est ens extra genus et supra genus.
18. And so, these thoughts concerning order, origin, and fullness lead to this first Being which all creatures represent. But this name is written in all things: and it is upon these conditions of being that the most certain reasonings are founded. Hence it is said: "The first of all created things is being." But I say: the first of all intelligible things is the First Being. 18. Hae igitur speculationes ordinis, originis, et completionis ducunt ad illud esse primum, quod repraesentant omnes creaturae. Hoc enim nomen scriptum est in omnibus rebus; et sunt hae conditiones entis, super quas fundantur certissimae illationes. Unde dixit ille: «Prima rerum creatarum omnium est esse»; sed ego dico: prima rerum intellectualium est esse primum.