On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology — trans. C. E. Rolt
The translator’s English as printed (C. E. Rolt). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
Principle of life or the Essence of life, there you find that which lives and imparts life from the Life transcending all life, and indivisibly 1 pre-exists therein as in its Cause. For the Supra-Vital and Primal Life is the Cause of all Life, and produces and fulfils it and individualizes it. And we must draw from all life the attributes we apply to It when we consider how It teems with all living things, and how under manifold forms It is beheld and praised in all Life and lacketh not Life or rather abounds therein, and indeed hath Very Life, and how it produces life in a Supra-Vital manner and is above all life? and therefore is described by whatsoever human terms may express that Life which is ineffable.
CHAPTER VII Concerning “Wisdom,” “Mind,” “Reason,” “Truth,” “Faith.”
1. Now, if it like thee, let us consider the Good and Eternal Life as Wise and as Very Wisdom, or rather as the Fount of all wisdom and as Transcending all wisdom and understanding. Not only is God so overflowing with wisdom that there is no limit to His understanding, but He even transcends all Reason, Intelligence, and Wisdom. 3 And this is supernaturally perceived by the truly divine man (who hath been as a luminary both to us and to our teacher) when he says: “The foolishness of God is wiser than men.” 1 And these words are true not only because all human thought is a kind of error when compared with the immovable permanence of the perfect thoughts which belong to God, but also because it is customary for writers on Divinity to apply negative terms to God in a sense contrary to the usual one. For instance, the Scripture calls the Light that shines on all things “Terrible,” and Him that hath many Titles and many Names “Ineffable” and “Nameless,” and Him that is present to all things and to be discovered from them all “Incomprehensible” and “Unsearchable.” In the same manner, it is thought, the divine Apostle, on the present occasion, when he speaks of God’s “foolishness,” is using in a higher sense the apparent strangeness and absurdity implied in the word, so as to hint at the ineffable Truth which is before all Reason. But, as I have said elsewhere, we misinterpret things above us by our own conceits and cling to the familiar notions of our senses, and, measuring Divine things by our human standards, we are led astray by the superficial meaning of the Divine and Ineffable Truth. Rather should we then consider that while the human Intellect hath a faculty of Intelligence, whereby it perceives intellectual truths, yet the act whereby the Intellect communes with the things that are beyond it transcends its intellectual nature? This transcendent sense, therefore, must be given to our language about God, and not our human sense. We must be transported wholly out of ourselves and given unto God. For ’tis better to belong unto God and not unto ourselves, since thus will the
1 Since Eternal Life is undifferentiated, all things have in It a common or identical life, as all plants and animals have a common life in the air they breathe.
3 All wisdom or knowledge implies the distinction between thinker and object of thought. The undifferentiated Godhead is beyond this distinction; but (in a sense) it exists in the Persons of the Trinity and between them and the world, and hence from Them comes Absolute Wisdom, though the Godhead transcends it.
Principle of life or the Essence of life, there you find that which lives and imparts life from the Life that transcends all life, and which indivisibly 1 pre-exists in that Life as in its Cause. For the Supra-Vital and Primal Life is the Cause of all Life: it produces it, fulfils it and individualizes it. And we must draw from all life the attributes we apply to It, when we consider how It teems with all living things; how, under manifold forms, It is beheld and praised in all Life; how It does not lack Life but rather abounds in it, and indeed has Very Life; and how it produces life in a Supra-Vital manner and is above all life. 2 It is therefore described by whatever human terms can express that Life which is ineffable.
CHAPTER VII Concerning “Wisdom,” “Mind,” “Reason,” “Truth,” and “Faith.”
1. Now, if you will, let us consider the Good and Eternal Life as Wise and as Very Wisdom, or rather as the Fount of all wisdom and as Transcending all wisdom and understanding. Not only is God so overflowing with wisdom that there is no limit to His understanding; He even transcends all Reason, Intelligence, and Wisdom. 3 And this is perceived in a supernatural way by that truly divine man (who has been a luminary both to us and to our teacher) when he says: “The foolishness of God is wiser than men.” 1
These words are true not only because all human thought is a kind of error when compared with the immovable permanence of the perfect thoughts that belong to God, but also because writers on Divinity customarily apply negative terms to God in a sense contrary to the usual one. For instance, Scripture calls the Light that shines on all things “Terrible”; Him that has many Titles and many Names it calls “Ineffable” and “Nameless”; and Him that is present to all things and can be discovered from them all it calls “Incomprehensible” and “Unsearchable.” In the same way, it is thought, the divine Apostle, when he speaks here of God’s “foolishness,” is using the apparent strangeness and absurdity of the word in a higher sense, so as to hint at the ineffable Truth which is before all Reason.
But, as I have said elsewhere, we misinterpret the things above us by our own conceits and cling to the familiar notions of our senses; and, measuring Divine things by our human standards, we are led astray by the superficial meaning of the Divine and Ineffable Truth. We should rather consider that, while the human Intellect has a faculty of Intelligence by which it perceives intellectual truths, the act by which the Intellect communes with the things beyond it transcends its intellectual nature. 2 This transcendent sense, therefore, and not our human sense, must be given to our language about God. We must be carried wholly out of ourselves and given to God. For it is better to belong to God and not to ourselves, since in this way the
1 Since Eternal Life is undifferentiated, all things have in It a common or identical life, just as all plants and animals have a common life in the air they breathe.
3 All wisdom or knowledge implies the distinction between the thinker and the object of thought. The undifferentiated Godhead is beyond this distinction; but in a sense the distinction exists in the Persons of the Trinity, and between Them and the world. Hence Absolute Wisdom comes from Them, though the Godhead transcends it.