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.
6. But Elymas? the sorcerer raises this objection : “If God is Omnipotent” (quoth he) “what meaneth your Sacred Writer by saying that there are some things He cannot do?” And so he blames Paul the Divine for saying that God cannot deny Himself. Now, having stated his objection, I greatly fear that I shall be laughed at for my folly, in going about to pull down tottering houses built upon the sand by idle children, and in striving to aim my arrow at an inaccessible target when I endeavour to deal with this question of Divinity. But thus I answer him: The denial of the true Self is a declension from Truth. And Truth hath Being; and therefore a declension from the Truth is a declension from Being. Now whereas Truth hath Being and denial of Truth is a declension from Being, God cannot fall from Being. We might say that He is not lacking in Being, that He cannot lack Power, that He knows not how to lack Knowledge. The wise Elymas, forsooth, did not perceive this ; and so is like an unskilled athlete, who (as often happens), thinking his adversary to be weak, through judging by his own estimation, misses him each time and manfully strikes at his shadow, and bravely beating the air with vain blows, fancies he hath gotten him a victory and boasts of his prowess through ignorance of the other’s power? But we striving to shoot our cuard home to our teachers mark celebrate the Supra-Potent God as Omnipotent, as Blessed and the only Potentate, as ruling by His might over Eternity, as indwelling every part of the universe, or rather as transcending and anticipating all things in His Super-Essential Power, as the One Who hath bestowed upon all things their capacity to exist, and their existence through the rich outpouring of His transcendent and abundant Power.
ty See: Inte 5s paces ? The name is introduced to support the fiction of authorship, and an objection, current no doubt in the writer’s day (as in every age), is put into the mouth of one who belonged to the same time as St. Paul’s Athenian convert. 2) Pum We 83:
6. But Elymas 2 the sorcerer raises this objection: “If God is Omnipotent,” he says, “what does your Sacred Writer mean by saying that there are some things He cannot do?” And so he blames Paul the Divine for saying that God cannot deny Himself. Now that I have stated his objection, I greatly fear I shall be laughed at for my folly in setting out to pull down tottering houses built upon the sand by idle children, and in trying to aim my arrow at an inaccessible target when I attempt to deal with this question of Divinity.
But this is my answer to him. The denial of the true Self is a declension from Truth. Truth has Being; and therefore a declension from the Truth is a declension from Being. Now, since Truth has Being and the denial of Truth is a declension from Being, God cannot fall from Being. We might say that He is not lacking in Being, that He cannot lack Power, that He does not know how to lack Knowledge. The wise Elymas, it seems, did not perceive this. He is like an unskilled athlete who (as often happens) thinks his adversary weak because he judges by his own estimate, misses him every time and manfully strikes at his shadow, and, bravely beating the air with empty blows, fancies he has won a victory and boasts of his prowess through ignorance of the other’s power. 2
But we, striving to shoot home to our teacher’s mark, celebrate the Supra-Potent God as Omnipotent, as Blessed and the only Potentate, as ruling by His might over Eternity, as dwelling in every part of the universe, or rather as transcending and anticipating all things in His Super-Essential Power, as the One Who has bestowed on all things their capacity to exist, and their existence, through the rich outpouring of His transcendent and abundant Power.
ty See: Inte 5s paces 2 The name is introduced to support the fiction of authorship; an objection current, no doubt, in the writer’s day (as in every age) is put into the mouth of someone who belonged to the same time as St. Paul’s Athenian convert. 2) Pum We 83: