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.
4. And Sameness is attributed to God as a superessentially Eternal and Unchangeable Quality, resting in Itself, always existing in the same condition, present to all things alike, firmly and inviolably fixed on Its own basis in the fair limits of the Super-Essential Sameness; not subject to change, declension, deterioration or variation, but remaining Unalloyed, Immaterial, utterly Simple, Self-Sufficing, Incapable of growth or diminution, and without Birth, not in the sense of being as yet unborn or imperfect, nor in the sense of not having received birth from this source or that, nor yet in the sense of utter nonexistence; but in the sense of being wholly or utterly Birthless and Eternal and Perfect in Itself and always the Same, being self-defined in Its Singleness and Sameness, and causing a similar quality of Identity to shine forth from Itself upon all things that are capable of participating therein and yoking different things in harmony together.1 For It is the boundless Richness and Cause of Identity, and contains beforehand in Itself all opposites under the form of Identity in that one unique Causation which transcends all identity?
5. And Difference is ascribed to God because He is, in His providence, present to all things and becomes all things in all for the preservation of them all,3 while yet remaining in Himself nor ever going forth from His own proper Identity in that one ceaseless act wherein His life consists; and thus with undeviating power He gives Himself for the Deification of those that turn to Him.t And the difference of God’s various appearances from each other in the manifold visions of Him must be held to signify something other than that which was outwardly shown. For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited to the indivisible nature of the soul, and should interpret the head to mean the Intellect, the neck Opinion (as being betwixt reason and irrationality), the breast to mean Passion, the belly Animal Desire, and the legs and feet to mean the Vital Nature: thus using the names of bodily parts as symbols of immaterial faculties; even so (and with much greater reason) must we, when speaking of Him that is beyond all things, purge from false elements by sacred heavenly and mystical explanations the Difference of the Forms and Shapes ascribed to God. And, if thou wilt attribute unto the intangible and unimaged God, the imagery of our threefold bodily dimensions, the Divine Breadth is God’s exceeding wide Emanation over all things, His Length is His Power exceeding the Universe, His Depth the Unknown Mystery which no creature can comprehend. Only we must have a care lest, in expounding these different forms and figures we unwittingly confound the incorporeal meaning of the Divine Names with the terms of the sensible symbols.2 This matter I have dealt with in my Symbolical Divinity: the point I now wish to make clear is this: we must not suppose that Difference in God means any variation of His utterly unchanging Sameness. It means, instead, a multiplicity of acts wherein His unity is undisturbed, and His all-creative fertility while passing into Emanations retains its uniformity in them.
' It causes each thing (1) to be a thing, (2) to co-exist harmoniously with other things.
* It contains the potential existence of all things, however different from each other, as the air contains the potential life of all the various plants and animals.
3 Since He is the Super-Essence of all things, their life is ultimately His Life—i. e. He is, in every case, the underlying Reality of their individual existence.
4. Sameness is attributed to God as a superessentially Eternal and Unchangeable Quality: resting in Itself, always existing in the same condition, present to all things alike, firmly and inviolably fixed on Its own basis within the fair limits of the Super-Essential Sameness. It is not subject to change, decline, deterioration or variation, but remains Unalloyed, Immaterial, utterly Simple, Self-Sufficing, Incapable of growth or diminution, and without Birth — not in the sense of being as yet unborn or imperfect, nor in the sense of not having received birth from this source or that, nor yet in the sense of utter nonexistence, but in the sense of being wholly or utterly Birthless and Eternal and Perfect in Itself, and always the Same.
It is self-defined in Its Singleness and Sameness, and causes a similar quality of Identity to shine forth from Itself upon all things capable of participating in it, yoking different things together in harmony.1 For It is the boundless Richness and Cause of Identity, and contains beforehand in Itself all opposites under the form of Identity, in that one unique Causation which transcends all identity.2
5. Difference is ascribed to God because, in His providence, He is present to all things and becomes all things in all for the preservation of them all,3 while yet remaining in Himself and never going forth from His own proper Identity, in that one ceaseless act in which His life consists; and so, with undeviating power, He gives Himself for the Deification of those who turn to Him.1
And the difference of God’s various appearances from one another in the manifold visions of Him must be taken to signify something other than what was outwardly shown. Suppose we were, in thought, to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and to picture this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts. In such a case we should give those surrounding parts a different meaning, suited to the indivisible nature of the soul: we should interpret the head as the Intellect, the neck as Opinion (since it lies between reason and irrationality), the breast as Passion, the belly as Animal Desire, and the legs and feet as the Vital Nature, thus using the names of bodily parts as symbols of immaterial faculties.
In just the same way (and with much greater reason), when we speak of Him who is beyond all things, we must purge the Difference of the Forms and Shapes ascribed to God of its false elements by sacred, heavenly and mystical explanations. And if you would attribute to the intangible and imageless God the imagery of our three bodily dimensions, then the Divine Breadth is God’s exceedingly wide Emanation over all things, His Length is His Power exceeding the Universe, and His Depth the Unknown Mystery which no creature can comprehend. Only we must take care that, in expounding these different forms and figures, we do not unwittingly confuse the incorporeal meaning of the Divine Names with the terms of the sensible symbols.2 This matter I have dealt with in my Symbolical Divinity.
The point I now wish to make clear is this: we must not suppose that Difference in God means any variation of His utterly unchanging Sameness. It means, rather, a multiplicity of acts in which His unity is undisturbed, and in which His all-creative fertility, while passing into Emanations, keeps its uniformity in them.
1 It causes each thing (1) to be a thing, and (2) to co-exist harmoniously with other things.
2 It contains the potential existence of all things, however different from one another, just as the air contains the potential life of all the various plants and animals.
3 Since He is the Super-Essence of all things, their life is ultimately His Life — i.e. He is, in every case, the underlying Reality of their individual existence.