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.
10. These three motions, and also the similar motions we perceive in this material world and (far anterior to these) the individual permanence, rest and grounding of each Kind1 have their Efficient, Formal, and Final Cause in the Beautiful and Good; Which is above all rest and motion; through Which all rest and motion come; and from Which, and in Which, and unto Which, and for the sake of Which they are. For from It and through It are all Being and life of spirit and of soul; and hence in the realm of nature magnitudes both small, co-equal and great; hence all the measured order and the proportions of things, which, by their different harmonies, commingle into wholes made up of co-existent parts; hence this universe, which is both One and Many; the conjunctions of parts together; the unities underlying all multiplicity, and the perfections of the individual wholes; hence Quality, Quantity, Magnitude and Infinitude; hence fusions2 and differentiations, hence all infinity and all limitation ; all boundaries, ranks, transcendences,3 elements and forms, hence all Being, all Power, all Activity, all Condition,4 all Perception, all Reason, all Intuition, all Apprehension, all Understanding, All Communion5—in a word, all that is comes from the Beautiful and Good, hath its very existence in the Beautiful and Good, and turns towards the Beautiful and Good. Yea, all that exists and that comes into being, exists and comes into being because of the Beautiful and Good; and unto this Object all things gaze and by It are moved and are conserved, and for the sake of It, because of It and in It, existeth every originating Principle—be
1 i.e. To the Angels and the perfected Saints. There is a somewhat similar thought in Wordsworth’s Prelude: “To hold fit converse with the spiritual world / and with the generations of mankind / spread over time past, present, and to come / age after age till time shall be no more.” This thought in Wordsworth and in D. is an experience and not a speculation.
2 This spiritual unity was by later Mystical writers called the apex of the soul, or the ground, or the spark. Another name is sy/eresis or synderesis.
3 There is an element of intuition in all discursive reasoning because all argument is based on certain axioms which are beyond proof (e.g. the law of universal causation). In fact the validity of our laws of thought is an axiom and therefore perceived by intuition. In the present passage D. means something deeper. He means that formal Dogmatic Theology advances round a central core of spiritual experience by which it must constantly be verified, Pectus facit theologum. Whenever theology even attempts to be purely deductive it goes wrong (e.g. Calvinism). If it is not rooted in intuition it will be rooted in fancies.
4 In D.’s classification Introversion and Sensation are both unmixed movements, for each leads to a kind of perception. Discursive reasoning is a mixed movement because it does not lead to a direct perception and yet it must contain an element of perception.
10. These three motions, and also the similar motions we perceive in this material world, and (far prior to these) the individual permanence, rest and grounding of each Kind,1 have their Efficient, Formal and Final Cause in the Beautiful and Good; Which is above all rest and motion; through Which all rest and motion come; and from Which, in Which, to Which and for the sake of Which they are.
For from It and through It come all Being and the life of spirit and of soul; and from It, in the realm of nature, come magnitudes small, equal and great; from It all the measured order and the proportions of things, which by their different harmonies blend into wholes made up of co-existent parts; from It this universe, which is both One and Many; the joining of parts together; the unities underlying all multiplicity, and the perfections of the individual wholes; from It Quality, Quantity, Magnitude and Infinitude; from It fusions2 and differentiations, all infinity and all limitation; all boundaries, ranks, transcendences,3 elements and forms; from It all Being, all Power, all Activity, all Condition,4 all Perception, all Reason, all Intuition, all Apprehension, all Understanding, All Communion5 — in a word, all that is comes from the Beautiful and Good, has its very existence in the Beautiful and Good, and turns towards the Beautiful and Good.
Indeed, all that exists and that comes into being exists and comes into being because of the Beautiful and Good; all things gaze towards this Object and are moved and conserved by It; and for the sake of It, because of It and in It, every originating Principle exists — be
1 i.e. To the Angels and the perfected Saints. There is a somewhat similar thought in Wordsworth’s Prelude: “To hold fit converse with the spiritual world / and with the generations of mankind / spread over time past, present, and to come / age after age till time shall be no more.” In Wordsworth, as in D., this thought is an experience and not a speculation.
2 Later Mystical writers called this spiritual unity the apex of the soul, or the ground, or the spark. Another name is sy/eresis or synderesis.
3 There is an element of intuition in all discursive reasoning, because all argument rests on certain axioms which are beyond proof (e.g. the law of universal causation). Indeed the validity of our laws of thought is an axiom, and is therefore perceived by intuition. In the present passage D. means something deeper. He means that formal Dogmatic Theology advances around a central core of spiritual experience, by which it must constantly be verified. Pectus facit theologum. Whenever theology even attempts to be purely deductive it goes wrong (e.g. Calvinism). If it is not rooted in intuition, it will be rooted in fancies.
4 In D.’s classification Introversion and Sensation are both unmixed movements, for each leads to a kind of perception. Discursive reasoning is a mixed movement, because it does not lead to a direct perception and yet must contain an element of perception.