polytheists—the philosophers who strip the Creator of His attributes.

Whatever they received from the Messiah is true, whereas whatever they invented by borrowing the words of those who opposed the messengers is false. Thus their doctrine mingles truth with falsehood, and they have struck out upon a path unknown to any besides them.

To make this clear, we say under

Seventh Point:

What they have asserted is a manifest contradiction, for they maintain:

‘Whatever exists is either a substance or an accident: what subsists by itself is the substance, and what subsists in something else is the accident.’

Then they add:

‘He is an existent, living, speaking being, possessing life and speech.’

We say to them: His life and His speech must be either a substance or an accident. They are not substances, for a substance is that which subsists in itself, whereas life and speech do not subsist in and of themselves but in another, so they are accidents. Consequently, in their view He is a substance in which accidents inhere—yet at the same time they declare, ‘He is a substance that admits no accident.’