must either be eternal or have arisen. If they are eternal, the point is established. If they have arisen, they must have a newly arisen cause, which entails an infinite regress. An infinite regress entails perpetual power and the possibility of action. It is thus established that He has always had power to act and that action is possible for Him; this is the point to be proved.

To clarify: if He has power to act, He must have had that power from eternity. Otherwise, capacity would be an adventitious attribute of His essence, and this capacity would require another capacity, entailing an infinite regress. If an infinite regress is impossible, capacity must always exist as a kind, since it cannot be adventitious: under this assumption, an adventitious capacity would entail an impossible infinite regress, and whatever entails something impossible is itself impossible. Once its being adventitious is ruled out, it is established as a necessary attribute, since He unquestionably possesses it. If, however, an infinite regress is possible, then the perpetual existence of infinitely many capacities must be possible, for He possesses them, and they cannot arise anew in Him, since His power is a necessary concomitant of His essence. One who lacks power cannot make himself capable after having lacked power. This entails that capacity must always exist as a kind. Thus, under either assumption, capacity must be established from eternity, which is the point to be proved.

If this is so, power over a thing depends upon the possibility of the object of that power, since capacity is a relation between the one who has power and its object, and therefore requires the reality of both. What is not possible cannot be an object of power, so capacity with respect to it cannot be established in