time upon which action depends, nor is there any distinct state within absolute nonexistence in which it would be more appropriate for something to proceed from Him, or for a thing to come into being through Him. If something were to arise within Him after not having existed, His essence would change, and there would be an infinite regress of temporal events within it, which is impossible. Thus His action is everlasting.”

[Response to him on several grounds. The first ground]

Response to him on several grounds.

The first ground

This may be answered on several grounds.

The first ground

He may be asked:

What do you mean by saying, “Nothing proceeds from Him after not having existed”?

If you mean that no individual temporal event proceeds from Him after that event did not exist, this is false for two reasons.

First: this contradicts both your own position and that of the adherents of the revealed religions. Temporal events arise one after another, whether they proceed from Him through an intermediary or without one. If you say that motion causes them, then every part of that motion proceeds from Him after not having existed.

Second: the argument you have presented does not rule this out. For His essence to require continual determination does not mean that it must require the continual determination of every possible being or every effect. It need only require the continual determination of something, just as you yourselves say that what He determined was the celestial spheres and the elements, rather than individual temporal events.