intrinsic. There is no doubt that the precedence of some parts of time over others is neither causal, nor a matter of being a prerequisite, nor a precedence in rank. Parts of time cannot be brought together, whereas what precedes and what follows in these ways can; moreover, all parts of time are alike. Nor is this precedence temporal, since that would entail that time itself has a time and that the Creator is temporal.

They said, “If yesterday’s precedence over today can be understood without requiring another time, then the precedence of nonexistence over existence, and of the Creator over existence, can likewise be understood.”

They said, “Yet you do not affirm this kind of precedence. You do not say that it is preceded by something else that exists, or by its own nonexistence, with this kind of priority and precedence.”

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