although it may do much to refute those people’s claims, does not answer the specious objection; rather, it offers a counterargument. Anyone who gives the matter due consideration will know that these heretics have inverted the truth: they have denied the Lord’s real precedence and ruled out the possibility of real precedence altogether. Likewise, they and the heretics among the speculative theologians have inverted the truth concerning His being above: they have denied that the Lord is truly above and truly separate. Indeed, they have denied the very possibility of being truly above and truly separate. Indeed, they have either denied this or obscured the issue by exploiting the ambiguity of the word “place.”

To explain this, one may say: there is no doubt that precedence, posteriority, and concurrence are relational matters. Thus, one says, “This must either precede that, follow it, or be concurrent with it.” One also says, “It must either be with it, before it, or after it,” or, “It must either be with it, in front of it, or behind it.”

The word “with” signifies concurrence and accompaniment. It is an adverbial expression that sometimes accompanies an expression of time and at other times an expression of place. When one says, “It is before it, after it, or with it,” it functions as an adverb of time; when one says, “It is in front of it, behind it, or with it,” it functions as an adverb of place. Precedence and posteriority are the two alternatives to concurrence, which is expressed by the word “with.” Thus, one says, “It precedes it, follows it, or is with it.” And if it is