in an absolute sense. Each of these two methods necessarily involves knowledge that the heart is compelled to accept, for the heart acquires knowledge only of this compelling kind, beginning through the mediation of necessary knowledge. Reasoning is built upon premises that ultimately rest on necessary knowledge, whether mediated by sensory perception or independent of it.

The syllogistic method yields knowledge through necessary premises, as when one says:

“That which is known to exist is either contingent or necessary, and the contingent can exist only through a Necessary Existent. Thus, the existence of a Necessary Existent is established on either supposition.”

Or when one says:

“The world has come into being, or much of it has come into being.” The latter is necessarily known, while the former requires proof.

Then one says:

“Everything that has come into being has an originator.”

Or one says:

“There is no doubt that something exists. It is either beginningless or has come into being, and whatever has come into being necessarily requires something beginningless. Thus, the existence of something beginningless is established on either supposition.”

Likewise, one says:

“There is no doubt that something exists. It is either necessary or contingent, and the contingent necessarily requires a Necessary Existent. Thus, the existence of a Necessary Existent is established on either supposition.”

One may also say:

“There is no doubt that something exists. It is either made or unmade, created or uncreated, or brought into being or not brought into being. Whatever is made, created, or brought into being necessarily requires a maker, a creator, and one who brings it into being. Thus, the existence of something that is neither made, nor brought into being, nor created is established on either supposition.”