And the speculative theologians who dispute this say, “He has always had power over what will come to be.”

They are told: “Power can exist only if its object is possible. If His power is everlasting, has it always been possible for Him to bring about what lies within His power?”

They say: “No; rather, possibility—the possibility of action—came into being.”

This contradicts their affirmation of power. If, instead, they say, “Rather, the possibility exists,” it becomes clear that action has always been possible. This establishes the possibility of infinitely many things within the Lord’s power existing.

Thus, if He has always possessed power, action has always been possible, and this possible action has actually occurred in the time that continues without end, then consider what necessitates the existence of things within His power as a class—His will, for example. Either its existence in beginningless eternity is impossible, in which case action must also be impossible, although we have already shown that it is possible. Moreover, if its existence were impossible, it would always remain impossible, since there is nothing there to make it possible, let alone bring it into existence. It is well known that its coming into existence after not existing must have something that necessitates it.

If, on the other hand, its existence in beginningless eternity is possible, then the existence of this possible thing depends on nothing other than His essence, and His essence is sufficient to bring it about. It follows that He has always possessed will. The same applies to all attributes of perfection: once their possibility in beginningless eternity is established, it follows that