Confessions of a Rational Mystic

CAPITULUM XIII

344 I PRO S LOG ION CAPITULUM XIII Quomodo solus sit incircumscriptus et aeternus, cum alii spiritus sint incircumscripti et aeterni Sed omne quod clauditur aliquatenus loco aut tempore, minus est quam quod nulla lex loci aut temporis coercet . Quoniam ergo maius te nihil est, nullus locus aut tempus te cohibet, sed ubique et semper es. Quod quia de te solo dici potest, tu solus incircumscriptus es et aeternus. Quomodo igitur dicuntur et alii spiritus incircumscripti et aeterni? Et quidem solus es aeternus, quia solus omnium, sicut non desinis, sic non incipis esse. Sed solus quomodo es incircumscriptus? An creatus spiritus ad te collatus est circumscriptus , ad corpus vero incircumscriptus? Nempe omnino circumscriptum est, quod cum alicubi totum est, non potest simul esse alibi; quod de solis corporeis cernitur. Incircumscriptum vero, quod simul est ubique totum; quod de te solo intelligitur. Circumscriptum autem simul et incircumscriptum est, quod, cum alicubi sit totum, potest simul esse totum alibi, non tamen ubique; quod de creatis spiritibus cognoscitur. Si enim non esset anima tota in singulis membris sui corporis, non sentiret tota in singulis. Tu ergo, Domine, singulariter es incircumscriptus et aeternus, et tamen et alii spiritus sunt incircumscripti et aeterni. 344 I PRO S LOG ION CAPITULUM XIII Quomodo solus sit incircumscriptus et aeternus, cum alii spiritus sint incircumscripti et aeterni Sed omne quod clauditur aliquatenus loco aut tempore, minus est quam quod nulla lex loci aut temporis coercet . Quoniam ergo maius te nihil est, nullus locus aut tempus te cohibet, sed ubique et semper es. Quod quia de te solo dici potest, tu solus incircumscriptus es et aeternus. Quomodo igitur dicuntur et alii spiritus incircumscripti et aeterni? Et quidem solus es aeternus, quia solus omnium, sicut non desinis, sic non incipis esse. Sed solus quomodo es incircumscriptus? An creatus spiritus ad te collatus est circumscriptus , ad corpus vero incircumscriptus? Nempe omnino circumscriptum est, quod cum alicubi totum est, non potest simul esse alibi; quod de solis corporeis cernitur. Incircumscriptum vero, quod simul est ubique totum; quod de te solo intelligitur. Circumscriptum autem simul et incircumscriptum est, quod, cum alicubi sit totum, potest simul esse totum alibi, non tamen ubique; quod de creatis spiritibus cognoscitur. Si enim non esset anima tota in singulis membris sui corporis, non sentiret tota in singulis. Tu ergo, Domine, singulariter es incircumscriptus et aeternus, et tamen et alii spiritus sunt incircumscripti et aeterni. 345 I Text and Translation Chapter 13 How he alone is unlimited and eternal, although other spirits are unlimited and eternal But all that is in any way confined by place or time is less than that which no law ofplace or time constrains. Since, therefore, nothing is greater than you, no place or time contains you, but you are everywhere and always. And since this can be said ofyou alone, you alone are unlimited and eternal. How, then, are other spirits also said to be unlimited and eternal? No doubt you are alone eternal, since, alone ofall things, even as you will not cease, so too you did not begin to be. But how are you alone unlimited? Or is it that a created spirit is limited in comparison to you but not in comparison to a body? Surely, that which, while existing somewhere as a whole, cannot at the same time be elsewhere, is by all means limited-which is clear ofbodies alone. That is unlimited, however, which is simultaneously everywhere wholly-which can be understood ofyou alone. That, however, is at the same time limited and unlimited which, while it is wholly somewhere, can simultaneously be wholly elsewhere but not everywhere-which is known to be true ofcreated spirits. For ifthe soul were not wholly in each of the members of its own body, the soul as a whole would not have feeling in each ofthem. Therefore, you, lord, are uniquely unlimited and eternal, and yet other spirits are both unlimited and eternal. 345 I Text and Translation Chapter 13 How he alone is unlimited and eternal, although other spirits are unlimited and eternal But all that is in any way confined by place or time is less than that which no law ofplace or time constrains. Since, therefore, nothing is greater than you, no place or time contains you, but you are everywhere and always. And since this can be said ofyou alone, you alone are unlimited and eternal. How, then, are other spirits also said to be unlimited and eternal? No doubt you are alone eternal, since, alone ofall...