Confessions of a Rational Mystic

CAPITULUM XV

348 I PRO S LOG ION Quanta namque est lux ina, de qua micat omne verum, quod rationali menti lucet! Quam ampla est ina veritas, in qua est omne quod verum est et extra quam non nisi nihil et falsum est! Quam immensa est, quae uno intuitu videt, quaecumque facta sunt, et a quo et per quem et quomodo de nihilo facta sunt! Quid puritatis, quid simplicitatis, quid certitudinis et splendoris ibi est! Certe plus quam a creatura valeat intelligi. ICAPITULUM XV Quod maior sit quam cogitari possit Ergo, Domine, non solum es quo maius cogitari nequit, sed es quiddam maius quam cogitari possit. Quoniam namque valet cogitari esse aliquid huiusmodi: si tu non es hoc ipsum, potest cogitari aliquid maius te; quod fieri nequit. 348 I PRO S LOG ION Quanta namque est lux ina, de qua micat omne verum, quod rationali menti lucet! Quam ampla est ina veritas, in qua est omne quod verum est et extra quam non nisi nihil et falsum est! Quam immensa est, quae uno intuitu videt, quaecumque facta sunt, et a quo et per quem et quomodo de nihilo facta sunt! Quid puritatis, quid simplicitatis, quid certitudinis et splendoris ibi est! Certe plus quam a creatura valeat intelligi. ICAPITULUM XV Quod maior sit quam cogitari possit Ergo, Domine, non solum es quo maius cogitari nequit, sed es quiddam maius quam cogitari possit. Quoniam namque valet cogitari esse aliquid huiusmodi: si tu non es hoc ipsum, potest cogitari aliquid maius te; quod fieri nequit. 349 I Text and Translation For how great is that light from which shines every truth that illuminates the rational mind! How vast is that truth in which is all that is true, And outside ofwhich is only nothingness and falsehood! How immense is that which beholds in one single intuition all of creation, And by whom and through whom and how all creatures were made from nothing! What purity, what simplicity, what certainty and splendor, are there! Surely it is more than can be understood by any creature. IChapter 15 That he is greater than can be thought Therefore, lord, not only are you that than which a greater cannot be thought, but you are something greater than can be thought. For since something can be thought to be ofthis kind, ifyou are not yourselfthis , something greater than you can be thought, which cannot be. 349 I Text and Translation For how great is that light from which shines every truth that illuminates the rational mind! How vast is that truth in which is all that is true, And outside ofwhich is only nothingness and falsehood! How immense is that which beholds in one single intuition all of creation, And by whom and through whom and how all creatures were made from nothing! What purity, what simplicity, what certainty and splendor, are there! Surely it is more than can be understood by any creature. IChapter 15 That he is greater than can be thought Therefore, lord, not only are you that than which a greater cannot be thought, but you are something greater than can be thought. For since something can be thought to be ofthis kind, ifyou are not yourselfthis , something greater than you can be thought, which cannot be. ...