Since (the Divinity) is such, we certainly could not say that He is
what He is by chance. Such an assertion about Him is impossible,
inasmuch as we can speak of Him only by negations.[189] We shall
therefore have to say, not that He is what He is by chance; but that,
being what He is, He is not that by chance, since there is within Him
absolutely nothing contingent.
EVEN WE MAY BE SAID TO BE MASTERS OF OURSELVES; HOW MUCH MORE THE
SUPREME!
12. Shall we not even refuse to say that (the divinity) is what He is,
and is the master of what He is, or of that which is still superior?
Our soul still moots this problem, because she is not yet entirely
convinced by what we have said. Our considerations thereof are as
follows. By his body, each one of us is far separated from "being"; but
by his soul, by which he is principally constituted, he participates
in "being," and is a certain being; that is, he is a combination
of "difference" and "being." Fundamentally, we are therefore not a
"being"; we are not even "being"; consequently, we are not masters of
our "being"; "being" itself rather is master of us, since it furnishes
us with "difference" (which, joined with "being," constitutes our
nature). As, in a certain degree, we are nevertheless the "being" that
is master of us, we may, in this respect, even here below, be called
masters of ourselves. As to the Principle which absolutely is what
He is, which is "Being" itself, so that He and His being fuse, He is
master of Himself, and depends on nothing, either in His existence or
"being." He does not even need to be master of Himself since (He is
being), and since all that occupies the first rank in the intelligible
world is classified as "being."