20. It will be objected that the above implies the existence (of the
Divinity) before He existed; for, if He made Himself, on the one hand,
He did not yet exist, if it was Himself that He made; and on the other,
so far as it was He who made, He already existed before Himself, since
what has been made was Himself. However, (the Divinity) should be
considered not so much as "being made" but as "making," and we should
realize that the actualization by which He created Himself is absolute;
for His actualization does not result in the production of any other
"being." He produces nothing but Himself, He is entirely Himself;
we are not dealing here with two things, but with a single entity.
Neither need we hesitate to admit that the primary actualization has no
"being"; but that actualization should be considered as constituting
His hypostatic form of existence. If within Him these two were to be
distinguished, the superlatively perfect Principle would be incomplete
and imperfect. To add actualization to Him would be to destroy His
unity. Thus, since the actualization is more perfect than His being,
and since that which is primary is the most perfect, that which is
primary must necessarily be actualization. He is what He is as soon
as He actualizes. He cannot be said to have existed before He made
Himself; for before He made Himself He did not exist; but (from the
first actualization) He already existed in entirety. He therefore is an
actualization which does not depend on being, (an actualization) that
is clearly free; and thus He (originates) from Himself. If, as to His
essence, He were preserved by some other principle, He himself would
not be the first proceeding from Himself. He is said to contain Himself
because He produces (and parades) Himself; since it is from the very
beginning that He caused the existence of what He naturally contains.
Strictly, we might indeed say, that He made Himself, if there existed a
time when He himself began to exist. But since He was what He is before
all times, the statement that He made Himself means merely that "having
made" and "himself" are inseparable; for His essence coincides with
His creative act, and, if I may be permitted to speak thus, with his
"eternal generation."