Monologium, on the Being of God16 Chapter XVI. For this Being it is the same to be just that it is to be justice; and so with regard to attributes that can be expressed in the same way: and none of these shows of what character, or how great, but what this Being is.
Chapter XVI. For this Being it is the same to be just that it is to be justice; and so with regard to attributes that can be expressed in the same way: and none of these shows of what character, or how great, but what this Being is.
But perhaps, when this Being is called just, or great, or anything like these, it is not shown what it is, but of what character, or how great it is. For every such term seems to be used with reference to quantity or magnitude; because everything that is just is so through justness, and so with other like cases, in the same way. Hence, the supreme Nature itself is not just, except through justness.
It seems, then, that by participation in this quality, that is, justness, the supremely good Substance is called just. But, if this is so, it is just through another, and not through itself. But this is contrary to the truth already established, that it is good, or great or whatever it is at all, through itself and not through another. So, if it is not just, except through justness, and cannot be just, except through itself, what can be more clear than that this Nature is itself justness? And, when it is said to be just through justness, it is the same as saying that it is just through itself. And, when it is said to be just through itself, nothing else is understood than that it is just through justness. Hence, if it is inquired what the supreme Nature, which is in question, is in itself, what truer answer can be given, than Justness?
We must observe, then, how we are to understand the statement, that the Nature which is itself justness is just. For, since a man cannot be justness, but can possess justness, we do not conceive of a just man as being justness, but as possessing justness. Since, on the other hand, it cannot properly be said of the supreme Nature that it possesses justness, but that it is justness, when it is called just it is properly conceived of as being justness, but not as possessing justness. Hence, if, when it is said to be justness, it is not said of what character it is, but what it is, it follows that, when it is called just, it is not said of what character it is, but what it is.
Therefore, seeing that it is the same to say of the supreme Being, that it is just and that it is justness; and, when it is said that it is justness, it is nothing else than saying that it is just; it makes no difference whether it is said to be justness or to be just. Hence, when one is asked regarding the supreme Nature, what it is, the answer, Just, is not less fitting than the answer, Justness. Moreover, what we see to have been proved in the case of justness, the intellect is compelled to acknowledge as true of all attributes which are similarly predicated of this supreme Nature. Whatever such attribute is predicated of it, then, it is shown, not of what character, or how great, but what it is.
But it is obvious that whatever good thing the supreme Nature is, it is in the highest degree. It is, therefore, supreme Being, supreme Justness, supreme Wisdom, supreme Truth, supreme Goodness, supreme Greatness, supreme Beauty, supreme Immortality, supreme Incorruptibility, supreme Immutability, supreme Blessedness, supreme Eternity, supreme Power, supreme Unity; which is nothing else than supremely being, supremely living, etc.
Sed fortasse cum dicitur justa, vel magna, vel aliquid similium, non ostenditur quid sit, sed potius qualis, vel quanta sit. Per qualitatem quippe, vel quantitatem, quodlibet horum dici videtur. Omne namque quod justum est, per justitiam justum est; et alia hujusmodi similiter. Quare ipsa summa natura non est justa, nisi per justitiam. Videtur igitur participatione qualitatis, justitiae scilicet, justa dici summe bona substantia: quod si ita est, per aliud est justa, non per se. At hoc contrarium est veritati perfectae; quia bona, vel magna, vel subsistens, quod est omnino, per se est, non per aliud. Si igitur non est justa, nisi per justitiam, nec justa esse potest nisi per se: quid magis conspicuum, quid magis necessarium, quam quod eadem natura, est ipsa justitia: et cum dicitur esse justa per justitiam, idem est quod per se; et cum justa per se dicitur esse, non aliud intelligitur quam per justitiam. Quapropter, si quaeratur quid sit ipsa summa natura de qua agitur; quid verius respondetur quam justitia? Videndum igitur quomodo intelligendum sit quando illa natura, quae est ipsa justitia, dicitur justa. Quoniam enim homo non potest esse justitia, justitiam autem habere potest; non intelligitur justus homo existens justitia, sed habens justitiam. Quoniam igitur de summa natura non proprie dicitur quia habet justitiam, sed existit justitia: cum dicitur justa, proprie intelligitur existens justitia, non autem habens justitiam. Quare si, cum dicitur existens justitia, non dicitur qualis est sed quid est; consequitur ut, cum dicitur justa, non dicatur qualis sit, sed quid sit. Deinde, quoniam de illa suprema essentia idem est dicere quia est justa, et quia est existens justitia: et cum dicitur, est existens justitia, non est aliud quam est justitia: nihil differt in illa, sive dicatur, est justitia, sive est justa. Quapropter cum quaeritur de illa quid est, non minus congrue respondetur justa, quam justitia: quod vero in exemplo justitiae ratum esse conspicitur, hoc de omnibus, quae similiter de ipsa summa natura dicuntur, intellectus sentire per rationem constringitur. Quidquid igitur eorum de illa dicatur, non qualis, vel quanta; sed magis quid sit monstratur. Sed palam est quia quodlibet bonum summa natura sit, summe illud est. Illa igitur est summa essentia, summa vita, summa ratio, summa salus, summa justitia, summa sapientia, summa veritas, summa bonitas, summa magnitudo, summa pulchritudo, summa immortalitas, summa incorruptibilitas, summa immutabilitas, summa beatitudo, summa aeternitas, summa potestas, summa unitas; quod non est aliud quam summe ens, summe vivens: et alia similiter.