Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichæans 27
27 ’From Him’ And ‘Of Him’ Do Not Mean The Same Thing PL 42, 560
But "from Him" does not mean the same as "of Him." For what is of Him may be said to be from Him; but not everything that is from Him is rightly said to be of Him. For from Him are heaven and earth, because He made them; but not of Him because they are not of His substance. As in the case of a man who begets a son and makes a house, from himself is the son, from himself is the house, but the son is of him, the house is of earth and wood. But this is so, because as a man he cannot make something even of nothing; but God of whom are all things, through whom are all things, in whom are all things, had no need of any material which He had not made to assist His omnipotence.
Ex ipso et De ipso non idem significare. Ex ipso autem non hoc significat, quod De ipso. Quod enim de ipso est, potest dici ex ipso: non autem omne quod ex ipso est, recte dicitur de ipso. Ex ipso enim coelum et terra, quia ipse fecit ea: non autem de ipso, quia non de substantia sua. Sicut aliquis homo si gignat filium, et faciat domum, ex ipso filius, ex ipso domus: sed filius de ipso, domus de terra et ligno. Sed hoc quia homo est, qui non potest aliquid etiam de nihilo facere: Deus autem ex quo omnia, per quem omnia, in quo omnia, non opus habebat aliqua materia, quam ipse non fecerat, adjuvari omnipotentiam suam.