I could not as I am, make my self what I am: for so my self as the cause should be before my self as the effect, which is a contradiction, unless the word [self] be used equivocally. When I was not I acted not. If it be said by any, that the Soul did fabricate a Body to it self, and so one part of me made the other, I answer, 1. My soul did not make the matter of that Body: for if it did, it made it of something or of nothing; if of something, either it made that something or not; if not, then it made not the first matter of the Body. If it made it of nothing, it must be Omnipotent; but it is conscious of impotency. 2. My soul did not make it self, for then it must be before it self, which is impossible. And if I made neither form nor matter, I did not make my self. If it be said, that my Soul is an eternal uncaused being, and so did fabricate this Body as a dwelling for it self: I answer, 1. As to the supposed ⟨p. 10⟩fabrication,1 it is conscious it self of no such thing. And if my Soul made my body, either it was as a causa subministra vel instrumentalis, by the direction and power of a superior cause, or else of and by it self as the prime cause. If the first, then it is a caused and dependent being it self, and so leadeth us to a higher cause. If the second be affirmed, and so my Soul an eternal, uncaused, independent being; then, 1. That which is without beginning, cause and dependency, must needs be self-sufficient, and be the highest excellency; it must have an infiniteness, and need no help from any other: But my Soul is conscious of imperfection in knowledge, its ignorance is its burden and dishonour,2 it knoweth not so much as is here asserted of it self, it knoweth no such perfections or operations, it knoweth little comparatively of the Universe, or of any particular thing in it. If it were an eternal, uncaused, independent Being, it need not all the helps of evidence and argument in this dispute. Moreover it is conscious of imperfection in Goodness, and defilement of Evil: it is defective in governing this flesh, which could never be able to make me a sinner or culpable, if it were animated with an uncaused independent being. Moreover I am conscious of impotency in every thing that I go about: a thousand difficulties pose and stall me! a thousand things I would do and cannot, and as many I would have and cannot:
I could not as I am, make my self what I am: for so my self as the cause should be before my self as the effect, which is a contradiction, unless the word [self] be used equivocally. When I was not I acted not. If it be said by any, that the Soul did fabricate a Body to it self, and so one part of me made the other, I answer, 1. My soul did not make the matter of that Body: for if it did, it made it of something or of nothing; if of something, either it made that something or not; if not, then it made not the first matter of the Body. If it made it of nothing, it must be Omnipotent; but it is conscious of impotency. 2. My soul did not make it self, for then it must be before it self, which is impossible. And if I made neither form nor matter, I did not make my self. If it be said, that my Soul is an eternal uncaused being, and so did fabricate this Body as a dwelling for it self: I answer, 1. As to the supposed ⟨p. 10⟩fabrication,1 it is conscious it self of no such thing. And if my Soul made my body, either it was as a causa subministra vel instrumentalis, by the direction and power of a superiour cause, or else of and by it self as the prime cause. If the first, then it is a caused and dependent being it self, and so leadeth us to a higher cause. If the second be affirmed, and so my Soul an eternal, uncaused, independent being; then, 1. That which is without beginning, cause and dependency, must needs be self-sufficient, and be the highest excellency; it must have an infiniteness, and need no help from any other: But my Soul is conscious of imperfection in knowledge, its ignorance is its burden and dishonour,2 it knoweth not so much as is here asserted of it self, it knoweth no such perfections or operations, it knoweth little comparatively of the Universe, or of any particular thing in it. If it were an eternal, uncaused, independent Being, it need not all the helps of evidence and argument in this dispute. Moreover it is conscious of imperfection in Goodness, and defilement of Evil: it is defective in governing this flesh, which could never be able to make me a sinner or culpable, if it were animated with an uncaused independent being. Moreover I am conscious of impotency in every thing that I go about: a thousand difficulties pose and stall me! a thousand things I would do and cannot, and as many I would have and cannot:
- 1Quis est tam vecors, qui cum suspexerit in coelum, Deo, esse non sentiat? & ea quae tantâ mente fiunt, ut vix quisquam art ullâ, ordinem rerum, atque vicissitudinem persequi possit, casu fieri putet. Cicer. de Resp. Arusp.Quis est tam vecors, qui cum suspexerit in coelum, Deo, esse non sentiat? & ea quae tantâ mente fiunt, ut vix quisquam arte ullâ, ordinem rerum, atque vicissitudinem persequi possit, casu fieri putet. Cicer. de Resp. Arusp.
- 2Placet Stoicis corruptibilem esse Mundum, quippe genitum eorum ratione quae per sensus intelliguntur. Cujus & partes sunt corruptibiles & totum, partes autem mundi corruptibiles sunt, in se invicem mutantur. Est igitur corruptibilis Mundis. Ae quicquid mutari in deterius potest, corruptibile est. Mundus autem huic mutationi & corruptioni obnoxius est. Laert. in Zenone.
