How Does God’s All-Greatness Establish His Being First and His Creative Power?
«God’s being first and His creative power arise from His essence, which admits no composition. The necessary relation between Creator and created is neither essential nor accidental; it is grounded in an attribute of the divine Essence that brings creation about.»
Question: How is God’s being the Greatest established in relation to His being the First and the Creator?
When God is too great to be described, His being the First is no exception. In truth, by affirming that He is the First, we deny that anything precedes the Divine Essence.
The Divine Essence admits of no composition, even in the sense of the attribute of creation. He creates when He wills. Neither the attribute of creation nor its necessary consequences and manifestations—the creatures themselves—intrude upon or accompany the Essence of the One, even as an accident.
If we define shadow in contrast to light, we must then imagine an intermediary between the two, which would amount to a kind of trinity.
The relationship between creation and the Creator is neither essential nor accidental; rather, it arises from the creative attribute inherent in the Most High. The attribute of creation entails creation. The Creator and the created are like light and shadow.