But, the priest mused, a power great enough to frame infinite laws must be itself all-powerful. And if it has ever been all-powerful, it could never cease to be so, for there could be nothing to deprive it of its power. Omnipotence excludes everything else. Or, what is the same thing, is all-inclusive.
But laws originate, even as among human beings, in mind, for a law is a mental thing. So the infinite laws which bind the stars together, and by which the universe was designed and is still maintained, could have originated only in a mind, and that one infinite.
“Then God surely must know everything,” commented Rosendo, by way of simple and satisfying conclusion.
Certainly the creator of an infinite universe––a universe, moreover, which reveals intelligence and knowledge on the part of its cause––the originator of infinite laws, which reveal omnipotence in their maker––must have all knowledge, all wisdom, at his command. But, on the other hand, intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, are ever mental things. What could embrace 60 these things, and by them create an infinite universe, but an infinite mind?
Josè’s thought reverted to Cardinal Newman’s reference to God as “an initial principle.” Surely the history of the universe reveals the patent fact that, despite the mutations of time, despite growth, maturity, and decay, despite “the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds,” something endures. What is it––law? Yes, but more. Ideas? Still more. Mind? Yes, the mind which is the anima mundi, the principle, of all things.
“But if He is so great, Padre, and knows everything, I don’t see why He made the devil,” continued Rosendo; “for the devil fights against Him all the time.”
Ah, simple-hearted child of nature! A mind so pure as yours should give no heed to thoughts of Satan. And the man at your side is now too deeply buried in the channels which run below the superficiality of the world’s thought to hear your childish question. Wait. The cause of an infinite effect must itself be infinite. The framer of infinite laws must be an infinite mind. And an infinite mind must contain all knowledge, and have all power. But were it to contain any seeds or germs of decay, or any elements of discord––in a word, any evil––it must disintegrate. Then it would cease to be omnipotent. Verily, to be eternal and perfect it must be wholly good! “And so,” the priest mused aloud, “we call it God.”
But, he continued to reflect, when we accept the conclusion that the universe is the product of an infinite mind, we are driven to certain other inevitable conclusions, if we would be logical. The minds of men manifest themselves continually, and the manifestation is in mental processes and things. Mental activity results in the unfolding of ideas. Does the activity of an infinite mind differ in this respect? And, if not, can the universe be other than a mental thing? For, if an infinite mind created a universe, it must have done so by the unfolding of its own ideas! And, remaining infinite, filling all space, this mind must ever continue to contain those ideas. And the universe––the creation––is mental.
The burden of thought oppressed the priest, and he got up from his chair and paced back and forth before the house. But still his searching mind burrowed incessantly, as if it would unearth a living thing that had been buried since the beginning.
In order to fully express itself, an infinite mind would have to unfold an infinite number and variety of ideas. And this unfolding would go on forever, since an infinite number is never reached. This is “creation,” and it could never terminate.