Monologion: Chapter 41/Chapter 42
BASIC WRITINGS
and the other is offspring the more truly, the more that the one by himself suffices completely for the birth of the other and he who is born expresses his likeness? For in other things that certainly have a relationship of parent to offspring, none of them begets in such a way that it needs no help and is by itself completely sufficient to beget its offspring, and none of them is begotten in such a way that it is exactly like its parent, with no admixture of unlikeness.
Therefore, given that the Word of the supreme spirit exists so completely from his essence alone, and is like him in such a unique way, that no other offspring exists so completely from the essence of its parent alone or is so much like its parent, the relationship of parent to offspring certainly seems not to apply to anything so fittingly as it does to the supreme spirit and his Word. Therefore, the distinguishing characteristic of the supreme spirit is to be most truly parent, and the distinguishing characteristic of the Word is to be most truly offspring.
Chapter 41 That he most truly begets and the Word is begotten Now this could not be the case unless it were equally true that he most truly begets and the Word is most truly begotten.Therefore, just as the earlier claim is clearly true, this claim must be absolutely certain. Therefore, the supreme spirit most truly begets and his Word is most truly begotten.
Chapter 42 That he is most truly begetter and Father, and the other is begotten and Son
At this point I should like to conclude (and perhaps I could) that he is most truly the Father, while the other is mostly truly the Son. But I think one should not overlook the question whether they are more properly called 'Father' and 'Son' or 'Mother' and 'Daughter', since there is no distinction of sex in them. For if it is appropriate to call him 'Father' and his offspring 'Son' because they are both spirit, why would not a parallel argument show that it is appropriate for one to be Mother and the other Daughter, since they are both truth and wisdom?52 Or is it because in those natures that do have a distinction of sexes, being a father or son is characteristic of the better sex, whereas being a mother or daughter is characteristic of the lesser sex? This is indeed naturally the case in most,but in some it is just the opposite,as in certain kinds of birds, in which the female sex is always larger and stronger, whereas the male is smaller and weaker.
52 This argument relies on the fact that in Latin the word for 'spirit' is masculine and the words for 'truth' and 'wisdom' are feminine.