Monologion: Chapter 80
MONOLOGION
Chapter 80 That he is Lord of all and rules all and is the only God It therefore seems—indeed, it is unhesitatingly declared—that that which is called God is not nothing, and that the name 'God' is properly assigned only to this supreme essence. Surely everyone who says that God exists (whether one God or more than one) understands him to be nothing other than a substance that he thinks human beings ought to worship because of his preeminent dignity, and to entreat in any pressing need, beyond every nature that is not God. Now what is as deserving of worship because of his dignity, or as properly the object of prayer for anything at all, as the supremely good and supremely powerful spirit, who is Lord of all and rules all? For just as it has been established81 that all things were made and are sustained through his supremely good and supremely wise omnipotence, so also it is altogether absurd to suppose that he is not the Lord of the things he made, or that they are ruled by something less powerful or less good or less wise, or even by no reason at all, but merely by the unstable disorder of chance. For it is he alone through whom it goes well for anything, without whom it goes well for nothing, and from whom and through whom and in whom all things exist.82
Therefore, since he alone is not only the good Creator but also the most powerful Lord and most wise Ruler of all things, it is utterly clear that it is he alone whom all other natures should lovingly worship and worshipfully love with all their power, from whom alone they ought to hope for good things, to whom alone they ought to flee from troubles, to whom alone they ought to pray for anything at all.Truly, therefore, he is not merely God; he is the only
God, ineffably three and one.
81 In Chapter 13.
82 Cf. Romans 11:36:"For from him and through him and in him all things exist."