ECKHART





GOD

GOD is nameless, for no man can either say or understand aught about
Him. If I say, God is good, it is not true; nay more; I am good, God
is not good. I may even say, I am better than God; for whatever is
good, may become better, and whatever may become better, may become
best. Now God is not good, for He cannot become better. And if He
cannot become better, He cannot become best, for these three things,
good, better, and best, are far from God, since He is above all. If
I also say, God is wise, it is not true; I am wiser than He. If I
also say, God is a Being, it is not true; He is transcendent Being
and superessential Nothingness. Concerning this St Augustine says:
the best thing that man can say about God is to be able to be silent
about Him, from the wisdom of his inner judgement. Therefore be
silent and prate not about God, for whenever thou dost prate about
God, thou liest, and committest sin. If thou wilt be without sin,
prate not about God. Thou canst understand nought about God, for He
is above all understanding. A master saith: If I had a God whom I
could understand, I would never hold Him to be God. (318)[37]

God is not only a Father of all good things, as being their First
Cause and Creator, but He is also their Mother, since He remains
with the creatures which have from Him their being and existence,
and maintains them continually in their being. If God did not abide