Page:The Philosophy of Creation.djvu/104

 follows that the Creator could not communicate activity except from activity. There is, therefore, activity in the Creator.

Life is not a created thing, yet it is a form of the activity of substance. The life of anything is its activity. The life in the Creator is the activity of His substance. The conception of activity apart from something acting is impossible. It is therefore rationally to be concluded from all the foregoing that the Creator, or First Cause, is a substance having in Himself law, quality, force, intelligence, and life. By these sure steps of reason, which the reader may largely augment, we may perceive that the Creator also embodies all the essentials of nature in their highest form and substance.

That we may advance to a fuller understanding of the Creator, it will be necessary to consider somewhat in detail what life is.

In a most general sense, life may be regarded as comprehending all the activities distinguished as mineral, plant, and animal life. From a natural point of view, or with regard to the order