There remains for us at present only to explain how it is possible that God has influence at times upon men or upon other substances by an extraordinary or miraculous intervention, since it seems that nothing is able to happen which is extraordinary or supernatural in as much as all the events which occur to the other substances are only the consequences of their natures. We must recall what was said above in regard to the miracles in the universe. These always conform to the universal law of the general order, although they may contravene the subordinate regulations, and since every person or substance is like a little world which expresses the great world, we can say that this extraordinary action of God upon this substance is nevertheless miraculous, although it is comprised in the general order of the universe in so far as it is expressed by the individual essence or concept of this substance. This is why, if we include in our natures all that they express, nothing is supernatural in them, because they reach out to everything an effect always expressing its cause, and God being the veritable cause of the substances. But since what our natures express more perfectly than others is peculiarly our own, and since this superior expression constitutes our “power,” and since that power is limited, as I have just explained, there are many things which surpass the powers of our natures and even of all limited natures. As a consequence, to speak more clearly, I say that the miracles and the extraordinary interventions of God have this peculiarity that they cannot be foreseen by any created mind however enlightened, because the distinct comprehension of the fundamental order is beyond the reach of all such minds, while on the other hand that which is called natural depends upon less fundamental regulations which created beings can understand. In order then that my words may be as irreprehensible as the meaning I am trying to convey, it will be well to associate certain words with certain ideas. We may call that our essence which includes all that we express, and since it expresses our union with God himself it has no limits and nothing goes beyond it. But that which is limited in us may be designated as our nature or our power; and in accordance with this terminology that which goes beyond the natures of all created substances is supernatural.
Chapter: 16