ver," I make
reference to activity or time--if indeed God's "ever" can be described
as time--but not to a category of substance, like "great" in virtue of
greatness.

Finally, we must not look for the categories of situation and passivity
in God, for they simply are not to be found in Him.

Have I now made clear the difference between the categories? Some denote
the reality of a thing; others its accidental circumstances; the former
declare that a thing is something; the latter say nothing about its
being anything, but simply attach to it, so to speak, something
external. Those categories which describe a thing in terms of its
substance may be called substantial categories; when they apply to
things as subjects they are called accidents. In reference to God, who
is not a subject at all, it is only possible to employ the category of
substance.

[20] Gilbert de la Porree in his commentary on the _De Trin._ makes
Boethius's meaning clear. "Quod igitur in illo substantiam nominamus,
non est subiectionis ratione quod dicitur, sed ultra omnem quae
accidentibus est subiecta substantiam est essentia, absque omnibus quae
possunt accidere solitaria omnino." (Migne, _P.L._ lxiv. 1283). Cf. Aug.
_De Trin._ vii. 10.

[21] i.e. according to their substance.

[22] The doctrine is Augustine's, cf. _De Ciu. Dei_, xi. 6, xii. 16; but
Boethius's use of _sempiternitas_, as well as his word-building, seem to
be peculiar to himself. Claudianus Mamertus, speaking of applying the
categories to God, uses _sempiternitas_ as Boethius uses _aeternitas_.
Cf. _De Statu Animae_ i. 19. Apuleius seems to use both terms
interchangeably, e.g. _Asclep._ 29-31. On Boethius's distinction between
time and eternity see _Cons._ v. pr. 6, and Rand, _i er dem B. zugeschr.
Trakt. de fide_, pp. 425 ff, and Brandt in _Theol. Littzg._, 1902, p.
147.

V.

Age nunc de relatiuis speculemur pro quibus omne quod dictum est sumpsimus
ad disputationem; maxime enim haec non uidentur secundum se facere
praedicationem quae perspicue ex alieno aduentu constare perspiciuntur. Age
enim, quoniam dominus ac seruus relatiua sunt, uideamus utrumne ita sit ut
secundum se sit praedicatio an minime. Atqui si auferas seruum, abstuleris
et dominum; at non etiam si auferas albedinem, abstuleris quoque album, sed
interest, quod albedo accidit albo, qua sublata perit nimirum album. At in
domino, si seruum auferas,