3. Third Reason

25. The third reason is taken from the order of agent causes [e.g. William of Ware, Giles of Rome], and it is as follows: An inferior agent presupposes in its acting the effect of a superior agent. This is clear from induction, because art presupposes the effect of nature that it acts on, and nature presupposes something potential, namely matter, which is the effect of the principal agent. If the order of agents requires this universally, and there cannot be any created agent that is not subordinate to God in acting, then a created agent necessarily presupposes in its acting an effect of God, and so it cannot act if nothing is presupposed, and therefore it cannot create.