E1P28S
Scholium — Part I
Latin
Cum quædam a Deo immediate produci debuerunt videlicet ea quæ ex absoluta ejus natura necessario sequuntur et alia mediantibus his primis quæ tamen sine Deo nec esse nec concipi possunt, hinc sequitur I° quod Deus sit rerum immediate ab ipso productarum causa absolute proxima, non vero in suo genere ut aiunt. Nam Dei effectus sine sua causa nec esse nec concipi possunt (per propositionem 15 et corollarium propositionis 24). Sequitur II° quod Deus non potest proprie dici causa esse remota rerum singularium nisi forte ea de causa ut scilicet has ab iis quas immediate produxit vel potius quæ ex absoluta ejus natura sequuntur, distinguamus. Nam per causam remotam talem intelligimus quæ cum effectu nullo modo conjuncta est. At omnia quæ sunt in Deo sunt et a Deo ita dependent ut sine ipso nec esse nec concipi possint.
English (Elwes 1883)
As certain things must be produced immediately by God, namely those things which necessarily follow from his absolute nature, through the means of these primary attributes, which, nevertheless, can neither exist nor be conceived without God, it follows:--1. That God is absolutely the proximate cause of those things immediately produced by him. I say absolutely, not after his kind, as is usually stated. For the effects of God cannot either exist or be conceived without a cause (Prop. xv. and Prop. xxiv. Coroll.). 2. That God cannot properly be styled the remote cause of individual things, except for the sake of distinguishing these from what he immediately produces, or rather from what follows from his absolute nature. For, by a remote cause, we understand a cause which is in no way conjoined to the effect. But all things which are, are in God, and so depend on God, that without him they can neither be nor be conceived.
Modern English
Some things must have been produced immediately by God, namely those that follow necessarily from his absolute nature, and others through the mediation of these primary things; yet even these mediated things can neither exist nor be conceived without God. From this it follows:
First, that God is the absolutely proximate cause of things immediately produced by him, not, as some say, in his own kind. For God's effects can neither exist nor be conceived without their cause (E1P15) and (E1P24C).
Second, that God cannot properly be called the remote cause of singular things — except perhaps to distinguish them from what he immediately produces, or rather from what follows from his absolute nature. For by a remote cause we understand one that is in no way connected with its effect. But all things that exist are in God, and depend on God in such a way that without him they can neither exist nor be conceived.