II . The present time is not dependent on that which immediately preceded it; tor this reason, there is not need of a less cause for conserving a thing than for at first producing it.

III . Anything or any perfection of a thing actually existent cannot have nothing , or a thing nonexistent, for the cause of its existence.

IV . All the reality of perfection which is in a thing is found formally or eminently in its first and total cause.