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From, A History of Greek Philosophy, vol. I, The early Presocratics and the Pythagoreans, Cambridge University Press, 1962, pp. 1-25.
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Page 17
At the apex of the scala naturae exists purely actual form, which as perfect Being has no part in matter or potentiality; that is, God. His existence is necessary on the principle that no potentiality is called into actuality save by the presence of an already actual being: in physical generation, a seed is first produced by a mature plant, a child must have a father. (It is fundamental to Aristotle's teleology that the hen came before the egg.) On this plane, actual and potential are only relative terms, but to sustain the teleological order of the whole Universe calls for a perfect and absolute Being. To Aristotle as to Plato, teleology implies the actual existence of a telos an ultimate final and efficient cause for the sum-total of things as well as the individual and relative causes which are at work within the separate species.
In his own nature God is pure mind or intellect, for that is the highest type of being and the only one that can be conceived as existing apart from matter. He is not a deliberate creator, since any concern for the world of forms-in-matter could only detract from his perfection and involve him in one way or another in the potential. But his existence is enough to keep in motion (not 'set in motion', for to Aristotle the world is eternal) the whole world-order by activating the universal and natural impulse towards form. In other words, everything is striving to imitate within its own limitations the perfection of God. Physically, his existence leads directly to the circular motions instigated by the intelligences that move the heavenly bodies, which in turn render possible the processes of terrestrial life. From this point of view mankind exists at many removes from God, but his possession of reason gives him a unique position, a kind of direct line of communication. Thus the way of intellectual contemplation, of philosophy, is for man the way to fulfil his proper nature. For him, as for the rest of nature, it is natural to develop the activity of his highest part, to strive to realize his proper form. For him, unlike the rest of terrestrial nature, this is (as Aristotle says in the tenth book of the Ethics) to cultivate a divine spark that is within him.
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Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-Greece/guthrie-history-intro.asp?pg=17
