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"The earth was
invisible and unfinished."
1. In the few
words which have occupied us this morning we have found such a depth of
thought that we despair of penetrating further. If such is the fore
court of the sanctuary, if the portico of the temple is so grand and
magnificent, if the splendour of its beauty thus dazzles the eyes of
the soul, what will be the holy of holies? Who will dare to try to gain
access to the innermost shrine? Who will look into its secrets? To gaze
into it is indeed forbidden us, and language. is powerless to express
what the mind conceives. However, since there are rewards, and most
desirable ones, reserved by the just Judge for the intention alone of
doing good, do not let us hesitate to continue our researches. Although
we may not attain to the truth, if, with the help of the Spirit, we do
not fall away from the meaning of Holy Scripture we shall not deserve
to be rejected, and, with the help of grace, we shall contribute to the
edification of the Church of God.
"The earth," says Holy Scripture, "was invisible and unfinished." The
heavens and the earth were created without distinction. How then is it
that the heavens are perfect whilst the earth is still unformed and
incomplete? In one word, what was the unfinished condition of the
earth? And for what reason was it invisible? The fertility of the earth
is its perfect finishing; growth of all kinds of plants, the
upspringing of tall trees, both productive and sterile, flowers' sweet
scents and fair colours, and all that which, a little later, at the
voice of God came forth from the earth to beautify her, their universal
Mother. As nothing of all this yet existed, Scripture is right in
calling the earth "without form." We could also say of the heavens that
they were still imperfect and had not received their natural adornment,
since at that time they did not shine with the glory of the sun and of
the moon and were not crowned by the choirs of the stars. These bodies
were not yet created. Thus you will not diverge from the truth in
saying that the heavens also were "without form." The earth was
invisible for two reasons: it may be because man, the spectator, did
not yet exist, or because being submerged under the waters which
over-flowed the surface, it could not be seen, since the waters had not
yet been gathered together into their own places, where God afterwards
collected them, and gave them the name of seas. What is invisible?
First of all that which our fleshly eye cannot perceive; our mind, for
example; then that which, visible in its nature, is hidden by some body
which conceals it, like iron in the depths of the earth. It is in this
sense, because it was hidden under the waters, that the earth was still
invisible. However, as light did not yet exist, and as the earth lay in
darkness, because of the obscurity of the air above it, it should not
astonish us that for this reason Scripture calls it" invisible."
2. But the corrupters of the truth, who, incapable of submitting their
reason to Holy Scripture, distort at will the meaning of the Holy
Scriptures, pretend that these words mean matter. For it is matter,
they say, which from its nature is without form and invisible,--being
by the conditions of its existence without quality and without form and
figure. The Artificer submitting it to the working of His wisdom
clothed it with a form, organized it, and thus gave being to the
visible world.
If matter is uncreated, it has a claim to the same honours as God,
since it must be of equal rank with Him. Is this not the summit of
wickedness, that an extreme deformity, without quality, without form,
shape, ugliness without configuration, to use their own expression,
should enjoy the same prerogatives with Him, Who is wisdom. power and
beauty itself, the Creator and the Demiurge of the universe? This is
not all. If matter is so great as to be capable of being acted on by
the whole wisdom of God, it would in a way raise its hypostasis to an
equality with the inaccessible power of God, since it would be able to
measure by itself all the extent of the divine intelligence. If it is
insufficient for the operations of God, then we fall into a more absurd
blasphemy, since we condemn God for not being able, on account of the
want of matter, to finish His own works. The poverty of human nature
has deceived these reasoners. Each of our crafts Is exercised upon some
special matter--the art of the smith upon iron, that of the carpenter
on wood. In all, there is the subject, the form and the work which
results from the form. Matter is taken from without--art gives the
form--and the work is composed at the same time of form and of matter.
Such is the idea that they make for themselves of the divine work. The
form of the world is due to the wisdom of the supreme Artificer; matter
came to the Creator from without; and thus the world results from a
double origin. It hits received from outside its matter and its
essence, and from God its form and figure. They thus come to deny that
the mighty God has presided at the formation of the universe, and
pretend that He has only brought a crowning contribution to a common
work, that He has only contributed some small portion to the genesis of
beings: they are incapable from the debasement of their reasonings of
raising their glances to the height of truth. Here below arts are
subsequent to matter--introduced into life by the indispensable need of
them. Wool existed before weaving made it supply one of nature's
imperfections. Wood existed before carpentering took possession of it,
and transformed it each day to supply new wants, and made us see all
the advantages derived from it, giving the oar to the sailor, the
winnowing fan to the labourer, the lance to the soldier. But God,
before all those things which now attract our notice existed, after
casting about in His mind and determining to bring into being time
which had no being, imagined the world such as it ought to be, and
created matter in harmony with the forth which He wished to give it. He
assigned to the heavens the nature adapted for the heavens, and gave to
the earth an essence in accordance with its form. He formed, as He
wished, fire, air and water, and gave to each the essence which the
object of its existence required. Finally, He welded all the diverse
parts of the universe by links of indissoluble attachment and
established between them so perfect a fellowship and harmony that the
most distant, in spite of their distance, appeared united in one
universal sympathy. Let those men therefore renounce their fabulous
imaginations, who, in spite of the weakness of their argument, pretend
to measure a power as incomprehensible to man's reason as it is
unutterable by man's voice.
3. God created the heavens and the earth, but not only half;--He
created all the heavens and all the earth, creating the essence with
the form. For He is not an inventor of figures, but the Creator even of
the essence of beings. Further let them tell us how the efficient power
of God could deal with the passive nature of matter, the latter
furnishing the matter without form, the former possessing the science
of the form without matter, both being in need of each other; the
Creator in order to display His art, matter in order to cease to be
without form and to receive a form. But let us stop here and return to
our subject.
"The earth was invisible and unfinished." In saying "In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth," the sacred writer passed over
many things in silence, water, air, fire and the results from them,
which, all forming in reality the true complement of the world, were,
without doubt, made at the same time as the universe. By this silence,
history wishes to train the activity or our intelligence, giving it a
weak point for starting, to impel it to the discovery of the truth.
Thus, we are not told of the creation of water; but, as we are told
that the earth was invisible, ask yourself what could have covered it,
and prevented it from being seen? Fire could not conceal it. Fire
brightens all about it, and spreads light rather than darkness around.
No more was it air that enveloped the earth. Air by nature is of little
density and transparent. It receives all kinds of visible object, and
transmits them to the spectators. Only one supposition remains; that
which floated on the surface of the earth was water--the fluid essence
which had not yet been confined to its own place. Thus the earth was
not only invisible; it was still incomplete. Even today excessive damp
is a hindrance to the productiveness of the earth. The same cause at
the same time prevents it from being seen, and from being complete, for
the proper and natural adornment of the earth is its completion: corn
waving in the valleys--meadows green with grass and rich with many
coloured flowers--fertile glades and hill-tops shaded by forests. Of
all this nothing was yet produced; the earth was in travail with it in
virtue of the power that she had received from the Creator. But she was
waiting for the appointed time and the divine order to bring forth.
4. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep." A new source for fables
and most impious imaginations if one distorts the sense of these words
at the will of one's fancies. By "darkness" these wicked men do not
understand what is meant in reality--air not illumined, the shadow
produced by the interposition of a body, or finally a place for some
reason deprived of light. For them "darkness" is an evil power, or
rather the personification of evil, having his origin in himself in
opposition to, and in perpetual struggle with, the goodness of God. If
God is light, they say, without any doubt the power which struggles
against Him must be darkness, "Darkness" not owing its existence to a
foreign origin, but an evil existing by itself. "Darkness" is the enemy
of souls, the primary cause of death, the adversary of virtue. The
words of the Prophet, they say in their error, show that it exists and
that it does not proceed from God. From this what perverse and impious
dogmas have been imagined! What grievous wolves, tearing the flock of
the Lord, have sprung from these words to cast themselves upon souls!
Is it not from hence that have come forth Marcions and Valentini, and
the detestable heresy of the Manicheans, which you may without going
far wrong call the putrid humour of the churches.
O man, why wander thus from the truth, and imagine for thyself that
which will cause thy perdition? The word is simple and within the
comprehension of all. "The earth was invisible." Why? Because the
"deep" was spread over its surface. What is "the deep"? A mass of water
of extreme depth. But we know that we can see many bodies through clear
and transparent water. How then was it that no part of the earth
appeared through the water? Because the air which surrounded it was
still without light and in darkness. The rays of the sun, penetrating
the water, often allow its to see the pebbles which form the bed of the
river, but in a dark night it is impossible for our glance to penetrate
under the water. Thus, these words "the earth was invisible" are
explained by those that follow; "the deep" covered it and itself was in
darkness. Thus, the deep is not a multitude of hostile powers, as has
been imagined; nor "darkness" an evil sovereign force in enmity with
good. In reality two rival principles of equal power, if engaged
without ceasing in a war o mutual attacks, will end in self
destruction. But if one should gain the mastery it would completely
annihilate the conquered. Thus, to maintain the balance in the struggle
between good anti evil is to represent them as engaged in a war without
end and in perpetual destruction, where the opponents are at the same
time conquerors and conquered. If good is the stronger, what is there
to prevent evil being completely annihilated? But if that be the case,
the very utterance of which is impious, I ask myself how it is that
they themselves are not filled with horror to think that they have
imagined such abominable blasphemies.
It is equally impious to say that evil has its origin from God; because
the contrary cannot proceed from its contrary. Life dots not engender
death; darkness is not the origin of light; sickness is not the maker
of health. In the changes of conditions there are transitions from one
condition to the contrary; but in genesis each being proceeds from its
like, and not from its contrary. If then evil is neither uncreate nor
created by God, from whence comes its nature? Certainly that evil
exists, no one living in the world will deny. What shall we say then?
Evil is not a living animated essence; it is the condition of the soul
opposed to virtue, developed in the careless on account of their
falling away from good.
5. Do not then go beyond yourself to seek for evil, and imagine that
there is an original nature of wickedness. Each of us, let us
acknowledge it, is the first author of his own vice. Among the ordinary
events of life, some come naturally, like old age and sickness, others
by chance like unforeseen occurrences, of which the origin is beyond
ourselves, often sad, sometimes fortunate, as for instance the
discovery of a treasure when digging a well, or the meeting of a mad
dog when going to the market place. Others depend upon ourselves, such
as ruling one's passions, or not putting a bridle on one's pleasures,
to be master of our anger, or to raise the hand against him who
irritates us, to tell the truth, or to lie, to have a sweet and
well-regulated disposition, or to be fierce and swollen and exalted
with pride. Here you are the master of your actions. Do not look for
the guiding cause beyond yourself, but recognise that evil, rightly so
called, has no other origin than our voluntary falls. If it were
involuntary, and did not depend upon ourselves, the laws would not have
so much terror for the guilty, and the tribunals would not be so
without pity when they condemn wretches according to the measure of
their crimes. But enough concerning evil rightly so called. Sickness,
poverty, obscurity, death, finally all human afflictions, ought not to
be ranked as evils; since we do not count among the greatest boons
things which are their opposites. Among these afflictions, some are the
effect of nature, others have obviously been for many a source of
advantage. Let us then be silent for the moment about these metaphors
and allegories, and, simply following without vain curiosity the words
of Holy Scripture, let us take from darkness the idea which it gives
us.
But reason asks, was darkness created with the world? Is it older than
light? Why in spite of its inferiority has it preceded it? Darkness, we
reply, did not exist in essence; it is a condition produced in the air
by the withdrawal of light. What then is that light which disappeared
suddenly from the world, so that darkness should cover the face of the
deep? If anything had existed before the formation of this sensible and
perishable world, no doubt we conclude it would have been in light. The
orders of angels, the heavenly hosts, all intellectual natures named or
unnamed, all the ministering spirits, did not live in darkness, but
enjoyed a condition fitted for them in light and spiritual joy.
No one will contradict this; least of all he who looks for celestial
light as one of the rewards promised to virtues the light which, as
Solomon says, is always a light to the righteous, the light which made
the Apostle say "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Finally, if
the condemned are sent into outer darkness evidently those who are made
worthy of God's approval, are at rest in heavenly light. When then,
according to the order of God, the heaven appeared, enveloping all that
its circumference included, a vast and unbroken body separating outer
things from those which it enclosed, it necessarily kept the space
inside in darkness for want of communication with the outer light.
Three things are, indeed, needed to form a shadow, light, a body, a
dark place. The shadow of heaven forms the darkness of the world.
Understand, I pray you, what I mean, by a simple example; by raising
for yourself at mid-day a tent of some compact and impenetrable
material, and shutting yourself up in it in sudden darkness. Suppose
that original darkness was like this, not subsisting directly by
itself, but resulting from some external coasts. If it is said that it
rested upon the deep, it is because the extremity of air naturally
touches the surface of bodies; and as at that time the water covered
everything, we are obliged to say that darkness was upon the face of
the deep.
6. And the Spirit of God was borne upon the face of the waters. Does
this spirit mean the diffusion of air? The sacred writer wishes to
enumerate to you the elements of the world, to tell you that God
created the heavens, the earth, water, and air and that the last was
now diffused and in motion; or rather, that which is truer and
confirmed by the authority of the ancients, by the Spirit of God, he
means the Holy Spirit. It is, as has been remarked, the special name,
the name above all others that Scripture delights to give to the Holy
Spirit. and always by the spirit of God the Holy Spirit is meant, the
Spirit which completes the divine and blessed Trinity. You will find it
better therefore to take it in this sense. How then did the Spirit of
God move upon the waters? The explanation that I am about to give you
is not an original one, but that of a Syrian, who was as ignorant in
the wisdom of this world as he was versed in the knowledge of the
Truth. He said, then, that the Syriac word was more expressive, and
that being more analogous to the Hebrew term it was a nearer approach
to the scriptural sense. This is the meaning of the word; by "was
borne" the Syrians, he says, understand: it cherished the nature of the
waters as one sees a bird cover the eggs with her body and impart to
them vital force from her own warmth. Such is, as nearly as possible,
the meaning of these words--the Spirit was borne: let us understand,
that is, prepared the nature of water to produce living beings: a
sufficient proof for those who ask if the Holy Spirit took an active
part in the creation of the world.
7. And God said, Let there be light: The first word of God created the
nature of light; it made darkness vanish, dispelled gloom, illuminated
the world, and gave to all beings at the same time a sweet and gracious
aspect. The heavens, until then enveloped in darkness, appeared with
that beauty which they still present to our eyes. The air was lighted
up, or rather made the light circulate mixed with its substance, and,
distributing its splendour rapidly in every direction, so dispersed
itself to its extreme limits. Up it sprang to the very aether and
heaven. In an instant it lighted up the whole extent of the world, the
North and the South, the East and the West. For the aether also is such
a subtle substance and so transparent that it needs not the space of a
moment for light to pass through it. Just as it carries our sight
instantaneously to the object of vision, so without the least interval,
with a rapidity I that thought cannot conceive, it receives these rays
of light in its uttermost limits. With light the aether becomes more
pleasing and the waters more limpid. These last, not content with
receiving its splendour, return it by the reflection of light and in
all directions send forth quivering flashes. The divine word gives
every object a more cheerful and a more attractive appearance, just as
when men in deep sea pour in oil they make the place about them clear.
So, with a single word and in one instant, the Creator of all things
gave the boon of light to the world.
Let there be light. The order was itself an operation, and a state of
things was brought into being, than which man's mind cannot even
imagine a pleasanter one for our enjoyment. It must be well understood
that when we speak of the voice, of the word, of the command of God,
this divine language does not mean to us a sound which escapes from the
organs of speech, a collision of air struck by the tongue; it is a
simple sign of the will of God, and, if we give it the form of an
order, it is only the better to impress the souls whom we instruct.
And God saw the light, that it was good. How can we worthily praise
light after the testimony given by the Creator to its goodness? The
word, even among us, refers the judgment to the eyes, incapable of
raising itself to the idea that the senses have already received. But,
if beauty in bodies results from symmetry of parts, and the harmonious
appearance of colours, how in a simple and homogeneous essence like
light, can this idea of beauty be preserved? Would not the symmetry in
light be less shown in its parts than in the pleasure and delight at
the sight of it? Such is also the beauty of gold, which it owes not to
the happy mingling of its parts, but only to its beautiful colour which
has a charm attractive to the eyes.
Thus again, the evening star is the most beautiful of the stars: not
that the parts of which it is composed form a harmonious whole; but
thanks to the unalloyed and beautiful brightness which meets our eyes.
And further, when God proclaimed the goodness of light, it was not in
regard to the charm of the eye but as a provision for future advantage,
because at that time there were as yet no eyes to judge of its beauty.
"And God divided the light from the darkness; that is to say, God gave
them natures incapable of mixing, perpetually in opposition to each
other, and put between them the widest space and distance.
8. "And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night."
Since the birth of the sun, the light that it diffuses in the air, when
shining on our hemisphere, is day; and the shadow produced by its
disappearance is night. But at that time it was not after the movement
of the sun, but following this primitive light spread abroad in the air
or withdrawn in a measure determined by God, that day came and was
followed by night.
"And the evening and the morning were the first day." Evening is then
the boundary common to day and night; and in the same way morning
constitutes the approach of night to day. It was to give day the
privileges of seniority that Scripture put the end of the first day
before that of the first night, because night follows day: for, before
the creation of light, the world was not in night, but in darkness. It
is the opposite of day which was called night, and it did not receive
its name until after day. Thus were created the evening and the
morning. Scripture means the space of a day and a night, and afterwards
no more says day and night, but calls them both under the name of the
more important: a custom which you will find throughout Scripture.
Everywhere the measure of time is counted by days, without mention of
nights. "The days of our years," says the Psalmist. "Few and evil have
the days of the years of my life been," said Jacob, and elsewhere "all
the days of my life." Thus under the form of history the law is laid
down for what is to follow.
And the evening and the morning were one day. Why does Scripture say
"one day" not "the first day"? Before speaking to us of the second, the
third, and the fourth days, would it not have been more natural to call
that one the first which began the series? If it therefore says "one
day," it is from a wish to determine the measure of day and night, and
to combine the time that they contain. Now twenty-four hours fill up
the space of one day--we mean of a day and of a night; and if, at the
time of the solstices, they have not both an equal length, the time
marked by Scripture does not the less circumscribe their duration. It
is as though it said: twenty-four hours measure the space of a day, or
that, in reality a day is the time that the heavens starting from one
point take to return there. Thus, every time that, in the revolution of
the sun, evening and morning occupy the world, their periodical
succession never exceeds the space of one day.
But must we believe in a mysterious reason for this? God who made the
nature of time measured it out and determined it by intervals of days;
and, wishing to give it a week as a measure, he ordered the week to
revolve from period to period upon itself, to count the movement of
time, forming the week of one day revolving seven times upon itself: a
proper circle begins and ends with itself. Such is also the character
of eternity, to revolve upon itself and to end nowhere. If then the
beginning of time is called "one day" rather than "the first day," it
is because Scripture wishes to establish its relationship with
eternity. It was, in reality, fit and natural to call "one" the day
whose character is to be one wholly separated and isolated from all the
others. If Scripture speaks to us of many ages, saying everywhere, "age
of age, and ages of ages," we do not see it enumerate them as first,
second, and third. It follows that we are hereby shown not so much
limits, ends and succession of ages, as distinctions between various
states and modes of action. "The day of the Lord," Scripture says, "is
great and very terrible," and elsewhere "Woe unto you that desire the
day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is
darkness and not light." A day of darkness for those who are worthy of
darkness. No; this day without evening, without succession and without
end is not unknown to Scripture, and it is the day that the Psalmist
calls the eighth day, because it is outside this time of weeks. Thus
whether you call it day, or whether you call it eternity, you express
the same idea. Give this state the name of day; there are not several,
but only one. If you call it eternity still it is unique and not
manifold. Thus it is in order that you may carry your thoughts forward
towards a future life, that Scripture marks by the word "one" the day
which is the type of eternity, the first fruits of days, the
contemporary of light, the holy Lord's day honoured by the Resurrection
of our Lord. And the evening and the morning were one day."
But, whilst I am conversing with you about the first evening of the
world, evening takes me by surprise, and puts an end to my discourse.
May the Father of the true light, Who has adorned day with celestial
light, Who has made the fire to shine which illuminates us during the
night, Who reserves for us in the peace of a future age a spiritual and
everlasting light, enlighten your hearts in the knowledge of truth,
keep you from stumbling, and grant that "you may walk honestly as in
the day." Thus shall you shine as the sun in the midst of the glory of
the saints, and I shall glory in you in the day of Christ, to Whom
belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
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