Chapter VI.
In heaven and earth, there are four elements from which all things are composed. What is the nature of the heavens, and what is the position of the earth, and how differently have philosophers judged the nature of the heavens: disregarding them, one must listen to divine authority.
20. In the beginning, therefore, God created the heavens and the earth. For time is from this world, not before the world: but the day is a portion of time, not the beginning. And although by the series of reading we can show that on the first day the Lord made day and night, which are the rotations of time; and on the second day he made the firmament, by which he separated the water which is below the heavens and the water which is above the heavens; nevertheless, it is enough for the present assertion that he made the heavens in the beginning, from which there is the prerogative of generation and cause; and that he made the earth, in which the substance of generation would be. For indeed those four elements were created, from which all of these things that are in the world are generated. And indeed four elements, air, fire, water, and earth, which are mixed together in all things. For indeed you will find fire in the earth, which is often produced from stones and iron; and in the sky, since the pole is fiery and shining with bright stars, it can be understood to be water, which is either above the sky or is often sent down to the earth from that upper place in abundant rain. We could gather many things from this if we saw that they were conducive to the building up of the Church. But because it is fruitless to be occupied with these matters, let us focus our minds more on those things which lead to eternal life.
Therefore, it is enough to mention the qualities and substance of the heavens that we find in the writings of Isaiah, who expressed the nature of the celestial sphere in ordinary and familiar language, saying that God has made the heavens firm like smoke, not wanting to reveal its subtle and immaterial nature. And he also speaks of its appearance, saying that God has made the heavens like a vault, within which all things in the sea and on land are enclosed. It is similarly signified when it is read: Because the Lord has stretched out the heavens (Isaiah 34:4). For it is extended like a skin to the dwellings and abodes of the saints; or like a book, so that the names of many who have deserved the grace of Christ by faith and devotion may be written, to whom it is said: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20).
22. It is of no use to speculate about the quality or position of the earth in order to have hope for the future. It is enough to know, according to the divine Scriptures, that the earth is suspended in nothingness (Job 26:7). Why should we debate whether it hangs in the air or is situated above water, as if there were a controversy about how the nature of the thin air could support the weight of the earth? Or how, if it is above the waters, the heavy mass of the earth does not sink into the water? But how was it that the wave of the sea did not yield to it, and that by its movement it spread out on its sides in its own place? Many have also said that the earth is in the middle of the air and remains immovable by its own weight, because it hangs evenly from side to side. About this we think enough has been said by the Lord to his servant Job, when he spoke through the cloud and said: Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have knowledge. Who determined its dimensions, if you know? Who is there who has laid the measure upon it, or upon what are its supporting circles fastened? (Job 38:4) And later: I have enclosed the sea with doors, and said: Thus far you shall come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed. (Ibid. 10) Does not God clearly show that all things rely on His Majesty for their existence in number, weight, and measure? For it is not the creature that has given the law, but rather it has received it and keeps it. Therefore, the reason why the earth is in the middle, as if suspended by a level balance, is not because of its own weight, but because the majesty of God, by His will, binds it by a law, so that it may remain stable and unchanging above the unstable and empty, as the prophet David also testifies, saying: He has founded the earth upon its firmament, it shall not be moved forever and ever (Ps. 103:5). Here, God is not described merely as an artisan, but as the omnipotent, who has not hung the earth from a certain center, but has suspended it by the command of His will from the firmament, and does not allow it to incline. Therefore we ought not to understand the measure of the center, but of divine judgment; for it is not the measure of art, but of power: the measure of justice, the measure of knowledge; for all things do not pass before His knowledge as if they were immense, but they submit to His knowledge as if they were limited. For when we read, 'I have confirmed its pillars' (Psalm 74:4), we can truly estimate them not by the pillars themselves, but by the virtue that supports the substance of the earth and sustains it. Finally, gather from this that the establishment of the earth is in the power of God, as it is written: 'He looks at the earth, and it trembles' (Psalm 104:32). And elsewhere: 'Yet once more I shake the earth' (Haggai 2:6). Therefore, it does not remain motionless in its balance, but it is frequently moved by the will and power of God, as even Job says: 'For the Lord shakes it from its foundation; its pillars tremble' (Job 9:6). And elsewhere: The naked underworld is in his sight, and there is no covering for death, extending the North for nothing, suspending the earth into nothingness, binding the water in his clouds... The pillars of the heavens tremble and quake at his reproof; by his power he stilled the sea, by his understanding he struck down Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. And these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand? (Job 26:6-14) Therefore, it does not rely on its own foundations, nor does it persist stable on its own supports; but the Lord has established it and sustains it by the firmness of His will; for all the ends of the earth are in His hand. And this simplicity of faith surpasses all arguments. Let others praise that the earth never falls; because according to its nature, it occupies its own region in the middle, since it is necessary for it to remain in its region and not incline towards another part, when it does not move against nature, but according to nature. They proclaim the excellence of the divine artist and eternal creator; for who has not received from him the skill of artists? Or who has given women the knowledge of weaving, or the discipline of variety? Yet I, who am unable to comprehend the deep majesty and excellence of his art, do not rely on the balances and measures of argumentation: but I believe that everything is held in his will, that his will is the foundation of the universe, and that because of him this world still exists. Moreover, it is permissible to assert with the example of the Apostolic authority. For it is written: 'For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope' (Rom. VIII, 20). But the creature itself also shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God, when the grace of divine recompense shall shine forth.
But now let me enumerate the nature and quality of celestial substances that philosophers have woven in their arguments. Some assert that the composite sky is made up of four elements, while others introduce a fifth nature of a new body to its constitution, and posit that it is an ethereal body, to which neither fire, nor air, nor water, nor earth is mixed; these elements have their own course, use and movement of nature, so that the heavier things sink and are carried forward, while the empty and light things rise upwards; for each has its own motion, but these are mixed up in the circuit of the sphere, and lose the force of their course, since the sphere turns in its own circle, and things above are changed for things beneath, as are also the higher things changed for the lower. However, those things which are changed according to the nature of motion are necessarily said to be accustomed to change the qualities of their substances. Therefore, why do we defend that the heavenly body is ethereal, so that it does not seem prone to corruption? For that which is composed of corruptible elements must necessarily be dissolved. For by the very fact that the same elements of nature are different, they cannot have a simple and unchangeable motion, since the motion of different elements opposes each other. For one motion cannot be suitable for all things, and agree with different elements. For the one that is adapted to light elements becomes burdensome to heavier elements. Therefore, when motion towards the higher parts of the heavens is necessary, it is burdensome to earthly things; when descent towards the lower parts is sought, that fiery force is violently attracted. Indeed, it is forced downwards against its own nature. However, everything that is forced in the opposite direction, not serving nature, but necessity, quickly dissolves and is separated into its constituent parts, each returning to its own region. Therefore, considering that these things cannot be stable, they thought that the ether is the substance of the celestial bodies, introducing a fifth nature of matter, believing that it would endure as the everlasting substance of the heavens.
24. But this opinion of prophecy could not withstand the evidence, which the divine majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ also confirmed in the Gospel. For David said: In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, and like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end (Psalm 102, 26-27). The Lord approved so much in the Gospel that He said: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matt. XXIV, 35). Therefore, those who thought that a fifth ethereal body should be introduced in order to assert the perpetuity of the heavens accomplish nothing; for they equally see that the addition of a dissimilar portion of one member to the others usually brings more harm than good to the body. At the same time, note this: when the prophet David mentioned the earth first (Ps. CXLVIII, 5) and later the heavens, it was believed that the work of the Lord needed to be declared; for when He said, "and they were made," it makes no difference what you express first, since both were made simultaneously; at the same time, so that this at least does not seem to be a divine prerogative of the celestial substance, let it be considered as of greater value by the privilege of being the firstborn creature. So let us leave those in their own disputes, who refute themselves through mutual arguments. But for us, it is enough for salvation, not the controversy of disputes, but the truth of teachings; not the cunning of arguments, but the faith of the mind, so that we may serve the Creator rather than the creature, who is God blessed forever.