Genesis 1 · The Lantern

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

VII. (26) Moses says also; "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth:" taking the beginning to be, not as some men think, that which is according to time; for before the world time had no existence, but was created either simultaneously with it, or after it; for since time is the interval of the motion of the heavens, there could not have been any such thing as mot…

Notice this remarkable author, dearly beloved, and the particular gift he had. I mean, while all the other inspired authors told either what would happen after a long time or what was going to take place immediately, this blessed author, being born many generations after the event, was guided by the deity on high and judged worthy to narrate what had been created by the Lord of…

1) "Of time." Things are said to be created in the beginning of time, not as if the beginning of time were a measure of creation, but because together with time heaven and earth were created.

And the earth was formless and empty; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

For the depth and the darkness underlay the earth. Since the deep was under the earth, and the darkness was over the deep, undoubtedly both the darkness and the deep were under the earth. For since the waters were over the earth, which they covered, while the spirit was over the waters, both the spirit and the waters were alike over the earth.

In the beginning of Genesis, it is written: "And the Spirit was stirring above the waters." You see, then, what it says in the beginning of Genesis. Now for its mystical meaning—"The Spirit was stirring above the waters"—already at that time baptism was being foreshadowed. It could not be true baptism, to be sure, without the Spirit.

The earth was void: or "invisible," inasmuch as the waters covered and concealed it from view; and the formlessness of the earth. But other holy writers understand by earth the element of earth, in this sense, the earth was, according to them, without form. In other words, they hold that formlessness of matter preceded in time its formation. But St.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

"And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." Genesis 1:3 Immediately there appears the Word, "that true light, which lights man on his coming into the world," John 1:9 and through Him also came light upon the world. From that moment God willed creation to be effected in the Word, Christ being present and ministering unto Him: and so God created.

We ought to understand that God did not say "Let there be light" by a sound brought forth from the lungs or by the tongue and teeth. Such thoughts are those of persons physically preoccupied. To be wise in accord with the flesh is death. "Let there be light" was spoken ineffably.

Be light made: I answer, then, with Dionysius (Div. Nom. iv), that the light was the sun's light, formless as yet, being already the solar substance, and possessing illuminative power in a general way, to which was afterwards added the special and determinative power required to produce determinate effects.

And God saw that the light was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

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.

"God saw that the light was good," and these words do not mean that God found before him a good that he had not known but that he was pleased by one that was finished.

"God saw the light that it was good; and He divided the light from the darkness." The passage, "God saw the light," is quoted on account of the first vision of the intelligence, which is infused by nature. It means that God made it possible to see.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

What of the fact that waters were in some way the regulating powers by which the disposition of the world thenceforward was constituted by God?

For what fault have they to find with the vast creation of God, who out of the fluid nature of the waters formed the stable substance of the heavens? For God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters." God spoke once for all, and it stands fast, never failing.

A firmament: Strabus and Bede teach that there is an eternal heaven, because the firmament, which they take to mean the sidereal heaven, is said to have been made, not in the beginning, but on the second day: whereas the reason given by Basil is that otherwise God would seem to have made darkness His first work. Augustine says (Gen. ad lit.

And God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse: and it was so.

The firmament was created on the evening of the second night, just as the heavens came to be on the evening of the first night. But when the firmament came into existence, the covering of clouds that had served for a night and a day in the place of the firmament dissipated.

The matter was separated by the interposition of the firmament so that the lower matter is that of bodies and the higher matter that of souls.

Firmament: Not that in which the stars are set, but the part of the atmosphere where the clouds are collected, and which has received the name firmament from the firmness and density of the air. "For a body is called firm," that is dense and solid, "thereby differing from a mathematical body" as is remarked by Basil (Hom. iii in Hexaem.).

And God called the expanse Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Although God said about the light that came to be on the first day that "it was very good," He did not say this about the firmament which came to be on the second day, because the firmament had not yet been finished, neither in its structure nor in its adornment.

There now follows the work of the second day, which is the second vision of understanding, lifted up by faith: and of this it is not said that God "saw" but that He "called" it. Literally speaking, this heaven is lofty, stable, and visible: it is lofty as regards its position, stable as regards its form, and visible as regards its clarity.

And if the words, "God saw that it was good," are not said of the work of the second day, this is because the work of distinguishing the waters was only begun on that day, but perfected on the third. Hence these words, that are said of the third day, refer also to the second.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

It was when the waters were withdrawn into their hollow abysses that the dry land became conspicuous, which was hitherto covered with its watery envelope.

Have you seen, dear brother, how God, in a sense, stripped the earth, which was invisible and formless, and was covered by the waters as if they were veils, and showed us its face, after he had imposed an appropriate name on it as well? "And the gatherings of the waters he called seas." So the waters also got their name.

One place: All the waters have the sea as their goal, into which they flow by channels hidden or apparent, and this may be the reason why they are said to be gathered together into one place. Let the waters be gathered together in one place: that is, apart from the dry land.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

But let us see from what follows what are the fruits which God commands that earth to produce to which he himself granted this name.

Here we must note the plan of the Ruler of the world. Since the crops and trees created are different in species from earth and water and so cannot be counted among the elements, the decree by which they are to proceed from the earth is given separately, and the customary phrases describing their creation are put down separately.

But concerning the production of plants, Augustine's opinion differs from that of others. For other commentators, in accordance with the surface meaning of the text, consider that the plants were produced in act in their various species on this third day; whereas Augustine (Gen. ad lit.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed according to their kinds, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, according to their kinds: and God saw that it was good.

And to such a degree has the Holy Ghost made this the rule of His Scripture, that whenever anything is made out of anything, He mentions both the thing that is made and the thing of which it is made. "Let the earth," says He, "bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, after its kind. And it was so.

For, whereas we learn from Scripture in the account of the first Creation, that first the earth brought forth "the green herb" (as the narrative says), and that then from this plant seed was yielded, from which, when it was shed on the ground, the same form of the original plant again sprang up, the Apostle, it is to be observed, declares that this very same thing happens in th…

Likewise, this vegetation is lovely. Wherefore Genesis continues: "Each one according to its kind." Even exterior roughness that gives nature a reputation of malformation is yet what makes it most beautiful. Hence the bride says: "I am as dark — but lovely." That is, lovely because dark.

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

"And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; and let them be for giving light in the firmament of heaven, that they may give light upon the earth.

For that reason the blessed Moses, inspired by the divine Spirit, teaches us with great precision, lest we fall victim to the same things as they, instead of being able to know clearly both the sequence of created things and how each thing was created.

Let there be lights made in the firmament: Some might say that the lights should have been produced at the same time as the firmament, that is to say, on the second day. But Moses describes what is obvious to sense, out of condescension to popular ignorance, as we have already said (67, 4; 68, 3).

And let them be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

"And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary for the rule of the day, and the lesser luminary for the rule of the night, and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of heaven, that they may give light upon the earth, and have power over the day and the night, and divide between the midst of the light and the midst of the darkness. And God saw that it is good.

The Manichaeans ask how it could be that the heavenly bodies, that is, the sun and the moon and the stars, were made on the fourth day. How could the three previous days have passed without the sun? For we now see that a day passes with the rising and setting of the sun, while night comes to us in the sun's absence when it returns to east from the other side of the world.

two great lights: As Chrysostom says, the two lights are called great, not so much with regard to their dimensions as to their influence and power. For though the stars be of greater bulk than the moon, yet the influence of the moon is more perceptible to the senses in this lower world. Moreover, as far as the senses are concerned, its apparent size is greater.

And God set them in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and birds that may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven.

And to such a degree has the Holy Ghost made this the rule of His Scripture, that whenever anything is made out of anything, He mentions both the thing that is made and the thing of which it is made... "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life, and fowl that may fly above the earth through the firmament of heaven. And it was so.

The rivers were in labor. The lakes produced their quota of life. The sea itself began to bear all manner of reptiles.… We are unable to record the multiplicity of the names of all those species which by divine command were brought to life in a moment of time.

It was laid down by Avicenna that animals of all kinds can be generated by various minglings of the elements, and naturally, without any kind of seed. This, however, seems repugnant to the fact that nature produces its effects by determinate means, and consequently, those things that are naturally generated from seed cannot be generated naturally in any other way.

And God created great sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to their kinds: and God saw that it was good.

"And God made the great whales, and every soul of the creeping animals which the waters brought forth according to their kind, and every winged flying thing according to its kind." And concerning these too, as concerning those which we spoke of above, one must judge that we ought to bring forth also "the great whales" and "the soul of the creeping things according to their kind…

In the pine cone nature seems to express an image of itself. It preserves its peculiar properties which it received from that divine and celestial command, and it repeats in the succession and order of the years its generation until the end of time is fulfilled.

And God created great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth in their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply in the earth.

I blame Matter with a like censure, because out of it, evil though it be—nay, very evil—good things have been created, nay, "very good" ones: "And God saw that they were good, and God blessed them" Genesis 1:21-22 —because, of course, of their very great goodness; certainly not because they were evil, or very evil.

Seeds of one kind cannot be changed into another kind of plant nor bring forth produce differing from its own seeds, so that men should spring from serpents and flesh from teeth.

he blessed them: The blessing of God gives power to multiply by generation, and, could be understood of the beasts of the earth, without requiring to be repeated. The blessing, however, is repeated in the case of man, since in him generation of children has a special relation to the number of the elect [Cf. Augustine, Gen. ad lit.

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to their kinds, cattle, and creeping creature, and beast of the earth according to their kinds: and it was so.

"And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living soul according to its kind, four-footed things and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kind. And it was made so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the earth according to their kind.

It wasn't simply for our use that he produced all these things; it was also for our benefit in the sense that we might see the overflowing abundance of his creatures and be overwhelmed at the Creator's power, and be in a position to know that all these things were produced by a certain wisdom and ineffable love out of regard for the human being that was destined to come into be…

The saying that man and animals have a like beginning in generation is true of the body; for all animals alike are made of earth. But it is not true of the soul. For the souls of brutes are produced by some power of the body; whereas the human soul is produced by God.

And God made the beast of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the earth according to their kinds: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping creature that creeps upon the earth.

And then, again, this Word was manifested when the Word of God was made man, assimilating Himself to man, and man to Himself, so that by means of his resemblance to the Son, man might become precious to the Father.

To begin, it is worthwhile to ask why God did not say, when the heavens were created, "Let us make the heavens" but instead, "Let there be a heaven.… Let there be light," and similarly for each other aspect of creation. "Let us make" suggests deliberation, collaboration and conference with another person. So what is it whose pending creation is granted so great an honor?

Let us make man to our image and likeness: Man is said to be after the image of God, not as regards his body, but as regards that whereby he excels other animals. Hence, when it is said, "Let us make man to our image and likeness", it is added, "And let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea" (Genesis 1:26).

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

I think that by these words Holy Scripture conveys to us a great and lofty doctrine; and the doctrine is this. While two natures—the Divine and incorporeal nature, and the irrational life of brutes—are separated from each other as extremes, human nature is the mean between them: for in the compound nature of man we may behold a part of each of the natures I have mentioned,—of t…

God created man to His own image: But man is like to God in his soul. Therefore the soul was created. The image of God, in its principal signification, namely the intellectual nature, is found both in man and in woman. Hence after the words, "To the image of God He created him," it is added, "Male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27).

And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

And from that time, ever since the blessing which was pronounced upon man's generation, Genesis 1:28 the flesh and the soul have had a simultaneous birth, without any calculable difference in time; so that the two have been even generated together in the womb, as we have shown in our Treatise on the Soul.

At times the Manichaeans also ask, "In what sense did man receive power over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and all the cattle and wild animals? For we see that men are killed by many wild animals and that many birds harm us when we want to avoid them or to capture them, though we often cannot.

A twofold precept was given to man, namely of nature and of discipline; the precept of nature: "Increase and multiply"; the precept of discipline: "Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat." A twofold good was prepared for man: one visible, the other invisible; one temporal, the other eternal; one for the flesh, the other for the spirit.

And God said, Look, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.

"And God said: Behold, I have given you all the seed-bearing hay which sows seed, which is over all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed-bearing seed, it shall be to you for food, and to all the beasts of the earth and to all the birds of heaven, and to all the creeping things which creep upon the earth, which have in themselves the soul of life." The…

We note, however, many wild beasts do not eat fruit. What fruit does the panther eat? What fruit makes the lion strong? But nevertheless these creatures, when submitting to the laws of nature, ate fruits.

And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all the trees which have in themselves the seed of their own kind, to be your food, and to all the beasts of the earth and every bird, and to all that move upon the earth, and in which there is a living soul, that you may have them to eat: It is now clear that before man's guilt the earth produce…

And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.

And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

He made a first day, a second, a third, and so forth until the seventh day which was a rest from work. According to these days, everything created was subdivided, brought into an order by inexpressible laws. So creation was not an instantaneous act by the all-powerful Word; for him to think or to speak is to accomplish a task.

And this number is on that account called perfect, because it is completed in its own parts: for it has these three, sixth, third, and half; nor is there any other part found in it, which we can call an aliquot part. The sixth part of it, then, is one; the third part, two; the half, three. But one and two and three complete the same six.

God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good: But among them were also the demons. Therefore the demons were at some time good. Corporeal creatures according to their nature are good, though this good is not universal, but partial and limited, the consequence of which is a certain opposition of contrary qualities, though each quality is good in itself.

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