CHAPTER I.
Concerning aeon or age.
HE created the ages Who Himself was.
before the ages, Whom the divine David thus addresses,
From age to age Than art(1). The divine apostle also says,
Through Whom He created the ages(2).
It must then be understood that the
word age has various meanings, for it denotes many things.
The life of each man is called an age. Again, a period of
a thousand years is called an age(3). Again, the whole
course of the present life is called an age: also the
future life, the immortal life after the resurrection(4),
is spoken of as an age. Again, the word age is used to
denote, not time nor yet a part of time as measured by the
movement and course of the sun, that is to say, composed
of days and nights, but the sort of temporal motion and
interval that is co-extensive with eternity(5). For age is
to things eternal just what time is to things temporal.
Seven ages(6) of this world are spoken
of, that is, from the creation of the heaven and earth
till the general consummation and resurrection of men. For
there is a partial consummation, viz., the death of each
man: but there is also a general and complete
consummation, when the general resurrection of men will
come to pass. And the eighth age is the age to come.
Before the world was formed, when there
was as yet no sun dividing day from night, there was not
an age such as could be measured(7), but there was the
sort of temporal motion and interval that is co-extensive
with eternity. And in this sense there is but one age, and
God is spoken of as <greek>aiwnios</greek>(8)
and <greek>proaiwnios</greek>, for the age or
aeon itself is His creation. For God, Who alone is without
beginning, is Himself the Creator of all things, whether
age or any other existing thing. And when I say God, it is
evident that I mean the Father and His Only. begotten Son,
our Lord, Jesus Christ, and His all-holy Spirit, our one
God.
But we speak also of ages of ages,
inasmuch as the seven ages of the present world include
many ages in the sense of lives of men, and the one age
embraces all the ages, and the present and the future are
spoken of as age of age. Further, everlasting (i.e. <greek>aiwnios</greek>)
life and everlasting punishment prove that the age or neon
to come is unending(9). For time will not be counted by
days and nights even after the , but there will rather be
one day with no evening, wherein the Sun of Justice will
shine brightly on the just, but for the sinful there will
be night profound and limitless. In what way then will the
period of one thousand years be counted which, according
to Origen(1), is required for the complete restoration? Of
all the ages, therefore, the sole creator is God Who hath
also created the universe and Who was before the ages.
CHAPTER II.
Concerning the creation.
Since, then, God, Who is good and more
than good, did not find satisfaction in
self-contemplation, but in fits exceeding goodness wished
certain things to come into existence which would enjoy
His benefits and share in His goodness, He brought all
things out of nothing into being and created them, both
what is invisible and what is visible. Yea, even man, who
is a compound of the visible and the invisible. And it is
by thought that He creates, and thought is the basis of
the work, the Word filling it and the Spirit perfecting
it(2).
CHAPTER IlI.
Concerning angels.
He is Himself the Maker and Creator of
the angels: for He brought them out of nothing into being
and created them after His own image, an incorporeal race,
a sort of spirit or immaterial fire: in the words of the
divine David, He maketh His angels spirits, and His
ministers a flame of fire(3): and He has described their
lightness and the ardour, and heat, and keenness and
sharpness with which they hunger for God and serve Him,
and how they are borne to the regions above and are quite
delivered from all material thought(4).
An angel, then, is an intelligent
essence, in perpetual motion, with free-will, incorporeal,
ministering to God, having obtained by grace an immortal
nature: and the Creator alone knows the form and
limitation of its essence. But all that we can understand
is, that it is incorporeal and immaterial. For all that is
compared with God Who alone is incomparable, we find to be
dense and material. For in reality only the Deity is
immaterial and incorporeal.
The angel's nature then is rational,
and intelligent, and endowed with free-will, change. able
in will, or fickle. For all that is created is changeable,
and only that which is un-created is unchangeable. Also
all that is rational is endowed with free-will. As it is,
then, rational and intelligent, it is endowed with
free-will: and as it is created, it is changeable, having
power either to abide or progress in goodness, or to turn
towards evil.
It is not susceptible of repentance
because it is incorporeal. For it is owing to the weakness
of his body that man comes to have repentance.
It is immortal, not by natures but by
grace(6). For all that has had beginning comes also to its
natural end. But God alone is eternal, or rather, He is
above the Eternal: for He, the Creator of times, is not
under the dominion of time, but above time.
They are secondary intelligent lights
derived from that first light which is without beginning,
for they have the power of illumination; they have no need
of tongue or hearing, but without uttering words(7) they
communicate to each other their own thoughts and
counsels(8).
Through the Word, therefore, all the
angels were created, and through the sanctification by the
Holy Spirit were they brought to perfection, sharing each
in proportion to his worth and rank in brightness and
grace(9).
They are circumscribed: for when they
are in the Heaven they are not on the earth: and when they
are sent by God down to the earth they do not remain in
the Heaven. They are not hemmed in by walls and doors, and
bars and seals, for they are quite unlimited. Unlimited, I
repeat, for it is not as they really are that they reveal
themselves to the worthy men(1) to whom God wishes them to
appear, but in a changed form which the beholders are
capable of seeing. For that alone is naturally and
strictly unlimited which is un-created. For every created
tiring is limited by God Who created it.
Further, apart from their essence they
receive the sanctification from the Spirit: through the
divine grace they prophesy(2): they have no need of
marriage for they are immortal.
Seeing that they are minds they are in
mental places(3), and are not circumscribed after the
fashion of a body. For they have not a bodily form by
nature, nor are they tended in three dimensions. But to
whatever post they may be assigned, there they are present
after the manner of a mind and energise, and cannot be
present and energise in various places at the same time.
Whether they are equals in essence or
differ from one another we know not. God, their Creator,
Who knoweth all things, alone knoweth. But they differ(4)
from each other in brightness and position, whether it is
that their position is dependent on their brightness, or
their brightness on their position: and they impart
brightness to one another, because they excel one another
in rank and nature(5). And clearly the higher share their
brightness and knowledge with the lower.
They are mighty and prompt to fulfil
the will of the Deity, and their nature is endowed with
such celerity that wherever the Divine glance bids them
there they are straightway found. They are the guardians
of the divisions of the earth: they are set over nations
and regions, allotted to them by their Creator: they
govern all our affairs and bring us succour. And the
reason surely is because they are set over us by the
divine will and command and are ever in the vicinity of
God(6).
With difficulty they are moved to evil,
yet they are not absolutely immoveable: but now they are
altogether immoveable, not by nature but by grace and by
their nearness to the Only Good(7).
They behold God according to their
capacity, and this is their food(8).
They are above us for they are
incorporeal, and are free of all bodily passion, yet are
not passionless: for the Deity alone is passionless.
They take different forms at the
bidding of their Master, God, and thus reveal themselves
to men and unveil the divine mysteries to them.
They have Heaven for their
dwelling-place, and have one duty, to sing God's praise
and carry out His divine will.
Moreover, as that most holy, and
sacred, and gifted theologian, Dionysius the
Areopagite(9), says, All theology, that is to say, the
holy Scripture, has nine different names for the heavenly
essences(1). These essences that divine master in sacred
things divides into three groups, each containing three.
And the first group, he says, consists of those who are in
God's presence and are said to be directly and immediately
one with Him, viz., the Seraphim with their six wings, the
many-eyed Cherubim and those that sit in the holiest
thrones. The second group is that of the Dominions, and
the Powers, and the Authorities; and the third, and last,
is that of the Rulers and Archangels and Angels
Some, indeed(2), like Gregory the
Theologian, say that these were before the creation of
other things. He thinks that the angelic and heavenly
powers were first and that thought was their function(3).
Others, again, hold that they were created after the first
heaven was made. But all are agreed that it was before the
foundation of man. For myself, I am in harmony with the
theologian. For it was fitting that the mental essence
should be the first created, and then that which can be
perceived, and finally man himself, in whose being both
parts are united.
But those who say that the angels are
creators of any kind of essence whatever are the mouth of
their father, the devil. For since they are created things
they are not creators. But He Who creates and provides for
and maintains all things is God, Who alone is uncreated
and is praised and glorified in the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit.
CHAPTER IV.
Concerning the devil and demons.
He who from among these angelic powers
was set over(4) the earthly realm, and into whose hands
God committed the guardianship of the earth, was not made
wicked in nature but was good, and made for good ends, and
received from his Creator no trace whatever of evil in
himself. But he did not sustain the brightness and the
honour which the Creator had bestowed(5) on him, and of
his free choice was changed from what was in harmony to
what was at variance with his nature, and became roused
against God Who created him, and determined to rise in
rebellion against Him(6): and he was the first to depart
from good and become evil(7). For evil is nothing else
than absence of goodness, just as darkness also is absence
of light. For goodness is the light of the mind, and,
similarly, evil is the darkness of the mind. Light,
therefore, being the work of the Creator and being made
good (for God saw all that He made, and behold they were
exceeding good(8)) produced darkness at His free-will. But
along with him an innumerable host of angels subject to
him were torn away and followed him and shared in his
fall. Wherefore, being of the same nature(9) as the
angels, they became wicked, turning away at their own free
choice from good to evil(1)
Hence they have no power or strength
against any one except what God in His dispensation hath
conceded to them, as for instance, against Job(2) and
those swine that are mentioned in the Gospels(3). But when
God has made the concession they do prevail, and are
changed and transformed into any form whatever in which
they wish to appear.
Of the future both the angels of God
and the demons are alike ignorant: yet they make
predictions. God reveals the future to the angels and
commands them to prophesy, and so what they say comes to
pass. But the demons also make predictions, sometimes
because they see what is happening at a distance, and
sometimes merely making guesses: hence much that they say
is false and they should not be believed, even although
they do often, in the way we have said, tell what is true.
Besides they know the Scriptures.
All wickedness, then, and all impure
passions are the work of their mind. But while the liberty
to attack man has been granted to them, they have not the
strength to over master any one: for we have it in our
power to receive or not to receive the attack(4).
Wherefore there has been prepared for the devil and his
demons, and those who follow him, fire unquenchable and
everlasting punishment(5).
Note, further, that what in the case of
man is death is a fall in the case of angels. For after
the fall there is no possibility of repentance for them,
just as after death there is for men no repentance(6).
CHAPTER V.
Concerning the visible creation.
Our God Himself, Whom we glorify as
Three in One, created the heaven and the earth and all
that they contain(7), and brought all things out of
nothing into being: some He made out of no pre-existing
basis of matter, such as heaven, earth, air, fire, water:
and the rest out of these elements that He had created,
such as living creatures, plants, seeds. For these are
made up of earth, and water, and air, and fire, at the
bidding of the Creator.
CHAPTER VI.
Concerning the Heaven.
The heaven is the circumference of
things created, both visible and invisible. For within its
boundary are included and marked off both the mental
faculties of the angels and all the world of sense. But
the Deity alone is uncircumscribed, filling all things,
and surrounding all things, and hounding all things, for
He is above all things, and has created all things.
Since(8), therefore, the Scripture
speaks of heaven, and heaven of heaven(9), and heavens of
heavens(1), and the blessed Paul says that he was snatched
away to the third heaven(2), we say that in the cosmogony
of the universe we accept the creation of a heaven which
the foreign philosophers, appropriating the views of
Moses, call a starless sphere. But further, God called the
firmament also heaven(3), which He commanded to be in the
midst of the waters, setting it to divide the waters that
are above the firmament from the waters that are below the
firmament. And its nature, according to the divine
Basilius(4), who is versed in the mysteries of divine
Scripture, is delicate as smoke. Others, however, hold
that it is watery in nature, since it is set in the midst
of the waters: others say it is composed of the four
elements: and lastly, others speak of it as a filth body,
distinct from the four elements(5).
Further, some have thought that the
heaven encircles the universe and has the form of a
sphere, and that everywhere it is the highest point, and
that the centre of the space enclosed by it is the lowest
part: and, further, that those bodies that are light and
airy are allotted by the Creator the upper region: while
those that are heavy and tend to descend occupy the lower
region, which is the middle. The element, then, that is
lightest and most inclined to soar upwards is fire, and
hence they hold that its position is immediately after the
heaven, and they call it ether, and after it comes the
lower air. But earth and water, which are heavier and have
more of a downward tendency, are suspended in the centre.
Therefore, taking them in the reverse order, we have in
the lowest situation earth and water: but water is lighter
than earth, and hence is more easily set in motion: above
these on all hands, like a covering; is the circle of air,
and all round the air is the circle of ether, and outside
air is the circle of the heaven.
Further, they say that the heaven moves
in a circle and so compresses all that is within it, that
they remain firm and not liable to fall asunder.
They say also that there are seven
zones of the heaven(6), one higher than the other. And its
nature, they say, is of extreme fineness, like that of
smoke, and each zone contains one of the planets. For
there are said to be seven planets: Sol, Luna, Jupiter,
Mercury, Mars, Venus and Saturn. But sometimes Venus is
called Lucifer and sometimes Vesper. These are called
planets because their movements are the reverse of those
of the heaven. For while the heaven and all other stars
move from east to west, these alone move from west to
east. And this can easily be seen in the case of the moon,
which moves each evening a little backwards.
All, therefore, who hold that the
heaven is in the form of a sphere, say that it is equally
removed and distant from the earth at all points, whether
above, or sideways, or below. And by 'below' and '
sideways' I mean all that comes within the range of our
senses. For it follows from what has been said, that the
heaven occupies the whole of the upper region and the
earth the whole of the lower. They say, besides, that the
heaven encircles the earth in the manner of a sphere, and
bears along with it in its most rapid revolutions sun,
moon and stars, and that when the sun is over the earth it
becomes day there, and when it is under the earth it is
night. And, again, when the sun goes under the earth it is
night here, but day yonder.
Others have pictured the heaven as a
hemisphere. This idea is suggested by these words of
David, the singer of God, Who stretchest out the heavens
like a curtain(7), by which word he clearly means a tent:
and by these from the blessed Isaiah, Who hath established
the heavens like a vault(8): and also because when the
sun, moon, and stars set they make a circuit round the
earth from west to north, and so reach once more the
east(9). Still, whether it is this way or that, all things
have been made and established by the divine command, and
have the divine will and counsel for a foundation that
cannot be moved. For He Himself spoke and they were made:
He Himself commanded and they were created. He hath also
established them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree
which will not pass(1).
The heaven of heaven, then, is the
first heaven which is above the firmament(2). So here we
have two heavens, for God called the firmament also
Heaven(3). And it is customary in the divine Scripture to
speak of the air alsoas heavens, because we see it above
us. Bless Him, it says, all ye birds of the heaven,
meaning of the air. For it is the air and not the heaven
that is the region in which birds fly. So here we have
three heavens, as the divine Apostle said(4). But if you
should wish to look upon the seven zones as seven heavens
there is no injury done to the word of truth. For it is
usual in the Hebrew tongue to speak of heaven in the
plural, that is, as heavens, and when a Hebrew wishes to
say heaven of heaven, he usually says heavens of heavens,
and this clearly means heaven of heaven(5), which is above
the firmament, and the waters which are above the heavens,
whether it is the air and the firmament, or the seven
zones of the firmament, or the firmament itself which are
spoken of in the plural as heavens according to the Hebrew
custom.
All things, then, which are brought
into existence are subject to corruption according to the
law of their nature(6), and so even the heavens themselves
are corruptible. But by the grace of God they are
maintained and preserved(7). Only the Deity, however, is
by nature without beginning and without end(8). Wherefore
it has been said, They will perish, but Thou dost
endure(1): nevertheless, the heavens will not be utterly
destroyed. For they will wax old and be wound round as a
covering, and will be changed, and there will be a new
heaven and a new earth(2).
For the great part the heaven is
greater than the earth, but we need not investigate the
essence of the heaven, for it is quite beyond our
knowledge.
It must not be supposed that the
heavens or the luminaries are endowed with life(3). For
they are inanimate and insensible(4). So that when the
divine Scripture saith, Let the heavens rejoice and the
earth be glad(5), it is the angels in heaven and the men
on earth that are invited to rejoice. For the Scripture is
familiar with the figure of personification, and is wont
to speak of inanimate things as though they were animate:
for example(6), The sea saw it and fled: Jordan was driven
back(7). And again, What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou
fleddest? thou, O Jordan, that thou was driven back(8)?
Mountains, too, and hills are asked the reason of their
leaping in the same way as we are wont to say, the city
was gathered together, when we do not mean the buildings,
but the inhabitants of the city: again, the heavens
declare the glory of God(9), does not mean that they send
forth a voice that can be heard by bodily ears, but that
from their own greatness they bring before our minds the
power of the Creator: and when we contemplate their beauty
we praise the Maker as the Master-Craftsman(1).
CHAPTER VII.
Concerning light, fire, the
luminaries, sun, moon and stars.
Fire is one of the four elements, light
and with a greater tendency to ascend than the others. It
has the power of burning and also of giving light, and it
was made by the Creator on the first day. For the divine
Scripture says, And God said, Let there be light, and
there was light(2). Fire is not a different thing from
what light is, as some maintain. Others again hold that
this fire of the universe is above the air(3) and call it
ether. In the beginning, then, that is to say on the first
day, God created light, the ornament and glory of the
whole visible creation. For take away light and all things
remain in undistinguishable darkness, incapable of
displaying their native beauty. And God called the light
day, but the darkness He called night(4). Further,
darkness is not any essence, but an accident: for it is
simply absence of light. The air, indeed, has not light in
its essence(5). It was, then, this very absence of light
from the air that God called darkness: and it is not the
essence of air that is darkness, but the absence of light
which clearly is rather an accident than an essence. And,
indeed, it was not night, but day, that was first named,
so that day is first and after that comes night. Night,
therefore, follows day. And from the beginning of day till
the next day is one complete period of day and night. For
the Scripture says, And the evening and the morning were
one day(6).
When, therefore, in the first three
days the light was poured forth and reduced at the divine
command, both day and night came to pass(7). But on the
fourth day God created the great luminary, that is, the
sun, to have rule and authority(8) over the day: for it is
by it that day is made: for it is day when the sun is
above the earth, and the duration of a day is the course
of the sun over the earth from its rising till its
setting. And He also created the lesser luminaries, that
is, the moon and the stars, to have rule and authority(1)
over the night, and to give light by night. For it is
night when the sun is under the earth, and the duration of
night is the course of the sun under the earth from its
rising till its setting. The moon, then, and the stars
were set to lighten the night: not that they are in the
daytime under the earth, for even by day stars are in the
heaven over the earth but the sun conceals both the stars
and the moon by the greater brilliance of its light and
prevents them from being seen.
On these luminaries the Creator
bestowed the first-created light: not because He was in
need of other light, but that that light might not remain
idle. For a luminary is not merely light, but a vessel for
containing light(2).
There are, we are told, seven planets
amongst these luminaries, and these move in a direction
opposite to that of the heaven: hence the name planets.
For, while they say that the heaven moves from east to
west, the planets move from west to east; but the heaven
bears the seven planets along with it by its swifter
motion. Now these are the names of the seven planets:
Luna, Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and in
each zone of heaven is, we are told, one of these seven
planets:
In the first and highest Saturn
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In the second Jupiter <?>
In the third Mars <?>
In the fourth Sol <?>]
In the fifth Venus <?>
In the sixth Mercury <?>
In the seventh and lowest Luna
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The course which the Creator(3)
appointed for them to run is unceasing and remaineth fixed
as He established them. For the divine David says, The
moan and the stars which Thou establishedst(4), and by the
word 'establishedst,' he referred to the fixity and
unchangeableness of the order and series granted to them
by God. For He appointed them for seasons, and signs, and
days and years. It is through the Sun that the four
seasons are brought about. And the first of these is
spring: for in it God created all things(5), and even down
to the present time its presence is evidenced by the
bursting of the flowers into bud, and this is the
equinoctial period, since day and night each consist of
twelve hours. It is caused by the sun rising in the
middle, and is mild and increases the blood, and is warm
and moist, and holds a position midway between winter and
summer, being warmer and drier than winter, but colder and
moister than summer. This season lasts from March 21st
till June 24th. Next, when the rising of the sun moves
towards more northerly parts, the season of summer
succeeds, which has a place midway between spring and
autumn, combining the warmth of spring with the dryness of
autumn: for it is dry and warm, and increases the yellow
bile. In it falls the longest day, which has fifteen
hours, and the shortest night of all, having only nine
hours. This season lasts from June 24th till September
25th. Then when the sun again returns to the middle,
autumn takes the place of summer. It has a medium amount
of cold and heat, dryness and moisture, and holds a place
midway between summer and winter, combining the dryness of
summer with the cold of winter. For it is cold and dry,
and increases the black bile. This season, again, is
equinoctial, both day and night consisting of twelve
hours, and it lasts from September 25th till December
25th. And when the rising of the sun sinks to its smallest
and lopoint, i.e. the south, winter is reached, with its
cold and moisture. It occupies a place midway between
autumn and spring, combining the cold of autumn and the
moisture of spring. In it falls the shortest day, which
has only nine hours, and the longest night, which has
fifteen: and it lasts from December 25th till March 21st.
For the Creator made this wise provision that we should
not pass from the extreme of cold, or heat, or dryness, or
moisture, to the opposite extreme, and thus incur grievous
maladies. For reason itself teaches us the danger of
sudden changes.
So, then, it is the sun that makes the
seasons, and through them the year: it likewise makes the
days and nights, the days when it rises and is above the
earth, and the nights when it sets below the earth: and it
bestows on the other luminaries, both moon and stars,
their power of giving forth light.
Further, they say that there are in the
heaven twelve signs made by the stars, and that these move
in an opposite direction to the sun and moon, and the
other five planets, and that the seven planets pass across
these twelve signs. Further, the sun makes a complete
month in each sign and traverses the twelve signs in the
same number of months. These, then, are the names of the
twelve signs and their respective months:--
The Ram, which receives the sun on the
21st of March.
The Bull, on the 23rd of April.
The Twins, on the 24th of May.
The Crab, on the 24th of June.
The Virgin, on the 25th of July.
The Scales, on the 25th of September.
The Scorpion,on the 25th of October.
The Archer, on the 25th of November.
Capricorn, on the 25th of December.
Aquarius, on the 25th of January.
The Fish, on the 24th of February.
But the moon traverses the twelve signs
each month, since it occupies a lower position and travels
through the signs at a quicker rate. For if you draw one
circle within another, the inner one will be found to be
the lesser: and so it is that owing to the moon occupying
a lower position its course is shorter and is sooner
completed
Now the Greeks declare that all our
affairs are controlled by the rising and setting and
collision(6) of these stars, viz., the sun and moon: for
it is with these matters that astrology has to do. But we
hold that we get from them signs of rain and drought, cold
and heat, moisture and dryness, and of the various winds,
and so forth(7), but no sign whatever as to our actions.
For we have been created with free wills by our Creator
and are masters over our own actions. Indeed, if all our
actions depend on the courses of the stars, all we do is
done of necessity(8): and necessity precludes either
virtue or vice. But if we possess neither virtue nor vice,
we do not deserve praise or punishment, and God, too, will
turn out to be unjust, since He gives good things to some
and afflicts others. Nay, He will no longer continue to
guide or provide for His own creatures, if all things are
carried and swept along in the grip of necessity. And the
faculty of reason will be superfluous to us: for if we are
not masters of any of our actions, deliberation is quite
superfluous. Reason, indeed, is granted to us solely that
we might take counsel, and hence all reason implies
freedom of will.
And, therefore, we hold that the stars
are not the causes of the things that occur, nor of the
origin of things that come to pass, nor of the destruction
of those things that perish. They are rather signs of
showers and changes of air. But, perhaps, some one may say
that though they are not the causes of wars, yet they are
signs of them. And, in truth, the quality of the air which
is produced(1) by sun, and moon, and stars, produces in
various ways different temperaments, and habits, and
dispositions(2). But the habits are amongst the things
that we have in our own hands, for it is reason that
rules, and directs, and changes them.
It often happens, also, that comets
arise. These are signs of the death of kings(3), and they
are not any of the stars that were made in the beginning,
but are formed at the same tithe by divine command and
again dissolved(4). And so not even that star which the
Magi saw at the birth of the Friend and Saviour of man,
our Lord, Who became flesh for our sake, is of the number
of those that were made in the beginning. And this is
evidently the case because sometimes its course was from
east to west, and sometimes from north to south; at one
moment it was hidden, and at the next it was revealed:
which is quite out of harmony with the order and nature of
the stars.
It must be understood, then, that the
moon derives its light from the sun; not that God was
unable to grant it light of its own, but in order that
rhythm and order may be unimpressed upon nature, one part
ruling, the other being ruled, and that we might thus be
taught to live in community and to share our possessions
with one another, and to be under subjection, first to our
Maker and Creator, our God and Master, and then also to
the rulers set in authority over us by Him: and not to
question why this man is ruler and not I myself, but to
welcome all that comes from God in a gracious and
reasonable spirit.
The sun and the moon, moreover, suffer
eclipse, and this demonstrates the folly of those who
worship the creature in place of the Creator(5), and
teaches us how changeable and alterable all things are For
all things are changeable save God, and whatever is
changeable is liable to corruption in accordance with the
laws of its own nature.
Now the cause of the eclipse of the sun
is that the body of the moon is interposed like a
partition-wall and casts a shadow, and prevents the light
from being shed down on us(6): and the extent of the
eclipse is proportional to the size of the moon's body
that is found to conceal the sun. But do not marvel that
the moon's body is the smaller. For many declare that the
sun is many times larger even than the earth, and the holy
Fathers say that it is equal to the earth: yet often a
small cloud, or even a small hill or a wall quite conceals
it.
The eclipse of the moon, on the other
hand, is due to the shadow the earth casts on it when it
is a fifteen days' moon and the sun and moon happen to be
at the opposite poles of the highest circle, the sun being
under the earth and the moon above the earth. For the
earth casts a shadow and the sun's light is prevented from
illuminating the moon, and therefore it is then eclipsed.
It should be understood that the moon
was made full by the Creator, that is, a fifteen days'
moon: for it was fitting that it should be made
complete(7). But on the fourth day, as we said, the sun
was created. Therefore the moon was eleven days in advance
of the sun, because from the fourth to the fifteenth day
there are eleven days. Hence it happens that in each year
the twelve months of the moon contain eleven days fewer
than the twelve months of the sun. For the twelve months
of the sun contain three hundred and sixty-five and a
quarter days, and so because the quarter becomes a whole,
in four years an extra day is completed, which is called
bis-sextile. And that year has three hundred and sixty-six
days. The years of the moon, on the other hand, have three
hundred and fifty-four days. For the moon wanes from the
time of its origin, or renewal, till it is fourteen and
three-quarter days' old, and proceeds to wane till the
twenty-ninth and a half day, when it is completely void of
light And then when it is once more connected with the sun
it is reproduced and renewed, a memorial of our
resurrection. Thus in each year the moon gives away eleven
days to the sun, and so in three years the intercalary
month of the Hebrews arises, and that year comes to
consist of thirteen months, owing to the addition of these
eleven days(8).
It is evident that both sun and moon
and stars are compound and liable to corruption according
to the laws of their various natures. But of their nature
we are ignorant. Some, indeed, say that fire when deprived
of matter is invisible, and thus, that when it is quenched
it vanishes altogether. Others, again, say that when it is
quenched it is transformed into air(9).
The circle of the zodiac has an oblique
motion and is divided into twelve sections called zodiac,
or signs: each sign has three divisions of ten each, i.e.
thirty divisions, and each division has sixty very minute
subdivisions. The heaven, therefore, has three hundred and
sixty-five degrees: the hemisphere above the earth and
that below the earth each having one hundred and eighty
degrees.
The abodes of the planets.
The Ram and the Scorpion are the abode
of Mars: the Bull and the Scales, of Venus(1): the Twins
and the Virgin, of Mercury: the Crab, of the Moon: the
Lion, of the Sun: the Archer and the Fish, of Jupiter:
Capricorn and Aquarius, of Saturn.
Their altitudes.
The Ram has the altitude of the Sun:
the Bull, of the Moon: the Crab, of Jupiter: the Virgin,
of Mars: the Scales, of Saturn: Capricorn, of Mercury: the
Fish, of Venus.
The phases of the moon.
It is in conjunction whenever it is in
the same degree as the sun: it is born when it is fifteen
degrees distant from the sun: it rises when it is
crescent-shaped, and this occurs twice(2), at which times
it is sixty degrees distant from the sun: it is half-full
twice, when it is ninety degrees from the sun: twice it is
gibbous, when it is one hundred and twenty degrees from
the sun: it is twice a full moon, giving full light, when
it is a hundred and fifty degrees from the sun: it is a
complete moon when it is a hundred and eighty degrees
distant from the sun. We say twice, because these phases
occur both when the moon waxes and when it wanes. In two
and a half days the moon traverses each sign.
CHAPTER VIII.
Concerning air and winds.
Air is the most subtle element, and is
moist and warm: heavier, indeed, than fire: but lighter
than earth and water: it is the cause of respiration and
voice: it is colourless, that is, it has no colour by
nature: it is clear and transparent, for it is capable of
receiving light: it ministers to three of our senses, for
it is by its aid that we see, hear and smell: it has the
power likewise of receiving heat and cold, dryness and
moisture, and its movements in space are up, down, within,
without, to the right and to the left, and the cyclical
movement.
It does not derive its light from
itself, but is illuminated by sun, and moon, and stars,
and fire. And this is just what the Scripture means when
it says, And darkeness was upon the deep(3); for its
object is to shew that the air has not derived its light
from itself, but that it is quite a different essence from
light.
And wind is a movement of air: or wind
is a rush of air which changes its name as it changes the
place whence it rushes(4).
Its place is in the air. For place is
the circumference of a body. But what is it that surrounds
bodies but air? There are, moreover, different places in
which the movement of air originates, and from these the
winds get their names. There are in all twelve winds. It
is said that air is just fire after it has been
extinguished, or the vapour of heated water. At all
events, in its own special nature the air is warm, but it
becomes cold owing to the proximity of water and earth, so
that the lower parts of it are cold, and the higher
warm(5).
These then are the winds(6): Caecias,
or Meses, arises in the region where the sun rises in
summer. Subsolanus, where the sun rises at the equinoxes.
Eurus, where it rises in winter. Africus, where it sets in
winter. Favonius, where it sets at the equinoxes, and
Corns, or Olympias, or Iapyx, where it sets in summer.
Then come Auster and Aquilo, whose blasts oppose one
another. Between Aquilo and Caecias comes Boreas: and
tween Eurus and Auster, Phoenix or Euronotus; between
Auster and Africus, Libonotus or Leucouotus: and lastly,
between Aquilo and Corus, Thrascias, or Cercius, as it is
called by the inhabitants of that region.
[These(7), then, are the races which
dwell at the ends of the world: beside Subsolanus are the
Bactriani: beside Eurus, the Indians: beside Phoenix, the
Red Sea and Ethiopia: beside Libonotus, the Garamantes,
who are beyond Systis: beside Africus, the Ethiopians and
the Western Mauri: beside Favonius, the columns of
Hercules and the beginnings of Libya and Europe: beside
Corus, Iberia, which is now called Spain: beside Thrascia,
the Gauls and the neighbouring nations: beside Aquilo, the
Scythians who are beyond Thrace: beside Boreas, Pontus,
Maeotis and the Sarmatae: beside Caecias, the Caspian Sea
and the Sacai.]
CHAPTER IX.
Concerning the waters.
Water also is one of the four elements,
the most beautiful of God's creations. It is both wet and
cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows
with great readiness. It is this the Holy Scripture has in
view when it says, And darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters(8). For the deep is nothing else than a huge
quantity of water whose limit man cannot comprehend. In
the beginning, indeed, the water lay all over the surface
of the earth. And first God created the firmament to
divide the water above the firmament from the water below
the firmament. For in the midst of the sea of waters the
firmament was established at the Master's decree. And out
of it God bade the firmament arise, and it arose. Now for
what reason was it that God placed water above the
firmament? It was because of the intense burning heat of
the sun and ether(1). For immediately under the firmament
is spread out the ether(2), and the sun and moon and stars
are in the firmament, and so if water had not been put
above it the firmament would have been consumed by the
heat(3).
Next, God bade the waters be gathered
together into one mass(4). But when the Scripture speaks
of one mass it evidently does not mean that they were
gathered together into one place: for immediately it goes
on to say, And the gatherings of the waters He called
seas(5): but the words signify that the waters were
separated off in a body from the earth into distinct
groups. Thus the waters were gathered together into their
special collections and the dry land was brought to view.
And hence arose the two seas that surround Egypt, for it
lies between two seas. These collections contain(6)
various seas and mountains, and islands, and promontories,
and harbours, and surround various bays and beaches, and
coastlands. For the word beach is used when the nature of
the tract is sandy, while coastland signifies that it is
rocky and deep close into shore, getting deep all on a
sudden In like manner arose also the sea that lies where
the sun rises, the name of which is the Indian Sea: also
the northern sea called the Caspian. The lakes also were
formed in the same manner.
The ocean, then, is like a river
encircling the whole earth, and I think it is concerning
it that the divine Scripture says, A river went ant of
Paradise(7). The water of the ocean is sweet and
potable(8). It is it that furnishes the seas with water
which, because it stays a long time in the seas and stands
unmoved, becomes bitter: for the sun and the waterspouts
draw up always the finer parts. Thus it is that clouds are
formed and showers take place, because the filtration
makes the water sweet.
This is parted into four first
divisions, that is to say, into four rivers. The name of
the first is Pheison, which is the Indian Ganges; the name
of the second is Geon, which is the Nile flowing from
Ethiopia down to Egypt: the name of the third is Tigris,
and the name of the fourth is Euphrates. There are also
very many other mighty rivers of which some empty
themselves into the sea and others are used up in the
earth. Thus the whole earth is bored through and mined,
and has, so to speak, certain veins through which it sends
up in springs the water it has received from the sea. The
water of the spring thus depends for its character on the
quality of the ea. For the sea water is filtered and
strained through the earth and thus becomes sweet. But if
the place from which the spring arises is bitter or briny,
so also is the water that is sent up(9). Moreover, it
often happens that water which has been closely pent up
bursts through with violence, and thus it becomes warm.
And this is why they send forth waters that are naturally
warm.
By the divine decree hollow places are
made in the earth, and so into these the waters are
gathered. And this is how mountains are formed. God, then,
bade the first water produce living breath, since it was
to be by water and the Holy Spirit that moved upon the
waters in the beginning(1), that man was to be renewed.
For this is what the divine Basilius said: Therefore it
produced living creatures, small and big; whales and
dragons, fish that swim in the waters, and feathered fowl.
The birds form a link between water and earth and air: for
they have their origin in the water, they live on the
earth and they fly in the air. Water, then, is the most
beautiful element and rich in usefulness, and purifies
from all filth, and not only from the filth of the body
but from that of the soul, if it should have received the
grace of the Spirit(2).
Concerning the seas(3).
The AEgean Sea is received by the
Hellespont, which ends at Abydos and Sestus: next, the
Propontis, which ends at Chalcedon and Byzantium: here are
the straits where the Pontus arises. Next, the lake of
Maeotis.
Again, from the beginning of Europe and
Libya it is the Iberian Sea, which extends from the
pillars of Hercules to the Pyrenees mountain. Then the
Ligurian Sea as far as the borders of Etruria. Next, the
Sardinian Sea, which is above Sardinia and inclines
downwards to Libya. Then the Etrurian Sea, which begins at
the extreme limits of Liguria and ends at Sicily. Then the
Libyan Sea. Then the Cretan, and Sicilian, and Ionian, and
Adriatic Seas, the last of which is poured out of the
Sicilian Sea, which is called the Corinthian Gulf, or the
Alcyonian Sea. The Saronic Sea is surrounded by the Sunian
and Scylaean Seas. Next is the Myrtoan Sea and the Icarian
Sea, in which are also the Cyclades. Then the Carpathian,
and Pamphylian, and Egyptian Seas: and, thereafter, above
the Icarian Sea, the AEgean Sea pours itself out. There is
also the coast of Europe from the mouth of the Tanais
River to the Pillars of Hercules, 609,709 stadia: and that
of Libya from the Tigris, as far as the mouth of the
Canobus, 209,252 stadia: and lastly, that of Asia from the
Canobus to the Tanais, which, including the Gulf, is 4,111
stadia. And so the full extent of the seaboard of the
world that we inhabit with the gulfs is 1,309,072
stadia(4).
CHAPTER X.
Concerning earth and its products.
The earth is one of the four elements,
dry, cold, heavy, motionless, brought into being by God,
out of nothing on the first day. For in the beginning, he
said, God created the heaven and the earths(5): but the
seat and foundation of the earth no man has been able to
declare. Some, indeed, hold that its seat is the waters:
thus the divine David says, To Him Who established the
earth on the waters(6). Others place it in the air. Again
some other says, fare Who hangeth the earth on nothing(7).
And, again, David, the singer of God, says, as though the
representative of God, I bear up the pillars of it(8),
meaning by "pillars" the force that sustains it.
Further, the expression, He hath rounded it upon the
seas(9), shews clearly that the earth is on all hands
surrounded with water. But whether we grant that it is
established on itself, or on air or on water, or on
nothing, we must not turn aside from reverent thought, but
must admit that all things are sustained and preserved by
the power of the Creator.
In the beginning, then, as the Holy
Scripture says(1), it was hidden beneath the waters, and
was unwrought, that is to say, not beautified. But at
God's bidding, places to hold the waters appeared, and
then the mountains came into existence, and at the divine
command the earth received its own proper adornment, and
was dressed in all manner of herbs and plants, and on
these, by the divine decree, was bestowed the power of
growth and nourishment, and of producing seed to generate
their like. Moreover, at the bidding of the Creator it
produced also all manner of kinds of living creatures,
creeping things, and wild beasts, and cattle. All, indeed,
are for the seasonable use of man: but of them some are
for food, such as stags, sheep, deer, and such like:
others for service such as camels, oxen, horses, asses,
and such like: and others for enjoyment, such as apes, and
among birds, jays and parrots, and such like. Again,
amongst plants and herbs some are fruit bearing, others
edible, others fragrant and flowery, given to us for our
enjoyment, for example, the rose and such like, and others
for the healing of disease. For there is not a single
animal or plant in which the Creator has not implanted
some form of energy capable of being used to satisfy man's
needs. For He Who knew all things before they were, saw
that in the future man would go forward in the strength of
his own will, and would be subject to corruption, and,
therefore, He created all things for his seasonable use,
alike those in the firmament, and those on the earth, and
those in the waters.
Indeed, before the transgression all
things were under his power. For God set him as ruler over
all things on the earth and in the waters. Even the
serpent(2) was accustomed to man, and approached him more
readily than it did other living creatures, and held
intercourse with him with delightful motions(3). And hence
it was through it that the devil, the prince of evil, made
his most wicked suggestion to our first parents(4).
Moreover, the earth of its own accord used to yield
fruits, for the benefit of the animals that were obedient
to man, and there was neither rain nor tempest on the
earth. But after the transgression, when he was compared
with the unintelligent cattle and became like to them(5),
after he had contrived that in him irrational desire
should have rule over reasoning mind and had become
disobedient to the Master's command, the subject creation
rose up against him whom the Creator had appointed to be
ruler: and it was appointed for him that he should till
with sweat the earth from which he had been taken.
But even now wild beasts are not
without their uses, for, by the terror they cause, they
bring man to the knowledge of his Creator and lead him to
call upon His name. And, further, at the transgression the
thorn sprung out of the earth in accordance with the
Lord's express declaration and was conjoined with the
pleasures of the rose, that it might lead us to remember
the transgression on account of which the earth was
condemned to bring forth for us thorns and prickles(6).
That this is the case is made worthy of
belief from the fact that their endurance is secured by
the word of the Lord, saying, Be fruitful and multiply,
and replenish the earth(7).
Further, some hold that the earth is in
the form of a sphere, others that it is in that of a cone.
At all events it is much smaller than the heaven, and
suspended almost like a point in its midst. And it will
pass away and be changed. But blessed is the man who
inherits the earth promised to the meek(8).
For the earth that is to be the
possession of the holy is immortal. Who, then, can fitly
marvel at the boundless and incomprehensible wisdom of the
Creator? Or who can render sufficient thanks to the Giver
of so many blessings(9) ?
[There are also provinces, or
prefectures, of the earth which we recognise: Europe
embraces thirty four, and the huge continent of Asia has
forty-eight of these provinces, and twelve canons as they
are called(1).]
CHAPTER XI.
Concerning Paradise.
Now when God was about to fashion man
oat of the visible and invisible creation in His own image
and likeness to reign as king and ruler over all the and
all that it contains, He first made for him, so to speak,
a kingdom in which he should live a life of happiness and
prosperity(2). And this is the divine paradise(3), planted
in Eden by the hands of God, a very storehouse of joy and
gladness of heart (for "Eden"(4) means
luxuriousness(5)). Its site is higher in the East than all
the earth: it is temperate and the air that surrounds it
is the rarest and purest: evergreen plants are its pride,
sweet fragrances abound, it is flooded with light, and in
sensuous freshness and beauty it transcends imagination:
in truth the place is divine, a meet home for him who was
created in God's image: no creature lacking reason made
its dwelling there but man alone, the work of God's own
hands.
In its midst(6) God planted the tree of
life and the tree of knowledge(7). The tree of knowledge
was for trial, and proof, and exercise of man's obedience
and disobedience: and hence it was named the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, or else it was because to
those who partook of it was given power to know their own
nature. Now this is a good thing for those who are mature,
but an evil thing for the immature and those whose
appetites are too strong(8), being like solid food to
tender babes still in need of milk(9). For our Creator,
God, did not intend us to be burdened with care and
troubled about many things, nor to take thought about, or
make provision for, our own life. But this at length was
Adam's fate: for he tasted and knew that he was naked and
made a girdle round about him: for he took fig-leaves and
girded himself about. But before they took of the fruit,
They were both naked. Adam and Eve, and were not
ashamed(1). For God meant that we should be thus free from
passion, and this is indeed the mark of a mind absolutely
void of passion. Yea, He meant us further to be free from
care and to have but one work to perform, to sing as do
the angels, without ceasing or intermission, the praises
of the Creator, and to delight in contemplation of Him and
to cast all our care on Him. This is what the Prophet
David proclaimed to us when He said, Cast thy burden on
the Lord, and He will sustain thee(2). And, again, in the
Gospels, Christ taught His disciples saying, Take no
thought for your life what ye shall eat, nor for your body
what ye shall put on(3). And further, Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things
shall be added unto you(4). And to Martha He said, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good
part, which shall not be taken away from her(5), meaning,
clearly, sitting at His feet and listening to His words.
The tree of life, on the other hand,
was a tree having the energy that is the cause of life, or
to be eaten only by those who deserve to live and are not
subject to death. Some, indeed, have pictured Paradise as
a realm of sense(6), and others as a realm of mind. But it
seems to me, that, just as man is a creature, in whom we
find both sense and mind blended together, in like manner
also man's most holy temple combines the properties of
sense and mind, and has this twofold expression: for, as
we said, the life in the body is spent in the most divine
and lovely region, while the life in the soul is passed in
a place far more sublime and of more surpassing beauty,
where God makes His home, and where He wraps man about as
with a glorious garment, and robes him in His grace, and
delights and sustains him like an angel with the sweetest
of all fruits, the contemplation of Himself. Verily it has
been filly named the tree of life. For since the life is
not cut short by death, the sweetness of the divine
participation is imparted to those who share it. And this
is, in truth, what God meant by every tree, saying, Of
every tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat(7). For the
'every' is just Himself in Whom and through Whom the
universe is maintained. But the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil was for the distinguishing between the many
divisions of contemplation, and this is just the knowledge
of one's own nature, which, indeed, is a good thing for
those who are mature and advanced in divine contemplation
(being of itself a proclamation of the magnificence of
God), and have no fear of falling(8), because they have
through time come to have the habit of such contemplation,
but it is an evil tiring to those still young and with
stronger appetites, who by reason of their insecure bold
on the better part, and because as yet they are not firmly
established in the seat of the one and only good, are apt
to be torn and dragged away from this to the care of their
own body.
Thus, to my thinking, the divine
Paradise is twofold, and the God-inspired Fathers handed
down a true message, whether they taught this doctrine or
that. Indeed, it is possible to understand by every tree
the knowledge of the divine power derived from created
things. In the words of the divine Apostle, For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made(9). But of all these thoughts and speculations the
sublimest is that dealing with ourselves, that is, with
our own composition. As the divine David says, The
knowledge of Thee from me(1), that is from my
constitution, was made a wonder(2). But for the reasons we
have already mentioned, such knowledge was dangerous for
Adam who had been so lately created(3).
The tree of life too may be understood
as that more divine thought that has its origin in the
world of sense, and the ascent through that to the
originating and constructive cause of all. And this was
the name He gave to every tree, implying fulness and
indivisibility, and conveying only participation in what
is good. But by the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, we are to understand that sensible and pleasurable
food which, sweet though it seems, in reality brings him
who partakes of it into communion with evil. For God says,
Of every tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat(4). It
is, me-thinks, as if God said, Through all My creations
thou art to ascend to Me thy creator, and of all the
fruits titan mayest pluck one, that is, Myself who ant the
true life: let every thing bear for thee the fruit of
life, and let participation in Me be the support of your
own being. For in this way than wilt be immortal. But of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shall surely die s. For sensible food is by nature for the
replenishing of that which gradually wastes away and it
passes into the drought and perisheth: and he cannot
remain incorruptible who partakes of sensible food.
CHAPTER XII.
Concerning Man.
IN this way, then, God brought into
existence mental essence(6), by which I mean, angels and
all the heavenly orders. For these clearly have a mental
and incorporeal nature: "incorporeal" I mean in
comparison with the denseness of matter. For the Deity
alone in reality is immaterial and incorporeal. But
further He created in the same way sensible essence(7),
that is heaven and earth and the intermediate region; and
so He created both the kind of being that is of His own
nature (for the nature that has to do with reason is
related to God, and apprehensible by mind alone), and the
kind which, inasmuch as it clearly falls under the
province of the senses, is separated from Him by the
greatest interval. And it was also fit that there should
be a mixture of both kinds of being, as a token of still
greater wisdom and of the opulence of the Divine
expenditure as regards natures, as Gregorius, the
expounder of God's being and ways, puts it, and to be a
sort of connecting link between the visible and invisible
natures(8). And by the word "fit" I mean, simply
that it was an evidence of the Creator's will, for that
will is the law and ordinance most meet, and no one will
say to his Maker, "Why hast Thou so fashioned
me?" For the potter is able at his will to make
vessels of various patterns out of hclay(9), as a proof of
his own wisdom.
Now this being the case, He creates
with His own hands man of a visible nature and an
invisible, after His own image and likeness: on the one
hand man's body He formed of earth, and on the other his
reasoning and thinking soul(1) He bestowed upon him by His
own inbreathing, and this is what we mean by "after
His image." For the phrase "after His
image" clearly refers(2) to the side of his nature
which consists of mind and free will, whereas "after
His likeness "means likeness in virtue so far as that
is possible.
Further, body and soul were formed at
one and the same time(3), not first the one and then the
other, as Origen so senselessly supposes.
God then made man without evil,
upright, virtuous, free from pain and care, glorified with
every virtue, adorned with all that is good, like a sort
of second microcosm within the great world(4). another
angel capable of worship, compound, surveying the visible
creation and initiated into the mysteries of the realm of
thought, king over the things of earth, but subject to a
higher king, of the earth and of the heaven, temporal and
eternal, belonging to the realm of sight and to the realm
of thought, midway between greatness and lowliness, spirit
and flesh: for he is spirit by grace, but flesh by
overweening pride: spirit that he may abide and glorify
his Benefactor, and flesh that he may suffer, and
suffering may be admonished and disciplined when he prides
himself in his greatness(5): here, that is, in the present
life, his life is ordered as an animal's, but elsewhere,
that is, in the age to come, he is changed and--to
complete the mystery--becomes deified by merely inclining
himself towards God; becoming deified, in the way of
participating in the divine glory and not in that of a
change into the divine being(6).
But God made him by nature sinless, and
endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean not that
sin could find no place in him (for that is the case with
Deity alone), bat that sin is the result of the free
volition he enjoys rather than an integral part of his
nature(7); that is to say, he has the power to continue
and go forward in the path of goodness, by co-operating
with the divine grace, and likewise to turn from good and
take to wickedness, for God has conceded this by
conferring freedom of will upon him. For there is no
virtue in what is the result of mere force(8).
The soul, accordingly(9), is a living
essence, simple, incorporeal, invisible in its proper
nature to bodily eyes, immortal, reasoning and
intelligent, formless, making use of an organised body,
and being the source of its powers of life, and growth,
and sensation, and generation(1), mind being but its
purest part and not in any wise alien to it; (for as the
eye to the body, so is the mind to the soul); further it
enjoys freedom and volition and energy, and is mutable,
that is, it is given to change, because it is created. All
these qualities according to nature it has received of the
grace of the Creator, of which grace it has received both
its being and this particular kind of nature.
Marg. The different applications of
"incorporeal." We understand two kinds of what
is incorporeal and invisible and formless: the one is such
in essence, the other by free gift: and likewise the one
is such in nature, and the other only in comparison with
the denseness of matter. God then is incorporeal by
nature, but the angels and demons and souls are said to be
so by free gift, and in comparison with the denseness of
matter.
Further, body is that which has three
dimensions, that is to say, it has length and breadth and
depth, or thickness. And every body is composed of the
four elements; the bodies of living creatures, moreover,
are composed of the four humours.
Now there are, it should be known, four
elements: earth which is dry and cold: water which is cold
and wet: air which is wet and warm: fire which is warm and
dry. In like manner there are also four humours, analogous
to the four elements: black bile, which bears an analogy
to earth, for it is dry and cold: phlegm, analogous to
water, for it is cold and wet: blood, analogous to air(2),
for it is wet and warm: yellow bile, the analogue to fire,
for it is warm and city. Now, fruits are composed of the
elements, and the humours are composed of the fruits, and
the bodies of living creatures consist of the humours and
dissolve back into them. For every thing that is compound
dissolves back into its elements.
Marg. That man has community alike with
inanimate things and animate creatures, whether they are
devoid of or possess the faculty of reason.
Man, it is to be noted, has community
with things inanimate, and participates in the life of
unreasoning creatures, and shares in the mental processes
of those endowed with reason. For the bond of union
between man and inanimate things is the body and its
composition out of the font elements: and the bond between
man and plants consists, in addition to these things, of
their powers of nourishment and growth and seeding, that
is, generation: and finally, over and above these links
man is connected with unreasoning animals by appetite,
that is anger and desire, and sense and impulsive
movement.
There are then five senses, sight,
hearing, smell, taste, touch. Further, impulsive movement
consists in change from place to place, and in the
movements of the body as a whole and in the emission of
voice and the drawing of breath. For we have it in our
power to perform or refrain from performing these actions.
Lastly, man's reason unites him to
incorporeal and intelligent natures, for he applies his
reason and mind and judgment to everything, and pursues
after virtues, and eagerly follows after piety, which is
the crown of the virtues. And so man is a microcosm.
Moreover, it should be known that
division and flux and change(3) are peculiar to the body
alone. By change, I mean change in quality, that is in
heat and cold and so forth: by flux, I mean change in the
way of depletion(4), for dry things and wet things and
spirit s suffer depletion, and require repletion: so that
hunger and thirst are natural affections. Again, division
is the separation of the humours, one from another, and
the partition into form and matter(6).
But piety and thought are the peculiar
properties of the soul. And the virtues are common to soul
and body, although they are referred to the soul as if the
soul were making use of the body.
The reasoning part, it should be
understood, naturally bears rule over that which is void
of reason. For the faculties of the soul are divided into
that which has reason, and that which is without reason.
Again, of that which is without reason there are two
divisions: that which does not listen to reason, that is
to say, is disobedient to reason, and that which listens
and obeys reason. That which does not listen or obey
reason is the vital or pulsating faculty, and the
spermatic or generative faculty, and the vegetative or
nutritive faculty: to this belong also the faculties of
growth and bodily formation. For these are not under the
dominion of reason but under that of nature. That which
listens to and obeys reason, on the other hand is divided
into anger anti desire. And the unreasoning part of the
soul is called in common the pathetic and the
appetitive(7). Further, it is to be understood, that
impulsive movement s likewise belongs to the part that is
obedient to reason.
The part(9) which does not pay heed to
reason includes the nutritive and generative and pulsating
faculties: and the name "vegetative(9a)" is
applied to the faculties of increase and nutriment and
generation, and the name "vital" to the faculty
of pulsation.
Of the faculty of nutrition, then,
there are four forces: an attractive force which attracts
nourishment: a retentive force by which nourishment is
retained and not suffered to be immediately excreted: an
alterative force by which the food is resolved into the
humours: and an excretive force, by which the excess of
food is excreted into the draught and cast forth.
The forces again(1), inherent in a
living creature are, it should be noted, partly psychical,
partly vegetative, partly vital. The psychical forces are
concerned with free volition, that is to say, impulsive
movement and sensation. Impulsive movement includes change
of place and movement of the body as a whole, and
phonation and respiration. For it is in our power to
perform or refrain from performing these acts. The
vegetative and vital forces, however, are quite outside
the province of will. The vegetative, moreover, include
the faculties of nourishment and growth, and generation,
and the vital power is the faculty of pulsation. For these
go on energising whether we will it or not.
Lastly, we must observe that of actual
things, some are good, and some are bad. A good thing in
anticipation constitutes desire: while a good thing in
realisation constitutes pleasure. Similarly an evil thing
in anticipation begets fear, and in realisation it begets
pain. And when we speak of good in this connection we are
to be understood to mean both real and apparent good: and,
similarly, we mean real and apparent evil.
CHAPTER XIII.
Concerning Pleasures.
There are pleasures of the soul and
pleasures of the body. The pleasures of the soul are those
which are the exclusive possession of the soul, such as
the pleasures of learning and contemplation. The pleasures
of the body, however, are those which are enjoyed by soul
and body in fellowship, and hence are called bodily
pleasures: and such are the pleasures of food and
intercourse and the like. But one could not find any class
of pleasures(2) belonging solely to the body(3).
Again, some pleasures are true, others
false. And the exclusively intellectual pleasures consist
in knowledge and contemplation, while the pleasures of the
body depend upon sensation. Further, of bodily
pleasures(4), some are both natural and necessary, in the
absence of which life is impossible, for example the
pleasures of food which replenishes waste, and the
pleasures of necessary clothing. Others are natural but
not necessary, as the pleasures of natural and lawful
intercourse. For though the function that these perform is
to secure the permanence of the race as a whole, it is
still possible to live a virgin life apart from them.
Others, however, are neither natural nor necessary, such
as drunkenness, lust, and surfeiting to excess. For these
contribute neither to the maintenance of our own lives nor
to the succession of the race, but on the contrary, are
rather even a hindrance. He therefore that would live a
life acceptable to God must follow after those pleasures
which are both natural and necessary: and must give a
secondary place to those which are natural but not
necessary, and enjoy them only in fitting season, and
manner, and measure; while the others must be altogether
renounced.
Those then are to be considered
moral(5) pleasures which are not bound up with pain, and
bring no cause for repentance, and result in no other harm
and keep(6) within the bounds of moderation, and do not
draw us far away from serious occupations, nor make slaves
of us.
CHAPTER XIV.
Concerning Pain.
There are four varieties of pain, viz.,
anguish(7), griefs(8), envy, pity. Anguish is pain without
utterance: grief is pain that is heavy to bear like a
burden: envy is pain over the good fortune of others: pity
is pain over the evil fortune of others.
CHAPTER XV.
Concerning Fear.
Fear is divided into six varieties:
viz., shrinking(9), shame, disgrace, consternation, panic,
anxiety(9a). Shrinking(9b) is fear of some act about to
take place. Shame is fear arising from the anticipation of
blame: and this is the highest form of the affection.
Disgrace is fear springing from some base act already
done, and even for this form there is some hope of
salvation. Consternation is fear originating in some huge
prOduct of the imagination. Panic is fear caused by some
unusual product of the imagination. Anxiety is fear of
failure, that is, of misfortune: for when we fear that our
efforts will not meet with success, we suffer anxiety.
CHAPTER XVI.
Concerning Anger.
Anger is the ebullition(1) of the
heart's blood(2) produced by bilious exhalation or
turbidity. Hence it is that the words
<greek>colh</greek> and
<greek>cols</greek>(3) are both used in the
sense of anger. Anger is sometimes lust for vengeance. For
when we are wronged or think that we are wronged, we are
distressed, and there arises this mixture of desire and
anger.
There are three forms of anger: rage,
which the Greeks also call <greek>colh</greek>
or <greek>cols</greek>,
<greek>mhnis</greek> and
<greek>kotos</greek>. When anger arises and
begins to be roused, it is called rage or
<greek>colh</greek> or
<greek>cols</greek>. Wrath again implies that
the bile endures, that is to say, that the memory of the
wrong abides: and indeed the Greek word for it,
<greek>mhnis</greek>is derived from
<greek>menein</greek>, and means what abides
and is transferred to memory. Rancour, on the other hand,
implies watching for a suitable moment for revenge, and
the Greek word for it is <greek>kotos</greek>
from <greek>keisqai</greek>.
Anger further is the satellite of
reason, the vindicator of desire. For when we long after
anything and are opposed in our desire by some one, we are
angered at that person, as though we had been wronged: and
reason evidently deems that there are just grounds for
displeasure in what has happened, in the case of those
who, like us, have in the natural course of things to
guard their own position.
CHAPTER XVII.
Concerning Imagination.
Imagination(4) is a faculty of the
unreasoning part of the soul. It is through the organs of
sense that it is brought into action, and it is spoken of
as sensation. And further, what is imagined(5) and
perceived is that which comes within the scope of the
faculty of imagination and sensation. For example, the
sense of sight is the visual faculty itself, but the
object of sight is that which comes within the scope of
the sense of sight, such as a stone or any other such
object. Further, an imagination is an affection of the
unreasoning part of the soul which is occasioned by some
object acting upon the sensation. But an appearance(6) is
an empty affection of the unreasoning part of the soul,
not occasioned by any object acting upon the sensation.
Moreover the organ of imagination is the anterior
ventricle of the brain.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Concerning Sensation.
Sensation is that faculty of the soul
whereby material objects can be apprehended or
discriminated. And the sensoria are the organs or members
through which sensations are conveyed. And the objects of
sense are the things that come within the province of
sensation. And lastly, the subject of sense is the living
animal which possesses the faculty of sensation. Now there
are five senses, and likewise five organs of sense.
The first sense is sight: and the
sensoria or organs of sight are the nerves of the brain
and the eyes. Now sight is primarily perception of colour,
but along with the colour it discriminates the body that
has colour, and its size and form, and locality, and the
intervening space and the number(7): also whether it is in
motion or at rest, rough or smooth, even or uneven, sharp
or blunt, and finally whether its composition is watery or
earthy, that is, wet or dry.
The second sense is hearing, whereby
voices and sounds are perceived. And it distinguishes
these as sharp or deep, or smooth or loud. Its organs are
the soft nerves of the brain, and the structure of the
ears. Further, man and the ape are the only animals that
do not move their ears.
The third sense is smell, which is
caused by the nostrils transmitting the vapours to the
brain: ait is bounded by the extreme limits of the
anterior ventricle of the brain. It is the faculty by
which vapours are perceived and apprehended. Now, the most
generic distinction between vapours is whether they have a
good or an evil odour, or form an intermediate class with
neither a good nor an evil odour. A good odour is produced
by the thorough digestion in the body of the humours. When
they are only moderately digested the intermediate class
is formed, and when the digestion is very imperfect or
utterly wanting, an evil odour results.
The fourth sense is taste: it is the
faculty whereby the humours are apprehended or perceived,
and its organs of sense are the tongue, and more
especially the lips, and the palate (which the Greeks call
<greek>ouraniskou</greek>), and in these are
nerves that come from the brain and are spread out, and
convey to the dominant part of the soul the perception or
sensation they have encountered(8). The so-called
gustatory qualities of the humours are these:--sweetness,
pungency, bitterness, astringency, acerbity, sourness,
saltness, fattiness, stickiness; for taste is capable of
discriminating all these. But water has none of these
qualities, and is therefore devoid of taste. Moreover,
astringency is only a more intense and exaggerated form of
acerbity.
The fifth sense is touch, which is
common to all living things(9). Its organs are nerves
which come from the brain and ramify all through the body.
Hence the body as a whole, including even the other organs
of sense, possesses the sense of touch. Within its scope
come heat and cold, softness and hardness, viscosity and
brittleness(1), heaviness and lightness: for it is by
touch alone that these qualities are discriminated. On the
other hand, roughness and smoothness, dryness and wetness,
thickness and thinness, up and down, place and size,
whenever that is such as to be embraced in a single
application of the sense of touch, are all common to touch
and sight, as well as denseness and rareness, that is
porosity, and rotundity if it is small, and some other
shapes. In like manner also by the aid of memory and
thought perception of the nearness of a body is possible,
and similarly perception of number up to two or three, and
such small and easily reckoned figures. But it is by sight
rather than touch that these things are perceived.
The Creator, it is to be noted,
fashioned all the other organs of sense in pairs, so that
if one were destroyed, the other might fill its place. For
there are two eyes, two ears, two orifices of the nose,
and two tongues, which in some animals, such as snakes,
are separate, but in others, like man, are united. But
touch is spread over the whole body with the exception of
bones, nerves, nails, horns, hairs, ligaments, and other
such structures.
Further, it is to be observed that
sight is possible only in straight lines, whereas smell
and hearing are not limited to straight lines only, but
act in all directions. Touch, again, and taste act neither
in straight lines, nor in every direction, but only when
each comes near to the sensible objects that are proper to
it.
CHAPTER XIX.
Concerning Thought.
The faculty of thought deals with
judgments and assents, and impulse to action and
disinclinations, and escapes from action: and more
especially with thoughts connected with what is thinkable,
and the virtues and the different branches of learning,
and the theories of the arts and matters of counsel and
choice(2). Further, it is this faculty which prophesies
the future to us in dreams, and this is what the
Pythagoreans, adopting the Hebrew view, hold to be the one
true form of prophecy. The organ of thought then is the
mid-ventricle of the brain, and the vital spirit it
contains(3).
CHAPTER XX.
Concerning Memory.
The faculty of memory is the cause(4)
and storehouse of remembrance and recollection. For memory
is a fantasy s that is left behind of some sensation and
thought(6) manifesting itself in action; or the
preservation(7) of a sensation and thought(8). For the
soul comprehends objects of sense through the organs of
sense, that is to say, it perceives, and thence arises a
notion: and similarly it comprehends the objects of
thought through the mind, and thence arises a thought. It
