Part 2
PART TWO. On the Creation of the World.
Chapter I.
On the production of the whole world.
These things having been briefly understood beforehand concerning the Trinity of God, some things must be said concerning the creation of the world. Concerning which these things are to be held in summary: namely, that the whole of the world-machine was produced into being
in time and from nothing by one first, sole, and supreme principle: whose power, although it is immense, nevertheless disposed all things in a certain weight, number, and measure.
- These things are to be understood generally concerning the production of things, from which truth is gathered and error is repudiated. For by this, that it is said in time,
the error of those positing an eternal world is excluded. By this, that it is said from nothing,
the error of those positing eternity regarding the material principle is excluded. By this, that it is said from one principle,
the error of the Manichaeans positing a plurality of principles is excluded. By this, that it is said sole and supreme,
the error of those positing that God produced lower creatures through the ministry of intelligences is excluded. Moreover, by this, that is added in a certain weight, number, and measure,
it is shown that the creature is the effect of the creating Trinity under a threefold genus of causality: efficient,
from which there is in the creature unity, mode,
and measure; exemplary,
from which there is in the creature truth, species,
and number: final,
from which there is in the creature goodness, order,
and weight.
Which indeed are found in all creatures as a vestige of the Creator, whether corporeal, or spiritual, or composed of both.
Now the reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because for there to be a perfect order and stability in things, it is necessary that all things be reduced to one principle, which indeed is first
, so that it may give stability:
to the rest, and most perfect,
so that it may give completion
to all the rest. Since therefore the first principle, in which there is stability,
cannot be other than one
alone; if it produces the world, since it cannot produce it from itself, it is necessary that it produce from nothing.
And because production from nothing posits being
after non-being
on the part of the thing produced, and immensity in the producing power on the part of the principle,
since this belongs to God alone: it is necessary that the creature of the world was produced in time
by that immense power
itself, acting through itself and immediately.
Again, since the most perfect principle, from which the perfection of all things flows, must necessarily act from itself
and according to itself
and for the sake of itself — because it needs nothing outside itself in acting — it is necessary that it have, with respect to any creature, the intention of a threefold cause, namely efficient, exemplary, and final:
it is also necessary that every creature be related to the first cause according to this threefold relation. For every creature is established in being
by the efficient cause, is conformed to the exemplar, and is ordered to the end: and through this it is one, true, good: modified, beautiful, ordered: measured, distinct, and weighted:
for weight
is an ordinative inclination .
And these things have indeed been said generally of every creature, whether corporeal, or incorporeal, or composed of both, as is human nature.
Chapter II.
On corporeal nature with respect to its coming-to-be.
Corporeal nature must be considered by us with respect to its coming-to-be,
with respect to its being,
and with respect to its operation.
Concerning corporeal nature with respect to its coming-to-be,
these things are especially to be held: that it was brought into being
in six days, such that in the beginning,
before every day, "God created heaven and earth."
On the first day light was formed; on the second the firmament was made in the midst of the waters; on the third day the waters were separated from the earth and gathered into
one place; on the fourth day the heaven was adorned with luminaries; on the fifth, the air and water with birds and fish; on the sixth day, the earth with animals and human beings;
on the seventh day God rested, "not from labor nor from work, since he works even until now, but from the establishment of new species": because he had made all things either in likeness,
as those things which are propagated, or in seminal reason,
as those things which are brought into being by other modes.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this. For since things flow from the first and most perfect principle, and such a principle is most omnipotent, most wise,
and most benevolent:
therefore it was necessary that they be brought into being
in such a way that in their production the aforesaid threefold nobility and excellence would shine forth. And therefore the divine operation for producing the world-machine was threefold, namely creation,
which is appropriately attributed to omnipotence; distinction,
which corresponds to wisdom,
and adornment,
which corresponds to the most generous goodness.
And since creation
is from nothing, therefore it was in the beginning,
before every day, as the foundation of all things and all times.
Again, since the distinction
of the bodies of the world is considered according to a threefold mode, therefore it was accomplished over three days. For there is the distinction of luminous
nature from transparent and opaque,
and this was made on the first day in the division of light from darkness; and there is the distinction of transparent
nature from transparent,
and this was made on the second day in the division of waters from waters; and there is the distinction of transparent
nature from opaque,
and this was made on the third day in the division of waters from the earth. In these, moreover, the distinction of celestial and elemental things is implicitly given to be understood, as will be declared afterward. Thus therefore the distinction had to be accomplished over three days.
And since adornment
corresponds to distinction, therefore it likewise had to be completed in three days. For there is the adornment of luminous
nature, and this was accomplished on the fourth day in the formation of the stars, the sun, and the moon; and there is the adornment of transparent
nature, and this was accomplished on the fifth day, on which fish and birds were made from the waters for the adornment of water and air; and there is the adornment of opaque
nature, namely the earth, and this was accomplished on the sixth day, on which beasts were made, and creeping things were made, and also for the consummation of all things human nature was made.
All these things, although God could have made them in an instant, He nevertheless preferred to make them through a succession of times: partly for the sake of a distinct and clear representation of power, wisdom, and goodness; partly for the sake of a fitting correspondence of days or times and works; and partly also so that, just as in the first creation of the world there were to be made the seminal principles of works yet to be done, so also there would be made prefigurations of future times. — Whence in those seven days there preceded, as it were seminally, the distinction of all times which are unfolded through the course of the seven ages. And hence it is that to the six days of works there is added a seventh of rest, which day is not written as having an evening — not because that day did not have a succeeding night, but to prefigure the rest of souls, which shall never have an end.
If, however, it were said in another manner, that all things were made simultaneously, then all these seven days are referred to angelic contemplation. Nevertheless, the first manner of speaking is more consonant with Scripture and with the authorities of the Saints, both those who preceded and also those who followed the blessed Augustine.
Ch. III.
On corporeal nature with respect to its being.
Concerning corporeal nature with respect to being, these things are to be held: that the whole machine of the corporeal world consists in celestial and elemental nature, such that celestial nature is distinguished into three principal heavens, namely the empyrean, the crystalline, and the firmament. Within the firmament, which is the starry heaven, are contained seven orbs of seven planets, which are: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon.
Elemental nature, however, is distinguished into four spheres, namely of fire, air, water, and earth; and thus proceeding from the highest summit of heaven down to the center of the earth, ten celestial orbs and four elemental spheres are encountered, from which the whole machine of the sensible world is integrated and constituted in a distinct, perfect, and orderly manner.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since corporeal nature, for its own perfection and for the expression of the multiform wisdom of the First Principle, requires a multiformity of forms, as is apparent in minerals, plants, and animals, it was necessary to posit certain simple bodies that could be mixed in manifold ways for the introduction of multiform forms; and such is the nature subject to contrariety, and this is elemental nature. It was also necessary that a nature be made through which these contraries could be reconciled in a mixture; and such is a nature far removed from contrariety, of which kind is the nature of light and of the supercelestial body.
And since mixture cannot occur except through contraries that act and are acted upon, it was therefore necessary that a twofold contrariety be established in the elements: namely, with respect to active qualities, which are hot and cold, and with respect to passive qualities, which are moist and dry. And because each element both acts and is acted upon, it therefore has two qualities, one active and the other passive, yet in such a way that one is principal and proper to it; and through this it is necessary that there be only four elements according to the four aforesaid qualities, combined in fourfold manner.
Celestial nature, however, is either uniform and immobile, and this is the empyrean, because it is pure light; or mobile and multiform, and thus the firmament; or mobile and uniform, and thus the heaven midway between the empyrean and the starry, which is the crystalline heaven. The fourth member, however—namely, that it be multiform and immobile—cannot stand, because multiformity disposes toward variety of motion, not toward uniform rest.
There are therefore three heavens, of which the first is luminous throughout, namely the empyrean:
the second is throughout transparent, namely the crystalline:
the third is conjoined from both, namely the firmament.
Since therefore there are three incorruptible heavens and four changeable elements, in order that there might be a fitting connection, concord, and correspondence, God disposed seven planetary spheres, which by their variety of motions and incorruptibility of forms would be, as it were, a certain bond and juncture of the lower elemental spheres and the upper celestial ones, for perfecting and adorning the universe: which is said to be ordered and connected according to numerical proportions by the ten celestial spheres and the four elements, rendering it proportionally as beautiful as it is perfect and ordered, so that in its own way it might represent its Principle.
Chapter IV.
On corporeal nature with respect to its operation and influence.
With respect to operation,
this must be held concerning corporeal nature, namely that the heavenly bodies influence terrestrial and elemental things as regards the distinctive signification of times,
namely of days, months, and years. For thus Scripture says that they are for signs and times and days and years.
- They also influence as regards the effective production
of things generable and corruptible, namely minerals, plants, sensible creatures, and human bodies.
Yet they are signs of times and the governance of operations in such a way that they are not certain signs of future contingent events, nor do they influence free will through the force of constellations, which certain philosophers called fate.
Now the reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since in the heavenly bodies, on account of their proximity to the first principle, there is light, motion, heat,
and power -- light
by reason of their form and species, motion
in relation to a higher influencing agent, heat
in relation to the lower nature that receives it, and power
in all the aforesaid ways — since, I say, this is so, the heavenly bodies through light
and motion
serve for the distinctions of times,
namely of the day,
according to the light of the sun and the motion of the firmament; of the month,
according to the motion of the moon in its oblique circle; of the year,
according to the motion of the sun in the same circle; and of the seasons,
according to the varied motion, distance and conjunction, ascent and descent, retrogradation and station of the planets, from which arises diversity in the seasons.
Through power,
however, and heat,
they influence the production
of those things which are generated from the elements, by exciting, promoting, and harmonizing: so that according to a harmonization of contraries far removed from equality, they influence minerals;
according to a harmonization less far from equality, plants;
according to a harmonization approaching equality, sensible creatures;
and according to an equal harmonization, human bodies,
which are disposed toward the noblest form, which is the rational soul; toward which the appetite of every sensible and corporeal nature is ordered and directed, so that through this soul, which is form, being, living, sensing,
and understanding,
it may be led back as in the manner of an intelligible circle to its principle, in which it is perfected and made blessed.
And since it tends toward that principle through free will, therefore with respect to the freedom of the will it surpasses every corporeal power; and on this account all things are born to serve it, but nothing has dominion over it except God alone, not fate or the force of the position of the stars.
And therefore it is indubitably true that we are the end of all things that exist, and all corporeal things were made for human service, so that from all of them man might be kindled to love and praise the Maker of all things, by whose providence all things are disposed. This sensible framework of corporeal things is therefore like a certain house
fashioned for man by the supreme Artificer, until he should come to the house
not made with hands in the heavens ;
so that, just as the soul,
by reason of the body and the state of merit, is now on earth, so at some time the body,
by reason of the soul and the state of reward, may be in the heavens.
Chapter V.
On the mode of describing the aforementioned things in Sacred Scripture.
From what has already been said, it is gathered that, just as God in an orderly manner established
things with respect to time and in an orderly manner arranged
them with respect to position, so also He in an orderly manner governs
them with respect to influence; and Scripture in an orderly manner narrates
them with respect to the sufficiency of doctrine; although it does not so explicitly describe the distinction of the spheres, whether celestial or elemental, and says little or nothing about the motions and powers of the higher bodies and about the mixtures of elements and things composed of elements, and what is more, narrates nothing explicitly about the creation of the higher spirits, especially when it describes this universe as brought into being.
Now the reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since the first principle renders itself knowable to us both through Scripture
and through creation,
through the book of creation
it manifests itself as the efficient
principle, through the book of Scripture
as the reparative
principle; and since the reparative
principle cannot be known unless the efficient
principle is also known, therefore Sacred Scripture, although it principally treats of the works of reparation,
must nevertheless treat of the work of creation,
insofar however as it leads to the knowledge of the first efficient and restoring principle; and therefore it is a knowledge both sublime
and salutary: sublime,
because it treats of the efficient
principle, which is God the Creator; salutary,
because it treats of the reparative
principle, which is Christ the Savior and Mediator.
Again, because it is sublime,
inasmuch as it treats of the first principle and the highest being, therefore it does not descend to describing the particular natures, motions, powers, and differences of beings, but remains at a certain level of generality in which particular things are implied, describing namely the condition of the world with respect to its arrangement and influence as regards luminous, opaque, and transparent nature at a certain level of generality.
And since the first principle, which it treats, has in itself an order of nature
in existing, an order of wisdom
in disposing, an order of goodness
in influencing: such that the order of nature
has simultaneity and equality; the order of wisdom
considers priority and posteriority; the order of influence
considers superiority and inferiority: therefore, to intimate the order of nature,
Scripture determines, according to what was fitting for God to work: that in the beginning,
before the course of time, that threefold nature was brought from non-being
into being,
when it says: In the beginning God created heaven and earth:
and the Spirit of God moved over the waters.
Where by the name of heaven the luminous nature is intimated; by the name of earth,
the opaque; by the name of water,
the pervious or transparent, whether subject to contrariety or elevated above contrariety. — Where also the eternal Trinity is intimated, namely the Father in the name of God creating,
the Son in the name of the beginning,
the Holy Spirit in the name of the Spirit of God. —
And thus is to be understood that which is said: He who lives forever created all things simultaneously:
not because he created them in a chaos of every kind of confusion, as the poets imagined, since he brought forth this threefold nature, the highest
in the highest place, the middle
in the middle, and the lowest
in the lowest: nor indeed into a being of every kind of distinction, since heaven
was perfect, and the earth unformed,
and the middle
nature, as it were holding a middle position, had not yet been brought to perfect distinction.
To intimate the order of wisdom
in disposing, it determines that this threefold nature was not simultaneously
distinguished and adorned,
but according to the requirement of the threefold created nature, was distinguished
over three days and adorned
over another three days: so that, just as God in the beginning simultaneously created the threefold nature at the dawn of time, so in the succession of time, in the threefold measure of time, namely the three days, he would make a threefold distinction of the threefold created nature: and again in another three days, a threefold adornment of the threefold distinguished nature.
To intimate the order of goodness
in influencing, it determines that this threefold nature is placed in the world according to below and above in accordance with its dignity
and influence.
And because the luminous
has the most of form, therefore the circumference is due to it:
because the opaque
has the least of form, therefore the center is due to it;
but because the transparent
holds the middle, therefore it has received a middle
position.
And since the nature of the pervious and transparent
is common to both celestial and elemental nature, and again the luminous
agrees with both: therefore it is rightly said that the firmament was made in the midst of the waters,
not because the waters above the heavens are fluid, cold, heavy, and corruptible waters, but because they are subtle and incorruptible, pervious and raised above all contrariety, and on this account are of celestial nature and to be placed among the celestial things by reason of the nobility of their form.
They are also placed there by reason of power
and influence.
For since every bodily action in lower things takes its rule, origin, and vigor from celestial nature, and since there are two active qualities, namely the hot
and the cold
, and some heaven is principally influencing the hot,
namely the sidereal
heaven by reason of its luminosity: it was fitting that some heaven should influence the cold,
and thus the crystalline.
- And just as the sidereal
heaven, although it influences toward heat, is nevertheless not formally hot: so also the heaven that is called watery
or crystalline is not essentially cold. - Hence what the Saints say, that the waters are placed there to restrain the heat of the higher bodies and other similar things, are to be understood not according to formal predication, but according to efficacy and influence. - Therefore the condition of the creature according to the aforesaid order befits the order of creative wisdom and of divine Scripture, because it is a sublime science.
Again, because it is a salutary
science: therefore it does not treat of the work of creation except for the sake of the work of reparation. And since the Angels were so created that those who fell are in no way restored, as will appear in what follows; therefore the fall and creation of the Angels is passed over in silence according to the outer letter, because no reparation was to follow.
But because it did not befit the sublimity
of Scripture to be entirely silent about the creation of the most sublime creature; therefore sacred Scripture so describes the creation of things, according as a sublime
and salutary
science requires: so that nevertheless according to the spiritual
understanding the entire creation literally
described may be spiritually
referred to describing the angelic and ecclesiastical hierarchy: therefore according to the spiritual
understanding there is described in those three natures first produced the angelic
hierarchy under the name of heaven, and the ecclesiastical
under the name of earth,
and grace,
by which both are watered, under the name of water.
Again, through the sevenfold number of days is understood the sevenfold state of the Church according to the course of the seven ages. Through the same sevenfold number is also understood the sevenfold turning of the Angels from creature to God.
And thus from the foregoing the sufficiency and truth of Scripture appears in the diverse opinions of the Saints, namely of Augustine and the others, which do not contradict one another, since they are true, if they are rightly understood.
Chapter VI.
On the production of the supernal spirits.
Next we must treat of the spiritual and incorporeal nature, such as is the angelic, concerning which we must consider with regard to the condition of the supernal spirits,
with regard to the fall of the demons,
and with regard to the confirmation of the good Angels.
It must be known, therefore, that to the Angels from the beginning of their creation four things are attributed, namely simplicity of essence, personal distinction,
on account of innate reason memory, intelligence, and will,
and freedom of choice
for choosing good and rejecting evil. — These four principal attributes are accompanied by four others, namely vigor
in operating, dutifulness
in ministering, perspicacity
in knowing, and immutability
after choice, whether in good or in evil.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because the First Principle, by the very fact that it is first, produced all things from nothing, therefore it ought to have produced not only near to nothing,
but also near to itself;
not only a substance far from itself, namely corporeal nature, but also one near to it: and this is the intellectual and incorporeal substance, which, by the very fact that it is most like God, has simplicity
of nature
and personal distinction,
so that it may be likened to God on the part of substance, whether common
or individual.
It has also in the mind the image of the Trinity according to memory, intelligence,
and will;
it has also freedom of the will,
so that it may be likened to God on the part of power, whether natural
or elective,
so that natural
power may be marked with the image of God, and elective
power with freedom of choice. For it would in no way arrive meritoriously at the glorious reward, which makes each one blessed, unless it had free choice of the will; but this cannot exist except in a rational substance, which is accompanied by memory, intelligence, and will. But where there is reason, there must be "an individual substance of a rational nature"; it is also necessary that it be a spiritual and incorporeal substance, and through this simple,
lacking all quantitative dimension.
Such a substance, by the very fact that it is simple, is powerful in operating;
by the very fact that it is powerful and personally distinct, there belongs to it distinction of office in ministering;
by the very fact that it is simple and powerful, there belongs to it perspicacity in discerning;
by the very fact that it is simple and perspicacious, having a deiform intellect,
therefore it has stability
after choice in what has been chosen, whether in good or in evil. — And these conditions generally accompany the general condition of the supernal spirits.
Chapter VII.
On the apostasy of the demons.
Concerning the apostasy of the demons,
this must be held: that God made all the Angels good, yet intermediate between Himself, the supreme good, and mutable good, which is the creature; so that if they turned to loving what is above,
they would ascend to the state of grace and glory; but if toward the mutable good, which is below,
by that very fact they would fall into the evil of guilt and punishment; because there is no "disgrace of sin without the beauty of justice."
The first among the Angels, Lucifer, presuming upon his private good, sought private excellence, wishing to be raised above the others; and therefore he fell together with the rest who consented to him. Falling, moreover, he became impenitent, obstinate
and blinded
and excluded from the contemplation of God
and disordered in operation,
striving with all his effort to subvert man
through manifold temptation.
Now the reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since the first principle is supremely good, it makes nothing that is not good; because from the good nothing proceeds except good; yet what is made by it is by that very fact less than it, and therefore cannot be the supreme good. The Angel was therefore created by God good indeed, but not supremely so, yet to be perfected if by affection he tended toward the supreme.
And since through the free choice of the will he could tend toward the supreme good or turn toward his private good, Lucifer, aroused by the consideration of his own beauty and loftiness to love himself and his own private good, presumed
upon the loftiness he possessed and sought
his own excellence, yet not one that was obtained; and by this, in presuming,
he made himself his own principle, glorying in himself; and in seeking,
he made himself his own supreme good, resting in himself. But since he was neither the supreme principle nor the supreme good, it was necessary that by his disordered ascent he should fall; and by equal reason, all who consented in this.
And because "there is no disgrace of sin without the beauty of justice," therefore immediately when he fell into sin, together with the rest who adhered to him, he lost the highest place, namely the empyrean, descending to the lowest, namely the murky air or hell, so that the fall into guilt was through free choice, but the fall into punishment was through divine judgment.
And since he had immutability after his choice, therefore he was immediately obstinate
in evil, and through this blinded
from the true and disordered
in operation and weakened
in power: therefore his impious will
and action, turned away from God, was converted to hatred
and envy
of man; and the keenness
of reason, blinded from the true light, was converted to deceptions
through divinations and wiles; and his serviceableness
in ministering, removed from true ministry, was converted to temptations; and his power,
diminished and constrained, insofar as it is permitted, is converted to working wonders through sudden transmutations, which he effects upon corporeal creation.
And because all these disordered things exist through a will depraved by pride: therefore he turns all these things to the nourishment of his pride, seeking to be worshipped and adored by men after the manner of God. Hence it is that "he does all things evilly"; which nevertheless God justly permits for the present for the punishment of evildoers, but for the praise of the good, as will be made manifest through the final judgment.
Chapter VIII.
On the confirmation of the good Angels.
Concerning the confirmation
of the Angels, this must be held: that just as the angels turned away from God
were immediately made obstinate through impenitence, so those turned toward God
were immediately confirmed
through grace and glory in will, perfectly illuminated
in reason according to morning
and evening knowledge,
perfectly strengthened
in power whether commanding
or executive,
and perfectly ordered
in operation whether contemplative
or ministering:
and this according to a threefold
hierarchy, namely the supreme, the middle, and the lowest.
To the supreme belong the Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim; to the middle, the Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; to the lowest, the Principalities, Archangels , Angels. Of these, very many are sent in ministry and deputed to the guardianship of men, whom they serve by purging, illuminating, and perfecting, according to the command of God's will.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since the Angels, on account of their express likeness and proximity to the first and supreme principle, possess a deiform intellect
and immutability
after consent by freedom of choice, when divine grace supervened and they turned toward the supreme good, since they tended wholly toward God, through glory they were at once confirmed
and perfected:
therefore as to will
they were stable and blessed:
as to reason, perspicacious,
so that they knew things not only in their proper genus,
but also in the Art,
and through this they possessed not only evening knowledge,
but also morning,
or even daytime,
on account of the fullness and every manner of purity of that light, in respect of which every creature can rightly be called darkness . - As to virtuousness,
perfectly strengthened
whether in commanding,
or in executing,
whether with an assumed body or even without one.
As to operation,
most perfectly ordered,
so that they can no longer be disordered either by ascending
to the contemplation of God or by descending
to minister to man: for since they contemplate God face to face, wherever they are sent, they run within God.
For they are moved and they act according to the hierarchical order begun
in them by nature and consummated
through glory, which, by stabilizing the mutability of free choice, illuminated perspicacity,
ordered dutiful service,
and strengthened power,
according to the four attributes named above.
The keenness
of reason in contemplating either principally regards the divine majesty
to be venerated,
or truth to be understood,
or goodness to be desired:
and according to this there are three orders in the first hierarchy, namely the Thrones,
to whom pertains reverence; the Cherubim,
to whom pertains wisdom,
and the Seraphim,
to whom pertains benevolence.
To perfect virtuousness pertains the imperative power,
the executive power,
and the expeditive power.
The first pertains to the Dominations,
the second to the Virtues,
and the third to the Powers,
whose role it is to ward off opposing powers.
To perfect dutiful service
pertains to govern, to reveal,
and to relieve.
The first belongs to the Principalities,
the second to the Archangels,
and the third to the Angels,
because they guard the standing lest they fall, and assist the fallen so that they may rise again.
And thus it is clear that all these things exist in the angels according to greater and lesser degree, descending by gradation from the highest down to the lowest. Moreover, an order ought to be named from that which "it has received more excellently as a gift."
Chapter IX.
On the production of man with respect to the spirit.
After corporeal and incorporeal nature, some things must be said about the nature composed of both, first from the part of the mind,
second from the part of the flesh,
third from the part of the whole man.
Concerning the rational soul,
therefore, these things are to be held in summary according to sacred doctrine, namely that it is a form having being, living, understanding,
and exercising freedom.
A form indeed having being
not from itself nor from the divine nature, but brought into being
by God from nothing through creation.
A form, moreover, that is living:
not from an extrinsic nature, but by itself: not with a mortal life, but with a perpetual life.
A form, truly, that is understanding
not only created essence, but also the "creative essence," to whose image it was made through memory, understanding, and will.
A form, also, exercising freedom,
because it is always free from coercion:
from misery,
however, and from fault
it was free in the state of innocence, although not in the state of fallen nature; this freedom from coercion,
moreover, is nothing other than the faculty of will and reason, which are the principal powers of the soul.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because, since the first principle is most blessed and most benevolent,
therefore by its supreme benevolence it communicates its blessedness to the creature, not only to the spiritual
and proximate, but also to the corporeal
and remote. To the corporeal
and remote, however, it communicates mediately,
because "this is the law of divinity, that the lowest things are led back to the highest through intermediaries." And therefore it made not only the angelic and separated spirit capable of beatitude, but also the conjoined spirit, namely the human. The rational soul is therefore a form capable of beatitude.
And because to arrive at the reward of beatitude is not glorious except through merit:
nor does it come about that one merits,
except in that which is done voluntarily and freely: therefore it was necessary that freedom of judgment
be given to the rational soul through the removal of all coercion;
because it belongs to the nature of the will that it can in no way be compelled,
although through fault it is made wretched and a servant of sin.
Again, because the form capable of beatitude is capable of God through memory, understanding, and will: and this is to be in the image of the Trinity on account of unity in essence and trinity in powers: therefore it was necessary that the soul be understanding
God and all things, and through this be marked with the image of God.
And because nothing blessed can lose blessedness, nothing could be capable of beatitude unless it were incorruptible and immortal: it was necessary that the rational soul be living with immortal life by its own nature.
Finally, because everything that is beatifiable by another and immortal is mutable with respect to well-being
and incorruptible with respect to being:
therefore the soul is neither from itself
nor of the divine nature,
because it is mutable;
nor produced from something
nor generated through nature,
because it is immortal and incorruptible: and thus this form cannot be brought into being
through generation, because everything naturally generable is naturally corruptible. - From these things it is apparent how the end of beatitude — the ordination of the soul itself to beatitude — imposes the necessity of the aforesaid conditions.
Moreover, since as beatifiable it is immortal, therefore, when it is united to a mortal body, it can be separated from it: and on this account it is not only a form,
but also a this something:
and therefore it is united to the body not only as a perfection,
but also as a mover:
and thus it perfects
through its essence that which it likewise moves
through its power. And since it gives not only being,
but also life
and sensation
and understanding:
therefore it has a vegetative, sensitive,
and intellective
power, such that through the vegetative
power it generates, nourishes, and augments: it generates as regards substance,
nourishes as regards quality,
and augments as regards quantity.
Through the sensitive
power it apprehends sensible things, retains what has been apprehended, and composes and divides what has been retained: it apprehends indeed through the exterior sensitive power, which is fivefold according to its correspondence to the five principal bodies of the world; it retains
through memory, composes and divides through
the imagination, which is the first collative power. - Through the intellective
power, however, it discerns
the true, flees
evil, and desires
the good: it discerns
the true through the rational power, repels
evil through the irascible power, and desires
the good through the concupiscible power.
Again, because the discernment of the true
is cognition, while flight
and appetite
are affection: therefore the whole soul is divided into the cognitive
and the affective.
Furthermore, since cognition
of the true is twofold: either of the true as true,
or of the true as good; and this either of the eternal, which is above the soul, or of the temporal,
which is below: hence it is that the cognitive power, namely intellect and reason, is divided such that the intellect
is divided into the speculative and the practical, and reason into a higher portion and a lower: which designate different offices
rather than different powers.
Finally, since appetite
can be borne toward something in two ways, namely according to natural instinct,
or according to deliberation
and judgment: hence it is that the affective
power is divided into the natural
will and the elective
will, which is properly called the will. And since such election is indifferent to either part, therefore it proceeds from free choice.
And because this indifference arises from a preceding deliberation and an accompanying will, it follows that free choice
is a faculty of reason and will, such that, as Augustine says, it comprehends all the aforesaid rational powers. For he says: "When we speak of free choice, we do not speak of a part of the soul, but assuredly of the whole." For from the concurrence of those powers — reason returning upon itself and will accompanying it — there arises the integrity of freedom, which is the principle of merit or demerit, according to the choice of good or evil.
Ch. X.
On the production of man with respect to the body.
Concerning the human body
in the state of its first condition, these things are to be held according to the doctrine of the orthodox faith, namely that the body of the first man was so fashioned and from the slime of the earth
formed, that nevertheless it was subject
to the soul and in its own way proportionate, proportionate,
I say, with respect to an equal temperament,
with respect to a most beautiful and manifold organization,
and with respect to uprightness of stature; subject,
moreover, so that it was obedient
without rebellion, was also propagating
and capable of propagation without lust, was nourishable
without decay, was also transformable
toward complete incorruption, death not intervening; and according to this there was given to him the place of the earthly paradise as a tranquil habitation.
The woman
was formed from the side of the man as a companion and help for immaculate propagation; the tree of life
was also given for continual nourishment, and finally for perfect transformation through perpetual immortality.
Now the reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because, since the first principle is most powerful, most wise, and most good in producing, and manifests this in some way in all its effects, it ought most especially to have manifested this in the last and most noble effect — such as man is, whom among the other creatures it produced last, so that in this the consummation of the divine works might most especially appear and shine forth.
Therefore, in order that the power
of God might be manifested in man, he made him from natures most greatly distant, conjoined into one person and nature — such as are the body and the soul, of which one is a corporeal substance, while the other, namely the soul, is a spiritual and incorporeal substance, which in the genus of substance are most greatly distant.
But in order that the wisdom
of God might be manifested therein, he made such a body that it would have proportion
in its own way to the soul. Since, therefore, the body is united to the soul as to one perfecting
and moving
and tending upward toward beatitude
; therefore, in order that it might be conformed to the vivifying
soul, it had an equal temperament,
not from weight
or mass,
but from the equality of natural justice,
which disposes toward the most noble mode of life.
But in order that it might be conformed to the soul as moving
through the manifold variety of powers, it had a manifold variety of organs
with the highest beauty and artfulness and flexibility; as is evident in the face and in the hand, which is the "instrument of instruments."
But in order that it might be conformed to the soul as tending upward toward heaven,
it had uprightness of stature
and the head raised upward, so that bodily uprightness might bear witness to mental uprightness.
Finally, so that the goodness and benevolence of God might be manifested in man, He made man without any stain or fault and without any punishment or misery. For since the First Principle is at once most good and most just; because most good, He ought not to have made man other than good, and thereby innocent and upright; because most just, He ought not to have inflicted punishment on one who had absolutely no sin: and thereby He constituted for that rational soul such a body as would be so obedient to it that there would be in it no struggle of rebellion, no proneness to concupiscence, no diminution of vigor, no corruption of death: so also it would be so conformed to the soul that, just as the soul was innocent and yet could fall into fault, so the body would be impassible and yet could fall into punishment; and therefore "it was able not to die, and it was able to die"; it was able to have sufficiency, and it was able to have want; it was able to obey the soul, and it was also able to have rebellion and struggle against it.
And for this reason, in that state the body was such that from it there would be a seminal separation for the propagation of offspring through the assistance of the female sex equally co-principiating; there would also be a consumption of nutrimental moisture through the action of heat: there would also nonetheless be a restoration through the nourishment of the trees of paradise, restored through the tree of life, that is, with the radical moisture preserved: which tree indeed had this virtue, on account of which, as Augustine says, it was not only for food but also as a Sacrament.
The incorruption and immortality of Adam's body, therefore, came principally from the soul as from that which contains and influences, from the body's good and balanced constitution as from that which disposes and receives, from the tree of life as from that which vivifies and assists, and from the governance of divine providence as from that which conserves inwardly and protects outwardly.
Chapter XI.
On the production of man with respect to the whole composite.
Concerning the whole
man
placed in paradise, these things must be held: namely, that a twofold sense
was given to him, namely interior and exterior, of the mind and of the flesh. - A twofold motion
was given to him, namely commanding in the will and executive in the body. - A twofold good
was given to him, one visible, the other invisible. - A twofold precept
was given to him, 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.
In accordance with which a fourfold help
was given to him, namely of knowledge, conscience, synderesis, and grace, from which he sufficiently possessed the means to stand in the good and advance, and to guard against evil and turn away from it.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because the First Principle made this sensible world to manifest Himself, namely so that through it, as through a mirror and a vestige, man might be led back to God the Maker, to love and praise Him. And accordingly there is a twofold book: one written within,
which is the eternal art and wisdom of God; and another written without,
namely the sensible world. Since, therefore, there was one creature that had sense within
for knowledge of the interior
book, namely the Angel; and another that had all its sense without,
namely any brute animal: for the perfection of the universe there had to be made a creature endowed with this twofold sense for knowledge of the book written within and without,
that is, of Wisdom and of its work. And because in Christ the eternal Wisdom and its work come together simultaneously in one person, He is therefore called the book written within and without
for the restoration of the world.
And because to every sense there corresponds a motion, therefore a twofold motion
was given to man: one according to the impulse of reason
in the mind, and another according to the impulse of sensuality
in the flesh. It belongs to the first to command,
and to the second to obey,
according to right order: but when this is reversed, then the rectitude and governance of the soul is cast down from its state.
And because to every motion and sense there corresponds an appetite for some good, therefore 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. Of these goods, God gave one and promised the other, so that one might be possessed freely, and the other sought through merit."
And because a good is given in vain unless it is preserved, and is promised in vain unless one attains to it, therefore a twofold precept
was given to man: one of nature
for preserving the good given, the other of discipline
for meriting the good promised, which could in no way be better merited than through pure obedience. Obedience
however is pure
when a precept obliges of itself alone, not from any other cause; and such is called a precept of discipline,
because through it one learns how great is the virtue of obedience, which by its merit leads to heaven, but by its contrary casts one down into hell. Therefore that commandment was not given to man on account of any need that God had for human service, but to provide a way of meriting the crown through pure and voluntary obedience.
And since man, by reason of a defective nature formed from nothing and not confirmed through glory, was able to fall, the most benign God conferred upon him a fourfold
aid:
a twofold aid of nature
and a twofold aid of grace.
For He implanted a twofold rectitude in nature itself: one for judging rightly, and this is the rectitude of conscience ;
the other for willing rightly, and this is synderesis
, whose office it is to murmur against evil and to spur toward good.
He also superadded a twofold perfection of grace:
one of gratuitously given grace, which
was a knowledge illuminating the intellect for knowing himself, his God, and this world, which had been made for his sake; the other of sanctifying grace,
which was a charity enabling the affections to love God above all things and neighbor as oneself . - And thus before the fall, man possessed perfect natural endowments, clothed nonetheless with divine grace. From which it is manifestly gathered that if he fell, this was solely through his own fault, because he scorned to obey.
Ch. XII.
On the completion and ordering of the entire consummated world.
From the aforesaid it can be gathered that the creation of the world is as it were a certain book,
in which the fabricating Trinity shines forth, is represented, and is read according to a threefold degree of expression, namely by way of vestige, image,
and similitude, such that the character of vestige is found
in all creatures, the character of image
in intellectual beings alone or rational spirits, the character of similitude
in deiform beings alone: from which, as though by certain stairlike degrees, the human intellect is naturally suited to ascend step by step to the supreme principle, which is God.
Now the reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since all creatures have a relation and dependence upon their Creator, they can be compared to Him in a threefold way, namely either as to a creative principle
, or as to a motive object,
or as to an indwelling gift.
In the first way every effect
of His is compared to Him, in the second way every intellect,
in the third way every just spirit acceptable to God.
For every effect,
however little of being
it possesses, has God as its principle. Every intellect,
however little of light it possesses, is naturally suited to apprehend God through knowledge and love. But every just and holy spirit
has the gift of the Holy Spirit infused into it.
And since a creature cannot have God as its principle
without being configured
to Him according to unity, truth, and goodness; nor God as its object without apprehending
Him through memory, intelligence, and will; nor God as an infused gift
without being configured
to Him through faith, hope, and charity, or the threefold dowry; and since the first conformity is remote, the second proximate, and the third most proximate: hence it is that the first is called a vestige
of the Trinity, the second an image,
and the third a similitude.
Therefore the rational spirit is midway between the first and the last, such that it has the first below, the second within, and the third above. And therefore in the state of innocence, when the image was not vitiated but made deiform through grace, the book of creation
sufficed in which man might exercise himself for contemplating the light of divine wisdom; so that he would be wise, since he would see all things in themselves,
would see them in their proper genus,
and would see them also in the art:
according as things have being
in a threefold way, namely in matter
or their proper nature, in created intelligence,
and in the eternal art;
in accordance with which three things Scripture says: God said: let it be made: He made,
and it was made.
On account of which threefold vision, man received a threefold eye, as Hugh of Saint Victor says, namely of the flesh, of reason,
and of contemplation:
the eye of the flesh,
by which he might see the world and those things which are in the world; the eye of reason,
by which he might see the soul and those things which are in the soul; the eye of contemplation,
by which he might see God and those things which are in God; and thus by the eye of the flesh
man might see those things which are outside himself, by the eye of reason
those things which are within himself, and by the eye of contemplation
those things which are above himself. This eye of contemplation
does not have its act perfected except through glory, which it loses through sin, but recovers through grace and faith and the understanding of the Scriptures, by which the human mind is purged, illuminated, and perfected for contemplating heavenly things: to which fallen man cannot attain unless he first recognizes his own defects and darkness; which he does not do unless he considers and attends to the ruin of human nature.