[Delta] Is the divine operation declared only in these ways? [Mu] There is another, figurative mode, when the divine operation is signified from human things. [Delta] In how many ways does this happen? [Mu] In two: either when the things which pertain to our soul are said figuratively of God, as is fury and anger and soul and repentance; or those things which are handled with respect to the body or through the body, as is feet, hands, fingers. For sometimes even human operations are transferred to God, as when it is said, "Take hold of arms and shield." Yet all these are to be joined to the aforesaid four kinds of operation according to the quality of the sentences. 20. In how many ways is God signified from his relation to creatures? [Delta] In how many ways is God signified from his relation to creatures?
[Mu] In two: by affirmation and by negation. By affirmation indeed, when those things are said of God which in the same manner befit no creature, as is "simple" and "ancient of days" and "before all things spirit," that is, uncircumscribed, and "first" and "last" and the like. For all these are said of God because, by comparison with him, they befit no creature. But by negation the relation is made when, by a privative prefix, those things are denied in God which are in a creature, as is "unbegotten," "incorporeal," "uncreated," "immortal," "incorruptible," "impassible," and the like. 2. [Delta] What then? Are these words never said of a creature? [Mu] They are indeed said, but not according to the same reasoning.
For when a man is called simple, it is not because he is not composite (for it belongs to God alone to be of simple essence), but a man is called simple because he does not have the duplicity of guile. So too when something is called invisible, it is not because it cannot, insofar as it exists, be seen by anyone (for this belongs to God alone), but because it lies hidden from some; and likewise the rest. 3. [Delta] What are the relational terms which are said of God in such a way that they cannot be said of a creature? [Mu] Those which are in him supreme and singular, as "unbegotten," "everlasting," "without beginning," and the like. Book Two. 1. What does Scripture signify concerning the present age?
[Delta] Since enough has been said in how many ways Scripture speaks of God, I now inquire what Scripture, speaking of the present age, signifies. [Mu] Five things, namely: either its generation, that is, its creation; or its governance; or the things accidental to natures; or the things befalling wills; or the things following upon the outcome of the will. 2. How many modes and differences in the operation of creatures Scripture has set forth. [Delta] In how many ways does Scripture signify the generation of the age? [Mu] In three:
for either something is written to have been made by the will of God alone, as is, "In the beginning God made heaven and earth"; or by will together with voice, whether preceptive, as is, "Let there be light" and "Let there be a firmament," or deliberative, as is, "Let us make man in our image and likeness"; or by will, voice, and definition, as is, "Increase and multiply and fill the earth," and again, "Let the earth bring forth the green herb bearing seed after its kind, and the fruit-bearing tree making fruit, whose seed is in itself after its likeness upon the earth," and the rest which, after the seventh day even to the end of the age, he works by parts: for from that definition they proceed. 2. [Delta] Is there any difference among these three?
[Mu] There is, because those things which were made by will alone or also by voice were made newly, but those which were made by definition were made similar to those which I said were made newly: and again, those indeed in the first six days, but these as long as the age stands. 3. [Delta] Give the order of the things made through the six days. [Mu] In the very beginning of the founding were made heaven, earth, angels, air, and water. [Delta] Prove that the angels and the waters and the air were made.
[Master] That they were made is shown from other passages of Scripture, as: 'who makes his angels spirits,' and 'Praise him, all his angels,' and 'Let the waters that are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord, for he spoke, and they were made.' And in the Scriptures the air is indicated by the name of 'heaven,' as in 'the birds of heaven,' since it is certain that birds fly in the air; and we have shown that heaven was made. That these things—namely the angels—came before the rest of the creatures, both Scripture demonstrates, since in the praises and blessings they are set before the other creatures, and reason confirms it: for it was fitting that the heavenly creature should precede the earthly. And concerning the waters, Scripture itself says that 'the Spirit of God was borne over the waters.'
[Disciple] Follow the order of creation. [Master] In the beginning, on the first day light was made; on the second day the firmament; on the third the sea and the things that spring from the earth; on the fourth the lights of heaven; on the fifth the swimming and flying creatures; on the sixth the remaining animals and man. [Disciple] What difference is there in the making of these creatures themselves? [Master] That some were made out of nothing, such as heaven, earth, and the rest that we said were made up to the completion of the first day; but some were made out of things already made on the first day. [Disciple] Give proofs of these. [Master] That whenever Scripture wishes to show that things were made out of something, either it states it openly, as in 'Let the earth bring forth' and 'Let the waters bring forth' and the like;
or else by a subtle indication of the words, as when it says 'Let there be a firmament,' which surely signifies that there had been something fluid and liquid, that is, the waters; and because these were now shown to be made solid, what came into being was called 'firmament.' And again, it called 'lights' by derivation those things which were made on the fourth day, in order to show that they were made from the light wrought on the first day. But among those things which were made on the first day, nothing is declared, either openly or by a subtle word, to have been made from another. [Disciple] Is nothing, then, shown to have been made out of things non-existent after the first day? [Master] Only the soul of man; and in this it must be noted that, whereas other things were made either out of nothing or out of things already made, man alone is composed of both.
[Disciple] What other distinctions do we ascribe to the creatures? [Master] That those things which were made in the first six days did not come about naturally nor by way of likeness; but the rest, which come about naturally, are born by divine ordinance—excepting, of course, miracles. [Disciple] Give the third distinction. [Master] That some of the creatures, namely the rational ones, were made for their own sake, such as angels and men; but the rest are known to have been made not for their own sake, but for the sake of the aforesaid angels or men. Man, indeed, is to be understood as made principally for his own sake with respect to his soul; for with respect to his body, consequently so. [Disciple] But what then? Did not other creatures, besides men and angels, have need of one another?
[Master] They did indeed need one another—not for utility, but for adornment; for they are useful not to themselves but to the angels or to men, for whose sake they are also known to have been made. But they do furnish adornment to one another in turn: for the heaven was unadorned without the heavenly luminaries; and the luminaries themselves, lest they should be made in vain, needed the eyes of those who behold them; and the sea was unadorned until it either took its place or was filled with living creatures; and the earth was unformed apart from the use of those who dwell or are born upon it; and the irrational animals were unfit without the rule of man; and the herbs were superfluous in the absence of the use of animals. Thus all things needed one another, whether those which were made during the six days or those which come into being daily;
but, as we have already said, it is one thing to be unformed, another to be useful: for something unformed is declared in itself to be useful to another. [Disciple] In the adornment itself is there any distinction? [Master] There is; for some things were adorned during the six days, as heaven with luminaries, earth with herbs, and the sea with fishes; certain things are adorned as long as the world lives, as the sea with ships, the earth with buildings and the rest of the things constructed by human skill, and man himself with knowledge; but certain things will receive their beauty in the time to come, as the body incorruption, mortal things immortality, and the heavenly kingdom the habitation of the saints. It must be noted, moreover, in adornments, that of those which come about by skill or by the arts the cause is in men, but of the rest the cause is in God.
[Disciple] Give the fourth distinction. [Master] That some things emerged at once and as if suddenly created, as those which we said were made in the first days—that is, the herbs, the luminaries, the swimming and flying creatures, and likewise the land animals and quadrupeds; but some came to be not all at once, but as if with a certain delay, as the sea, the earth, and man: for man too is written to have been made gradually, just as the rest. [Disciple] Give the fifth distinction of the creatures. [Master] That some of them by reason preside over the rest, as the rational; some are held for use, as the heavenly luminaries; some serve by necessity of nature, as the birds and quadrupeds and the like. [Disciple] Give the sixth distinction.
[Master] That those which preside over the rest, namely the rational, are moved by will and reason; but those which serve by use or by necessity are moved by nature. [Disciple] The things that were made out of something—how many materials did they have? [Master] Six: earth, waters, air, fire, light, and the rib. [Disciple] Give in each case their origins. [Master] From the earth, the green things, the plants, and the animals; from the waters, the firmament, the sea, the swimming and flying creatures; and at the same time, from earth, water, fire, and air, all the things that are renewed through successions; from light, the luminaries; from the rib, Eve. [Disciple] How is it proved that fire was made, or from what, or when?
[Master] That it was made we can prove even from the general statement of Scripture, when it is said of God, 'who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,' since fire too is certainly among them; and from a special declaration, 'Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea-monsters and all deeps, fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds,' concerning which it had said before, 'for he spoke, and they were made'; and again, 'Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,' and it added, 'Bless the Lord, fire and heat.' But whether fire was made out of nothing, like the rest, or out of something, is doubted. For many wish it to be a particle of the heavenly luminaries;
for even now we have often seen men in a certain way borrow fire from the rays of the sun; and if this is so, it was made on the first day; but Scripture more wisely called this 'light' rather than 'fire,' so that it might take its name from the better use. [Disciple] Give the seventh distinction of the creatures. [Master] That all things which were made out of something, or out of which some things were made, are corporeal; but incorporeal things were themselves neither made out of anything, nor were any things made out of them. These things, however, are to be taken as incorporeal not in the sense in which God is called incorporeal; for in comparison with him nothing is incorporeal, just as nothing is immortal or invisible.
For there is one way in which these words befit the divinity alone, and another in which it speaks of the creatures, such as souls or angels. [Disciple] How is God said to have worked for six days and to have rested on the seventh day, if neither does he labor in making anything—so that rest should be believed necessary for him—nor does he ever cease, since the Lord says in the Gospel, 'My Father works until now, and I work'? [Master] God is said to have rested on the seventh day not from creating, since indeed by his dispensation and providence every creature is daily renewed or sustained; but this was signified: that after those six days he created no substantial form unknown to the world, nor any new nature untried before.
[Disciple] Can we inquire how God made the world? [Master] This is asked rashly rather than cautiously. For it is not permitted to man to understand the manner of any divine creation; for if anyone should know how some things were made out of nothing, he would surely be equal to the Creator in knowledge and power. On the things that pertain to the governance of the world. [Disciple] Since the creation of the world has been suitably treated, it remains for us to inquire: in how many ways is its governance signified? [Master] In two: for it is either general or special. [Disciple] What is the general? [Master] That by which the things that were made remain according to the manner in which they were made; which is signified when it is said, 'God saw that it was good,' and that they were 'very good,' and 'he blessed them';
which blessed David also shows, saying, 'he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created. He established them for ever and unto the age of ages; he set a decree, and it shall not pass away.' [Disciple] What is the special governance? [Master] That by which individual things, and especially the rational, are governed by God, as the command in Paradise concerning the tree. For just as the divine power contains all creatures, that they may remain, so also it instructs the rational by various occasions, that they may make progress. In how many ways does general governance come about? [Disciple] Into how many kinds is general governance divided? [Master] Into two: for it consists either in succession or in continuance.
By succession, as men or beasts of burden and the rest, which, perishing by death or corruption, are renewed by the likeness of those being reborn; but by continuance, as those things which, not subject to these passions, obey the motions of the world, such as heaven, the sun, the stars, and the rest. [Disciple] What other distinction is there among these? [Master] That those things which are preserved by renewal need also certain remedies—foods and rains, and sometimes the ministries of angels and other like things. But those things which do not subsist through succession are governed by God without any such mediation. But whether even in these something is done through the ministry of angels is a hidden and difficult question. In how many ways does special governance come about.
[Disciple] In how many ways does special governance come about? [Master] In three: for it comes either from God on behalf of angels and men, or from angels for the sake of themselves and men, or from men for their own sake. [Disciple] How does it come about from God on behalf of angels and men? [Master] Through the giving of the law. On the giving of the law and its distinctions. [Disciple] Into how many parts is the giving of the law divided? [Master] Into two: into natural discernment and into a law set externally. [Disciple] Prove that natural discernment is called a law. [Master] The Apostle says that 'the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law; these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves.' According to this, Cain too was guilty of his brother's murder.
[Disciple] Into how many parts is the externally established law divided? [Master] Into two: into works—that is, the recompense of acts—and into words. On the law through works. [Disciple] In the case of works, through how many ways? [Master] Through four: either through a general present recompense, as is the yield of crops and of the seasons; or through a special present recompense, as Abraham enriched among strangers, or Noah saved in the flood; or through a general visible punishment, as a general famine or drought; or through a special one, as the punishment of Cain or Saul. For all these things instruct angels and men after the manner of a law; for indeed the fall of the devil both terrified and confirmed the angels—though it must be believed that angels are instructed in one way, men in another.
[Disciple] What is the purpose of the whole giving of the law? [Master] It lies in the discernment of good and evil, which are recognized either in doctrine—that is, in faith—or in deeds. [Disciple] Why did we say that present punishments and rewards are a law? [Master] Because they are the very things that instruct in place of a law; for things future and eternal will profit neither those who suffer nor those who see them, where there will no longer be a time for repentance. [Disciple] By what ministers is this governance read in the Scriptures to have been carried out? [Master] Sometimes God by himself, as he commanded Adam not to touch the tree; sometimes through angels, as the Apostle testifies that 'if the word spoken through angels was made firm'; and again, the firstborn of Egypt are said to have been destroyed by the hand of an angel;
or through men, as through the prophets; or through beasts, as through the serpents in the wilderness and the like: for through these things too, as through a kind of substantial and material law, he forbids from evils on account of which they are inflicted, and impels and urges toward the goods whose reward he holds out. On the law through words. [Disciple] Into how many parts is the law established in words divided? [Master] Into two: for it commands either something unchangeable or something temporal. [Disciple] How many are the kinds of unchangeable things? [Master] Two: the love of God and the love of neighbor. [Disciple] Into how many parts are temporal precepts divided? [Master] Into two: for they were observed either for a long time, as circumcision, or for a short time, as the receiving of the manna. [Disciple] What other distinction of laws is there?
[Master] That they either command something, as 'Honor your father,' or forbid something, as 'You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery.' [Disciple] Give the third distinction. [Master] That some are useful in themselves, others necessary on account of those. [Disciple] Which are useful in themselves? [Master] The love of God and of neighbor. [Disciple] Which are necessary on account of others? [Master] As, 'You shall not kill'; for by murder the love of a brother is driven out; and the observance of the Sabbath: for in its observance there is a commemoration of God's rest from the working of creatures, in which celebration the love of God as Creator was signified. [Disciple] Give the fourth distinction.
[Master] That certain precepts were as it were bodily, as those concerning clean and unclean animals and leprosy and the like; certain were spiritual, as 'You shall not hate your brother in your heart.' [Disciple] Give the fifth distinction. [Master] That certain are precepts specially of the Old Testament, as concerning the jubilee; certain specially of the New, as 'Thus shall you pray: Our Father, who art in heaven'; certain common to both, as 'You shall love the Lord your God.' [Disciple] Give the sixth distinction. [Master] That some precepts are understood as they sound, as 'You shall not commit adultery'; but some not as they sound, as 'When you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing.' [Disciple] Give the seventh distinction.
[Master] That the transgression of some precepts is punished with a penalty, as 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'; the transgression of some has no penalty, as for one who was not a priest to eat the priestly bread; but of others the transgression is even praiseworthy, as 'if I have repaid those who rendered me evil.' For the law then commanded that evils be repaid to the evil; therefore the contempt of the law is found to be praiseworthy. [Disciple] Give the eighth distinction. [Master] That some precepts pertain to faith, some to morals, the subdivision of which is recognized to be exceedingly extensive. On angelic governance. [Disciple] How does the governance of angels for their own sake and for men come about? [Master] It is not, indeed, read openly in Scripture;
yet since therein angels are said to have ranks and orders, and goings-to-and-fro on account of human life, as for Tobias and Daniel and others, it is without doubt signified that they govern the tasks enjoined upon them in the world, by which they both look after themselves, while they obey the Creator, and after men, while they make provision for their dispensation. On human governance through men. [Disciple] In how many ways does the governance of men for their own sake come about? [Master] In three: for either a man is busied on behalf of the commonwealth, as a king; or on behalf of a household, as the head of a family; or for his own sake, as any monk or needy person. [Disciple] Does governance belong to no other creatures? [Master] It belongs indeed to all;
for the Creator has bestowed upon all, according to their nature, a kind of prudence as it were, as it is read, 'I wished to gather your children, as a hen her chicks,' and the like. But neither is it the intention of Scripture to teach subtly about irrational things, nor does it belong to the desire of those making progress to wear away time in inquiring into these. On the accidents of nature. [Disciple] Since enough has been said about the governance of the world, what are the accidents of natures? [Master] To the divine nature, indeed, nothing accidental happens: for since it is incomprehensible and ever holding itself in the same manner, it does not admit the diversity of accidents. [Disciple] What, then, accidentally happens to creatures?
[Master] To stand still, as the earth; and according to Scripture, to be moved in heaven, as fire and waters and the rest of growing things; then time, place, number—for all things both began at some time and are somewhere and are one or many. Likewise there accidentally happen: to be generated, to be corrupted, health, sickness, shape, position, the capacity for arts and disciplines; likewise to grow, to be nourished, to perceive, to live, to die, to differ among themselves and to be contraries; furthermore order, sequence, coherence, and things like these and contrary to them; yet not all of them to each thing. On the accidents of the will. [Disciple] Since enough has been said about the accidents of natures, we must now speak of the accidents of the will. What is the will?
[Master] A power of the mind, inviolate or spontaneous, according to which diverse and contrary thoughts and works are produced. [Disciple] Is this faculty natural in us, or spontaneous? [Master] There is in us a certain natural discernment of good and evil; but the motion is spontaneous in those things which, once discerned, are to be carried out. The law indeed instructs the will itself; but grace prepares, helps, strengthens, and crowns it. On the consequences attending the outcome of the will. [Disciple] What are the consequences of the will? [Master] A certain four: for in this life either good things befall the good and evil things the evil, as the prosperity of Abraham and the punishment of Cain; or, on the contrary, good things the evil and evil things the good, as the rich man in the Gospel is described as fortunate even unto death;
on the contrary, Lazarus is tormented with sores and want; or else neither to these nor to those is any recompense rendered—as for Joseph, who was sold, no vengeance is exacted upon his brothers, nor does the father-in-law of Moses, who gave counsel for ruling the people, though praised by God, receive any reward. [Disciple] What causes do we assign for this diversity? [Master] To some, fitting things are repaid here, lest the world be thought to be ruled not by divine providence but by chance; and at the same time, that both the abundance of good things may console the good, and the punishment of like things may deter the evil; or else prosperity is permitted to the evil, that the good may be tested and may learn to despise those things which they see to be shared in common with the unworthy; but evils befall the good equally:
or to neither kind is any image of recompense granted here, that we may be able to recognize that judgment and full retribution for deeds is elsewhere. [Disciple] Give the fourth mode. [Master] When those who have done neither anything evil nor anything good of themselves partake of good things or evil—as infants—or perhaps neither, as are the stillborn, concerning whose state and merit and cause there is a subtle and doubtful discussion. On the things that pertain to the age to come. [Disciple] Since we have completed all the parts of the rules concerning the present age, what things do we believe pertain to the age to come? [Master] A certain four: for there is either an acceptance, or calling, or a figure, or a prediction, or the effect, or outcome, of the things foretold. On acceptances.
[Disciple] What do we call acceptance, or calling? [Master] That, namely, by which God deigns to reconcile to himself certain men or peoples by the benefit of special grace, and shows toward them more than toward other men, as it were, the familiar favors of divine indulgence. [Disciple] How many are the acceptances? [Master] Ten. [Disciple] Give the order of the acceptances.
[Master] The first is that of blessed Abraham; the second of Isaac; the third of Jacob and of the twelve patriarchs born from him; the fourth of the tribe of Judah; the fifth of the whole people in Egypt; the sixth of holy David; the seventh of the house of David himself, and through it of the whole tribe of Judah; the eighth the return of the people from captivity; the ninth of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, which the Son of God, coming, took to himself from the lineage of David, and through it provided for the salvation and remission of us all from Abraham and from Adam; the tenth of all the nations through the dispensation of the incarnation of our God and Savior himself. [Disciple] What then? Were there not righteous men, pleasing to God, before Abraham?
[Master] There were indeed, since those who had been begotten from Seth were called 'sons of God,' and Enoch was translated, and Noah was made the renewer of a perishing world, and Melchizedek a type of the high priest. But in these the divine acceptance—that is, that special familiarity and favor—is not shown, but their righteousness is declared; whereas toward Abraham God's frequent address and, as it were, fellowship, and his dispensation in each particular, the rewards promised as proof, and the remembrance unto his posterity, show the wondrous power of divine acceptance. Similarly also, concerning the rest aforementioned, a certain peculiar favor of the divinity and, as it were, a governance openly dispensed through the individual acts of life, declares the special aid of grace.
[Disciple] Why do we say these things pertain to the age to come, since they were done in the present? [Master] Because every thing is perceived from its effect, and the cause of a deed is the intention of the doer. [Disciple] Prove that the causes of these acceptances look toward things to come. [Master] The faith of the nations, for the hope of eternal life, follows the Christian religion. For Christ himself, the Lord, by the whole remedy of his teaching and the miracles of his acts, and by his resurrection and ascension, taught, promised, proved, and granted the life to come. And who is ignorant that the other acceptances were brought about for the Lord and his sacraments, if he himself is promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the one who would confer salvation upon the nations? On his account the seed of Abraham is set apart from the other nations;