To Autolycus 2.13
Summary: Theophilus explains the first days of creation: God began with heaven, not with foundations as a builder does; the Spirit moved over the waters to give life; the Word shone like a lamp.
Greek text · Otto 8:92–98
Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιγείων κάτωθεν ἄρξασθαι καὶ λέγειν τὴν ποίησιν τῶν γεγενημένων ἀνθρώπινον καὶ ταπεινὸν καὶ πάνυ ἀσθενὲς τὸ ἐννόημα αὐτοῦ, ὡς πρὸς θεόν, ἐστίν. Ἄνθρωπος γὰρ κάτω ὢν ἄρχεται ἐκ τῆς γῆς οἰκοδομεῖν, καὶ οὐ πρὸς τάξιν δύναται καὶ τὴν ὀροφὴν ποιῆσαι ἐὰν μὴ τὸν θεμέλιον ὑπόθηται. Θεοῦ δὲ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐν τούτῳ δείκνυται ἵνα πρῶτον μὲν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ποιῇ τὰ γινόμενα, καὶ ὡς βούλεται. Τὰ γὰρ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατα δυνατά ἐστιν παρὰ θεῷ. Διὸ καὶ ὁ προφήτης πρῶτον εἴρηκεν τὴν ποίησιν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ γεγενῆσθαι τρόπον ἐπέχοντα ὀροφῆς, λέγων· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανόν, τουτέστιν διὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς γεγενῆσθαι τὸν οὐρανόν, καθὼς ἔφθημεν δεδηλωκέναι. Γῆν δὲ λέγει δυνάμει ἔδαφος καὶ θεμέλιον, ἄβυσσον δὲ τὴν πληθὺν τῶν ὑδάτων, καὶ σκότος διὰ τὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν γεγονότα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσκεπακέναι καθαπερεὶ πῶμα τὰ ὕδατα σὺν τῇ γῇ, πνεῦμα δὲ τὸ ἐπιφερόμενον ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος ὃ ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς εἰς ζωογόνησιν τῇ κτίσει, καθάπερ ἀνθρώπῳ ψυχήν, τῷ λεπτῷ τὸ λεπτὸν συγκεράσας (τὸ γὰρ πνεῦμα λεπτὸν καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ λεπτόν), ὅπως τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα τρέφῃ τὸ ὕδωρ, τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ σὺν τῷ πνεύματι τρέφῃ τὴν κτίσιν διϊκνούμενον πανταχόσε. Ἓν μὲν τὸ πνεῦμα φωτὸς τύπον ἐπέχον ἐμεσίτευεν τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἵνα τρόπῳ τινὶ μὴ κοινωνῇ τὸ σκότος τῷ οὐρανῷ ἐγγυτέρῳ ὄντι τοῦ θεοῦ, πρὸ τοῦ εἰπεῖν τὸν θεόν· Γενηθήτω φῶς. Ὥσπερ οὖν καμάρα ὁ οὐρανὸς ὢν συνεῖχε τὴν ὕλην βώλῳ ἐοικυῖαν. Καὶ γὰρ εἴρηκεν περὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἕτερος προφήτης ὀνόματι Ἠσαΐας, λέγων· Θεὸς οὗτος ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡς καμάραν καὶ διατείνας ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖσθαι. Ἡ διάταξις οὖν τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, φαίνων ὥσπερ λύχνος ἐν οἰκήματι συνεχομένῳ, ἐφώτισεν τὴν ὑπʼ οὐρανόν, χωρὶς μὲν τοῦ κόσμου ποιήσας. Καὶ τὸ μὲν φῶς ὁ θεὸς ἐκάλεσεν ἡμέραν, τὸ δὲ σκότος νύκτα· ἐπεί τοί γε ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἂν ᾔδει καλεῖν τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν ἢ τὸ σκότος νύκτα, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μὲν τὰ λοιπά, εἰ μὴ τὴν ὀνομασίαν εἰλήφει ἀπὸ τοῦ ποιήσαντος αὐτὰ θεοῦ. Τῇ μὲν οὖν πρώτῃ ὑποθέσει τῆς ἱστορίας, καὶ γενέσεως τοῦ κόσμου, εἴρηκεν ἡ ἁγία γραφὴ οὐ περὶ τούτου τοῦ στερεώματος, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἑτέρου οὐρανοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου ἡμῖν ὄντος, μεθʼ ὃν οὗτος ὁ ὁρατὸς ἡμῖν οὐρανὸς κέκληται στερέωμα, ἐφʼ ᾧ ἀνείληπται τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ ὕδατος, ὅπως ᾖ τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι εἰς ὑετοὺς καὶ ὄμβρους καὶ δρόσους. Τὸ δὲ ἥμισυ ὕδατος ὑπελείφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ εἰς ποταμοὺς καὶ πηγὰς καὶ θαλάσσας. Ἔτι οὖν συνέχοντος τοῦ ὕδατος τὴν γῆν, μάλιστα κοίλους τόπους, ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ τὸ ὕδωρ συναχθῆναι εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν, καὶ ὁρατὴν γενηθῆναι τὴν ξηράν, πρότερον γεγονυῖαν αὐτὴν ἀόρατον. Ὁρατὴ οὖν ἡ γῆ γενομένη ἔτι ὑπῆρχεν ἀκατασκεύαστος. Κατεσκεύασεν οὖν αὐτὴν καὶ κατεκόσμησεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ παντοδαπῶν χλοῶν καὶ σπερμάτων καὶ φυτῶν.
English · Claude translation
To begin from below, from earthly things, and so to tell of the making of what came into being, is a human, lowly, and very feeble way of thinking, as far as God is concerned. A man, being below, begins to build from the ground, and cannot make the roof in its proper order unless he first lays the foundation. But God's power is shown in this, that first he makes what comes into being out of nothing, and as he wills. For what is impossible with human beings is possible with God. That is why the prophet said first that the heaven was made, in the manner of a roof, saying, “In the beginning God made the heaven,” that is, the heaven was made through the Beginning, as we have already shown. By “earth” he means the ground and foundation, as it was in potential; by “abyss,” the mass of the waters; and “darkness,” because the heaven made by God covered the waters together with the earth like a lid. And the Spirit moving over the water is the one God gave to bring life to the creation, as he gave a soul to the human being, mixing the fine with the fine (for the spirit is fine and the water is fine), so that the spirit might nourish the water, and the water with the spirit might nourish the creation, penetrating everywhere. The Spirit, being one and holding the place of light, stood between the water and the heaven, so that the darkness might in a way have no fellowship with the heaven, which is nearer to God, before God said, “Let there be light.” The heaven, then, being like a vault, held matter together, which was like a clod. For another prophet, called Isaiah, has spoken of the heaven thus: “This is God, who made the heaven like a vault and stretched it out like a tent to dwell in.” The command of God, that is, his Word, shining like a lamp in a closed room, lit up the region under heaven, making light apart from the world's luminaries. And God called the light day and the darkness night; for man would not have known to call the light day or the darkness night, nor the other things either, unless he had received their names from God who made them. At the very start of the history and of the genesis of the world, then, holy Scripture spoke not of this firmament but of another heaven, which is invisible to us; after it this heaven, which is visible to us, was called the firmament, on which half of the water was taken up, to serve humankind for rains, showers, and dews. The other half of the water was left on the earth for rivers, springs, and seas. Since the water still covered the earth, especially the hollow places, God through his Word made the water gather into one gathering, and made the dry land visible, which before had been invisible. The earth, then, having become visible, was still unformed; so God formed and adorned it with all kinds of herbs, seeds, and plants.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Making light apart from the world's luminaries” interprets an obscure phrase (literally, “having made it apart from the world”); the point is that light was made before the sun and stars (fourth day, 2.15).
- Isa 40:22 is quoted from the Septuagint.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on Ἓν before a following word; accent: grave on ὃν before a following word; missing accent): Ἕν μὲν τὸ πνεῦμα → Ἓν μὲν τὸ πνεῦμα; περὶ τούτου τοῦ στερεωματος → περὶ τούτου τοῦ στερεώματος; μεθʼ ὅν οὗτος → μεθʼ ὃν οὗτος.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 2.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/13/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 2.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/13/).
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