De creatione hominis sermo alter recensio C

The wise Solomon, not persuaded by the words of wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, in the passages just read to us, exalting man, cried out saying: "Great is man, and honorable is a merciful man." But I, in vain, I suppose, was considering within myself both what I held in my own mind and what I had been taught from Scripture concerning man. For I reasoned: how is man great, a perishable creature subject to countless passions, a creature that from birth to old age drains a swarm of countless evils, concerning whom it is also said in Scripture: "Lord, what is man, that you have been revealed to him?" And while the Psalmist despises him as a worthless creature, the Proverb exalts man as something great. But this perplexity of mine was resolved by the history of the creation of man as read. For we have now heard that "God took dust from the earth and fashioned man." I have therefore found from this statement both that man is nothing and that man is great. For if you look only at the nature from which he was made, he will appear to you as nothing and worthy of nothing; but if you look at the honor with which you were honored, man is great. What honor is this? Compare the creation of man with that of all other things: God said, "Let there be light," and light came to be; "Let there be a firmament," and the great heaven above us is stretched forth, brought into being by word alone. Stars and sun and moon and all things that we behold with the eye and comprehend with the mind received their existence by a word. Sea and earth and the order within them, all kinds of animals, various diversities of plants—all came to be by command.

But man is not so. For it was not said, "Let there be man," but something more is observed in this: beyond light, beyond heaven, beyond the luminaries, beyond all things is the generation of man. For it says, "God took dust from the earth and formed man." He deigns to shape our body with his own hand. No angel served in the formation, nor did the earth spontaneously cast us forth as it does cicadas, nor did he employ any ministers or servants for the work, but with his own hand he crafts, taking dust from the earth. When, then, you look at what was taken, you will reasonably say, "What is man?" But when you consider the one who formed and his personal action, you will again declare with conviction that "Man is great," on the one hand because of the matter from which he is constructed, accounting himself as nothing in his own nature, and on the other hand because of the honor with which he has been honored, being judged as truly great because of "in the image" and "in the likeness." And God took. But how is it that there, in the earlier passages, it says, "And God made man," while here the generation of man is again recounted from the beginning, as if perhaps we had been taught nothing about man? For it says, "And God took dust from the earth and formed man." Some have already said that "formed" is spoken of the body, while "made" is spoken of the soul, and perhaps this account is not far from the truth. For where the making of the perfect man is mentioned and that "he made him in the image of God," the word "made" is written; but where it then narrates concerning our bodily substance and formation, the word "formed" is used.

The difference between making and forming the psalmist also taught, saying: "Your hands made me and formed me." They made the inner man, they formed the outer. For forming befits clay, while making befits that which is according to the image; so the flesh was formed, but the soul was made. Having first spoken about the subsistence of the soul, he now discusses with us the shaping of the body. Keep this account as well. And what is the other? That some things are stated in summary, while others are handed down to us according to the manner in which they came to be. From above, then, that he made; here, also how he made. For if he had simply said that he made, but had not dwelt on the manner of the making, man would have been reckoned like the cattle, like the wild beasts, like the plants, like the grass. So that you might escape kinship with the more irrational and insensate things, the word has handed down the special craftsmanship of God concerning you. God took dust from the earth and formed it with his own hands. Consider how you were formed: it is the hand of God that fashioned you. Therefore, let what was formed by God not be defiled by wickedness, not be altered by evil; do not fall by force from the hand of God that holds you. You are a vessel formed by God, made by God; glorify the maker. For you came to be for no other reason than to be a suitable instrument for the glory of God. And this whole cosmos, like a written book dictated, proclaims to you, who have a mind for understanding truth, the hidden and invisible glory of God and his greatness. For you surely remember what has been said.

And God blessed them and said, "Increase and multiply and fill the earth." For increase is twofold: that of the body and that of the soul. Increase of the body is the restoration from small to the proper measure; increase of the soul is the addition through learning toward perfection. Therefore, the command "Increase," spoken to all, is said to irrational animals with regard to the perfection of the body and the completion of their nature, but to us rational beings, "Increase" is said with regard to the inner man and the progress that leads to God. Such was Paul, ever reaching forward to what lies ahead, forgetting what lies behind. This is increase: the taking up of the doctrines of piety, the extension toward the greater, always reaching for what is beyond us, leaving behind what has gone before, and seeking as much as possible what is lacking in piety. Such was Isaac, about whom that testimony is recorded: "As he advanced, he was raised up, until he became great." For he did not stop or remain after a small increase, but always advanced with great steps, ascending in virtue: he crossed with a great step temperance, he mounted justice, from there he ascended to courage. Thus crossing, the just man is crowned at the peak of the height of the good. Therefore, increase with an increase according to God, a perfection according to the inner man. "Multiply": the blessing of the Church. "Let theology not be confined," it says, "to one or two, but let the gospel of salvation be proclaimed to the whole earth." "Multiply": who? Those born according to the gospel. "Fill the earth.

Fill the flesh given to you for service with good works: let the eye be full of seeing what is needful; let the hand be full of good works; let the feet walk to visit the sick, being capable of going where it is fitting. Let the whole condition of our limbs be full of the works that accord with the commandments. For this is what "Fill the earth" means. For such words are perhaps common also to the irrational animals, but they become particular to the human being when we continually use that which we were honored with, the "according to the image." For those creatures increase bodily, but we increase spiritually; and they fill the earth with their multitude, but we fill the earth yoked to us, that is, the bodily formation, with good works. "Behold, I have given you every tree that has fruit in itself; it shall be for you to eat." Let the church pass over nothing; all things are lawful. He did not say, "I have given you fish to eat," "I have given you cattle, birds, quadrupeds." For they were not created for this purpose, but the first legislation permitted the enjoyment of fruits. For we were still considered worthy of paradise and of the diet in it. And what a mystery lies hidden in the obscure passage, that not only for us but also for all irrational animals the same food from the fruits of the earth and from seeds was ordained at that time. For "Behold," he says, "I have given you every seed-bearing grass that sows seed, which is upon the earth, and every tree that has in itself fruit of seed-bearing seed; it shall be for you to

Food, and to all the beasts of the earth and to all the birds of the sky and to every reptile creeping on the earth. And if someone should say: We see now that most beasts are not nourished by fruits. For by what fruit does a leopard deign to be nourished? And what fruit can nourish a lion? But let it be known that these too, being subject to the law of nature, were formerly nourished by fruits. But when man changed his way of life and overstepped the boundaries given to him, after the flood the Lord, knowing that men were reckless in their enjoyment of everything, permitted this: "You shall eat these as vegetables of the field." By this permission, the other animals immediately received the license to eat flesh. From that time on, the lion became bloodthirsty; from that time on, vultures too, as soon as they were born, scanned the earth. For nothing had yet died of the things signified or created by God, for vultures to be nourished; nor did nature separate them, for it was still vigorous; nor had hunters consumed them, for there was as yet no human pursuit; nor had beasts torn them apart, for they were not yet bloodthirsty. (Vultures are accustomed to feed on corpses.) So there were as yet no corpses, no foul odor, no such food for vultures, but all lived like swans, and all grazed in the meadows. And just as we see dogs, for the sake of service, often eating grass (not because this food is natural to them, but because irrational animals, by some untaught teaching of nature, come to what is beneficial), so consider that even then the now flesh-eating animals were in such a state, devising grass as food for themselves, not plotting against one another.

For just as the restoration is to be after these things, so also was the first genesis entirely. And man returns to his ancient and first state, having cast off wickedness, the wretchedness concerning this earthly and painful life, the cares and anxieties about these worldly things that befoul the soul. Laying aside all these, then, he returns to that life in paradise, that life unenslaved to the passions of the flesh, free, nurtured together with angels, familiar to God. These things have been said by us, not because we wish to exclude man from the use of foods permitted by God, but so that we may bless the former time. What that life was then, how without need, how content with little. How very small and easily procured were the things contributing to the conduct of life for men, and how the variety of diet later brought in for us the cause of sin. For since we fell from the true luxury of paradise, we devised for ourselves counterfeit luxuries; and since we no longer see the tree of life nor take pride in that beauty, cooks and bakers and varieties of pastries and spices and such things were given to us for enjoyment, consoling us for our fall from there. Just as those who are sick, when they are laid low by a severe illness, being unable to partake of the customary enjoyment of foods, receive consolations through scents and suchlike attentions from the physicians.

For since they have fallen away from the more solid things, those who flatter their senses contrive a treatment for enjoyment commensurate with the weakness of these. Nevertheless, even now, let those who wish to lead themselves in imitation of the life in paradise wholly flee this material enjoyment of foods, and let us be led back to that former life, as far as possible, using fruits, seeds, and tree-fruits for sufficient sustenance, and rejecting whatever is beyond these as unnecessary. Not that these are abominable—for all things have come from God—but because they are harmful due to carnal indulgence. And God rested from all his works on the seventh day. Let the arithmeticians and those who have busied themselves with such matters and who have put forward such wisdom as a great achievement speak: some that the number six is akin to the creation of the world, others that it is prolific and gives birth to many numerical forms from itself, and that it is perfect in its own parts, and whatever else the arithmeticians recount about the hexad in their school discourses. Let them also speak about the hebdomad, that there is sterility in the seventh: for the number seven neither generates another from itself nor is generated by another. But we, lest we be carried away into a material discourse and be outside our dialogue with you, will proceed to more reasonable and necessary matters. And if anyone has some experience in those things, let him know that the treasury of these also lies with us.

We do not think highly of these things because they come from worldly wisdom, which we are commanded to despise as small and unprofitable for virtue, rather than to display. So, to show them that their eagerly sought pursuits are contemptible to us, we will pass over such arguments in silence and dwell on those that are more practical and beneficial. Moreover, the theory of those technical and sophistical arguments is not easily grasped by the common and uneducated people. The church is present not expecting to hear paradoxical discourses, but seeking solutions to doctrines that build up its own edification. Therefore, the seventh day, the Sabbath, is honored, and hence the number seven is honored among the Jews; on it occur the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement. Also the seventh year is honored among them, called the year of release. For they were to work the land for six years, and in the seventh year they were to be content with what grew spontaneously, when they held the land of promise. The Hebrew served for six years and was freed from slavery in the seventh. In the seventieth year their captivity was ended. Likewise, we can see our own practices. Seven times, it is said, the righteous man will fall and rise again. Thus we also appropriate the hebdomad. The seventh from birth did not see death; this is a mystery of the church. The seventh from Abraham, Moses, received the law. This is a change of life, a dissolution of lawlessness, an entrance of righteousness, a visitation of God, good order in the world, a legislation of what is to be done. In the seventy-seventh generation from Adam, Christ appeared. Peter knows the mystery of the hebdomad.

How many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" The teacher answered, and he himself did not depart from the number seven, but spoke as the disciple knew, yet the master surpassed in wealth: "How many times will he sin and I forgive?" He did not say, "Up to six times" or "Up to eight times." Then he added, "Up to seventy-seven times." He did not shift to another number by the increase. He did not say, "One hundred times one hundred," but he multiplied the seven. Neither did Peter ask about another number, nor did the Lord depart from the rule of the hebdomad. Peter observed that there is an ancient rule of tradition, that the hebdomad has an indication of some remission of sins, of complete rest, of which the Sabbath is a sign, the seventh day from creation. Peter: seven times; the Lord: seventy-seven times. But also sins in ancient times are avenged according to this number. "Not so," says God, "everyone who killed Cain will release seven avengers." And there it is not eight but seven. Why? Wait a little and you will find the mystery. The first sin is avenged seven times; the second murder of Lamech, seventy-seven times. Similarly, then, here forgiveness by Peter corresponds to the seventh, analogous to the vengeance of Cain, and remission by the Lord, seventy-seven times, like the condemnation of Lamech. As great as the transgression, so great is the grace; where the sin is small, the forgiveness is small: for to whom he forgave little, he loves little; where sin abounded, grace overflowed. What, then, is the mystery?

The eighth day is called the age of judgment, in which the sinner will be punished seven times, the one who is excessive seventy times seven; and conversely, the just man will be honored seven times, the one who is excessively just seventy times seven. For the philanthropy of God now reveals the future to us through riddles, but then at his second coming it will present the truth clearly and distinctly. For at that time he will show who is worthy of what. Therefore the Lord will grant us a sevenfold requital owed to sinners, if here through repentance and confession he is appeased by us. So, knowing that terrible day, in which is stored up for those who have sinned here the measuring and weighing in proportion to their sins, let us anticipate through repentance in life and dissolve our sins, so that there we may be able to escape the multiplication of the painful and grievous requital. Let us therefore consider this seventh day as a type of that eighth day of the end of the age. And God rested from his works. For there are no longer works of the world on that day, no longer marriages, no longer contracts, no commerce, no agriculture, but all creation stands terrified and trembling, and sweat flows uncontrollably from all, and all are equally anxious, even the just among us, as to what verdict will ever be pronounced about them. The Lord from the heavens, and the heavens are rent, power is revealed, all creation is in trembling and constriction.

And even the angels themselves perhaps stand in fear, not because they are afraid of their own sins, but because the glorious and mighty epiphany of Christ instills fear from itself into all created beings alike. Do you not hear Isaiah saying, "If you open the heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from you," alluding to that day on which the sea is frozen, on which creation is at rest, nature is deadened, and every method through words is idle before the arrival of God from the heavens? Then the righteous are snatched upward to heaven; for clouds are their chariots and the spiritual winds their escorts. But the sinners fall downward, fettered by the weight of their own transgressions and self-condemned by their evil conscience. Now that eighth day is prefigured by this seventh day; for it says, "God rested from all his works." No longer are there the things of this life on that day, nor the things that accompany here the carnal and irrational desires. Youthful desires have fallen asleep, the pursuits of marriage, hopes of childbearing, and any care for business or possessions. The miser has forgotten his purse, the greedy man his plundering and violence. The empty and despicable glory has been extinguished for those whose mind is lifted up by any of these worldly advantages. Anger does not trouble one to avenge the one who caused pain. All those things have then vanished from the reasoning. The soul is occupied with fear, with the expectation of the impending terrors.

think that if one could establish such a fear of God in one's own soul, unceasingly, one would either commit no sin or only trivial ones. And God created man, taking dust from the earth. This account of the construction of man should not be considered a repetition, even if it appears so to some, but rather an unbroken continuation of the previous treatment of this subject, and a completion of the narrative joined, as it were, to the beginning. For after saying, "God made man," and the rest concerning this, and after showing that in the making of man God completed all the works of the world, he again takes up the same narrative about man, continuously and without interruption, working out, as it were, and detailing the manner of his making. For first he said simply, "God made man"; but now he adds also how he made him: "Taking dust from the earth." So when you hear "dust," be instructed: you are from the earth, and you exist and have come into being from the inanimate and insensible earth, properly speaking. So this is not an insult against you, but rather an honor. Again, when some carnal desire overpowers your mind and persuades you to pursue the fulfillment of appetite, look quickly to the earth. Remember that just as from

You came from this, and into this you will soon be dissolved; the limbs now throbbing, the irrational desire, and the titillation of the flesh will not exist tomorrow, when the limbs are dead and the appetite has flown away. Thus, the constant inclination toward the earth, our mother, and the recognition of it become the cause of abstinence and freedom from all the grievous and incurable passions that trouble us at every moment. "Taking dust from the earth," he said. If we had been formed from heaven, since we could not always look at it, we would not continually be reminded of our own nature; but now, from what is at hand, we have a constant and unceasing reminder of our lowliness and weakness, from what we tread upon, from what we touch, from what we see, from what we are nourished, from what we are perpetually mingled with. What is more abominable and more contemptible than earth and clay, from which you have been formed? What greater cause is there for us to be modest and to consider ourselves worth nothing?

Whenever, then, you see someone taking great pride in himself, clad in a bright garment, his hand gleaming with a ring, wearing a precious stone in a setting, dragging along a superfluous retinue of servants, wearing long, flowing hair, and that hair blond and curly, and strutting about with studied affectations, wearing golden necklaces, seated on a golden chair, wearing a solemn face, speaking solemnly, thinking lofty thoughts, putting on airs because of the multitude of his escort, his attendants, the flatterers he drags along, the parasites around his costly tables, because of the acclamations and greetings which everyone offers him in the marketplace, some rising from their seats, others going out to meet him, others escorting him, each displaying something else for his honor and glory—whenever you see these rulers, who are heralded forth with a loud voice, some strutting, others scraping, others confiscating property, and that one condemning to death, do not consider the things seen as great, do not let your mind fall down, nor let the spectacle astonish you. Reflect that God formed man, taking dust from the earth. If, on the one hand, what is seen is something other than man, fear and marvel at what is done; but if it is dust from the earth that displays these things, despise it. And God formed man. The word "formed" immediately suggests some technical activity of God concerning man.

Did he then also fashion our formation in the same way as those who mold clay figures or shape plaster or cast bronze statues or produce any other artificial work, for which the imitation is confined to the surface, as we often see a man molded and displaying an external character, whether of anger and courage or of fear and cowardice, and again a woman either amorous or modest, or some other passion accompanying her nature, which the sculptor, recognizing, has wrought? But the formation by God is not of this kind; rather, the creative energy, penetrating into the depth, organized each of those original characters of man within, accomplishing in an instant the mixture and blending of many and various and diverse passions and dispositions into one. Would that I had so much leisure as to show you in detail and with precision the construction of man. For you would have learned from yourself the wisdom and economy of God concerning you. Indeed, man is a small cosmos, and those who dignified him with this name rightly conjectured. How many treatises, and by how many authors, from ancient times have been expended on this wonderful formation! The physiologies of physicians, the observations of gymnasts, concerning proportion, concerning the symmetry of limbs to each other, concerning the abundance of flesh—all these enter into the formation of man. And whence have I such power of speech as to be able to tell with accuracy all that is contained in the single word "He fashioned"?

These things are obvious, and even if I do not speak of them, you know them. For God formed you, as you see, upright and gave you this formation as a special gift beyond all other living creatures. Why? Because he was also going to bestow upon you a special and necessary activity. All irrational living creatures are merely grazing animals, and they have their construction in accordance with what they are by nature. Such is the sheep: for since it was made to graze, it has its head inclined downward, so that it looks at its belly and at what is under the belly; for their end is the filling of the belly and the enjoyment of pleasure. But in man, the head has risen upward from the very formation and has become higher than all other parts of the body, so that it may look upon its higher kinship. Do not, therefore, remake yourself contrary to nature, nor, stooping down, gaze at earthly things, but constantly observe and contemplate the heavenly things, where your citizenship is also prepared beforehand. Thus your body has been formed, and the formation is a lesson of the end for which you were made. For you were not constructed upright so that your life might drag on the earth like that of reptiles, but so that you might look at the heaven and at the God in it, nor so that you might pursue bestial and earthly pleasure, but so that you might fulfill a heavenly citizenship in the understanding given to you. For this reason: "The eyes of the wise man are in his head," says the wise Ecclesiastes. And why are the eyes not in the lower parts of the body but in the head? So that they may look around at things in the heights.

But he who does not look to the heights but bends down toward earthly things has brought his eyes down to the nature of a reptile, as if dragged along the ground. Now the head, rising above the whole body, rests upon the shoulders, not sunk into them so as to be hidden, but reposing upon a worthy support and like a kind of base, the upright neck. In this head are fixed the twin rays of the eyes. One was not sufficient, but two were made, helpers to each other, so that the accidental dissolution of one might have the consolation of the other unharmed. Moreover, the visual power proceeding from a single place is necessarily weaker, but when the stream is combined from two sources, it becomes more vigorous. For the vision, advancing from each side of the nose, both rests upon the middle partition of this and, projecting forward, unites one with the other, like two channels issuing from each vision as from a source and, after a short distance, mingling into one river, which then becomes stronger or more effective. And a proof of this is the elderly among men, who see things very near least of all, but perceive things standing farther from the eyes more clearly, because when the visual power proceeds separately from the beginning, the sight of each is weak, but after the confluence and union of both, as if by some flood, it becomes multiplied, more vigorous, and more active in the apprehension of visible things. And there are not few guards around the eye: a tunic within, and this is not sufficient, for it could not be made thick.

For it would have been an obstacle to vision. But the covering had to be transparent and light. Therefore, one is translucent, one is porous; one is crystalline, the other is horn-like; the one that is placed over is more solid, the one within is more porous, so that it does not hinder the transmission; the third is again crystalline, so that it may have both reflection and transparency in itself. The eyelid is a projection; for this is a covering and a shelter of the eye, and is like a dwelling place. For the hand could also protect, but by the time it rose up, the eye would often have been darkened. But now the protection lies close at hand; for it perceives harm and projects the covering at the same time. For this reason also the pupil of the eye is for the most part unassailable by external harms, since it sits under the eyelid as under a curtain, and is almost the only one of all our members that is kept untouched. And to the eyelids are also attached barbs of hairs. Why? So that the interweaving of the upper with the lower might be more precise, the hairs being fitted together in such a way. For the hairs serve as bonds, intertwining with each other. Then they also keep away small creatures from a distance, and do not allow dust-like particles to approach the sensitive pupil, which can be dimmed by any chance contact. And there is yet another protection placed above each eye by means of the hairs, which at once bestows comeliness on the contour and also provides security; this is the eyebrow, projected from above, to direct the visual faculty. And proof of this is:

When you wish to observe something from a distance and hollowing your hand you extend it above the eyebrows, why do you do this? So that the visual power diffused upward may not be dissipated idly by being poured into the breadth of the air, but being directed from the support of the hand below and the projection of the eyebrows above, and being compressed forward, it may have a more precise apprehension of the visible object. For this reason the eyebrows both direct the visual faculty of the eyes and also check the sweat flowing down from above, not allowing it to pour over the sense organs and hinder vision, like a sufficient rampart for warding off harm coming from outside. What vine-dresser can so securely enclose his own vine and surround it with such a fence that the space is rendered entirely inaccessible to neighboring ravines, as God has fashioned the enclosure of the eyebrows for the protection of the eyes, having traced them in us in a crescent shape from a single junction at the nose, extending to each side, so that sweat flowing here and there may cause no distraction to the laboring man concerning the task at hand and to his hand constantly rising to the eyes and wiping away the falling drops, but rather the sweat flows off automatically, being carried to the sides on each side through its own channels above the eyebrows, while the eyes perform their own function undisturbed.

If, then, we should wish to go into detail concerning the remaining members of the body as well, and to make manifest and extol the wisdom of God in each one, the day will certainly fail us. But you, from even a single part alone, have surely comprehended the infinite power of divine providence concerning man and of the technical economy. And as we hasten upon some necessary journey, send us forth with your prayers, so that, having quickly returned safely, we may also discharge the debt of what remains, by the grace of the Lord who has ordered everything concerning us, who created us by his own grace. For to him is the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.