7. Among arts, some have in view production, some practice, others theory.  27  ἡ ἅπασα διάνοια ἢ πρακτικὴ ἢ ποιητικὴ ἢ θεωρητική. Arist., Met. v. i. The object of the last is the exercise of thought, that of the second, the motion of the body. Should it cease, all stops; nothing more is to be seen. Thus dancing and music have nothing behind; they have no object but themselves. In creative arts on the contrary the work lasts after the operation. Such is architecture—such are the arts which work in wood and brass and weaving, all those indeed which, even when the artisan has disappeared, serve to show an industrious intelligence and to cause the architect, the worker in brass or the weaver, to be admired on account of his work. Thus, then, to show that the world is a work of art displayed for the beholding of all people; to make them know Him who created it, Moses does not use another word. “In the beginning,” he says “God created.” He does not say “God worked,” “God formed,” but “God created.” Among those who have imagined that the world co-existed with God from all eternity, many have denied that it was created by God, but say that it exists spontaneously, as the shadow of this power. God, they say, is the cause of it, but an involuntary cause, as the body is the cause of the shadow and the flame is the cause of the brightness.  28  The one and the perfect continually overflows, and from it Being, Reason, and Life are perpetually derived, without deducting anything from its substance, inasmuch as it is simple in its nature, and not, like matter, compound. (Enn. iv. ix. 9.) This derivation of all things from unity does not resemble creation, which has reference to time, but takes place purely in conformity with the principles of causality and order, without volition, because to will is to change. (Enn. iv. 5, i. 6)” Tennemann on Plotinus, Hist. Phil. § 207. It is to correct this error that the prophet states, with so much precision, “In the beginning God created.” He did not make the thing itself the cause of its existence.  29  The Ben. note is “neque idipsum in causa fuit cur esset, hoc est, non res cæca, non res coacta, non res invite et præter voluntatem agens in causa fuit cur mundus exstiterit. Hoc igitur dicit Basilius Deum aliter agere atque corpora opaca aut lucida. Nam corpus producit umbram vi atque necessitate, nec liberius agit corpus lucidum: Deus vero omnia nutu conficit et voluntate. Illud ἐποιησεν, etc., alio modo intellexit et interpretatus est Eustathius. Illius subjicimus verba: non causam præstitit ut esset solum, sed fecit ut bonus utilem.” Being good, He made it an useful work. Being wise, He made it everything that was most beautiful. Being powerful He made it very great.  30  cf. Plat., Tim. § 10. ᾽Αγαθὸς ἦν, ἀγαθῷ δὲ ουδεὶς περὶ οὐδενὸς οὐδέποτε ἐγγίγνεται φθόνος, τούτου δ᾽ ἐκτὸς ὢν πάντα ὅτι μάλιστα γενέσθαι ἐβουλήθη παραπλήσια ἑαυτῷ. Moses almost shows us the finger of the supreme artisan taking possession of the substance of the universe, forming the different parts in one perfect accord, and making a harmonious symphony result from the whole.  31  cf. Huxley, Lay Sermons, xii. p. 286, on the “delicate finger” of the “hidden artist” in the changes in an egg.

“In the beginning God made heaven and earth.” By naming the two extremes, he suggests the substance of the whole world, according to heaven the privilege of seniority, and putting earth in the second rank. All intermediate beings were created at the same time as the extremities. Thus, although there is no mention of the elements, fire, water and air,  32  cf. note on Letter viii. imagine that they were all compounded together, and you will find water, air and fire, in the earth. For fire leaps out from stones; iron which is dug from the earth produces under friction fire in plentiful measure. A marvellous fact! Fire shut up in bodies lurks there hidden without harming them, but no sooner is it released than it consumes that which has hitherto preserved it. The earth contains water, as diggers of wells teach us. It contains air too, as is shown by the vapours that it exhales under the sun’s warmth  33  φαμὲν δὲ πῦρ καὶ ἀ& 153·ρα καὶ ὕδωρ γίγνεσθαι ἐξ ἀλλήλων καὶ ἕκαστον ἐν ἑκάστῳ ὑπάρχειν τούτων δυνάμει. Arist., Meteor. i. 3. when it is damp. Now, as according to their nature, heaven occupies the higher and earth the lower position in space, (one sees, in fact, that all which is light ascends towards heaven, and heavy substances fall to the ground); as therefore height and depth are the points the most opposed to each other it is enough to mention the most distant parts to signify the inclusion of all which fills up intervening Space. Do not ask, then, for an enumeration of all the elements; guess, from what Holy Scripture indicates, all that is passed over in silence.

Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν τεχνῶν αἱ μὲν ποιητικαὶ λέγονται, αἱ δὲ πρακτικαὶ, αἱ δὲ θεωρητικαί: καὶ τῶν μὲν θεωρητικῶν τέλος ἐστὶν ἡ κατὰ νοῦν ἐνέργεια: τῶν δὲ πρακτικῶν, αὐτὴ ἡ τοῦ σώματος κίνησις, ἧς παυσαμένης οὐδὲν ὑπέστη οὐδὲ παρέμεινε τοῖς ὁρῶσιν: ὀρχήσεως γὰρ καὶ αὐλητικῆς τέλος οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' αὐτὴ εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἡ ἐνέργεια καταλήγει: ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ποιητικῶν τεχνῶν, καὶ παυσαμένων τῆς ἐνεργείας, προκείμενόν ἐστι τὸ ἔργον: ὡς οἰκοδομικῆς καὶ τεκτονικῆς καὶ χαλκευτικῆς καὶ ὑφαντικῆς, καὶ ὅσαι τοιαῦται, αἳ, κἂν μὴ παρῇ ὁ τεχνίτης, ἱκανῶς ἐν ἑαυταῖς τοὺς τεχνικοὺς λόγους ἐμφαίνουσι, καὶ ἔξεστί σοι θαυμάσαι τὸν οἰκοδόμον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔργου, καὶ τὸν χαλκέα καὶ τὸν ὑφάντην. Ἵνα οὖν δειχθῇ ὅτι ὁ κόσμος τεχνικόν ἐστι κατασκεύασμα, προκείμενον πᾶσιν εἰς θεωρίαν, ὥστε δι' αὐτοῦ τὴν τοῦ ποιήσαντος αὐτὸν σοφίαν ἐπιγινώσκεσθαι, οὐκ ἄλλῃ τινὶ φωνῇ ἐχρήσατο ὁ σοφὸς Μωϋσῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' εἶπεν, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν: οὐχὶ ἐνήργησεν, οὐδὲ ὑπέστησεν, ἀλλὰ Ἐποίησεν. Καὶ καθότι πολλοὶ τῶν φαντασθέντων συνυπάρχειν ἐξ ἀϊδίου τῷ Θεῷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐχὶ γεγενῆσθαι παρ' αὐτοῦ συνεχώρησαν, ἀλλ' οἱονεὶ ἀποσκίασμα τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ ὄντα αὐτομάτως παρυποστῆναι: καὶ αἴτιον μὲν αὐτοῦ ὁμολογοῦσι τὸν Θεὸν, αἴτιον δὲ ἀπροαιρέτως, ὡς τῆς σκιᾶς τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τῆς λαμπηδόνος τὸ ἀπαυγάζον: τὴν οὖν τοιαύτην ἀπάτην ἐπανορθούμενος ὁ προφήτης, τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ ταύτῃ τῶν ῥημάτων ἐχρήσατο εἰπὼν, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός. Οὐχὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ εἶναι παρέσχεν, ἀλλ' ἐποίησεν ὡς ἀγαθὸς τὸ χρήσιμον, ὡς σοφὸς, τὸ κάλλιστον, ὡς δυνατὸς, τὸ μέγιστον. Μόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ τεχνίτην σοι ἔδειξεν ἐμβεβηκότα τῇ οὐσίᾳ τῶν ὅλων, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον μέρη πρὸς ἄλληλα συναρμόζοντα, καὶ τὸ πᾶν ὁμόλογον ἑαυτῷ καὶ σύμφωνον καὶ ἐναρμονίως ἔχον ἀποτελοῦντα. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. Ἐκ δύο τῶν ἄκρων τοῦ παντὸς τὴν ὕπαρξιν παρῃνίξατο, τῷ μὲν οὐρανῷ τὰ πρεσβεῖα τῆς γενέσεως ἀποδοὺς, τὴν δὲ γῆν δευτερεύειν φάμενος τῇ ὑπάρξει. Πάντως δὲ καὶ εἴ τι τούτων μέσον, συναπεγενήθη τοῖς πέρασιν. Ὥστε κἂν μηδὲν εἴπῃ περὶ τῶν στοιχείων, πυρὸς, καὶ ὕδατος, καὶ ἀέρος, ἀλλὰ σὺ τῇ παρὰ σαυτοῦ συνέσει νόει, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι πάντα ἐν πᾶσι μέμικται, καὶ ἐν γῇ εὑρήσεις καὶ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἀέρα, καὶ πῦρ, εἴγε ἐκ λίθων μὲν πῦρ ἐξάλλεται, ἐκ σιδήρου δὲ, ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπὸ γῆς ἔχει τὴν γένεσιν, πῦρ ἄφθονον ἐν ταῖς παρατρίψεσι πέφυκεν ἀπολάμπειν. Ὃ καὶ θαυμάσαι ἄξιον, πῶς ἐν μὲν τοῖς σώμασιν ὑπάρχον τὸ πῦρ, ἀβλαβῶς ἐμφωλεύει: προκληθὲν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ ἔξω, δαπανητικόν ἐστι τῶν φυλασσόντων τέως. Τὴν δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος φύσιν ἐνυπάρχουσαν τῇ γῇ οἱ φρεωρύχοι δεικνύουσι: καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος οἱ ἀπὸ νενοτισμένης αὐτῆς ἀτμοὶ ὑπὸ ἡλίου θαλφθείσης ἀναπεμπόμενοι. Ἔπειτα μέντοι καὶ εἰ φύσει τὸν ἄνω τόπον ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐπέχει, ἡ δὲ γῆ τὸ κατώτατόν ἐστι: διότι ἐπὶ μὲν τὸν οὐρανὸν τὰ κοῦφα φέρεται, ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν γῆν τὰ βαρέα πέφυκε καταρρέπειν, ἐναντιώτατα δὲ ἀλλήλοις, τὸ ἄνω καὶ τὸ κάτω: ὁ τῶν πλεῖστον διεστώτων κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐπιμνησθεὶς, καὶ τὰ τὴν μέσην τούτοις ἐκπληροῦντα χώραν συνεκδοχικῶς παρεσήμανεν. Ὥστε μὴ ζήτει τὴν τῶν καθ' ἕκαστον ἐπεξήγησιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ σιωπηθέντα νόει διὰ τῶν δηλωθέντων.