2. But the corrupters of the truth, who, incapable of submitting their reason to Holy Scripture, distort at will the meaning of the Holy Scriptures, pretend that these words mean matter. For it is matter, they say, which from its nature is without form and invisible,—being by the conditions of its existence without quality and without form and figure.  3  On prime matter and its being ἄσωματος and ἄμορφος vide Cudworth, Int. Syst. v. ii. § 27, and Mosheim’s note. “Ingens vero quondam summorum et inclytorum virorum numerus ab eorum semper stetit partibus, quibus ex qua dixi ratione, materiam placuit decernere ἀσώματονεσσε, σίε χορπορε χαρερε Χιχερο ομνεσ ποστ Πλατονεμ πηιλοσοπηοσ ηοχ δογμα περηιβετ τενυισσε, Αχαδ. Θυͅστ. ι. 7, ‘σεδ συβ̓εχταμ πυταντ ομνιβυσ σινε υλλα σπεχιε, ατθυε χαρεντεμ ομνι ιλλα θυαλιτατε ματεριαμ θυανδαμ εξ θυα ομνια εξπρεσσα ατθυε εφφεχτα σιντ.’ Σεδ ̓αμ διυ αντε Πλατονεμ Πψτηαγορͅορυμ μυλτι ει αδδιχτι φυερυντ, θυοδ εξTimæi Locri, nobilis hujus scholæ et perantiqui philosophi, De Anima Mundi libello (Cap. i. p. 544, Ed. Galei) intelligitur: τὰν ὕλαν ἄμορφον δὲ καθ' αὐτὰν καὶ ἀχρημάτιστον δεχόμενον δὲ πᾶσαν μορφάν.” The Artificer submitting it to the working of His wisdom clothed it with a form, organized it, and thus gave being to the visible world.

If matter is uncreated, it has a claim to the same honours as God, since it must be of equal rank with Him. Is this not the summit of wickedness, that an extreme deformity, without quality, without form, shape, ugliness without configuration, to use their own expression, should enjoy the same prerogatives with Him, Who is wisdom, power and beauty itself, the Creator and the Demiurge of the universe? This is not all. If matter is so great as to be capable of being acted on by the whole wisdom of God, it would in a way raise its hypostasis to an equality with the inaccessible power of God, since it would be able to measure by itself all the extent of the divine intelligence. If it is insufficient for the operations of God, then we fall into a more absurd blasphemy, since we condemn God for not being able, on account of the want of matter, to finish His own works. The poverty of human nature has deceived these reasoners. Each of our crafts is exercised upon some special matter—the art of the smith upon iron, that of the carpenter on wood. In all, there is the subject, the form and the work which results from the form. Matter is taken from without—art gives the form—and the work is composed at the same time of form and of matter.  4  cf. Arist., Met. vi. 7, πάντα δὲ τὰ γιγνόμενα ὑπό τέ τινος γίγνεται, καὶ ἔκ τινος, καὶ τί…τὸ δὲ ἐξ οὗ γίγνεται, ἣν λέγομεν ὕλην…τὸ δὲ ὑφ᾽ οὗ, τῶν φύσει τι ὄντων…εἶδος δὲ λέγω τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι ἑκάστον, καὶ τὴν πρώτην οὐσίαν.

Such is the idea that they make for themselves of the divine work. The form of the world is due to the wisdom of the supreme Artificer; matter came to the Creator from without; and thus the world results from a double origin. It has received from outside its matter and its essence, and from God its form and figure.  5  cf. Cudworth, Int. Syst. iv. 6, and remarks there on Cic., Acad Quæst. i. 6. Arist. (Metaph. i. 2) says Θεὸς γὰρ δοκει τὸ αἴτιον πασιν εἰναι καὶ ἀρχή τις, but does this refer only to form? They thus come to deny that the mighty God has presided at the formation of the universe, and pretend that He has only brought a crowning contribution to a common work, that He has only contributed some small portion to the genesis of beings: they are incapable from the debasement of their reasonings of raising their glances to the height of truth. Here below arts are subsequent to matter—introduced into life by the indispensable need of them. Wool existed before weaving made it supply one of nature’s imperfections. Wood existed before carpentering took possession of it, and transformed it each day to supply new wants, and made us see all the advantages derived from it, giving the oar to the sailor, the winnowing fan to the labourer, the lance to the soldier. But God, before all those things which now attract our notice existed, after casting about in His mind and determining to bring into being time which had no being, imagined the world such as it ought to be, and created matter in harmony with the form which He wished to give it.  6  Gen. ii. 5, “every herb of the field before it grew.” There seems here an indication of the actual creation, ποίησις, being in the mind of God. He assigned to the heavens the nature adapted for the heavens, and gave to the earth an essence in accordance with its form. He formed, as He wished, fire, air and water, and gave to each the essence which the object of its existence required. Finally, He welded all the diverse parts of the universe by links of indissoluble attachment and established between them so perfect a fellowship and harmony that the most distant, in spite of their distance, appeared united in one universal sympathy. Let those men therefore renounce their fabulous imaginations, who, in spite of the weakness of their argument, pretend to measure a power as incomprehensible to man’s reason as it is unutterable by man’s voice.

Ἀλλ' οἱ παραχαράκται τῆς ἀληθείας, οἱ οὐχὶ τῇ Γραφῇ τὸν ἑαυτῶν νοῦν ἀκολουθεῖν ἐκδιδάσκοντες, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον βούλημα τὴν διάνοιαν τῶν Γραφῶν διαστρέφοντες, τὴν ὕλην φασὶ διὰ τῶν λέξεων τούτων παραδηλοῦσθαι. Αὕτη γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἀόρατος τῇ φύσει καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, ἄποιος οὖσα τῷ ἑαυτῆς λόγῳ, καὶ παντὸς εἴδους καὶ σχήματος κεχωρισμένη, ἣν παραλαβὼν ὁ τεχνίτης τῇ ἑαυτοῦ σοφίᾳ ἐμόρφωσε, καὶ εἰς τάξιν ἤγαγε, καὶ οὕτω δι' αὐτῆς οὐσίωσε τὰ ὁρώμενα. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀγέννητος αὕτη, πρῶτον μὲν ὁμότιμος τῷ Θεῷ, τῶν αὐτῶν πρεσβείων ἀξιουμένη. Οὗ τί ἂν γένοιτο ἀσεβέστερον, τὴν ἄποιον, τὴν ἀνείδεον, τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀμορφίαν, τὸ ἀδιατύπωτον αἶσχος (τοῖς γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων προσρήμασι κέχρημαι) τῆς αὐτῆς προεδρίας ἀξιοῦσθαι τῷ σοφῷ καὶ δυνατῷ καὶ παγκάλῳ δημιουργῷ καὶ κτίστῃ τῶν ὅλων; Ἔπειτα εἰ μὲν τοσαύτη ἐστὶν, ὥστε ὅλην ὑποδέχεσθαι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐπιστήμην: καὶ οὕτω, τρόπον τινὰ, τῇ ἀνεξιχνιάστῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμει ἀντιπαρεξάγουσιν αὐτῆς τὴν ὑπόστασιν, εἴπερ ἐξαρκεῖ ὅλην τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν σύνεσιν δι' ἑαυτῆς ἐκμετρεῖν: εἰ δὲ ἐλάττων ἡ ὕλη τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνεργείας, καὶ οὕτως εἰς ἀτοπωτέραν βλασφημίαν αὐτοῖς ὁ λόγος περιτραπήσεται, δι' ἔνδειαν ὕλης ἄπρακτον καὶ ἀνενέργητον τῶν οἰκείων ἔργων τὸν Θεὸν κατεχόντων. Ἀλλ' ἐξηπάτησε γὰρ αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἡ πενία. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ παρ' ἡμῖν ἑκάστη τέχνη περί τινα ὕλην ἀφωρισμένως ἠσχόληται, οἷον χαλευτικὴ μὲν περὶ τὸν σίδηρον, τεκτονικὴ δὲ περὶ τὰ ξύλα: καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἄλλο μέν τί ἐστι τὸ ὑποκείμενον, ἄλλο δὲ τὸ εἶδος, ἄλλο δὲ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ εἴδους ἀποτελούμενον: καὶ ἔστιν ἡ μὲν ὕλη ἔξωθεν παραλαμβανομένη, τὸ δὲ εἶδος παρὰ τῆς τέχνης ἐφαρμοζόμενον, ἀποτέλεσμα δὲ τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν συντιθέμενον ἔκ τε τοῦ εἴδους καὶ τῆς ὕλης: οὕτως οἴονται καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς θείας δημιουργίας, τὸ μὲν σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου παρὰ τῆς σοφίας ἐπῆχθαι τοῦ ποιητοῦ τῶν ὅλων, τὴν δὲ ὕλην ἔξωθεν ὑποβεβλῆσθαι τῷ κτίσαντι, καὶ γεγενῆσθαι τὸν κόσμον σύνθετον, τὸ μὲν ὑποκείμενον καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν ἑτέρωθεν ἔχοντα, τὸ δὲ σχῆμα καὶ τὴν μορφὴν παρὰ Θεοῦ προσλαβόντα. Ἐκ δὲ τούτου αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχει ἀρνεῖσθαι μὲν τὸν μέγαν Θεὸν τῆς συστάσεως τῶν ὄντων προεστηκέναι, οἷον δὲ ἐράνου τινὸς πληρωτὴν, ὀλίγην τινὰ μοῖραν εἰς τὴν τῶν ὄντων γένεσιν παρ' ἑαυτοῦ συμβεβλῆσθαι: οὐ δυνηθέντες διὰ λογισμῶν ταπεινότητα πρὸς τὸ ὕψος ἀπιδεῖν τῆς ἀληθείας: ὅτι ἐνταῦθα μὲν αἱ τέχναι τῶν ὑλῶν ὕστεραι, διὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τῆς χρείας παρεισαχθεῖσαι τῷ βίῳ. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔριον προϋπῆρχεν, ἡ δὲ ὑφαντικὴ ἐπεγένετο, τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἐνδέον παρ' ἑαυτῆς ἐκπληροῦσα. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ξύλον ἦν, τεκτονικὴ δὲ παραλαβοῦσα, πρὸς τὴν ἐπιζητουμένην ἑκάστοτε χρείαν διαμορφοῦσα τὴν ὕλην, τὴν εὐχρηστίαν ἡμῖν τῶν ξύλων ὑπέδειξε, κώπην μὲν ναύταις, γεωργοῖς δὲ πτύον, ὁπλίταις δὲ δόρυ παρεχομένη. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς, πρίν τι τῶν νῦν ὁρωμένων γενέσθαι, εἰς νοῦν βαλόμενος καὶ ὁρμήσας ἀγαγεῖν εἰς γένεσιν τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ὁμοῦ τε ἐνόησεν ὁποῖόν τινα χρὴ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, καὶ τῷ εἴδει αὐτοῦ τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν ὕλην συναπεγέννησε. Καὶ οὐρανῷ μὲν ἀφώρισε τὴν οὐρανῷ πρέπουσαν φύσιν: τῷ δὲ τῆς γῆς σχήματι τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτῇ καὶ ὀφειλομένην οὐσίαν ὑπέβαλε. Πῦρ δὲ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ἀέρα διεσχημάτισέν τε ὡς ἐβούλετο, καὶ εἰς οὐσίαν ἤγαγεν ὡς ὁ ἑκάστου λόγος τῶν γινομένων ἀπῄτει. Ὅλον δὲ τὸν κόσμον ἀνομοιομερῆ τυγχάνοντα ἀρρήκτῳ τινὶ φιλίας θεσμῷ εἰς μίαν κοινωνίαν καὶ ἁρμονίαν συνέδησεν: ὥστε καὶ τὰ πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων τῇ θέσει διεστηκότα ἡνῶσθαι δοκεῖν διὰ τῆς συμπαθείας. Παυσάσθωσαν οὖν μυθικῶν πλασμάτων, ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τῶν οἰκείων λογισμῶν τὴν ἀκατάληπτον διανοίαις καὶ ἄφατον παντελῶς ἀνθρωπίνῃ φωνῇ δύναμιν ἐκμετροῦντες.