2. “  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so  .” And the water which was under the heaven gathered together unto one place; “And God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters called He seas.”  5  Gen. i. 9, 10. What trouble you have given me in my previous discourses by asking me why the earth was invisible, why all bodies are naturally endued with colour, and why all colour comes under the sense of sight. And, perhaps, my reason did not appear sufficient to you, when I said that the earth, without being naturally invisible, was so to us, because of the mass of water that entirely covered it. Hear then how Scripture explains itself. “Let the waters be gathered together, and let the dry land appear.” The veil is lifted and allows the earth, hitherto invisible, to be seen. Perhaps you will ask me new questions. And first, is it not a law of nature that water flows downwards? Why, then, does Scripture refer this to the fiat of the Creator? As long as water is spread over a level surface, it does not flow; it is immovable. But when it finds any slope, immediately the foremost portion falls, then the one that follows takes its place, and that one is itself replaced by a third. Thus incessantly they flow, pressing the one on the other, and the rapidity of their course is in proportion to the mass of water that is being carried, and the declivity down which it is borne. If such is the nature of water, it was supererogatory to command it to gather into one place. It was bound, on account of its natural instability, to fall into the most hollow part of the earth and not to stop until the levelling of its surface. We see how there is nothing so level as the surface of water. Besides, they add, how did the waters receive an order to gather into one place, when we see several seas, separated from each other by the greatest distances? To the first question I reply: Since God’s command, you know perfectly well the motion of water; you know that it is unsteady and unstable and falls naturally over declivities and into hollow places. But what was its nature before this command made it take its course? You do not know yourself, and you have heard from no eye-witness. Think, in reality, that a word of God makes the nature, and that this order is for the creature a direction for its future course. There was only one creation of day and night, and since that moment they have incessantly succeeded each other and divided time into equal parts.

Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, συναχθήτω τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν, καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά. Καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως, καὶ συνήχθη τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ὤφθη ἡ ξηρά. Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ξηρὰν, γῆν, καὶ τὰ συστήματα τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκάλεσε θαλάσσας. Πόσα μοι πράγματα παρεῖχες ἐν τοῖς κατόπιν λόγοις, ἀπαιτῶν τὴν αἰτίαν πῶς ἀόρατος ἡ γῆ, παντὶ σώματι φυσικῶς χρώματος συμπαρόντος, παντὸς δὲ χρώματος αἰσθητοῦ τῇ ὁράσει καθεστηκότος; Καὶ τάχα σοι οὐκ ἐδόκει αὐτάρκως ἔχειν τὰ εἰρημένα, ὅτι πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὸ ἀόρατον, οὐ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν εἴρητο, διὰ τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπιπρόσθησιν, ὃ τότε τὴν γῆν πᾶσαν περιεκάλυπτεν. Ἰδοὺ νῦν ἄκουε αὐτῆς ἑαυτὴν τῆς Γραφῆς φανερούσης. Συναχθήτω τὰ ὕδατα, καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά. Συνέλκεται τὰ παραπετάσματα, ἵνα ἐμφανὴς γένηται ἡ τέως μὴ ὁρωμένη. Ἴσως δ' ἄν τις κἀκεῖνο πρὸς τούτοις ἐπιζητήσειε. Πρῶτον μὲν, διὰ τί ὃ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχει τῷ ὕδατι φέρεσθαι πρὸς τὸ κάταντες, τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσταγμα τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ὁ λόγος ἀνάγει; Ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἂν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἰσοπέδου κείμενον τύχῃ τὸ ὕδωρ, στάσιμόν ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔχων ὅπου μεταρρυῇ: ἐπειδὰν δέ τινος πρανοῦς λάβηται, εὐθὺς ὁρμήσαντος τοῦ προάγοντος, τὸ συνεχὲς αὐτῷ τὴν βάσιν τοῦ κινηθέντος ἐπιλαμβάνει, καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου τὸ ἐφεπόμενον: καὶ οὕτως ὑπεκφεύγει μὲν ἀεὶ τὸ προάγον, ἐπωθεῖ δὲ τὸ ἐπερχόμενον: καὶ τοσούτῳ ὀξυτέρα ἡ φορὰ γίνεται, ὅσῳπερ ἂν καὶ τὸ βάρος ᾖ πλεῖον τοῦ καταφερομένου, καὶ τὸ χωρίον κοιλότερον, πρὸς ὃ ἡ ἐπίρρυσις. Εἰ οὖν οὕτω πέφυκε τὸ ὕδωρ, παρέλκοι ἂν τὸ πρόσταγμα τὸ κελεῦον συναχθῆναι εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν. Ἔμελλε γὰρ πάντως, διὰ τὸ κατάρροπον τῆς φύσεως, ἐπὶ τὴν πάντων κοιλοτέραν χώραν αὐτομάτως συνδίδοσθαι, καὶ μὴ πρότερον στήσεσθαι πρὶν ὁμαλισθῆναι τὰ νῶτα. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω χωρίον ἰσόπεδον, ὡς ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπιφάνεια. Ἔπειτα πῶς, φησὶν, εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν ἐκελεύσθη τὰ ὕδατα συνδραμεῖν, ὅπουγε φαίνονται πολλαὶ οὖσαι θάλασσαι, καὶ πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων τῇ θέσει διωρισμέναι; Πρὸς μὲν οὖν τὸ πρότερον τῶν ἐπιζητηθέντων ἐκεῖνό φαμεν: ὅτι μάλιστα μὲν σὺ μετὰ τὸ πρόσταγμα τὸ δεσποτικὸν ἐπέγνως τοῦ ὕδατος τὰς κινήσεις, ὅτι τε περιρρεπές ἐστι καὶ ἀστήρικτον, καὶ πρὸς τὰ πρανῆ καὶ κοῖλα φέρεται κατὰ φύσιν: πρὸ τούτου δὲ, πῶς εἶχε δυνάμεως πρὶν αὐτῷ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ προστάγματος τούτου ἐγγενέσθαι δρόμον, οὔτε εἶδες αὐτὸς, οὔτε ἰδόντος ἤκουσας. Νόησον γὰρ ὅτι Θεοῦ φωνὴ φύσεώς ἐστι ποιητικὴ, καὶ τὸ γενόμενον τότε τῇ κτίσει πρόσταγμα τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἐφεξῆς ἀκολουθίαν τοῖς κτιζομένοις παρέσχετο. Ἡμέρα καὶ νὺξ ἅπαξ ἐδημιουργήθη, καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ νῦν ἀλλήλας διαδεχόμεναι, καὶ κατ' ἰσομοιρίαν διαιρούμεναι τὸν χρόνον οὐκ ἀπολήγουσι.