Chapter V.—Concerning the visible creation.

Our God Himself, Whom we glorify as Three in One, created the heaven and the earth and all that they contain277    Various reading, It is evident that the divine (τὸ Θεῖον) is incorporeal.    Ps. cxlvi. 6., and brought all things out of nothing into being: some He made out of no pre-existing basis of matter, such as heaven, earth, air, fire, water: and the rest out of these elements that He had created, such as living creatures, plants, seeds. For these are made up of earth, and water, and air, and fire, at the bidding of the Creator.

Περὶ κτίσεως ὁρατῆς

Αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τριάδι καὶ ἐν μονάδι δοξολογούμενος ἐποίησε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγὼν τὰ σύμπαντα, τὰ μὲν οὐκ ἐκ προϋποκειμένης ὕλης οἷον οὐρανόν, γῆν, ἀέρα, πῦρ, ὕδωρ, τὰ δὲ ἐκ τούτων τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγονότων, οἷον ζῷα, φυτά, σπέρματα: ταῦτα γὰρ ἐκ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος, ἀέρος τε καὶ πυρὸς τῷ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ προστάγματι γεγόνασιν.