the earth, and Apollo the sun and the golden-spindled, resounding one, that is Artemis, the moon? And simply applying to each of the things made by God the name that seemed fitting, they worshipped them as gods. But that the account of the world's creation given by the divinely-inspired Moses is clear and easy to comprehend and having nothing overly elaborate and is with much precision, come now, come, let us demonstrate. For *in the beginning* (he says) *God made the heaven and the earth.* For he himself does not, according to some, permit matter to be conceived of as co-unoriginate and co-eternal with God and uncreated, nor that which once was not to be concurrent and co-existent with the eternal, nor that which in time and with difficulty was brought into being with the ever-existing, nor indeed that which is moved with that which is ever the same and in the same state, nor that which is subject to corruption with the incorruptible; but rather he defines creation by time and a beginning which calls it to genesis, as having been brought from non-being according to the will of God into being that which it is. And surely he does not say that God became simply an arranger and craftsman of a pre-existing and pre-discovered matter, giving form to the formless in whatever way He might know how, and merely casting upon it differences of qualities, and magnitudes and masses, but rather that by some ineffable and unutterable power He brought that which was not and did not exist at all into the beginnings of being. 2.27 But in what way He creates is impossible for our mind to see, and I say it is also beyond all reason. For how could one describe things that are beyond the mind? And the contrivances of the highest of all essences, I think, and its way to any deed whatsoever, will surpass our own by as much as we are by nature inferior to it. Therefore, when Moses says: *In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth*, understand that, as it were, collectively and briefly bringing all things together, he recounts the genesis of the whole creation. Then he proceeds skillfully to what must be said, in what way it was ordered and how each of the things that were made very well received as its lot that which it is. And indeed he says that He has created by the all-powerful Word; for God is, and from God by nature is, His Word, the creator of all things. For God said, he says, *Let there be a firmament*; and behold for me the firmament was immediately made firm by the power of the Word, which indeed He also called heaven. God said: *Let the dry land appear*, and the water ran together into one collection. And He spoke in addition for the sun to come into being, and it was so, the moon, stars, and light, and animals both of the land and of the water, and birds in addition to these. But that the very nature of the elements would not of itself and from itself be able to escape corruption, but rather needs the hand of the One who holds it together for its well-being, he taught by saying that: *The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the water*; for the Spirit of God gives life to all things, being itself also life by nature, as from the life of the Father, and all things need it, and could not otherwise have unshakeable being as that which it is. 2.28 See, then, as I said, the firmament being made firm by the Word, and the dry land rising up as the waters were gathered together into one; see the earth green with grasses and trees, and the seminal principles existing in them, so that through them temporary things, by stealing the power of existing eternally, may endure and be preserved. Behold the luminaries in the firmament, made by God for no other reason, except only that they might give light to those on the earth, and mark seasons and days and years. And he says that the earth was also commanded to bring forth the nature of irrational animals, with the Creator distributing to each its kind, and its quantity and for what purpose it should exist. But when everything in the world had at last been made, and nothing at all was lacking for human needs, then indeed, then, the Creator considered in what manner he himself would be; for his generation was not improvised on an equal footing with the other creatures. But since it was great and exceptional, or rather

τὴν γῆν, Ἀπόλλωνα δὲ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ χρυσηλάκατον κελαδεινήν, τουτέστιν Ἄρτεμιν, τὴν σελήνην; Καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἑκάστῳ τῶν παρὰ Θεοῦ γεγονότων ἐπιφημίζοντες τὸ δοκοῦν, προσεκύνησαν ὡς θεούς. Ὅτι δὲ σαφὴς καὶ εὐσύνοπτος καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχων περιειργασμένον καὶ σὺν ἀκριβείᾳ πολλῇ τῆς κοσμογονίας ὁ λόγος τῷ θεσπεσίῳ γέγονε Μωσεῖ, φέρε δή, φέρε καταδεικνύωμεν. Ἐν ἀρχῇ γάρ (φησίν) ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. Οὐ γάρ τοι συνάναρχον καὶ συναΐδιον τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἀγένητον, κατά τινας, ἐφίησι καὶ αὐτὸς νοεῖσθαι τὴν ὕλην, σύνδρομόν τε καὶ συνυφεστηκὸς τῷ ἀϊδίῳ τὸ οὐκ ὄν ποτε, τῷ ἀεὶ ὄντι τὸ ἐν καιρῷ καὶ μόλις παρενεχθὲν εἰς γένεσιν, οὔτε μὴν τῷ κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντι τὸ κεκινημένον, τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ τὸ ὑπὸ φθοράν· χρόνῳ δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ἀρχῇ καλούσῃ πρὸς γένεσιν περιορίζει τὴν κτίσιν, ὡς ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐνηνεγμένην κατὰ βούλησιν Θεοῦ πρός γε τὸ εἶναι τοῦθ' ὅπερ ἐστί. Καὶ οὐ δήπου φησὶν ὅτι προϋποκειμένης καὶ προεξευρημένης τῆς ὕλης κοσμήτορα καὶ τεχνίτην ἁπλῶς γενέσθαι Θεόν, εἰδοποιοῦντα τὸ ἄμορφον καθ' ὃν ἂν εἰδείη τρόπον, καὶ ποιοτήτων διαφοράς, μεγέθη τε καὶ ὄγκους ἐπιρρῖψαι μόνον αὐτῇ, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ καὶ ἀφράστῳ δυνάμει τὸ οὐκ ὂν οὐδὲ ὑπάρχον ὅλως εἰς ἀρχὰς τοῦ εἶναι παραγαγεῖν. 2.27 Τίνα δὲ τρόπον δημιουργεῖ νῷ μὲν τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀνέφικτον ἰδεῖν, εἶναι δέ φημι καὶ πέρα λόγου παντός. Πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις φράσαι τὰ ὑπὲρ νοῦν; Ὑπερανεστήξει δέ, οἶμαι, τοσοῦτον τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς τὰ τῆς ἀνωτάτω πασῶν οὐσίας εὑρήματα καὶ ἡ πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν πρακτέων ὁδός, ὅσονπερ αὐτῆς καὶ κατὰ φύσιν ἡττήμεθα. Ὅταν τοίνυν λέγῃ Μωσῆς· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, σύνες ὅτι συλλήβδην μὲν ὥσπερ καὶ ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ τὰ πάντα συνενεγκὼν τῆς ὅλης κτίσεως ἀφηγεῖται τὴν γένεσιν. Εἶτα πρόεισιν εὐτέχνως ἐπὶ τὸ χρῆναι λέγειν τίνα τε διεκοσμήθη τρόπον καὶ ὅπως ἕκαστα τῶν πεποιημένων τοῦθ' ὅπερ εἰσὶν εὖ μάλα διεκληρώσαντο. Λόγῳ τε μὴν τῷ πανσθενεστάτῳ δεδημιουργηκέναι φησὶν αὐτόν· Θεὸς γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἐκ Θεοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς αὐτοῦ Λόγος. Εἶπε γάρ, φησίν, ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτω στερέωμα καί μοι βλέπε παραχρῆμα τῇ τοῦ Λόγου δυνάμει πεπηγὸς τὸ στερέωμα, ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐκάλεσεν οὐρανόν. Εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά, καὶ συνέθει τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν. Ἔφη τε πρὸς τούτοις ἥλιον γενέσθαι, καὶ γέγονε, σελήνην, ἄστρα, καὶ φῶς καὶ ζῷά τε χερσαῖα καὶ ἔνυδρα, πτηνά τε πρὸς τούτοις. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν στοιχείων ἡ φύσις οἴκοθέν τε καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτῆς οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τὸ δύνασθαι διαδρᾶναι τὴν φθοράν, δεῖται δὲ μᾶλλον τῆς τοῦ συνέχοντος αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸ εὖ εἶναι χειρός, ἐδίδαξεν εἰπὼν ὅτι· Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος· ζωογονεῖ γὰρ τὰ πάντα τὸ Θεοῦ πνεῦμα, ζωὴ καὶ αὐτὸ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχον, ὡς ἐκ ζωῆς τοῦ Πατρός, δεῖται δὲ τὰ πάντα αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἑτέρως ἔχοι τὸ ἀκατάσειστον εἴς γε τὸ εἶναι τοῦθ' ὅπερ ἐστίν. 2.28 Ὅρα δὴ οὖν, ὡς ἔφην, Λόγῳ πηγνύμενον τὸ στερέωμα, καὶ ἀνίσχουσαν τὴν ξηρὰν συναγηγερμένων τῶν ὑδάτων εἰς ἕν· ὅρα πόαις τε καὶ ξύλοις χλοηφοροῦσαν τὴν γῆν, καὶ σπερματικοὺς αὐτοῖς ἐνυπάρχοντας λόγους, ἵνα δι' αὐτῶν τὰ πρόσκαιρα τὴν τοῦ ἀϊδίως εἶναι παρακλέπτοντα δύναμιν διαμένῃ καὶ σῴζηται. Ἄθρει τοὺς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι φωστῆρας οὐκ ἐφ' ἑτέρῳ τινὶ παρὰ Θεοῦ γεγονότας, πλὴν ὅτι μόνον ἵνα φαίνωσι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, κατασημαίνωσι δὲ καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἡμέρας καὶ ἐνιαυτούς. Προστετάχθαι δέ φησι καὶ τὴν γῆν ζῴων ἀλόγων ἐκδοῦναι φύσιν, εἶδος ἑκάστῳ, καὶ τὸ πόσον καὶ τὸ ἐφ' ᾧπερ ἂν γένοιτο, διανέμοντος τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπεποίητο λοιπὸν ἐν κόσμῳ τὸ πᾶν, ἐλλελοίπει δὲ ὅλως ταῖς ἀνθρώπου χρείαις οὐδέν, τότε δή, τότε, τίνα καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται τρόπον ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς ἐνενόει· οὐ γάρ τοι τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐν ἴσῳ κτίσμασι καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ γένεσις ἀπεσχεδιάζετο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μέγα καὶ ἐξαίρετον, μᾶλλον δὲ