Part III.

§35. Creation a revelation of God; especially in the order and harmony pervading the whole.

For God, being good and loving to mankind, and caring for the souls made by Him,—since He is by nature invisible and incomprehensible, having His being beyond all created existence53    Cf. Vit. Ant. 34.    Cf. below, 40. 2., for which reason the race of mankind was likely to miss the way to the knowledge of Him, since they are made out of nothing while He is unmade,—for this cause God by His own Word gave the Universe the Order it has, in order that since He is by nature invisible, men might be enabled to know Him at any rate by His works54    Cf. Orat. ii. 32.. For often the artist even when not seen is known by his works. 2. And as they tell of Phidias the Sculptor that his works of art by their symmetry and by the proportion of their parts betray Phidias to those who see them although he is not there, so by the order of the Universe one ought to perceive God its maker and artificer, even though He be not seen with the bodily eyes. For God did not take His stand upon His invisible nature (let none plead that as an excuse) and leave Himself utterly unknown to men; but as I said above, He so ordered Creation that although He is by nature invisible He may yet be known by His works. 3. And I say this not on my own authority, but on the strength of what I learned from men who have spoken of God, among them Paul, who thus writes to the Romans55    Rom. i. 20.: “for the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made;” while to the Lycaonians he speaks out and says56    Acts xiv. 15.: “We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, to turn from these vain things unto a Living God, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is, Who in the generations gone by suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. And yet He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave you57    ὑμῖν and ὑμῶν below are read by several mss., and are probably correct as in the original passage. from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” 4. For who that sees the circle of heaven and the course of the sun and the moon, and the positions and movements of the other stars, as they take place in opposite and different directions, while yet in their difference all with one accord observe a consistent order, can resist the conclusion that these are not ordered by themselves, but have a maker distinct from themselves who orders them? or who that sees the sun rising by day and the moon shining by night, and waning and waxing without variation exactly according to the same number of days, and some of the stars running their courses and with orbits various and manifold, while others move58    The ‘fixed’ stars as distinct from the planets. For the argument, cf. Plato, Legg. 966 E. without wandering, can fail to perceive that they certainly have a creator to guide them?

35 ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γενομένων ψυχῶν, ἐπειδὴ ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατάληπτός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν, ἐπέκεινα πάσης γενητῆς οὐσίας ὑπάρχων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔμελλε τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος ἀτυχεῖν τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ γνώσεως, τῷ τὰ μὲν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἶναι, τὸν δὲ ἀγένητον· τούτου ἕνεκεν τὴν κτίσιν οὕτω διεκόσμησε τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγῳ ὁ Θεός, ἵν', ἐπειδὴ τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶν ἀόρατος, κἂν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων γινώσκεσθαι δυνηθῇ τοῖς ἀνθρώ ποις. ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἔργων πολλάκις ὁ τεχνίτης καὶ μὴ ὁρώμενος γινώσκεται· καὶ οἷόν τι λέγουσι περὶ τοῦ ἀγαλματοποιοῦ Φειδίου, ὡς τὰ τούτου δημιουργήματα ἐκ τῆς συμμετρίας καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν μερῶν ἀναλογίας ἐμφαίνειν καὶ μὴ παρόντα Φειδίαν τοῖς ὁρῶσιν· οὕτω δεῖ νοεῖν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου τάξεως τὸν τούτου ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν Θεόν, κἂν τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοῖς μὴ θεωρῆται. οὐ γὰρ κατεχρήσατο τῇ ἀοράτῳ φύσει αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεός· μή τις τοῦτο προφασιζέσθω· καὶ παντελῶς ἑαυτὸν ἄγνωστον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀφῆκεν· ἀλλ' ὡς προεῖπον, οὕτω διεκόσμησε τὴν κτίσιν, ὥστε καὶ μὴ ὁρώμενον αὐτὸν τῇ φύσει, ὅμως ἐκ τῶν ἔργων γινώ σκεσθαι. καὶ τοῦτο οὐ παρ' ἐμαυτοῦ φημι, ἀλλ' ἀφ' ὧν παρὰ τῶν θεολόγων ἀνδρῶν ἔμαθον, ὧν εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Παῦλος, Ῥωμαίοις μὲν γράφων οὕτω· Τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται. Λυκάοσι δὲ παρρησιαζό μενος καὶ λέγων· Καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς ἐσμεν ὑμῖν ἄνθρω ποι, εὐαγγελιζόμενοι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ματαίων ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπὶ Θεὸν ζῶντα, ὃς ἐποίησε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὃς ἐν ταῖς παρῳχη μέναις γενεαῖς εἴασε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη πορεύεσθαι ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν. καίτοι γε οὐκ ἀμάρτυρον ἑαυτὸν ἀφῆκεν ἀγαθουρ γῶν, οὐρανόθεν ἡμῖν ὑετοὺς διδοὺς καὶ καιροὺς καρπο φόρους, ἐμπιπλῶν τροφῆς καὶ εὐφροσύνης τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν. τίς γάρ, ὁρῶν τὸν οὐρανοῦ κύκλον καὶ τὸν δρόμον ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀστέρων τὰς θέσεις καὶ τὰς περιπολή σεις, ἐναντίας μὲν καὶ διαφόρους γιγνομένας, ἐν δὲ τῇ διαφορᾷ ὁμοίαν τὴν τάξιν παρὰ πάντων ὁμοῦ σωζομένην, οὐκ ἐνθυμεῖται ὅτι οὐκ αὐτὰ ἑαυτά, ἀλλ' ἕτερός ἐστιν ὁ διακοσμῶν αὐτὰ ποιητής; τίς δέ, ὁρῶν ἥλιον μὲν ἀνατέλλοντα μεθ' ἡμέραν, σελήνην δὲ φαίνουσαν κατὰ νύκτα, καὶ φθίνουσαν, καὶ πληρουμένην ἀπαραλλάκτως κατὰ τὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἴσον πάντως ἀριθμόν, καὶ τῶν ἄστρων τὰ μὲν διατρέχοντα καὶ ποικίλως ἐναλλάττοντα τοὺς δρόμους, τὰ δὲ ἀπλανῶς κινούμενα, οὐκ ἂν ἔννοιαν λάβοι ὅτι πάντως ἐστὶν ὁ κυβερνῶν αὐτὰ δημιουργός;