1. In the few words which have occupied us this morning we have found such a depth of thought that we despair of penetrating further. If such is the fore court of the sanctuary, if the portico of the temple is so grand and magnificent, if the splendour of its beauty thus dazzles the eyes of the soul, what will be the holy of holies? Who will dare to try to gain access to the innermost shrine? Who will look into its secrets? To gaze into it is indeed forbidden us, and language is powerless to express what the mind conceives. However, since there are rewards, and most desirable ones, reserved by the just Judge for the intention alone of doing good, do not let us hesitate to continue our researches. Although we may not attain to the truth, if, with the help of the Spirit, we do not fall away from the meaning of Holy Scripture we shall not deserve to be rejected, and, with the help of grace, we shall contribute to the edification of the Church of God.

“The earth,” says Holy Scripture, “was invisible and unfinished.” The heavens and the earth were created without distinction. How then is it that the heavens are perfect whilst the earth is still unformed and incomplete? In one word, what was the unfinished condition of the earth? And for what reason was it invisible? The fertility of the earth is its perfect finishing; growth of all kinds of plants, the upspringing of tall trees, both productive and sterile, flowers’ sweet scents and fair colours, and all that which, a little later, at the voice of God came forth from the earth to beautify her, their universal Mother. As nothing of all this yet existed, Scripture is right in calling the earth “without form.” We could also say of the heavens that they were still imperfect and had not received their natural adornment, since at that time they did not shine with the glory of the sun and of the moon and were not crowned by the choirs of the stars.  2  cf. Hom., Il. xviii. 485, ἐν δὲ τὰ τείρεα πάντα τά τ᾽ οὐρανὸς ἐστεφάνωται, and Tennyson’s “When young night divine crowned dying day with stars.” (Palace of Art.) These bodies were not yet created. Thus you will not diverge from the truth in saying that the heavens also were “without form.” The earth was invisible for two reasons: it may be because man, the spectator, did not yet exist, or because being submerged under the waters which over-flowed the surface, it could not be seen, since the waters had not yet been gathered together into their own places, where God afterwards collected them, and gave them the name of seas. What is invisible? First of all that which our fleshly eye cannot perceive; our mind, for example; then that which, visible in its nature, is hidden by some body which conceals it, like iron in the depths of the earth. It is in this sense, because it was hidden under the waters, that the earth was still invisible. However, as light did not yet exist, and as the earth lay in darkness, because of the obscurity of the air above it, it should not astonish us that for this reason Scripture calls it “invisible.”

Μικροῖς ἕωθεν ἐνδιατρίψαντες ῥήμασι, τοσοῦτον ἀποκεκρυμμένον τὸ βάθος τῆς διανοίας εὕρομεν, ὥστε τῶν ἐφεξῆς παντελῶς ἀπογνῶναι. Εἰ γὰρ τὰ προαύλια τῶν ἁγίων τοιαῦτα, καὶ τὰ προπύλαια τοῦ ναοῦ οὕτω σεμνὰ καὶ ὑπέρογκα, τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τοῦ κάλλους τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς διανοίας ἡμῶν περιαστράπτοντα, ποταπὰ τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων; καὶ τίς ἱκανὸς κατατολμῆσαι τῶν ἀδύτων; ἢ τίς ἐπόψεται τὰ ἀπόρρητα; Ἀπρόσιτος μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ θέα, δυσερμήνευτος δὲ παντελῶς τῶν νοηθέντων ὁ λόγος. Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ παρὰ τῷ δικαίῳ κριτῇ, καὶ ὑπὲρ μόνου τοῦ προελέσθαι τὰ δέοντα, οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητοί εἰσιν ἀφωρισμένοι μισθοὶ, μὴ ἀποκνήσωμεν πρὸς τὴν ἔρευναν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῆς ἀξίας ἀπολειπόμεθα, ἀλλ' ἐὰν τοῦ βουλήματος τῆς Γραφῆς μὴ ἐκπέσωμεν τῇ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἀπόβλητοι παντελῶς κριθησόμεθα, καὶ τῇ συνεργίᾳ τῆς χάριτος οἰκοδομήν τινα τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ παρεξόμεθα. Ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν, φησὶν, ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος. Πῶς ἀμφοτέρων ὁμοτίμως γενομένων οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁ μὲν οὐρανὸς ἀπηρτίσθη, ἡ δὲ γῆ ἔτι ἀτελής ἐστι καὶ ἀνεξέργαστος; Ἢ ὅλως, τί τὸ ἀκατάσκευον τῆς γῆς; καὶ διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν ἀόρατος ἦν; Ἔστι μὲν οὖν τελεία κατασκευὴ γῆς ἡ ἀπ' αὐτῆς εὐθηνία: φυτῶν παντοδαπῶν βλαστήσεις: δένδρων ὑψηλοτάτων προβολαὶ καρπίμων τε καὶ ἀκάρπων: ἀνθῶν εὔχροιαι καὶ εὐωδίαι: καὶ ὅσα μικρὸν ὕστερον μέλλει τῷ προστάγματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπανατείλαντα τῇ γῇ τὴν γεννησαμένην κατακοσμεῖν. Ὧν ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν οὔπω ἦν, ἀκατάσκευον αὐτὴν εἰκότως ὁ λόγος ὠνόμασε. Τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ ταῦτα κἂν περὶ οὐρανοῦ εἴποιμεν: ὅτι οὐκ ἐξείργαστο οὔπω οὐδὲ αὐτὸς, οὐδὲ τὸν οἰκεῖον ἀπειλήφει κόσμον, ἅτε μήπω σελήνῃ μήτε ἡλίῳ περιλαμπόμενος, μηδὲ τοῖς χοροῖς τῶν ἄστρων κατεστεμμένος. Οὔπω γὰρ ταῦτα ἐγεγόνει. Ὥστε οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεις τῆς ἀληθείας, κἂν τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀκατάσκευον εἴπῃς. Ἀόρατον δὲ τὴν γῆν προσεῖπε διὰ δύο αἰτίας: ἢ ὅτι οὔπω ἦν αὐτῆς ὁ θεατὴς ἄνθρωπος, ἢ ὅτι ὑποβρύχιος οὖσα ἐκ τοῦ ἐπιπολάζοντος τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ ὕδατος οὐκ ἠδύνατο καθορᾶσθαι. Οὔπω γὰρ ἦν συναχθέντα τὰ ὕδατα εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα συστήματα, ἅπερ ὕστερον ὁ Θεὸς συναγαγὼν προσηγόρευσε θαλάσσας. Ἀόρατον οὖν τί ἐστι; Τὸ μὲν, ὃ μὴ πέφυκεν ὀφθαλμοῖς σαρκὸς καθορᾶσθαι, ὡς ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἡμέτερος: τὸ δὲ, ὃ τῇ φύσει ὁρατὸν ὑπάρχον, διὰ τὴν ἐπιπρόσθεσιν τοῦ ἐπικειμένου αὐτῷ σώματος ἀποκρύπτεται, ὡς ὁ ἐν τῷ βυθῷ σίδηρος. Καθ' ὃ σημαινόμενον νῦν ἀόρατον ἡγούμεθα προσειρῆσθαι τὴν γῆν καλυπτομένην ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος. Ἔπειτα μέντοι, καὶ μήπω τοῦ φωτὸς γενηθέντος, οὐδὲν ἦν θαυμαστὸν τὴν ἐν σκότῳ κειμένην, διὰ τὸ ἀφώτιστον εἶναι τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀέρα, ἀόρατον καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς προσειρῆσθαι.