For thy Almighty hand, that made the world of matter without form, wanted not means to send among them a multitude of bears, or fierce lions,
Read Chapter 11
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
We can ask ourselves if the Scripture calls "heaven and earth" all the things already distinguished and arranged in their order. Or if, by the term "heaven and earth," it means the matter itself of the universe, originally unformed, which by the ineffable command of God was differentiated and arranged in the formed and magnificent natures that we now admire. Although we in fact read in Scripture, "You who made the world, drawing it from formless matter," we nevertheless cannot say that the matter itself (of whatever kind it may be) was not made by him from whom we declare and profess by faith that all things come. Consequently, we also call "world" the ordered arrangement of all the formed and distinct things, whatever they may be, while on the contrary, we call "heaven and earth" the matter itself, as if the latter were the primordial germ of the heaven and the earth. So "heaven and earth," something confused and mixed, is capable of receiving forms from God the creator. - "Unfinished...
But the "heaven of the heavens" belongs to you, Lord. And the earth that you assigned "to the children of mortals," for them to see and to touch, was not the one that we now see and touch. "It was invisible and confused," an abyss, on which no light shone. In other words, "darkness ruled over the abyss," that is, a darkness greater than that in the abyss. The abyss today, of visible waters, even in their depths have a semblance of light, perceivable in any case by fish and by the animals that crawl on the ocean floor. That other, rather, was altogether virtually nothing, because it was still absolutely without form. It was, however, such as could assume a form. You, Lord, brought forth "the world from unformed matter""what was almost nothing, drawn by you out of nothing, to bring forth the great things that we human beings admire. This is truly the marvel of these corporeal heavens, that is, of the firmament, which you created between the waters on the second day, after the light was c...
"Over time, in fact, the sea diminishes." Perhaps this alludes to him who, threatening the sea, dries it up. "And a desolate river is dried up." It does not say "rivers" but "a river," since all rivers are a single river, as the accounts in the book of Genesis tell us: "A spring rose from the ground." The one who created that river now dries it up, and, according to his will, he will render it invisible, when by his will he exhausts the sea and puts an end to the other elements of visible creatures. There is nothing surprising in the fact that Job spoke of what happened in the past and of what must take place in the future. Indeed, he speaks from the point of view of God, for whom future events, decided once and for all, are seen as having happened and passed. Thus it is not possible that events arranged by the creating hand would oppose his order. And therefore Job rightly recalled it, to indicate that when the visible elements are gone and creatures have been renewed, the ruler given...
In Wisdom it says, "He who created the world from formless matter," and the opposite, "We were made from nothing." The sense of Scripture affirms that God created the elements all at once, with darkness also mixed in with them. And God called this confusion of elements (that is, air, fire, water, land and darkness) formless matter, as it says in Genesis: "The earth, moreover, was invisible and formless." And from this confusion he then created the world, also establishing the firmament, so that, once the waters were gathered in a single place, it might be the dwelling of the human race. Having distinguished and separated the elements, he made an inhabitable dwelling in the cavity that remained. - "Questions from the Old Testament 2.20"
Question: If you would say that the Son made what was made by command of the Father. Response: It is not as you claim, that the Son made what was made under the Father"s orders. Rather, by his will he created everything that he deemed in his providence should be created, since the prophet Isaiah says, "Thus says the Lord, "I made the earth by my word, and on it I created human beings. With my hand I spread out the heavens, giving order to all their ranks, that they might shine in the sky." " And, "My plan shall stand as valid, and I have fulfilled my entire purpose." And still, "Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth. He made it and rendered it stable." And further, "I am the first, and I am eternal. My hand laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand spread the heavens." And still, "I made the earth with great power and with a mighty arm." And in Jeremiah, "He formed the earth by his power; he established the world with his wisdom; with his intelligence he spre...
