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Upon the
gathering together of the waters.
1. There are
towns where the inhabitants, from dawn to eve, feast their eyes on the
tricks of innumerable conjurors. They are never tired of hearing
dissolute songs which cause much impurity to spring up in their souls,
and they are often called happy, because they neglect the cares of
business and trades useful to life, and pass the time, which is
assigned to them on this earth, in idleness and pleasure. They do not
know that a theatre full of impure sights is, for those who sit there,
a common school of vice; that these melodious and meretricious songs
insinuate themselves into men's souls, and all who hear them, eager to
imitate the notes of harpers and pipers, are filled with filthiness.
Some others, who are wild after horses, think they are backing their
horses in their dreams; they harness their chariots change their
drivers, and even in sleep are not free from the folly of the day. And
shall we, whom the Lord, the great worker of marvels, calls to the
contemplation of His own works, tire of looking at them, or be slow to
hear the words of the Holy Spirit? Shall we not rather stand around the
vast and varied workshop of divine creation and, carried back in mind
to the times of old, shall we not view all the order of creation?
Heaven, poised like a dome, to quote the words of the prophet; earth,
this immense mass which rests upon itself; the air around it, of a soft
and fluid nature, a true and continual nourishment for all who breathe
it, of such tenuity that it yields and opens at the least movement of
the body, opposing no resistance to our motions, while, in a moment, it
streams back to its place, behind those who cleave it; water, finally,
that supplies drink for man, or may be designed for our other needs,
and the marvellous gathering together of it into definite places which
have been assigned to it: such is the spectacle which the words which I
have just read will show you.
2. "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together
unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so." And the
water which was under the heaven gathered together unto one place; "
And God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the
waters called He seas." What trouble you have given me in my previous
discourses by asking me why the earth was invisible, why all bodies are
naturally endued with colour, and why all colour comes under the sense
of sight. And, perhaps, my reason did not appear sufficient to you,
when I said that the earth, without being naturally invisible, was so
to us, because of the mass of water that entirely covered it. Hear then
how Scripture explains itself. "Let the waters be gathered together,
and let the dry land appear." The veil is lifted and allows the earth,
hitherto invisible, to be seen. Perhaps you will ask me new questions.
And first, is it not a law of nature that water flows downwards? Why,
then, does Scripture refer this to the fiat of the Creator? As long as
water is spread over a level surface, it does not flow; it is
immovable. But when it finds any slope, immediately the foremost
portion falls, then the one that follows takes its place, and that one
is itself replaced by a third. Thus incessantly they flow, pressing the
one on the other, and the rapidity of their course is in proportion to
the mass of water that is being carried, and the declivity down which
it is borne. If such is the nature of water, it was supererogatory to
command it to gather into one place. It was bound, on account of its
natural instability, to fall into the most hollow part of the earth and
not to stop until the levelling of its surface. We see how there is
nothing so level as the surface of water. Besides, they add, how did
the waters receive an order to gather into one place, when we see
several seas, separated from each other by the greatest distances? To
the first question I reply: Since God's command, you know perfectly
well the motion of water; you know that it is unsteady and unstable and
fails naturally over declivities and into hollow places. But what was
its nature before this command made it take its course? You do not know
yourself, an I you have heard from no eye-witness. Think, in reality,
that a word of God makes the nature, and that this order is for the
creature a direction for its future course. There was only one creation
of day and night, and since that moment they have incessantly succeeded
each other and divided time into equal parts.
3. "Let the waters be gathered together." It was ordered that it should
be the natural property of water to flow, and in obedience to this
order, the waters are never weary in their course. In speaking thus, I
have only in view the flowing property of waters. Some flow of their
own accord like springs and rivers, others are collected and
stationary. But I speak now of flowing waters. "Let the waters be
gathered together unto one place." Have you never thought, when
standing nears spring which is sending forth water abundantly, Who
makes this water spring from the bowels of the earth? Who forced it up?
Where are the store-houses which send it forth? To what place is it
hastening? How is it that it is never exhausted here, and never
overflows there? All this comes from that first command; it was for the
waters a signal for their course.
In all the story of the waters remember this first order, "let the
waters be gathered together." To take their assigned places they were
obliged to flow, and, once arrived there, to remain in their place and
not to go farther. Thus in the language of Ecclesiastes, "All the
waters run into the sea; yet the sea is notful." Waters flow in virtue
of God's order, and the sea is enclosed in limits according to this
first law, "Let the waters be gathered together unto one place." For
fear the water should spread beyond its bed, and in its successive
invasions cover one by one all countries, and end by flooding the whole
earth, it received the order to gather unto one place. Thus we often
see the furious sea raising mighty waves to the heaven, and, when once
it has touched the shore, break its impetuosity in foam and retire.
"Fear ye not me, saith the Lord. ... which have placed the sand for the
bound of the sea." A grain of sand, the weakest tiring possible, curbs
the violence of the ocean. For what would prevent the Red Sea from
invading the whole of Egypt, which lies lower, and uniting itself to
the other sea which bathes its shores, were it not lettered by the fiat
of the Creator? And if I say that Egypt is lower than the Red Sea, it
is because experience has convinced us of it every time that an attempt
has been made to join the sea of Egypt to the Indian Ocean, of which
the Red Sea is a part. Thus we have renounced this enterprise, as also
have the Egyptian Sesostris, who conceived the idea, and Darius the
Mede who afterwards wished to carry it out.
I report this fact to make you understand the full force of the
command, "Let the waters be gathered unto one place"; that is to say,
let there be no other gathering, and, once gathered, let them not
disperse.
4. To say that the waters were gathered in one place indicates that
previously they were scattered in many places. The mountains,
intersected by deep ravines, accumulated water in their valleys, when
from every direction the waters betook themselves to the one gathering
place. What vast plains, in their extent resembling wide seas, what
valleys, what cavities hollowed in many different ways, at that time
full of water, must have been emptied by the command of God! But we
must not therefore say, that if the water covered the face of the
earth, all the basins which have since received the sea were originally
full. Where can the gathering of the waters have come from if the
basins were already full? These basins, we reply, were only prepared at
the moment when the water had to unite in a single mass. At that time
the sea which is beyond Gadeira and the vast ocean, so dreaded by
navigators, which surrounds the isle of Britain and western Spain, did
not exist. But, all of a sudden, God created this vast space, and the
mass of waters flowed in.
Now if our explanation of the creation of the world may appear contrary
to experience, (because it is evident that all the waters did not flow
together in one place,) many answers may be made, all obvious as soon
as they are stated. Perhaps it is even ridiculous to reply to such
objections. Ought they to bring forward in opposition ponds and
accumulations of rain water, and think that this is enough to upset our
reasonings? Evidently the chief and most complete affluence of the
waters was what received the name of gathering unto one place. For
wells are also gathering places for water, made by the hand of man to
receive the moisture diffused in the hollow of the earth. This name of
gathering does not mean any chance massing of water, but the greatest
and most important one, wherein the element is shewn collected
together. In the same way that fire, in spite of its being divided into
minute particles which are sufficient for our needs here, is spread in
a mass in the rather; in the same way that air, in spite of a like
minute division, has occupied the region round the earth; so also
water, in spite of the small amount spread abroad everywhere, only
forms one gathering together, that which separates the whole element
from the rest. Without doubt the lakes as well those of the northern
regions and those that are to be found in Greece, in Macedonia, in
Bithynia and in Palestine, are gatherings together of waters; but here
it means the greatest of all, that gathering the extent of which equals
that of the earth. The first contain a great quantity of water; no one
will deny this. Nevertheless no one could reasonably give them the name
of seas not even if they are like the great sea, charged with salt and
sand. They instance for example, the Lacus Asphaltitis in Judaea, and
the Serbonian lake which extends between Egypt and Palestine in the
Arabian desert. These are lakes, and there is only one sea, as those
affirm who have travelled round the earth. Although some authorities
think the Hyrcanian and Caspian Seas are enclosed in their own
boundaries, if we are to believe the geographers, they communicate with
each other and together discharge themselves into the Great Sea. It is
thus that, according to their account, the Red Sea and that beyond
Gadeira only form one. Then why did God call the different masses of
water seas? This is the reason; the waters flowed into one place, and
their different accumulations, that is to say, the gulfs that the earth
embraced in her folds, received from the Lord the name of seas: North
Sea, South Sea, Eastern Sea, and Western Sea. The seas have even their
own names, the Euxine, the Propontis, the Hellespont, the AEgean, the
Ionian, the Sardinian, the Sicilian, the Tyrrhene, and many other names
of which an exact enumeration would now be too long, and quite out of
place. See why God calls the gathering together of waters seas. But let
us return to the point from which the course of my argument has
diverted me.
5. And God said: "Let the waters be gathered together unto one place
and let the dry land appear." He did not say let the earth appear, so
as not to show itself again without form, mud-like, and in combination
with the water, nor yet endued with proper form and virtue. At the same
time, lest we should attribute the drying of the earth to the sun, the
Creator shows it to us dried before the creation of the sun. Let us
follow the thought Scripture gives us. Not only the water which was
covering the earth flowed off from it, but all that which had filtered
into its depths withdrew in obedience to the irresistible order of the
sovereign Master. And it was so. This is quite enough to show that the
Creator's voice had effect: however, in several editions, there is
added "And the water which was under the heavens gathered itself unto
one place and the dry land was seen;" words that other interpreters
have not given, and which do not appear conformable to Hebrew usage. In
fact, after the assertion, "and it was so," it is superfluous to repeat
exactly the same thing. In accurate copies these words are marked with
an obelus, which is the sign of rejection.
"And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the
waters called He seas." Why does Scripture say above that the waters
were gathered together unto one place, and that the dry earth appeared?
Why does it add here the dry land appeared, and God gave it the name of
earth? It is that dryness is the property which appears to characterize
the nature of the subject, whilst the word earth is only its simple
name. Just as reason is the distinctive faculty of man, and the word
man serves to designate the being gifted with this faculty, so dryness
is the special and peculiar quality of the earth. The element
essentially dry receives therefore the name of earth, as the animal who
has a neigh for a characteristic cry is called a horse. The other
elements, like the earth, have received some peculiar property which
distinguishes them from the rest, and makes them known for what they
are. Thus water has cold for its distinguishing property; air,
moisture; fire, heat. But this theory really applies only to the
primitive elements of the world. The elements which contribute to the
formation of bodies, and come under our senses, show us these qualities
in combination, and in the whole of nature our eyes and senses can find
nothing which is completely singular, simple and pure. Earth is at the
same time dry and cold; water, cold and moist; air, moist and warm;
fire, warm and dry. It is by the combination of their qualities that
the different elements can mingle. Thanks to a common quality each of
them mixes with a neighbouring element, and this natural alliance
attaches it to the contrary element. For example, earth, which is at
the same time dry and cold, finds in cold a relationship which unites
it to water, and by the means of water unites itself to air. Water
placed between the two, appears to give each a hand, and, on account of
its double quality, allies itself to earth by cold and to air by
moisture. Air, in its turn, takes the middle place and plays the part
of a mediator between the inimical natures of water and fire, united to
the first by moisture, and to the second by heat. Finally tire, of a
nature at the same time warm and dry, is linked to air by warmth, and
by its dryness reunites itself to the earth. And from this accord and
from this mutual mixture of elements, results a circle and an
harmonious choir whence each of the elements deserves its name. I have
said this in order to explain why God has given to the dry land the
name of earth, without however calling the earth dry. It is because
dryness is not one of those qualities which the earth acquired
afterwards, but one of those which constituted its essence from the
beginning. Now that which causes a body to exist, is naturally
antecedent to its posterior qualities and has a pre-eminence over them.
It is then with reason that God chose the most ancient characteristic
of the earth whereby to designate it.
6. "And God saw that it was good." Scripture does not merely wish to
say that a pleasing aspect of the sea presented itself to God. It is
not with eyes that the Creator views the beauty of His works. He
contemplates them in His ineffable wisdom. A fair sight is the sea all
bright in a settled calm; fair too, when, ruffled by a light breeze of
wind, its surface shows tints of purple and azure,--when, instead of
lashing with violence the neighbouring shores, it seems to kiss them
with peaceful caresses. However, it is not in this that Scripture makes
God find the goodness and charm of the sea. Here it is the purpose of
the work which makes the goodness.
In the first place sea water is the source of all the moisture of the
earth. It filters through imperceptible conduits, as is proved by the
subterranean openings and caves whither its waves penetrate; it is
received in oblique and sinuous canals; then, driven out by the wind,
it rises to the surface of the earth, and breaks it, having become
drinkable and free from its bitterness by this long percolation. Often,
moved by the same cause, it springs even from mines that it has
crossed, deriving warmth from them, and rises boiling, and bursts forth
of a burning heat, as may be seen in islands and on the sea coast; even
inland in certain places, in the neighbourhood of rivers, to compare
little things with great, almost the same phenomena occur. To what do
these words tend? To prove that the earth is all undermined with
invisible conduits, where the water travels everywhere underground from
the sources of the sea.
7. Thus, in the eyes of God, the sea is good, because it makes the
under current of moisture in the depths of the earth. It is good again,
because from all sides it receives the rivers without exceeding its
limits. It is good, because it is the origin and source of the waters
in the air. Warmed by the rays of the sun, it escapes in vapour, is
attracted into the high regions of the air, and is there cooled on
account of its rising high above the refraction of the rays from the
ground, and, the shade of the clouds adding to this refrigeration, it
is changed into rain and fattens the earth. If people are incredulous,
let them look at caldrons on the fire, which, though full of water, are
often left empty because all the water is boiled and resolved into
vapour. Sailors, too, boil even sea water, collecting the vapour in
sponges, to quench their thirst in pressing need.
Finally the sea is good in the eyes of God, because it girdles the
isles, of which it forms at the same time the rampart and the beauty,
because it brings together the most distant parts of the earth, and
facilitates the inter-communication of mariners. By this means it gives
us the boon of general information, supplies the merchant with his
wealth, and easily provides for the necessities of life, allowing the
rich to export their superfluities, and blessing the poor with the
supply of what they lack.
But whence do I perceive the goodness of the Ocean, as it appeared in
the eyes of the Creator? If the Ocean is good and worthy of praise
before God, how much more beautiful is the assembly of a Church like
this, where the voices of men, of children, and of women, arise in our
prayers to God mingling and resounding like the waves which beat upon
the shore. This Church also enjoys a profound calm, and malicious
spirits cannot trouble it with the breath of heresy. Deserve, then, the
approbation of the Lord by remaining faithful to such good guidance, in
our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever.
Amen.
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