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The earth is one of the four elements, dry, cold, heavy,
motionless, brought into being by God, out of nothing on the first
day. For in the beginning, he said, God created the heaven and the
earths: but the seat and foundation of the earth no man has been able
to declare. Some, indeed, hold that its seat is the waters: thus
the divine David says, To Him Who established the earth on the
waters. Others place it in the air. Again some other says, fare
Who hangeth the earth on nothing. And, again, David, the singer
of God, says, as though the representative of God, I bear up the
pillars of it, meaning by "pillars" the force that sustains it.
Further, the expression, He hath rounded it upon the seas, shews
clearly that the earth is on all hands surrounded with water. But
whether we grant that it is established on itself, or on air or on
water, or on nothing, we must not turn aside from reverent thought,
but must admit that all things are sustained and preserved by the power
of the Creator.
In the beginning, then, as the Holy Scripture says, it was hidden
beneath the waters, and was unwrought, that is to say, not
beautified. But at God's bidding, places to hold the waters
appeared, and then the mountains came into existence, and at the
divine command the earth received its own proper adornment, and was
dressed in all manner of herbs and plants, and on these, by the divine
decree, was bestowed the power of growth and nourishment, and of
producing seed to generate their like. Moreover, at the bidding of
the Creator it produced also all manner of kinds of living creatures,
creeping things, and wild beasts, and cattle. All, indeed, are for
the seasonable use of man: but of them some are for food, such as
stags, sheep, deer, and such like: others for service such as
camels, oxen, horses, asses, and such like: and others for
enjoyment, such as apes, and among birds, jays and parrots, and such
like. Again, amongst plants and herbs some are fruit bearing, others
edible, others fragrant and flowery, given to us for our enjoyment,
for example, the rose and such like, and others for the healing of
disease. For there is not a single animal or plant in which the
Creator has not implanted some form of energy capable of being used to
satisfy man's needs. For He Who knew all things before they were,
saw that in the future man would go forward in the strength of his own
will, and would be subject to corruption, and, therefore, He
created all things for his seasonable use, alike those in the
firmament, and those on the earth, and those in the waters.
Indeed, before the transgression all things were under his power.
For God set him as ruler over all things on the earth and in the
waters. Even the serpent was accustomed to man, and approached him
more readily than it did other living creatures, and held intercourse
with him with delightful motions. And hence it was through it that the
devil, the prince of evil, made his most wicked suggestion to our
first parents. Moreover, the earth of its own accord used to yield
fruits, for the benefit of the animals that were obedient to man, and
there was neither rain nor tempest on the earth. But after the
transgression, when he was compared with the unintelligent cattle and
became like to them, after he had contrived that in him irrational
desire should have rule over reasoning mind and had become disobedient
to the Master's command, the subject creation rose up against him
whom the Creator had appointed to be ruler: and it was appointed for
him that he should till with sweat the earth from which he had been
taken.
But even now wild beasts are not without their uses, for, by the
terror they cause, they bring man to the knowledge of his Creator and
lead him to call upon His name. And, further, at the transgression
the thorn sprung out of the earth in accordance with the Lord's
express declaration and was conjoined with the pleasures of the rose,
that it might lead us to remember the transgression on account of which
the earth was condemned to bring forth for us thorns and prickles.
That this is the case is made worthy of belief from the fact that their
endurance is secured by the word of the Lord, saying, Be fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Further, some hold that the earth is in the form of a sphere, others
that it is in that of a cone. At all events it is much smaller than
the heaven, and suspended almost like a point in its midst. And it
will pass away and be changed. But blessed is the man who inherits the
earth promised to the meek.
For the earth that is to be the possession of the holy is immortal.
Who, then, can fitly marvel at the boundless and incomprehensible
wisdom of the Creator? Or who can render sufficient thanks to the
Giver of so many blessings ?
[There are also provinces, or prefectures, of the earth which we
recognise: Europe embraces thirty four, and the huge continent of
Asia has forty-eight of these provinces, and twelve canons as they
are called.]
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