Lecture 2 — God’s marvels of earth, sea, and air

^38:13^ Have you taken hold and shaken out the ends of the earth and have you shaken the wicked out of it?

^38:14^ The seal is opened like clay and stands firm like a garment.

^38:15^ Their light is withheld from the wicked and their proud arm is broken.

^38:16^ Have you entered into the depths of the sea, and have you walked in the valley of the deep?

^38:17^ Are the gates of death open to you and have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

^38:18^ Have you considered the expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know everything,

^38:19^ in which path does the light dwell? And where is the place of darkness,

^38:20^ to lead to each of its limits and do you understand the path to its home?

^38:21^ Did you know where you were born then? And do you know the number of your days?

^38:22^ Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you inspected the storehouses of the hail?

^38:23^ All things which I have prepared for a time of trouble in the day of battle and war.

^38:24^ By what path does light scatter, and is summer divided on the earth?

^38:25^ Who gave a violent course to the showers and the way of sound to thunder

^38:26^ to rain on the land in an uninhabited desert, where no mortal man lingers,

^38:27^ to fill the steppes and the desolate places, and to produce green plants.

^38:28^ Who is the father of the rain or who generated the drops of the dew?

^38:29^ From whose womb did the ice come forth and who has given birth to the hoarfrost falling from heaven?

^38:30^ The waters harden like a stone and the surface of the deep is frozen.

^38:31^ Are you strong enough to bind together the flickering stars of the Pleiades? Or are you able to break the circle of Arcturus?

^38:32^ Will you bring forth Lucifer at its time and can you make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?

^38:33^ Do you know the order of heaven, and will you be able to establish their relation upon the earth?

^38:34^ Can you lift your voice to the clouds and will the rapid movement of the waters cover you?

^38:35^ Will you send the lightning and will it go forth, and upon its return will it say to you: We are here?

500. Have you taken hold and shaken out. After the Lord has enumerated the principal parts of corporeal creatures, that is, earth, sea, and sky, He begins here with the marvels of divine works which appear in the ordering of these three parts of the world. He begins with the land, in which what happens in earthquakes seems to be especially wondrous. He speaks about this metaphorically and compares it to a man who takes some object and shakes it. So he says, have you taken hold, that is, have you grasped with your power, and shaken out the ends of the earth? This must not be interpreted to mean that the whole earth is shaken in an earthquake, but that some far portions are shaken. Everything which happens in the corporeal creature happens for the usefulness of man. Earthquakes and other such terrible things are useful in that man, being terrified, may stop sinning, and so he says, and have you shaken the wicked out of it? He speaks here using the comparison of a man who shakes a garment to shake dust or a moth out of it. So also, God seems to shake the earth to shake sinners out of it, sometimes by death, and sometimes by a changed life.

501. In an earthquake, some things are dashed to pieces openly, like walls and things of this kind, and he expresses this, saying, the seal is opened like clay. For clay, when it is divided, easily returns to the same place, and so also a seal, for example, on a wall or something of this sort, which has been changed by the falling of the wall, is sometimes restored to the same place by divine power. Sometimes towers, trees and other things of this kind are shaken by an earthquake and do not fall, and as to this he says, and stands firm like a garment, which does not lose its original shape after it is shaken out. But, on the contrary, sometimes men are either buried by the earth or crushed by walls which have fallen in an earthquake, and so he says, their light is withheld from the wicked, by death. Sometimes fortifications and very strong towers are cast down by an earthquake, and as to this he says, and their proud arm is broken, that is, a very strong tower or some powerful friend in whom a man confides like his own arm.

502. After these premises about the earthquake and its effects, he proceeds to the disposition of the middle elements, that is, the sea, where man believes there are marvelous things hidden. First, there are things which are found in the depths of the sea, for example, the habitats of the fish living in the sea, and as to this he says, have you entered into the depths of the sea, so that you know the animals which are hidden there? Another thing which is hidden and marvelous in the sea is the character of the ocean floor, and as to this he says, and have you walked in the valley of the deep, that is, in the deepest part of the sea?

503. After the disposition of the land and the sea, he proceeds to the disposition of heaven, which contains air. He lingers a little longer on this because of the many marvelous things which appear there. First, he considers the disposition of the light and the darkness which embraces the whole of the higher sphere. Consider here that the heavenly bodies act through their own light on lower things. This is so because light is like the active quality of the heavenly bodies, like color and heat of the elements. Therefore, he joins the effect of the heavenly bodies on these lower things with the consideration of light and darkness. Among the actions of the heavenly bodies on lower things, the most common are generation and corruption, and from this he begins, saying, are the gates of death open to you? For death is the corruption of a living body, and so it properly belongs to man, to whom the present discourse is addressed. But the gates of death are the causes of corruption in relation to the powers of the heavenly bodies, which are the primary powers responsible for such an effect. It is very difficult to know the period of life and the permanence of each thing, and so the doors of death are not open to us, because we cannot know in the heavenly bodies the proper cause of the corruption of each thing.

Darkness fittingly describes death both because in death man is deprived of corporeal sight, which experiences knowledge by means of light, and also because man, after death, passes into oblivion as into a kind of darkness. Therefore he says, and have you seen the gates of deep darkness? He may want us to understand that the gates of deep darkness proper to death and the gates of death are the same thing. Or, gates of deep darkness can be referred to another action of the heavenly bodies cited before, which is the darkness of the atmosphere, so that what he said about the gates of death is referred to only living bodies, but what he said about the gates of deep darkness to transparent bodies.

504. He continues about the diversity of heat and cold around the earth, saying, have you considered the expanses of the earth? Consider here that according to the astronomers, the longitude of the earth is from East to West, and the latitude of the earth from South to North, because in everything the greater dimension is called longitude and the lesser dimension called latitude. We know by experience that the dimension of the earth which is inhabited is greater from the East to the West than from the South to the North. Thus, the latitude of the earth is measured from South to North, in which one measures the extremes of heat and cold. For the nearer one approaches the South in our populated world, the hotter the place is because of nearness to the sun. Thus, what can be said about the latitude of the earth can be referred to the diversity of hot and cold places.

505. When he has said these things about the action of heavenly light on lower bodies, he mentions the light itself when he says, tell me, if you know everything, so that you are fit to argue with God who knows everything, in which path does light dwell? Consider here that light is found in the luminaries of the world, which are called luminaries because of the fact that they are vessels of light. But since path is referred to motion, the question of the path in which the light dwells refers to the motion of the luminaries. Exactly how the luminaries are moved exceeds human knowledge, which is shown from the different opinions of men concerning their motion. Some assert that they are moved by eccentric movement (not having the axis in the center) and epicycles, others by the motion of the different spheres. So, just as the movement of the luminaries causes light as they are moved in the upper hemisphere of the earth, so also, darkness proceeds from their motion as they are moved in the lower hemisphere of the earth. This still presents a certain difficulty, and so he says, and where is the place of darkness. One can only measure the motion of a body perfectly by the path that it follows.

For magnitude is measured by motion, and motion by magnitude, as Aristotle says in IV Physics. Therefore, since the path of motion of the luminaries cannot be known by man for certain, the consequence is that the measure of their motion cannot perfectly be known, and so he says, to lead each, namely, the light and the darkness, to its limits, by showing the reason for the appearance and disappearance of each of the luminaries as to beginning and end. The same is true for their course. He speaks about this, saying, and do you understand the path to its home, of the light. For when it is noon it reaches its zenith, then it goes home, so to speak. Its two termini are in the rising and the setting.

506. The duration of the lower bodies and the times of generation and corruption are measured according to the motion of the heavenly bodies, as Dionysius says in Chapter IV of The Divine Names. Therefore, when one is ignorant of these causes, one consequently does not know the effects, and so he says, did you know when you were born then? as if to say, “Could you know the time of your birth in advance by considering the motion of the heavens?” You could not know this because before you were born, you did not exist; but also, no other man can know this in advance because of the weakness of human knowledge. For God speaks to Job as representing all men. Just as you cannot know in advance the time of your birth, so also you cannot know the end of your life in advance, and so he says, and do you know the number of your days? for you cannot know this from the computation of the heavenly motions, whose certain measure you do not know.

507. After he considers these things about the changeableness of light and darkness, he comes to diverse changes of the air, according to the variability of good and bad weather. He begins with the snow and the hail, saying, have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you inspected the storehouses of the hail? By the storehouses of the snow and the hail he means the water vapors which rise up, from which snow and hail are generated. But because hail is the heavier substance, and is generated in a place closer to us when cold is expelled from the interior of a cloud by surrounding heat, he next discusses the hail which one sees, because it is more capable of being seen. He speaks about entering into the storehouses of snow because one can penetrate snow more because it is light. God sometimes uses things like this for the correction of men, as we have already seen: he judges the peoples with these things (Job 36:31). So he says, all things which I have prepared for a time of trouble; that is, for a time when revenge should be taken on an enemy. God uses these things against them like an army at war, and so he says, in the day of battle, that is, actual conflict, and war, that is, wars in which one prepares for combat.

508. After a storm of snow and hail, a calm follows when the passing storm prepares the way for warm and clear weather, and so he says, by what path does light scatter? which expresses the clear air, and is summer divided upon the earth? which expresses warm weather. Here we should consider that before, when he spoke about light and the luminaries themselves in which light dwells, he mentioned only their path, because the light wends its way through the motion of the luminaries, whether in good or bad weather. But from our point of view, clarity and warmth do not appear unless the storm ceases. There is no sensible difference of the intensity of the clear air in various lands when the air is calm, but we can feel the different intensities of heat. Therefore, he says that light is scattered as though diffused indifferently, but heat is divided as though distributed differently, according to the difference of place.

509. Next he proceeds to the action of the winds in the air. They stir up the rains. There are sudden showers, and so he says, who gave a very violent course to the showers? For the violent force of showers is caused by the strong impulse of the winds which divine power produces. Likewise, when clouds are set in motion by the winds, this causes thunderclaps, and that is why this sound is not heard in one place, like that sound of some body passing by, and so he says, and the way of sound to thunder? He adds the reason why the winds stir up the rain and the clouds when he says, to rain on the land of an uninhabited desert, which cannot be lived in because of the aridity of the earth. Vapors of rain arise especially from humid places, and so, if the clouds and rains were not set in motion by the winds, it would follow that it would never rain in dry places. Men sometimes water the earth artificially, when there is a drought. But this cannot happen in the desert, and so he says, where no mortal man lingers. So human technology cannot provide for those lands. Because of this, God ordered that the clouds and the rains would be set in motion by the winds, so that it might rain even in desert places, and so he says, to fill, with rain, the steppes, that is, the land which no man can cross, and the desolate places, destitute of human care. So only with divine care, will it produce green plants, to beautify the earth and give pasture to wild animals, which God cares for by divine providence.

510. Next he discusses the rains without the wind when he says, who is the father of the rain?, that is, the efficient cause not from necessity, but from the order of providence which befits a father. For God moves the sun and the other heavenly bodies which are the proximate efficient causes of the generation of the rains. The dew is generated from the same cause as the rain, and only differs from rain in the greatness and smallness of matter, and so he then says, or who generated the drops of the dew? He clearly calls them drops to show their small quantity. Consider here that just as rain, when frozen, becomes snow, so dew, when frozen, becomes frost, and so he says, from whose womb did the ice come forth? Here we should note that cold is the cause of ice, and cold has a feminine quality, but the cause of rains and dew is the heat which melts and does not permit the vapor to freeze. Heat has a masculine quality, and so he used clearly the name of father for the generation of the rain and dew.

However, concerning the generation of ice, he used the name of a mother’s womb. Cold causes two kinds of ice: one in the air, which pertains to the frost falling from heaven, and so he says, and who has generated the hoarfrost falling from heaven? He still attributes this to a father, because the power of cold does not appear to be so great in frost as in ice. The other kind of ice is generated from the waters below where the cold is more intense, and so he says, the waters harden like a stone, because the violent intensity of the cold hardens them to ice. This cold may be so great that in very cold climates even the seas freeze over, and expressing this he says, and the surface of the deep is frozen, namely, the water which is on the surface is frozen by the cold. But cold air cannot penetrate to the depths of the sea.

511. When he has explained these things about the variable changes of the air, he proceeds further to the perfect unchangeableness of the heavenly bodies.

On this subject, he first considers the immobility of figure fixed in the stars, because each of them maintains its place so that one does not approach the other too much or too little. This especially appears in the stars closer to us which never come together, and so he says, are you strong enough to bind together the flickering stars of the Pleiades? The stars of the Pleiades are the stars which light the head of Taurus, of which six appear very bright, but the seventh is more dull.

Second, he considers the uniformity of the first motion in the heavenly bodies, by which the whole heaven is turned and all the stars in it in a night and a day over the poles of the world. This sensible motion is perceived in the stars nearer to the North Pole, which are perpetually apparent to us because of the elevation of the pole over our horizon. Among these stars, one especially notes the constellation of Arcturus, which is Ursa Major. The stars of this constellation clearly move uniformly in a circle around the pole of the world, and as to this he says, or are you able to break up the circle of Arcturus, so that it does not encircle the pole?

Third, the motion of the planets seems wonderful among the heavenly bodies. Although completely uniform, our senses perceive some irregularity in this motion. This can be especially observed in the star Venus, which sometimes rises before the sun, and then is called Lucifer, the Morning Star, but sometimes sets after the sun and then is called the Evening Star. It is clear that the stars which move more slowly than the sun always begin first to appear in the morning before the rising of the sun, because the sun in its own proper motion moves from the west to the east and leaves them behind, as one can see in Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. The moon, which has a faster motion than the sun, always begins to appear in the evening, as though leaving the sun behind and preceding it towards the East. Venus and Mercury sometimes begin to appear in the morning, sometimes in the evening; but since Mercury is rarely seen and is small in quantity, it is less evident. Venus, however, is visible to everyone, and so it clearly sometimes has a faster motion than the sun, sometimes a slower one. From this, the irregularity in the motion of the planets clearly is evident, and to show this he says, will you bring forth Lucifer, that is, Venus, appearing in the morning, at its time, in a determined time, because this variation is regular. And the Evening Star, that is, Venus, appearing in the evening, can you make it rise over the sons of the earth? Note that in saying, will you bring forth, and, do you make it rise up, he means the first appearance of the stars.

Fourth, the order, placement, and movement in the heavenly bodies is wonderful, and so he says, do you know the order of heaven? which man cannot comprehend?

Fifth, the disposition of the lower bodies in relation to the higher ones is also wonderful, and expressing this he says, and will you be able to establish their relation upon the earth so that you know the proper effects of each one of the heavenly causes.

512. There are most important effects of divine power which still are not known by the vast majority of ordinary men, like the great magnitude of divine power in thunder and lightning, and so he places these effects last. So as to thunder he says, can you lift your voice to the clouds? For thunder is generated in the clouds, and the sound is like the voice of God. Thunder is usually followed by heavy rains, because of the condensation of the clouds from the violent movement of the winds from which thunder resounds, and so he says, and will the rapid movement of the waters cover you? For heavy rains seem to almost cover God because they hide heaven from us, which is called the throne of God (cf. Isa 66:1). He next speaks about the lightning, saying, will you send the lightning? that is, will your power produce its movement? And will it go, as though obedient to your command? The movement of the lightning often rebounds from one place to another, and he shows this, saying, and upon its return will it say to you: We are here? as though on their return they were prepared to obey again the divine command, and so go forth again to another place. He relates all these things to show that man cannot attain either wisdom or divine power.