e._,
invisible and unfinished. The heavens and the earth were created
together. 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 up-springing of tall trees, both productive and unfruitful,
flowers' sweet scents and fair colors, 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. 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 overflowed the surface,
it could not be seen, since the waters had not yet been gathered
together into their own places, where God afterward collected them and
gave them the name of sea.
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