Parva Naturalia and Ambigua

A large dark stain or area of physical damage is visible in the middle of this folio, partially obscuring the Greek text in both columns.

...by the Spirit. For this prophet Chrysostom refers to Moses as "this prophet," as he was traditionally regarded as the author of the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch)., who received the Law and the tablets written by God, spoke all those things said to the Jews through the power of the Spirit. So too now, this blessed Moses narrates the Creation of the World original: "κοσμογένειαν" (kosmogeneian) to us, not entrusting the story to his own human reasonings, but being guided by the teaching of the Spirit. Because of this, he began in this way:

"In the beginning, God made the heaven and the earth."

Observe for me how, immediately from the very introduction, he has checked the error of those who say that creation happened by chance original: "αὐτομάτην" (automaten). This is a refutation of the Epicurean view that the universe formed spontaneously through the random collision of atoms.. For it did not happen spontaneously, he says, but God made it. And if some should say that he made it from pre-existing matter, one may again muzzle them using these same words. For he did not say, "God reshaped the matter," but rather, "God made the heaven and the earth." For he brought all things into being from that which did not exist. This very point he makes clear elsewhere through the prophet, saying: "I am the God who prepares light and creates darkness." And again: "He who calls the things that are not as though they were."

What then, someone asks, of Plato and those who followed him? Listen to them saying that matter was pre-existing. But do not pay attention to them. For this blessed man [Moses] destroys all their foolishness by saying: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth." To see that he did not make it from pre-existing matter, listen to Paul saying: "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

If some should ask: "For what reason did he not make man immediately?" we shall tell them that just as a master building a house first prepares everything necessary for its use, and after these things brings in the inhabitant; so too God, having first prepared the whole world like a royal palace, then created man.

...to us. For since this world is perceptible to the senses, and we require guidance from sensible things so that we may run toward the intelligible original: "νοητὰ" (noeta) — things understood by the mind/spirit rather than the physical senses., the prophet speaks to us through things common to our experience, so that in this way we might be able to reach the meaning of what is said. For even those who build cities first lay the foundations, and after that raise the walls and place the roof; so too God first laid the foundations—the heaven and the earth—and after these, the rest. And just as the builder, when he has laid the foundations and raised the walls, then puts on the roof; in the same way God first made the heaven and the earth, and afterward added the roof. And? just as? the builder does not do everything at once, but in order and sequence, so also the Creator? of all things. For first he brought forth the more important? parts of creation, I mean the heaven and the earth. Observe? for? me how? the prophet said nothing superfluous. For he did not say that God made the angels or the archangels; for it was not the time then to speak about those beings, since he was speaking to Jews of coarser perceptions original: "παχυτέροις" (pachyterois) — literally "thicker," referring to a lack of spiritual or intellectual refinement., to those who could imagine nothing spiritual. Because of this, he begins with sensible things, so that through these he might guide them toward the knowledge of the Creator.

"In the beginning, God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed."

Observe for me even here the order. First he mentioned the heaven, and then the earth.