ATHANASIUS KIRCHER

the lusts of the flesh dictated to them, they left nothing untried. For this reason, it is said not without merit that God (Deum) repented. In the version by Symmachus, the word used is "turned away" original: ἀπέστρεψεν. Aquila uses "felt regret" original: μελεμελήθη, and the Septuagint uses "thought again" original: ἐνεθυμήθη. All of these things are said about God (Deo) through a certain anthropopathism (anthropopathia: Attributing human passions or feelings to God to make a divine concept understandable to people).

God did not repent in the human manner.

It is not that repentance actually falls upon God (Deum), heaven forbid, but God (Deus) speaks in this way according to human custom. For God (Deus) does not think as men do, as Saint Ambrose testifies. He is neither angered nor affected by pain as if he were subject to change. Instead, these things are read so that the bitterness of our sins may be expressed. Our sins deserved Divine offense because the guilt grew to such an extent that even God (Deus), who by the immutability of his nature is not moved by anger, hatred, or any disturbance, might seem provoked to wrath. But these matters are discussed more at length in the following Chapter.

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the State of things before the Flood.

The state of the Earth before the Flood.

It is certain that the state of Nature before the Flood (Diluvium) was very different from the terrestrial World after the Flood (Diluvium). An exception is made for the chains of higher mountains, which no one should rightly doubt remained. These were established by the most Wise Creator of things from the beginning to hold together the mass of the earth, as we have demonstrated at length in The Subterranean World original: Mundo Subterraneo. However, the same reasoning does not apply to other hills, valleys, and plains. It is likely that the Flood (Diluvium) utterly changed the entire face of the Earth. In many places where the Seas used to stay, they turned into land. Conversely, where Land once existed, the Sea took up its station in later times. We know this by no vain conjecture. The same must be said to have happened to rivers, lakes, and the slopes of mountains. Indeed, many rivers and lakes were filled with mud and were forced to find an exit elsewhere. Mountains of a lesser order were discovered to have formed where they were not before. They were gathered into heaps from a muddy mixture of terrestrial parts by the powerful storms of the Flood (Diluvium).

The change of the Earth's face after the Flood.

Even to this day, some mountains made of different kinds of shells clearly show this, unless we wish to believe they were produced by Nature. See our extensive arguments on this in The Subterranean World. Those who more presumptuously assert that the Earth was flat before the Flood (Diluvium), without mountains, should certainly not be listened to. They are easily refuted even by the Sacred Text itself. It expressly says that the waters of the Flood (Diluvium) rose fifteen cubits higher than all the mountains in the entire Earth. Then it says the Ark (Arcam) rested upon the mountains of Ararat. Therefore, this opinion is frivolous, absurd, rash, and wavering in faith. We have also refuted it as extensively as possible in our work cited just before. Holy Scripture (Sacra Scriptura) says that cities and towns were built before the Flood (Diluvium) because they were necessary for human life due to the huge multitude of men multiplying to infinity. The first city was named Enoch, built by Cain original: Chain. As for the names of the others, they have been deleted from human memory along with the Flood (Diluvium), so it is no longer useful to inquire about them. Nevertheless, the human arts and sciences...

The Earth was not flat before the Flood.

Cities before the Flood.