The Wonderful Workmanship of the World, Discourse · Chapter 37
The xxxvii. Chapter. The worlde was created by partes, and not all at once.
S.
WHat thinke you fourthly to bee obſerued?
M.
That this whole worlde was made by partes, and in ſix dayes, as Moſes teacheth in the 1. chapter of Geneſis: & as it appeareth alſo in the 4. booke of Eſdras the 44. Chapter, and the nexte folowinge: and not made altogither at one inſtante. And to the entente it may bee the better borne in memorie, what was made vppon eueryevery daye, I my ſelfe made theſe verſes folowing.
The firſt day made both heauen and earth, & pleaſant glittring light
The ſeconde ſtreached out the ſpace beetweene the waters quite▪
The thirde diuided Sea from Lande: and clad the earth with greene.
The fourth created Sunne & Moone, & ſtarres that bright do ſheene
The fifth brought foorth all feathered ſoules, and fiſhes of the lake.
The ſixt made Cattell in the fieldes, then man the Lorde did make,
And after worke the ſeauenth to reſt, himſelfe hee did betake.
S.
But why did not god create al things togither in one day, ſeeing hee is almightie?
M.
Bicauſe hee is almightie, hee needed not time for the eſtabliſhing of this worlde, as Sainct Ambroſe ſaith in his 39. Epiſtle: neither came it to paſſe by reaſon of impotēcie, wearines, or weakeneſſe in God, yt he was ſix dayes in making it: but bicauſe he is moſt wiſe, by moſt wiſe & good reaſō he would thus finiſh his workes. For whatſoeuer is made, requireth ſome order in the making. And order requireth diſtinct time, and number. Firſt therfore, god putteth vsus in minde hereby, that hee wrought not confuſedly, nor out of order: and ſo conſequently, that wee muſt not meditate and thinke vponupon his works lightly, and as it were a farre of in general: but in order, ſeuerally, and particularly of eueryevery one. Hee ſheweth moreouer, howe great diligence wee ought to vſe in conſidering of them, ſeing that hee declareth that hee pauſed vppon the order of his woorks, by this diſtinctiō of the daies & labours. Beeſides this, hee declareth that wee are not able ſufficiently to comprehend his workes: the reaſon therof, and manner of creating them is ſuch, and ſo generall, that wee hauehave ſufficient matter in them to thinke vponupon and beeholde eueryevery daye in the weeke, and ſo throughout the whole yeare. For what other thinge is a yeare, than a continuall repeating of one, and the ſelfe ſame weeke? For there was an whole day ſpent in the finiſhinge of eueryevery part and worke. Moreouer, god wold not creat ye world at once, but by piece meale that is to ſay, in ſome ſpace of time, for he ment immediatly after ye creatiō of the world, to declare the ſtate, law, & naturall order which the things that hee had made ſhould afterward folow, to wit, that, by which all thinges doe require a ſpace of time for their beeing, that is to ſaye, are brought foorth in tyme: and are not perfectly growne in a moment, as wee ſee dayely. So thoſe thinges that growe out of the earth, doe at this daye keepe this order, that they ſpringe not ſuddeynly, but by proceſſe of time. So the woman is delyuered of hir child, after a certaine ſeaſon: ſo ſeedes growe out of the earth: ſo trees bringe foorth their frutes: and there is nothing done ſuddenly, but wonderfull miraculouſly. Wherfore, that time of creation, was the fyrſt lawe of thinges that ſhoulde afterward growe and bee ingendred.
S.
And why did God at length, ceaſe the ſeauenth day?
M.
Bicauſe he would hauehave it ſo: for there can be no truer reaſon alleaged. For in that hee would hauehave it ſo, the reaſon is good, although to vsus it bee vnknowne. For as touching thoſe thinges whiche are diſputed by S. Ambroſe im his 39. Epiſtle: and alſo by S. Auguſtine in ſundrie places, and likewiſe by certein others, and finally by the Heathen Philoſophers themſelues, concernyng the dignitie of the ſeauenth number: I refer them to the Mathematicians, and ſpecially to the Arith… meticians and Pithagorians.