Six days

Originally St. Ambrose of Milan gave nine discourses on the creation of the world, which were later (between 378 and 390) compiled into a single treatise. “Six Days” consists of 6 books (according to the number of days of creation) and is an interpretation of the first verses of the Book of Genesis about the creation of the world and the origin of man. The saint adheres to a literal interpretation and tries to avoid allegories, but he also widely resorts to a moralizing understanding of the text of the book of Genesis. For example, grass, which appears in the morning and dries up in the evening, appears to be an image of the perishability of life and glory; young storks feeding old ones - an example of mercy towards parents, etc. There are explanations of a purely scientific nature. According to St. Ambrose, the world was created out of nothing by the will and order of God, has a beginning and is not part of the Divine essence. God created the world in one “short and imperceptible moment,” by the single action of the entire Holy Trinity: God the Father created everything through the Son in the Holy Spirit. All the diversity of world forms (essence, origin and cause) of all visible and invisible things were originally contained in the Divine Mind. Unlike God, the world is not eternal and is subject to destruction, both in parts and as a whole. The created world is divided into visible and invisible, i.e. corporeal and incorporeal (angelic). Angels were created before time before the visible world, which consists of 4 elements (water, air, earth, fire), exists in time and space and is subject to change. All beings, being creations of a good God, are originally good. Evil is not a living substance, but an accidental property of a rational being, as its deviation from its natural goodness. It happens according to our will. Evil is corruption of the mind and spirit, ease of morals, free deviation from virtue. The imperfections of nature and human weaknesses (for example, poverty, uncertainty, illness and death) cannot be recognized as evil. They do not depend on us, they arise partly from nature, and partly they are sent by God for our benefit. It is impossible to consider the external human form as the image of God, since in this case we would have to recognize God as corporeal and human-like in appearance. As God's greatest creation, man from the very beginning possessed free will, i.e. could freely choose good or evil, pleasing to God or displeasing to Him. Tempted by the devil, the man chose the latter and committed a sin. The consequences of this fall were disastrous for him - he “left the heavenly image and put on an earthly form.” The Fall of man also affected external nature, distorted its original appearance, and introduced disorder and impoverishment into it. *The title of the essay in Latin is Exameron. Book one. About the first act of God Contents Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five About the beginning, approval and uniqueness of the world. Philosophical misconceptions are touched upon and presented. 1. People not only did not form an opinion about which of the three principles formed everything: God, image or matter, which is seriously asserted, for example, by Plato and his disciples, saying that matter is intact, uncreated and without beginning; as if God is not the Creator of matter. They attribute this to the guiding idea, holding that it is the creator of the image, it created the world from a substance which they call "light", as that which gave birth to the causes of all things; and they believe the world itself to be intact, uncreated, or uncreated. Others, like Aristotle in his reasoning, posit two principles: matter and idea, and a third with them, which is called the opretor and has the ability to think and produce. 2. So, what is it that is so incongruous as the matter of eternity that they connect with the eternal and omnipotent God and even claim that God is the act itself, since they pay divine honors to heaven, earth and sea? Where does it come from that parts of the universe are entrusted to deities, although in the world itself not one of them, even the most insignificant, was found? 3. Pythagoras described one universe, others said that there are countless worlds, as Democritus wrote, setting out the ancient idea of ​​​​multiplicity in Physics. Aristotle argued that the world has always existed; Plato, on the contrary, said that the world did not always exist, but even they did not always prove what they wrote. 4. Among such differences in these opinions, which of them can be regarded as true? When others call the world God himself, because it seemed to them that there is no Divine mind, certain parts of the world where the image of God is, that there is no number of deities and that neither place nor soul is included in His care. If the world moves only by reasoning about its roundness and fieryness, without Divine participation - but this is excluded - then it turns out that the world is moved by itself. Moses' opinion about the beginning of things, about the Creator of the world and the creation of matter. He also refers to many names when, in order to establish faith, the first rejects the idea of ​​atoms. 5. Saint Moses, by the influx of the Divine Spirit, foresaw that people would be mistaken, and were already being mistaken, and so he began his speech, saying: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), revealing the beginning of things, the Creator of the world, the Creator of matter, so that God would be known as the One who was before the world and even Himself was the Beginning of all things. Just as in the Gospel, the Son of God answered those who asked about Him: “Where are You from?”, and answered about Himself: “What should I talk to you about?” (John 8:25) - for He Himself laid the foundation for the origin of things and He Himself was the Creator of the world, and it is not the idea that guides matter, which blindly imitates it, and it does not spontaneously acquire the intended form through its own effort. As it is beautifully said: in the beginning he created it in order to describe with incomprehensible speed what was previously done and present the proof of it. 6. Be that as it may, Moses was initiated into all the wisdom of Egypt, for he was picked up from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter and loved by her as a son and supported by the royal help, and understood the fundamental knowledge of the sciences of all centuries, and wanted to learn them. And when he received his name from water, he did not think, however, that everything came from water, as Thales said. And although he was trained in the palace by the queen, he most of all wanted to follow justice in return for love and be consoled by voluntary exile for a crime when he was at the height of power. Finally, before the task of liberating the people was proclaimed to him, prompted by natural jealousy from the fact that he had known the lawlessness committed against his compatriots, and taking revenge for this, he gave himself up to hatred and withdrew from all pleasure, and also, having avoided war with the royal house, secretly crossed over to Ethiopia. There, despite all the difficulties, he turned all his thoughts to the knowledge of God, in order to behold the glory of God face to face, as Scripture testifies, saying that none of the prophets was exalted more than Moses, “whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10). Not in a vision or in a dream, but mouth to mouth he spoke with the Almighty God; and not in speculation and not through a riddle, but clearly and clearly declared the dignity of God. 7. So Moses opened his mouth and directed it to what the Lord had spoken to him. And when the Lord directed him to Pharaoh, he said to him: “Go therefore, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you should say” (Exodus 4:12). And in fact, if what he said for the people, received from God, is great, how much greater is what is said about heaven? Finally, not by persuasion of the human mind and not in imitation of philosophical disputes, but in the manifestation of spirit and virtue, as evidence that the influence of God was heard, Moses said: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And Moses did not think that God created the world by moving atoms and then, having labored, desired rest, and not through any technique did visible matter recreate the world, but the world was pronounced by God the Creator. After all, this man, full of prudence, heeded the fact that the visible and invisible essences and principles, and the cause of things, are contained only in God's thought, and not so that philosophers would talk about the coupling of atoms, incessantly and persistently declaring this the cause of everything, but declared that those who laid the beginning of heaven and earth are insignificant and ugly atoms, which accidentally interlock and also senselessly randomly disengage, unless controlled by force God's. These people are like spiders weaving a web. And it serves them right, who does not know the Manager, who does not recognize God, by Whom everything is controlled and directed. We will follow the one who recognizes God as both the Creator and the Manager, and we will not be distracted by empty talk. The world has God as its beginning, and by His will, although it is spherical, it is not eternal. 8. He says: in the beginning. This is the proper order that was laid down by God, and which is not recognized by people, since they deny the beginning of the existence of the world. But the world was not without beginning, as these people believe. When David spoke about heaven, about earth and about the sea, he said: “You have created all things with wisdom” (Ps 136:5). For He laid the foundation for the world, gave approval to creation, it is not without beginning and not uncreated, but we entrust the elements to God’s touch. And he beautifully added: He created, and there was no gap in creation that would be noticeable to people, for the Incomparable Worker completed His work so briefly and quickly and in one instant completed His deeds so that the fulfillment of His decision came before sensory time. No one saw the Doer, although they knew what was done. So, where is the gap when it is said: Because He spoke, and it was done, He commanded, and it was done. So, not in accordance with experience or skill, He performed His most worthy act, that which did not happen, therefore, and so quickly that neither the action was preceded by a decision, nor the decision was not preceded by the action. 9. An amazing thing - do you want to know the Executor, the One who laid the foundation for such a great work, who accomplished it so quickly? This is immediately clear, because it is said: God created heaven and earth. Do not doubt, you heard the Creator. He is the One about whom Melchizedek preached to Abraham, saying: “Blessed is Abraham of the Most High God, ruler of heaven and earth” (Gen. 14:19). And Abraham believed God and said: “I lift up my hand to the Lord God Most High, the Lord of heaven and earth” (Gen. 14:22). You see that it was not because of man that this became possible, but God deigned it to be. After all, God is Melchizedek, the King of peace and justice, and God has no beginning, He has no end. And it is not at all surprising that the Beginningless God laid the foundation for all things, so that those who were not were began to exist. It is not surprising that God completed all His work continuously and the Universe is contained by His unsearchable greatness; He created everything, both visible and invisible. It is impossible to deny that everything that is visible is vast; when what is visible is transitory, then what is invisible eternity? Who doubted that God did this, since the prophet said: “Who ran out the waters with his handful, and measured the heavens with a span, and contained the dust of the earth in measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in scales? Who understood the Spirit of the Lord and was His counselor and taught Him? (Isaiah 40:12–13). For He contains the globe of the earth and created the earth out of absolutely nothing. And Jeremiah said: “The gods who did not create heaven and earth will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens. He created the earth by His power and established the Universe with His wisdom and spread out the heavens with His understanding. At the sound of his voice the waters in heaven make a sound” (Jer 10:11–13) and added “every man is foolish in his knowledge” (Jer 10:14). So how is he not crazy who followed the perverse world and because of this decided that he could grasp the truly unsearchable essence of God, how is he not crazy with crafty disputes? 10. After all, if you hear so many seers to whom God announced that He created the world, then do not believe that the world is without beginning, although it was conceived as if spherical, so that nothing visible yet existed; and when the Lord proclaimed with a thunderous voice, everything seemed to shake, so that you will not without difficulty understand where it began and where it ended, for the beginning of a circle cannot be held by feeling. And in fact, you won’t understand this with your mind, because the circle has not begun or ended. If you draw a center of a circle or mark with ink a line where you begin or where you end, then even then the resulting difference between the beginning and the end will be difficult to detect or comprehend with your mind, but you yourself tried to start the circle and finish it. But despite the fact that the beginning eluded you, the truth did not perish. And those who have a beginning also have an end, and what was put to an end also knows its beginning. The Savior Himself explained the future end of the world in His Gospel, saying: “heaven and earth will pass away” (Matthew 24:35) and below: “I am with you... to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And the apostle: “For the image of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7:31). 11. So how do they attribute co-eternity to God to the world, how do they prove the equality in age of the Creator and the creature, and how do they think to combine the nature of the invisible material world with the inaccessible essence of God, when even for the sake of their own opinion they cannot deny that if parts of the world are false and changeable, then the entire material totality is subject to the same vices? The origins of the beginnings are varied; It also examines how God created heaven and earth. 12. So the beginning was as it is said: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The beginning refers either to time, or to place, or to the foundation; just as when building a house, the beginning is the foundation. The beginning of a matter is the matter itself, from which the beginning of individual matters is based, one after another. The best is the end of good deeds, just as God pleases the beginning of the mercy you perform. For mercy most of all calls people to closeness. And this desire is caused by God’s Power. If it is openly said at what time God created heaven and earth, then this refers to the time when the world began to emerge, as Wisdom says: “When He prepared the heavens, I was there” (Proverbs 8:27); if you relate this to order, so that you understand: in the beginning God created heaven and earth, then the hills and the countries of the world, uninhabited regions. Or this: God created the heavens and the earth before other visible creations: days, nights, fruit-bearing trees, animate, spreading genera. If you attribute this to the foundation, then the foundation, as you saw, was the earth, as declared by Wisdom: “when He laid the foundation of the earth” (Proverbs 8:29), I was with Him all the time. Wisdom is a good beginning for learning, that is: “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:7), so if anyone fears God, he avoids errors and directs his paths to the path of virtue. And even if someone does not fear God, he cannot preach sin. 13. Therefore, appropriately with our reasoning, we can understand: “Let this month be for you the beginning of months” (Exodus 12:2), although it can be considered that this is said about the time of the correct celebration of the Passover of the Lord. So, with this He made the beginning of the months, the heavens and the earth, and therefore it should be considered that the world received its beginning from that time, which was the most favorable of all times. That is why the year repeats the image of the birth of the world, and after the winter fogs, the spring time shines splendor. For He gave shape to the future years, determined the life path of the world from the beginning of its origin, so that the alternation of years would begin according to this law, and also so that at the beginning of every year the earth would produce shoots of the growing, as the Lord originally said: “Let the earth bring forth grass that yields seed and a fruitful tree that bears fruit” (Gen. 1:11), and immediately the earth brought forth grass of the field and trees bearing fruit; the eternal power of God's providence promotes the rapidity of the earth's production to life in springtime. Because it was ordered by God that corruptible nature easily obeyed time, so that in the midst of ice storms and winter snows, from the caress of the Heavenly Lord, the earth produced growing sprouts, so that it would not happen as if fruits would always grow from arable land in the frost, and also so that there would not be a mixture of flowering with cruel snows. For just as the Scripture declared the true time in the creation of the world, in the same way He declared the time of the first spring month, saying: let this month be for you the beginning of months. He called the beginning of the year to mark the beginning of the birth and blessed the birth itself. After all, the firstfruits of a gentle creature are not able to endure the harshness of the cold or the violence of the hot heat. 14. At the same time, He allowed all this to be noticed, so that time could be observed in this birth, as well as to observe the legal transition from birth to rebirth and so that this gift - time - could be used correctly. So the children of Israel left Egypt in time, and, shrouded in a cloud, crossed the sea, as the Apostle said: “I do not want to leave you, brethren, ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea” (1 Cor 10:1), and at this time the Passover of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated annually, this is a transition from sins to virtue for the soul, from the wills of the body to sobriety of the mind, from evil and dissolute starters for sincerity and honesty. So, about the time of rebirth it is said: this month will be for you the beginning of months. After all, Moses neglected Pharaoh, refused to recognize Pharaoh as the head of this world, saying: “I renounce you, devil, and your angels, and your works, and your commandments,” and no longer obeys him, does not obey the commands of this corruptible body and does not succumb to the errors of a distorted mind, immersed, like lead, in all evil, he does not want to walk in the footsteps of this century, but to the right and left strengthened by good deeds. And therefore the Book of Numbers says: “Amalek is the first of the nations, but his end is destruction” (Num. 24:20). But be that as it may, Amalek is not the head of all generations, because through the interpretation of Amalek the king received the nations; look, we must not recognize the beginning of this world, which would dictate its will to the nations whose seed will pass away, but we must recognize that this seed is the atheists and unbelievers, to whom the Lord said: “Your father is the devil” (John 8:44). 15. After all, God is the beginning of the sacrament, in the sense: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the First and the Last” (Rev. 22:13). And in the Gospel the Lord answered those who asked Him - Who He is: The beginning of which I constantly tell you (John 8:25). Truly, the Second Divine Hypostasis is both the beginning and the end of everything, because before Him there was no one and after Him there will be no one: according to Solomon, “The Lord had Me as the beginning of His way, before His creatures from time immemorial” ( Proverbs 8:22 ) - “I am the beginning of God’s ways in His works” - so that through Him Himself the human race would know how to walk in the ways of God, and the Lord’s extraordinary ways affairs. So, in Christ there is that very beginning, in Christ God created heaven and earth, for through Him all things were created and “without Him nothing came into being” (John 1:3). In Himself was the life of what was created, since in Himself everything had its foundation. And He Himself is the Firstborn before all creation, and He is Holy not as all the firstborn are holy, like, for example, the firstborn of Israel. He is holy not because He is before all, but because everything else is not holy. The Lord is holy above all creation, and above all those who wear a body, because He alone is without sin, but all creation is subject to lies. 16. We are able to comprehend: in the beginning God created heaven and earth; that is, he created before time; For the beginning of life is not yet life, and the beginning of a house is not yet a house. Finally, it is said differently: “...”, almost “at the head,” which means that the Lord created and fulfilled all His deeds quickly and in a short moment. So, His act began not in accordance with time, but before time, as we say in Latin, “...” is the essence of the act, the totality of the visible, but heaven and earth are not the only adornment of the world, as it seems. Heaven and earth are also a sign of invisible things, a sign of some object that has no form, as it is preached about this: “the heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament speaks of the works of His hands” (Ps 18:2). Likewise, He put the same meaning into other words: because His invisible things... “by looking at what is made is visible” (Rom. 1:20). For we easily recognize Him as the Creator of angels, powers and dominions, Who fulfilled His commands in the blink of an eye and brought such a magnificent world from non-existent things into existence. And those who were not, did not receive their foundation from anyone’s institutions or from any things. The world is proof of God's work; It is not true to say that what is generated is the shadow of God; for it is decided that the Son, as the Image of God, is the sun. 17. After all, this world is proof that it was created by God, since through visible action we discover the Creator. For just as there are organizers of other things, either through the movement of the body, or through the sound of the voice; He created the world not by movement or by the sound of a voice, for everything remained and continued to remain invisible and inaudible. Some theorists constantly exhaust their minds, and others are the same, they declare the silence of the Creator to be a matter of duty or even a duty so that the testimony of Him will contribute to their construction or interweaving. In the same way, this world is a wondrous testimony of God, for through it the Wisdom of God is revealed. This is what the prophet saw and lifted up his intelligent eyes to the mountain, saying: “How great are Your works, O Lord! Thou hast created all Wisdom!” (Ps 103:24). 18. And God did not create the world at his leisure, at least we say so, because, for the most part, we belong to one family (Christian), while others consider the world co-eternal with God, as if the will of God is a fiction and with this opinion they remain because of their will; and although God is recognized by them as the cause of this world, they declare the cause of creation not from a correct conclusion, but in such a way that it seems that the body is the cause of the shadow. After all, the shadow is adjacent to the body and the brilliance of the light of the Divine nature is incomparably greater than the connection between light and shadow, which they zealously protect. How beautifully Moses said that God created the heavens and the earth. He did not say that he began to create, or presented the reason why the world began to be, but he said: he created; for what was said was for good, because wisdom commanded that the best be used, since the Almighty had provided for all this. How can the world be like a shadow where there is no body, since an incorporeal God cannot have imperfect corporeality? How can the brilliance of incorporeal light be corporeal? 19. But if you really sought the radiance of God, you would (know that) the Son is the Image of the invisible God. He is both God and the Image of God. God is invisible and the Image is also invisible, He is the light of the glory of the Father, and also the image of His Nature. In the beginning, he says, God created heaven and earth. The world was created, and therefore that which did not exist, just as the Word of God was in the beginning, so God always had It. After all, angels and dominions and powers, however, once came into being, and they already existed when the world was created. And all things were created and established: visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities and powers: all things, he says, were created through Him and in Him (Col 1:16). How is it - created in Him? Because He is the heir of the Father, from the Father to Him this passed as an inheritance, as the Father said: ask of Me and I will give You Your generations as an inheritance (Ps 2:8). This inheritance passed from the Father to the Son, and returned to the Father from the Son. This is so excellent also because the apostle calls the Son the Creator of all. And to the Romans he says about the Father: “For all things are from Him, by Him and to Him” (Rom. 11:36). From Him came the beginning and natural structure of the universe, that is, from His will and from His Power. After all, everything began from His will, since there is one God the Father, from whom are all things. And indeed He created everything from Himself, for He created from where He wanted. Through Him everything continues, and in Him is the end. After all, matter is from Him. Through Him is the act by which the entire totality of the world is united and strengthened. In Him, for everything is held and established by His power. And the end of all returned to God’s disposal, and everything is resolved by His decision. You might be interested in: