XXXII. But, according to the testimony of Jerome, it is affirmed by several ancient writers, that this pretended Solomon was Philo the Jew, who was called Moses Atticissans; and were this certain, we could nowhere collect the meaning of this verse, more decisively than from Philo. Now this writer, in his book on the Making of the World,† expresses sentiments widely different from the hypotheses of the heretics. 66 XXXIII. Not far from the beginning of the treatise, he has the following words: "But the great Moses was "of opinion, that what is uncreated, differs extremely "from what is visible; for whatever is sensible, being capable of generation and liable to changes, never "continues in the same state. To that which is in"visible, therefore, and perceptible only by the mind, "he attributes eternity, as allied and congenial to it; "whilst he applies generation as a proper term for distinguishing the objects of sense." 66 XXXIV. On these words, let it be remarked, 1st, That, conformably to the doctrine of Moses, Philo ascribes eternity, solely, to an invisible nature, which is perceived by none of the senses, but only by the mind, that is, to God. He does not, therefore, ascribe it to any original matter;—which no man, possessing the use of his reason, ever affirmed to be perceptible to the mind only, and not to the senses. 2dly, That he asserts that none of those things which are subject to change or alteration can be uncreated. But shapeless matter is, unquestionably, a substance of this sort. 3dly, To obviate a cavil which some might draw from the word, it may be added, that in Philo, as also in Moses, generation X * That is, Moses imitating the language of Athens. T. x Gen. ii. 4. signifies the same thing which we commonly express by the term creation. 66 66 xxxv. When, therefore, he said a little before, "that " in reference to things that exist, it is indispensibly necessary, that there be both an active cause, and something affected by the cause;" he did not intend by something affected by the cause," matter that existed before the creation, but matter which was formed by the creating God. This is clear from the words which follow; "There is no connexion between what is not "made, and him who did not make it." XXXVI. The ancient nation of the Jews were evidently of the same mind. The great Rabbi Eliezer, accordingly, says; "Before the Almighty created the "world, he and his name existed alone." See Manasseh Ben Israel on the Creation;* who shows that this opinion was received and approved by all the wise men of ancient times. As to the conceits which other Doctors advance about the making of another world before the present one, or the creation of many things before the world, they are cabalistical, mystical, and allegorical. Such also are the expressions of R. Eliezer, when he tells us, that heaven was made of the brightness of God's garment, and the earth of the snow which is under the throne of his glory. Maimonides affirms, that these assertions are so strange and marvellous, that he does not recollect to have seen the like, in the writings of any of those who observe the Jewish law.† XXXVII. It is necessary, mean while, to maintain the distinction suggested above. If we consider the first origin of things, all of them were created of nothing. Some, however, were made immediately of nothing, as *De Creationc, Probl. iii. + More, Part ii. cap. 27. the first works of the first day, and all spiritual substances: others, mediately, as the works of the subsequent days, which indeed were made of matter; but of matter that in itself was ill adapted to the purpose, that bore no resemblance to the things produced from it, and from which no such creatures could have been produced by any natural energy. XXXVIII. This production of things was effected by the mere will and command of God, by his all-powerful will, as Clement of Alexandria expressed it; or, which is the same thing, by his word, or fiat. "God said, "Let there be light, and there was light." "He spake, "and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast."z "Thou hast created all things, and FOR THY PLEA"SURE they are, and were created." The creatures existed merely because God willed them to exist, without further effort, without laborious exertion. "The "creation of the world," says the same Clement, "is "the effect of his counsel alone:" and Philo agrees. with him, saying, "It seems reasonable to think, that "in the works which he performs, God exercises not only power and authority, but also wisdom and intel"ligence." 66 XXXIX. It is still more remarkable, that Maximus Tyrius, a rural philosopher, and a stranger to recondite learning, should have taught the same truth in the following eloquent passage: By the will of Jupiter, "the earth, and whatever is nourished by the earth, was established; the sea, and whatever is produced by the sea; the air, and whatever is supported by the "air; the heaven, and whatever moves in heaven. All * Παντοκρατορικά βλήματι. 66 66 y Gen. i. 3. z Ps. xxxiii. 9. a Rev. iv. 11. 66 "these were created by the will of Jupiter."* A little before, too, he had said that all these are the works of him, "whose comprehensive and perfect mind is never divided, but with incredible rapidity, in the twinkling "of an eye, accomplishes and perfects whatever it "touches." Truly Christian and pious expressions, had he said JEHOVAH instead of Jupiter. 66 66 66 XL. Since these statements are just, we utterly detest that bold tenet of the new Philosophy, by which it is maintained, "That, although God had, from the beginning, given no other form to the world than that "of a chaos; yet if, after having established the laws "of nature, he had assisted its operations by' that con"currence which he usually affords, it may be concluded, "without any prejudice to the miracle of the creation, that, by this ordinary concurrence alone, all things purely material would, in course of time, have attain"ed the same state of perfection in which we now see "them." The consequence of such notions is, that the masters of the new Philosophy imagine, that by means of natural generation, according to the rules of motion, all natural things could by degrees have been produced out of chaos, established and adjusted, (one of them even says, supposing the ordinary concurrence of God, must have been produced,) in the same manner as they have now been produced, established, and adjusted by a supernatural creation; and, consequently, that there was no necessity for that miraculous work which is called creation. XLI. These sentiments have a dangerous tendency.† It ought not to pass without severe reprobation as an instance of arrogant temerity, that poor pitiful man should *Dissert. xxv. + Ilovneš xoμμatos, i. e. literally, are of a bad stamp. T. boast that he has discovered a way, by which, under the conduct of motion alone, all whose laws he, no doubt, has been able to ascertain, those wonderful works, which, as now created by the powerful word of God, command the astonishment of all the choirs of angels in common with the holy prophets, could, and even must have come forth from chaos of their own accord. God spoke, of old, to Job out of the whirlwind, saying, "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and "answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the "foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast under 66 66 standing. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if "thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon "it ?" &c. But these audacious men, according to their hypotheses, would find an answer to return to God; to wit, that, in all those works, there is nothing too wonderful, to have risen spontaneously out of chaos agreeably to their own rules of motion. Without doubt, however, they deserve the same reproof which God administered to Job, "Who is he that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge ?"c 66 XLII. Whatever may be pretended to the contrary, assertions of this kind are derogatory to the miracle of the creation. The most admirable circumstance in creation is, that, at the mere command of the Deity, all things rose into existence either out of nothing, or out of matter which was altogether inadequate, and bore no proportion to what was to be formed from it. But this wonder is, in a great measure, if not entirely set aside, when it is affirmed that, supposing the ordinary concurrence of God, all things would have come forth out of chaos in the same manner, of their own accord, or as |