04 - Book II Chapters 1-6

Section 4 of The Orthodox Faith by John of Damascus. Translated by S. D. F. Salmon. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 2, Chapter 1. Concerning Aeon, or Age. He created the ages who himself was before the ages, whom the divine David thus addresses, from age to age you are. The divine apostle also says, through whom he created the ages. It must then be understood that the word age has various meanings, for it denotes many things. The life of each man is called an age. Again, a period of a thousand years is called an age. Again, the whole course of the present life is called an age. Also, the future life, the immortal life after the resurrection, is spoken of as an age. Again, the word age is used to denote not time nor yet a part of time as measured by the movement and course of the sun, that is to say composed of days and nights, but the sort of temporal motion and interval that is coextensive with eternity. For age is to things eternal just what time is to things temporal. Seven ages of this world are spoken of, that is, from the creation of the heaven and earth till the general consummation and resurrection of men. For there is a partial consummation, namely the death of each man, but there is also general and complete consummation, when the general resurrection of men will come to pass. And the eighth age is the age to come. Before the world was formed, when there was as yet no sun dividing day from night, there was not an age such as could be measured, but there was the sort of temporal motion and interval that is coextensive with eternity. And in this sense there is but one age, and God is spoken of as Ionios and Pro-Ionios, for the age or aeon itself is his creation. For God, who alone is without beginning, is himself the creator of all things, whether age or any other existing thing. And when I say God, it is evident that I mean the Father and his only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and his all-holy Spirit, our one God. But we speak also of ages of ages, inasmuch as the seven ages of the present world include many ages in the sense of lives of men. And the one age embraces all the ages, and the present and the future are spoken of as age of age. Further, everlasting, that is Ionios, prove that the age or aeon to come is unending. For time will not be counted by days and nights, even after the resurrection, but there will rather be one day with no evening, wherein the sun of justice will shine brightly on the just. But for the sinful there will be night profound and limitless. In what way, then, will the period of one thousand years be counted, which, according to origin, is required for the complete restoration? Of all the ages, therefore, the sole creator is God, who has also created the universe, and who was before the ages. Chapter 2. CONCERNING THE CREATION. Since, then, God, who is good, and more than good, did not find satisfaction in self-contemplation, but in his exceeding goodness wished certain things to come into existence, which would enjoy his benefits, and share in his goodness, he brought all things out of nothing into being, and created them, both what is invisible and what is visible, yea, even man, who is a compound of the visible and the invisible. And it is by thought that he creates, and thought is the basis of the work, the word filling it, and the spirit perfecting it. Chapter 3. CONCERNING ANGELS. He is himself the maker and creator of the angels, for he brought them out of nothing into being, and created them after his own image, an incorporeal race, a sort of spirit or immaterial fire. In the words of the divine David, he makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. And he has described their lightness, and the ardor, and heat, and keenness, and sharpness, with which they hunger for God and serve him, and how they are born to the regions above, and are quite delivered from all material thought. An angel, then, is an intelligent essence in perpetual motion, with free will, incorporeal, ministering to God, having obtained by grace and immortal nature. And the creator alone knows the form and limitation of its essence. But all that we can understand is that it is incorporeal and immaterial. For all that is compared with God, who alone is incomparable, we find to be dense and material. For in reality, only the deity is immaterial and incorporeal. The angel's nature, then, is rational and intelligent, and endowed with free will, changeable in will or fickle. For all that is created is changeable, and only that which is uncreated is unchangeable. Also, all that is rational is endowed with free will. As it is then rational and intelligent, it is endowed with free will. And as it is created, it is changeable, having power either to abide or progress in goodness, or to turn towards evil. It is not susceptible of repentance, because it is incorporeal, for it is owing to the weakness of his body that man comes to have repentance. It is immortal not by nature, but by grace. For all that has had beginning comes also to its natural end. But God alone is eternal. Or rather, he is above the eternal, for he, the creator of times, is not under the dominion of time, but above time. They are secondary intelligent lights derived from that first light which is without beginning, for they have the power of illumination. They have no need of tongue or hearing, but without uttering words they communicate to each other their own thoughts and counsels. Through the word, therefore, all the angels were created, and through the sanctification by the Holy Spirit they were brought to perfection, sharing, each in proportion to his worth and rank, in brightness and grace. They are circumscribed, for when they are in heaven they are not on the earth, and when they are sent by God down to the earth they do not remain in the heaven. They are not hemmed in by walls and doors and bars and seals, for they are quite unlimited. Unlimited, I repeat, for it is not as they really are that they reveal themselves to the worthy men to whom God wishes them to appear, but in a changed form which the beholders are capable of seeing. For that alone is naturally and strictly unlimited, which is uncreated, for every created thing is limited by God who created it. Further, apart from their essence, they receive the sanctification from the Spirit through the divine grace they prophesy. They have no need of marriage, for they are immortal. Seeing that they are minds, they are in mental places, and are not circumscribed after the fashion of a body, for they have not a bodily form by nature, nor are they extended in three dimensions, but to whatever post they may be assigned, there they are present after the manner of a mind and energize, and cannot be present and energize in various places at the same time. Whether they are equals in essence, or differ from one another, we know not. God, their Creator, who knows all things, alone knows. But they differ from each other in brightness and position, whether it is that their position is dependent on their brightness, or their brightness on their position. And they impart brightness to one another because they excel one another in rank and nature, and clearly the higher share their brightness and knowledge with the lower. They are mighty and prompt to fulfill the will of the Deity, and their nature is endowed with such celerity, that wherever the divine glance bids them, there they are straightway found. They are the guardians of the divisions of the earth. They are set over nations and regions, allotted to them by their Creator. They govern all our affairs and bring us succor, and the reason surely is because they are set over us by the divine will and command, and are ever in the vicinity of God. With difficulty they are moved to evil, yet they are not absolutely immovable. But now they are altogether immovable, not by nature, but by grace, and by their nearness to the only good. They behold God according to their capacity, and this is their food. They are above us, for they are incorporeal and free of all bodily passion, yet they are not passionless, for the Deity alone is passionless. They take different forms at the bidding of their Master, God, and thus reveal themselves to men, and unveil the divine mysteries to them. They have heaven for their dwelling place, and have one duty, to sing God's praise and carry out His divine will. Moreover, as that most holy and sacred and gifted theologian, Dionysius the Areopagite, says, all theology, that is to say, the Holy Scripture, has nine different names for the heavenly essences. These essences, that divine Master and sacred things, divides into three groups, each containing three. And the first group, he says, consists of those who are in God's presence, and are said to be directly and immediately one with Him, namely, the seraphim with their six wings, the many-eyed cherubim, and those that sit in the holiest thrones. The second group is that of the dominions, and the powers, and the authorities. And the third and last is that of the rulers, and archangels, and angels. Some indeed, like Gregory the theologian, say that these were before the creation of other things. He thinks that the angelic and heavenly powers were first, and that thought was their function. Others, again, hold that they were created after the first heaven was made. But all are agreed that it was before the foundation of man. For myself, I am in harmony with the theologian, for it was fitting that the mental essence should be the first created, and then that which can be perceived, and finally man himself, in whose being both parts are united. But those who say that the angels are creators of any kind of essence whatever, are the mouth of their father the devil. For since they are created things, they are not creators. But he who creates, and provides for, and maintains all things, is God, who alone is uncreate, and is praised, and glorified in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Chapter 4. Concerning the Devil and Demons. He who from among these angelic powers was set over the earthly realm, and into whose hands God committed the guardianship of the earth, was not made wicked in nature, but was good, and made for good ends, and received from his creator no trace whatever of evil in himself. But he did not sustain the brightness and the honor which the creator had bestowed on him. And of his free choice was changed from what was in harmony to what was at variance with his nature, and became roused against God who created him, and determined to rise in rebellion against him. And he was the first to depart from good and become evil. For evil is nothing else than absence of goodness, just as darkness also is absence of light. For goodness is the light of the mind, and similarly evil is the darkness of the mind. Light therefore being the work of the creator, and being made good, for God saw all that he made, and behold they were exceeding good, produced darkness at his free will. But along with him an innumerable host of angels subject to him were torn away, and followed him, and shared in his fall. Wherefore being of the same nature as the angels they became wicked, turning away at their own free choice from good to evil. Hence they have no power or strength against anyone except what God in his dispensation has conceded to them, as for instance against Job, and those swine that are mentioned in the Gospels. But when God has made the concession they do prevail, and are changed and transformed into any form whatever in which they wish to appear. Of the future both the angels of God and the demons are alike ignorant, yet they make predictions. God reveals the future to the angels, and commands them to prophesy, and so what they say comes to pass. But the demons also make predictions, sometimes because they see what is happening at a distance, and sometimes merely making guesses. Hence much that they say is false, and they should not be believed, even though they do often in the way we have said tell what is true. Besides they know the Scriptures. All wickedness then, and all impure passions are the work of their mind, but while the liberty to attack man has been granted to them, they have not the strength to overmaster anyone, for we have it in our power to receive or not to receive the attack. Wherefore there has been prepared for the devil and his demons, and those who follow him, fire unquenchable and everlasting punishment. Note further that what in the case of man is death is a fall in the case of angels, for after the fall there is no possibility of repentance for them, just as after death there is for men no repentance. Chapter 5 Concerning Visible Creation Our God himself, whom we glorify as three in one, created the heaven and the earth and all that they contain, and brought all things out of nothing into being. Some he made out of no pre-existing basis of matter, such as heaven, earth, air, fire, water, and the rest out of these elements that he had created, such as living creatures, plants, seeds. For these are made up of earth and water and air and fire at the bidding of the Creator. Chapter 6 Concerning the Heaven The heaven is the circumference of things created both visible and invisible, for within its boundary are included and marked off both the mental faculties of the angels and all the world of sense. But the deity alone is uncircumscribed, filling all things and surrounding all things and bounding all things, for he is above all things and has created all things. Since therefore the scripture speaks of heaven and heaven of heaven and heavens of heavens, and the blessed Paul says that he was snatched away to the third heaven, we say that in the cosmogony of the universe we accept the creation of a heaven, which the foreign philosophers, appropriating the views of Moses, call a starless sphere. But further, God called the firmament also heaven, which he commanded to be in the midst of the waters, setting it to divide the waters that are above the firmament from the waters that are below the firmament. And its nature, according to the divine Basileus, who is versed in the mysteries of divine scripture, is delicate as smoke. Others, however, hold that it is watery in nature, since it is set in the midst of the waters. Others say it is composed of the four elements. And lastly, others speak of it as a fifth body, distinct from the four elements. Further, some have thought that the heaven encircles the universe and has the form of a sphere, and that everywhere it is the highest point, and that the center of the space enclosed by it is the lowest part. And further, that those bodies that are light and airy are allotted by the Creator the upper region, while those that are heavy and tend to descend occupy the lower region, which is the middle. The element, then, that is lightest and most inclined to soar upward is fire, and hence they hold that its position is immediately after the heaven, and they call it ether, and after it comes the lower air. But earth and water, which are heavier and have more of a downward tendency, are suspended in the center. Therefore, taking them in the reverse order, we have in the lowest situation earth and water, but water is lighter than earth and hence is more easily set in motion. Above these, on all hands, like a covering, is the circle of air, and all around the air is the circle of ether, and outside air is the circle of the heaven. Further, they say that the heaven moves in a circle and so compresses all that is within it that they may remain firm and not liable to fall asunder. They say also that there are seven zones of the heaven, one higher than the other, and its nature, they say, is of extreme fineness, like that of smoke, and each zone contains one of the planets. For there are said to be seven planets, Sol, Luna, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Saturn, but sometimes Venus is called Lucifer and sometimes Vesper. These are called planets because their movements are the reverse of those in the heaven, for while the heaven and all other stars move from east to west, these alone move from west to east, and this can easily be seen in the case of the moon, which moves each evening a little backwards. All, therefore, who hold that the heaven is in the form of a sphere say that it is equally removed and distant from the earth at all points, whether above or sideways or below, and by below and sideways I mean all that comes within the range of our senses, for it follows from what has been said that the heaven occupies the whole of the upper region and the earth the whole of the lower. They say besides that the heaven encircles the earth in the manner of a sphere and bears along with it in its most rapid revolutions sun, moon, and stars, and that when the sun is over the earth it becomes day there, and when it is under the earth it is night, and again when the sun goes under the earth it is night here, but day yonder. Others have pictured the heaven as a hemisphere. This idea is suggested by these words of David, the singer of God, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, by which word he clearly means a tent, and by these from the blessed Isaiah, who has established the heavens like a vault, and also because when the sun, moon, and stars set they make a circuit round the earth from west to north and so reach once more the east. Still, whether it is this way or that, all things have been made and established by the divine command and have the divine will and counsel for a foundation that cannot be moved. For he himself spoke and they were made, he himself commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass. The heaven of heaven then is the first heaven which is above the So here we have two heavens, for God called the firmament also heaven, and it is customary in the divine scripture to speak of the air also as heavens, because we see it above us. Bless him, it says, all you birds of the heaven, meaning of the air, for it is the air and not the heaven that is the region in which birds fly. So here we have three heavens, as the divine apostle said. But if you should wish to look upon the seven zones as seven heavens, there is no injury done to the word of truth, for it is usual in the Hebrew tongue to speak of heaven in the plural, that is, as heavens. And when a Hebrew wishes to say heaven of heaven, he usually says heavens of heavens, and this clearly means heaven of heaven, which is above the firmament. And the waters which are above the heavens, whether it is the air and the firmament, or the seven zones of the firmament, or the firmament itself, which are spoken of in the plural as heavens, according to the Hebrew custom. All things then which are brought into existence are subject to corruption according to the law of their nature, and so even the heavens themselves are corruptible, but by the grace of God they are maintained and preserved. Only the deity, however, is by nature without beginning and without end. Wherefore it has been said, They will perish, but thou dost endure. Nevertheless the heavens will not be utterly destroyed, for they will wax old and be wound round as a covering, and will be changed, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. For the great part, the heaven is greater than the earth, but we need not investigate the essence of the heaven, for it is quite beyond our knowledge. It must not be supposed that the heavens or the luminaries are endowed with life, for they are inanimate and insensible, so that when the divine scripture says, Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, it is the angels in heaven and the men on earth that are invited to rejoice. For the scripture is familiar with the figure of personification, and is wont to speak of inanimate things as though they were animate. For example, The sea sought and fled, Jordan was driven back. And again, What ailed you, O thou sea, that you fled? You, O Jordan, that you was driven back. Mountains too, and hills, are asked the reason of their leaping, in the same way as we are wont to say, The city was gathered together, when we do not mean the buildings, but the inhabitants of the city. Again, The heavens declare the glory of God, does not mean that they send forth a voice that can be heard by bodily ears, but that from their own greatness they bring before our minds the power of the Creator, and when we contemplate their beauty, we praise the Maker as the Master Craftsman.