On the Creation of the World

As I ponder, together with my own mind, on the fabric of this world in which we are held enclosed, the swiftness of that fabric is also this: as is contained in the book of Moses, which he wrote concerning its creation, which is called Genesis. This entire mass, God set forth in six days in the adornment of His majesty, and on the seventh He consecrated it with a blessing. Therefore, since by the sevenfold number of days both heavenly and earthly things are governed, by way of a beginning, I shall measure from this seventh day concerning all the sevenfold regions, and as best I can, I shall endeavor to set forth the day of power unto that consummation.

In the beginning God made light, and divided it by the twelvefold measure of hours into day and night, for this reason evidently, that night might bring rest to the labors of men as day passed over it, and day might again prevail; that by this alternating turn, labor might be refreshed by rest, and rest might again be tempered by the exercise of day. On the fourth day He made two luminaries in the heaven, a greater and a lesser, that one might rule the day and the other the night, namely the sun and the moon; and the remaining stars He placed in the heaven, that they might shine upon the earth and distinguish seasons and years and months and days and hours by their stations. Now the reason of truth is shown: why the third day is called the tetrad; why we fast until the ninth hour, until evening, or why a superpositio is made until the following day. This world, then, consists of four elements: fire, water, heaven, earth.

These four elements therefore make the tetrad of the seasons. The sun and moon also, through the space of a year, produce four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter; and these seasons make the tetrad. And to recount further from this matter: behold, four living creatures before the throne of God, four Gospels, four rivers flowing in paradise, four generations of peoples—from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to Christ the Lord, the Son of God; and four living creatures: of man, of calf, of lion, of eagle; and four rivers: Phison, Geon, Tigris, Euphrates. Christ Jesus the man, the author of those things which we have mentioned above, was seized by the ungodly in the tetrad. And so on account of His captivity in the tetrad on account of the majesty of His works, and the seasons of His humanity wholesome, joyful with fruits, tranquil in weather, may run their course, and therefore we either fast or make a superpositio. On the fifth day the earth and water brought forth their offspring.

On the sixth day those things which were lacking were created; and thus God fashioned man from the soil, lord of all things which He created upon the earth and upon the water. Yet He first created angels and archangels before He formed man, placing spiritual things before earthly ones. For light came first, before heaven and earth. This sixth day is called the parasceve, that is, the preparation of the kingdom; for Adam, whom He completed in His own image and likeness. Moreover, He first completed His works before He created the angels and fashioned man, lest perchance they might falsely assert that they had been His helpers. On this day also, on account of the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, we either keep a station unto God or a fast. On the seventh day He rested from all His works, and blessed it and sanctified it. On this day we are accustomed to make a superpositio; for this reason, that on the Lord's Day we may go forth to the bread with thanksgiving.

And the superpositio of the parasceve is made lest we seem to observe the sabbath together with the Jews, which the Lord Himself, the Lord of the sabbath, Christ, says through His prophets that His soul hates. Yet Moses, foreseeing the hardness of that people, allowed circumcision on the sabbath when the eighth day fell there, as we read in the Gospel. Scripture also records battles on the sabbath against foreign enemies, so that the people might not be taken captive but formed by the severity of the law toward discipline. And therefore David in the sixth Psalm prays to the Lord concerning the eighth day that He would not rebuke him in His anger, nor in His fury, nor judge him; for this is truly the eighth day of that future judgment, which shall pass beyond the order of the sevenfold arrangement.

Joshua also, the successor of Moses, himself likewise dissolved the sabbath, for on the sabbath day he commanded the children of Israel to go around the walls of the city of Jericho with trumpeters and to declare war upon the foreigners. Mattathias moreover, the prince of Judah, dissolved the sabbath; for he slew the prefect of Antiochus king of Syria on the sabbath, and subjected the foreigners by his pursuit. And we read written in Matthew; Isaiah also and his other colleagues dissolved the sabbath. That the true and just sabbath might be observed at the seventh millennium of years. Wherefore to these seven days the Lord assigned individual thousands of years, for thus it is written: In Thy eyes, O Lord, a thousand years are as one day. Therefore in the eyes of God individual thousands of years are established, for there are seven eyes of the Lord. Wherefore, as I have mentioned, that true sabbath, and seven thousand years in which Christ is to reign with His elect.

There are also seven heavens corresponding to those days; for thus it is sung: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the breath of His mouth all their power. These are the seven spirits. Their names are the spirits which rested upon Christ of God, as is written in the prophet Isaiah. And there shall rest upon Him the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of strength, the spirit of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him. The highest heaven therefore is of wisdom, the second of understanding, the third of counsel, the fourth of strength, the fifth of knowledge, the sixth of piety, the seventh of the fear of God. From this therefore, thunders roar, rivers are spread out, fires gather in masses, burning beams appear, stars radiate, the dreadful comet shall be healed. Sometimes the sun and moon also visit one another; and those things, beyond measure terrible, shining with light in the keenness of His aspect, produce their effects.

The just one is the authority of the whole creation; His name is the Word, for thus His Father says: My heart has uttered a good word. John the Evangelist says thus: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; He was in the beginning with God: all things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing. Therefore He is the first-made of creation, the second of man of the human race, as the Apostle says. This Word, therefore, when He made light, is called wisdom; when heaven, understanding; when earth and sea, counsel; when sun and moon and the other luminaries, strength; when He stirs up earth and sea, knowledge; when He fashioned man, piety; when He blesses and sanctifies man, He bears the name of the fear of God.

Behold the seven horns of the Lamb, the seven eyes of God; the seven eyes of tin, the seven spirits; the seven burning torches before the throne of God; the seven golden candlesticks; the seven ewe-lambs; the seven women in Isaiah; the seven churches in Paul, the seven deacons; the seven angels, the seven trumpets; the seven seals of the book; the seven weeks by which Pentecost is concluded; the seven weeks in Daniel; likewise forty-three weeks in Daniel; in Noah's case all seven clean things in the ark; the seven-fold vengeance upon Cain; the seven years of the remission of debt; the lamp with seven openings; the seven pillars of wisdom in the house of Solomon. Now therefore concerning the ineffable glory of God in His providence you may see it mentioned; yet, as a small mind will be able, I shall endeavor to show it.

That He might restore that Adam through the week, and come to the aid of His entire creation, this was accomplished by the birth of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Who therefore, instructed in the law of God, who filled with the Holy Spirit, would not consider in his heart: that on the day on which the dragon seduced Eve, on that same day the angel Gabriel brought the good news to the Virgin Mary; that on the day on which He made light, on that day the Holy Spirit flooded the Virgin Mary; that on the day on which He made earth and water, on that day He was turned into flesh; that on the day on which He made the stars, on that day He was turned into milk; that on the day of blood, on which the earth and water brought forth their offspring; that on the day on which He fashioned man from the soil, on that day He was turned into flesh; that on the day on which He formed man, on that day Christ was born; that on the same day on which Adam fell, He suffered; that on the day on which He made light, on that day He rose from the dead.

He also completes His humanity by the sevenfold number: of birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, full age, decline. To the Jews also He showed His humanity even in these ways: when He hungers, thirsts, gave food and drink, when He walks and knows those things to be so, when He slept upon a pillow; but when He walks upon the sea or a storm on foot, commands the winds, heals the sick, and restores the lame, instructs the blind by His word—see that He is announced as the Lord of the same things. To speak of the twelvefold number, as I mentioned above, it was divided twofold through the twelve hours of light and night, for through these hours months and years and seasons and ages are reckoned. Therefore twelve angels of the day and twelve angels of the night were established without doubt, corresponding to the number of the hours.

For these are the twenty-four witnesses of days and nights, who sit before the throne of God, having golden crowns upon their heads, whom the Apocalypse of John the Apostle and Evangelist calls elders, because they are elder both than other angels and than men. Here ends the treatise of victorinus on the fabric of the world.