CREATION OF THE WORLD
The divine inspiration began the Holy Bible by proclaiming God as a Creator, who prepared everything for the sake of man, setting him forththrough love until, finally, entering with him into His eternal Kingdom, to enjoy the everlasting glories.
+ An Introduction:
- God, the Creator.
- The Spirit of God hovering over the face of waters.
- The first day: “Let it be light”.
- The second day: The firmament.
- The third day: The plants.
- The fourth day: Creation of the great lights
- The fifth day: The Reptiles, fishes, and Birds.
- The sixth day: The animals and man.
Introduction:
In this study I should like to commit myself to the Spirit of the Church, that sees the Holy Book, not as a scientific or a philosophic book, but as a secret of life with God, to be enjoyed and lived by man. That is why, when St. Basil, the Great, wrote his articles on the six days ofcreation ‘The Hexaemeron’, he made it clear that the work of the Church is not researching the nature of things and creatures, but studying their work and benefits. Likewise, St. Augustine proclaimed: [It is beyond your ability to comprehend how God created these things; as you, yourself, is created to obey Him as a slave, in order to comprehend Him as a friend].
It is as though we, as creatures of God, should receive His work with joy as slaves; and as He grants us wisdom and understanding of His secrets, we would live with Him as His friends and beloved.
We can concisely introduce the following remarks on the presentation of the Book of Genesis on the creation:
This Book presented us with the events of creation in a simple and true way, to be understood and enjoyed by the simple man, and appreciated for its depth by the scientist.
Many western scholars confirmed that what came in the Book of Genesis, did not contradict with the scientific facts according to modern thought. In their view, what came in it concerning the evolution of creation conforms to a great extent with the scientifically accepted theories in that concern. Many researches dealing with this issue, were published by pious scientists; but I do not want to go into details that take us away from interpretation of the Word of God.
The Church of St. George, the great martyr, in Sporting, Alexandria, Egypt, published a simplified study by Professor Dr. Youssef Riad, dealing with this subject, titled, ‘Conforming between modern science and the Holy Bible’. Likewise, the Diocese of Youth, issued a publication on ‘The six days of creation’ by Dr. Fawzi Elias.
It is to be noticed that the word “day” in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, does
not mean a 24-hour day, but implies a time era which may extend to millions of years. The sun, the moon, and the rest of the stars, were not yet created until the fourth time era, and so, there was, then, no’ ‘time’’ as we have nowadays, as there was no day and night in the material contemporary sense. This was confirmed by several fathers like St Jerome. And even after creation, the Holy Book often speaks of a “day” in a sense beyond the that of our comprehension; as for example the saying of the Psalmist, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand” (Psalm 84: 10; Also see Psalm 90: 4; and 2 Peter 3: 8).
The word “day”, in the Holy Book, came according to several concepts: It often implies ‘eternity’, where there is no beginning, as when the Father addressed the Son saying: “You are My Son; Today I have begotten You” (Psalm 2: 7; Acts 13: 32; Hebrew 1: 5); and calling the
Father, “The ancient of days” (Daniel 7: 9), meaning (the eternal). About the “day”, in the sense of its (eternity) -- beyond time -- it is described as “The day of the Lord” (Acts 2: 20); that is to say, His ultimate coming, when time comes to an end. And it is said of the Lord Jesus Christ: “To Him be the glory both now and forever, Amen” (2 Peter 3: 18).
Some people may object to what came in the Book of Genesis concerning the creation of the first man; based on the discovery of fossilized bones of man dated to more than million years of age; beside the discovery of ancient art inscriptions of the early man...How can we interpret that ?
By a simple calculation, we realize that the present population of the world, could not be the product of more than 6000 years. If we assume that every family would produce three children, and subtract a high ratio of mortality, both of natural and catastrophic causes; If we accept the theory of a million year history of man on earth, one single man in a million years would produce descendants, that thousand folds of the area of the earth could never accommodate.
On the assumption that every time era could be several millions of years long, these fossilized bones could be related to mammals that carried some human features and capabilities, but lack the “breath of life” that God gave specially to Adam and Eve. These creatures therefore are not to be counted as human, even if they carry certain similarities.
If this Book present us with a very concise chapter of the early work of creation by God; God, who was working for our sake, keeps on His creative work in our life incessantly. What He formerly did will not come to an end; He keeps on working in man’s life, to make of his depths a new heaven and a new earth, to be dwelt by righteousness; according to what the Lord Christ says: “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5: 17). Therefore in our present interpretation, we should seek the continuous work of God in our inner life, to create in us incessantly, renewing our depths.
I pray, in Jesus Christ, our Lord, to be able to present the spiritual interpretation, hand- in-hand with the historical and literal interpretation.
2- God, the Creator:
The Book of Genesis began with this simple introduction:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1: 1)
If the expression “In the beginning” does not imply a particular time; as time has not yet existed, because the stars with their precise systems were not yet there; But it means that the material world has a beginning, and not eternal, as some Philosophers claim, sharing God His eternity. This is what St. Basil confirmed in His work ‘The six days of creation’ or the (Hexaemeron), saying, that the expression “In the beginning” does not imply a certain time, otherwise the beginning would have a beginning and an end; and so this beginning would have a
beginning, thus entering into an endless series of beginnings. But, “The beginning” here, means a preliminary movement, and not a time quantity; as for example saying: “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9: 10). He also says: [Do not assume, man, that the seen world has no beginning, just because the celestial bodies move in a circular course; that because of the difficulty to fix a point of beginning for that circular movement, you think it is by nature, with no beginning]. He also says: [Whatever begins at a certain time, would also end at a certain time}. This does not imply the existence of time at the beginning of the movement, but confirms the uprooting of the theory of eternity. Although there was no time, yet, there was a beginning, before which the world was nothingness. Science confirms the non-eternity of material.
Several fathers adopt, beside this literal or historical interpretation for “In the beginning”, the symbolic or spiritual interpretation; believing that it means “In Jesus Christ”, or “In the Word of God”, the heavens and the earth were created. In the following are some of these interpretations:
+ The Son, Himself, is the beginning. When the Jews asked Him :Who are You ? He answered them, saying: “... I am from the beginning” (John 8: 25).
St. Augustine
+ Who is the beginning of everything, other than our Lord and the Savior of all men (1
Timothy 4: 10), Jesus Christ, “The firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1: 15) ? In that beginning, that is, in His Word, “God created the heavens and the earth”. And as the Evangelist John says at the beginning of His Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made, that was made” (John 1: 1 - 3). The Holy Book does not talk about a time beginning, but about this beginning, that is the Savior, by whom the heavens and the earth were made.
Scholar Origen
+ Some think of “The beginning” in term of time, but who contemplate in the word “the beginning’, would realize that it carries more than just one meaning. Sometimes it means ‘the cause’, the meaning here would be that the heavens and the earth are existing in the cause’ ... Actually every thing was done by the “Word”; as in Jesus Christ, everything in heaven or on earth were created; the seen and the unseen things.
St. Dedymus, the blind
In short, we say that God created the world in a certain beginning; and the world did not share eternity with Him. From another side, the Word of God is the beginning, who has no beginning, the Creator of everything.
“In the beginning ‘Elohim’ created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1: 1)
The noun ‘Elohim’ came in pleural, while the verb “created’, according to the Arabic version, came in singular; as the Creator is the Holy Trinity, the One in essence, in nature, and in Deity.
The prophet Moses confirmed that God is the Creator; thus uprooting from his people the many legends that filled the world at that time,concerning the topic of creation; as well as the claim of certain philosophers that the world came as a mere chance. Professor Dr. YoussefRiad discussed that issue in his work.
Finally, He says that “Elohim’ created the heavens and the earth”, meaning that the heavenlies, with all their hosts, were created first, to be followed by earth, and all that concern it.
If the heavens refer to the human soul, where God chooses to dwell, as His heavens; and the body, through its sanctification becomes a holy earth, in Jesus Christ we would enjoy these heavens and earth; that is to say, we enjoy a soul, that is a temple for the Lord, and a sanctifiedbody for the account of His Kingdom.
The Spirit of God and the waters:
“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1: 2)
It was said that the earth was “without form, and void”; and according to the Septaguint version, “unseen, and incomplete”. St. Basil, the Great, explains its being “unseen” , by the fact that man was not yet been created to see it, because it was completely covered with water, or on account of that light has not yet shone on it; making everything obscure.. As to it being “incomplete”, that was because of its inability ofproducing plants.
At any rate, if the divine inspiration, proclaimed that the ‘Father’, has created the heavens and earth, by His ‘Word’ (verse 1); Here is revealed, the role of the Holy Spirit, that has been hovering over the face of the waters, to create, out of the formless and void earth, a good and beautiful world. The Holy Spirit, up to this very day, descends on the waters of Baptism, to sanctify it, to set out of man, corrupted bysin, that made out of him a formless and void earth, unseen because of being deprived of God’s shines, and incomplete ... a new heaven anda new earth; that is to say, granting us the new birth, in which we enjoy a sanctified soul, with the image of God our Creator, and a sanctifiedbody, whose members are instruments of righteousness for God. In the following, we quote some sayings of the fathers in this concern:
+ The first waters begot life, so one should not marvel that water of Baptism is also able to grant life ... The Spirit of God was carried on the Holy waters, He who recreate whomever is baptized. The Holy One was carried on the sanctified waters, or rather on the waters thatreceive sanctification from Him. By that the water was sanctified by the Spirit, and was given the ability to sanctify. That is why, if water has been the first factor in the topic of creation, it got the secret of sanctification through beseeching God.
Scholar Tertilian
+ The new creation is realized by the water and the Spirit, in the same way the world was created, when the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
St. Clement of Alexandria
+ The water was the beginning of the world; as the Jordan was the beginning of the Gospel.
St. Cyril of Jerusale
+ If Baptism on that day, was pre-proclaimed through the shadow, there could not be a true, and sure Baptism, without the Spirit.
St. Jerome
As to the expression “hover”, St. Basil says a Syrian scholar believes that the Syrian language is capable of giving more meaning than the Hebrew; being translated as (to embrace); as though the Spirit likens a bird embraces eggs, to provide them with life through its own warmth. St. Ambrosius believes that the movement of the Spirit here, is a continuous movement of love, for a creative work in the life of man, saying: [How can He who has been moving before the creation of the earth, cease to move after creating it?!
The first day : Let it be light:
The first work presented by God, was setting forth of light:
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and morning were the first day”
(Gen. 1: 3 - 5)
I this text, it is to be noticed:
Until recently, some scientists objected to this statement, saying: How could light set forth in the first stage, before the existence of the sun, as the prevailing thought was that the sun was the source of light. But recent researches came to confirm the unexpected fact, that light materially preceded the existence of the sun. Here, the exaltness of the Holy Bible and the divine inspiration were evident. In short, it can be said that the now prevailing scientific view, is that our solar system, originated from a dark screw-like , widely spread in the universal space (is a cloud of gases existing in between the stars). That is why the material of the is extremely thin in a state of complete looseness, but its far apart atoms are continuously moving around a point of gravity in the center of the ; and through the continuity of movement, the retracts, and its density gradually increases toward the center; consequently increasing the chances of bombardment of the atoms with a huge velocity, that ends up in increasing the temperature of the .Through continuation of temperature increase, the radiation produced by the becomes visible; causing lights to appear for the first time, although very faint. That was how light first appeared
before the formation of the sun in its present form, that took place in the fourth stage (the Fourth day) ... Light appeared when the sun was in its original state, before it was fully formed.
It is amazing how the words of St. John Chrysostom of the fourth century, came conforming with the discoveries of the twentieth century, saying: [The light of the sun, that was in the first day, of no form, came to have its final form on the fourth day].
St. Augustine, probably had the same thought, when he said that light that emerged on the first day, was not produced by the sun, butprobably was material light, produced by exalted places, beyond our vision.
From the symbolic side, St. Augustine believes that that light concerns the holy heavenly city that embraces the saintly angels, and where thebelievers enjoy eternity; called by the apostle, “The Jerusalem above, ... which is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4: 26); in which we shall have our portion, having been said, “You are the sons of light and the sons of day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5: 5). The Saint believes that the heavenlies enjoyed that light that emerged on the first day, through watching the amazing works of God along all the successive stages; Yet if their knowledge of creation is compared with that of God, theirs is counted as (evening).
We can say that the works of God began with the setting forth of light, for the angels to behold and glorify Him. Likewise, at the onset of the new creation, the Lord shone on us with His divine light, from the holy tomb, with His resurrection, so that, as we become raised in Him, His glory would be proclaimed in us. In our new creation – in the water of Baptism -- we enjoy the divine light, the light of His resurrection, working in us, as the first divine work in our life. That is the reason for calling Baptism, “The Sacrament of Enlightenment”.
God divided the light from the darkness, so that we receive the light as children of the light and of the day, and reject the darkness, so as not to fall under the fatal night of ignorance.
God grants us the inner light to scatter the ancient darkness, according to the saying of the apostle: “You were once darkness” (Ephesians 5: 8). He also grants us the Spirit of discernment, so as, with the Spirit of God, between light and darkness, so as not to fall under the prophetical woe, “ Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5: 20).
“Darkness” is not a substance created by God, but is a deprivation of light. Once light appeared, darkness was exposed and recognized. Nevertheless, as St. Augustine says, God orders the light, that He created, and the darkness He did not, and they obey Him.
St. Hypoltes, the Roman, believes that [On the first day, God created things out of nothingness; But other days, He did not create things out of nothingness, but from things He created on the first day, transforming them according to His pleasure].
Several fathers commented on the phrase “... said, ... and there was”, that the whole, creation along the six stages, took place as a result of the divine utterance; St. Ambrosius says: [God did not create things with instruments or art, but “He spoke and it was done” (Psalm 33: 9); the power of action lies in the divine utterance. And St. Basil, the Great says, [Utterance is, in itself, an action].
St. Basil comments on the phrase “God saw the light, that it was good” (Gen. 4; 12; 18; 21), that God does not see something as good, through admiring it by eye, or tasting its beauty by mind, as we usually do, but sees it as good, when it is perfect, according to His will, and beneficial to the end].
Many fathers spoke of the ‘goodness’ of creation ... “God saw it, and it was good”; Yet, man, by his corruption, corrupted the use of the good creation. That is why, as the Lord Christ came to renew our fallen nature, as though creating it anew, we no more see in the world anything evil. And as St. John Chrysostom says about things that look corrupt, [God’s creation is not corrupt; So if it so became, you havethe cure: Seal it with the sign of the cross, and give God praise and glory; then its corruption will be taken away].
He ends His talk about the first day, or the first stage, by saying: “So the evening and the morning were the first day” ; He started withthe evening, then ended wit the morning. According to the Jewish tradition, a day starts with the eve, to be followed by the morning. So, if the evening, according to St. Augustine, refers to the perishable body, and the morning refers to the ministry of righteousness or light, so evening precedes morning, namely, the body will be at the service of righteousness, and not the righteousness, at the service of body lusts. Thus if we have started our life with the evening, let us set forth, by the Holy Spirit, to the morning, so as not to live as carnals, but asspirituals.
Ending our talk about setting forth of the light, we introduce what St. Augustine said concerning it, that it refers to the creation of the heavenlies -- namely the hosts of angels, who were created first. The division of light from darkness, refers to the fall of a group of these angels, through pride, to turn into darkness. The saint believes that that division took place before the fall, with a prior knowledge by God. That view is though, not acceptable, as God does not divide except after the fall.
The second day ... the firmament:
He probably means by ‘firmament’ that range directly above the earth, in which birds fly, and not the space where the stars are. We can comprehend the way that utterance of God was realized, if we know that earth was in a state of continuous boiling, and surrounded by a sheath of dense vapor. During the interval between the first and the second stages, temperature started to decrease, leading to the settling down of vapor, and clearing of the atmosphere. As to calling the firmament ‘heaven’, this is in a sense of giving this name to anything that is exalted and high above the earth.
That firmament divided the waters which were above (the clouds), from the waters which were beneath (the seas and oceans). This chapter, beside its literal realization, carries a spiritual concept, that touches man’s life. Thus if the spiritual man receives at the beginning, a setting forth of the divine shine within his inner depths, it is fitting for him to carry the firmament that divides between waters and waters, to receive the waters of the Holy Spirit, the exalted and life-giver (John 4: 14); and to get high above the waters that are beneath, that is to say of the deep, dwelt by the dragon, that serpent of the old, and the marine beast, the killer of human soul (Revelation 12: 7; 20: 3). Whoever enjoys setting forth in the firmament, discerns between the grace of the Spirit, and the deceits of the devil.
The scholar Origen says: [As the believer connects himself to the waters above, that is high in the heaven, he becomes heavenly, and wouldseek the high and exalted things; would not have earthly thoughts, but everything heavenly; would “seek those things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3: 1); to be worthy of God’s praise, saying: “ God saw, it was good”.
St. Augustine attacked what the scholar Origen said in his book ‘The Principles’, that the waters above, are the good spirits, that were created by God, and remained on their goodness, on account of their attachment to God. But, once they isolated themselves from Him, they turned lowly, to be punished by God through casting them down to earth, and giving them bodies; as though the world in which we live, is a punishment given by God to fallen angels, who were clothed with bodies as a sort of chastisement. This theory was also rejected by St. Epiphanius and by the fathers of the Church, as it distorts our look at the world, defiles the body, devaluates man, and gives the impression of reincarnation of the spirits.
The third day:... The plants:
Let us quote here the words of Professor Dr. Yousef Riad concerning the creation: [In the beginning of the Book of Genesis, we notice that the prophet Moses divided the works of God into six time periods, that end in the creation of man. Moses said that plants appeared first in the form of simple plants -- grass; then developed into more complicated kinds, like legumes, then trees. Following that, animals appeared; aquatic animals obviously before birds, and these before man. This succession is the same one established by the science of Biology and Microbiology. Was Moses aware of our knowledge of the living things, in the twentieth century
? Of course not. Some will probably claim that it was a matter of pure coincidence; But, surely, it was God who granted him that knowledge.
Moses, in the Book of Genesis wrote:
“God aid, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one
place, and let the dry land appear’, and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters, He called Seas. And God saw that it was good”
(Gen. 1: 9, 10)
Moses wrote that God gathered the waters under heavens together into one place. He who contemplates in the world map, will notice that this is scientifically true, as all the seven oceans of the world have one common bottom. Yet Moses was keen on considering the seas as separate, mentioning them in pleural as ‘Seas’. In the days of Moses, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and probably certain parts of the Atlantic Ocean, were known to man, although the seven oceans known nowadays, were yet to be discovered after several generations,when man built the huge ships. So how did Moses know, that although seas were separate, yet they have a common bottom ? !
Some believe that, in that stage, God ordained that the temperature of the earth falls down gradually, which led to contraction and cracking ofthe earth’s crust, resulting in the formation of deep troughs, rivers, lakes and seas. Seas and oceans gathered together into one place, but the seas that are now isolated, have resulted from different physical factors.
Now, we put aside the literal or historical interpretation, and consider the spiritual or symbolic one. We find the scholar Origen discerning between ‘dry land’ and ‘earth’; the dry land, covered with water, refers to man, covered with sin and trespasses, turning into a land soaking with water, unfit for fruitition. But, if sin retreat from it, it turns from barren dry land into fertile land capable of fruitition, that can produce herbs, legume, and trees, that is, yield a spiritual crop “some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13: 8).The scholar Origen says: [If we do not separate ourselves fro the “waters that are under the firmament”, that is the sins and transgressions of our body, “earth” can not appear in our life, and we can not enjoy to grow in light; “For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed; but he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have done in God” (John 3: 20, 21). We are not to be granted this confidence, unless we become separated from that “waters”, and cast off the transgressions of the body, the basis of our sins; otherwise the dryed up member in us would stay dry.
I wish we receive God’s work in us, to have our inner dry land transformed into a sanctified one, that produce spiritual fruits that please God, and not to carry curse and produce thorns and thistles . The scholar Origen also says: [If some people are still dry and fruitless, and carry “thorns and thistles” (Gen 3: 18), these carry curse, “whose end is to be burned” (Hebrew 6: 8’ Isaiah 9: 17, 18); But with strife and persistence, as they separate themselves from the “water” of the abyss, the way of the devil, they appear as fertile land, then they become worthy of asking the Lord to move them to a land of milk and honey]. He also says, [Let us wake up, we are still, not yet a dry land ! Let us present to God much and diversified fruits, to be blessed by the Lord, who may say: “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed” (Gen 27: 27); and, in us would be realized the saying of the apostle: “For the earth
which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it , and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessings from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end I to be burned (Hebrew 6: 7, 8).
St. Ambrosius believes that, fruitition of the earth, is a sign of raising the body from death; As life set forth from the earth by the order of the Lord, so also, by His order life will be restored to our body, put to death. Nature obeys Him, as well as the dried up bones, in the great dayof the Lord.
The fourth day: Creation of the great lights:
For man’s benefit, God created the exalted solar systems, not to make astrologists out of us, but for the sake of our benefit and as a proclamation of his love for us.
If God created the sun to illuminate man’s day, and to help him in his life, He grants us His living Word, the Sun of Righteouness, who makes of our darkness, a permanent day, giving us a new inner life. He shines on the Church, to make of it a moon, to illuminate the world, and works in each of its members to make out of him a star to circulate in its own orbit, shedding light and splendor on the earth. The scholar Origen says: [Christ is the light of the world who illuminate the Church with His light. As the moon gets its light from the sun to illuminate the darkness, so the Church gets its light from Christ to reflect it on those who are in the darkness of ignorance]. He also says, [Moses, one of these stars, shines in us, and his works illuminate us; So also Abraham, Isaiah, Jacob, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, all those for whom the Holy Book gave testimony, that they pleased God (Hebrew 11: 5)]. And says:[The higher we go, the better we can contemplate in the sun rise, and the better would be the splendor and warmth. In a similar way, the higher our thought are lifted up to Christ, the nearer it gets to the splendor and beauty of His light, as He, Himself says: “‘Return to Me’, says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you’” (Zechariah 1: 3)...If we are capable of rising up with Him to the top of the mountain, like Peter, James, and John, we shall enjoy the light of Christ, and the voice of the Father, Himself].
The stars, with their different kinds, sizes, and distant locations, create in the soul an inner longing for drifting in the heaven of the Church, so that the soul would rise from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3: 18), to become, through Jesus Christ a greater star.
The Book says: “God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”
(Gen. 1: 17)
It is as though, every spiritual star, in order to keep its nature as a star, and its work to “give light to the earth”, it should stay “in the firmament”, namely remain a bearer of the heavenly nature; as if it falls down to earth, it looses its being a star, and would harm the earth instead of giving it light. So also, every soul, for the sake of complimenting others,
falls together with them into love of worldlies, and lives with a worldly mind, would lose its heavenly nature, the light of God would darken in it, and would let many others perish with her. Therefore let us love the earth by staying in the firmament of heaven; not out of pride or
hypocrisy, but with love, reflecting the light of the sun of righteousness on others; comprehending that the secret of enlightenment is not in us, but it is in the sun of righteouness, who shines on all for free.
If earth refers to the body, when the soul carries the new heavenly nature, and rose up to the firmament of heaven as a star, it reflect the light of the Lord on the body to eighteen it; and our earth (body) would be no more an obstacle on the way of our salvation, but carries the light ofthe Savior in it. In this way, the body walks with the soul in harmony, and the words “God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”.
St. Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, of the second century A D, has certain comments on the creation of great lights in the fourth day. In his opinion, the first three days refer to God, His Word, an His Wisdom -- He probably meant the Holy Trinity -- Then came the fourth day,referring to humanity, created by God as shining stars, committed to divine commandment. These stare are of two kinds: Steadfast and shining like the prophets and who walk in their paths, and wandering stars that alter their locations, referring to those who lost their way to God and abandoned His commandment.
The fifth day: Creation of Reptiles, fishes and birds:
As circumstances were convenient to create aquatic animals, He says:
“Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures”
(Gen 1: 20)
That means that the beginning of creatures that have living souls was in water. And as St. Ambosius says: As waters, by the Word of God, gave forth naturally to living creatures, in a like way, the Holy waters, now, also by the Word of God, give birth to living creatures, according to grace; living as fishes, likening Christ, the true Fish.
St. Augustine believes that, in the emergence of living reptiles from water, is a living portrait of the emergence of the ancient people, crawling out of the Red Sea, carrying life inside them, as though out of the water of Baptism. What symbolically happened to them, is being actually realized with us.
The scholar Origen believes, that in the reptiles, there is a reference to the wicked thoughts, that turns us like creatures that crawl on earth, with hearts that are bound to dust; While birds, on the other hand, refer to the good thoughts that take us up to the heavenlies, saying: [Letthe birds soar in the firmament of heavens, and never crawling on earth, ... Let us concentrate our attention on the reptiles that could harm us. If we look at a woman to lust for her, we shall be
like a serpent (that crawls), but if we have more reason, even if we are desired by ( the Egyptian woman), we shall be like a Bird, leave our Egyptian garment, and fly with our wings away from her wicked plots (Gen. 39: 7). If we deliver ourselves to thoughts of robbery, wewould be
adopting the work of the serpent; Otherwise we are like a bird, soaring above the earthlies, in the firmament of heavens.
The scholar Origen wonders, if Reptiles refer to the evil thoughts, why is it said that God saw that everything was good ? He answers that , even in the devil’s opposition to us, if we end up enjoying the crown of conquest, everything would be good.
St. Theopheles of Antioch, believes that, although some fishes are good, referring to those who enjoy the blessings of the Baptismal font, and do not seek what is not theirs, namely having no private possessions, yet, some fishes are evil, the big and strong feeding on the small andweak. The same is true for the birds: some are good and some are evil: [ Those who forsake their wickedness, and live with righteousness in spirit, fly upward and please the will of God, but those who do not worship God nor know Him, would be like some sort of birds, who, although they posses wings, yet they are unable to fly, thus they do not soar up in exalted godlies].
The sixth day: Animals and man:
God prepared everything for the creation of animals, then of man, presenting to them seen and unseen things.
St. Theophiles of Antioch believes that fierce beasts, did not acquire the spirit of ferocity, except after the fall of man, as a result of the corruption he presented to himself through his rebellion, and reflected on the nature of the earth, to produce thorns and thistles, and on the nature of beasts, for some to carry a kind of ferocity, that is inhibited as far as their relationship with certain righteous people, saying: [When man returns to his original condition, and doe no evil, these animals also return to their original condition]. History of the Church present us with innumerable examples for Saints who lived among fierce beasts; and in recent years we knew of a monk -- Father Abdel Messieh El-Habashi -- who was living, unharmed, among them.
Finally, God crowned His earthly creation, by creating man, not just as a creature among innumerable creatures, but “in His image, according to His likeness” (Gen 1: 26), and set him a master over earthly creation. In the creation of man, it is to be noticed:
What draws our attention in the creation of man, is God’s saying:
“Let us make man in our image, according to our Likeness”
“So God created man I His own image; in the image of God He created him”
(Gen. 2: 26, 27)
Something we have not heard of for any other creation; He created a soul which carries the image of the Holy Trinity, and according to the likeness of God.
Before presenting comments of some fathers of the early Church in this concern, I should like to refer concisely to contemporary atheistic philosophies, in order to realize how they are based
upon some misunderstanding of the true relationship between God and man, and of the significance of the creation of man in God’s image.
We know that contemporary atheism is a rejection of God, more than a denial of His existence; Contemporary atheists do not deny the existence of God, but they disregard His existence; or actually, they wish to free themselves from Him, as according to them He enslaves man and deprives him of his humanity. That is why, the German atheist ‘Henry Hane’ said: [Let us leave heaven for angels and sparrows]’ and the French Poet ‘Briver’ said: [Our Father who art in heaven, stay there]. Then came Karl Marx with his atheism, in which he partly took after the views of the Philosopher ‘Fobach’ (1804 - 1872), who said: The greatest point of transformation in history, will be the moment, in which man realizes that the only God is man himself -- Homo homini deus]. So, ‘Fobach’ wanted man to be a God for himself, with no-one to suppress his breath; then Karl Marx came to deny the existence of God, for no reason except to confirm that of man; he wrongly believed that religion is (an alienation from man), by escaping to what is named (God). Now, I am not intending to discuss these views here,but I shall refer the reader to the admirable research, written by Professor ‘Costi Bandali’. What I wish to stress the fact that, what motivated these atheist philosophers, was their misunderstanding of God’s valuation for man. God is not an enemy of human freedom, as claimed by Marxists, nor His existence is set upon man’s inability and humility, but He created man in His image, to let him accept hisCreator as a Friend, responding to Him, not on a level of weakness and humiliation, but on that of freedom, of love, and of friendship. We shall see, in our study of the Holy Bible as a whole, that its main line is setting man in God’s image and according to His likeness, to make of him His heir with Christ, a partner with Him in eternal glory. We see God running after man to embrace him, not to destroy him, and to lift him up far above material life. Even after man’s fall, we hear the Lord Christ, the Word of God, say: “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you”
(John 15: 15).
God’s existence, is not set upon denying man’s life and dignity; But God descended to lift us up to Him. The eastern Theology, in the early centuries, came summarized in a well famed phrase, mentioned by many father, although in different styles: [God became man, to make of man a god]. What the contemporary atheists carry, of a longing toward Deity, is actually an inner thirst toward eternity, set through the imagethat only man enjoyed among all earthly creatures; and as Costi Bandali says: [The limitless hopes of man, is in man, the image of the limitless God, who invites him to share His life].
Karl Marx, thought of making himself a god for himself, through his denial of the existence of God; and did not realize that what he harbors inside him of yearning to Deity, is a fruit of being created in God’s image, despite its deviation from its supposed course. Marx, incapably, faced the (problem of death); so tried to avoid it in his voluminous work, except once, because of his confusion before death, and his realization that, then, he would lose the deity he set for himself. That became clear in his saying: [The death of my son hurt me real bad, that I still feel the
bitterness of losing him like that very day]. Here, every hope he has is destroyed, and his
meaning of ilfe is lost. The Marxists, in a state of confusion, then began to debate, in their
conventions, the problem of “Meaning of life and death”.
If contemporary atheists, thought that, in distorting the relationship with God, they are strengthening the human being; We say that our unity with God, who created us in His image and according to His likeness, and died to save us, has granted us fellowship of His nature, and enjoyment of His glories beyond the limits of time and place. We carry His image, as though we are His personal (coins), not to be confiscated by another, but to get attracted to Him, for the original to get together with the image; and as the Lord says: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22: 21).. As we are carrying His image, we yearn to join Him and enjoy His bosom.
The following are some comments of fathers about the creation of man in God’s image and according to His likeness:
+ Notice the exaltness of the creation of man, that is not to be compared with the creation of heaven or earth, of sun or of moon.
+ What is created in God’s image is our invisible inner man, not the carnal nor the mortal; By these real features, the image of God is characterized and recognized.
(Scholar Origen)
+ What the Lord said when He saw the coin of Caesar, is as though He is saying, As Caesar requests you to seal his image, so God also requests; Thus Caesar’s coin would be given back to him; while the soul would be returned to God, enlightened and sealed with the splendor of His image.
+ You have printed Your features on us ! You created us in your image and according to Your likeness ! You made us Your Coins; yet Your coins should not remain in darkness. Send the ray of Your wisdom to scatter our darkness, for Your image to shine in us.
+ Do not think of how to pay Him back ... Give Him back His image; He does not ask for more
... He wants His coin back ... Do not give Him something of yours; As when you do that, you would give Him sin.
(St. Augustine)
God created the human soul in His image and according to His likeness, namely after the example of the Holy Trinity; It is a living, uttering being; and although it is of one essence, in its being and nature, yet, being, is not uttering, nor life. So, with great difference, the Father is His own being, uttering is His Word, and life is the Holy Spirit. God is One in essence, being by Himself, uttering by His Son, living by the HolySpirit.
Only in the creation of man, God says: “Let us make” , in pleural ; as the Holy Trinity likes to work together with pleasure, for the sake of this beloved creature.
God created man at the end, to crown him a king over creation; and as we say in the Gregorian Liturgy, that He did not let him in need ofanything ...; He created everything for his sake and gave him authority, saying:
“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have domination over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth”
(Gen 1: 28)
He did not create him a humble being in humiliation; but one of authority over himself as well as over all creatures.
The scholar Origen says: [That refers to what springs of the soul, and to whims of the heart, or to carnal lusts. Saints who are honest in the blessing of the Lord, have authority over these things, over their whole man according to the will of the Spirit; not like sinners who fall under the authority and lusts of the body]. The true Christian, according to (Mar) Isaac, the Syrian, is a king, of authority, who tells this thought to go away, and that to come, to be obeyed in either cases.
Man was created in the sixth day, or the sixth stage, to have God see everything that He has made, not as “good”, but as “very good” (Gen. 1: 31). Then, God rested on the seventh day, that is to say rejoiced in man, the object of His love. As man was created in the sixth day, the Lord Christ offered His life a sacrifice on the cross, to restore His creation or to renew it spiritually on the sixth day, and in the sixth hour. St. Augustine believes that the Lord Christ came to man in the sixth stage to renew him and to get him back to the image of God; as he (St. Augustine) divides the history of salvation into the following periods: The first, from Adam to Noah, the second from Noah to Abraham, the third from Abraham to David, the fourth from David to the captivity by Babylon, and the fifth from the captivity of Babylon to the mission of John the Baptist. Now we are in the sixth stage or the sixth day, when the Lord Christ came to renew our creation until the world comes to an end, and we enter into His rest, in the day of the Lord, or in the seventh day.
In His talk about creation, He mentioned that of man, in a very concise and accurate way, saying: “Male and female He created them” (Gen. A: 27); although He would, later on, deal with the creation of Adam then Eve in more detail. At the beginning He said that “male and female He created them”, to confirm that we have one father and one mother, to bind all humanity with one blood bond ..., beside confirminganother aspect, that is the sanctification of the secret of matrimony between man and woman, being the secret of unity between the two of them. The scholar Origen says: [All the works of God are in united pairs -- as heaven and earth, sun and moon, and so the Book aimed to reveal that man. As the work of God, is not to be realized without the consummation in a unity that fits him]. In other words, God createdman, as
male and female, to have in them a movement of love one toward the other, not in a lustily carnal way, but in what is far more exalted, as a sign of an inner life, that gives with no expectation of a reward. If the Holy Trinity is the Trinity of love, that eternally react together in a movement of love, so God wants humanity to carry a true movement of love, for the sake of the nature of inner love, and not for any expected reward. That is probably the first goal of human life in general; as well as that of the life of marriage.
The Book says:
“Then God blessed them, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have domination ...”
(Gen. 1: 28)
And as St. Augustine says: [Fruitfulness and multiplying to fill the earth, are a gift of blessing from God; the gift of marriage, set y God fromthe beginning, before the fall of man, when He “male and female He created them”, namely when He created them as two distinctive sexes]. And he also says: [Man could not be fruitful and multiply without the woman; so He gave him the woman, so as not to doubt the possibility of the blessing].
God created man as male and female in order to beget children, even if they had not fallen into the sin of rebellion, and not as some people think, that begetting came as the fruit of sin. That is why St. Augustine confirms that begetting is realized, not as a fruit of lust, but as a part of the glory of marriage, set by God Himself. He also rejects the perception that the sin committed by the first parents has been the carnal lust, that bared them of purity, but says that lust came as one of the fruits of rebellion.
Finally, the scholar Origen gives another allegoric interpretation, seeing in man a symbol of mind, and in woman that of spirit; as though it is a must that the two of them should unite in a holy life, as two harmonious factors, to beget children with authority over the earth, namely over the body and all its energies. That means, that there is no spiritual life without either the mind or the spirit, but the two of them should act in harmony, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, to be fruitful in the Lord, to please His heart.
In the New Testament, as God lifts us up to a heavenly angelical life, some people prefer a virgin life, not as a despite for marriage, but for the sake of dedicating their life to worship or ministry; according to the saying of the apostle Paul: “I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord -- how he may please the Lord. But he who is married, cares about the things of the world -- how he may please his wife” (1 Corinthians 7: 32, 33). In this the apostle is not despising marriage, but he is commending virginity. And as St. Jerome says: [While we allow marriage, we prefer virginity originating from it ... Is it an insult to the tree, ifits apples are preferred to its root or leaves ? ! ].