time—and which for most of his life he tended to equate too readily with Pauline and other
Unfinished Literal Commentary on Genesis1 lntroductory admonitions
1,1. The obscure mysteries of the natural order, which we perceive to have been made by God the almighty craftsman, should rather be discussed by asking questions than by making affirmations. This is supremely the case with the books which have been entrusted to us by divine authority, because the rash assertion of one's uncertain and dubious opinions in dealing with them can scarcely avoid the charge of sacrilege. On the other hand the doubts and hesita tions implied by asking questions must not exceed the bounds of Catholic faith. Many heretics, after all, have been in the habit of twisting their exposition of the divine scriptures to fit their way of thinking, which is quite at odds with the faith learned by Catholics. So before we undertake the study of this book of Genesis, we must briefly set out the Catholic faith.
2. Here then it is: that God the almighty Father made and established the whole ofcreation through his only-begotten Son, that is, through his wisdom and power2 consubstantial and co-eternal with himself, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, who is also consubstantial and co-eternal. So Catholic teaching bids us believe that this Trinity is called one God, and that he made and created all things that are, insofar as they are, to the effect that all creatures, whether intellectual or corporeal,1 or what more briefly according to the words of the divine scriptures can be called invisible or visible, are not born of God,4 but made by God out of nothing, and that there is nothing among them which belongs to the Trinity,
1 . Written shortly after Augustine was ordained priest in 393 or 394, according to the calculations of O. Perler. op. cit. 435. 2. See 1 Cor 1:24. 3. These are terms of the Neoplatonic philosophy which governed Augustine's thinking at this time—and which for most of his life he tended to equate too readily with Pauline and other biblical expressions. The "intellectual creation" was what Aristotle, developing Plato's ideas, would call separated substances, or subsistent intelligences (and which Christians would later equate with angels). These would also, however, for Augustine and the Neoplatonists. and indeed for Aristotle, include the human mind. 4. So one Vatican manuscript: non de Deo nata; others, followed by the Maurists. have non de Dei natura, "not of God's nature/substance."