one at a time, nonetheless the idea of a creature to be fashioned came first in the
Book IV 271 creator. When, however, this was done, there was something else to be made and known, with God saying, Let it be made, so that once again it would be made in the knowledge of the angelic mind, and again scripture could say, And thus it was made; then after that in its own proper nature, in which it would be known with the evening that followed.
50. And so it is, that even if here we do not have things happening at intervals, one at a time, nonetheless the idea of a creature to be fashioned came first in the Word of God, when he said, Let light be made; and then light itself followed, in which the angelic mind was formed, and made in its own nature. But it did not follow in such a way as to be made somewhere else; and that is why scripture did not first say, And thus it was made, and then go on to say, "And God made the light." But the light was made immediately after the divine utterance, and the created light adhered to the creating light, seeing itself in it, that is, seeing the idea according to which it was made. But it also saw itself in itself, that is, as being quite different, because made, from the one who made it. And that is why, after God had seen what had been made and been pleased with it because it was good, and light had been divided from darkness and light had been called day and darkness night, then evening also was made. This, because such knowledge too was necessary, to distinguish from the creator the creature known differently in itselffrom the way it was known in him; and then morning and something else to be foreknown, which was to be made by the Word of God, first in the knowl edge of the angelic mind, next in the actual nature of the solid structure.
And that is why scripture has, God said: Let a solid structure be made, and then goes on, And thus it was made, in the knowledge of the spiritual creation foreknowing it before it was made in itself. Next God made a solid structure, now of course the solid structure in its own nature, of which there would be a lesser, as it were evening, knowledge. And so on, right up to the end of all the works and up to God's resting, which has no evening because it was not made like a creature, with the possibility of knowledge of it being reduplicated, the first and major kind in the Word of God as in the day, the subsequent and minor kind in itself as in the evening.
Whether all things were created simultaneously, or one by one during the six days
33, 5 1 . But if the angelic mind is able to grasp all the things simultaneously, which the text puts one after the other in an ordered chain of causes, does that mean that the things which were being made were all made simultaneously, like the solid structure, like the collection of waters and the appearance of bare lands, like the shooting up of shrubs and trees, the arranging of the great lights and stars, the aquatic and terrestrial animals, and not rather made one after the other