when he discusses the making of the man, here in this book.
Book VI 313 ture, as he did to Abraham, to Moses, to his Son through the cloud.15 But before there was any creation, in order that there might be a creation, it was spoken with that Word which was in the beginning, God with God; and because all things were made through him, and without him was made nothing (Jn 1:1.3), then of course the man too was made through him.
lt is certain, after all, that heaven was made with a word, because "he spoke and it was made"; and yet it is written: And the heavens are the work of your hands (Ps 102:25). And about what you could call this lowest basement level of the universe it is written: Since his is the sea and he made it, and the dry land his hands molded (Ps 95:5). This should not, therefore, be seen as the man's special privilege, that for the rest of creation "God spoke and they were made," while this one he made himself; or that he made the rest with a word, this one with his own hands. No, what gives the man his pre-eminence is that God made man to his image, in this respect that he gave him an intelligent mind, which puts him ahead of animals, something we have already discussed earlier on.16 lf, thus given the place of honor, he fails to understand so as to use it well, he will be compared to the beasts he has been put in charge of; that, you see, is what is written: The man, established in honor, did not understand; he was matched with the senseless cattle and became like them (Ps 49:12), because God also made the beasts, but not to his image.
22. Nor can it be said: "He himself made the man, while as for the beasts he gave the order and they were made"; he made both the man and them, after all, through his Word, through which all things were made. But because this same Word is both his wisdom and his strength ( 1 Cor 1 :24), his hand is spoken of as meaning, not a visible limb, but his effective power. This same text, you see, which says that God molded the man from the mud of the earth, also says that he molded the beasts of the field as well from the earth, when he led them to Adam, together with the flying things of heaven, to see what he would call them. That, you see, is what is written: And God still moldedfrom the earth all the beasts (Gn 2: 19). So if he himself formed both the man from the earth and the beasts from the earth, what pre-eminence does the man enjoy in this respect, other than that he was created to the image of God? This, however, not as regards the body, but as regards the intelligence of the mind, which we will talk about later on.
ln his body too, though, he has a characteristic which would be an indication of this, the fact that he was made upright in posture, by which to remind himself that he should not aim at earthly goals, like animals which get all their pleasure from the earth, which is why they all move about belly down, leaning forward horizontally. Thus his body too is adapted to his rational soul, not as regards the lineaments and
15. See, for example, Gn 18; Ex 3:2; Lk 9:35; Jn 12:28. 16. See Bk 111, 1 9,29—2 1 ,33. But there he keeps on referring the reader to what he is going to say when he discusses the making of the man, here in this book.