36. On Genesis: A Refutation ofthe Manichees 11, 2, 3.
Introduction 3 1 in order to present this history as the continuous, purposeful saving activity of God on behalf of humanity. The "rest" of the creator on the seventh day is a symbol of the fact that after the ages of the world have run their course salvation history will end in a state of unalterable fulfillment.34 Only then will God's activity as creator have reached its definitive conclusion. When thus interpreted, the biblical story of creation shows the world and history to be the two areas in which God's creative action embodies and manifests its power to create and determine history. The thoughts that Augustine will develop on a large scale later on in his City of God are thus already set forth, in a nutshell, in On Genesis against the Manichees.
Structure
The work does not have a homogeneous structure. It is true that it took modern biblical scholarship to recognize that the story ofcreation in Genesis 1 -3 is made up oftwo different earlier narratives. But the early Christian interpreters were already aware that the account had two parts. In his first book, Augustine comments verse by verse on the first Genesis story (known today as the Priestly Document) and systematically discusses the objections of the Manichees. In the second book, however, he sets down the text of Genesis 2:4b—3:24 (known today as the Yahwist Document), and then explains some passages of it.
The result is the following structure.35 After a Prologue (1, 1 , 1-2) Book l first gives an historical commentary (secundum historiam) of the first story of creation (1, 2, 3—22, 34). The same text is then given a prophetic interpretation (secundum prophetiam). At a first level of understanding, the seven days of creation point ahead to the seven ages of human history (l, 23, 35-41). In a second interpretive perspective they symbolize the seven stages in the lives of the faithful: from the first awakening of faith to rest in God after death (I, 23, 42—25, 43). ln Book II, before beginning his exegesis, Augustine explains the way his treatment will be structured: "So then, this whole text must first be discussed in terms of history, and then in terms of prophecy. ln terms of history deeds and events are being related, in terms ofprophecy future events are being foretold."36 An historical commentary (lI, 3, 4—23, 36) is followed by an interpretation on prophetic lines (II, 24, 37—27, 4 1 ), which again contains two parts. The biblical text is first related to the situation of a human group, insofar as the creation of Adam and Eve point ahead to Christ and the Church (Il, 24, 37); then the text is
34. See ibid., 1, 22, 34; 1, 23, 41. 35. See D. Weber, "Communis loquendi consuetudo. Zur Strukiur von Augustinus, De Genesi contra Manichaeos" Studio Patristica 33 (1996) 274-279. 36. On Genesis: A Refutation of the Manichees 11, 2, 3.
32 On Genesis: A Refutation of the Manichees related to the situation of the individual, insofar as the fall refers to the danger that individual orthodox Christians may be led astray by heretics (II, 25, 38—27, 41). After the completion of the exegesis an epilogue (ll, 28, 42—29, 43) summarizes the most important Manichean criticisms of fundamental Catholic teachings about God, Adam, Eve, and Satan (lI, 42). These objections, formu lated mostly as questions, and the answer immediately given to each call to mind the method used in catechesis, while the brief summaries of the Manichean and the orthodox faiths (Il, 43) call to mind the creed entrusted to each candidate before baptism.
The importance which Augustine attaches in this work not only to its antiheretical elements but also to its didactic intention can be seen in the fact that his interpretation of the biblical text is not limited to the passages criticized by the Manichees. Especially in Book I, he does usually present the relevant objec tions of his adversaries, but he also gives his interpretation even of passages not queried by the Manichees. This latter approach is especially to the fore in Book ll, in which, apart from the concluding chapters, a reference to the Manichees is to be seen only occasionally.
Main contents
At first glance, Augustine's commentary resembles a series of answers to a series ofvery disparate questions. In fact, however, all the Manichean objections to the text of Genesis are reducible to this dilemma: one must accept the exis tence of an eternal principle that is parallel but opposed to God, or else one is caught up in a host of aporias and absurdities.
How did the Manichees argue? A day came, it is said (by Christians), when God created heaven and earth. But is it an acceptable hypothesis that a God exists who suddenly decided to create the world after not having done so previ ously through all eternity (1, 2, 3)?Why did he create at all (1, 2, 4)? According to Genesis, the earth was invisible and without any order. But it did already exist and must therefore have been previously created (I, 3, 5). Darkness covered the abyss. Therefore God himself was in darkness before he created light (l, 3, 6). Where did the darkness come from in which he existed at that point (1, 4, 7)? lt, too, likewise existed by necessity!
This Manichean interpretation was internally coherent. The same postulate of a dualism found expression in the various questions. Behind the Manichean mythology, which was at first sight recondite, there was a logically structured dogmatic system as follows: In the primeval beginning, before any history, there existed originally a dualism formed oftwo natures, that is, Light and Darkness or Good and Evil or God and matter. Manicheism combined this doctrine of the