The Literal Meaning of Genesis
thing is made from nothing once the works were finished in which God created all things simultaneously, and I do not know if that theory can be proved with any clear evidence from the texts.!° Furthermore, we should not be asked to explain what a man cannot even understand; or if one can understand it, I doubt if he could persuade anyone else except the sort of man who, without any other person attempting to instruct him, is himself able to understand this sort of thing. It is safer, therefore, not to treat these problems with human conjectures but to examine diligently the word of God.
CHAPTER 5
The soul is not created from the angels or the elements or the substance of God.
8. I can think of no text in the canonical books of Scripture to support the theory that God creates souls from angels functioning as parents, much less from the elements of the corporeal world. However, one might cite the passage in the book of the prophet Ezekiel where the resurrection of the dead is described with the restoration of their bodies, when the breath from the four winds of heaven is summoned, and as it blows they are brought to life and rise up: And the Lord said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord, From the four winds of heaven come and breathe upon these dead and let them live.' So I prophesied as the Lord commanded me, and the breath of life entered into them, and they came back to life and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.'}
Here, it seems to me, these words foretold in prophetic language that men would rise up not only from the field where this action was portrayed but from all over the earth, and I think this was symbolized through the wind blowing from the four parts of the world.'? For the breath from the body of our Lord was not the substance of the Holy Spirit when He breathed and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, but by doing this He signified that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him as this breath proceeded