De zona quae per medium fundum secundum longitudinem a fine usque ad finem arcae porrigitur, quomodo Ecclesiam figuret.
The Ark's Length as the Church Through Time
The belt running the full length of the ark signifies the Church's extension through time, from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.
It remains for us now to show what the other belt means — the one stretched across the middle of the bottom, running the full length of the ark from one end to the other. For if the ark signifies the Church, it follows that the length of the ark represents the length of the Church. Now the length of the Church is measured by the long stretch of time, just as its breadth is measured by the multitude of peoples. For the Church is said to be widened when the number of believers grows and many are gathered to the faith. Its length, moreover, consists in the long span of time by which it reaches from past things through present things to future things. The time of its length stretches from the beginning of the world to the end of the age, because holy Church began among the faithful from the beginning and will endure to the end of the age. For we believe there is no time from the beginning of the world to the end of the age in which Christ's faithful cannot be found. Therefore this belt, which stretches from one end of the ark to the other, marks out the course of time from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.
Two Halves of Time: Fleshly and Spiritual Descent
The belt is divided at the column into two halves: the upper records fleshly descent from Adam to Christ, and the lower records spiritual succession of apostles, with the upper half further divided into three equal parts.
Now, the upper half, from the head of the ark up to the column, signifies all time from the beginning of the world up to the Incarnation of the Word; but the lower half, which runs downward from the column, designates all time from the Incarnation of the Word to the end of the age. So in the upper half, from the head of the ark up to the column, there is written the line of fleshly descent from Adam to Christ. In the other half, from the column downward, are written the names of the apostles, from Peter on, in the order in which they succeeded one another in governing the Church, as spiritual sons taking the place of their fathers. For from Adam to Christ there was the old generation, the one according to the flesh; and so the course of time in the earlier part of the age is marked off by fleshly descent. But in Christ there was a new generation, the one according to the Spirit; and so the course of time in the later part of the age — that is, after the coming of Christ — is bounded by spiritual descent. I arrange these generations in this way: the upper half, which runs upward from the column, I divide into three equal parts, and each one-third is a sixth of the whole length.
Read the original Latin
Restat nunc ut ostendamus quid sibi vult zona altera, quae per medium fundum secundum longitudinem a fine usque ad finem arcae porrigitur. Si enim arca Ecclesiam significat, restat ut longitudo arcae longitudinem figuret Ecclesiae. Longitudo autem Ecclesiae consideratur in diuturnitate temporum, sicut latitudo in multitudine populorum. Tunc enim Ecclesia dilatari dicitur, quando numerus credentium augetur, et multi ad fidem colliguntur. Longitudo autem ejus in prolixitate temporum consistit, qua de praeteritis per praesentia ad futura se extendit. Tempus autem longitudinis ejus est ab initio mundi usque ad finem, quia sancta Ecclesia in fidelibus suis ab initio coepit, et usque in finem saeculi durabit. Credimus enim nullum tempus esse ab initio mundi usque ad finem saeculi, in quo non inveniantur fideles Christi. Igitur zona ista, quae protenditur a fine usque ad finem arcae, designat cursum temporis ab initio mundi usque ad finem saeculi.
Medietas autem ejus, quae est superius a capite arcae usque ad columnam, significat omne tempus ab initio mundi usque ad incarnationem Verbi; altera vero medietas, quae est a columna deorsum, designat omne tempus ab incarnatione Verbi usque ad finem saeculi. Ideo in superiori medietate a capite arcae usque ad columnam, scribitur linea carnalis generationis ab Adam usque ad Christum. In altera autem medietate a columna deorsum scribuntur nomina apostolorum a Petro, ac deinceps eo ordine, quo sibi in regimine Ecclesiae quasi filii spiritales patribus successerunt. Quia enim ab Adam usque ad Christum vetus generatio fuit, quae est secundum carnem, ideo cursus temporum in priori parte saeculi per carnalem generationem distinguitur. Quia vero in Christo nova generatio fuit, quae est secundum spiritum, ideo cursus temporum in posteriori parte saeculi, id est post Christi adventum, per spiritalem generationem determinatur. Has autem generationes tali modo dispono: superiorem medietatem, quae est a columna sursum, in tres partes aequales divido, et unaquaeque tertia sexta pars est totius longitudinis.
De Arca Noe Morali et Mystica (On the Moral and Mystical Ark of Noah) companion
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