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Chapter 7PazmanyKalauz.1.7

2. A mennyei egekrűl

Call to Contemplate Creation

The chapter opens by urging us to set aside deeper mysteries and instead behold the order and beauty of creation, which reveals God's power, wisdom, and goodness, supported by Scripture and the purpose of man's upright posture.

For now, setting aside a deeper meditation on such fine testimonies, let's briefly consider the marvelous order, beauty, fitness, and wise guidance of created creatures—from which God's mighty power, wisdom, and goodness are made known, and it's clearly recognized that Opus naturae est opus intelligentiae: the work of nature is the work of intelligence, the deed of an intelligent Providence, in which God's wisdom shines.1 On this the Scripture teaches with words that fill us with wonder: Ecclesiasticus 43. And it says that the beasts of the field and the birds of the air—indeed, every created creature—plainly cry out that they did not create themselves, but God made them. Because God made man with an upright, beautiful, and tall frame for this very purpose—so that he could constantly gaze at the heavens (“Look at the sky, for the spectacle of which God, the craftsman of the work, has stirred you”) and come to know God’s mighty wisdom shining in the heavens—it is right that we too carefully look at their beauty.2

Heaven's Vastness and Earth's Humility

The enormous scale of the heavens—the sun, stars, and firmament—dwarfs the earth, exposing the folly of human ambition and worldly empire, with classical and scriptural echoes.

First: the height and greatness of the heavens are wonderful; the beauty of the firmament is its height. For, as Basil and Seneca write, although the sun and the stars look smaller to us than the Earth because of their distance—just as grown people do, and even high mountains and towers look tiny when they're far away—still the sun is much larger than the whole round of the earth: the sun, which reason proves is greater than the whole globe of the earth, our eyesight has so shrunk that wise men have argued it is only a foot across.3 And it is so much larger that, by the mathematicians' reckoning, it is a hundred and sixty-six times as great as the earth. Compared with a sparkling or shining star, the whole earth is like a little pinprick. For according to the teaching of the mathematicians, among the one thousand and twenty-two stars of the eighth heaven that our eyes can mark (the number of the rest, like the sand of the sea, God alone knows), there are some so large that they are a hundred and seven times greater than the earth, though because of the great distance they look small.4 The mathematicians write that the sphere of the starry heaven is twenty-two thousand six hundred twelve times greater than the sphere of earth and sea; and they say that the whole sphere of the earth—whose exact measure God alone knows (though according to Ptolemy's opinion it holds twenty-two thousand five hundred Italian miles, that is nearly six thousand Hungarian miles)—is, compared with the firmament, no more than a little poppy seed.5 From this Seneca and Pliny show what fools they are who puff themselves up over this little worldly empire of theirs; for even if the whole earth were entirely theirs, it would still be a dominion hemmed in by narrow bounds: a point of the world (for the Earth is nothing else in the universe) is the stuff of our glory. Here we hold our honors, here we wield our power, here the human race is in uproar, here by killing one another we make the earth roomier.6 From this speck, take away everything covered by the encircling ocean, everything measured by so many rivers and deep marshes; add lakes and ponds as well. Take away not only the lands frozen with cold, or scorched and burned by fire, but also the mountain ridges rising toward the sky, steep even to the eye, the forests and sheer valleys, and the wastelands left empty for a thousand reasons: what share of the earth does the man enjoy who has stretched his fields farthest—even as far as his greed demanded?7 This is the speck that so many nations divide among themselves by sword and fire. How ridiculous are the borders of mortal men! And the greatness of the heavens is surely beyond imagination—heavens in which so many and so vast stars look like nothing more than little torches scattered here and there.

God's Majesty and the Swift Heavens

Compared with God, even the vast heavens are nothing; God's infinite greatness is shown in His command that gives the firmament its unthinkable speed, and in His goodness in creating it for humanity.

Compared with God's greatness, all of these are nothing. For Isaiah writes that God measures all the waters with the hollow of his hand and spans the heavens with his handspan.✦ God has no handspan, palm, or hollow of the hand; but with comparisons like these the prophet makes known how much greater God is than the heavens—so much so that Caeli caelorum ipsum non capiunt: the heavens of the heavens cannot contain him.8 From this—from the great magnitude of the heavens revolving around the earth—Aristotle concludes that the human mind can't grasp how swiftly the firmament turns, circling the whole earth in twenty-four hours. For according to the mathematicians' teaching, any part of the firmament travels so far in one hour that if someone walked ten Hungarian miles every day, it would take two thousand nine hundred four years to go that far; and in the time it takes us to say one Our Father, any part of the firmament travels as far as a bird would go if, in that same span of time, it circled the whole earth seven times.9 And this ungraspable speed has no other cause than God's command: Great is the Lord who made it, and by his words it hastened on its course.10 From these things we can form a judgment of God's mighty majesty: for God spans this great heaven with a handspan, and next to Him the vast blue sky is as nothing.✦ From this fact God's goodness also becomes clear—He who created these great structures for the service of the ungrateful human race, as Moses writes.11

The Sun as Mirror of Divine Wisdom and Hope

The sun's providential course orders day and night and the seasons, revealing God's wisdom; St. Basil draws from this a lesson about the incomparably greater beauty of the eternal kingdom and of Christ, the Sun of Justice.

Besides this: the heavens move in such a marvelous revolution, and in such steadfast and fitting order, that anyone who has spent time studying them can see God's wisdom in them with wonder. That is why St. Basil writes that the wisdom of the Ruler of this world truly flashes in the sun's unceasing circuit around the earth, which usefully adorns the earth with the alternating of nights and bright days; and sometimes, coming higher toward us, it brings summer; sometimes, withdrawing, it leaves winter.12 For if night did not follow the day, and the fruits of the earth were not renewed by the night's moderate coolness and dews, they would burn up from the heat; nor could the human body have health and quiet rest. Likewise, if the sun did not sometimes travel higher and sometimes lower; if it did not divide the year into four parts; if it did not set autumn and spring between summer and winter, so that from great heat we would come down a slow stairway to the cold, and from the cold slowly return again to the warmth — neither the yield of our earthly fruits nor our continued health would be possible. Just as the wise man therefore teaches that whenever we look upon the sun, God's marvelous vessel, we should glorify the Creator, so St. Basil urges that when we see the sun and the bright stars, we should not only consider how much more beautiful than these the Creator is, but also, taking to heart the beautiful gifts with which God has visited his exiled, sinful servants, form a judgment of how much nobler beauties he gives in his holy kingdom to his chosen faithful: Through these riches he has already bestowed on us, he also gives us confidence in the promises, and by the experience of present things he confirms what we hope for. For if temporary things are like this, of what kind must the eternal be judged?13 And if the sun, which is subject to corruption, is so beautiful and so great — swift in its motion, making ordered circuits, having a moderate and fitting measure for the whole universe, and in beauty, like a clear eye of nature, adorning creation — if the sight of it is never enough, with what beauty do you think the Sun of Justice is endowed? If it is a punishment for the blind not to see this sun, what a punishment it is for the sinner to be deprived of the true light? Elsewhere he says that if the porch of God's house — if the den of wild beasts, the dwelling of exiled wanderers — has been adorned so beautifully, we can judge what the royal palace of the kingdom of heaven is like: If the courts of the saints are such, and the vestibules of the temple so glorious, so proudly splendid, that the abundance of their beauty, like flashes of lightning, overwhelms the eyes of the mind — what, I ask, are the Holy of Holies themselves?14

The Moon and Stars as Teachers of Faith

The moon's changes teach the instability of human fortune and urge moderation, while the fixed stars guide sailors, revealing God's ordering of all things for our benefit.

The moon's waning and waxing, which Scripture holds up as a wonder—its power and its works—plainly show God's power and wisdom. For, as Saint Basil writes, the sea is set in motion by the moon's power, so that it flows now one way, now another. Water creatures—crabs, oysters, snails, and even the marrow of the human brain and the pith and interior of trees—are fuller at the full moon.15 Over the winds and the changing of the seasons, too, the moon has great dominion.16 Finally, Basil sums it all up by saying that when we see the moon's changes, the instability of human circumstances should come to mind, and that, fearing swift change, we should conduct ourselves with moderation even in the fullness of our good fortune: By looking at the moon, let us thoroughly learn the condition of our own affairs, and let the swift change of human things come into our minds; and let us not claim much for ourselves because of life's prosperity, nor let ourselves be puffed up by fortune's uncertain breath. Let us despise the flesh, in which change especially holds sway; let us care for the soul, whose goods alone are known to be unchanging. Who could even begin to imagine the power of the heavens' adornment—the many stars—let alone count them? Among others, these have wonderful uses. Sailors have no other guides but the stars; above all, the North Star is so powerful that not only the magnet, but even the tip of an iron needle rubbed against a magnet, points straight toward it. By that the compass shows the hour; by that they carry ships thousands of miles across the sea on courses as reliable as a good coachman driving on a fine open road.17

Read the original Hungarian

Efféle szép tanúságok mélyebb elmélkedését most elhagyván, röviden tekintsük a teremtett állatok csudálatos rendit, ékességét, alkalmatosságát és szép bölcsességgel vezérlését; melyekből az Istennek hatalmas ereje, bölcsessége és jóvolta kinyilatkozik: és világoson ismértetik, hogy: Opus naturae est opus intelligentiae; a természet cselekedete, értelmes gondviselő cselekedete, melyben fénylik az Isten bölcsessége. Erre a Szentírás álmélkodtató szókkal tanít, Ecclesiastici 43. És azt mondja, hogy a mezei barmok és az égi madarak, sőt minden teremtett állatok nyilván kiáltják, hogy ők nem teremtették magokat, hanem Isten alkotta őket.

Mivel azért avégre alkotta Isten az embert igyenes, szép, sugár termettel, hogy az egeket szünetlen szemlélje; Caelum intuemini, ad cujus spectaculum vos excitavit artifex operis Deus; és Istennek az egekben tündöklő hatalmas bölcsességét megismérje: méltó, hogy mi is ezeknek szépségét figyelmetesen megtekintsük.

Elsőben: Csudálatos az egek magassága és nagysága; Altitudinis firmamentum, pulchritudo ejus est. Mert, amint Basilius és Seneca írják, noha nékünk a nap és a csillagok kisebbeknek tetszenek a Földnél, az ő távullétek miatt; szintén, mint az öreg emberek, sőt a magas hegyek és tornyok kicsinyeknek látszanak, midőn messze vannak; de azért a nap sokkal nagyobb a föld kerekségénél: Solem, quem toto Orbe terrarum majorem probat ratio, acies nostra sic contraxit, ut sapientes viri pedalem contenderent. És annyira nagyobb, hogy a matematikusok számvetése szerént százhatvanhatszor annyi, mint a föld. Egy szikrázó vagy ragyogó csillaghoz képest, olyan az egész föld, mint egy kis punctocska. Mert a matematikusok tanítása szerént, a nyolcadik égben való ezer és huszonkét csillagok közül, melyeket szemünkkel megjegyezhetünk (a többinek, mint a tenger fövenyének számát, csak Isten tudja), oly nagyok vannak, hogy százhétszer nagyobbak a földnél, noha a nagy messzeség miatt kicsinyeknek látszanak. A csillagos égnek kerekségét, a föld és tenger kerekségénél huszonkétezerszer, hatszáztizenkétszer nagyobbnak írják a matematikusok: és azt mondják, hogy az egész föld kereksége, melynek bizonyos mértékét egyedül Isten tudja (noha a Ptolomaeus vélekedése szerént huszonkétezer és ötszáz olasz mértföldet, azaz közel hatezer magyar mértföldet foglal magában), a firmamentomhoz képest annyi, mint egy mákszemecske. Ebből mutatja Seneca és Plinius, mely bolondok, akik felfuvalkodnak e világi birodalmocskában; holott ha mindenestül övék volna is a föld, keskeny határral környékezett birodalmok volna: Mundi punctus (neque enim est aliud Terra in universo) est materia gloriae nostrae. Hic honores gerimus, hic exercemus imperia, hic tumultuatur humanum genus, hic mutuis caedibus laxiorem facimus terram.

Detrahe huic puncto, quantum circumfluus Oceanus occupat, quantum mensura tot fluminum, tartarum paludum; adde lacus etiam; et stagna: detrahe non solum frigore rigentia, vel exusta flammis, ac cremata, sed elata quoque in caelum, et aspectu ipso ardua juga, sylvas vallesque praeruptas, et solitudines mille causis desertas: quota Terrae partegaudet, qui latissime; rura, vel ad mensuram avaritiae suae propagavit? Hoc est punctum, quod inter tot gentes ferro et igni dividitur. O quam ridiculi sunt mortalium termini! És bizonyára kigondolhatatlan az egek nagy volta, melyekben oly sok és oly nagy csillagok csak úgy látszanak, mint imitt-amott hintetett apró fáklyák:

Mindezek az Isten nagy voltához képest semmik. Mert Isaias írja, hogy Isten, markával megmér minden vizeket, araszával az egeket béfogja. Az Istennek arasza, tenyere és marka nincsen: de az ilyen hasonlatosságokkal ismérteti a próféta, mennyivel nagyobb Isten az egeknél; úgyhogy, Caeli caelorum ipsum non capiunt, az egek egei őtet meg nem foghatják.

Ebből, a föld körül forgó egek nagy voltából, azt hozza ki Aristoteles; hogy meg nem gondolhatja az emberi elme, mely sebes gyorsasággal forog a firmamentom, megkerülvén huszonnégy óráig az egész földet. Mert a matematikusok tanítása szerént, a firmamentomnak akármely része egy órában oly messze mégyen, hogy ha valaki mindennap tíz magyar mértföldet menne, kétezerkilencszáznégy esztendő kellene hozzá, hogy oly messze mehetne: és annyi üdő alatt, amennyiben egy Miatyánkot mondunk, a firmamentomnak akármely része annyit megyen, mennyit menne egy madár, ha azon üdő alatt hétszer az egész földet megkerülné. Ennek pedig a foghatatlan gyorsaságnak egyéb oka nincsen, hanem az Isten parancsolatja; Magnus Dominus, qui fecit illum, et in sermonibus ejus festinavit iter.

Ezekből az Istennek hatalmas felségérűl ítíletet tehetünk: mivel Isten ezt a nagy eget araszával általfogja; és őhozzá képest a kiterjedett kék ég olyan, mint semmi. Kitetszik ezen dologból az Isten jóvolta, ki ezeket a nagy alkotmányokat, a háládatlan emberi nemzet szolgálatjára teremtette, mint Mózes írja.

Ennek felette: Az egek oly csudálatos forgással, oly állhatatos és alkalmatos renddel viseltetnek, hogy aki ezek vizsgálásában forgott, álmélkodva szemlélheti bennek az Isten bölcsességét. Azért írja Szent Basilius; hogy e világ vezérlőjének bölcsessége ugyan villámlik a napnak föld körül való szünetlen forgásában, mely az éjszakák és világos napok változásival hasznoson ékesíti a földet; és néha hozzánk feljebb jövén, nyarat szerez; néha eltávozván, telet hágy. Ugyanis, ha a nap után éjszaka nem következnék, és a földi gyümölcsök az éjjeli mértékletes hűvösségtűl és harmatoktúl nem újulnának, kiégnének a hévség miatt: Az emberi testnek sem lehetne egészsége és csendes nyugodalma. Azonképpen, ha a nap néha feljebb, néha alább nem járna; ha az esztendőt négy részre nem osztaná; ha a nyár és tél közibe őszt és tavaszt nem vetne, hogy a nagy melegrűl lassú garádicson jutnánk a hidegre, és a hidegrűl viszontag lassan térnénk a melegre: sem földi gyümölcsünk termése, sem magunk egészséges maradása nem lehetne. Miképpen azért a bölcs arra tanít; hogy valamennyiszer a napot, az Istenek csudálatos edényét megtekintjük, dücsőítsük a teremtőt: azonképpen Szent Basilius arra int, hogy midőn a napot és a fényes csillagokat látjuk, nemcsak meggondoljuk, mennyivel szebb ezeknél a teremtő: de azt is eszünkbe vévén, mely szép ajándékokkal látogatta Isten számkivetett, bűnös szolgáit; ítíletet tegyünk, mennyivel böcsületesebb szépségeket ád szentországában választott híveinek: Per has, quas iam nobis tribuit, divitias, etiam promissorum nobis fidem facit, et experimento praesentium, ea quae speramus confirmat: Si enim temporaria, talia sunt; qualia censenda sunt aeterna? Et, si, qui corruptioni subjacet Sol, adeo pulcher est, adeo magnus; velox ad motum, et ordinatos circuitus faciens; moderatam et congruentem habens mensuram ad universum; pulchritudine autem, velut oculus quidam perlucidus naturae, decorans creationem: si insatiabilis est hujus aspectus; quali putas pulchritudine praeditus est Sol Justitiae? Si caeco poena est, hunc non videre; qualis poena est peccatori, vera luce privari? Másutt azt mondja, hogy ha az Isten házának pitvara; ha a vadak barlangja, a számkivetett bujdosók hajléka ily szépen felékesíttetett; megítélhetjük, minémű a mennyországbéli királyi palota: Si sanctorum atria talia sunt, et templi vestibula adeo gloriosa, adeo fastu superba; ut abundantia pulchritudinis suae, veluti fulgetris, oculos mentis obruat: qualia quaeso sunt ipsa Sancta Sanctorum?

A holdnak fogyása és nevekedése, melyet a Szentírás csudáltat; az ő ereje és cselekedeti, az Isten hatalmát és bölcsességét nyilván mutatja. Mert, amint Szent Basilius írja, a holdnak erejével indíttatik a tenger, hogy néha egyfelé, néha másfelé folyjon. A víziállatok, úgymint: a rákok, osztrigák, csigák, sőt még az emberek agyaveleje és a fák völgye és béli, teljesebbek holdtöltére. A szeleken és üdők változásán is nagy urasága vagyon a holdnak. Végezetre azzal fejezi bé mindezeket Basilius; hogy a hold változásit látván, az emberi állapatok állhatatlansága eszünkbe jusson, és a hamar változástúl félvén, mértékletesen viseljük magunkat jó szerencsénk teljességében: Aspectu Lunae, nostrarum conditiones rerum perdiscamus, in mentemque celerrima rerum humanorum nobis mutatio veniat: ac non multum nobis, ob vitae prosperitatem, tribuamus; non ob incertum fortunae flatum efferamur: despiciamus carnem, in qua potissimum versatur mutatio; curam Animae habeamus, cujus duntaxat bona immobilia esse constat.

Az egek ékességinek, a sok csillagoknak erejét ki tudná csak meg is gondolni, nemhogy előszámlálni? A többi között, csudálatos szép hasznok ezeknek; hogy a tengeren evezőknek nincs egyéb kalauzok a csillagoknál: kiváltképpen az északi csillagnak oly ereje vagyon, hogy nemcsak a mágnes, de a vas nyelvecskének mágneshez dörgölt hegyecskéje is, igyenesen arra a csillagra fordul; azáltal mutatja a compas az órát; azáltal hordozzák egynéhány ezer mértföldre a tengeren a hajókat, oly bizonyos utakon, mint a jó kocsis a szép térföldön kocsiját.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Isa.40.12 — Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens with a span, and enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
  2. ↩Isa.40.12 — Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens with a span, and enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Hungarian 'értelmes gondviselő cselekedete' unpacks the Latin 'opus intelligentiae' as the deed of an intelligent Providence (gondviselő), not bare intellect alone.
  2. 2 ↩Embedded Latin authority (Caelum intuemini, ad cujus spectaculum vos excitavit artifex operis Deus) is rendered in English for Modern Readable flow; source is patristic/classical, not marked as Scripture.
  3. 3 ↩öreg emberek can mean 'old people' or, in older Hungarian, 'grown/adult people'; rendered as grown people for the distance analogy.
  4. 4 ↩nyolcadik ég = the eighth heaven / sphere of the fixed stars in the Ptolemaic cosmos.
  5. 5 ↩kerekség can mean sphere, globe, or circumference; rendered as sphere to match the cosmic comparison with the firmament.
  6. 6 ↩Sentence is entirely Latin citation continuing the Seneca/Pliny material on the earth's littleness as the stage of human pride.
  7. 7 ↩Source spacing/punctuation looks corrupt: 'partegaudet' read as 'parte gaudet'; 'qui latissime; rura' read as continuous 'qui latissime rura…propagavit'. 'tartarum paludum' rendered as deep/hellish marshes; it may be a corruption of 'tantarum paludum' ('of so many marshes').
  8. 8 ↩Anthropomorphic terms (arasz, tenyér, mark) are denied of God as literal parts and treated as prophetic similitudes for divine immensity.
  9. 9 ↩magyar mértföld: historical Hungarian mile (mérföld), not the modern statute mile; kept as 'Hungarian miles' to preserve Pázmány's local measure.
  10. 10 ↩Source embeds the Latin Magnus Dominus, qui fecit illum, et in sermonibus ejus festinavit iter (cf. Sirach/Ecclus. 43:5 Vulgate, of the sun's course); rendered in modern English for register consistency.
  11. 11 ↩alkotmányokat here means created works/structures of the heavens, not political constitutions.
  12. 12 ↩The source preserves a geocentric picture ("around the earth"); rendered faithfully rather than modernized to heliocentric astronomy.
  13. 13 ↩"az Istenek csudálatos edényét" read as "Istennek" (God's marvelous vessel/instrument for the sun), a common early-modern orthography; cf. Sirach-style praise of the sun as the Most High's wondrous work.
  14. 14 ↩Basil's image treats the visible world as outer court/porch (and as den for beasts and dwelling for fallen exiles); the Latin then escalates from temple vestibules to the Sancta Sanctorum.
  15. 15 ↩Early modern 'fák völgye és béli' is taken as tree pith and interior (cf. Latin medulla / interiora), not 'valleys of trees'; that is the sense that fits Basil's natural-history claims about lunar swelling.
  16. 16 ↩'üdők' (archaic 'idők') can mean times, seasons, or weather; with winds, 'seasons' best carries the classical/Basilian sense of ordered temporal change.
  17. 17 ↩Hungarian «óra» is rendered as «hour» (compass-dial / timekeeping sense). In this navigational context it may also shade toward the compass dial’s reading or bearing.

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