PRIMA VISIO, cap. VII
God's Foreknowledge Before Time
All things existed in God's presence before time, appearing in the Divinity like reflections in water, and were clothed with form at his creative word.
Everything God has done, he held in his presence before time began. For in the pure and holy Divinity, all things visible and invisible appeared without moment and without time, before the age — just as trees or other creatures near water are seen in the water, although they are not bodily in it, yet their every formation appears in it.✦ When, however, God said, "Let it be made," they were immediately clothed in formation — the very things his foreknowledge, before the age, beheld as having no bodies.✦
Mirrors, Light, and Shadows of Foreknowledge
God's works shine in the Divinity like images in a mirror, and his foreknowledge beheld every creature before embodiment, just as light reveals forms through shadow and the sun's splendor precedes its substance.
For just as in a mirror all things that are before him shine, so in the holy Divinity all his works appeared without the age of times.✦ And how could God be empty of the work of his foreknowledge, since every work of his, once it is clothed with a body, is full in the office that is present to it — because the holy Divinity itself, by knowing, recognizing, and ministering to itself, foreknew that it would be present? Just as even a ray of light reveals each creature's form through its shadow, so the pure foreknowledge of God beheld every formation of creatures before they were embodied — because the work God was about to do shone forth in his foreknowledge, by this likeness, before that same work took on a body, just as a person sees the splendor of the sun before he can look at its substance.1
Angelic Praise and the Face Before the Body
As the sun's light reveals the sun, angelic praise reveals God, and just as a face must be seen before the body is recognized, God's foreknowledge precedes and makes possible his work.
And just as the splendor of the sun points to the sun itself, so the angels, by praising God, make him known; and just as the sun cannot exist without its own light, so the Divinity cannot exist without the praise of angels. God's foreknowledge went first, and his work followed; and if his foreknowledge had not gone first, his work would not have appeared — just as, if a person's face is not seen, his body goes unrecognized. But when the face is seen, the body is praised.
Foreknowledge and Work United in God
God's foreknowledge and his work are one in him.
And so God's foreknowledge and his work are in him.
The Fallen Angels' Powerless Pride
The devil and the rebellious angels, once mighty, are now reduced by their pride to doing only what heaven permits.
The devil and the angels who deserted justice were once of great power, but because of their ingratitude or their pride they have been reduced to this point: that in all creation they can do nothing beyond what is permitted them by heaven's decree.23
Read the original Latin
Omnia quidem quae Deus operatus est, ante principium temporis in praesentia sua habuit. In pura enim et sancta Divinitate cuncta visibilia et invisibilia absque momento et absque tempore ante aevum apparuerunt, quemadmodum arbores vel alia creatura aquis vicina in ipsis videntur, quamvis in eis corporaliter non sint, sed tamen omnis formatio earum in ipsis apparet. Quando autem Deus dixit: Fiat, statim formatione induta sunt, quae praescientia ipsius ante aevum nulla corpora habentia intuebatur. Sicut enim in speculo omnia quae coram ipso sunt radiant, sic in sancta Divinitate omnia opera ejus sine aetate temporum apparuerunt. Et quomodo Deus praescientiae suae opere vacuus esset, cum omne opus ipsius postquam corpore induitur, in officio quod ei adest plenum sit, quod ipsa sancta Divinitas sciendo, cognoscendo, ministrando sibi adesse praescivit. Nam quemadmodum etiam radius cujusque luminis quamque formam creaturae per umbram ostendit, sic pura praescientia Dei omnem formationem creaturarum, antequam incorporatae essent, intuebatur, quoniam opus quod Deus facturus erat in praescientia ipsius antequam idem opus incorporaretur, secundum similitudinem hanc enituit, velut homo splendorem solis aspicit, priusquam substantiam ipsius intueri possit. Et sicut splendor solis ipsum indicat, ita etiam angeli Deum laudando ostendunt; et quemadmodum fieri non potest ut sol absque lumine suo sit, sic nec Divinitas sine laude angelorum est. Praescientia etenim Dei praecessit, et opus ipsius subsecutum est; et si praescientia Dei non praecessisset, opus ejus non apparuisset, quemadmodum si facies hominis non aspicitur, corpus ipsius non cognoscitur: cum autem facies hominis videtur, corpus ejus laudatur.
Itaque praescientia Dei et opus ejus in ipso sunt.
Quod diabolus et angeli desertores justitiae, cum prius magnae essent potentiae, propter ingratitudinem vel superbiam suam ad hoc redacti sunt, ut in omni creatura nihil possint nisi quantum superno nutu permittuntur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Col.1.16 — For in him all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him.
- ↩Gen.1.3 — And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
- ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Notes
- 1 ↩enituit (from eniteo, 'shine forth') is rare; rendered as 'shone forth' to preserve the luminous analogy
- 2 ↩Quod may function as a causal connective ('because') or introduce an explanatory clause; the causal reading is chosen here because the sentence explains the vision's content. 'Desertores justitiae' ('deserters of justice') is rendered to preserve the moral-legal force of the Latin rather than softening it to 'rebels' or 'sinners.'
- 3 ↩'Superno nutu' (literally 'supernal bidding/nod') is rendered 'heaven's decree' to convey divine permissive will without collapsing it into mere permission or into deterministic language.
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