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Chapter 43LDO.2.43

VISIO QUINTA, cap. XLIII

The Earth Brought Forth Living Creatures

God commands the earth to bring forth animals according to their kinds, and the vision interprets livestock, creeping things, and wild animals as serving, teaching, and honoring humanity, culminating in the divine decree to make human beings in God's image and likeness with dominion over all creatures.

"God also said: Let the land bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things and wild animals of the earth according to their species." "This is how you should understand it. In his eternal Word, God commanded that the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds — that is, the different kinds of animals, each in its own form — namely, livestock, which would serve humanity, and creeping things, through which people would learn to fear God; and wild animals too, which would show them God's honor, with each creature bearing the appearance of its own kind. And so it was fulfilled, so that human beings would have the fullness of all these creatures at their disposal: choosing what would serve their need and passing over what would be harmful to them, and in this way the honor due to them would be complete. For livestock attach themselves to people, but creeping things shrink from them; wild animals flee from them, and yet human beings have dominion over all of these. "And God made the wild animals according to their species, and the livestock, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its kind" — namely, wild animals, whose ferocity strikes fear into people; livestock, which serve them; and creeping things too, which hide themselves from them, as was said before. "And God saw that it was good, and said: Let us make human beings in our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild animals, every creature, and every creeping thing that moves on the earth." "Looking upon his own goodness, God saw that it was good and profitable for the whole world to be filled with the honor due to human beings. And, as if calling a human being to a banquet, he said — we who are one power, of one divine substance in three persons: 'Let us make human beings in our image' — that is, according to that garment which will take root in the womb of the Virgin, which the Son's person, for the salvation of humanity, will clothe himself in, coming forth from her womb while it itself remains whole and untouched. The divine nature will never depart from that garment, but the human soul, for the redemption of that same human being, will strip off the body through death, and through the power of the divinity raising it up, will take it up again. "Let us also make them in our likeness, so that knowingly and wisely they may understand and discern what they are to carry out through their five senses, and so that through the rational power of their life — which will be hidden within them, which no creature dwelling in a body can see — they may know how to rule over the fish that swim in the waters, the birds suspended in the air, and the untamed wild animals, over every creature that dwells on the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the ground, because the rational power of the human being surpasses all of these.

Made in the Image of God

God creates man in His image, male and female, and the vision unfolds how the soul mirrors the invisible God, how woman is drawn from man as from a living source, and how both sexes are necessary for the multiplication of the human race.

"And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them, and God blessed them and said: 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and all the living creatures that move upon the earth.'" God created man according to the form of human flesh, the form in which his Son was to be clothed without sin, just as a person makes his own garment in his own likeness — that is, according to the form that God foreknew before all ages.✦ He created man — the male, that is, of greater strength, and the woman of softer vigor — making and arranging in upright measure the length and breadth through all his members, just as he also set the height, depth, and breadth of the rest of creation in its proper state, so that none of them might improperly overstep another. In this way, too, God has marked every creature in man, and within him he has arranged the likeness of an angelic spirit — that is, the soul — which works in the form of a human being, and which is not seen by any creature while it is in the body, just as the divinity cannot be seen by any mortal creature. For the soul is from heaven, but the body is from earth, and the soul is known through faith, while the body is known through sight. God created the male, to be sure, and the female; but the male first, and the woman afterward, taking her from the man and bringing her forth from him, just as the male, through the strength of his own powers, begets those powers that are hidden within him.✦ For through winter and summer fruits grow and are brought forth, and without these none are brought to maturity. Through the root of a tree as well, which holds its vitality within itself, flowers and fruit are nourished and come from one source; so through male and female many are procreated, who yet proceed from one Creator. For if the male alone, or if the female alone existed, no human being would be begotten.

Blessed to Fill the Earth

God blesses husband and wife as one flesh, commands them to multiply and have dominion over all creatures, and the vision reveals the eschatological hope of the land of the living where humanity will fellowship with the Lamb, rejoicing that God became man.

So husband and wife are also one, since the husband is like the soul, and the wife is like the body. He blessed them — the one on whom angels gaze, knowing and praising — and commanded that they would grow in increase and advance in multitude, that they would fill the earth under his rule and subject it to themselves, so that while being worshipped by man, he would break forth into fruit; and that they would also rule over the swimming creatures in the waters and those flying through the air, because these surpass with the unfolding of the five senses and all living beings that have the movement of the vital air while living upon the earth, since they excel in that glory of rationality.✦12 For when man is brought to the full number, just as God established him, he will come to that land which is called the land of the living, formed from earthly men, and then he will have fellowship with the Lamb in the heavens.3 O how great a joy it is that God deigned to become man — divine among angels, human among us! Therefore he is truly believed to be both God and man. And so God also placed man at his own side and at the full number that never departs from man, because he acted toward him like a father to his own son, who distributes to him the inheritance that pertains to him, when he subjected to him the fish and the birds and all living things that are moved upon the earth without rationality by living.✦45

The Provision of Food and the Gift of Sight

God gives every plant and tree for food to all living creatures, the vision explains how all life is nourished through the greenness of the earth, and then turns to the beatific vision — that only the perfected soul will see God face to face after the sixth day of mortal life is complete.

And God said: "See, I have given you every plant that bears seed upon the earth, and every tree that has in itself the seed of its own kind, to be food for you and for all the living creatures of the earth, and for every bird of the sky, and for all that moves on the earth and in which there is a living soul, so that they may have something to eat"; and so it was done.✦ In his inextinguishable Word, God said that he had given humankind seed-bearing plants and trees that send forth seed from themselves, to be food for them — not that a person eats all plants and trees, but that the living creatures that feed on plants and the fruits of trees are nourished by them, and that he also granted that, among the creatures inhabiting the earth, the birds, and all that move here and there in their motions upon the earth, and in which the vital air is contained, humankind should have sustenance.✦ For all things that live on the earth are known to be nourished by that greenness which springs up from the earth; not in the sense that every animal uses plants or the fruits of trees, but in the sense that when one thing offers itself as food to another, it is nourished through the use of the aforementioned little herbs and green shoots. And God's command was fulfilled in this way, since everything that exists is subject to the will of God; and every arrangement of God on account of humankind was accomplished in the creatures. For a human being who is unfailing in soul will see God, who never began and will never receive an end, after the last day, because as long as a person waxes and wanes like the moon — that is, while mortal — they will not see God, except to the extent that God shows himself to people in the shadow of prophecy as it pleases him. For when God made the beginning of the human being, he then also foresaw that person's final time, and also the time when, emerging from the mother's womb, they would need to be regenerated anew through water in the Holy Spirit.✦ "And God saw all that he had made, and it was very good," since he had created all creatures in full perfection without any deficiency, and that goodness was such that they would have no defect.✦ And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.✦

The Sixth Day and the Church's Allegory

The sixth day thunders its fulfillment upon the predestined man who will fill the place of the fallen angel and do diverse works across the six ages of the world; then the vision opens an allegorical reading in which the creatures of the earth represent the varied members of the Church living in catholic faith.

Once the beginning that God had brought about in the creatures mentioned above, and in the man he had predestined to take the place of the lost angel, was complete, the sixth day thundered its fulfillment upon the perfect man, and it also showed forth that this same man, through the six ages of the world, was about to do diverse works.✦✦ In another sense: How, in the allegory, through the Word of God spoken by the apostles concerning the land of the Church in the catholic faith, beasts of burden and creeping things and wild beasts—and also man, who ought to preside over all according to the differences of ages, understandings, or ranks among those living in the Church—and what has been brought forth, and what has been formed, and in what or toward what they are to grow and multiply, may be understood.✦6

Read the original Latin

« Dixit quoque Deus: Producat terra animam viventem in genere suo, jumenta et reptilia et bestias terrae secundum species suas . » Hoc considerandum sic est. In inexstinguibili Verbo suo jussit Deus ut terra animalia viventia in genere suo, id est diversa genera animalium, in formis suis produceret, scilicet jumenta, quae homini servirent, reptilia in quibus homo timorem Dei habere disceret; bestias etiam, quae illi honorem Dei demonstrarent; unumquodque animal speciem generis sui habens Quod et sic impletum est; quatenus homo omnem plenitudinem in eis haberet, ita ut illud eligeret quod ad necessitatem suam sibi prodesset, illudque negligeret quod sibi contrarium foret, et hoc modo honor ejus plenus foret. Jumenta enim homini se adjungunt, reptilia autem eum abhorrent; bestiae vero eum fugiunt, et omnibus his dominatur. « Et fecit Deus bestias juxta species suas, et jumenta; et omne reptile terrae in genere suo , » videlicet bestias quae ferocitate sua timorem homini incutiunt, jumenta quae illi serviunt, reptilia quoque quae se coram co abscondunt, ut praefatum est. « Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum et ait: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram, et praesit piscibus maris, et volatilibus coeli et bestiis, universaeque creaturae, omnique reptili quod movetur in terra . » Vidit intuitu bonitatis suae quod esset bonum et utile ut totus orbis terrarum plenitudinem honoris hominis haberet, et ait quasi hominem ad prandium vocans, qui una vis unius substantiae divinitatis in tribus personis sumus: « Faciamus hominem ad imaginem nostram, id est secundum tunicam illam quae in utero Virginis germinabit, quam persona Filii pro salute hominis induens, de utero illius, ipsa integra permanente, exibit, et a qua tunica divinitas nunquam recedet, sed humana anima pro redemptione ejusdem hominis corpus per mortem exuet, illudque per potentiam Divinitatis suscitantem, iterum resumet. Faciamus quoque eum ad similitudinem nostram, ut scienter et sapienter ea intelligat et discernat, quae in quinque sensibus suis operaturus est, ita ut etiam per rationalitatem vitae suae, quae intra ipsum abscondetur, et quam nulla creatura in corpore manens videre potest, praeesse sciat piscibus qui in aquis natant, et volatilibus in aere suspensis et bestiis indomitis, universaeque creaturae super terram commoranti, omnique reptili se moventi in terra, quia rationalitas hominis omnia haec praecellet.

« Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam, ad imaginem Dei creavit illum, masculum et feminam creavit eos, benedixitque illis Deus et ait; Crescite et multiplicamini et replete terram, et subjicite eam, et dominamini piscibus maris et volatilibus coeli, et universis animantibus quae moventur super terram » Creavit Deus hominem secundum formam humanae carnis, qua filius ejus sine peccato induendus erat, sicut et homo tunicam suam ad similitudinem sui facit, secundum formam utique illam quam Deus ante saecula praesciebat. Creavit hominem, masculum, scilicet majoris fortitudinis, feminam vero mollioris roboris, faciens et in recta mensura longitudinem et latitudinem in omnibus membris illius ordinans, quemadmodum etiam altitudinem, profunditatem et latitudinem reliquae creaturae in rectum statum posuit, ne aliqua illarum alteram inconvenienter transcendat. Sic et Deus omnem creaturam in homine signavit, et intra ipsum similitudinem angelici spiritus, hoc est animam ordinavit, quae in forma hominis operatur, nec ab ulla creatura dum in corpore est videtur, sicut nec divinitas ab ulla mortali creatura videri potest. Anima enim de coelo, corpus autem de terra est, et anima per fidem, corpus vero per visum cognoscitur. Masculum nempe et feminam Deus creavit; sed masculum prius, feminam vero postea de viro tollens, illaque parit, sicut et masculus per fortitudinem virium suarum generat, quae in ipso absconditae sunt. Per hiemem enim et aestatem fructus crescunt, et proferuntur, et absque istis nulli perficiuntur. Per radicem quoque arboris, quae viriditatem in se continet, flores et poma enutriuntur et ab uno sunt; ita per masculum et feminam multi procreantur, qui tamen ab uno creatore procedunt. Nam si masculus solus, vel si femina sola esset, nullus homo generaretur.

Unde etiam vir et femina unum sunt, quoniam vir est quasi anima, femina vero velut corpus. Benedixitque eis ille in quem angeli ipsum cognoscendo et laudando aspiciunt, et praecepit ut in augmentatione crescerent, et in multitudine proficerent, et imperio suo terram replerent, et eam sibi subjicerent, quatenus dum ab homine coleretur, in fructus prorumperet; et ut etiam dominarentur in aquis natantibus, et in aere volantibus, quia ea cum expansione quinque sensuum praecellerent, et omnibus animantibus motionem vitalis aeris super terram habentibus, quoniam illa gloria rationalitatis superarent. Cum enim homo in plenum numerum sicut Deus eum constituit perficietur, ad terram illam quae ex terrenis hominibus terra viventium nominatur proveniet, et deinde societatem cum Agno in coelis habebit. O quam magnum gaudium est, quod Deus homo fieri dignatus est, existens in angelis divinus, in hominibus humanus! Quapropter vere Deus et homo credendus est. Et ideo etiam Deus hominem ad tunicam suam, et ad plenum numerum qui nunquam ab homine secedit posuit, quia et illi velut pater filio suo fecit, qui ei haereditatem quae ad ipsum respicit, distribuit, cum ei pisces et volatilia omniaque viventia quae sine rationalitate vivendo super terram moventur subjecit.

« Dixitque Deus: Ecce dedi vobis omnem herbam afferentem semen super terram, et universa ligna quae habent in semetipsis sementem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam, et cunctis animantibus terrae, omnique volucri coeli et universis quae moventur in terra, et in quibus est anima vivens, ut habeant ad vescendum; et factum est ita . » In inexstinguibili Verbo suo dixit Deus, quod dederit homini herbam seminariam, ligna quoque in semetipsis sementem emittentia, ut sint illi in cibum, non quod homo omnibus herbis et lignis vescatur, sed quod illis animantibus pascatur quae et herbis et lignorum fructibus vescuntur, et quod etiam ei concesserit, ut in animantibus terram inhabitantibus, volucribusque et omnibus quae hac et illac in motibus suis in terra feruntur, et in quibus vitalis aer continetur habeat pastum. Omnia enim quae in terra vivunt viriditate illa quae de terra prorumpit vesci noscuntur; non ita quod omne animal herbis aut lignorum frugibus utatur; sed quod cum alterum alteri escam in semetipso exhibet, praedictarum herbularum et virentium ramusculorum usu nutriatur. Et praeceptum Dei hoc modo adimpletum est, quoniam omne quod est voluntati Dei subjectum est; cunctaque ordinatio Dei propter hominem in creaturis patrata est. Nam homo qui indeficiens in anima est, post novissimum diem Deum, qui nunquam incepit nec finem accipiet, videbit, quia quandiu homo ut luna crescit et deficit, scilicet dum mortalis est, Deum non videbit, nisi quantum ipse in umbra prophetiae se hominibus ut sibi placet ostendit. Cum enim Deus initium hominis fecit, tunc et novissimum tempus ipsius praevidit, et etiam tempus hoc quo, ex utero matris suae egrediens, per aquam denuo in Spiritu sancto regenerandus esset. « Viditque Deus cuncta quae fecerat, et erant valde bona, » quoniam omnes creaturas in plena perfectione absque omni defectione creaverat, illudque bonum erat, ut nullum defectum habitura essent. « Et factum est vespere et mane dies sextus .

» Finito principio illo quod Deus in praefatis creaturis et in homine fecerat, quem in locum perditi angeli praedestinaverat, dies sextus perfecto homine fulminabat, qui etiam eumdem hominem per sex aetates mundi diversa opera facturum praemonstrabat. Alio modo:

Quomodo juxta allegoriam per Verbum Dei loquentis per apostolos de terra Ecclesiae in fide catholica jumenta, et reptilia, et bestiae, homo quoque qui cunctis praeesse deberet secundum differentias aetatum, intellectuum, vel graduum in Ecclesia viventium, et illa producta, et iste formatus, et in quo vel ad quid crescere et multiplicari intelligatur.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.1.27-Gen.1.28 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Gen.1.28 — And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.'
  2. ↩Gen.2.21-Gen.2.22 — So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Gen.2.22 — And the LORD God built the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.
  3. ↩Gen.1.28 — And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.'
  4. ↩Gen.1.26-Gen.1.28 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Gen.1.28 — And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.'
  5. ↩Gen.1.29-Gen.1.30 — And God said, "See, I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food." Gen.1.30 — And to every living creature of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is a living soul—every green plant for food. And it was so.
  6. ↩Gen.1.29-Gen.1.30 — And God said, "See, I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food." Gen.1.30 — And to every living creature of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is a living soul—every green plant for food. And it was so.
  7. ↩John.3.5 — Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
  8. ↩Gen.1.31 — And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
  9. ↩Gen.1.31 — And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
  10. ↩Gen.1.31 — And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
  11. ↩Gen.1.26-Gen.1.27 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
  12. ↩Gen.1.24-Gen.1.26 — And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and wild animals of the earth, each according to its kind." And it was so. Gen.1.25 — And God made the living creatures of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.26 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The antecedent of 'ille' is ambiguous between God and man; the sense is likely that God blessed them (echoing Genesis 1:28), with 'ille' referring to God, the one angels gaze upon.
  2. 2 ↩The clause 'dum ab homine coleretur, in fructus prorumperet' is syntactically difficult; the subject of 'coleretur' appears to be God (worshipped by man), and 'prorumperet' may refer to God breaking forth into fruit through creation, or to man bearing fruit through worship.
  3. 3 ↩'Terra viventium' (land of the living) echoes Psalm 26:13 (Vulg.), but here is reinterpreted eschatologically as the heavenly homeland.
  4. 4 ↩The phrase 'ad tunicam suam' is unusual; it likely means 'at his side' or 'in his garment,' drawing on the image of the tunic from the previous section (LDO.2.43.2), where God clothed man in a fleshly tunic as a father clothes his son.
  5. 5 ↩The clause 'quae sine rationalitate vivendo super terram moventur' is difficult; it describes creatures living without rationality, moved upon the earth — the sense is that God subjected to man all living things that lack the rational soul.
  6. 6 ↩The demonstratives illa (feminine singular) and iste (masculine singular) are syntactically ambiguous. Illa producta most naturally refers to the feminine noun terra (the Church, 'brought forth' as mother), while iste formatus most naturally refers to homo (man, 'formed' from the dust). The translation preserves this pairing without foreclosing other readings.

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