CHAPTER THREE
THE MARVELLOUS POWER OF DIVINE WISDOM SHOWN IN THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND MAN
[1. In the creation of the world]
31. Eternal Wisdom began to manifest himself outside the
bosom of God the Father when, after a whole eternity, he made
light, heaven and earth. St John tells us that everything was
made through the Word, that is eternal Wisdom: "All things
were made by him" (Jn. 1:3; cf. Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:16-17).
Solomon says that eternal Wisdom is the mother and maker
of all things. Notice that Solomon does not call him simply
the maker of the universe but also its mother because the
maker does not love and care for the work of his hands like a
mother does for her child (Wisd. 7: 12,21).
32. After creating all things, eternal Wisdom abides in them
to contain, maintain and renew them (Wisd. 1:7; 7:27). It was
this supremely perfect beauty who, after creating the
universe, established the magnificent order we find there. He
it was who separated, arranged, evaluated, augmented and
calculated everything.
He spread out the skies; he set the sun, the moon, the
stars and the planets in perfect order. He laid the
foundations of the earth and assigned limits and laws to the
sea and depths to the ocean. He raised mountains and gave
moderation to all things even to the springs of water.
Finally, he says, "I was with God and I disposed everything
with such perfect precision and such pleasing variety that it
was like playing a game to entertain my Father and myself"
(Prov. 8:30-31).
33. This mysterious game of divine Wisdom is clearly seen in
the great variety of all he created. Apart from considering
the different species of angels whose number is well-nigh
infinite, and the varied brightness of the stars and the
different temperaments of men, we are filled with wonderment
at the changes we see in the seasons and the weather, at the
variety of instincts in animals, at the different species of
plants, at the diversified beauty of the flowers and the
different tastes of the fruits. "Let him who is wise
understand these things" (Hos. 14:10; cf. Jer. 9:12; Ps.
106:43). Who is the one to whom eternal Wisdom has
communicated his wisdom? That person alone will understand
these mysteries of nature.
34. Eternal Wisdom has revealed these things to the saints,
as we learn from their biographies. At times they were so
astonished at the beauty, the harmony and the order that God
has put into the smallest things, such as a bee, an ant, an
ear of corn, a flower, a worm, that they were carried away in
rapture and ecstasy.
[2. In the creation of man]
35. If the power and gentleness of eternal Wisdom were so
luminously evident in the creation, the beauty and order of
the universe, they shone forth far more brilliantly in the
creation of man. For man is his supreme masterpiece, the
living image of his beauty and his perfection, the great
vessel of his graces, the wonderful treasury of his wealth and
in a unique way his representative on earth. "By your wisdom
you appointed man to have dominion over every creature you
made" (Wisd. 9:2).
36. For the glory of this magnificent and powerful Worker I
must describe the original beauty and excellence of man as
created by divine Wisdom. But the state of man's grievous sin
has fallen upon me, poor miserable child of Eve, dulling my
understanding to the point that I can describe only very
imperfectly the work of man's creation.
37. We might say that eternal Wisdom made copies, that is,
shining likenesses of his own intelligence, memory, and will,
and infused them into the soul of man so that he might become
the living image of the Godhead. In man's heart he enkindled
the fire of the pure love of God. He gave him a radiant body
and virtually enshrined within him a compendium of all the
various perfections of angels, animals, and other created
things.
38. Man's entire being was bright without shadow, beautiful
without blemish, pure without stain, perfectly proportioned
without deformity, flaw, or imperfection. His mind, gifted
with the light of wisdom, understood perfectly both Creator
and creature. The grace of God was in his soul making him
innocent and pleasing to the most High God. His body was
endowed with immortality. He had the pure love of God in his
heart without any fear of death, for he loved God ceaselessly,
without wavering and purely for God himself. In short, man
was so godlike, so absorbed and rapt in God that he had no
unruly passions to subdue and no enemies to overcome.
Such was the generosity shown to man by eternal Wisdom
and such was the happiness that man enjoyed in his state of
innocence.
39. But, alas, the vessel of the Godhead was shattered into a
thousand pieces. This beautiful star fell from the skies.
This brilliant sun lost its light. Man sinned, and by his sin
lost his wisdom, his innocence, his beauty, his immortality.
In a word, he lost all the good things he was given and found
himself burdened with a host of evils. His mind was darkened
and impaired. His heart turned cold towards the God he no
longer loved. His sin-stained soul resembled Satan himself.
The passions were in disorder; he was no longer master of
himself. His only companions are the devils who have made him
their slave and their abode. Even creatures have risen up in
warfare against him.
In a single instant, man became the slave of demons, the
object of God's anger (Cf. Eph. 2:3), the prey of the powers
of hell.
He became so hideous in his own sight that he hid himself
for shame. He was cursed and condemned to death. He was
driven from the earthly paradise and excluded from heaven.
With no hope of future happiness, he was doomed to eke out a
pitiable life upon an earth under curse (cf. Gen. 3:10; 17:23;
4:11,12). He would eventually die like a criminal and after
death, together with all his posterity, share the devil's
damnation in body and soul.
Such was the frightful calamity which befell man when he
sinned. Such was the well-deserved sentence God in his
justice pronounced against him.
40. Seeing himself in such a plight, Adam came close to
despair. He could not hope for help from angels or any of
God's creatures. Nothing could restore his privileges because
he had been so eminently fair, so very magnificently fashioned
when he was created, and now by his sin he had become so
hideous, so repulsive. He saw himself banished from Paradise
and from the presence of God. He could see God's justice
pursuing him in all his descendants. He saw heaven closed and
no one to open it; he saw hell open and no one to close it.
