I.
The first thing that among the articles of the faith is proposed to us to believe is that there is God, that is to say, that there is in this universe a prince, a first mover, a first truth and goodness, and a first cause on which all the other causes hang, and it hangs on no one. This is the foundation of our faith, and the first thing that must be believed. And thus the Apostle says that “he who wishes to come to God must believe that there is God in this world.” And this truth is so manifest in natural light that it is attained by evident demonstration, as many philosophers attained it, and all the wise attain it today, knowing by the effects that they see in this world the first cause from which they proceed, which is God. For which reason Saint Thomas says that the wise do not have faith concerning this first article, because they have evidence of it, which is not compatible with the obscurity that is attached to faith. But the ignorant, who do not attain this reason (and believe this because God revealed it, and the Church proposes it to be believed), have faith concerning this article.
But let us now see the foundations that the philosophers had for attaining this truth, which will serve to embrace with greater joy what our faith testifies. For when faith is married with reason, and reason with faith, the one answering with the other, there is caused in the soul a most noble knowledge of God, which is firm, certain, and evident, where faith strengthens us with its firmness, and reason gladdens with its clarity. Faith teaches God hidden with the veil of his greatness, but clear reason removes a little of that veil, so that his beauty may be seen. Faith teaches us what we must believe, and reason makes us believe it with joy. These two luminaries joined undo all the mists, make the consciences serene, quiet the understandings, remove doubts, lift the clouds, level
the roads, and make us sweetly embrace this sovereign truth. For this we have two masters, one of the holy Scriptures, and another of the creatures, both of which help us greatly for the knowledge of our Creator. For that reason we shall touch here some of the motives and foundations that the philosophers had for attaining this truth. And I say some, because we shall touch only those that are clearer and more accommodated to the capacity of the people, leaving the other more subtle ones for the schools of the theologians.
It will seem to someone excused to treat this matter among Christians, since all have faith concerning this article. So it is, but with all that we have seen and see every day men so excessive, so soulless, and so tyrannical, that although with the understanding they confess that there is God, with their works they deny it, because they would do no less while believing it than they would do if totally they did not believe it. Therefore for these, who have the light of faith so forgotten and hidden, it will profit to show them clearly by light of reason that there is God: perhaps this would give them some restraint so that they might look to themselves. And besides this profit there is another greater and more common for all, which is that all the things that tell us there is God justly declare to us many of his perfections, especially his wisdom, his omnipotence, his goodness, his providence, with which he rules and governs all things.
Therefore among these foundations, the first and most palpable is taken from the order of things, because we see in this world diverse degrees of perfection in all creatures. And in this order we place in the lowest degree the four elements, which are simple bodies, which have no more than two qualities. In the second we place imperfect mixtures, such as snows, rains, hail, winds, frosts, and other similar things that have some greater composition. In the third are the perfect mixtures, such as stones, pearls, and metals, where perfect composition of the four elements is found. In the fourth we place the things that besides this composition have life, and grow, and diminish, such as trees and all plants. In the fifth are the imperfect animals, which besides life have sense, although they lack movement, such as oysters and many shellfish. In the sixth are the perfect animals, which besides sense have movement, such as fishes and birds, etc. In the seventh we place man, who, besides what has been said, has reason and understanding, with which he has advantage over and differs from all the brutes. Above man we place the angel, who has a higher understanding, and is spiritual substance apart from all matter. And among those same angels there is order, because some are of more noble and perfect nature than others, and following the sentence of Saint Thomas, which is very conformable to the doctrine of Aristotle, there are not two angels of equal perfection, though they are innumerable, but always one is essentially more perfect than another. Therefore climbing by this order, either we must give process into infinity without there being a last (which is impossible in nature), or we must come to stop in one thing the most perfect of all, above which there is no other more perfect. This, then, which is at the summit of all and above all, is what we call God, or first truth, first cause and first mover and author of all things, which must not be created or made by some creator or maker, because that one would be more perfect than he, since the creator is more perfect than his creature, and the maker than his making. From which it follows that this Lord must be eternal and without beginning, since he could not
be created or made by another. This is the first foundation of this truth, which is taken from the order of creatures.
II.
The second is that which is taken from the movement of things. For which we take as principle that all things that are moved bodily have within or outside themselves some power or force that moves them. Which is seen clearly both in man and in all animals, in which the body is what is moved, and the soul what moves it. And this appears to be so, because when the soul is lacking, the movement that proceeded from it is then lacking. Therefore let us leave now the movements of the earth, and let us climb to the movement of the highest heaven, which is above the starry heaven, which moves the other inferior heavens, and is cause of all the movements that are here on earth, which moves with so great a lightness that in a single natural day it gives one turn around the whole world. Therefore this heaven, according to what has been presupposed, must have a mover that moves it. Therefore concerning this mover it is asked whether in its being and in the power that it has to cause this movement it has dependence on another, or not: if it does not have it, but by itself has its being and its power, such a one we shall call God, because only God is he who, as superior of all things, hangs, neither in his being nor in his power, on anyone, but on himself. But if you tell me that it has another superior, on whom it depends as to being and as to the power of moving, of that superior I shall make the same question as of the inferior, and proceeding in this discourse, either process into infinity must be given (which we said to be impossible), or finally we must come to a first mover, on whom the other movers hang, and to a first cause, from whose power all the other causes participate their power, and that is he whom we call God. This is the demonstration by which the philosophers proved that there was a first mover who hung on no one, but on himself. And those who penetrate the force of this demonstration do not have faith concerning this first article, because they have (as we said) evidence of it. And for these this is not called an article of faith, but a preamble to it, as the same holy Doctor says.
III.
Other motives the philosophers had, of which Tully makes much account, and with much reason, and one of them is that, with the nations of the world being so many and so various, there is none so barbarous nor so fierce that, granted that it does not know which is the true God, it does not understand that there is one, and honor him with some manner of veneration. The cause of this is because (besides the beauty and order of this world, which is testifying that there is God who governs it) the Creator himself, just as he impressed in the hearts of men a natural inclination to love and reverence their parents, so also he impressed in them another similar inclination to love and reverence God as universal father of all things and sustainer and governor of them. And from here proceeds that manner of cult and religion, although false, that we see in all the nations of the world. Which is in such manner impressed in human hearts that for the defense of it alone some nations fight with others, without there being another cause for fighting, as we see between Moors and Christians. For each one believing that his religion is the true one, and that by it God is truly
honored, and not by the others, it seems to them that they are obliged to take up the voice for their God, and make war on those who do not honor him as they understand that he must be honored: so impressed is the cult and veneration of God in human hearts. And what is more: every day we see men from diverse sects pass to our religion, and leave wife, and children, and estate, and honorable charges, as now we saw in one, who, having many years before denied the faith, came to the land of Christians, leaving all this that we have said, for the true faith. In which is seen how powerfully the Creator rooted this affection of religion in our hearts, since it prevails over and conquers the greatest affections that there are in man, which are the affections of these things that we mentioned. And this same happened in the time of Ezra to the children of Israel who were found married with women of the lineages of gentiles, when they returned from the captivity of Babylon, who left them together with the children that had been born from them, so as not to break the law of God, which prohibited such marriages.
IV.
They point to another indication of this truth, which also proceeds from this natural inclination that we mention, and it is that all men, when they see themselves in some great and extraordinary pressure and anguish, naturally, without any discourse, lift the heart to God to ask him for help. And since this movement is so accelerated that it forestalls the discourse of reason, it follows that it proceeds from the very nature of man, which, since it is formed by God, and God makes no idle thing and without purpose, it follows not only that there is God, but also that he is infinitely perfect. For this recourse is like a voice and testimony of nature itself, which with this confesses that that divine President sees all, and foresees all, and that in every place he is present. Here it confesses his providence, his goodness, his mercy, and the love that he has for men, and the desire to remedy them, since he himself, when he created them, impressed in them this natural inclination that would move them to have recourse to him as to true father, in their anguishes and tribulations.
V.
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The fifth motive that both the philosophers and all men had for recognizing the divinity was the fabric, and order, and harmony, and beauty, and greatness of this world and of its principal parts, which are heaven, stars, planets, earth, water, air and fire, winds, rains, snows, rivers, fountains, plants, and all the rest that there is in it. This consideration, with the two that we shall presently treat, Tully pursues copiously, most elegant orator and philosopher, in the name of another Stoic philosopher. And since in this matter we proceed by way of philosophy, it seemed to me to insert here (for those who do not understand Latin) what this philosopher, with the words of Tully’s eloquence, says, leaving some things that below are treated in their proper places. But I advise the reader that, when in place of God he finds gods, he should understand that he speaks as a gentile philosopher, and as in this he is deceived, so also when he says that the gods have care of great things,
and not of small ones, which is contrary to what that Master who came from heaven taught us, when he said that not even a little bird fell into the snare without the will and providence of the heavenly Father. This philosopher says, then, thus:
“Nothing will be found in the administration and government of the world that can be justly reprehended, and if anyone should wish to emend something of what has been done, either he will make it worse, or altogether he will not be able to do it. Therefore if all the parts of the world are fabricated in such manner that neither for the use of life could they have been made better, nor for sight more beautiful, let us see whether they could have been made by chance, or persevere in the state in which they are, if they were not governed by divine providence. Wherefore, if the works of nature are more perfect than those of art, if those of art are made with reason, it follows that those of nature must not lack reason. Therefore who will there be who, seeing a very well painted panel, does not understand that it was made by art, and seeing from afar a ship run through the water, does not know that this movement is made by reason and art, and seeing how a clock marks the hours at their due times, does not understand the same, and dares to say that the world (which invented these same arts, with the craftsmen of them, and embraces all things) lacks reason and art?
But let us lift our eyes to greater things. In the heaven shine the flames of innumerable stars, among which the prince that enlightens and surrounds all things is the sun, which is many times greater than the whole earth, and likewise the stars are of immense greatness. And these so great fires do no harm to the earth nor to the things of it, but rather benefit it in such manner that, if they changed their places and positions, the whole world would burn.” And a little lower the same Tully adds these words: “Beautifully Aristotle said that, if some men dwelt beneath the earth, in some palaces adorned with diverse paintings and with all the things with which the houses of those who are held for blessed and rich are adorned, which men, dwelling in those underground places, had never seen the things that are above the earth, and had heard by report that there is a sovereign divinity in the world, and after this, the throats of the earth being opened, they came out from those rooms, when they saw the earth, the sea, and the heaven, the greatness of the clouds, the force of the winds, and set their eyes on the sun, and knew its greatness and beauty and efficacy, and how it, enlightening the heaven with its light, is cause of the day, and night having arrived they saw the whole heaven adorned and painted with so many and so beautiful luminaries, and noted the variety of the moon, with its waxings and wanings, and considered the variety of the risings and settings of the stars, so ordered and so constant in their movements in all eternity, without doubt when such men, having come out of the darkness of their caves, suddenly saw all this, they would then know that the report of what had been told them had been true, which was that there was in this world a sovereign divinity, on which all depended. This Aristotle said.”
“But we,” says the same Tully, “let us imagine darknesses as dense as those that are said to have come forth in time past from the fires of Mount Etna, which darkened all the neighboring regions, and let us imagine that for the space of two days no man could see another. Therefore if on the third day the sun enlightened the world, it would seem to these men that anew they had risen again. And if this same happened to
some who had lived always in eternal darknesses, who suddenly saw the light, how beautiful the figure of heaven would seem to them! But the custom of seeing this every day makes men not marvel at this beauty, nor seek to know the reasons of the things that they always see, as if the newness of things ought to move us more than their greatness to inquire into their causes. For who will hold as a man of reason the one who, seeing the movements of the heaven and the order of the stars so firm and constant, and seeing the connection and agreement that all these things have, says that all this was made without prudence or reason, and believes that those things were made by chance which no counsel nor understanding can come to comprehend with how much counsel they have been made? Perhaps, when we see some movable sphere, or clock, or some figures move artfully, do we not understand that there is some artifice and cause of these movements? And seeing the impetus with which the heavens move, with such admirable lightness, and that they make their courses so certain and so well ordered for the health and conservation of things, shall we not perceive that all this is done with reason, and not only with reason, but with excellent and divine reason?
But, the subtlety of arguments being left aside, let us set ourselves to look at the beauty of the things that by divine providence we confess to have been fabricated. And first let us look at all the earth, solid, and round, and gathered with its natural movement within itself, placed in the midst of the world, clothed with flowers, with herbs, with trees and with harvests, where we see an incredible multitude of things so different among themselves that with their great variety they are cause to us of an insatiable taste and delight. Let us join with this the perennial fountains of cold waters, the clear liquors of rivers, the green garments of their banks, the height of the concavities of caves, the roughness of stones, the height of mountains, the plainness of fields. Let us add to this the hidden veins of gold and silver and the infinity of precious marbles. And besides this, how great a diversity we see of beasts, some tame, some wild, how many flights and songs of birds, how great pastures for the flocks, and how many forests for the life of wild animals! Therefore what shall I say of the lineage of men, who placed in the midst of the earth, as its laborers and cultivators, do not allow it to be populated with wild beasts, nor to become a savage mountain with the roughness of wild trees, by whose industry the fields and the islands and the banks shine forth, divided into houses and cities?
Therefore if we looked at all these things with one sight by the eyes, as we see them with the spirits, there would be no one who, looking at all the earth together, would have doubt of the divine providence. But among these things, how great is the beauty of the sea, how great the multitude and variety of the islands that there are in it, what freshness and delight of its banks, how many lineages of fishes, some that dwell in the depth of the waters, others that go swimming and running over the top of them, others that are attached with their natural shells to the rocks! And the same sea in such manner with its beaches and banks embraces itself with the earth, that from two things so different there comes to be made one common nature of both.
Then the air neighboring the sea differs between day and night, which at times thinning itself rises to the height, and at other times thickening itself is converted into clouds, and gathering in
itself the vapors of the sea, waters the earth with waters, and running from one part to another, causes the winds. And it also sustains upon itself the flight of birds, and gives us the air with which animals are maintained and sustained.
There remains for us now the last place of the world, which is the heaven, so removed from our dwellings that it girds and embraces all things, which is the last term and end of the world, in which those resplendent luminaries of the stars make their courses so ordered, that they are cause of great admiration to him who contemplates them. Among which the sun, moving around the earth, and rising and setting, is cause of the day and of the night, and approaching us one time of the year, and withdrawing another, makes two contrary turns, and in this interval the earth is saddened with its absence, and afterward is gladdened with its coming. But the moon (which, as the mathematicians say, is greater than half the earth), walking by the same ways as the sun, sends to the earth the light that it receives from him, changing many times, and being eclipsed with the shadow of the earth, and eclipsing the sun when it places itself before him. And through the same spaces the planets run around the earth, which at times hasten in their movements, and at times delay, and at others stop, which is a thing of great admiration and beauty. Then follows the multitude of the fixed stars, which are ordered in such manner that they come to make certain figures, by which they are named, as is the cart, the trumpet, and other similar ones, which are guide of those who navigate by the sea.” All the aforesaid is from Tully, who with the argument of the fabric and beauty and profit of the principal parts of this inferior world, and with the order and invariable constancy of the movements of the heaven, proves that things so great, so profitable, so beautiful, and so well ordered could not have been made by chance, but have a most wise maker and governor.
And a little lower, declaring the care that divine providence has to attend to human necessities, he says of it that, besides the common pasture and sustenance of the whole world, it produced in diverse places diverse things for the use and provision of our life. And thus we see, he says, that “in Egypt the river Nile with its floodings waters and covers in the time of summer all the earth and, this done, gathers itself back, leaving the fields softened and disposed for sowing. Mesopotamia the river Euphrates makes fertile, in which each year it renews the fields, and almost makes them others. But the river Indus, which is the greatest of all rivers, not only gladdens and softens the fields, but also leaves them sown, because it brings with itself a great number of seeds, similar to the grains from which harvests are born. Many other memorable things I could recount, which are bred in diverse places, and many fertile fields, some that give one manner of fruit, and others another. But how great is the benignity and liberality of nature in having created so many and so diverse and so sweet things for our sustenance, and these not in one single time of the year, but always, so that with the newness of foods and with the abundance of them our taste and delight might be renewed! And how healthful winds and how proportioned to their times it produces, not only for the profit of men, but also of flocks and of all the things that are born from the earth, with which the great heats are tempered, and with them the sea is navigated with greater lightness!
Many other things we leave silent, and many also we say, because the profits that rivers bring us, and the changes of the sea, when it grows or diminishes, and the
mountains clothed with greenery, and the forests, and the salt-pits that are found in places very remote from the sea, and the multitude of medicinal herbs that the earth produces, and innumerable arts necessary for the sustenance and use of our life, cannot be counted. Now also the change of days and nights serves to conserve the life of animals, marking out for us one time to work, and another to rest. In such manner that on all sides it is concluded that this world is governed by divine wisdom and counsel, which by a marvelous manner directs and orders it to the health and conservation of all things.” The aforesaid is from Tully in the name of a Stoic philosopher, who with so much attention discoursed through all the things of the world, feeding and recreating his soul in the contemplation of the works and marvels of divine providence. Which is for the confusion of many Christians, who spend so little time in the consideration of things so admirable.
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But among all of them it is much to be considered in what manner all, as a music concerted of diverse voices, agree in the service of man, for whom they were created, without there being one alone that exempts itself from his service, and that does not bring him some profit, and pay some temporal or spiritual tribute. In which it must be considered how all things in this ministry help one another, as diverse servants of one lord, who having different offices, employ themselves all, each one in its manner, in the service of the lord. From which results this harmony of the world, composed of infinite variety of things, reduced to this aforesaid unity, which is the service of man. Let us put an example beginning from man himself, who, according to Aristotle, is as an end, for whose service divine providence deputed all the things of this inferior world. Therefore he first has need of the service of diverse animals in order to maintain himself with their flesh, to clothe and shoe himself with their hides and wools, to till the earth, to carry and bring loads, and with this to lighten the labor of men. These animals have need of grass and pasture to sustain themselves. This is bred and grows with the rains that water the earth; these are engendered from the vapors that the sun makes rise both from the earth and from the sea. These have need of wind so that it may carry them from the sea to the earth. The winds proceed from the exhalations of the earth. For this the influences of heaven are necessary, and the heat of the sun that draws them out of it, and lifts them to the height. The heaven has need of the intelligence that moves it, and this of the first cause, which is God, so that he may conserve and sustain it in the office that it has. In this manner we could put an example in all the other created things, and show how they help and serve one another, and all finally are ordered and reduced to the service of man, for whom they were created.
Where it is reason to consider the divine wisdom in having ordered the causes of things in such manner that some have need of the help and ministry of the others, and that none by itself alone suffices for all, so that thus the occasion of idolizing might be taken away from men, seeing the necessity that the most excellent creatures have of the ministry and use of the others. For the sun is the one that among all of them has more power for the procreation of things, especially since it gives light to all the stars, and with the light efficacy for their influences. This planet, with its proper movement approaching and withdrawing from
us, is cause of the four times of the year, which are winter, spring, summer, and autumn, which are necessary for the production of things. But it itself, in order to cause days and nights (which are no less necessary for this), has need of the movement of the first heaven, which in a natural day makes the sun give a turn to the world, and with this day and night is caused. Likewise the other planets and stars, according to the diverse aspects that they have among themselves and with the sun, are cause of diverse effects here on earth, such as rains, serenity, winds, cold and heat, and similar things. This chain or, if it can be said, this dance so ordered of the creatures, and as music of diverse voices, convinced Averroes to believe that there was no more than one single God. For things so diverse cannot be reduced to one end with one order, if there were not one who is as choirmaster, who reduces them to this unity and consonance. But if there were two or many gods different among themselves, and they were not conformable nor subject one to another, this unity could not be caused, because each one would pull by his own way, and some would impede others, as a ship among equally contrary winds, which, while it so stood, would not move.
This most beautiful figure of the world Seneca describes elegantly to a noble Roman matron by these words: “Imagine that, at the time when you are born into this world, I declare to you the condition of this place where you enter, and I say to you: see that you enter into a great city, which embraces and encloses in itself all things, governed by eternal laws. You will see here innumerable stars, and one alone, which is the sun, which fills all things with its light, and with its ordinary movement equally divides the space of the days and of the nights, and divides into equal parts the four times of the year. You will see here how the moon receives from the sun, her brother, clarity, at times greater, at times lesser, according to the aspect and disposition in which it looks at him; which, at times, is entirely hidden, and at others, the face full of clarity, is entirely uncovered, always changing with its waxings and wanings, and differing from the day that preceded. You will see five other stars, which go by diverse roads, and run against the common course of the heaven, from whose movements proceed the changes and alterations of all bodily things, according as the position and aspect of them may be favorable or contrary. You must marvel at the dark clouds, and at the waters that fall from the heaven, and at the thunders and lightnings, and at the thunderbolts that fall crosswise. And when, the eyes already recreated with the sight of high things, you incline them to the lands, you will see another form of things that may cause you new admiration. You will see the plainness of the fields stretched out through long spaces, and the mountains that rise on high with their hills covered with snow, and the fall of the rivers which, born from one fountain, run from east to west, and you will see the groves that on the height of their hills are moving, and the great forests with their animals and songs of birds that resound in them. You will see the sites and seats of diverse cities, and the nations enclosed and separated from one another, either with high mountains, or with banks, or lakes, or valleys, or pools of water. You will see the harvests grown with labor and industry, and other plants that without it give fruit. You will see the rivers run softly among the green meadows, and the inlets and banks of the sea that come to be made secure ports, and you will see so many differences of islands stretched through that great sea, that they cause distinction between some seas and others. Therefore what shall I say of the splendor of precious pearls, and of the gold that is found among the sands of the brooks when they are swollen, and of the Ocean sea, which spreads itself with great license over its banks, and with its three great gulfs divides the habitation of the peoples? Within which you will see some fishes of incredible
greatness, others very heavy that have need of help in order to move, and others lighter than a galley with its oars, and others that, following ships, cast from themselves a great spray of water, not without fear and danger of those navigating. You will see ships that seek lands not known, and you will see that nothing remained untried by human daring.” Up to here are words of Seneca.
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Therefore since the variety and beauty of the things of this world are so great, who will be so brute as to say that all this was made by chance, and that it does not have a most wise and most powerful Maker? Who would say that a very great altarpiece of many and very excellent colors and figures was made by chance, with a blot of ink that happened to fall upon a board? Therefore what altarpiece is greater, more showy, and more beautiful than this world? What colors more living and agreeable than those of the meadows and trees of spring? What figures more excellent than those of the flowers, and birds, and roses? What thing more resplendent and more painted than the heaven with its stars? Therefore who will be the blind man who says that all these marvels were made by chance?
If by chance, going on the road, you found in a forest a pleasure house of some prince, very well built and provided with every kind of sustenance, and with the offices that were necessary for the service of the prince, and you saw in it its tables set, its torches lit, its orchards and cisterns, and fountains of water, its rooms and diverse places for all its servants, and you, marveling at all this apparatus, asked how this had been made, they answered you that a piece of that mountain had fallen, and the pieces of it had happened to fall in such manner that without hand of craftsman those so beautiful palaces had been fabricated, with all that there is in them, what would you say? Could greater nonsense be feigned? Therefore tell me now: if you set yourself purposely to consider the beauty of the great royal house of this world, and seeing the fabric and provision of all the things that there are in it; seeing that vault of the heaven so great and so measured and painted with so many stars; seeing a table so supplied with so many differences of foods as is the earth with all the meats and fruits and other sustenances that there are in it; seeing so many freshnesses and orchards and fountains of water, so many cloths of greenery as are seen through all the mountains and valleys and meadows of the fields; seeing the torches and luminaries that burn day and night in the midst of those heavens to light this house, and the vessels of gold and silver, and precious stones that are born in the mines of the earth, the diverse and fitting rooms for the dwellers of this house, some in the waters for those who know how to swim, others in the air for those who can fly, others on the earth for the great and heavy bodies, and seeing above all this the governance of all this house and family, and its order, and how the angels, who are more principal creatures, move the heavens, and the heavens the elements, and from the elements the composites are formed, and all finally goes directed to the service of the prince of this house, who is man: he who sees all this, with other infinite things that cannot be comprehended in few words, how will he be able to believe that all this was made by chance? How will he not see that it had and has a most powerful and most wise Maker?
Therefore this beauty and greatness of the world, with the variety of the things that there are in it, reduced to that unity that we mentioned, moved not only the philosophers, but also all peoples, to believe that things so great, so beautiful, and so well ordered had not been made by chance, but that they had a most wise and most powerful Maker, who with his omnipotence had created them, and with his wisdom governed them. And this is why David exclaims in Psalm 18, when he says: “The heavens denounce the glory of God, and the starry heaven preaches the works of his hands,” etc. He means to say: The beauty of the heaven, adorned with so many luminaries, and the admirable order of the stars, and the diversity of their movements and courses preach the glory of God, and make all nations praise him, and marvel at his greatness, and recognize him as Maker and lord of all things. Likewise the order of the days and of the nights, the growth and the diminution of them so ordered and proportioned for the use of our life, and the invariable constancy that they keep in their risings and movements, preach and testify that works so great and so well ordered are not to be attributed to chance or to fortune, but that there is in the world a sovereign president who in the beginning created all these things, and conserves them with supreme providence. But these admirable works do not speak nor testify this with human voices, which could not reach to the end of the world, but their speech and testimony is the invariable order, and the beauty of them, and the artifice with which they are made so perfectly as if they were made with rule and plumb line. For this manner of language is heard in all lands, and invites men to the cult and veneration of the Maker.
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VI.
There is another foundation no less urgent than the past one for knowing this truth. For not only the fabric of this greater world, but also that of the lesser, which is man, declares to us that there is God, Creator and Maker of him. For in it the wisdom of the Maker shines forth so much, that Saint Augustine could say with truth that among all the marvels that God made for love of man, the greatest is man himself, understanding by man the two parts of which he is composed, which are body and soul. And leaving for now the soul, in the fabric and composition of the body there are so many marvels that the many books that Galen and others wrote did not suffice to declare them entirely: each one of which by itself alone, and much more all of them together, declare the infinite wisdom of the artificer who ordered such a fabric. For there is not in the world royal palace nor commonwealth so harmonized that has so many manners of offices and officials, I mean so many diverse parts, as a human body has for its rule and conservation. Of which some serve to cover it, as is the skin and the flesh and the fat; others serve to cook the food, as the stomach and the small intestines; others make the blood, as the liver; others carry it to all the members, as the veins; others engender the spirits of life, as the heart; others carry these spirits through the whole body, as the arteries; others make the spirits of sense, as the brains; others distribute this power through the whole body, as the nerves; others serve the movement that depends on our will, as the little muscles. Some receive the superfluities of the body, as the spleen, the gall, the kidneys, the bladder, the intestines. Through another passes the air that recreates the brains and the heart, as the nostrils, the throat, the
lungs, and the venal artery. Some serve the exterior senses, namely: for hearing the ears, for seeing the eyes, for tasting the tongue and the palate, for speaking the lungs and the throat. Others serve as foundation or armature upon which all the other parts are armed and established, as the bones and cartilages. And what increases this admiration is to see that so much variety of things so different in figures, powers, offices, hardness and softness, come to be forged from a matter so simple as is that from which the human body is fabricated. Therefore who would be powerful to produce, from a matter so simple, so great a multitude of things so diverse except only that most powerful and most wise Maker? Therefore the variety and multitude of these parts, the figure and offices that they have for the service of the human body, manifestly declare that this was not made by chance, but with supreme providence and artifice of him who formed them.
This same argument the same Tully pursues elegantly in the book already alleged, proceeding through all the parts and through all the members and senses of the human body, both the interior ones that are not seen, and the exterior ones that are seen, declaring how each one of these parts serves so perfectly what is fitting for the conservation of human life (which is for the sustenance of our body and for the use and office of the senses) that no human understanding will be able to discover in so great a variety and multitude of parts anything that is lacking, or that is superfluous, or that does not come so to the purpose of what is necessary for this end, that by no way can another better be traced out. Wherefore he concludes that this work proceeds from a supreme providence and wisdom, which in nothing fails, and in nothing errs. But because this consideration is very profound and profitable, and asks a longer treatise, below we shall pursue it more copiously in its proper place.
VII.
And besides these aforesaid foundations, there is another no less efficacious for the knowledge of this truth, and very palpable and easy to penetrate for any understanding, however rude it may be. Which proceeds from seeing the skills that all the animals of the earth, of the sea, and of the air have for all that is required for their maintenance, for their defense, for the cure of their illnesses, and for the raising of their little offspring. In all of which they do nothing less than they would do if they had most perfect reason. Thus they fear death, thus they beware of dangers, thus they know how to seek what fulfills them, thus they know how to make their nests and raise their offspring as men of reason do. And they go even farther, that among a thousand differences of herbs that there are in the field of one same color, they know the one that is to be eaten and the one that is not, the one that is healthful and the one that is poisonous and, however much hunger they may have, they will not eat of it. The sheep fears the wolf without having seen it, and does not fear the mastiff, being so similar to it. The hen does not fear the peacock, being so large, and fears even the shadow of a sparrowhawk, which is much smaller. The chicks fear the cat and not the dog, being greater, and this even before they have experience of the harm that from contrary things they could receive.
Of this same consideration the same Tully made use to show the wisdom and providence of that sovereign artificer who governs all. Which he proves by declaring
how all things that have life are most perfectly fabricated and provided with all the skills necessary to conserve it. From him I shall relate here some things, leaving others for their places. And beginning with the plants, he says thus: “First the trees that are born from the earth are fabricated in such manner that they can sustain the burden of the branches that are on high and likewise with their roots fixed in the earth to draw the juice from it, with which they live and are maintained, and their trunks are clothed and sheltered with their barks, so that they may be more secure both from cold and from heat. But the vines have their tendrils, which are like hands, with which they embrace themselves with the trees, and climb to the height upon others’ shoulders, and thus also they separate themselves from some plants that are contrary and harmful to them, when they are near them, as from a pestiferous thing, and by no way do they touch them.
But how great is the variety of so many animals, and how provided for all that is required for their conservation! Among which some are covered with hides, others clothed with hairs, others bristling with spines, some covered with feathers, and others with scales. And among them some are armed with horns, and others defend themselves by fleeing with the lightness of their wings. All of which nature provided abundantly with the pasture and sustenance that to each one in its species was proportioned. And I could relate here the skills that she gave them for seeking this pasture and digesting it, and how ingenious she was in tracing the figure and fabric of the members that are necessary for this. For all the interior faculties of their bodies are fabricated and seated in their places in such manner that there is none superfluous, and none that is not necessary. She also gave to all the beasts sense and appetite, so that with the one they might strive to seek their sustenance, and with the other they might know how to make difference between healthful and harmful things. And among them there are some that seek their sustenance by walking, others by crawling on the earth, others by flying, others by swimming; among which some take the food with the teeth and with the mouth; others tear it apart with the claws; others with the curved beaks; others suck; others take the food with the hand; others swallow it just as it is whole, and others chew it with the teeth. All also have their natural places to which they run. And thus, when to the hen they throw the eggs of ducks so that she may hatch them, after they have come out to light and been raised, they themselves without a master go straight to the water, recognizing that this is their natural place: so great is the inclination that nature gave to all things to procure their conservation.
Many other things I could bring to this purpose, and many of them are very notorious, such as seeing with how much diligence the animals look out for themselves; how while grazing they look around to see if there is some danger, and how they hide and take refuge in their dens, and with how much diligence they defend and arm themselves against the fear and force of their adversaries, some with horns, as bulls, others with teeth, as wild boars, others by biting, as lions, some fleeing, and others hiding, and others with an intolerable stench that they cast from themselves in order to hold back their pursuers.” These and other similar skills Tully relates of the animals, which, lacking reason, do the things so to the purpose of what is fitting for their conservation and defense, as if really they had it.
Therefore the philosophers now argue thus. All these animals lack reason (because in this alone do they differ from man and man from them), and with all that they do all the things that belong to their conservation as perfectly as if they had it; therefore necessarily we must confess that there is a universal reason and a most perfect wisdom that in such manner assists all of them, and in such manner rules and governs them, that they do the same as they would do if they had reason. For by the very case that the Creator formed them, and wished that they should be and live, it was clear that he must give them all that was necessary to conserve their lives; otherwise, in vain and without purpose he would have created them. If we saw a child of three years of age who spoke with as much discretion and eloquence as a great orator, we would then say: another speaks in this child, because this age is not capable of so much eloquence and discretion. Therefore, since we see that all the creatures that lack reason do all their works according to reason (which is all that is fitting for their conservation), necessarily we must confess that there is this universal reason and this supreme wisdom, which, without giving them reason, gave them natural inclinations and instincts so that what reason does in men, inclination might do in them. And in this the philosophers clearly took notice, who say that the works of nature are works of an intelligence that does not err, wishing to say: they are works of a supreme wisdom that makes its works with so much perfection, that no defect can be found in them. This consideration that is born from the creatures moved Saint Augustine to say that more easily he would doubt whether he had a soul in his body, than doubt whether there is God in this world, by reason of the testimony that created things give us of this first truth.
These three last considerations that here we have touched have need of longer declaration. And although what has been said would suffice for what the resolution and brevity of this Introduction asks, yet because my intention is, as I already said, to give matter of most sweet consideration to virtuous persons, we shall return to treat these three considerations more copiously. In which, imitating those two holy doctors whom we mentioned, Saint Ambrose and Saint Basil, we shall treat of the works of the six days, in which God our Lord created all things, so that by them we may lift our hearts to the knowledge of the goodness, and wisdom, and omnipotence, and providence of him who created them for the provision of our body and for the exercise and lifting of our spirit. For which anciently he ordained the keeping of the sabbath (on which it is written that God had rested from the work of Creation) so that men might employ this day in the consideration of the works that in the first six days he had wrought, and might give him thanks for them, since all were his benefits.
Therefore, conformably to this, we shall treat first of the world and of its principal parts, which are heavens and elements, and afterward we shall descend to treat in particular of all the bodies that have life, such as the plants and the animals, and at the end we shall treat of man, who on the sixth and last day was created. And so that the Christian reader may profit better from this doctrine by knowing the mark at which all of it aims, let him know that my intent is not only to declare how there is a God, creator and lord of all things (conformably to what at the beginning I proposed), but much more to declare the divine providence that shines forth in all his creatures, and the perfections that go together with it.
For which it is to be known that, among these perfections, three are the most celebrated, which are goodness, wisdom, and omnipotence, which are the three fingers of which Isaiah says that the roundness of the earth is hung. Of these three perfections, which in him are one same thing, goodness is that which wishes to do good to its creatures, and wisdom orders and traces how this is to be done, and omnipotence executes and puts into work what goodness wishes and wisdom orders. Therefore these three things divine providence includes, which with a pious and paternal care and supreme artifice provides all things with what is necessary for them.
It is, then, now my intent to show how in all parts, both greater and lesser, of this world, down to the mosquito and the ant, these four divine perfections shine forth, and many others with them. But how great the fruit of this consideration is, by this reason it will in some manner be able to be understood. David calls “blessed those who scrutinize the words of God.” Therefore no less will those be so who scrutinize his works, such as are not only those of grace, but also those of nature, since all flow from one same fountain. And if uncreated Wisdom promises eternal life to those who shall make it clear, what other thing do we attempt to do here, except to show the artifice of this supreme wisdom, which in all created things shines forth? A great part of the oratorical faculty is to know how to note the artifice that a great orator uses in his orations, and Saint Augustine does not esteem it little to have known how to do this in some places of Saint Paul. Therefore how much better a study will it be to inquire and note the admirable artifice of the divine Wisdom in the fabric and government of all created things? And if of the queen of Sheba it is written that her spirit failed considering the wisdom of Solomon and the works that with it he had fabricated, how much more will the devout spirit fail considering the artifice of the works of that incomprehensible Wisdom, if it knows how to penetrate the art and the counsel with which they are made? Therefore this is what with divine favor we intend to do in this book. But for what effect? So that, knowing in the created works those four divine perfections that we mentioned, our spirit may be moved to the love of so great a goodness, and to the fear and obedience of so great a majesty, and to hope in so paternal a care and providence, and to admiration of so great a power and wisdom as shines forth in all these works. This is, then, the end toward which all this doctrine aims, and toward which the pious reader must direct his intention, so that thus he may be able to attain these aforesaid virtues, in which consists all our good. This principle now being presupposed, therefore, we shall begin to treat of the principal parts of the world.