De Plantatione

If therefore any one wishes to escape from the difficulties of this question which present themselves in the different doubts thus raised, let him speak freely and say that there is nothing in any material of such power as to be able to support this weight of the world. But it is the eternal law of the everlasting God which is the most supporting and

This it is which, being extended from the centre to the borders, and again from the extremities to the centre, runs through the whole unsubdued course of nature, collecting all the parts and binding them firmly together; for the father who created them has made it the indissoluble bond of the universe.

Very naturally and appropriately therefore, all earth will not be dissolved by all water, which the bosom of the earth contains, nor will fire be extinguished by air, nor again will air be burnt up by fire, since the divine law establishes itself as a boundary to all these elements, like a vowel among consonants, so that the universe may, as it were, be harmonious in concert with the music expressed by letters; persuasion, by its own authority, putting an end to the threatening conflicts of contrary natures.

Thus then the plant which bears all things was rooted, and when it was rooted was made strong. But of the particular plants, and those of smaller growth, some were moveable, so as to have their places changed; and some were made so as, without any such change, to stand steadily in the same place.

Those then that are affected by motion, inducing change of place, which we call animals, are attached to the most important portions of the universe; the terrestrial animals to the earth, the animals which swim to the water, the winged animals to the air and those which can live in the flame to the fire (which last are said to be most evidently produced in Macedonia), and the stars are attached to the heaven. For those who have studied philosophy pronounce the stars also to be animals, being endowed with intellect and pervading the whole universe; some being planets, and moving by their own intrinsic nature; and others, that is the fixed stars, being borne along with the revolutions of the universe; so that they likewise appear to change their places.

But those which are regulated according to a nature devoid of all sensation, which are peculiarly called plants, have no participation in that motion which involves a change of place.

But the Creator made two different races on the earth and in the air. In the air, he made the winged animals capable of being perceived by the external senses, and other powers which can by no means be comprehended in any place

For, as in the case of woman and every animal of the female sex, fountains of milk spring up in them when they are about to bring forth, in order that they may supply the offspring that is born of them with necessary and suitable food; so in a similar manner God has assigned to the earth, which is the mother of all terrestrial animals, all the different species of plants, in order that the animals produced by the earth may have such food as is akin to them, and not alien from their natures.

And, indeed, God has caused plants to grow with their heads downwards, having fixed their heads in the deepest parts of the earth; and having drawn up the heads of the irrational animals from the earth, he has set them up high on long necks, putting their fore feet under their necks as a kind of foundation.

But man has received a preeminently superior formation. For of all other animals God has bent the eyes downwards, so that they look upon the ground; but on the other hand, he has raised the eyes of man so that he may behold the heaven, being not a terrestrial but a celestial plant as the old proverb is. [*](This is similar to what Ovid says — Pronaque dum spectant animalia caetera terram. Os homini sublime dedit: ccelumque tueri Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. Which may be translated- And while all other creatures from their birth With downcast eyes gaze on their kindred earth, He bids man walk erect, and scan the heaven, From whence he sprung, to which his hopes are given. ) [*](This is similar to what Ovid says — Pronaque dum spectant animalia caetera terram. Os homini sublime dedit: ccelumque tueri Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. Which may be translated- And while all other creatures from their birth With downcast eyes gaze on their kindred earth, He bids man walk erect, and scan the heaven, From whence he sprung, to which his hopes are given. )

But the others who say that our mind is a portion of the ethereal nature, have by this assertion attributed to man a kindred with the air; but the great Moses has not named the species of the rational soul by a title resembling that of any created being, but has pronounced it an image of the divine and invisible being, making it a coin as it were of sterling metal, stamped and impressed with the seal of God, the impression of which is the eternal word.

For, says Moses, "God breathed into man’s face the breath of life," [*](Genesis ii. 7. ) so that it follows of necessity, that he that received the breath must be fashioned after the model of him who sent it forth. On which account it is said too, that "Man was made after the image of God," [*](Genesis i. 27. ) and not after the image of any created being.

It follows, therefore, since the soul of man has been fashioned in accordance with the archetypal word of the great cause of all things, that his body also, having been raised up to the purest portion of the universe—the heaven, must extend its vision, in order that, by a comparison with what is visible, it may attain to an accurate comprehension of what is invisible.

Since, therefore, it was impossible for any one to perceive the attraction of the mind to the living God, except for those persons alone who were drawn towards him (for that which each person suffers, he alone particularly knows), God has given us the eyes of the body (as an evident and visible image of the invisible eye), which are able to look up to the heaven;

for when the eyes, composed of perishable material, have raised themselves to such a height, as to be able from the region of the earth to mount up to heaven which is removed at so great a distance from the earth, and to reach its utmost heights, how great a course in every direction must we suppose to be within the power of the eyes of the soul? which, being endowed with wings from their excessive desire to see the living God clearly, reach up not only to the highest regions of the air, but even pass over the boundaries of the whole world, and hasten towards the Uncreated. [*](Genesis ii. 7. ) [*](Genesis i. 27. )

On this account, those persons who are insatiable in their desire for wisdom and knowledge are said in the sacred oracles to be "called up." [*](Exodus xix. 20. )

For it is legitimate that those persons should be called up to the Deity who have been inspired by him. For it would be a terrible thing if whirlwinds and hurricanes have power to tear trees up by their roots, and to toss them in the air, and to carry off vessels of many tons’ burden, though loaded with cargoes, as if they were the lightest things imaginable, out of the middle of the sea; and if even lakes and rivers are raised on high, when their streams actually leave the bosom of the earth, having been drawn up by the ardent and diversified eddies of the winds: and yet, if the mind, which is intrinsically light, cannot be raised up by the nature of the Divine Spirit, which is able to do everything and to subdue all things below, and cannot be elevated to an exceeding height; and especially the mind of the man who studies philosophy in a genuine manner.