eauty
was wanting to corporeal creatures, for which reason they are said to
be without form. For the beauty of light was wanting to all that
transparent body which we call the heavens, whence it is said that
"darkness was upon the fact of the deep." And the earth lacked beauty
in two ways: first, that beauty which it acquired when its watery veil
was withdrawn, and so we read that "the earth was void," or
"invisible," inasmuch as the waters covered and concealed it from
view; secondly, that which it derives from being adorned by herbs and
plants, for which reason it is called "empty," or, according to
another reading [*Septuagint], "shapeless"--that is, unadorned. Thus
after mention of two created natures, the heaven and the earth, the
formlessness of the heaven is indicated by the words, "darkness was
upon the face of the deep," since the air is included under heaven;
and the formlessness of the earth, by the words, "the earth was void
and empty."

Reply Obj. 1: The word earth is taken differently in this passage by
Augustine, and by other writers. Augustine holds that by the words
"earth" and "water," in this passage, primary matter itself is
signified on account of its being impossible for Moses to make the
idea of such matter intelligible to an ignorant people, except under
the similitude of well-known objects. Hence he uses a variety of
figures in speaking of it, calling it not water only, nor earth only,
lest they should think it to be in very truth water or earth. At the
same time it has so far a likeness to earth, in that it is
susceptible of form, and to water in its adaptability to a variety
of forms. In this respect, then, the earth is said to be "void and
empty," or "invisible and shapeless," that matter is known by means
of form. Hence, considered in itself, it is called "invisible" or
"void," and its potentiality is completed by form; thus Plato says
that matter is "place" [*Timaeus, quoted by Aristotle, Phys. iv,
text. 15]. But other holy writers understand by earth the element of
earth, and we have said (A. 1) how, in this sense, the earth was,
according to them, without form.

Reply Obj. 2: Nature produces effect in act from being in
potentiality; and consequently in the operations of nature
potentiality must precede act in time, and formlessness precede form.
But God produces being in act out of nothing, and can, therefore,
produce a perfect thing in an instant, according to the greatness of
His po