was produced;

(2) The author by whom it was produced;

(3) The disposition it received in its production;

(4) The mode and order of its production.
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FIRST ARTICLE [I, Q. 91, Art. 1]

Whether the Body of the First Man Was Made of the Slime of the Earth?

Objection 1: It would seem that the body of the first man was not made
of the slime of the earth. For it is an act of greater power to make
something out of nothing than out of something; because "not being" is
farther off from actual existence than "being in potentiality." But
since man is the most honorable of God's lower creatures, it was
fitting that in the production of man's body, the power of God should
be most clearly shown. Therefore it should not have been made of the
slime of the earth, but out of nothing.

Obj. 2: Further, the heavenly bodies are nobler than earthly bodies.
But the human body has the greatest nobility; since it is perfected
by the noblest form, which is the rational soul. Therefore it should
not be made of an earthly body, but of a heavenly body.

Obj. 3: Further, fire and air are nobler than earth and water, as is
clear from their subtlety. Therefore, since the human body is most
noble, it should rather have been made of fire and air than of the
slime of the earth.

Obj. 4: Further, the human body is composed of the four elements.
Therefore it was not made of the slime of the earth, but of the four
elements.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Gen. 2:7): "God made man of the
slime of the earth."

_I answer that,_ As God is perfect in His works, He bestowed
perfection on all of them according to their capacity: "God's works
are perfect" (Deut. 32:4). He Himself is simply perfect by the fact
that "all things are pre-contained" in Him, not as component parts,
but as "united in one simple whole," as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. v);
in the same way as various effects pre-exist in their cause,
according to its one virtue. This perfection is bestowed on the
angels, inasmuch as all things which are produced by God in nature
through various forms come under their knowledge. But on man this
perfection is bestowed in an inferior way. For he does not possess a
natural knowledge of all natural things, but is in a manner composed
of all things, since he has in himself a rational soul of the genus
of spiritual substances, and in likeness to the heavenly bodies he is
removed from contraries by an equable temperament. As