Whether the Production of Light Is Fittingly Assigned to the First
Day?
Objection 1: It would seem that the production of light is not
fittingly assigned to the first day. For light, as stated above (A.
3), is a quality. But qualities are accidents, and as such should
have, not the first, but a subordinate place. The production of
light, then, ought not to be assigned to the first day.
Obj. 2: Further, it is light that distinguishes night from day, and
this is effected by the sun, which is recorded as having been made on
the fourth day. Therefore the production of light could not have been
on the first day.
Obj. 3: Further, night and day are brought about by the circular
movement of a luminous body. But movement of this kind is an
attribute of the firmament, and we read that the firmament was made
on the second day. Therefore the production of light, dividing night
from day, ought not to be assigned to the first day.
Obj. 4: Further, if it be said that spiritual light is here spoken
of, it may be replied that the light made on the first day dispels
the darkness. But in the beginning spiritual darkness was not, for
even the demons were in the beginning good, as has been shown (Q. 63,
A. 5). Therefore the production of light ought not to be assigned to
the first day.
_On the contrary,_ That without which there could not be day, must
have been made on the first day. But there can be no day without
light. Therefore light must have been made on the first day.
_I answer that,_ There are two opinions as to the production of light.
Augustine seems to say (De Civ. Dei xi, 9,33) that Moses could not
have fittingly passed over the production of the spiritual creature,
and therefore when we read, "In the beginning God created heaven and
earth," a spiritual nature as yet formless is to be understood by the
word "heaven," and formless matter of the corporeal creature by the
word "earth." And spiritual nature was formed first, as being of
higher dignity than corporeal. The forming, therefore, of this
spiritual nature is signified by the production of light, that is to
say, of spiritual light. For a spiritual nature receives its form by
the enlightenment whereby it is led to adhere to the Word of God.
Other writers think that the production of spiritual creatures was
purposely omitted by Moses, and give various reasons. Basil [*Hom. i
in Hexaem.] says that Moses begins his narrative from the beginning
of time which belongs to sensible things; but that the spiritual or
angelic creation is passed over, as created beforehand.
Chrysostom [*Hom. ii in Genes.] gives as a reason for the omission
that Moses was addressing an ignorant people, to whom material things
alone appealed, and whom he was endeavoring to withdraw from the
service of idols. It would have been to them a pretext for idolatry
if he had spoken to them of natures spiritual in substance and nobler
than all corporeal creatures; for they would have paid them Divine
worship, since they were prone to worship as gods even the sun, moon,
and stars, which was forbidden them (Deut. 4).
But mention is made of several kinds of formlessness, in regard to the
corporeal creature. One is where we read that "the earth was void and
empty," and another where it is said that "darkness was upon the face
of the deep." Now it seems to be required, for two reasons, that the
formlessness of darkness should be removed first of all by the
production of light. In the first place because light is a quality of
the first body, as was stated (A. 3), and thus by means of light
it was fitting that the world should first receive its form. The
second reason is because light is a common quality. For light is
common to terrestrial and celestial bodies. But as in knowledge we
proceed from general principles, so do we in work of every kind. For
the living thing is generated before the animal, and the animal before
the man, as is shown in _De Gener. Anim._ ii, 3. It was fitting, then,
as an evidence of the Divine wisdom, that among the works of
distinction the production of light should take first place, since
light is a form of the primary body, and because it is more common
quality.
Basil [*Hom. ii in Hexaem.], indeed, adds a third reason: that all
other things are made manifest by light. And there is yet a fourth,
already touched upon in the objections; that day cannot be unless
light exists, which was made therefore on the first day.
Reply Obj. 1: According to the opinion of those who hold that the
formlessness of matter preceded its form in duration, matter must be
held to have been created at the beginning with substantial forms,
afterwards receiving those that are accidental, among which light
holds the first place.
Reply Obj. 2: In the opinion of some the light here spoken of was a
kind of luminous nebula, and that on the making of the sun this
returned to the matter of which it had been formed. But this cannot
well be maintained, as in the beginning of Genesis Holy Scripture
records the institution of that order of nature which henceforth is
to endure. We cannot, then, say that what was made at that time
afterwards ceased to exist.
Others, therefore, held that this luminous nebula continues in
existence, but so closely attached to the sun as to be
indistinguishable. But this is as much as to say that it is
superfluous, whereas none of God's works have been made in vain. On
this account it is held by some that the sun's body was made out of
this nebula. This, too, is impossible to those at least who believe
that the sun is different in its nature from the four elements, and
naturally incorruptible. For in that case its matter cannot take on
another form.
I answer, then, with Dionysius (Div. Nom. iv), that the light was the
sun's light, formless as yet, being already the solar substance, and
possessing illuminative power in a general way, to which was
afterwards added the special and determinative power required to
produce determinate effects. Thus, then, in the production of this
light a triple distinction was made between light and darkness.
First, as to the cause, forasmuch as in the substance of the sun we
have the cause of light, and in the opaque nature of the earth the
cause of darkness. Secondly, as to place, for in one hemisphere there
was light, in the other darkness. Thirdly, as to time; because there
was light for one and darkness for another in the same hemisphere;
and this is signified by the words, "He called the light day, and the
darkness night."
Reply Obj. 3: Basil says (Hom. ii in Hexaem.) that day and night were
then caused by expansion and contraction of light, rather than by
movement. But Augustine objects to this (Gen. ad lit. i), that there
was no reason for this vicissitude of expansion and contraction since
there were neither men nor animals on the earth at that time, for
whose service this was required. Nor does the nature of a luminous
body seem to admit of the withdrawal of light, so long as the body is
actually present; though this might be effected by a miracle. As to
this, however, Augustine remarks (Gen. ad lit. i) that in the first
founding of the order of nature we must not look for miracles, but
for what is in accordance with nature. We hold, then, that the
movement of the heavens is twofold. Of these movements, one is common
to the entire heaven, and is the cause of day and night. This, as it
seems, had its beginning on the first day. The other varies in
proportion as it affects various bodies, and by its variations is the
cause of the succession of days, months, and years. Thus it is, that
in the account of the first day the distinction between day and night
alone is mentioned; this distinction being brought about by the
common movement of the heavens. The further distinction into
successive days, seasons, and years recorded as begun on the fourth
day, in the words, "let them be for seasons, and for days, and years"
is due to proper movements.
Reply Obj. 4: As Augustine teaches (Confess. xii; Gen. ad lit. 1,
15), formlessness did not precede forms in duration; and so we must
understand the production of light to signify the formation of
spiritual creatures, not, indeed, with the perfection of glory, in
which they were not created, but with the perfection of grace, which
they possessed from their creation as said above (Q. 62, A. 3). Thus
the division of light from darkness will denote the distinction of
the spiritual creature from other created things as yet without form.
But if all created things received their form at the same time, the
darkness must be held to mean the spiritual darkness of the wicked,
not as existing from the beginning but such as God foresaw would
exist.
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