The Goodness of Creation
The declaration "And God saw that it was good" -- all things created by God are good, against the Manichaeans. The comprehensive "very good" at the end of the sixth day applies especially to man as the end and synthesis of all creatures. Augustine: the beauty of parts is praiseworthy, but more so in the whole. Nine reasons for the beauty of the world: variety, order, universality, connection of parts, antipathy and sympathy, proportion, divine administration, all things serving man, and evils ordered toward good.
Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)
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Verse 4: And God saw the light that it was good
— "God saw that it was good": God is introduced as a craftsman contemplating his work; against the Manichaeans, nothing evil but all things good were produced by God.
"God is here introduced by Moses through a kind of literary characterization, in the manner of men, as a craftsman who, having completed his work, contemplates it and sees that it is beautiful and fine -- and this to this end: that against the Manichaeans we may know that nothing evil, but all things good, were produced by God."
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Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good
— Why "God saw that it was good" is omitted after man's creation: the comprehensive "very good" applies especially to man as the end and synthesis of all creatures.
"in a comprehensive statement embracing all things, says: "And God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good." This comprehensive statement applies especially to man"
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Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good
— Augustine: the beauty of parts is praiseworthy, but more so in the whole; the word "universe" derives from "unity."
"all beauty that consists of parts is much more praiseworthy in the whole than in the part."
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Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good
— Nine reasons for the beauty of the world: (1) variety, (2) order, (3) universality/fullness, (4) connection of parts, (5) antipathy and sympathy, (6) proportion, (7) divine administration, (8) all things serve man, (9) evils ordered toward good.
"On account of the variety of things; for some are incorporeal, such as the angels, who are distributed into various species, hierarchies, and choirs, and are very many and almost innumerable; others are corporeal."