To Autolycus 2.15
Summary: The sun and moon are types of God and humanity; the three days before the lights are types of the “Triad” of God, his Word, and his Wisdom; the stars represent the prophets, the righteous, and the apostate.
Greek text · Otto 8:100–104
Τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγένοντο οἱ φωστῆρες. Ἐπειδὴ ὁ θεὸς προγνώστης ὢν ἠπίστατο τὰς φλυαρίας τῶν ματαίων φιλοσόφων, ὅτι ἤμελλον λέγειν ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων εἶναι τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς φυόμενα, πρὸς τὸ ἀθετεῖν τὸν θεόν· ἵνʼ οὖν τὸ ἀληθὲς δειχθῇ, προγενέστερα γέγονεν τὰ φυτὰ καὶ τὰ σπέρματα τῶν στοιχείων· τὰ γὰρ μεταγενέστερα οὐ δύναται ποιεῖν τὰ αὐτῶν προγενέστερα. Ταῦτα δὲ δεῖγμα καὶ τύπον ἐπέχει μεγάλου μυστηρίου. Ὁ γὰρ ἥλιος ἐν τύπῳ θεοῦ ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ σελήνη ἀνθρώπου. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος πολὺ διαφέρει τῆς σελήνης δυνάμει καὶ δόξῃ, οὕτως πολὺ διαφέρει ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος· καὶ καθάπερ ὁ ἥλιος πλήρης πάντοτε διαμένει μὴ ἐλάσων γινόμενος, οὕτως πάντοτε ὁ θεὸς τέλειος διαμένει, πλήρης ὢν πάσης δυνάμεως καὶ συνέσεως καὶ σοφίας καὶ ἀθανασίας καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Ἡ δὲ σελήνη κατὰ μῆνα φθίνει καὶ δυνάμει ἀποθνήσκει, ἐν τύπῳ οὖσα ἀνθρώπου, ἔπειτα ἀναγεννᾶται καὶ αὔξει εἰς δεῖγμα τῆς μελλούσης ἔσεσθαι ἀναστάσεως. Ὡσαύτως καὶ αἱ τρεῖς ἡμέραι πρὸ τῶν φωστήρων γεγονυῖαι τύποι εἰσὶν τῆς τριάδος, τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ. Τετάρτῳ δὲ τύπῳ ἐστὶν ἄνθρωπος ὁ προσδεὴς τοῦ φωτός, ἵνα ᾖ θεός, λόγος, σοφία, ἄνθρωπος. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγενήθησαν φωστῆρες. Ἡ δὲ τῶν ἄστρων θέσις οἰκονομίαν καὶ τάξιν ἔχει τῶν δικαίων καὶ εὐσεβῶν καὶ τηρούντων τὸν νόμον καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ. Οἱ γὰρ ἐπιφανεῖς ἀστέρες καὶ λαμπροί εἰσιν εἰς μίμησιν τῶν προφητῶν· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ μένουσιν ἀκλινεῖς, μὴ μεταβαίνοντες εἰς τόπον ἐκ τόπου. Οἱ δὲ ἑτέραν ἔχοντες τάξιν τῆς λαμπρότητος τύποι εἰσὶν τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν δικαίων. Οἱ δʼ αὖ μεταβαίνοντες καὶ φεύγοντες τόπον ἐκ τόπου, οἱ καὶ πλάνητες καλούμενοι, καὶ αὐτοὶ τύπος τυγχάνουσιν τῶν ἀφισταμένων ἀνθρώπων ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καταλιπόντων τὸν νόμον καὶ τὰ προστάγματα αὐτοῦ.
English · Claude translation
On the fourth day the lights came into being. For God, knowing things beforehand, knew the nonsense of the foolish philosophers, who were going to say that the things that grow on the earth come from the heavenly bodies, so as to set God aside. So, that the truth might be shown, the plants and seeds were made before the heavenly bodies; for what comes later cannot produce what is earlier than itself. These things contain a pattern and type of a great mystery. The sun is a type of God, and the moon of the human being. And as the sun far surpasses the moon in power and glory, so God far surpasses humankind; and as the sun always remains full, never growing less, so God always remains perfect, full of all power, understanding, wisdom, immortality, and every good thing. But the moon wanes every month and in effect dies, being a type of the human being; then it is born again and waxes, as a pattern of the resurrection that is to come. Likewise the three days that came before the lights are types of the Triad: of God, and of his Word, and of his Wisdom. And the fourth type is the human being, who needs the light, so that there are God, Word, Wisdom, human being. That is why the lights came into being on the fourth day. The arrangement of the stars represents the order and rank of the righteous and godly, who keep the law and the commandments of God. The conspicuous and bright stars are an image of the prophets; that is why they stay fixed, not moving from place to place. Those of a lesser degree of brightness are types of the people of the righteous. And those that move and flee from place to place, which are called planets (“wanderers”), are a type of the people who depart from God, abandoning his law and his commandments.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- This is the earliest known Christian use of “Triad” (τριάς) for God: “God, and his Word, and his Wisdom.” Theophilus identifies Wisdom with the Holy Spirit (cf. 1.7; 2.10), as Irenaeus also does.
- “The heavenly bodies” renders στοιχεῖα (“elements”), which here means the sun, moon, and stars.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray raised point in the digital text; accent: grave on ὢν; wrong accent: καί for καὶ; wrong breathing: Οἰ for Οἱ): πλήρης ὤν· πάσης → πλήρης ὢν πάσης; τῶν δικαίων καί εὐσεβῶν → τῶν δικαίων καὶ εὐσεβῶν; Οἰ δʼ αὖ μεταβαίνοντες → Οἱ δʼ αὖ μεταβαίνοντες.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 2.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/15/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 2.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/15/).
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