NOMOS. 161 



lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars 

 also. And God set them in the firmament of the 

 heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule 

 over the day and over the night, and to divide the 

 light from the darkness ; and God saw that it was 

 good. And the evening and the morning were the 

 fourth day." 



According to this sublime history, then, the earth 

 and heavenly bodies were covered with water at 

 their creation. " In the beginning God created the 

 heavens and the earth. And the earth was without 

 form and void, and darkness was upon the face of 

 the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the 

 face of the waters" * * * " And God said, Let there 

 be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it 

 divide the waters from the waters. And God made 

 the firmament, and divided the waters which were 

 under the firmament from the waters which were 

 above the firmament ; and it was so." * * * " And 

 God called the firmament Heaven." Waters : where, 

 then, are these waters ? Now it is obvious that they 

 cannot all of them be found upon the earth. It 

 cannot be said that the firmament is the dry land 

 between the seas, for the dry land did not appear 

 until the third day ; and hence the waters spoken of 

 cannot be supposed to be separate seas. Nor is it 

 sufficient to say that the firmament is the atmo- 

 sphere, and that the waters above it are the clouds ; 

 for the firmament, which is called heaven, is after- 

 wards described as the place where the sun and 

 moon and stars are set for signs and for seasons and 

 for days and for years. " And God said, Let there 



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