T. Taylor
Seeking the Truth
From the apocryplal writings and qumran scrolls:
58. He hath shut the sea in the midst of the waters, and with his word hath he hanged the earth upon the waters. 59. He spreadeth out the heavens like a vault; upon the waters hath he founded it.
2 Esdras, 16
4 'O you that have made the earth, hear me, that have fixed the firmament by the word, and have made firm the height of the heaven by the spirit…
2 Baruch, 21
3 But also the heavens at that time were shaken from their place…
2 Baruch, 59
3. That hast raised up the heaven and founded the earth upon the waters, That hast fixed the great stones upon the abyss of water…
Joseph & Aseneth, 12
And these shall serve to lay the foundations of the heaven, And to strengthen the earth, And to renew all the luminaries which are in the firmament.
Jubilees, 19:25
And He thundered at them in [His] power, and all the foundations of the earth [tr]embled, [and the wa]ters burst forth from the abysses. All the windows of heaven opened, and all the abyss[es] overflowed [with] mighty waters. And the windows of heaven [emptied out] rain and He destroyed them by the Flood...
4Q370 (4Q185)
The foundations of the firmament scream at your judgement...
4Q418
From the Book of Enoch:
"1 I saw the treasuries of all the winds: I saw how He had furnished with them the whole creation 2 and the firm foundations of the earth. And I saw the corner-stone of the earth: I saw the four 3 winds which bear [the earth and] the firmament of the heaven. And I saw how the winds stretch out the vaults of heaven, and have their station between heaven and earth: these are the pillars of the heaven. 4 I saw the winds of heaven which turn and bring the circumference of the sun and 5 all the stars to their setting. I saw the winds on the earth carrying the clouds: I saw the paths 6 of the angels. I saw at the end of the earth the firmament of the heaven above. And I proceeded and saw a place which burns day and night, where there are seven mountains of magnificent stones, 7 three towards the east, and three towards the south. And as for those towards the east, was of coloured stone, and one of pearl, and one of jacinth, and those towards the south of red stone. 8 But the middle one reached to heaven like the throne of God, of alabaster, and the summit of the 9,10 throne was of sapphire. And I saw a flaming fire. And beyond these mountains Is a region the end of the great earth: there the heavens were completed. And I saw a deep abyss, with columns of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards 12 the height and towards the depth. And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it, and no 13 birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, 14 and to me, when I inquired regarding them, The angel said: 'This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of 16 their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times. And He was wroth with them, and bound them till the time when their guilt should be consummated (even) for ten thousand years.'"
Book of Enoch, Chapter 18
"1 And from thence I went to the ends of the earth and saw there great beasts, and each differed from the other; and (I saw) birds also differing in appearance and beauty and voice, the one differing from the other. And to the east of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open. 2And I saw how the stars of heaven come forth, and 3 I counted the portals out of which they proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their 4 times and their months, as Uriel the holy angel who was with me showed me. He showed all things to me and wrote them down for me: also their names he wrote for me, and their laws and their companies."
Book of Enoch Chapter 33
11 And the other Angel spoke to me, the one who went with me and showed me what is secret; what is first and last in Heaven, in the heights, and under the dry ground, in the depths, and at the Ends of Heaven, and at the Foundations of Heaven, and in the Storehouses of the Winds.
Book of Enoch Chapter 60
17 And through it the earth was founded upon the water, and from the hidden recesses of the mountains come beautiful waters, from the creation of the world and for ever. 18 And through that oath the sea was created, and as its foundation, for the time of anger, he placed for it the sand, and it does not go beyond it, from the creation of the world and for ever. 19 And through that oath the deeps were made firm, and they stand and do not move from their place, from the creation of the world and for ever.20 And through that oath the Sun and the Moon complete their course and do not transgress their command, from the creation of the world and for ever. 21 And through that oath the stars complete their course, and he calls their names, and they answer him, from the creation of the world and for ever.
Book of Enoch Chapter 69
[emphasis added by me]
From Ante Nicene Fathers:
…For man, being below, begins to build from the earth, and cannot in order make the roof, unless he has first laid the foundation… Wherefore, also, the prophet mentioned that the creation of the heavens first of all took place, as a kind of roof, saying: “At the first God created the heavens”—that is, that by means of the “first” principle the heavens were made, as we have already shown. And by “earth” he means the ground and foundation, as by “the deep” he means the multitude of waters… The heaven, therefore, being like a dome-shaped covering, comprehended matter which was like a clod. And so another prophet, Isaiah by name, spoke in these words: “It is God who made the heavens as a vault, and stretched them as a tent to dwell in.” The command, then, of God, that is, His Word, shining as a lamp in an enclosed chamber, lit up all that was under heaven, when He had made light apart from the world
THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS, CHAPTER XIII, REMARKS ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, 155
…to Him is for us to know who stretched out and vaulted the heavens, and fixed the earth in its place like a centre, who gathered the water into seas and divided the light from the darkness, who adorned the sky with stars and made the earth to bring forth seed of every kind, who made animals and fashioned man.
A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS By Athenagoras the Athenian, CHAPTER XIII
The first and only (one God), both Creator and Lord of all, had nothing coeval with Himself; not infinite chaos, nor measureless water, nor solid earth, nor dense air, not warm fire, nor refined spirit, nor the azure canopy of the stupendous firmament.
Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies, Book X, Chapter XXVIII, p. 271
... the absolutely perfect Founder of all things, who has suspended the heavens in lofty sublimity, has established the earth with its lower mass, ... For in the solid vault of heaven He has both awakened the light-bringing Sunrisings; He has filled up the white globe of the moon in its monthly waxings as a solace for the night;... and He has willed all these things in their legitimate tracks to circle the entire compass of the world, so as to cause days, months, years, signs, and seasons, and benefits of other kinds for the human race.
…
Novatian, A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity, Chapter I, p. 1072
Hence it is that He also sitteth above the Cherubim; that is, He presides over the variety of His works, the living creatures which hold the control over the rest being subjected to His throne: a crystal covering being thrown over all things; that is, the heaven covering all things, which at the command of God had been consolidated into a firmament from the fluent material of the waters, that the strong hardness that divides the midst of the waters that covered the earth before, might sustain as if on its back the weight of the superincumbent water, its strength being established by the frost. And, moreover, wheels lie below—that is to say, the seasons—whereby all the members of the world are always being rolled onwards;
Novatian, A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity, Chapter VIII, p. 1083
The sun, with its ceaseless courses and unequal intervals, completes its annual circles, and either at his rising draws forth the day for labour, or at his setting brings on the night for repose; and at one time by his departure farther towards the south, at another time by his approach nearer towards the north, he causes the vicissitudes of winter and summer, so that both by the moistures and frosts of winter the earth becomes enriched for fruitfulness, and by the heats of summer either the produce of grass is hardened by maturity, or that which is in moist places, being seethed and heated, becomes ripened. ...
LACTANTIUS, A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD, CHAP. XIII, p. 412
Thou art blessed, O Lord, the King of ages, who by Christ hast made the whole world, and by Him in the beginning didst reduce into order the disordered parts; who dividedst the waters from the waters by a firmament, and didst put into them a spirit of life; who didst fix the earth, and stretch out the heaven, and didst dispose every creature by an accurate constitution. For by Thy power, O Lord, the world is beautified, the heaven is fixed as an arch over us, and is rendered illustrious with stars for our comfort in the darkness. The light also and the sun were begotten for days and the production of fruit, and the moon for the change of seasons, by its increase and diminutions; and one was called Night, and the other Day. And the firmament was exhibited in the midst of the abyss, and Thou commandedst the waters to be gathered together, and the dry land to appear.
LACTANTIUS, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, BOOK VII, XXXIV, p. 706
For Thou art He who didst frame the heaven as an arch, and “stretch it out like the covering of a tent,” and didst found the earth upon nothing by Thy mere will; who didst fix the firmament, and prepare the night and the day;
LACTANTIUS, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, BOOK VIII, XII, p. 729
“In the beginning, when God had made the heaven and the earth, as one house, the shadow which was cast by the mundane bodies involved in darkness those things which were enclosed in it. ... And now the water which was within the world, in the middle space of that first heaven and earth, congealed as if with frost, and solid as crystal, is distended, and the middle spaces of the heaven and earth are separated as by a firmament of this sort; and that firmament the Creator called heaven, so called by the name of that previously made: and so He divided into two portions that fabric of the universe, although it was but one house. The reason of the division was this, that the upper portion might afford a dwelling-place to angels, and the lower to men. ...
Recognitions of Clement, Book I, Chapter XXVII, p. 125
For as those who build circular domes, unless they bind the fastening of the central top, the whole falls at once; so also the circle of the world, which we see to be brought together in so graceful a form...
Recognitions of Clement, Book VIII, Chapter XVIII, p. 288
When the old man had said this, I Clement began to speak as follows: “God by His Son created the world as a double house, separated by the interposition of this firmament, which is called heaven; and appointed angelic powers to dwell in the higher, and a multitude of men to be born in this visible world…
Recognitions of Clement, Book IX, Chapter III, p. 312
[emphasis added by me]
Upvote
0