Let there be light. The order was
itself an operation, and a state of things was brought into being, than
which man’s mind cannot even imagine a pleasanter one for our
enjoyment. It must be well understood that when we speak of the
voice, of the word, of the command of God, this divine language does
not mean to us a sound which escapes from the organs of speech, a
collision of air A statement
not unlike the “Vibrations of the elastic medium,” to
which sound might now be referred. “Sed vocem Stoici
corpus esse contendunt: eamque esse dicunt ictum aera:
Plato autem non esse vocem corpus esse putat. Non enim
percussus, inquit, aer, sed plaga ipsa atque percussio, vox
est: οὐκ
ἁπλως πληγὴ
αέρος ἐστὶν
ἡ φωνή·
πλήττει γὰρ
τὸν ἀερα καὶ
δάκτυλος
παραγόμενος,
καὶ οὐδέπω
ποιεῖ
φωνήν· ἀλλ᾽
ἡ πόση πληγὴ,
καὶ σφοδρὰ,
καὶ τόση δὲ
ὥστε
ἀκουστὴν
γενέσθαι.”
Aul. Gell., N.A. v. 15. So Diog. Laert. in
Vita Zenonis; ἔστι
φωνὴ αὴρ
πεπληγμένος. struck by the
tongue; it is a simple sign of the will of God, and, if we give it the
form of an order, it is only the better to impress the souls whom we
instruct. Fialon quotes
Bossuet 4me élév. 3me sem.:
“Le roi dit Qu’on marche; et
l’armée marche; qu’on fasse telle évolution,
et elle se fait; toute une armée se remue au seul commandement
d’un prince, c’est à dire, à un seul petit
mouvment de ces livres, c’est, parmi les choses humaines,
l’image la plus excellente de la puissance de Dieu; mais au
fond que c’est image est dèfectueuse! Dieu
n’a point de lèvres à remuer; Dieu ne frappe point
l’air pour en tirer quelque son; Dieu n’a
qu’à vouloir en lui même; et tout ce qu’il
veut éternellement s’accomplit comme il l’a voulu,
et au temps qu’il a marqué.