Chapter XXXIII.—Statement of the True Doctrine Concerning Matter. Its Relation to God’s Creation of the World.

But although Hermogenes finds it amongst his own colourable pretences^64826482    Colores. See our “Anti-Marcion,” p. 217, Edin., where the word pretension should stand instead of precedent. (for it was not in his power to discover it in the Scriptures of God), it is enough for us, both that it is certain that all things were made by God, and that there is no certainty whatever that they were made out of Matter. And even if Matter had previously existed, we must have believed that it had been really made by God, since we maintained (no less) when we held the rule of faith to be,^64836483    Præscribentes. that nothing except God was uncreated.^64846484    Innatum: see above, note 12. Up to this point there is room for controversy, until Matter is brought to the test of the Scriptures, and fails to make good its case.^64856485    Donec ad Scripturas provocata deficiat exibitio materiæ. The conclusion of the whole is this: I find that there was nothing made, except out of nothing; because that which I find was made, I know did not once exist. Whatever^64866486    Etiamsi quid. was made out of something, has its origin in something made: for instance, out of the ground was made the grass, and the fruit, and the cattle, and the form of man himself; so from the waters were produced the animals which swim and fly. The original fabrics^64876487    Origines. out of which such creatures were produced I may call their materials,^64886488    Materias. There is a point in this use of the plural of the controverted term materia. but then even these were created by God.