QUESTION II. On the place and situation of Paradise — Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

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QUESTION II. On the place and situation of Paradise.¹

QUAESTIO II. De loco et situ Paradisi.

RES quam tractare aggredimur plena obscuritatis ac difficultatis est, Scriptoribus inter se maxima opinionum varietate valde dissidentibus, quibusdam etiam mira (seu verius dicam, incredibilia) de paradisi loco positaque prodentibus. Visum autem nobis est ad planiorem et pleniorem huius quaestionis explicationem multum conferre posse, si nobiliores et celebriores Auctorum sententias sigillatim commemoremus, expendamus, diiudicemus. TERTULLIANUS in Apologetico adversus Gentes ait paradisum locum esse divinae amoenitatis, recipiendis Sanctorum spiritibus destinatum, et maceria quadam igneae illius zonae a notitia orbis communis segregatum. In extremo autem libro quem scripsit de anima affirmat se proprium de Paradiso librum edidisse; quem si nunc haberemus, propriam eius de paradiso sententiam liquidius cognoscere possemus. S. Basilius in Oratione de Paradiso his verbis eum descripsit:

The matter which we undertake to treat is full of obscurity and difficulty, the writers disagreeing greatly among themselves with the greatest variety of opinions, some even setting forth marvelous (or, to speak more truly, incredible) things about the place and position of paradise. But it has seemed to us that it can contribute much to a plainer and fuller explanation of this question, if we recount, weigh, and judge one by one the more noble and more celebrated opinions of the Authors. Tertullian, in the Apologeticum against the Gentiles, says that paradise is a place of divine pleasantness, destined to receive the spirits of the Saints, and segregated from the knowledge of the common world by a certain wall of that fiery zone. And at the end of the book which he wrote On the Soul he affirms that he published his own book On Paradise; which if we now had, we could more clearly know his own opinion about paradise. Saint Basil, in the Oration on Paradise, described it in these words:²

Paradise, he says, was a place affluent on every side with delights, surpassing the beauty of every sensible creature: by reason of the sublimity of the place in which it was, admitting darkness in no part of itself, but ever illumined by the splendor of the rising stars; in which there was no immoderate force of winds, no storm of tempests, no horror of any winter, no excessive moisture of spring, no scorching ardor of summer, no troublesome and harmful dryness of autumn, but a temperate and peaceful harmony of all the seasons among themselves: so that whatever in[...]³

Paradisus, inquit, locus erat deliciis omnifariam affluens, omnem creaturam sensibilis exuperans pulchritudinem: ob sublimitatem loci in quo erat, nulla sui parte tenebras admittens, sed exorientium syderum splendore semper illustratus; in quo nulla erat immodica ventorum vis, nulla tempestatum procella, nullius hyemis horror, non nimia veris humiditas, non torrens aestatis ardor, non molesta et noxia autumni siccitas, sed temperata et pacifica omnium temporum inter se consonantia: ita ut quod in[...]

...whatever in each season of the year is best and most delightful, it had in itself, namely the pleasantness of spring, the abundance of summer, the cheerfulness of autumn, the leisure and quiet of winter: its soil was rich and soft, and fertile of all goods and pleasures, of which you would most truly have said that it flowed with milk and honey.⁴

...[quod in] quaque anni tempestate optimum et iucundissimum est in se haberet, scilicet veris amoenitatem, ubertatem aestatis, autumni hilaritatem, hyemis otium et quietem: eius terra pinguis erat et mollis, omniumque bonorum et voluptatum fertilis, quam verissime dixisses fluere lacte et melle.

B. Ephraem Syrus, aequalis et familiaris Basilii, in Commentariis suis super Genesim (quod opus nunc non extat, sed illud citat Moses Barcepha Syrus in libro suo de Paradiso, quem librum nuper Andreas Masius e sermone Syriaco in Latinum elegantissime convertit), Ephraem inquam tradidit omnem terram a nobis habitatam undique cingi Oceano, ultra quem esse immensam propemodum terram toti Oceano circumiacentem, in qua locatus est Paradisus.

Blessed Ephraem the Syrian, a contemporary and intimate of Basil, in his Commentaries on Genesis (which work does not now exist, but Moses Barcepha the Syrian cites it in his book On Paradise—which book Andreas Masius recently turned most elegantly from the Syriac tongue into Latin)—Ephraem, I say, handed down that all the earth inhabited by us is girt about on every side by the Ocean, beyond which there is an almost immense land lying all around the Ocean, in which Paradise is located.⁵

Damascenus, libro secundo de Fide orthodoxa cap. 11, ita descripsit Paradisum:

Damascene, in the second book On the Orthodox Faith, chapter 11, described Paradise thus:⁶

It is, he says, a place wondrously planted by the hands of God in Heden toward the East, a storehouse of all joy and pleasure, higher than all the earth, of the best temperateness of sky, with the subtlest and purest air, with plants ever green and breathing a most sweet odor, full of light, surpassing the understanding of all sensible loveliness and beauty. A divine place indeed, wonderfully suited to the dignity of the first man: in which no animal dwells, but only man, the workmanship of the divine hands.⁷

Est, inquit, locus Dei manibus in Heden ad Orientem mirabiliter consitus, omnis laetitiae ac voluptatis promptuarium, omni terra excelsior, optima temperie caeli, aëre subtilissimo et purissimo, plantis semper virentibus suavissimumque odorem spirantibus, plenus lumine, universae sensibilis venustatis et pulchritudinis excellens intelligentiam. Divinus profecto locus, mirifice congruens primi hominis dignitati: in quo nullum animal habitat, sed solus divinarum manuum factura homo.

ISIDORUS, libro 14 Etymologiarum cap. 3, haec scribit de Paradiso:

Isidore, in the fourteenth book of the Etymologies, chapter 3, writes these things about Paradise:⁸

Paradise is a place set in the parts of the East, whose name is turned from the Greek into Latin as ‘garden.’ Moreover, in Hebrew it is called Heden, which in our tongue is interpreted ‘delights’; and the two joined make ‘a garden of delights’: for it is planted with every kind of fruit-bearing tree. There is no cold there, no heat, but a perpetual mildness of the air. From its midst a spring bursting forth waters the whole grove, and it is divided into four rising rivers. The entrance to this place, after the sin of man, was barred: for it is fenced on every side with a flaming sword (rhomphaea), so that its conflagration is almost joined with heaven. The Cherubim also—that is, a garrison of Angels—was appointed over the blazing of the flaming sword, to ward off evil spirits, so that the good Angels may keep off men by the flame, but the evil Angels by themselves, lest the entry of transgression lie open to any flesh or spirit.⁹

Paradisus est locus in Orientis partibus constitutus, cuius vocabulum ex Graeco in Latinum vertitur hortus. Porro Hebraice dicitur Heden, quod in nostra lingua deliciae interpretatur; et utrumque iunctum facit hortum deliciarum: est enim omni genere pomiferarum arborum consitus. Non ibi frigus, non aestas, sed perpetua aëris temperies. E cuius medio fons prorumpens totum nemus irrigat, dividiturque in quatuor nascentia flumina. Cuius loci post peccatum hominis aditus interclusus est: septus enim est undique rhomphaea flamma, ita ut eius cum caelo paene iungatur incendium. Cherubin quoque, id est Angelorum praesidium, arcendis spiritibus malis super rhomphaeae flagrantia ordinatum est, ut homines flamma, Angelos vero malos Angeli boni summoveant, ne cui carni nec spiritui transgressionis aditus pateat.

Rupertus, libro 1 de Trinitate et operibus eius cap. 37, Paradisum ait fuisse locum amoenissimum et caelo proximum. Ambrosius Catharinus citat sententiam quandam Augustini de Paradiso (nescio ex quo libro eius ad Orosium) quae sic habet:

Rupert, in the first book On the Trinity and Its Works, chapter 37, says that Paradise was a most pleasant place and nearest to heaven. Ambrose Catharinus cites a certain opinion of Augustine about Paradise (I know not from which of his books to Orosius) which runs thus:¹⁰

Paradise is situated in the East, with the immense Ocean lying between, very far removed from our world, reaching even to the lunar circle: whence the waters of the flood are said by no means to have come there; this place was barred on account of the guilt of the first man, nor is access to it given to any of living things.¹¹

Paradisus in Oriente situs est, immenso Oceano interiecto, a nostro orbe longissime remotus, pertingens usque ad lunarem circulum: unde illuc aquas diluvii pervenisse minime dicitur; hic locus ob primi hominis reatum interclusus est, nec ulli animantium datur ad eum aditus.

Haec Catharinus ex Augustino: in cuius tamen nullo libro mihi quidem eam sententiam invenire contigit. Theologi scholastici assignant eam Bedae; sed nec Beda eam habet, vel in suo Hexameron vel in Allegorica libri Geneseos expositione. Illud ait duntaxat, Paradisum esse locum ab hominum cognitione remotissimum.

Thus Catharinus, from Augustine: in no book of whom, however, has it happened to me to find that opinion. The scholastic theologians assign it to Bede; but neither does Bede have it, either in his Hexameron or in his Allegorical exposition of the book of Genesis. He only says this much, that Paradise is a place most remote from the knowledge of men.¹²

Illa igitur sententia fuit Strabi et Magistri eius Rabani, quam Magister ponit lib. 2 sententiarum distinct. 17, et Historia scholastica super libro Geneseos capite 13. EX SUPRADICTIS auctorum sententiis licet intelligere duo esse quae de Paradiso multis Scriptoribus placuisse videantur: unum est, Paradisum immenso pene Oceano interfuso distare a terra nostra; id autem propterea dixisse videntur, ut in promptu habere possent quod responderent percontantibus, cur Paradisus fuerit inaccessus hominibus et ad hanc diem a nullo repertus. Alterum est, Paradisum fuisse in loco altissimo, et (ut quibusdam visum est) orbi lunae proximo. Tantam autem altitudinem tribuerunt Paradiso tres ob causas: Prima fuit ob salubritatem habitationis, quod illuc nullum ex rebus sublunaribus incommodum et detrimentum aspirare posset. Locus autem caelo vicinus visus est illis esse tranquillissimus et temperatissimus, et ad conservandam hominis valetudinem vitamque producendam accommodatissimus. Certe Solinus capite 16 annotavit in summo Atho monte (qui locum unde cadunt imbres putatur excedere) oppidum esse Achrothon, ubi dimidio longiorem quam alibi vitam degunt incolae; quos ob id Graeci vocant μακροβίους, nos diceremus longaevos. Secunda causa fuit, quo possent Paradisum vindicare ab exitio quod omni terrarum orbi diluvium attulit, quod omnes terrae montes operuisse (quindecim cubitis vel altissimos supergressum) Scriptura tradit. Cum autem compertum sit esse quosdam montes qui regionem ventorum et imbrium verticibus suis transcendant, necesse est locum Paradisi (quem a diluvio inviolatum et intactum esse pro certo habent) excelsissimo in loco et caelis vicinissimo esse collocatum. Tertia causa fuit, quod quatuor flumina quae Moses narrat e Paradiso egredi non possent per hanc nostram terram, tantopere a Paradiso dissitam, ferri, nisi locus Paradisi altissimus esset, unde scilicet praecipiti lapsu cadentia et subter vada Oceani delata variis postea in locis in hanc nostram terram exilirent.

That opinion, then, was Strabo's and his teacher Rabanus's, which the Master sets down in the second book of the Sentences, distinction 17, and the Scholastic History on the book of Genesis, chapter 13. From the aforesaid opinions of authors one may understand that there are two things which seem to have pleased many Writers about Paradise: one is, that Paradise is distant from our land by an almost immense interposed Ocean; and they seem to have said this for this reason, that they might have ready what to answer to those inquiring why Paradise was inaccessible to men, and to this day found by none. The other is, that Paradise was in a most lofty place, and (as it seemed to some) nearest to the orb of the moon. And they attributed so great an altitude to Paradise for three causes: The first was for the healthfulness of habitation, because no inconvenience and harm from sublunary things could breathe upon it there. And a place near to heaven seemed to them to be most tranquil and most temperate, and most suited to preserving man's health and prolonging life. Certainly Solinus, in chapter 16, noted that on the top of Mount Athos (which is thought to exceed the place whence the rains fall) there is a town Achrothon, where the inhabitants live a life half again longer than elsewhere; whom on that account the Greeks call μακροβίους (makrobious), we should call long-lived. The second cause was, that they might claim Paradise [as safe] from the destruction which the flood brought upon the whole world—which, Scripture relates, covered all the mountains of the earth, having gone fifteen cubits above even the highest. And since it is established that there are certain mountains which transcend with their peaks the region of winds and rains, it is necessary that the place of Paradise (which they hold for certain to have been inviolate and untouched by the flood) be set in a most lofty place, and nearest to the heavens. The third cause was, that the four rivers which Moses narrates to go out of Paradise could not be carried through this our land, so far separated from Paradise, unless the place of Paradise were most lofty—whence, namely, falling by a headlong descent and carried beneath the depths of the Ocean, they might afterward, in various places, burst out into this our land.¹³

SI QUIS autem ex istis quaerat, si Paradisus tanto interfuso Oceano a nostra regione distat, quemadmodum illinc homines primum in hanc nostram terram traiicere potuerint? Nam et Athanasius et Cyrillus prodiderunt Adamum, ex regione Paradisi profectum, aliis quamplurimis peragratis regionibus venisse in Iudaeam, ibique mortuum et sepultum in monte Hierosolymitano, qui a posteris (quod primi hominis caput contineret) mons Calvariae appellatus est. Ad hoc respondent isti dupliciter: alii enim aiunt primos illos homines fuisse Gigantes et procerissimae staturae, ideoque in hanc terram nostram per vadosum mare pedibus transmeare potuisse; alii respondent usque ad diluvium priscos illos homines coluisse terram Paradiso vicinam, nostram vero terram usque ad id temporis vacuam plane hominibus desertamque fuisse. Diluvio igitur ceteris[...]

But if someone of these should ask: if Paradise is so far distant from our region by the interposed Ocean, how could men first cross from there into this our land? For both Athanasius and Cyril have reported that Adam, having set out from the region of Paradise, after very many other regions had been traversed, came into Judaea, and there died and was buried on the Jerusalem mount, which by posterity (because it contained the skull of the first man) was called Mount Calvary. To this these men answer in two ways: for some say that those first men were Giants and of very tall stature, and therefore were able to cross over on foot into this our land through the shallow sea; others answer that, until the flood, those ancient men dwelt in the land near Paradise, but that our land, up to that time, was plainly empty of men and deserted. At the flood, therefore, the rest[...]¹⁴

...[Diluvio igitur] ceteris pereuntibus, octo homines arca in hanc terram nostram esse transvectos. Atque haec isti de loco Paradisi censuerunt. SED illa ipsa duo, ab istis probata et scriptis prodita, adeo fide carent ut longam non desiderent refutationem. Nam quod aiunt terram Paradisi ab hac nostra immenso quodam Oceano esse disiunctam, nullam habet verisimilitudinem, nullam speciem probabilitatis. Principio, quod isti aiunt terram nostram undique circumfusam esse et circundatam Oceano, et ultra Oceanum esse alteram terram quae totum Oceanum ambiat, falsum esse satis superque hoc nostro tempore navigationibus Hispanorum et Lusitanorum (qui totum ferme Oceanum et orbem terrarum pernavigarunt atque peragrarunt) exploratum et compertum est. Deinde, quis credat terram illam ulteriorem Oceano, tanto maiorem hac nostra, ab exordio mundi ad hanc diem omni prorsus hominum habitatione desertam et vacuam fuisse? Postea, perspicuis verbis docet Moses Paradisum fuisse in regione Heden, quam non procul fuisse Mesopotamia vel Arabia (ex verbis Isaiae et Ezechielis quae supra retulimus) non obscure cognoscitur. Praeterea, ridiculum esset voluisse Mosen describere et notum facere Paradisum per ea loca quae sunt in nostro orbe, si Paradisus extra hanc nostram terram fuisset: quid enim ad notitiam Paradisi percipiendam profuisset nominare flumina ex Paradiso profluentia eorumque cursus per notissima nostri orbis loca declarare? Ad haec, quid opus erat ad arcendum hominem ab ingressu Paradisi tanta custodia eius aditum munire? satis enim fuisset hominem extrudere et eiicere in hanc nostram terram, nemo enim illud tantis terrae marisque spatiis interpositis remeare potuisset. Nec sane potest satis intelligi, nedum credi, quatuor illa flumina Paradisi (quorum origines et cursus in hac nostra terra cernuntur) ex illa tam remota longinqua terra, amplissimi Oceani interpositu, in hunc nostrum orbem devenire potuisse. Nam quod aiunt ea ex altissimo Paradisi loco praecipitata et subter Oceanum delata in hanc nostram terram erumpere, quis non videt esse ab ipsis confictum potius (ne nihil dicere viderentur) quam ut aliquid quod probabile futurum esset se dicere putarent?

...at the flood, therefore, the rest perishing, eight men were carried over by the ark into this our land. And these things these men judged about the place of Paradise. But those two very things, approved by them and set forth in writing, so lack credibility that they do not require a long refutation. For what they say, that the land of Paradise is disjoined from this our land by a certain immense Ocean, has no verisimilitude, no appearance of probability. First, that which these men say—that our land is on every side surrounded and encircled by the Ocean, and that beyond the Ocean there is another land which encompasses the whole Ocean—has been more than sufficiently explored and ascertained to be false in this our time, by the navigations of the Spaniards and Portuguese (who have sailed through and traversed nearly the whole Ocean and globe of the earth). Then, who would believe that that land beyond the Ocean, so much greater than this our own, was, from the beginning of the world to this day, utterly deserted and empty of all human habitation? Next, in plain words Moses teaches that Paradise was in the region Heden, which it is not obscurely known (from the words of Isaiah and Ezekiel which we reported above) was not far from Mesopotamia or Arabia. Besides, it would be ridiculous that Moses should have wished to describe and make known Paradise by those places which are in our world, if Paradise had been outside this our land: for what would it have profited, for perceiving knowledge of Paradise, to name the rivers flowing out of Paradise, and to declare their courses through the most well-known places of our world? In addition, what need was there, for barring man from the entry of Paradise, to fortify its entrance with so great a guard? for it would have been enough to thrust out and cast man into this our land, for no one could have returned over such interposed spaces of land and sea. Nor indeed can it be sufficiently understood, much less believed, that those four rivers of Paradise (whose origins and courses are seen in this our land) could have come into this our world from that so remote and far-off land, with the vastest Ocean interposed. For as to what they say, that these are cast down from the lofty place of Paradise and, carried beneath the Ocean, burst out into this our land—who does not see that this was rather invented by them (lest they seem to say nothing), than that they thought they were saying anything that would be probable?¹⁵

IAM vero quod tradunt alii, tantam esse Paradisi altitudinem ut fastigio suo orbem lunae attingat, usque adeo non solum non est credibile, sed etiam ridiculum, ut in eo refellendo orationem ponere supervacaneum videri possit. Putarunt scilicet isti illiusmodi locum commodissimum esse habitationi hominis ac saluberrimum, quem tamen manifesta ratione convincitur incommodissimum esse homini et omnino inhabitabilem. Primo quidem ob viciniam solis atque aliorum syderum; tum ob elementum ignis eo loco proxime caelo lunae subiectum; deinde propter agitationem et perpetuam volubilitatem illius loci, rapidissima caeli vertigine continenter circumacti. Praeterea, intervallum quod est a terra ad orbem lunae Ptolemaeus et Alphraganus docent esse fere septies ac decies maius diametro terrae, hoc est tota ipsius terrae longitudine: quae[...]

But now, what others hand down—that the altitude of Paradise is so great that with its summit it touches the orb of the moon—is so far not only not credible, but even ridiculous, that to set down a speech in refuting it might seem superfluous. For these men thought that such a place was most convenient and most healthful for the habitation of man, which nevertheless is by manifest reason convicted of being most inconvenient for man, and altogether uninhabitable. First indeed, on account of the nearness of the sun and the other stars; then on account of the element of fire, in that place next subject to the heaven of the moon; next, on account of the agitation and perpetual whirling of that place, continuously turned about by the most rapid vertigo of heaven. Besides, the interval which is from the earth to the orb of the moon, Ptolemy and Alfraganus teach to be nearly seventeen times greater than the diameter of the earth—that is, the whole length of the earth itself: which[...]¹⁶

...[quae] distantia computatione nostrorum miliarium continet miliaria centum millia, adiectis novem millibus nongentis triginta septem: tantum enim est intervallum inter terram et orbem lunae interpatens. Si igitur Paradisus culmine suo attingit caelum, necesse est ipsum habuisse pro basi universam terrae amplitudinem: adde quod tanta Paradisi altitudo, ad orientem nobis opposita, et undique conspicua atque aspectabilis esset, et magna ex parte solis illuminationem nobis auferret. Propter manifestam istius sententiae absurditatem, quidam voluerunt eam in bonam partem interpretari, dicentes id fuisse dictum ab illis per hyperbolen, non quod ita res esset, sed ut per huiusmodi exaggerationem intelligeretur summa Paradisi sublimitas et celsitudo. S. Thomas in prima parte quaestione 93 ait id esse dictum per similitudinem, quod scilicet Paradisi locus amoenitate, salubritate et tranquillitate similis esset regioni caelesti quae incipit a luna. Alexander de Hales significari ait Paradisum esse in aëre quieto et tranquillo, qui superior est hoc nostrati aëre inquieto ac turbulento; et locum Paradisi esse ubi finis est et terminus exhalationum et vaporum, quorum fluxus et progressus lunae potestati ac efficientiae attribuitur.

...which distance, by the computation of our miles, contains one hundred thousand miles, with nine thousand nine hundred thirty-seven added: for so great is the interval lying open between the earth and the orb of the moon. If therefore Paradise touches heaven with its summit, it is necessary that it had for its base the whole breadth of the earth: add that so great an altitude of Paradise, set opposite us toward the east, would be conspicuous and visible on every side, and would take away from us, in great part, the illumination of the sun. On account of the manifest absurdity of this opinion, some wished to interpret it in a good sense, saying that it was said by them by hyperbole—not that the thing was so, but that by such an exaggeration the supreme sublimity and loftiness of Paradise might be understood. St. Thomas, in the first part, question 93, says it was said by likeness, namely that the place of Paradise, in pleasantness, healthfulness, and tranquillity, was like the celestial region, which begins from the moon. Alexander of Hales says it means that Paradise is in calm and tranquil air, which is higher than this our restless and turbulent air; and that the place of Paradise is where the limit and end of exhalations and vapors is, whose flux and advance is attributed to the power and efficacy of the moon.¹⁷

AB hac opinione Alexandri proxime abest (si tamen abest) Tostatus, qui in 2 caput Geneseos quaest. 9 et in 13 caput eiusdem libri quaest. 107 affirmat Paradisum non pervenire usque ad orbem lunae, sed excedere tamen oras et terminos huius nostri aëris turbulenti atque caliginosi, et esse supra mediam regionem aëris; denique in tertia regione aëris esse locatum, celsioremque esse omnibus aliis terrae montibus minimum viginti cubitis: ita ut aquae diluvii (quae cunctos montes quindecim cubitis supergressae sunt) locum Paradisi attingere non potuerint. Sed haec Tostati opinio nihilo magis probabilis est prioribus iam confutatis. Est enim tertia regio aëris omnino inhabitabilis homini, ob nimiam eius siccitatem, ingentem ardorem, vehementem agitationem ac volubilitatem ex vicinia elementi ignis, ex raptu et vertigine caeli, et ex multitudine corporum inflammatorum (ut sunt cometae qui in ea regione generantur): nullus ibi flat ventus, nullus refrigerat imber aut ros, nulla fluminum et fontium origo, nullus stirpium satus, nullus herbarum viror, et nullus flos nullusque fructus esse potest. Est aër ille tenuissimus et siccissimus et admodum calidus, atque ob eam ipsam causam respirationi hominis et refrigerationi cordis minime conveniens.

From this opinion of Alexander, Tostatus is next (if indeed he differs), who—on the second chapter of Genesis, question 9, and on the thirteenth chapter of the same book, question 107—affirms that Paradise does not reach as far as the orb of the moon, but yet exceeds the borders and limits of this our turbulent and murky air, and is above the middle region of the air; and finally, that it is located in the third region of the air, and is loftier than all the other mountains of the earth by at least twenty cubits: so that the waters of the flood (which went above all the mountains by fifteen cubits) could not reach the place of Paradise. But this opinion of Tostatus is no more probable than the prior ones already confuted. For the third region of the air is altogether uninhabitable to man, on account of its excessive dryness, immense heat, vehement agitation and whirling (from the nearness of the element of fire, from the seizing and vertigo of heaven, and from the multitude of inflamed bodies, such as the comets which are generated in that region): no wind blows there, no rain or dew cools, there is no origin of rivers and springs, no planting of plants, no greenness of herbs, and there can be no flower and no fruit. That air is thinnest and driest and very hot, and for that very reason least suited to the respiration of man and the cooling of the heart.¹⁸

NEC firmum est quod afferunt isti de altitudine montis Olympi supra locum nubium, imbrium ac ventorum (quam praedicat Solinus capite 14); aut de monte Atho tantae sublimitatis ut celsior loco nubium et ventorum existimetur (argumento cinerum qui in aris in cacumine eius extructis post sacrificia relicti nec ventis difflantur ac dissipantur, nec imbribus eluuntur); aut quod scribit Plinius libro[...]

Nor is what these men bring forward firm, about the altitude of Mount Olympus above the place of clouds, rains, and winds (which Solinus proclaims in chapter 14); or about Mount Athos of so great a height that it is reckoned loftier than the place of clouds and winds (by the argument of the ashes which, left on the altars built on its peak after sacrifices, are neither blown away and scattered by winds, nor washed off by rains); or what Pliny writes, in book[...]¹⁹

...[Plinius] libro 5 cap. 1 de Atlante monte, qui e mediis arenis in caelum super nubila atque in viciniam lunaris circuli (qua spectat Africam) elatus, nemorosus est, scatebris fontium irriguus, fructibus omnium generum sponte nascentibus sic abundans ut nunquam satietas voluptatibus desit. Haec dico, quae isti ad confirmandam opinionem suam afferunt, infirmissima sunt: partim quia ficticia et fabulosa sunt (ut fatetur Plinius), partim quia nihil eos iuvant, cum montes illi longe inferiores sint celsitudine quam ipsi tribuunt Paradiso. Quinetiam Augustinus lib. 3 de Genesi ad litteram cap. 2, de Olympo, citans versum illum Lucani,

...Pliny, in the fifth book, chapter 1, about Mount Atlas, which, raised from the midst of the sands into the heaven above the clouds and into the vicinity of the lunar circle (on the side where it faces Africa), is woody, watered with gushings of springs, so abounding with fruits of every kind springing up of their own accord that satiety of pleasures never fails. These things, I say, which these men bring forward to confirm their opinion, are most weak: partly because they are fictitious and fabulous (as Pliny confesses), partly because they help them nothing, since those mountains are far lower in height than they ascribe to Paradise. Moreover, Augustine, in the third book On Genesis according to the Letter, chapter 2, concerning Olympus, citing that verse of Lucan,²⁰

—Olympus exceeds the clouds. The heights hold peace.²¹

—Nubes excedit Olympus. Pacem summa tenent.

subdit, In vertice Olympi perhiberi aërem esse adeo tenuem ut neque nubibus obumbretur, neque turbetur ventis, neque alites sustinere queat, neque ipsos homines (si qui forte vel sacrificandi vel inspiciendorum syderum causa illuc ascenderint) crassioris aurae spiritu alere possit; eosque ferre secum solitos spongias plenas aqua, unde sugant identidem humorem ad refrigerandum cor, aliter enim ob summam illius aëris tenuitatem et siccitatem vivere non possent. Ex quo satis apparet duo illa fundamenta, quibus istorum de altitudine Paradisi nititur et fulcitur opinio, valde fragilia et imbecilla esse. Primum fundamentum erat tantam sublimitatem loci convenire Paradiso propter saluberrimam hominis habitationem: atqui ostensum est locum caelo proximum (immo etiam qui ad tertiam regionem aëris pertinet) multas ob causas non esse hominis habitationi convenientem. Alterum fundamentum erat, ne videlicet aquae diluvii obruerent et perderent locum paradisi. Sed hoc eos movere non debuit. Primo, quia si ad verba Scripturae spectent, vix poterunt paradisum ab inundatione diluvii vindicare: quippe aperte inquit Scriptura cap. 7 Geneseos diluvium operuisse omnes montes qui sub caelo erant; operuit igitur etiam paradisum. Quod si ab illa generali sententia necessario putent excipiendum Paradisum, nulla sane ratio cogit propter aquas diluvii tantae sublimitatis Paradisum facere.

subjoins that on the peak of Olympus the air is said to be so thin that it is neither overshadowed by clouds, nor disturbed by winds, nor can sustain birds, nor can nourish men themselves (if any have by chance ascended thither for the sake either of sacrificing or of inspecting the stars) with the breath of its thicker air; and that they were wont to carry sponges full of water with them, whence to suck moisture again and again to cool the heart, for otherwise, on account of the extreme thinness and dryness of that air, they could not live. From which it sufficiently appears that those two foundations, on which the opinion of these men about the altitude of Paradise rests and is propped, are very fragile and weak. The first foundation was that so great a loftiness of place suited Paradise on account of the most healthful habitation of man: but it has been shown that a place near to heaven (nay, even one which belongs to the third region of the air) is, for many causes, not suited to the habitation of man. The other foundation was, namely, that the waters of the flood should not overwhelm and destroy the place of paradise. But this ought not to have moved them. First, because, if they look to the words of Scripture, they will scarcely be able to vindicate paradise from the inundation of the flood: for Scripture plainly says, in chapter 7 of Genesis, that the flood covered all the mountains which were under heaven; it covered, therefore, paradise also. But if they think Paradise must necessarily be excepted from that general statement, surely no reason compels making Paradise of so great a loftiness on account of the flood-waters.²²

Quare Scotus in 2 sententiarum distinctione 17 quaestione 2 opinatur, sicut diluvium generale non naturaliter sed miraculo factum est, ita quoque miraculo factum esse ut Paradisus a diluvii exitio servaretur. Itaque fingunt isti, cum eluvione illa aquarum ceterae omnes terrae obruerentur, pervenisse aquas prope Paradisum ibique immobiles constitisse, scilicet ad similitudinem eius quod olim in mari rubro et in flumine Iordanis a Deo factum legimus. Quanquam Paradisum diluvio illo vastatum ac destructum esse nec pauci nec temere arbitrantur. Sed quia arduam hoc habet disceptationem diligentemque deposcit explicationem, paulo post separatim a nobis pertractabitur.

Wherefore Scotus, in the second book of the Sentences, distinction 17, question 2, opines that, just as the general flood was made not naturally but by miracle, so also it was made by miracle that Paradise should be preserved from the destruction of the flood. And so these men imagine that, when by that washing-away of the waters all the other lands were overwhelmed, the waters came near Paradise and there stood motionless—namely, after the likeness of that which we read was once done by God in the Red Sea and in the river Jordan. Although that Paradise was laid waste and destroyed by that flood, not a few, and not rashly, hold. But because this involves a difficult dispute and demands a careful explanation, it will be treated by us separately a little later.²³

ALII putarunt sub Aequinoctiali aut non procul fuisse paradisum, rati summam illis in locis esse caeli temperiem ob perpetuam dierum atque noctium aequabilitatem, nunquam immodico vel frigore vel calore. Hanc opinionem sequitur Bonaventura in 2 sententiarum distinctione 17, quasi probatam Doctoribus, eandemque defendit Durandus ibidem. Sed B. Thomas refellit eam argumento regionum quae ob vicinitatem Zonae torridae solis ardore vehementer infestantur, ut Aethiopia et interiora Africae ac Lybiae (vide ipsum prima parte quaest. 102). Scotus in 2 distinct. 17 illo praeterea utitur argumento, solem, cum est remotissimus ab Aequinoctiali (ut est in Tropicis), esse tamen propinquiorem illi quam in media aestate ferventissimisque caloribus multis Galliae et Germaniae populis; quocirca nunquam loca sub Aequinoctiali minus calida esse quam sit Gallia et Germania in media aestate. Verum neutra opinio in totum aut vera aut falsa est; neque omnibus sub Aequinoctiali vel inter duos Tropicos regionibus par est vel temperies caeli vel intemperies. Siquidem latissima regio Petrosi Ioannis, Monomotapa, Insula S. Thomae, et quae vulgo dicitur Caba verde, ardore solis peruruntur; contra, regio Americana (vulgo dictus Novus orbis), inter duos Tropicos interiacens, plerisque locis temperata est, maxime in provincia Peruana. Ex quo liquet temperiem vel intemperiem caeli in variis terrae locis et regionibus non provenire tantum ex ipso climate caeli, sed maxime ex aliis causis, velut ex frequentia aut raritate horum aut illorum ventorum, vel ex copia aut inopia aquarum tam terrestrium quam pluvialium, vel ex situ regionis aut montanae aut campestris, vel denique ex vicinitate aut longinquitate maris proficisci. Haec igitur ab aliis de loco paradisi prodita sunt. Ego Paradisum et in iis regionibus quas Tigris et Euphrates praeterlabuntur, et non procul Mesopotamia fuisse arbitror. Sed hoc planius ostendam et facilius probabo in extrema huius tractationis parte, postquam interpretatus fuero quae de Paradisi fluminibus infra scribit Moses.

Others thought that paradise was under the Equator, or not far from it, reckoning that the climate of the heaven is best in those places, on account of the perpetual equality of days and nights, never with immoderate cold or heat. This opinion Bonaventure follows, in the second book of the Sentences, distinction 17, as if approved by the Doctors, and Durandus defends the same there. But Blessed Thomas refutes it by the argument of the regions which, on account of their nearness to the Torrid Zone, are vehemently infested by the heat of the sun, such as Ethiopia and the interiors of Africa and Libya (see him in the first part, question 102). Scotus, in the second book, distinction 17, uses besides this argument: that the sun, when it is most remote from the Equator (as it is in the Tropics), is yet nearer to it than it is, in mid-summer and its fiercest heats, to many peoples of Gaul and Germany; wherefore the places under the Equator are never less hot than Gaul and Germany are in mid-summer. But neither opinion is wholly either true or false; nor in all the regions under the Equator, or between the two Tropics, is there an equal mildness of climate, or intemperateness. For the very wide region of Prester John, Monomotapa, the Island of St. Thomas, and what is commonly called Cape Verde, are scorched by the heat of the sun; on the contrary, the American region (commonly called the New World), lying between the two Tropics, is in most places temperate, especially in the province of Peru. From which it is clear that the temperateness, or intemperateness, of the climate in various places and regions of the earth proceeds not only from the celestial clime itself, but most of all from other causes, such as from the frequency or rarity of these or those winds; or from the abundance or scarcity of waters, both terrestrial and rain-borne; or from the situation of the region, whether mountainous or level; or finally from the nearness or distance of the sea. These things, then, have been set forth by others about the place of paradise. I judge that Paradise was both in those regions which the Tigris and Euphrates flow past, and not far from Mesopotamia. But this I shall show more plainly, and prove more easily, in the last part of this treatment, after I have interpreted what Moses writes below about the rivers of Paradise.²⁴

Translator’s notes

The second question of the disputation: where Paradise was located. ↩
Marginal glosses: "Tertulliani de situ Paradisi sententia"; "Descriptio Paradisi terrestris secundum Basilium, Ephrem, Damascenum et Isidorum." Q. II is full of difficulty—writers disagree wildly. Pererius will recount and judge the noble authors one by one. Tertullian (Apologeticum) calls paradise a place of divine pleasantness, set apart for the Saints' spirits, walled off from the world by the fiery zone (he also wrote a lost book On Paradise). Then Basil (Oration on Paradise) describes it: ↩
Basil, Oration on Paradise (Homily 11 on Genesis). The block quote spans printed pp. 292–293. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘quod in’). ↩
Conclusion of Basil's description (Oration on Paradise): paradise enjoyed the best of every season—spring's pleasantness, summer's plenty, autumn's cheer, winter's rest—and its rich, soft soil ‘flowed with milk and honey.’ ↩
St. Ephraem the Syrian (a contemporary and friend of Basil), in his (lost) Genesis Commentaries—cited by Moses Bar-Kepha the Syrian in his book On Paradise, recently translated from Syriac into Latin by Andreas Masius—taught that the inhabited earth is everywhere girt by the Ocean, beyond which lies an almost immense land surrounding the Ocean, where Paradise is located. ↩
Marginal gloss: "Ioan. Damasceni de situ Paradisi sententia." Lead-in to John Damascene's description (De Fide orthodoxa 2.11). ↩
John Damascene, De Fide orthodoxa 2.11: paradise is a place wondrously planted by God's hands in Eden toward the East—a storehouse of all joy, higher than all earth, of the best climate and purest air, with evergreen fragrant plants, full of light, beyond all sensible beauty; a divine place fitting the first man's dignity, where no animal dwells but only man, God's handiwork. ↩
Lead-in to Isidore of Seville's account (Etymologies 14.3). ↩
Isidore, Etymologies 14.3.2–4: Paradise is in the East, its Greek name = Latin ‘hortus’ (garden), Hebrew ‘Heden’ = ‘delights,’ so ‘garden of delights’; planted with every fruit-tree, no cold or heat but perpetual mildness; a spring from its midst waters the grove and divides into four rivers. After man's sin its entrance was barred by a flaming sword (rhomphaea) reaching almost to heaven, and the Cherubim (a garrison of Angels) set over the blaze—the good Angels warding off men by the flame and evil Angels by themselves. ↩
Rupert of Deutz (De Trinitate et operibus eius 1.37): paradise was a most pleasant place nearest to heaven. Ambrose Catharinus cites a passage (which he ascribes to Augustine, addressed to Orosius): ↩
A passage Catharinus ascribes to Augustine (‘to Orosius’): paradise lies in the East beyond the immense Ocean, very far from our world, reaching up to the lunar circle—so the flood's waters did not reach it; barred for Adam's guilt, with no access to any living thing. (Pererius doubts the attribution; see the following note.) ↩
Pererius's caveat: he found that ‘Augustinian’ passage in no book of Augustine; the scholastics assign it to Bede, but Bede has it neither in his Hexameron nor his allegorical Genesis exposition—Bede says only that Paradise is a place most remote from human knowledge. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘Illa’; signature O 3). ↩
Marginal gloss: "Cur multi putarunt Paradisum esse ultra Oceanum et extra hunc nostrum terrenum orbem, atque in loci altitudine caelo proximum." The remote-paradise view = Walafrid Strabo and Rabanus Maurus (Peter Lombard, Sent. 2 d.17; the Historia Scholastica). Two theses: (1) Paradise lies across an immense Ocean (to explain its inaccessibility); (2) Paradise was extremely high, near the moon's orb—for three reasons: (a) healthfulness (Solinus 16: Achrothon atop Mt. Athos, above the rain-line, whose folk are ‘long-lived,’ μακροβίους); (b) to spare it the flood, which topped all mountains by 15 cubits; (c) the four rivers could not reach our land unless they fell from a great height and ran under the Ocean. ↩
Objection: if Paradise lies across the Ocean, how did men first reach our land? (Athanasius and Cyril report Adam came from Paradise to Judaea and was buried on the Jerusalem mount—called Calvary because it held the first man's skull.) Two answers: (a) the first men were Giants who waded the shallow sea on foot; (b) until the flood the ancients dwelt near Paradise, our land being empty—so at the flood the eight in the ark were carried here. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘ceteris’). ↩
Marginal gloss: "Refellitur illud, Paradisum fuisse ultra Oceanum." Refuting the trans-Ocean view: (1) that our land is wholly girt by the Ocean, with another encircling land beyond, is now proven false by the Spanish/Portuguese navigations of the whole globe; (2) who would believe that vast farther land was uninhabited from the world's start? (3) Moses plainly puts Paradise in Heden, near Mesopotamia/Arabia; (4) it would be absurd to describe Paradise by places in our world if it lay outside it (why name its rivers and trace them through our known lands?); (5) why guard its entrance so strongly, when mere expulsion across such distances would suffice? (6) the four rivers (seen here) could not come from across the Ocean—the claim that they fall from Paradise's height and run under the Ocean is an invention, not a probability. ↩
Marginal gloss: "Refutatur illud de altitudine Paradisi usque ad vicinam caeli." The lunar-altitude view is not merely incredible but ridiculous. Such a place is in fact uninhabitable: from the nearness of the sun and stars; the fire-element just under the moon's heaven; the perpetual whirling by the celestial vertigo. And Ptolemy and Alfraganus put the earth-to-moon distance at about 17 times the earth's diameter. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘distan’). ↩
The earth-to-moon distance is 109,937 miles; so a Paradise touching heaven would need the whole earth for a base, and, set opposite us in the east, would block much of the sun's light—a manifest absurdity. Some read it as hyperbole. Aquinas (Summa I, q. [printed 93]) says it was said ‘by likeness’—Paradise's pleasantness resembled the celestial region beginning at the moon. Alexander of Hales: it means Paradise is in calm air above our turbulent air, where exhalations and vapors end (their flux attributed to the moon's power). ↩
Marginal gloss: "Tostatus putans Paradisum fuisse in suprema regione aëris confutatur." Close to Alexander is Tostatus (Abulensis; on Gen 2 q.9, Gen 13 q.107): Paradise reaches not the moon's orb but the third region of air, higher than all mountains by 20+ cubits, so the flood (which topped the mountains by 15 cubits) could not reach it. But this is no more probable: the third air-region is wholly uninhabitable—too dry, hot, and agitated (from the nearness of fire, the celestial vertigo, the flaming bodies like comets); no wind, rain, dew, springs, plants, greenery, flower, or fruit; the thinnest, driest, hottest air, unfit for human breathing or the heart's cooling. ↩
Marginal gloss: "De altitudine montium Olympi, Atho et Atlantis." Nor are their proofs firm about the heights of famous mountains: Olympus above the clouds, rains, and winds (Solinus 14); Mt. Athos so high that ashes left on its summit altars are neither blown off by winds nor washed by rains; or Pliny on Mt. Atlas. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘libro’). ↩
Pliny (NH 5.1) on Mt. Atlas (rising above the clouds toward the lunar circle, on the African side—woody, spring-watered, abounding in spontaneous fruit). These proofs are weak: partly fictitious (as Pliny admits), partly useless (those mountains are far lower than the height ascribed to Paradise). Augustine (De Gen. ad litt. 3.2), on Olympus, cites Lucan's verse: ↩
Marginal reference: "Lib. 2. Pharsalia." Lucan, Pharsalia (Civil War) 2.271: ‘Olympus rises above the clouds; the heights hold [unbroken] peace.’ Cited by Augustine on the rarefied calm air of high peaks. ↩
Marginal glosses: "Evertuntur duo praedicta fundamenta opinionis"; "An diluvium attigerit locum Paradisi." Augustine (continuing): on Olympus's peak the air is so thin it bears no clouds, no winds, no birds, and cannot nourish men (who carried water-soaked sponges to cool the heart, else they could not breathe). So the two foundations of the high-Paradise view fall: (1) loftiness for healthful habitation—but a place near heaven (even the third air-region) is unfit for man; (2) lest the flood drown Paradise—but Scripture says the flood covered all mountains under heaven (Gen 7), so Paradise too; and if Paradise must be excepted, that requires no extreme height. ↩
Marginal references: "Exod. 14" and "Iosue 3." Scotus (Sent. 2 d.17 q.2): as the flood was miraculous, so by miracle Paradise was preserved—the waters standing motionless near it (like the Red Sea and Jordan miracles). Yet not a few (rightly) hold Paradise was destroyed by the flood. Pererius defers this hard question to a later separate treatment. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘Alii’; signature P). ↩
Marginal gloss: "Paradisum fuisse sub Aequinoctiali, quorundam opinio." The equatorial view: some place Paradise at/near the equator for its supposedly perfect climate (equal day and night). Bonaventure (Sent. 2 d.17) follows it; Durandus defends it. But Aquinas (Summa I q.102) refutes it (Ethiopia, inner Africa/Libya are torrid), and Scotus (Sent. 2 d.17) adds the equator is never cooler than Gaul/Germany in summer. Pererius: neither view is wholly right—equatorial climate varies (Prester John's realm, Monomotapa, São Tomé, Cape Verde scorch; but the New World between the tropics, esp. Peru, is temperate), since climate depends on winds, water, terrain, and the sea, not just the celestial clime. **Pererius's own thesis: Paradise lay in the regions the Tigris and Euphrates flow past, near Mesopotamia** (to be proven fully at the end, after the rivers). ↩