LatineEnglish
QUESTION IV. What the cause is why Paradise, if indeed it is a terrestrial place, has at no time yet been found by anyone.1
QUAESTIO IIII. Quid causae sit, cur Paradisus, si quidem locus est terrestris, nullo tempore adhuc fuerit a quoquam inventus.
QUIDAM, et quibus opinio eius arrisit, causam non inventi adhuc Paradisi putant esse quod Paradisus sit extra nostram hanc terram et ultra amplissimum et mortalibus innavigabilem Oceanum. Alii causam assignant incredibili altitudini qua Paradisus vel supremam regionem aëris vel etiam orbem lunae contingit, quam ob rem sit hominibus inaccessus. Verum ista falsa esse supra ostensum est. Qui magis sobrie ac prudenter ea de re loqui videntur, aiunt homines tribus maximis impedimentis accessu ad Paradisum prohiberi. Primo enim dicunt ante Paradisum esse celsissimos et maxime praeruptos atque insuperabiles montes; deinde interpositas esse horridas atque invias et ferocissimis ac maxime venenatis animantibus refertas solitudines; denique esse tractus quosdam terrae in quibus multa sint loca exhalantia spiritum quendam exitialem, et non solum hominibus sed etiam supervolantibus avibus lethalem (vide B. Thomam prima parte quaest. 102 art. 1). Similia istis tradit Tostatus super 13 capit. Geneseos quaest. 93, quo loco citat Basilium et Ambrosium in scriptis suis super Hexameron affirmantes locum Paradisi esse cognitum et prope eum habitare aliquos populos, neminem tamen in eum penetrare posse, propterea quod ex altissimo Paradisi monte magnum illud flumen quo Paradisus irrigatur tanto sonitu et fragore praecipitetur in subiacentem planitiem, ubi amplissimum quendam facit lacum, ex quo quatuor illa a Mose memorata flumina oriuntur: ut qui eius paludis ripas accolunt homines, propter intolerabilem illum sonitum praecipitantis fluvii, omnes ab infantia usque obsurdescant, similiter ut de habitantibus ad Catadupas Nili proditum est. Sed haec ego apud Basilium et Ambrosium in eorum scriptis quae nunc extant nusquam legere memini.
Some, to whom that opinion was pleasing, think the cause of Paradise's not being found yet to be that Paradise is outside this our land, and beyond the most vast Ocean, unnavigable by mortals. Others assign the cause to the incredible altitude by which Paradise touches either the highest region of the air, or even the orb of the moon, on account of which it is inaccessible to men. But that these things are false has been shown above. Those who seem to speak more soberly and prudently on this matter say that men are barred from access to Paradise by three very great impediments. For first they say that before Paradise there are the loftiest and most sheer and insurmountable mountains; then that there are interposed horrid and trackless solitudes, filled with the fiercest and most venomous animals; finally, that there are certain tracts of land in which there are many places exhaling a certain deadly vapor, lethal not only to men but even to the birds flying over (see Blessed Thomas, first part, question 102, article 1). Similar things Tostatus relates, on the 13th chapter of Genesis, question 93, in which place he cites Basil and Ambrose, in their writings on the Hexameron, affirming that the place of Paradise is known, and that some peoples dwell near it, but that no one can penetrate into it, because from the highest mountain of Paradise that great river by which Paradise is watered is hurled down with such noise and crash onto the plain lying below, where it makes a certain very vast lake, from which those four rivers mentioned by Moses arise: so that the men who dwell on the banks of that marsh, on account of that intolerable noise of the headlong river, all from infancy onward grow deaf—similarly as has been reported of those dwelling by the Cataracts of the Nile. But these things I do not recall having anywhere read in Basil and Ambrose, in their writings which now exist.2
CONSULTO hic tacita praetereo tanquam fabulosa et commentitia quae in quibusdam apocryphis libris leguntur de Macario quodam Romano et aliis tribus monachis, qui cum omni studio sese ad investigandum Paradisi locum dedidissent, peragratis longinquis regionibus, tandem ad ipsius Paradisi aditum pervenisse, eius tamen introitu prohibiti esse dicuntur. B. Chrysostomus scribit ante diluvium quidem fuisse hominibus notam viam quae ad Paradisum ducebat, non esse tamen eos illuc accedere ausos, horribili illa Cherubini custodia perterritos; post diluvium autem omnia illius loci indi[cia]...
Deliberately I here pass over in silence, as fabulous and fictitious, the things which are read in certain apocryphal books about a certain Macarius the Roman, and three other monks, who, when they had given themselves with all zeal to investigating the place of Paradise, after far-off regions had been traversed, at last came to the very entrance of Paradise, yet are said to have been prohibited from its entry. Blessed Chrysostom writes that before the flood there was indeed known to men a way which led to Paradise, but that they did not dare to approach thither, terrified by that horrible guard of the Cherubim; but that after the flood all the marks of that place[...]3
...[indi]cia fuisse aquis obruta et deleta, et rationem illuc pertendendi ac perveniendi prorsus incognitam. EGO, ut lectorem meae quoque opinionis faciam participem, censeo Paradisum non fuisse natura sua inaccessibilem homini; nam si fuisset per se inaccessibilis, non fuisset opus ad arcendum hominem ab eius introitu tantam ei custodiam et munitionem adhiberi. Praeterea, existimo dubiam et fallacem esse viam et rationem illam investigandi locum Paradisi, persequendo videlicet Tigris et Euphratis (qui ex Paradiso oriuntur) alveos et cursum usque ad ipsorum fontes: incertum enim est an fontes illi primam eorum fluminum originem contineant, an illa potius aliubi procul orta, per subterraneos meatus occulto cursu longinqua conficiant spatia, primumque sese nobis in Armenia prodant et ostendant, id quod aliis fluminibus contingere notum est.
...the marks of that place were overwhelmed and deleted by the waters, and the way of pressing on and arriving thither utterly unknown. I, that I may make the reader a sharer also in my own opinion, judge that Paradise was not by its nature inaccessible to man; for if it had been of itself inaccessible, there would have been no need, for keeping man from its entrance, to apply to it so great a guard and fortification. Besides, I consider that way and method of investigating the place of Paradise to be doubtful and fallacious—namely, by following the channels and course of the Tigris and Euphrates (which arise from Paradise) up to their very springs: for it is uncertain whether those springs contain the first origin of those rivers, or whether the rivers rather, arising far off elsewhere, accomplish long distances through subterranean passages by a hidden course, and first reveal and show themselves to us in Armenia—which is known to happen with other rivers.4
SED cur non quaesitus aut repertus fuerit Paradisus, illa satis probabilis causa videri potest, quod infideles quidem (qui sacrae Scripturae non credunt, fabulosa putantes quae de Paradiso traduntur) eum locum investigare non curarunt; at vero fideles, divinis litteris fidem habentes, cum nossent ad locum Paradisi adiri non posse eiusque aditum homini esse a Deo interclusum, omnem eum locum investigandi operam ac laborem non modo inanem sed etiam stultum atque impium esse iudicarunt. Ego illam esse reor (cur Paradisus nec inventus sit nec inveniri queat) verisimilem admodum causam, quod Paradisus ille diluvio perierit, et illa generali aquarum eluvione (quae cuncta terrae loca inundavit et altissime obruit) omnis Paradisi pulchritudo, amoenitas et venustas dissipata et sublata sit: hoc autem quaestio proxime disceptanda planius faciet.
But as to why Paradise has not been sought or found, this can seem a sufficiently probable cause: that the infidels indeed (who do not believe the sacred Scripture, thinking fabulous the things handed down about Paradise) did not care to investigate that place; but the faithful, having faith in the divine writings, since they knew that the place of Paradise could not be approached and that its entrance had been closed off to man by God, judged all the effort and labor of investigating that place to be not only vain but even foolish and impious. I reckon this to be the very probable cause why Paradise neither has been found nor can be found: that that Paradise perished in the flood, and that by that general deluge of the waters (which inundated all the places of the earth and overwhelmed them most deeply) all the beauty, pleasantness, and loveliness of Paradise was dissipated and removed: but this the question to be debated next will make plainer.5
Translator’s notes
- The fourth question of the disputation: why a terrestrial Paradise has never been discovered by anyone. ↩
- Why Paradise is undiscovered: some say (rejected above) it lies beyond the unnavigable Ocean, or at an incredible altitude. The more sober say three impediments bar access: (1) the loftiest, sheerest, insurmountable mountains; (2) horrid trackless wastes full of the fiercest, most venomous beasts; (3) tracts exhaling a deadly vapor, lethal even to birds flying over (cf. Aquinas, Summa I q.102 a.1). Tostatus (Gen 13 q.93) cites Basil and Ambrose: Paradise's place is known and peopled nearby, but none can enter, because the great river plunges from Paradise's highest mountain with such a roar onto the plain (forming the lake whence the four rivers rise) that those living by the marsh go deaf from infancy—as reported of those by the Cataracts (Catadupae) of the Nile. But Pererius cannot find this in Basil's or Ambrose's extant writings. ↩
- Pererius deliberately passes over, as fabulous, the apocryphal tales of ‘Macarius the Roman’ and three other monks who sought Paradise, reached its entrance, but were barred. Chrysostom writes that before the flood the way to Paradise was known to men, but they dared not approach it, terrified by the Cherubim guard; and that after the flood all the marks of that place [were lost]... Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘cia’; signature P 3). ↩
- Continuation of Chrysostom (from p.301): after the flood the marks of Paradise's place were erased and the way to it became unknown. **Pererius's own view:** Paradise was not inaccessible by nature—else no guard would be needed to bar man's entry. He also rejects the method of locating Paradise by tracing the Tigris and Euphrates to their springs: it is uncertain whether those Armenian springs are the rivers' true origin, or whether (as with other rivers) they arise far off and run underground before surfacing in Armenia. ↩
- Marginal gloss: "Cur non fuerit quaesitus aut repertus ab ullo Paradisus." Why no one has sought or found Paradise: infidels dismissed the accounts as fables; the faithful judged the search vain, even foolish and impious, knowing its entrance is closed by God. **Pererius's own probable cause: Paradise perished in the flood**—the universal deluge dissipated all its beauty—a thesis the next question will develop. ↩