The Sleepwalkers (39 page)

In
this
immense
forest
of
snares
and
perils,
I
have
cut
off
and
thrust
from
my
heart
many
sins,
as
you
have
given
me
to
do,
O
God
of
my
salvation;
yet
when
would
I
dare
to
say
–
with
so
many
things
of
the
sort
buzzing
about
our
daily
life
on
every
side
–
when
dare
I
say
that
no
such
thing
can
draw
me
to
look
at
it
or
through
vain
curiosity
to
desire
it?
Certainly
the
theatres
no
longer
attract
me,
nor
do
I
care
to
know
the
course
of
the
stars..."
¹¹

But
he
has
not
yet
succeeded
in
plucking
out
of
the
human
heart
that
sinful
desire
for
knowledge.

He
came perilously near to it, though.

3.
The Earth as a Tabernacle

Compared
with
the
other
early
Fathers,
Augustine
was
still
by
far
the
most
enlightened.
Saint
Lactantius,
who
lived
in
the
century
before
him,
set
himself
to
demolish
the
notion
of
the
rotundity
of
the
earth,
with
resounding
success.
The
third
volume
of
his
Divine
Institutions
is
called
"On
the
False
Wisdom
of
the
Philosophers",
and
contains
all
the
naive
arguments
against
the
existence
of
the
antipodes
–
people
can't
walk
with
their
feet
above
their
heads,
rain
and
snow
can't
fall
upwards
–
which,
seven
hundred
years
earlier,
no
educated
person
could
have
used
without
making
a
fool
of
himself.
Saint
Jerome,
the
translator
of
the
Vulgate,
fought
a
life-long
battle
against
the
temptation
of
reading
the
pagan
classics,
until
he
finally
defeated
"the
stupid
wisdom
of
the
philosophers":
"Lord,
if
ever
again
I
possess
worldly
books,
or
if
ever
again
I
read
such,
I
have
denied
Thee".
¹²
Not
until
about
the
end
of
the
ninth
century
was
the
spherical
shape
of
the
earth,
and
the
possible
existence
of
the
antipodes
reinstated,
fifteen
hundred
years
after
Pythagoras.

The
cosmology
of
this
period
goes
straight
back
to
the
Babylonians
and
Hebrews.
Two
main
ideas
dominate
it:
that
the
earth
is
shaped
like
the
Holy
Tabernacle,
and
that
the
firmament
is
enclosed
by
water.
The
latter
idea
was
based
on
Genesis
I,
6,
7:

"And
God
said
let
there
be
a
firmament
in
the
midst
of
the
waters,
and
let
it
divide
the
waters
from
the
waters.
And
God
made
the
firmament,
and
divided
the
waters
which
were
under
the
firmament
from
the
waters
which
were
above
the
firmament."

From
this,
the
notion
was
derived
that
the
super-celestial
waters
were
resting
on
top
of
the
firmament,
and
that
their
purpose
was
–
as
Basil
the
Great
^*
explained
¹³
–
to
protect
the
world
against
the
celestial
fire.
His
contemporary,
Severianus,
further
explained,
that
the
lower
heaven
consisted
of
crystalline
or
"congealed"
water,
which
prevented
it
from
being
set
aflame
by
the
sun
and
stars;
and
that
it
was
kept
cool
by
the
liquid
water
on
top
of
it,
which,
on
the
Last
Day,
God
would
use
to
extinguish
all
the
lights.
¹⁴
Augustine,
too,
believed
that
Saturn
was
the
coolest
planet
because
it
was
closest
to
the
upper
waters.
In
answer
to
those
who
objected
to
the
presence
of
heavy
water
on
top
of
the
heavens,
he
pointed
out
that
there
is
liquid
phlegm
present
in
the
heads
of
men
too.
¹⁵
The
further
objection
that
the
spherical
surface
of
the
firmament
and
its
motion
would
cause
the
waters
to
slide
down
or
be
spilled,
was
met
by
several
Fathers
who
explained
that
the
heavenly
vault
may
be
round
inside
but
flat
on
top;
or
contain
grooves
and
vessels
to
hold
the
water
in.
¹⁶

____________________

At
the
same
time
the
notion
was
spreading
that
the
firmament
itself
is
not
round,
but
a
tent
or
tabernacle.
Severianus
refers
to
Isaiah,
XL.
22,
that
God
"stretches
out
the
heavens
as
a
curtain
and
spreadeth
them
out
as
a
tent
to
dwell
in",
¹⁷
and
others
follow
suit.
However,
the
Fathers
and
Doctors
were
not
sufficiently
interested
in
these
wordly
matters
to
go
into
detail.
The
first
comprehensive
cosmological
system
of
the
early
Middle
Ages,
destined
to
replace
the
teachings
of
pagan
astronomers
from
Pythagoras
to
Ptolemy,
was
the
famous
Topographica
Christiana
by
the
monk
Cosmas.
He
lived
in
the
sixth
century,
was
born
in
Alexandria,
and,
as
a
merchant
and
seaman,
had
travelled
wide
and
far
through
the
known
world,
including
Abyssinia,
Ceylon
and
Western
India,
which
earned
him
the
title
Indicopleustus
,
the
Indian
traveller.
He
subsequently
became
a
monk,
and
wrote
his
great
work
in
a
monastery
on
Sinai.