Augustine examines the second verse of Genesis: "The earth was invisible and formless, darkness was over the deep." He says that "heaven" does not mean the sky, but the immaterial "heaven of heavens," and "earth" does not mean the ground, but the formless matter that is the basis of all physical forms. Augustine imagines opponents who disagree with his interpretation. They say that Moses intended "heaven and earth" to mean the visible world only. Augustine proposes other possible interpretations. He concludes that multiple true interpretations of the passage exist and do not contradict each other. Augustine and his opponents can say with confidence that the message Moses conveyed is true, but they cannot be so confident that they know precisely what Moses intended his words to mean. Surely Moses would have tried to make his words convey as much depth of meaning as possible.
Connect with CliffsNotes
