That all things were created from water.

This has already been indicated to that extent in the preceding chapter, where it was said that God the Lord first created the waters, and from them the earth, and that the other elements likewise arose and were created from water. First, the view that God initially created the waters and then the earth from them is conveyed by the original text in the manner already explained. The particles ha and hay before Schamaym and Ærez do not prevent this, since here they can imply no more than the following in our German mother tongue: “In the beginning God created the waters, the earth,” and so forth. Moreover, as already mentioned, it can be proved by experience, and thus a posteriori:

For when water is allowed to putrefy properly, it always deposits an earth. From this we must infallibly conclude that earth was also created from water in the beginning and arose from it. For the Most High and only-wise God, in creating each creature at the beginning, implanted in it at the same time a law and order which it still maintains without interruption or violation. Hence it is rightly said: “Nature preserves her own laws.”

Second, air likewise arose from water. For as soon as water had been created and the earth made from it lay within it, the Spirit of God hovered over the water, according to the clear text of the first chapter of Genesis. Here too I appeal to experience: if rainwater is enclosed in a glass with some space left empty, the subtlest spirits attach themselves above and appear as little drops. In view of the foregoing axiom, this conclusion is therefore equally confirmed. Besides, air in itself is nothing other than water in its most subtle state.

Third, it cannot be denied that fire is likewise concealed in water. Thus water is the mother and origin of all the other elements, and all the elements are nothing other than water. It is equally well known and undeniable that all visible things can be resolved by the chymical art into the elements and into water. Hence it follows that all consist of, were made from, and arose from it in the manner described. This also gives us the familiar saying: “All things are resolved into that from which they arose.” From this there follows in turn