Questio 66, 1:
As far as may be gathered from the text of Genesis a threefold beauty was wanting to corporeal creatures, for which reason they are said to be without form. For the beauty of light was wanting to all that transparent body which we call the heavens, whence it is said that darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the earth lacked beuaty in two ways: first, that beauty which it acquired when its watery veil was withdrawn, and so we read that the earth was void, or invisible, inasmuch as the waters covered and concealed it from view; secondly that which it derives from being adorned by herbs and plants, for which reason it is called empty, or, according to another reading, shapeless – that is, unadorned.
Do I need to call your attention to the erotic quality in this passage?
