Note 1210 — Chapter XII · REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY

Sententiae, II, 17, 5. Peter Lombard maintains that there were three sententiae concerning Paradise: (1) that of those who conceived of it in a spiritual sense, (2) that of those who conceived of it in a corporeal sense, and (3) that of those who conceived of it in both senses. The third method was the most pleasing to Peter, who says: “ut homo in corporali paradiso sit positus, qui ab illo principio plantatus accipi potest, quo terram omnem remotis aquis herbas et ligna producere jussit. Qui etsi praesentis Ecclesiae vel futurae typum tenet, ad litteram tamen intellegendum est esse locum amoenissimum fructuosis arboribus, magnum et magno fonte foecundum. Quod dicimus ‘a principio,’ antiqua translatio dicit ‘ad Orientem.’ Unde volunt in orientali parte esse paradisum, longo interjacente spatio vel maris vel terrae a regionibus quas incolunt homines, secretum, et in alto situm, usque ad lunarem circulem pertingentem, unde nec aquae diluvii illuc pervenerunt.” The older translation referred to may have been the “Old Latin” translation of the Septuagint. See above, p. 390, note 122.