There is a difference between the knowledge through the Word of God and knowledge through the appearance of things, like it is different to know a mathematical figure by definition and to know it by figure. It is for example different to know justice by the unchangeable truth and to know it by the 'figures' in the human soul; it is different to know the physical things by their causes and reasons and to know it by their art or work. The first compared to the second is as day compared to night (see chapter 7 of this book).
[Compare the notion of 'idea', which form the unchanging basis of what we encounter, at Plato.]
