Basil of Caesarea, The Hexaemeron

3. In the second place, does the firmament that is called heaven differ from the firmament that God made in the beginning? Are there two heavens? The philosophers, who discuss heaven, would rather lose their tongues than grant this. There is only one heaven, 5 Plato said one. πότερον ὀ& 202·ν ὀρθῶς ἕνα ουρανὸυ προειρήκαμεν; ἢ πολλοὺς ἢ ἀπείρους λέγειν ἦν ὀρθότερον; εἴπερ κατὰ τὸ παράδειγμα δεδημιουργημένος ἔσται, τὸ γὰρ περιέχον πάντα ὁπόσα νοητὰ ζῶα, μεθ᾽ ἑτέρον δεύτερον οὐκ ἄν ποτ᾽ εἴη…εἷς ὅδε μονογενὴς οὐρανὸς γεγονὼς ἔστι τε καὶ ἔσται. Plat., Tim. § 11. On the other hand, was the Epicurean doctrine of the ἀπειρία κόσμων, referred to in Luc. i. 73: Ergo vivida vis animi pervicit, et extra Processit longe flammantia mœnia mundi. they pretend; and it is of a nature neither to admit of a second, nor of a third, nor of several others. The essence of the celestial body quite complete constitutes its vast unity. Because, they say, every body which has a circular motion is one and finite. And if this body is used in the construction of the first heaven, there will be nothing left for the creation of a second or a third. Here we see what those imagine who put under the Creator’s hand uncreated matter; a lie that follows from the first fable. But we ask the Greek sages not to mock us before they are agreed among themselves. Because there are among them some who say there are infinite heavens and worlds. 6 So Anaximander (Diog. Laert. ii. 1, 2) and Democritus (Diog. Laert. ix. 44). But, as Fialon points out, the Greek philosophers used κόσμος and οὐρανός as convertible terms: Basil uses οὐρανός of the firmament or sky. When grave demonstrations shall have upset their foolish system, when the laws of geometry shall have established that, according to the nature of heaven, it is impossible that there should be two, we shall only laugh the more at this elaborate scientific trifling. These learned men see not merely one bubble but several bubbles formed by the same cause, and they doubt the power of creative wisdom to bring several heavens into being! We find, however, if we raise our eyes towards the omnipotence of God, that the strength and grandeur of the heavens differ from the drops of water bubbling on the surface of a fountain. How ridiculous, then, is their argument of impossibility! As for myself, far from not believing in a second, I seek for the third whereon the blessed Paul was found worthy to gaze. 7 cf.2 Cor. xii. 2. And does not the Psalmist in saying “heaven of heavens” 8 Ps. cxlvii. 4. give us an idea of their plurality? Is the plurality of heaven stranger than the seven circles through which nearly all the philosophers agree that the seven planets pass,—circles which they represent to us as placed in connection with each other like casks fitting the one into the other? These circles, they say, carried away in a direction contrary to that of the world, and striking the æther, make sweet and harmonious sounds, unequalled by the sweetest melody. 9 “You must conceive it” (the whirl) “to be of such a kind as this: as if in some great hollow whirl, carved throughout, there was such another, but lesser, within it, adapted to it, like casks fitted one within another; and in the same manner a third, and a fourth, and four others, for that the whirls were eight in all, as circles one within another…and that in each of its circles there was seated a siren on the upper side, carried round, and uttering one voice variegated by diverse modulations; but that the whole of them, being eight, composed one harmony.” (Plat., Rep. x. 14, Davies’ Trans.) Plato describes the Fates “singing to the harmony of the Sirens.” Id. On the Pythagorean Music of the Spheres, cf. also Cic., De Divin. i. 3, and Macrobius In Somn: Scip. cf. Shaksp., M. of Ven. v. 1: “There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim.” And Milton, Arcades: “Then listen I To the celestial Sirens’ harmony, That sit upon the nine infolded spheres, And sing to those that hold the vital sheres, And turn the adamantine spindle round On which the fate of gods and men is wound. And if we ask them for the witness of the senses, what do they say? That we, accustomed to this noise from our birth, on account of hearing it always, have lost the sense of it; like men in smithies with their ears incessantly dinned. If I refuted this ingenious frivolity, the untruth of which is evident from the first word, it would seem as though I did not know the value of time, and mistrusted the intelligence of such an audience.

But let me leave the vanity of outsiders to those who are without, and return to the theme proper to the Church. If we believe some of those who have preceded us, we have not here the creation of a new heaven, but a new account of the first. The reason they give is, that the earlier narrative briefly described the creation of heaven and earth; while here scripture relates in greater detail the manner in which each was created. I, however, since Scripture gives to this second heaven another name and its own function, maintain that it is different from the heaven which was made at the beginning; that it is of a stronger nature and of an especial use to the universe.

5 Plato said one. πότερον ὀ& 202·ν ὀρθῶς ἕνα ουρανὸυ προειρήκαμεν; ἢ πολλοὺς ἢ ἀπείρους λέγειν ἦν ὀρθότερον; εἴπερ κατὰ τὸ παράδειγμα δεδημιουργημένος ἔσται, τὸ γὰρ περιέχον πάντα ὁπόσα νοητὰ ζῶα, μεθ᾽ ἑτέρον δεύτερον οὐκ ἄν ποτ᾽ εἴη…εἷς ὅδε μονογενὴς οὐρανὸς γεγονὼς ἔστι τε καὶ ἔσται. Plat., Tim. § 11. On the other hand, was the Epicurean doctrine of the ἀπειρία κόσμων, referred to in Luc. i. 73: Ergo vivida vis animi pervicit, et extra Processit longe flammantia mœnia mundi.

6 So Anaximander (Diog. Laert. ii. 1, 2) and Democritus (Diog. Laert. ix. 44). But, as Fialon points out, the Greek philosophers used κόσμος and οὐρανός as convertible terms: Basil uses οὐρανός of the firmament or sky.

7 cf.2 Cor. xii. 2.

8 Ps. cxlvii. 4.

9 “You must conceive it” (the whirl) “to be of such a kind as this: as if in some great hollow whirl, carved throughout, there was such another, but lesser, within it, adapted to it, like casks fitted one within another; and in the same manner a third, and a fourth, and four others, for that the whirls were eight in all, as circles one within another…and that in each of its circles there was seated a siren on the upper side, carried round, and uttering one voice variegated by diverse modulations; but that the whole of them, being eight, composed one harmony.” (Plat., Rep. x. 14, Davies’ Trans.) Plato describes the Fates “singing to the harmony of the Sirens.” Id. On the Pythagorean Music of the Spheres, cf. also Cic., De Divin. i. 3, and Macrobius In Somn: Scip. cf. Shaksp., M. of Ven. v. 1: “There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim.” And Milton, Arcades: “Then listen I To the celestial Sirens’ harmony, That sit upon the nine infolded spheres, And sing to those that hold the vital sheres, And turn the adamantine spindle round On which the fate of gods and men is wound.

Δεύτερόν ἐστιν ἐξετάσαι, εἰ ἕτερον παρὰ τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ πεποιημένον οὐρανὸν τὸ στερέωμα τοῦτο, ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ ἐπεκλήθη οὐρανὸς, καὶ εἰ ὅλως οὐρανοὶ δύο: ὅπερ οἱ τὰ περὶ οὐρανοῦ φιλοσοφήσαντες ἕλοιντ' ἂν μᾶλλον τὰς γλώσσας προέσθαι, ἢ ὡς ἀληθὲς παραδέξασθαι. Ἕνα γὰρ ὑποτίθενται οὐρανὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἔχειν αὐτῷ φύσιν, δεύτερον, ἢ τρίτον, ἢ πολλοστὸν προσγενέσθαι, πάσης τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ οὐρανίου σώματος εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς σύστασιν ἀπαναλωθείσης, ὡς οἴονται. Ἓν γάρ φασι τὸ κυκλοφορικὸν σῶμα, καὶ τοῦτο πεπερασμένον: ὅπερ εἰ συναπήρτισται τῷ πρώτῳ οὐρανῷ, μηδὲν ὑπολείπεσθαι πρὸς δευτέρου ἢ τρίτου γένεσιν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ ὕλην ἀγέννητον ἐπεισάγοντες τῷ δημιουργῷ φαντάζονται, ἐκ τῆς πρώτης μυθοποιίας πρὸς τὸ ἀκόλουθον ψεῦδος ὑποφερόμενοι: ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀξιοῦμεν τοὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων σοφοὺς, μὴ πρότερον ἡμᾶς καταχλευάζειν πρὶν τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διάθωνται. Εἰσὶ γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς οἳ ἀπείρους οὐρανοὺς καὶ κόσμους εἶναί φασιν, ὧν ὅταν ἀπελέγξωσιν τὸ ἀπίθανον οἱ ἐμβριθεστέραις ταῖς ἀποδείξεσι χρώμενοι, καὶ ταῖς γεωμετρικαῖς ἀνάγκαις συστήσωσι μὴ ἔχειν φύσιν ἄλλον οὐρανὸν γενέσθαι παρὰ τὸν ἕνα, τότε καὶ μᾶλλον καταγελασόμεθα τῆς γραμμικῆς καὶ ἐντέχνου αὐτῶν φλυαρίας, εἴπερ ὁρῶντες πομφόλυγας διὰ τῆς ὁμοίας αἰτίας γινομένας μίαν τε καὶ πολλὰς, εἶτα ἀμφιβάλλουσι περὶ οὐρανῶν πλειόνων, εἰ ἐξαρκεῖ αὐτοὺς ἡ δημιουργικὴ δύναμις παραγαγεῖν εἰς τὸ εἶναι. Ὧν τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος οὐδὲν ἡγούμεθα διαφέρειν τῆς κοίλης νοτίδος τῆς ὑπερφυσωμένης ἐν τοῖς κρουνοῖς, ὅταν πρὸς τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως ἀποβλέψωμεν. Ὥστε καταγέλαστος αὐτοῖς ὁ τοῦ ἀδυνάτου λόγος. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀπέχομεν τῷ δευτέρῳ ἀπιστεῖν, ὅτι καὶ τὸν τρίτον ἐπιζητοῦμεν, οὗ τῆς θέας ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἠξιώθη. Ὁ δὲ ψαλμὸς ὀνομάζων οὐρανοὺς οὐρανῶν, καὶ πλειόνων ἡμῖν ἔννοιαν ἐνεποίησε. Οὐ δήπου δὲ ταῦτα παραδοξότερα τῶν ἑπτὰ κύκλων, καθ' ὧν οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀστέρες σχεδὸν παρὰ πάντων συμφώνως ὁμολογοῦνται φέρεσθαι, οὓς καὶ ἐνηρμόσθαι φασὶν ἑτέρῳ τὸν ἕτερον, κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν κάδων τῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους ἐμβεβηκότων. Τούτους δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν τῷ παντὶ φερομένους, περισχιζομένου τοῦ αἰθέρος αὐτοῖς, εὔηχόν τινα καὶ ἐναρμόνιον ἀποδιδόναι φθόγγον, ὥστε πᾶσαν τὴν ἐν μελῳδίαις ἡδονὴν ὑπερβάλλειν. Εἶτα ἐπειδὰν τὴν διὰ τῆς αἰσθήσεως πίστιν οἱ ταῦτα λέγοντες ἀπαιτῶνται, τί φασιν; Ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς συνήθειαν πρὸς τὸν ψόφον ἐκ πρώτης γενέσεως συνεθισθέντες αὐτῷ, ἐκ πολλῆς τῆς περὶ τὸ ἀκούειν μελέτης τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀφῃρήμεθα: ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν τοῖς χαλκείοις συνεχῶς τὰ ὦτα κατακρουόμενοι. Ὧν τὸ σεσοφισμένον καὶ σαθρὸν διελέγχειν, οὕτως ἐναργῶς ἐκ πρώτης ἀκοῆς πᾶσι καταφαινόμενον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνδρὸς οὔτε χρόνου εἰδότος φείδεσθαι, οὔτε τῆς συνέσεως τῶν ἀκουόντων στοχαζομένου. Ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν τοῖς ἔξω καταλιπόντες ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν ὑποστρέφομεν λόγον. Εἴρηται μὲν οὖν τισι τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν, μὴ δευτέρου οὐρανοῦ γένεσιν εἶναι ταύτην, ἀλλ' ἐπεξήγησιν τοῦ προτέρου, διὰ τὸ ἐκεῖ μὲν ἐν κεφαλαίῳ παραδεδόσθαι οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ποίησιν, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐπεξεργαστικώτερον τὸν τρόπον καθ' ὃν ἕκαστον γέγονε τὴν Γραφὴν ἡμῖν παραδιδόναι. Ἡμεῖς δέ φαμεν, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὄνομα ἕτερον καὶ χρεία ἰδιάζουσα τοῦ δευτέρου οὐρανοῦ παραδέδοται, ἕτερός ἐστι παρὰ τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ πεποιημένον οὗτος, στερεωτέρας φύσεως, καὶ χρείαν ἐξαίρετον τῷ παντὶ παρεχόμενος.