night. And, again, when the sun goes under they will wax old and be wound round as the earth it is night here, but day yonder. a covering, and will be changed, and there Others have pictured the heaven as a hemi- will be a new heaven and a new earth. sphere. This idea is suggested by these For the great part the heaven is greater words of David, the singer of God, Who than the earth, but we need not investigate stretchest out the heavens like a curtain", by the essence of the heaven, for it is quite bewhich word he clearly means a tent and yond our knowledge. by these from the blessed Isaiah, Who hath It must not be supposed that the heavens established the heavens like a vault: and also or the luminaries are endowed with life 3. because when the sun, moon, and stars set, For they are inanimate and insensible ♦. So they make a circuit round the earth from west that when the divine Scripture saith, Let the to north, and so reach once more the east 9. heavens rejoice and the earth be glad 5, it is the Still, whether it is this way or that, all angels in heaven and the men on earth that things have been made and established by are invited to rejoice. For the Scripture is the divine command, and have the di- familiar with the figure of personification, and vine will and counsel for a foundation that is wont to speak of inanimate things as though cannot be moved. For He Himself spoke they were animate: for example, The sea saw and they were made: He Himself commanded it and fled: Jordan was driven back. And and they were created. He hath also established again, What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree fleddest? thou, O Jordan, that thou was driven which will not pass1. back Mountains, too, and hills are asked The heaven of heaven, then, is the first the reason of their leaping in the same way as heaven which is above the firmament 2. So we are wont to say, the city was gathered tohere we have two heavens, for God called gether, when we do not mean the buildings, but the firmament also Heaven 3. And it is cus- the inhabitants of the city: again, the heavens tomary in the divine Scripture to speak of the declare the glory of God 9, does not mean that air also as heaven, because we see it above us. they send forth a voice that can be heard Bless Him, it says, all ye birds of the heaven, by bodily ears, but that from their own greatmeaning of the air. For it is the air and not ness they bring before our minds the power the heaven that is the region in which birds fly. of the Creator: and when we contemplate So here we have three heavens, as the divine their beauty we praise the Maker as Apostle said. But if you should wish to look | Master-Craftsman 1. upon the seven zones as seven heavens there is no injury done to the word of truth. For it is usual in the Hebrew tongue to speak of heaven in the plural, that is, as heavens, and when a Hebrew wishes to say heaven of Fire is one of the four elements, light heaven, he usually says heavens of heavens, and this clearly means heaven of heaven 5, and with a greater tendency to ascend than It has the power of burning which is above the firmament, and the waters the others. which are above the heavens, whether it is and also of giving light, and it was made by the Creator on the first day. For the the air and the firmament, or the seven zones of the firmament, or the firmament itself which divine Scripture says, And God said, Let there Fire is not are spoken of in the plural as heavens accord-be light, and there was light. a different thing from what light is, as some ing to the Hebrew custom. All things, then, which are brought into maintain. Others again hold that this fire existence are subject to corruption according of the universe is above the air 3 and call to the law of their nature, and so even the it ether. In the beginning, then, that is to heavens themselves are corruptible. But by say on the first day, God created light, the the grace of God they are maintained and pre- ornament and glory of the whole visible served. Only the Deity, however, is by creation. For take away light and all things. nature without beginning and without end 8. remain in undistinguishable. darkness, inWherefore it has been said, They will perish, capable of displaying their native beauty. but Thou dost endure1: nevertheless, the And God called the light day, but the darkness heavens will not be utterly destroyed. For CHAPTER VII. Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, 2 Apoc. xxi. 1. sun, moon and stars. 3 Cf. August., 9 lbid. xix. 1. Retract.. ii. 2. 2 Gen. i. 3. the 3 Text, neр. Variant, vno, but this does not agree with the view of the author or the ancients. : In the first and highest Saturn h Statoa He called night. Further, darkness is not each zone of heaven is, we are told, one of any essence, but an accident: for it is simply these seven planets: absence of light. The air, indeed, has not light in its essence 5. It was, then, this very absence of light from the air that God called darkness and it is not the essence of air that is darkness, but the absence of light which clearly is rather an accident than an essence. And, indeed, it was not night, but day, that was first named, so that day is first and after that comes night. Night, therefore, follows day. And from the beginning of day till the next day is one complete period of day and night. For the Scripture says, And the evening and the morning were one day 6. In the seventh and lowest Luna The course which the Creator 3 appointed for them to run is unceasing and remaineth fixed as He established them. For the divine Davil says, The moon and the stars which Thou establishedst 4, and by the word 'establishedst,' When, therefore, in the first three days the he referred to the fixity and unchangeableness light was poured forth and reduced at the of the order and series granted to them by divine command, both day and night came to God. For He appointed them for seasons, pass 7. But on the fourth day God created and signs, and days and years. It is through the great luminary, that is, the sun, to have the Sun that the four seasons are brought rule and authority over the day: for it is about. 8 And the first of these is spring: for by it that day is made: for it is day when the in it God created all things 5, and even down sun is above the earth, and the duration of to the present time its presence is evidenced a day is the course of the sun over the earth from its rising till its setting. And He also created the lesser luminaries, that is, the moon and the stars, to have rule and authority over the night, and to give light by night. For it is night when the sun is under the earth, and the duration of night is the course of the sun under the earth from its rising till its setting. The moon, then, and the stars were set to lighten the night: not that they are in the daytime under the earth, for even by day stars are in the heaven over the earth: but the sun conceals both the stars and the moon by the greater brilliance of its light and prevents them from being seen. by the bursting of the flowers into bud, and this is the equinoctial period, since day and night each consist of twelve hours. It is caused by the sun rising in the middle, and is mild and increases the blood, and is warm and moist, and holds a position midway between winter and summer, being warmer and drier than winter, but colder and moister than summer. This season lasts from March 21st till June 24th. Next, when the rising of the sun moves towards more northerly parts, the season of summer succeeds, which has a place midway between spring and autumn, combining the warmth of spring with the dryness of autumn : for it is dry and warm, and increases the On these luminaries the Creator bestowed yellow bile. In it falls the longest day, which the first-created light: not because He was has fifteen hours, and the shortest night of in need of other light, but that that light all, having only nine hours. This season might not remain idle. For a luminary is lasts from June 24th till September 25th. not merely light, but a vessel for containing Then when the sun again returns to the light 2. middle, autumn takes the place of summer. amongst these luminaries, and these move dryness and moisture, and holds a place midin a direction opposite to that of the heaven: way between summer and winter, combining hence the name planets. For, while they say the dryness of summer with the cold of winter. that the heaven moves from east to west, the For it is cold and dry, and increases the black planets move from west to east; but the bile. This season, again, is equinoctial, both heaven bears the seven planets along with it day and night consisting of twelve hours, and by its swifter motion. Now these are the it lasts from September 25th till December names of the seven planets: Luna, Mercury, 25th. And when the rising of the sun sinks Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and in to its smallest and lowest point, i.e. the south, winter is reached, with its cold and moisture. It occupies a place midway between autumn and spring, combining the cold of autumn There are, we are told, seven planets It has a medium amount of cold and heat, 4 Gen. i. 5. 6 Gen. i. 5. 5 Basil, Hom. 2, in Hexaëmeron. 7 Basil, Hom. 2, in Hexaëmeron. 8 Text, ἐξουσίαν : variant. ἐξουσίας. Variant here also, é§ovoías. 2 Basil, Hom. 6, in Hexaëmeron. 3 Text, ὁ Δημιουργός. Variant, ὁ δημιουργήσας. 5 Basil, Hom. 6, in Hexaëmeron. and the moisture of spring. In it falls the been created with free wills by our Creator shortest day, which has only nine hours, and and are masters over our own actions. Indeed, the longest night, which has fifteen and if all our actions depend on the courses of the it lasts from December 25th till March 21st. stars, all we do is done of necessity: and For the Creator made this wise provision necessity precludes either virtue or vice. But that we should not pass from the extreme if we possess neither virtue nor vice, we do of cold, or heat, or dryness, or moisture, not deserve praise or punishment, and God, to the opposite extreme, and thus incur too, will turn out to be unjust, since He gives grievous maladies. For reason itself teaches good things to some and afflicts others. Nay, us the danger of sudden changes. He will no longer continue to guide or provide for His own creatures, if all things are carried and swept along in the grip of necessity. And the faculty of reason will be superfluous to us: for if we are not masters of any of our actions, deliberation is quite superfluous. Reason, indeed, is granted to us solely that we might take counsel, and hence all reason implies freedom of will. So, then, it is the sun that makes the seasons, and through them the year: it likewise makes the days and nights, the days when it rises and is above the earth, and the nights when it sets below the earth: and it bestows on the other luminaries, both moon and stars, their power of giving forth light. Further, they say that there are in the heaven twelve signs made by the stars, and that these move in an opposite direction to the sun and moon, and the other five planets, and that the seven planets pass across these twelve signs. Further, the sun makes a complete month in each sign and traverses the twelve signs in the same number of months. These, then, are the names of the twelve signs and their respective months :- The Ram, which receives the sun on the 21st of March. The Crab, The Virgin, on the 24th of June. The Scales, on the 25th of September. The Scorpion, on the 25th of October. The Archer, on the 25th of November. Capricorn, on the 25th of December. Aquarius, on the 25th of January. The Fish, on the 24th of February. And, therefore, we hold that the stars are not the causes of the things that occur, nor of the origin of things that come to pass, nor of the destruction of those things that perish. They are rather signs of showers and changes of air. But, perhaps, some one may say that though they are not the causes of wars, yet they are signs of them. And, in truth, the quality of the air which is produced by sun, and moon, and stars, produces in various ways different temperaments, and habits, and dispositions". But the habits are amongst the things that we have in our own hands, for it is reason that rules, and directs, and changes them. It often happens, also, that comets arise. These are signs of the death of kings 3, and they are not any of the stars that were made in the beginning, but are formed at the same time by divine command and again dissolved♦. And so not even that star which the Magi saw at the birth of the Friend and Saviour of man, our Lord, Who became flesh for our But the moon traverses the twelve signs sake, is of the number of those that were each month, since it occupies a lower position made in the beginning. And this is evidently and travels through the signs at a quicker the case because sometimes its course was rate. For if you draw one circle within an- from east to west, and sometimes from north other, the inner one will be found to be the to south; at one moment it was hidden, and lesser and so it is that owing to the moon at the next it was revealed: which is quite occupying a lower position its course is shorter out of harmony with the order and nature and is sooner completed of the stars. Now the Greeks declare that all our afIt must be understood, then, that the moon fairs are controlled by the rising and setting derives its light from the sun; not that God and collision of these stars, viz, the sun was unable to grant it light of its own, but and moon for it is with these matters that in order that rhythm and order may be imastrology has to do. But we hold that we impressed upon nature, one part ruling, the get from them signs of rain and drought, cold other being ruled, and that we might thus and heat, moisture and dryness, and of the be taught to live in community and to share various winds, and so forth 7, but no sign whatever as to our actions. For we have 4 Text, συγκρούσεως. Variants, συγκράσεως and συγκρίσεως. 7 Basil, Hom. 6, in Hexameron. 8 Nemes., de Nat. Hom, ch. 34. • Text, ποιουμένη. Variant, ποιούμενον. 2 Basil, Hom. 6, in Hexaëmeron. 3 Text, θάνατον δηλοῦντα βασίλεων. Variant, θανάτων βασί λεων : also θάνατον, ἡ ἀνάδειξιν σημαίνουσι βασίλεων. 4 Basil, Christi Nativit. our possessions with one another, and to be under subjection, first to our Maker and Creator, our God and Master, and then also to the rulers set in authority over us by Him: and not to question why this man is ruler and not I myself, but to welcome all that comes from God in a gracious and reasonable spirit. The sun and the moon, moreover, suffer eclipse, and this demonstrates the folly of those who worship the creature in place of the Creator 5, and teaches us how changeable and alterable all things are For all things are changeable save God, and whatever is changeable is liable to corruption in accordance with the laws of its own nature. : Now the cause of the eclipse of the sun is that the body of the moon is interposed like a partition-wall and casts a shadow, and prevents the light from being shed down on us and the extent of the eclipse is proportional to the size of the moon's body that is found to conceal the sun. But do not marvel that the moon's body is the smaller. For many declare that the sun is many times larger even than the earth, and the holy Fathers say that it is equal to the earth: yet often a small cloud, or even a small hill or a wall quite conceals it. The eclipse of the moon, on the other hand, is due to the shadow the earth casts on it when it is a fifteen days' moon and the sun and moon happen to be at the opposite poles of the highest circle, the sun being under the earth and the moon above the earth. For the earth casts a shadow and the sun's light is prevented from illuminating the moon, and therefore it is then eclipsed. It should be understood that the moon was made full by the Creator, that is, a fifteen days' moon for it was fitting that it should be made complete 7. But on the fourth day, as we said, the sun was created. Therefore the moon was eleven days in advance of the sun, because from the fourth to the fifteenth day there are eleven days. Hence it happens that in each year the twelve months of the moon contain eleven days fewer than the twelve months of the sun. For the twelve months of the sun contain three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days, and so because the quarter becomes a whole, in four years an extra day is completed, which is called bis sextile. And that year has three hundred and sixty-six days. The years of the moon, on the other hand, have three hundred and fifty four days. For the moon wanes from the time of its origin, or renewal, till it is fourteen and three-quarter days' old, and proceeds to wane till the twenty-ninth and a half day, when it is completely void of light And then when it is once more connected with the sun it is reproduced and renewed, a memorial of our resurrection. Thus in each year the moon gives away eleven days to the sun, and so in three years the intercalary month of the Hebrews arises, and that year comes to consist of thirteen months, owing to the addition of these eleven days 8. It is evident that both sun and moon and stars are compound and liable to corruption according to the laws of their various natures. But of their nature we are ignorant. Some, indeed, say that fire when deprived of matter is invisible, and thus, that when it is quenched it vanishes altogether. Others, again, say that when it is quenched it is transformed into air 9. The circle of the zodiac has an oblique motion and is divided into twelve sections called zodia, or signs: each sign has three divisions of ten each, i.e. thirty divisions, and each division has sixty very minute subdivisions. The heaven, therefore, has three hundred and sixty-five degrees) the hemisphere above the earth and that below the earth each having one hundred and eighty degrees. The abodes of the planets. The Ram and the Scorpion are the abode of Mars: the Bull and the Scales, of Venus 1: the Twins and the Virgin, of Mercury: the Crab, of the Moon: the Lion, of the Sun: the Archer and the Fish, of Jupiter: Capricorn and Aquarius, of Saturn. Their altitudes. The Ram has the altitude of the Sun: the Bull, of the Moon: the Crab, of Jupiter: the Virgin, of Mars: the Scales, of Saturn: Capricorn, of Mercury: the Fish, of Venus. The phases of the moon. It is in conjunction whenever it is in the same degree as the sun: it is born when it is fifteen degrees distant from the sun: it rises when it is crescent-shaped, and this occurs twice, at which times it is sixty degrees distant from the sun it is half-fuil twice, when it is ninety degrees from the sun : twice it is gibbous, when it is one hundred and twenty degrees from the sun it is twice CHAPTER VIII. whose blasts oppose one another. Between Aquilo and Caecias comes Boreas: and be tween Eurus and Auster, Phoenix or Euronotus; between Auster and Africus, Libonotus or Leuconotus: and lastly, between Aquilo and Corus, Thrascias, or Cercius, as it is called by the inhabitants of that region. [These 7, then, are the races which dwell at the ends of the world: beside Subsolanus are the Bactriani: beside Eurus, the Indians : beside Phoenix, the Red Sea and Ethiopia : beside Libonotus, the Garamantes, who are beyond Systis: beside Africus, the Ethiopians and the Western Mauri: beside Favonius, the columns of Hercules and the beginnings of Libya and Europe: beside Corus, Iberia, which is now called Spain: Air is the most subtle element, and is moist and warm: heavier, indeed, than fire: but lighter than earth and water: it is the cause of respiration and voice: it is colourless, that is, it has no colour by nature: it is clear and transparent, for it is capable beside Thrascia, the Gauls and the neighof receiving light: it ministers to three of our senses, for it is by its aid that we see, hear and smell it has the power likewise of receiving heat and coid, dryness and moisture, and its movements in space are up, down, within, without, to the right and to the left, and the cyclical movement. It does not derive its light from itself, but is illuminated by sun, and moon, and stars, and fire. And this is just what the Scripture means when it says, And darkness was upon the dep3; for its object is to shew that the air has not derived its light from itself, but that it is quite a different essence from light. And wind is a movement of air: or wind is a rush of air which changes its name as it changes the place whence it rushes 4. Its place is in the air. For place is the circumference of a body. But what is it that surrounds bodies but air? There are, moreover, different places in which the movement of air originates, and from these the winds get their names. There are in all twelve winds. It is said that air is just fire after it has been extinguished, or the vapour of heated water. At all events, in its own special nature the air is warm, but it becomes cold owing to the proximity of water and earth, so that the lower parts of it are cold, and the higher warm 5. bouring nations: beside Aquilo, the Scythians who are beyond Thrace: beside Boreas, Pontus, Maeotis and the Sarmatae: beside Caecias, the Caspian Sea and the Sacai.] CHAPTER IX. Concerning the waters. It Water also is one of the four elements, the most beautiful of God's creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great readiness. is this the Holy Scripture has in view when it says, And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters 8. For the deep is nothing else than a huge quantity of water whose limit man cannot comprehend. In the beginning, indeed, the water lay all over the surface of the earth. And first God created the firmament to divide the water above the firmament from the water below the firmament. For in the midst of the sea of waters the firmament was established at the Master's decree. And out of it God bade the firmament arise, and it arose. Now for what reason was it that God placed water above the firmament? It was because of the intense burning heat of the sun and ether. For immediately under the firmament is spread out the ether, and the sun and moon and stars are in the firmament, and so if water had not been put above it the firmament would have been consumed by the heat 3. Next, God bade the waters be gathered together into one mass 4. But when the Scrip |