Ludwig Maximilians Universität

Faculty of Orthodox Theology

The work of Saint Basil the Great on Hexaimeron

Coordinator: Fr. Prof. Dr. Mircea Basarab

Student: Adam Alexandru

München
2018
Content
1. The Life of Saint Basil the Great…………………………………….p.3
2. Informations about the nine homilies in general...…………………...p.5
2.1 The specificity of the nine homilies………………………….......p.6
2.2 Theology of beauty…………………………………………….....p.7
3. Presenting the nine homilies on the days of creation…………….......p.8
4. Combating the philosophical opinion through homilies………...…..p.12
5. Bibliography……………………………………………………...….p.14

1. The Life of Saint Basil the Great

 “Saint Basil the Great was born in 329 or 330, in Caesarea of Cappadocia, in a family
of wealthy landowners, as their second child, followed by seven other brothers, two of whom
became bishops, Saint Gregory of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sevasta. His father, named Vasile,
was a valuable rhetorical teacher in Pontus Neocezare, and his mother, Saint Emilia, came
from an important family from Caesarea, distinguished by education and political and
military functions. Immediately after his birth, St. Basil was taken to Annisa in Pont, where
he grew up under the supervision of his mother and grandmother, Saint Macrina the Old, who
initiated him in the right faith and in the Church's Tradition.”1
The first teachings he received from his father in Neocezarea. In 341/343, he came to
Caesarea to attend the general study, where he also met Saint Gregory the Theologian, then in
346/347 he traveled to Constantinople to complete his studies. He may have stayed for a short
period of time in Nicomedia, to listen to the famous rhetorician Libanius.2
His love for teaching led him to Athens (350), where he remained until 355/356,
studying everything that could best provide a fourth century to a young man. His studies were
very extensive, including even medicine. In 362, he left for Caesarea, due to the death of
Dianius. Then, the young bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius, ordained a priest, shortly after the
Holy Easter. Towards the end of 364, Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where he became the
administrator of the Metropolitan Church and a defender of Orthodoxy. Saint Basil's fame
quickly surpassed the borders of Cappadocia and Asia Minor. His contribution to the
structure of the Divine Liturgy, the organization of monasticism, and the social work he did
have contributed to his theological works.3
In 370 Eusebius of Caesarea dies. Saint Basil, being sick, wanted to take over the
metropolitan's place to carry on his missionary work. He becomes a Metropolitan in
September 370, and after ordering the Metropolitan Affairs, he deals with the fight against
heresies in the Church. In the spring of 372, his work has grown considerably. Thus, despite
all the difficulties, the construction of the famous Vasiliade, a complex of institutions for
helping people, began. In parallel with these, he worked on the general problems of the
Church. At the beginning of 373, Valens was again convinced to exile St. Basil. In June 373,
he became so severely ill that for a very long time lived between life and death. In 374, he

1
Prof. Dr. Stylianos G. PAPADOPOULOS, Patrologie Vol. II/2 - Secolul IV (Rasarit si Apus), Trans.
Prof. Dr. Adrian Marinescu, Ed. Bizantina, Bucharest, 1999, p.84.
2
Ibidem, p.85.
3
Ibidem, pp.87-88.
recovered from the disease and continued all his activities. On September 5, sanctification
and inauguration of the social settlement called Vasiliada took place. At the end of 375/376,
when Valens was in Antioch, the heretics moved vigorously against St. Basil, telling him that
he would have to give an account to the emperor for everything he wrote.4
In January of the year 376, he addressed the latter, the knowledge of God,
highlighting for the first time with the utmost clarity that man knows the works and not the
being of God. In the winter of 376/377, the immense lack of body power forced him to
remain isolated and closed. In the winter of 377/378, he was again sick and because of this he
remained isolated. He communicated only through the letters he wrote now especially to
persuade the reserved ones and those who were against accepting his theological positions
and church practice for the purpose of uniting the right-believers with the conscience. His
enemies, state and churchmen, continued his war more intensely, as he grew more and more
weak. In August Valesn dies. At the end of December, after he consecrated the followers of
his pastoral ministry, he said the words "In your hands I give my soul", passing to the eternal.
This event has shaken the entire Christian world. On January 1, 379 was buried in a
manifestation by respect and honor from friends and enemies. Today the Church has decided
to commemorate him on the day of January 1.5
Saint Basil the Great was a talented and productive writer. Through his work he
cultivated the Greek language and contributed to her survival. The study of rhetoric and
sophistry helped him to give the texts a stable structure and a form that approaches to poetry,
as we can find in his famous Homilies at Hexaimeron.6
This is what we will do in this work, trying to highlight the context in which they
were written and their contribution to combating the philosophical opinion of that time.

3. Informations about the nine homilies in general

Nine Homilies on the Creation of the World in Six Days. Here, the six days of
creation are literally explained, and the philosophical theories of creation are also fought. In

4
Arhid. Prof. Dr. Constantin VOICU, Patrologie Vol. II, Ed. Basilica, Bucuresti, 2009, p.177.
5
Ibidem, pp.179-180.
6
Ibidem, p.181.
the course of the exhibition, the author often has the opportunity to express his admiration for
the beauty of nature, to reveal the goodness, omnipotence, and all-knowingness of the Creator
and thus to awaken the religious feelings of the audience and to strengthen his faith in God.7
These homilies spoke to them in one week in the Great Week, while still a priest,
before 370 or between 365-367, sometimes preaching on the same day and twice. These
homilies are unprecedented as rhetorical beauty and wealth of ideas, which made them
circulate not only in the East but also in the West. One of the first translations made by
Eustatie of Africa around 440, and Ambrose of Milan used them in a similar work.8
The interpretation given by St. Basil is not an allegorical one. He used more than the
literal sense of biblical text to unravel the Christian conception of the world, in contrast to the
pagan and the manichean one. Even though his interpretations make use of the science and
philosophy of time, for him the whole of existence comes to life through the direct work of
God-Creator.
Homilies about the creation of man did not hold, or at least have not, been preserved.
Perhaps it is not because he has known them, because Saint Ambrose knows only the new
homily about creation. Therefore, his brother, Gregory of Nyssa, completed the work of St.
Basil, talking about the creation of man. It is one of the author's most popular writings.9
Saint Basil accepts, since the first homilies, the simultaneous creation of the elements
of matter and its organization during the six cosmogonic days. These days are 24 hours a day,
and the first three days have been driven by sunlight. In the interpretation of each of these six
days, St. Basil sums up all the science of his time. The Demiurge, giving the whole nature
created His help, for it to live.10

3.1 The specificity of the nine homilies

In the nine Homilies at Hexaimeron, St. Basil the Great aims to present a Christian
vision of the world, in contrast to the ancient pagan and manichean notions, and to describe

7
Arhid. Constantin VOICU, “Invatatura despre crearea lumii la Sfantul Vasile cel Mare” in Studia
Basiliana - vol.I Ed. Basilica, Bucharest, 2009, p.179
8
Ibidem
9
Ibidem, p.180
10
Ibidem
the creative power of God. He creates a colorful painting of the natural beauty and wonder of
the world, proving his solid knowledge of the knowledge and erudition of his time.
The listeners addressed by St. Basil were members of the entire Caesarea community,
of which craftsmen were in large numbers, but among them were also cultivated men, as it
results from some elevated considerations and scholarship, especially in the first homilies.
Thus, due to the fact that his audience was quite young and cultivated, Saint Basil makes it a
specific homicide to be this adaptation to the public. 11
In Hexaimeron, St. Basil arose a stunning construction, in which the teaching that
God created the world out of nothing and that all that he did was "very good," was the most
impressive thing. Another specific is building arguments based on elements that come from
philosophers' language, style and concepts. Thus, Saint Basil acquires the philosophical and
cosmological terminology, knowing to remove them when they come in contradiction with
the truth.12
In interpreting the biblical text, Saint Basil adopts, like the other Cappadocians, a
middle way between the literal and the allegorical sense; he uses allegory almost only for the
purpose of explaining something spiritual, while for scientific expositions he prefers the
literal and historical sense. Saint Basil often appeals to the Scriptures, following the biblical
text and arguing his views according to the importance of the verses. Saint Basil seeks to
rationally elucidate cosmology. 13
Faith remains above science, but it does not exclude it, and there is no lack of trust in
it. Making distinction between Christian truth and human wisdom, Saint Basil speaks of
Christian truth in the language of Plato's philosophy, Aristotle and Plutarch. However, there
is often disbelief in scientific research. When it comes to the study of the sky, some claimed
that "it is made up of four elements, they rejected this hypothesis." On this issue, Saint Basil
says to give up discussing the substance of things and believing Moses, who tells us that God
has made heaven and earth.14

11
Ibidem
12
Ibidem
13
Ibidem, p.181
14
Ibidem
 3.2 Theology of beauty

A particular importance in this text is St. Basil's desire that philosophical wisdom be
used. Except for those situations in which he expresses his disappointment with pagan
wisdom, he considers it very useful and to a certain point even necessary. In vain, somebody
would seek to find in these texts an idea of ancient wisdom that would be identical with the
divine truth. Saint Basil speaks indefinitely about the use of philosophical wisdom, which
leads to an impasse that researchers can not overcome.
"As the proper bearing of a tree is to make a good and beautiful fruit, and the leaves
that move on the branches give the tree beauty, so also with the soul: its fruit is the truth, but
it is not without beauty if it is adorned with profane wisdom, just as the leaves offer the fruit
the covering and the beautiful appearance. " The soul has the fruit of truth, but it is beautiful
to bear the worldly wisdom, so with leaves that protect the fruit and offer a beautiful view of
the soul.15
Not just thought and poetry, but the whole building is "beauty", because it is the
building of God, which is Beauty by excellence.

2. Presenting the nine homilies on the days of creation

Homily I, titled "At first God made heaven and earth," writes God's name on the
frontispiece of his work, and presents Moses as the one worthy of faith to account for the
creation of the world. Pagans, not knowing God, could not have the right reason for creation,
that's why they put it on the brink of atoms or of an existence without a beginning. But the
world is not eternal, but has a beginning as it will have an end.16
God's will to create the world was accomplished in time and coincided with the
beginning of time. When Moses says "at the beginning," he understands the beginning of
time. Then God made heaven and earth, along with all the elements of the world. The fact

15
Prof. Dr. Stylianos G. PAPADOPOULOS, “Patrologie - Secolul IV(Rasarit si Apus) Vol. II/2”,
trans. Prof. Dr. Adrian Marinescu, Ed. Bizantina, Bucuresti, 1999, p.50
16
Arhid. Constantin VOICU, “Invatatura despre crearea lumii la Sfantul Vasile cel Mare” in Studia
Basiliana vol.I, Ed.Basilica, Bucharest, 2009, p.189
that the earth occupies the center of the cosmos is not a random occurrence, since such stone,
wood and other heavy bodies move from top to bottom, that is to the center, and the earth as a
whole must be the center.17
Homily II begins with the words "the earth was unseen and unformed". When Moses
says these things, he does not understand an eternal no-form prince, as Aristotle says. God
made the world with shape and matter. This matter's priority is only at origin, not at time.
That is why matter never existed before the creation of the world. When Scripture says that
the earth was unseen, it means for Saint Basil that it was covered with water, because neither
fire could hide it, nor the air, because it is by its nature of low and transparent density. 18
The darkness is the lightless vestibule. Before the light there was a light that
illuminated the spiritual natures. "The Spirit of God Being Above the Water" can be
understood as a breath of air, Moses intending to declare that God created heaven and earth.
When God has said to be the light we must not understand that God speaks our way. His
language is in the direction of the will in the form of a command. "And God broke the light
of darkness" which were until then in full opposition.19
Homily III. "And God said, There shall be a strength between the waters: and this
might be the waters of the waters." Saint Basil refers to God's way of speaking and claims
that God can not be understood by anthropomorphic concepts, and the idea that his being was
bound to strike the air through movements of the voice organs is unacceptable. St. Basil adds
that we must admit that the commandment of God is the exercise of His will.20
At the words "God separated the waters," the objection is raised that the force is
spherical, the water can not support it on its convex surface. The fact that the vault is rounded
to the inside does not mean that the outer wall must also be rounded. The reason why water is
so abundant at the moment of creation is given by the necessary balance between the
elements of nature. If the water had been in a smaller quantity, the fire would have gone to
consume it soon.21
Homily IV deals with sea and land formation. Saint Basil is convinced that the earth is
composed of the four elements, each with specific attributes. And God said, "Let the water
that is under heaven be gathered together." So, here is what the unseen land offered! St. Basil
shows us how the water, although it tends to flow to the deep places, has gathered in

17
Ibidem
18
Ibidem
19
Ibidem, p.190
20
Ibidem, p. 191
21
Ibidem, p.192
greatness at the command of God. Before God commanded the gathering of waters, He
created the place for this purpose. When God said the sea was good, he did not say because
he was pleasing to His sight, but because he fulfilled the specific purpose given to him
throughout the divine plan.22
Homily V. "And God said, to give the earth green plants, from which to produce the
seed according to their kind." It was normal for the earth to roam after the water was
withdrawn; we also learn that the earth, not the sun, shares life. Besides useful plants, God
also created harmful plants that use human diseases. One important thing is that the roses did
not have thorns until then, they appeared after sin. The spectacle of creating the world is
admirable; the earth turned to God's voice.23
Homily VI. Describes the creation of celestial bodies. "And God said, Let them be
enlightened in the power of heaven, to shine upon the earth so as to break the night." This is
where once again the doctrine of the Divine Persons. The sun and the moon were created to
light the earth; they will break up the night. That's why the sun and the moon do not make
day and night, which existed before their appearance, but only marks them.24
Saint Basil resembles the world and an ordered fortress that draws our attention and
leads us to imagine the beauty of our first heavenly city. Light is not inseparably linked to the
two stars. The size of the lights goes beyond what we know.
Homily VII. "And God said, the waters produce living beings." After the world, God
did not leave the world, but through His providence He preserves and defends it. God's
providential activity encompasses all creation and extends to even the smallest of the
irrational beings, for God neglects nothing. Their nature is adapted to water without which
they can not live. Besides, the Creator's power is not manifested less in the smaller fish than
in the larger ones. All that is said here is only building the community.25
Homily VIII. "And God said, The earth shall produce living soul according to every
species: quadrupeds, reptiles, and wild beasts." It is discussed here about terrestrial animals in
general, underlining that they are far superior to aquatic animals. They have perfect
sensations and can give signs of joy and sorrow. The soul of animals is different from that of
man; he is passable like the earth. This soul is not alive, as Manihei said. Birds are associated

22
Ibidem, p.193
23
Ibidem
24
Ibidem, p.194
25
Ibidem, p.196
with fish as they fly through the air as fish swim through the water. How many differences do
they have!26
Homily IX, describes the creation of terrestrial animals. The author knows the laws of
allegorical interpretation, but he takes things as they say and knows that in Scripture
everything was not written. The information about it must be understood literally not
allegorically. All animals are guided by the laws of creation. God gave the animals all the
limbs necessary for their support. All animals are subject to man.27
Finally, this last homily, it has remained to deal with the hardest problem, that of
man: "to make man". Man learns by himself how to know God better. The existence of the
second Divine Persons is clearly asserted by the plural "to do". Later, Saint Basil will tell us
what man possesses the image of God and how he participates in the likeness of Him. God
had created man in the image of the Son, who is the image of the Father, as man is the image
of the Son. St. Basil's Anthropology is based mainly on biblical descriptions of man's
creation, which he interprets literally.28
Although in the teaching of the creation of the world, Saint Basil the Great uses all
philosophical, scientific, theological and biblical resources, he does not make a scientific
exposition, and the approach remains biblical, theological and moral. He dealt with the first
26 verses of Genesis. St. Basil had to show in real terms that the whole world is a creation of
God, with which man is in close contact. In this way, Saint Basil was able to present the
painting of a creation, which is not a revelation, nor is it contrary to it.

26
Ibidem
27
Ibidem, p.197
28
Ibidem
 4. Combating the philosophical opinion through homilies

The age in which St. Basil made his studies was a desolate one for the Church. In the
East, Emperor Constantius (337-361) was a supporter of the Aryans and persecutor of the
orthodox, desperate that they could not find salvation. It was preceded by the deceptive
prince of paganism, Julian the Apostate (361-363), who revived the pagan religion. Valens
did everything he could to impose through the synods, but Aryanism continued to persecute
the Orthodox. The heretical courtiers convinced him that he was in theology and that
Aryanism could be an important factor of a powerful state.
The heads of the Orthodox, headed by St. Athanasius, were usually exiled, but they
did not give up the struggle. Until the mid-360s, St. Athanasius had a representation and
defense of Orthodoxy. Through his work and texts on the church, he showed how unfair the
Aryan councils were after 330. With the help of his theological texts he founded the
Orthodox teaching of the Holy Trinity and destroyed all the arguments of Arianism. He was
politically assured and he felt powerless theoretically. Exactly then Eunomie appeared, which
came with new arguments for a new Arianism. 29

29
Diac. Ioan CARAZA, “Revelatia dumnezeiasca in Hexaemeronul Sfantului Vasile cel Mare” in
Studia Basiliana, vol. I, Ed. Basilica, Bucharest, 2009, p.215
 Since the year 360, heresy has gained a new form, with the power to convince
Eunomie's dialectics. So a new threat to the Church, and St. Athanasius, aged, will teach the
reign of St. Basil, to fight Eunomius and to raise Orthodoxy to the moral level. As it
happened beforehand with St. Athanasius, as it is now: to the extent that the Orthodox people
from all over the world were looking at Saint Basil with justice, they also regained courage;
to the extent that heretics were thinking of St. Basil, they lost their courage. The continued
occupation of leading theologians with Arianism had other negative consequences. Hierarchs
theologians were not uninvolved in their catechization and moral guidance of believers who
vastly increased their number in all parts of the East and West. The large number of monastic
groups, especially in Asia Minor, Armenia and Syria, needed guidance.30
Christians benefiting from education must have felt justified in philosophical
thinking. Theology had to speak the language of the spiritual climate of the age to make it
understood. The liturgical life needed enrichment and the church life of order. To all these
urgent needs, to the challenges of the age, St. Basil tried to answer. He did so successfully,
and his work was continued by St. Gregory the Theologian and St. Gregory of Nyssa. 31
When Saint Basil attempts to break the text of the Book of Making with the
philosophical theory of the four elements of the universe, he draws inspiration from the ideas
of the Neoplatons, openly addressing the issues raised by the obscurities of the Creation text.
If in the first homilies Saint Basil was inspired mainly by platonic and neoplatonic works, in
the latter he borrowed ideas, especially from Aristotle to solve the problems encountered.
Aristotle's thinking is especially true when it comes to cosmology, geography, or
natural history. The Aristotelian treaties used by St. Basil are: Animal History,
Meteorological, About Heaven, Birth and Death, Animal Parts and Metaphysics. To these,
naturalists add that they continued their teachings: Teofrast, Elian, Oppian and Plutarch.32
Finally, St. Basil owes to the Stoics the considerations regarding the preponderance of
fire in the universe and its action to fire the world. "But the time will come," says Saint Basil,
"when the fire will consume everything." He often comes to the conclusion and the
conviction that man is the center of the universe and that all things in the universe are made
to help man. Besides the Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic work on the origin of the world,
Hexaimeron also uses the comments made by Makry, made by Filon, Origen and Saint
Theophilus of Antioch. Unlike the first homilies, the latter are richer in moral considerations.

30
Ibidem, p.216
31
Ibidem, p.217
32
Ibidem
Saint Basil, so hostile to the allegory, used by Filon or Origen, is led to the moral
interpretation of the text.33
In conclusion, we can see that St. Basil the Great uses the ideologies of philosophy of
his time, both to build arguments for the creation of the world, but also to combat Origen and
the aryan elite.

5. Bibliography

1. PAPADOPOULOS Prof. Dr. Stylianos, Patrologie Vol. II/2 - Secolul IV

(Rasarit si Apus), Trans. Prof. Dr. Adrian Marinescu, Ed. Bizantina, Bucharest,
1999.
2. VOICU Ardid, Prof. Dr. Constantin, Patrologie si literatura postpatristica, Vol.
III, Ed.Basilica, Bucuresti, 2015.
3. CARAZA Diac. Ioan , “Revelatia dumnezeiasca in Hexaemeronul Sfantului
Vasile cel Mare” in Studia Basiliana, vol. I, Ed. Basilica, Bucharest, 2009.
4. VOICU Arhid. Constantin, “Invatatura despre crearea lumii la Sfantul Vasile
cel Mare” in Studia Basiliana vol.I, Ed.Basilica, Bucharest, 2009.

33
Ibidem, p.218