Article-Genesis Early Church Fathers PDF

THE CONSENSUS OF THE
EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

ON GENESIS 1-11
Copyright 2014, Holy Apostles Convent
Buena Vista, Colorado
All Rights Reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Scope of the Work
A. Encomium to the Prophet Moses
B. Diverging Cosmologies
C. Deity is Uncreated
D. From Everlasting
E. Belief in God: Attributes of the Logos
F. The Beginning of His Ways
G. The Things Which Are Seen Have Not Come into Being Out of Things Which Appear
I. DAY ONE
A. Heaven and Earth [Gen. 1:1]
B. Concerning the Heaven
C. Time and Matter
D. Time of Creation
E. Earth Was Unseen and Unformed [Gen. 1:2]
F. Heaven, Earth, Fire, Wind, Waterand Light
G. The Earth in Gods Hands
H. Water
I. Darkness
J. Creation of the Heavenly Orders
K. Fallen Angels
L. The Spirit of God [Gen. 1:2]
M. Light [Gen. 1:3]
N. God Divided Between the Light and Darkness [Gen. 1:4]
O. Day One [Gen. 1:5]
P. The Certainty of Order and Plan
Q. The Designer of Form and Creator of Nature
II. SECOND DAY
A. The Voice of God
B. Plurality of the Heavens
C. A Firmament in the Midst of the Water [Gen. 1:6]
D. Fire and Water
1
E. God Called the Firmament Heaven [Gen. 1:8]

F. It Was Good [Gen. 1:8]
III. THIRD DAY
A. The Gathering Together of the Waters in One Congregation [Gen. 1:9]
B. It Was Good [Gen. 1:10]
C. The Germination of the Earth [Gen. 1:11]
D. God Saw That it Was Good [Gen. 1:12]
IV. FOURTH DAY
A. The Creation of Luminaries [Gen. 1:14]
B. Signs, Seasons, Days, and Years [Gen. 1:14]
C. Patterns and Types in the Heavens
D. Astrology
E. Sun and Moon Praise Their Author
F. Light and Heat and Other Influences of Sun and Moon [Gen. 1:15]
G. God Made the Stars Also [Gen. 1:16]
H. God Saw That it Was Good [Gen. 1:18]
I. Observers of the Observable Cosmos
V. FIFTH DAY
A. The Voice of the Lord Is Upon the Waters
B. The Animating Soul
C. The Creation of Moving Creatures (Creeping Things) [Gen. 1:20]
D. Fowl and Water Animals [Gen. 1:21]
E. The Waters Abound with Life and Creeping Things [Gen. 1:21]
F. Winged Creatures Below the Firmament [Gen. 1, 21, 22]
G. Hybrids
H. And God Blessed Them [Gen. 1:22]
VI. SIXTH DAY
A. Review of the Preceding Days and the Sixth Day
B. The Soul of the Living Creature
C. The Life of the Creature in the Blood
D. The Creation of Terrestrial Animals, Each Accord with Its Kind [Gen. 1:24]
E. Man Superior to the Quadrupeds
F. Quadrupeds
G. Let Us Make Man [Gen. 1:26]
H. Why Man Was Not Made Perfect from the Beginning
I. That the Life of Man Is at Present Subject to Abnormal Conditions
Is No Proof That Man Was Not Created in the Midst of Good
J. True Dominion
K. Every Herb, Tree, and Green Plant Wills Be for Food [Gen. 1:29, 30]
L. God Saw All the Things That He Had Made and They Were Very Good [Gen. 1:31]
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VII. SEVENTH DAY

A. God Ceased from All His Works [Gen. 2:2]
B. Cessation from Non-being into Being
C. The Work of Blessing and Sanctification [Gen. 2:3]
D. Governance and Maintenance of the Cosmos
E. The Creator Creates According to His Good Pleasure
F. Christ Finds Repose in Man
G. Seventh Day Was Done as a Type of a Greater Blessing and Sanctification
H. Concerning the Eighth
VIII. RECAPITULATION AND EXPANSION
A. A Recounting for Each Accord with Kind
B. Expansion in the Recapitulation
C. A Fountain Out of the Earth [Gen. 2:6]
D. The Inbreathing and the Man Becomes a Living Soul [Gen. 2:7]
E. Human Nature and Divine Longing
F. The Man Placed in An Eden [Gen. 2:8]
G. The Logos in An Eden
H. The Lord God Gave a Charge to Adam [Gen. 2:16, 17]
I. The Trees of Eden [Gen. 2:9]
J. It Is Not Good for the Man to Be Alone [Gen. 2:18]
K. Adam Names Every Beast of the Field and Every Bird of the Sky [Gen. 2:19]
L. God Cast a State of Ecstasy Upon Adam [Gen. 2:21]
M. She Will Be Called Woman [Gen 2:23]
N. A Man Will Leave Father and Mother [Gen. 2:24]
O. Adam and Eve and the Tree [Gen. 3]
P. Envy Toward Humankind
Q. Eve Gave to Her Husband Also with Her, and Them Ate [Gen. 3:6]
R. The Eyes of Adam and Eve Were Opened [Gen. 3:7]
S. Where art thou [Gen. 3:9]?
T. He Will Watch for Thy Head, and Thou Shalt Watch for His Heel [Gen. 3:15]
U. The Seed Will Assimilate Man to Himself [Gen. 3:15]
V. To Thy Husband Will Be Thy Turning Back, and He Will Lords It Over Thee [Gen. 3:16]
W. The Serpent [Gen. 3:14] and the Grinds are Cursed [Gen. 3:17]
X. For Earth Thou Art and to Earth Shalt Thou Go Away [Gen. 3:19].
Y. Adam Hath Become As One of Us [Gen. 3:22]
Z. Expulsion [Gen. 3:23, 24]
AA. Humanity Learns What is Infirmity
BB. Proof that Christ Was Born of a Virgin
CC. The Fruit of the Tree of Heretical Knowledge
DD. Through One Man Sin Entered into the World
EE. In Adam All Die
FF. The Church
IX. GENESIS, PRE-FLOOD, GLOBAL FLOOD, AND POST-FLOOD

A. Earlier Times Between the Tribes of Seth and Cain [Gen. 6]
B. Pre-Flood Times [Gen. 6]
C. Righteous Noah and His Faith [Gen. 6:9]
D. Raising a Godly Family in an Ungodly World [Gen. 6:11]
E. Specifications for the Ark [Gen. 6:15-17]
F. Righteous Noah, Preacher of Repentance
G. Clean and Unclean Animals and Flying Creatures [Gen. 7:2, 3]
H. The Lord Endures That Generation for One Hundred Years [Gen. 7:6]
I. Creatures Throughout Creation Come [Gen. 7:14-16]
J. Noah and His Household Board the Ark [Gen. 7:1]
K. The Fountains of the Abyss and the Cataracts of the Heaven [Gen 7:11]
L. The Water Covered All the High Mountains [Gen. 7:20]
M. Life in the Ark [Gen. 7:17-24]
N. A Global Flood [Gen. 7:22, 23]
O. The Flood, and Baptism in the Church
P. Noah as a Figure of Christ, Who Has Regenerated Us by Water, and Faith, and Wood
Q. God Brought a Wind upon the Earth, and the Water
Stayed, and the Ark Came to Rest [Gen. 8:1-14]
R. Exit From the Ark [Gen. 8:15-22]
S. The Day of Judgment That Is Pending
T. The Blessing and Command of God [Gen. 9:1]
U. Noah began to be a Husbandman, and He Planted a Vineyard [Gen. 9:20]
V. The Blessings, and Also the Curse, Pronounced by Noah Were Prophecies of the Future
W. Shem and Japheth
X. One Race: The Human Race
X. THE TOWER OF BABEL
A. Each According to His Tongue, in Their Tribes and Their Nations [Gen. 10]
B. Pre-Babel Period
C. Come, Let Us Build to Ourselves a City and Tower [Gen. 11:3]
D. Come, and Let Us Go Down and Confuse Their Tongue [Gen. 11:7]
E. Post-Babel Period [Gen. 10]
F. The Unity of Language at Pentecost [Acts 2]
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Old Testament cites were translated from the Septuagint.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Scope of the Work
D. From Everlasting
G. The Things Which Are Seen Have Not Come into Being Out of Things Which Appear
The scope of this work includes the sayings of the holy fathers, presented chronologically,
regarding much of the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis [Chapters 1-11], especially, the
creation of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible, the making of man, the fall of
man, the aftermath of the Fall, pre-Flood times, and the catastrophic Global Flood to the dispersion
at the Tower of Babel. The subsequent part, Science Under Consideration Regarding Genesis 1-11,
includes talking points and observations of present-day creation scientists countering the
evolutionists in various fields of science such as Astronomy, Anthropology, Geology, and Biology.
Together with many of the divinely inspired writers of the books of the Old and New
Testaments, the contributing exegetes among the Orthodox Church Fathers are, as follows:
Saint Dionysios the Areopagite (1st C.)
Saint Justin Martyr (ca. 100-ca. 165)
Saint Irenaeos (ca. 130-ca. 200), Bishop of Lyons
Saint Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (d. 258)
Saint Athanasios (ca. 296-373), Bishop of Alexandria
Saint Makarios the Great, Anchorite of Egypt (ca. 301-391)
Saint Kyril (ca. 315-386), Bishop of Jerusalem
Saint Ephraim (ca. 306-373) the Syrian
Saint Gregory the Theologian (329-389)
Saint Basil the Great (ca. 330-379)
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335/336-ca. 395)
Saint Ambrose (ca. 339-397), Bishop of Milan
Saint Jerome (ca. 342-420)
Saint Chrysostom (ca. 347-407), Bishop of Constantinople
Saint Kyril (tenure 412-444), Bishop of Alexandria
Saint Gennadios, Patriarch of Constantinople (458-471)
Saint Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604), Pope of Rome from 590
Saint Maximos the Confessor (ca. 580-662)
Saint Anastasios the Sinaite (P.G. 89, divergent opinions on the authorship)
Saint Bede (ca. 673-735) the Venerable
Saint John of Damascus (ca. 675-ca. 749)
5
Saint Paulinus (353/4-431), Bishop of Nola

Saint Symeon the New Theologian (d. ca. 1037-1042)
Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid (ca. 1050/60-ca. 1108)
Saint Gregory Palamas (ca. 1296-1359)
1. Saint Irenaeos (ca. 130-ca. 200), Bishop of Lyons: The writings of Moses are the words
of Christ. Christ Himself declares to the Jews, as John has recorded in the Gospel: For if ye had
believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for concerning Me that one wrote. But if ye believe
not the writings of that one, how shall ye believe My words [Jn. 5:46, 47]? He thus indicates in the
clearest manner that the writings of Moses are His words. If, then, [this be the case with regard] to
Moses, so also, beyond a doubt, the words of the other prophets are His [words]....And again, the
Lord Himself exhibits Abraham as having said to the rich man, with reference to all those who were
still alive: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if one should
rise from the dead [Lk. 16:31].1
2. Saint Basil the Great (ca. 330-379): I am about to speak of the creation of heaven and
earth, which was not spontaneous, as some have imagined, but drew its origin from God. Now it is
Moses who has composed this history....According to the testimony of God Himself, If there be a
prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto
him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house; with him will I speak
mouth to mouth, even apparently and not in dark speeches [Num. 12:6-8]. It is this man, whom God
judged worthy to behold Him, face to face, like the angels, who imparts to us what he has learnt
from God.2
3. For those Christians who would compromise the word of God and incorporate the Big
Bang or evolutionary or anti-biblical views into Moses writings regarding how the Creator God and
Logos, Christ, created and ordered the cosmos, our Savior asks, How are ye able to believe, who
receive glory from one another, and seek not the glory which is from the only God [Jn. 5:44]?
Saint John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407): The Lord said to the Jews, Cease thinking that I will
accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuseth youMoses, in whom ye have hoped [Jn. 5:45].
For if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for concerning Me that one wrote. But
if ye believe not the writings of that one, how shall ye believe My words [Jn. 5:46, 47]? What the
Lord is saying is of this kind: It is Moses who has been insulted more than I by your conduct toward
Me, for ye have disbelieved him rather than Me. See how in every way He has cast them out from
all excuse....And whence, says someone, is it clear that Moses will accuse us, and that Thou art
not a boaster? What hast Thou to do with Moses?...And how doth it appear that we shall believe on
another who cometh in his own name? All these assertions Thou makest without evidence....Yet
(Christ would reply) since it is acknowledged that I came from God, both by the works, by the
voice of John, and by the testimony of the Father, it is evident that Moses will accuse the Jews.
1
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. IV, Ch. II, 2, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I:466 (Oak Harbor, WA:
Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997 ); Volume I. Rev. Alexander Roberts, D .D. an d Jam es Donaldson, LL.D .,
Editors, and notes in American edition by A. Cleveland Coxe, D.D. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm . B. Eerdmans
Publishing C o., May 19 87, repr.
2
Saint Basil, Homily 1(1), Hexaemeron, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers [NPN F], 2 nd Ser.., Vol. VIII,
trans. by R ev. Blomfield Jackson , M.A . (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdm ans, June 1975, repr.).
But whence doth it appear that they will believe another? From their hating Christ, since
they who turn aside from Him Who cometh according to the will of God will, it is quite plain,
receive the enemy of God....However, since the Scriptures terrified them less than Moses, He brings
round His discourse to the very person of Moses, setting over against them their Lawgiver as their
accuser, thus rendering the terror more impressive. Observe: they said that they persecuted Jesus
through love for God, He showeth that they did so through hating God; they said that they held fast
to Moses, He shows that they acted thus because they believed not Moses....If they believed Moses
they ought to have done homage to One of Whom Moses prophesied....Therefore, we must cast out
all wickedness from our souls, and never more contrive any deceit; for, saith one, To the crooked
God sendeth forth crooked paths [Prov. 21:8].3
4. Again, Patriarch Abraham said to the rich man: If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
they will not be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead [Lk. 16:31].
Saint Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604) comments: Abrahams reply is fulfilled. The Lord
rose from the dead, but because the Jews were unwilling to believe Moses, they refused to believe
the One Who did rise from the dead.4
5. Saint Anastasios the Sinaite: Moses did not expound these things out of his own
invention, but God had dictated them through His holy angels in Moses tent on Mount Sinai.5 And
since an angel had spoken them, Moses did not place his own name anywhere as its author. This was
contrary to what the other prophets did in the books of their prophecies. Did angels describe these
things to Moses? Listen to Paul, when he speaks in his letter to the Hebrews about Moses making
the laws and Scripture: For if the word spoken by angels was confirmed...[Heb. 2:2]. Saint Stephen
in the Acts of the Apostles spoke similarly to the Jews about Moses. He said: This is the one who
was in the Church in the wilderness with the Angel Who was speaking to him in the mount of Sinai,
and with our fathers who received living oracles to give to us [Acts 7:38]. Look, I clearly hear from
the Apostles Stephen and Paul that the angels are the ones who dictated the book of Genesis to
Moses. And for this reason, Moses did not inscribe it with his own name.6
1. Saint Basil: Those who were too ignorant to rise to a knowledge of a God, could not
allow that an intelligent Cause presided at the birth of the Universea primary error that involved
them in sad consequences. Some had recourse to material principles and attributed the origin of the
Universe to the elements of the world. Others imagined that atoms, and indivisible bodies, molecules
and ducts, form, by their union, the nature of the visible world. Atoms reuniting or separating,
produce births and deaths and the most durable bodies only owe their consistency to the strength of
their mutual adhesion: a true spiders web woven by these writers who give to heaven, to earth, and
to sea so weak an origin and so little consistency! It is because they knew not how to say In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 1:1]. Deceived by their inherent atheism it
appeared to them that nothing governed or ruled the universe, and that all was given up to chance.
3
Saint John Chrysostom, Hom. XL I, On John, Roberts, Alexander and Donaldson, James, NPN F, 1 st Ser.,
Vol. XIV (Oak Harbor, W A: Logos Research Sy stems, Inc., 1997).
4
Saint Gregory the Great, Hom. 40, Forty Gospel Homilies, 374.
5
Cf. Exod. 19:3, 19-21; 24:15-18; 25:1-9; Acts 7:38; Heb. 2:2.
6
Saint Anastasios of Sinai, Hexaemeron, Book 2, IV.3, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 278, ed. and trans.
by C. A. Kuehn and J. D. B aggarly, (R oma, Italy: S.J. Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 2007 ). p. 58; Patrologia
Graeca, Vol. 89.
To guard us against this error the writer on the creation, from the very first words, enlightens our
understanding with the name of God; In the beginning God created. What a glorious order! He first
establishes a beginning, so that it might not be supposed that the world never had a beginning. Then
be adds created to show that which was made was a very small part of the power of the Creator.
It is He, beneficent Nature, Goodness without measure, a worthy object of love for all
beings endowed with reason, the beauty the most to be desired, the origin of all that exists, the
source of life, intellectual light, impenetrable wisdom, it is He who in the beginning created heaven
and earth. Of what use, O men, are geometrythe calculations of arithmeticthe study of solids,
and far-famed astronomythis laborious vanityif those who pursue them imagine that this visible
world is coeternal with the Creator of all things, with God Himself?7
Saint Paul: For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being perceived by the things which are made, both His eternal power and divinity, so that they are
without excuse, because, having known God, they glorified Him not as God, nor were thankful, but
were brought to nought in their reasonings, and their heart, void of understanding, was darkened;
asserting to be wise, they became foolish [Rom. 1:20-22].
2. Saint Basil: Some have affirmed that heaven coexists with God from all eternity; others
that it is God Himself without beginning or end, and the cause of the particular arrangement of all
things....You will finally discover that the world was not conceived by chance and without reason,
but for a useful end and for the great advantage of all beings, since it is really the school where
reasonable souls exercise themselves, the training ground where they learn to know God; since by
the sight of visible and sensible things the mind is led, as by a hand, to the contemplation of invisible
things....Thus then, if it is said, In the beginning God created, it is to teach us that at the will of
God the world arose in less than an instant...Moses does not use another word. In the beginning,
he says God created. He does not say God worked, God formed, but God created. Among
those who have imagined that the world coexisted with God from all eternity, many have denied that
it was created by God, but say that it exists spontaneously, as the shadow of this power. God, they
say, is the cause of it, but an involuntary cause, as the body is the cause of the shadow and the flame
is the cause of the brightness. It is to correct this error that the prophet states, with so much
precision, In the beginning God created. He did not make the thing itself the cause of its existence.
Being good, God made it a useful work. Being wise, He made it everything that was most beautiful.
Being powerful He made it very great. Moses almost shows us the finger of the supreme Artisan
taking possession of the substance of the universe, forming the different parts in one perfect accord,
and making a harmonious symphony result from the whole.8
3. Saint John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407): To say that existing things came to be from
underlying matter, and not to confess that the Creator of all produced them from nonexistence,
would be a mark of extreme derangement. Accordingly, this blessed prophet [Moses], when he was
on the point of beginning the book [of Genesis], stopped the mouths of such ingrates, by beginning
like this: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 1:1]. When you hear He
created, concern yourself no further, but with head bowed believe what is said.9
7
Saint Basil, Hom. I(2, 3), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
Ibid., Hom. I(3, 6, 7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
9
Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 2, 2, Homilies on Genesis 1-17, trans. by R. C. Hill, The Fathers of the
(continued...)
8
4. Saint Maximos the Confessor (ca. 580-662): God is the Creator from all eternity, and He
creates when He wills, in His infinite goodness, through His coessential Logos and Spirit. Do not
raise the objection: Why did He create at a particular moment since He is good from all eternity?
For I reply that the unsearchable wisdom of the infinite essence does not come within the compass
of human knowledge. When the Creator willed, He gave being to and manifested that knowledge
of created things which already existed in Him from all eternity. For in the case of almighty God it
is ridiculous to doubt that He can give being to anything when He so wills.
Try to learn why God created; for that is true knowledge. But do not try to learn how He
created or why He did so comparatively recently; for that does not come within the compass of your
intellect. Of divine realities some may be apprehended by men and others may not. Unbridled
speculation, as one of the saints has said, can drive one headlong over the precipice.
Some say that the created order has existed with God from eternity; but that is impossible.
For how can things that are limited in every way coexist from eternity with Him Who is altogether
infinite? Or how are they really creations if they are coeternal with the Creator? God is only
participated in. Creation both participates and communicates: it participates in being and in wellbeing, but communicated only well-being. But corporeal nature communicates this in one way and
incorporeal nature in another.10
5. Saint Anastasios of Sinai: Indeed, if all creation arose for man [Gen. 1:26-30], and Paul
raises Adam and Eve to Christ and the Church when he says, This mystery is great; but I speak in
regard to Christ and in regard to the Church [Eph. 5:32], then he is saying, undeniably, that all
creation, having arisen for man and his mate, refers to Christ and His Church [cf. Rev. 19:6-8].11
Regarding some of the earlier observers of the cosmos, such as the ancient Greeks, Saint
Sophronios writes: When God created the cosmos, He looked upon the waters that were the ancient
Greeks. And on the first day of the ages, He showed to them the light of divine knowledge. Having
known God, they glorified Him not as God [Rom. 1:21]. Paul is witness of this. He says that God
at first gave wisdom and knowledge about the organization of the sky, stars, sun, moon, plants,
animals, bodies, and forms, in order to build a foundation for knowing Him.12 See quotes from
Wisdom and Romans, hereinafter....
Surely vain are all men by nature, who are ignorant of God, and could not out of the good
things that are seen know Him Who is: neither by considering the works did they acknowledge the
Technician; but deemed either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the violent
water, or the lights of heaven, to be the gods which govern the world. With whose beauty if they
being delighted took them to be gods; let them know how much better the Lord of them is: for the
first Author of beauty hath created them. But if they were astonished at their power and virtue, let
them understand by them, how much mightier He is Who made them. For by the greatness and
beauty of the creatures proportionably the Maker of them is seen. But yet for this they are the less
to be blamed: for they peradventure err, seeking God, and desirous to find Him. For being
conversant in His works they search Him diligently, and believe their sight: because the things are
9
(...continued)
Church [FC], Vol. 74 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1986), p. 32.
10
Saint Maxim os, Fourth Cen tury, The Philokalia, Vol. 2, translated from the Greek and edited by G.E.H.
Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (London, UK: Faber and Faber, 1981), pp, 100, 101, 3-6, 11.
11
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Preface, II.4, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 278, p. 11.
12
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 6, I.3, p. 173.
beautiful that are seen. Howbeit neither are they to be pardoned. For if they were able to know so
much, that they could aim at the world; how did they not sooner find out the Lord thereof?
Because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it to them. For
the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived by the
things which are made, both His eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse,
because, having known God, they glorified Him not as God, nor were thankful, but were brought
to nought in their reasonings, and their heart, void of understanding, was darkened; asserting to be
wise, they became foolish [Rom. 1:19-22].
6. Saint Gregory Palamas: The human soul is capable of knowing and receiving God,...and,
through ascetic struggle, knowing and receiving His grace; and the soul is also able to be united in
Him in a single hypostasis. Here and in such things as these lie the true wisdom and the saving
knowledge that procure for us the blessedness of heaven. What Euclid, Marinos, or Ptolemy has
been able to understand these truths? What Empedocleans, Socratics, Aristotelians, and Platonists
with their logical methods and mathematical demonstrations?...To know God truly insofar as this
is possible is incomparably superior to the philosophy of the Greeks, and simply to know what place
man has in relation to God surpasses all their wisdom. For man alone among all terrestrial and
celestial beings is created in the image of his Maker, so that he might look to God and love Him and
be an initiate and worshipper of God alone, and so that he might preserve his own beauty by his faith
in God and his devotion and affection toward Him, and might know that whatever is found on earth
and in the heavens is inferior to himself and is completely void of intelligence. This the Greek sages
could never conceive of, and they dishonored our nature and were irreverent toward God. They
reverenced and worshipped the creature beyond Him Who created [Rom. 1:25]. They attributed to
the sense-perceptible yet insensate stars an intelligence in each case proportionate in power and
dignity to its physical size. They wretchedly worshipped these things, called them greater and lesser
gods, and committed the lordship of all things to them. Did they not thus shame their own souls,
dishonoring and impoverishing them and filling them with a truly noetic and chastising darkness by
their preoccupation with a philosophy based on sense-objects?13
1. Saint John of Damascus (ca. 675-ca. 749) writes: That there is a God, then, is no matter
of doubt to those who receive the holy Scriptures, the Old Testament, and the New....All things, that
exist, are either created or uncreated. If, then, things are created, it follows that they are also wholly
mutable. For things, whose existence originated in change, must also be subject to change, whether
it be that they perish or that they become other than what they are by an act of will. But if things are
uncreated they must in all consistency be also wholly immutable. Things then that are mutable are
also wholly created. But things that are created must be the work of some maker, and the maker
cannot have been created. For if He had been created, He also must surely have been created by
someone, and so on till we arrive at something uncreated. The Creator, then, being uncreated, is also
wholly immutable. And what could this be other than Deity?...And even the very continuity of the
creation, and its preservation and government, teach us that there does exist a Deity, Who supports
and maintains and preserves and ever provides for this universe. For how could opposite natures,
13
Saint Gregory Palamas, Topics of N atural and Theological Science, 24-2 6, The Philokalia, The
Philokalia, Volume 4, translated from the Greek an d edited by G .E.H . Palm er, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos
Ware (London, UK: Faber and Faber, 1995), pp. 356, 357.
10
such as fire and water, air and earth, have combined with each other so as to form one complete
world, and continue to abide in indissoluble union, were not some omnipotent power which bound
them together and always is preserving them from dissolution? What is it that gave order to things
of heaven and things of earth, and all those things that move in the air and in the wateror rather
what preceded them?...What was it that mingled and arranged and distributed these? What was it
that set these in motion and keeps them in their unceasing and unhindered course? Was it not the
Artificer of these things, and He Who has implanted in everything the law whereby the universe is
carried on and directed? Who then is the Artificer of these things? Is it not He Who created them
and brought them into existence? For we shall not attribute such a power to the spontaneous.14 For,
supposing their coming into existence was due to the spontaneous, what of the power that arranged
and put all in order? And let us grant this, if you please. What of that which has preserved and kept
them in harmony with the original laws of their existence? Clearly it is something quite distinct from
the spontaneous. And what could this be other than Deity?15
2. Saint Gregory Palamas (ca. 1296-1359): The supreme Intellect, the uttermost Good, the
nature which transcends life and divinity, being entirely incapable of admitting opposites in any
way, clearly possesses goodness not as a quality but as essence....Absolute and transcendent
Goodness is one. It is by virtue of this alonenamely, that He is absolute and transcendent
Goodness, possessing goodness as His essencethat the Creator and Lord of Creation is both
intellectually perceived and described; and this solely on the basis of His energies which are directed
toward creation. Hence, in no way whatever does God admit what is contrary to goodness, since
there is nothing contrary where essence is concerned. 16...God possesses not only essence but also
a will with which He creates.17...Saint Kyril (of Alexandria) affirms the distinction between Gods
essence and energy. He says, The act of generation pertains to the Divine nature, whereas the act
of creating pertains to His divine energy. Then he clearly underscores what he has affirmed by
saying, nature and energy are not identical.18
D. From Everlasting
1. Saint John of Damascus: He created the ages Who Himself was before the ages, Whom
the divine David thus addresses, ...even from everlasting till everlasting, Thou art [Ps. 89:2]. The
divine apostle also says, God,...did in these last of days speak to us through the Son,...by Whom
also He made the ages [Heb. 1:1, 2]....God is spoken of as eternal (aionios) and preeternal
(proaionios), for the age or aeon itself is His creation. For God, Who alone is without beginning,
is Himself the Creator of all things, whether age or any other existing thing. And when I say God,
it is evident that I mean the Father and His only-begotten Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, and His
all-holy Spirit, our one God.19
14
The G reek is to aftomato, to the auto matic, or perhaps to the accidental o r to ch ance.
Saint John of Damascus, Proof that there is a God, An Exact Exposition of the Orth odo x Faith, Bk. I, Ch.
III; FC, 37:170.
16
Saint Gregory Palamas, Topics of N atural and Theological Science, 34, The Philokalia, 4:360.
17
Ibid., Topics of Natural and T heological Science, 135, The Philokalia, 4:410.
18
Saint Kyril of Alexandria, Treasuries 18, P.G. 75:312C; Saint Gregory Palamas, Topics of Natural and
Theological Science, 96, The Philokalia, 4:392.
19
Saint John of Damascus, Proof that there is a God, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. I, NPNF, 2 nd Ser.,
Vol. IX:18.
15
11
1. Saint Irenaeos: Hence they were made through Himand reasonably. For since the Word
[Logos] is the Son of God by nature proper to His essence, and is from Him, and in Him, as He said
Himself, the creatures could not have come to be, except through Him. For as the light enlightens
all things by its radiance, and without its radiance nothing would be illuminated, so also the Father,
as by a hand, in the Word wrought all things, and without Him makes nothing. For instance, God
said, as Moses relates, Let there be light [Gen. 1:3], and Let the water be brought together in one
congregation [Gen. 1:9], and Let the dry land be seen [Gen. 1:9], and Let Us make man [Gen.
1:26]; as also holy David in the psalm, For He spoke, and they came to be; He gave charge, and
they were created [Ps. 148:5]. And He spoke not, as in the case of men, that some under-worker
might hear, and learning the will of Him who spoke might go away and do it; for this is what is
proper to creatures, but it is unseemly so to think or speak of the Word. For the Word of God is
Framer and Maker, and He is the Fathers Will. Hence, it is that divine Scripture says not that one
heard and answered, as to the manner or nature of the things which He wished made; but God only
said, Let it become, and He adds, And it became; for what He thought good and counseled, that
forthwith the Word began to do and to finish....But when that Word Himself works and creates, then
there is no questioning and answer, for the Father is in Him and the Word in the Father; but it
suffices to will, and the work is done; so that the word He said is a token of the will for our sake,
and It was so, denotes the work which is done through the Word and the Wisdom, in which
Wisdom also is the Will of the Father. And God said is explained in the word, for, he says, In
wisdom didst Thou make them all [Ps. 103:25]; and, By the Logos of the Lord were the heavens
established, and all the might of them by the Spirit of His mouth [Ps. 32:6]; and there is one Lord
Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him [1 Cor. 8:6].20...
...For the Word (Logos) is first, and then the creation. On the contrary the Word exists,
whatever they affirm, those irreligious ones; for through Him did creation come to be, and God, as
being Maker, plainly has also His framing Word, not external, but proper to Him.21
When addressing the perverse interpretations of Scripture by the heretics, Saint Irenaeos
affirms that God created all things out of nothing, and not from preexistent matter. These
heretics...do not believe that God, according to His pleasure, in the exercise of His own will and
power, formed all things (so that those things which now are should have an existence) out of what
did not previously exist; and they have collected a multitude of vain discourses. They thus truly
reveal their infidelity; they do not believe in that which really exists, and they have fallen away into
the belief of that which has, in fact, no existence.22...
For, to attribute the substance of created things to the power and will of Him Who is God
of all is worthy both of credit and acceptance. It is also agreeable [to reason]...regarding such a belief
that the things impossible with men are possible with God [Lk. 18:27]. While men, indeed, cannot
make anything out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God is in this point
preeminently superior to men, that He Himself called into being the substance of His creation, when
previously it had no existence.23...
20
Saint Athanasios, Against the Arians, Discourse II, Introduction to Prov. 8:22, Ch. XVIII, 31, NPNF,
2 nd Ser., IV : 365. The Lord made Me the beginning of His ways for His works [Prov. 8:22].
21
Ibid., Against the Arians, Discourse II, Ch. XIV, 2, NPN F, 2 nd Ser., IV:349.
22
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. II, Ch. X, 2, Ante-Nicene Fathers, V ol. I.
23
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. II, Ch. X, 4, A nte-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
12
The Creator of the world is truly the Word of God: and this is our Lord, Who in the last
times was made man, existing in this world, and Who in an invisible manner contains all things
created, and is inherent in the entire creation, since the Word of God governs and arranges all things;
and therefore He came to His own in a visible manner, and was made flesh, and hung upon the tree,
that He might sum up all things in Himself [Eph. 1:10].24
2. Saint Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335/336-ca. 395): The belief in God rests on the art and
wisdom displayed in the order of the world; the belief in the unity of God, on the perfection that
must belong to Him in respect of power, goodness, wisdom, etc. Still, the Christian who combats
polytheism has need of care lest in contending against Hellenism he should fall unconsciously into
Judaism. For God has a Logos (Word): else He would be without reason. And this Logos cannot be
merely an attribute of God. We are led to a more exalted conception of the Logos by the
consideration that in the measure in which God is greater than we, all His predicates must also be
higher than those which belong to us. Our logos is limited and transient; but the subsistence of the
divine Logos must be indestructible; and, at the same time, living, since the rational cannot be
lifeless like a stone. It must also have an independent life, not a participated life, else it would lose
its simplicity; and, as living, it must also have the faculty of will. This will of the Logos must be
equaled by His power: for a mixture of choice and impotence would, again, destroy the simplicity.
His will, as being divine, must be also good. From this ability and will to work there follows the
realization of the good; hence the bringing into existence of the wisely and artfully adjusted world.
But since, still further, the logical conception of the Word is in a certain sense a relative one, it
follows that together with the Word He Who speaks it, that is, the Father of the Word, must be
recognized as existing. Thus, the mystery of the Faith avoids equally the absurdity of Jewish
monotheism and that of heathen polytheism. On the one hand, we say that the Logos has life and
activity; on the other, we affirm that we find in the Logos, Whose existence is derived from the
Father, all the attributes of the Fathers nature. 25
3. Saint Bede (ca. 673-735): As to the fact that God is asserted to have said either that light
or that anything else be made, we must not believe that He did it in our fashion by the corporeal
sound of the voice. Rather, it should be understood more profoundly that God said that creation be
made, because He made everything by His Word (Logos), that is, by His only-begotten Son. The
Evangelist John speaks more clearly about this when he says, In the beginning was the Logos, and
the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. This One was in the beginning with God. All
things came into being through Him [Jn. 1:1-3]. Therefore, what John says, namely that all things
were made by the Word [Logos] of God, is the same as what Moses says, that God said, Let there
be light; and that He said, Let there be a firmament made; and that He said let the rest of
creation be made, and so forth [Gen. 1:3, 6, 14, ff.]. It is the same as what the psalm, with the
addition of the Person of the Holy Spirit, says, By the Word of the Lord were the heavens
established, and all the might of them by the Spirit of His mouth [Ps. 32:6]. But if it is asked, in
what place light was made by the command of God, since the abyss still covered the whole breadth
24
25
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XVIII, 3, A nte-N icene Fathers, V ol. I.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa. The Trinity, The G reat Catechism, 1, N PNF, 2 nd Ser., Vol. V.
13
of the earth, it is very clear that that first light shone forth then in the upper parts of the same earth,
which the daily light of the sun even now customarily illuminates.26
4. Saint Gregory Palamas: The divine Logos is similar to the logos implanted by nature in
our intellect, according to which we are made by the Creator in His own image and which
constitutes the spiritual knowledge coexistent with the intellect. On the plane of the sublime Intellect
of the absolute and transcendently perfect Goodness, wherein there is nothing imperfect, the divine
Logos-Gnosis is indistinguishably whatever that Goodness is, except for the fact that It is derived
from It. Thus, the supreme Logos is also the Son, and is so described by us, in order that we may
recognize Him to be perfect in a perfect and individual hypostasis [subsistence], since He comes
from the Father and is in no way inferior to the Fathers essence, but is indistinguishably identical
with Him, although not according to hypostasis; for His distinction as hypostasis is manifest in the
fact that the Logos is begotten in a divinely fitting manner from the Father.27
Regarding the words of Prophet Solomon, an explanation would be helpful. Saint Basil: As
is said through Solomon the Wise in the Proverbs, He was created or The Lord made Me the
beginning of His ways for His works [Prov. 8:22]; and He is named Beginning of ways of good
news, which lead us to the kingdom of heaven. He is not in essence and substance a creature, but
is made a way according to the dispensation. Being made and being created signify the same thing.
As He was made a way, so was He made a door, a shepherd, an angel, a sheep, and again
High Priest, and an apostle, the names being used in other senses....Again He calls Himself
naked, when any one of his brethren is naked. I was naked, He says, and ye clothed me; and so
when another is in prison He speaks of Himself as imprisoned, for He Himself took away our sins
and bore our sicknesses....So all the things which happen to us to our hurt He makes His own, taking
upon Him our sufferings in His fellowship with us.28
2. Saint Ambrose (ca. 339-397): Solomons words [Prov. 8:22 ff.] mean that Christs
incarnation was done for the redemption of the Fathers creation, as is shown by the Sons own
words. That He is the beginning may be understood from the visible proofs of His virtuousness,
and it is shown how the Lord opened the ways of all virtues, and was their true beginning. Hereby
we are brought to understand that the prophecy of the incarnation, meaning that the Lord Jesus was
created of the Virgin for the redeeming of the Fathers works. Truly, we cannot doubt that this is
spoken of the mystery of the incarnation,...for Christs flesh is for the sake of things created, but His
Godhead existed before them, seeing that He is before all things, whilst all things exist together in
Him. His Divinity, then, is not by reason of creation, but creation exists because of the
Divinity....Now for the sake of what works the Lord was created of a virgin, He Himself, whilst
healing the blind man, has shown, saying: It is needful for Me to be working the works of the One
Who sent Me [Jn. 9:4].29
G. The Things Which Are Seen Have Not Come into Being out of Things Which Appear
1. Saint Gregory of Nyssa: Some will ask, When and how did it come into being? Now
as for the question, how any single thing came into existence, we must banish it altogether from our
26
27
28
29
Saint
Saint
Saint
Saint
Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:3], 48:73.

Gregory Palamas, Topics of N atural and Theological Science, 35, The Philokalia, 4:360, 361.
Basil the G reat, L etter V III, written, in 360, to the Caesareans, N PN F, 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
Am brose, Exp osition of the Ch ristian Faith, Book III, Ch. VII, 45-48, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. X.
14
discussion. Even in the case of things which are quite within the grasp of our understanding and of
which we have sensible perception, it would be impossible for the speculative reason to grasp the
how of the production of the phenomenon; so much so, that even inspired and saintly men have
deemed such questions insoluble. For instance, the apostle says, By faith we perceive with the mind
the ages to have been put in order by a word of God, so that the things which are seen have not come
into being out of things which appear [Heb. 11:3]. He would not, I take it, have spoken like that,
if he had thought that the question could be settled by any efforts of the reasoning powers. While
the apostle affirms that it is an object of his faith that it was by the will of God that the world itself
and all which is therein was framed (whatever this world be that involves the idea of the whole
visible and invisible creation), he has on the other hand left out of the investigation the how of this
framing. Nor do I think that this point can ever be reached by any inquirers. The question presents,
on the face of it, many insuperable difficulties....Let us, following the example of the apostle, leave
the question of the how in each created thing, without meddling with it at all, but merely observing
incidentally that the movement of Gods will becomes, at any moment that He pleases, a fact, and
the intention becomes at once realized in nature; for Omnipotence does not leave the plans of its
farseeing skill in the state of unsubstantial wishes: and the actualizing of a wish is substance.30
2. Saint John of Damascus responds to why and how God created. Since, then, God, Who
is good and more than good, did not find satisfaction in self-contemplation, but in His exceeding
goodness wished certain things to come into existence which would enjoy His benefits and share
in His goodness, He brought all things out of nothing into being and created them, both what is
invisible and what is visible. Yea, even man, who is a compound of the visible and the invisible.
And it is by thought that He creates, and thought is the basis of the work, the Word [Logos] filling
it and the Spirit perfecting it.31
I. DAY ONE
C. Time and Matter
D. Time of Creation
H. Water
I. Darkness
K. Fallen Angels
M. Light [Gen. 1:3]
30
Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Argument, On the Soul and the Resurrection, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. V (Oak
Harbor, W A: Logos Research Sy stems, Inc., 1997).
31
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning the creation, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. II, Vol. IX:18.
15

Relevant Scripture for Day One
Genesis, Chapter 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 1:1].
But the earth was unseen and unformed; and darkness was over the deep; and the Spirit of
God was hovering over the water [Gen. 1:2].
And God said, Let there be light, and there was light [Gen. 1:3].
And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and between the
darkness [Gen. 1:4].
And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night, and there was evening and
there was morningday one [Gen. 1:5].
1. Saint Ephraim (ca. 306-373) the Syrian: In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth, that is, the substance of the heavens and the substance of the earth. So let no one think that
there is anything allegorical in the works of the six days....They were truly heaven and earth. There
was no other thing signified by the names heaven and earth.32...At this point these comprised the
only things that had been made, for there was nothing else created along with heaven and earth.
Even the elements that were created on that day had not yet been created. If the elements had been
created along with heaven and earth, Moses would have said so. But he did not, lest he should give
the names of the elements precedence over their substances. Therefore, it is evident that heaven and
earth came to be from nothing because neither water nor wind had yet been created, nor had fire,
light or darkness been given their natures, for they were younger than heaven and earth. These things
were created things that came after heaven and earth and they were not self-subsistent beings for
they did not exist before heaven and earth.33...
Because everything that was created was created in those six days, whether it was written
down that it was created or not,...the clouds were created along with the abyss, just as he did not
record the creation of fire along with that of the wind when he wrote about the creation of the
wind.34
It was necessary that everything be known to have its beginning in those six days....Clouds were
spread over all of creation on the first night and on the first day. If the clouds had been dispersed,
light would not have been required on the first day because the brightness of the upper heavens
would have been sufficient to fill the place of the light that was created on the first day.35
After one night and one day were completed, the firmament was created on the second
evening and henceforth its shadow rendered service for all subsequent nights. Therefore, heaven and
earth were created on the evening of the first night. Along with the abyss that was created, there
32
Saint Ephrem the Syrian , Comm entary on Genesis, Section I, 1, trans. by E. G. Mathews, Jr. and J. P.
Am ar, The Fathers o f the C hurch Series [FC], Volum e 91 (Washington , D.C .: The Catholic University of
America Press, 1994), p. 74.
33
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section I, 2, FC, 74:75.
34
Ibid., On Genesis, Section I, 5, FC, 74:77, 78.
35
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 5(2), FC, 74:78 .
16
were also created those clouds, which, when they were spread out, brought about the requisite night.
After their shadow had served for twelve hours, light was created beneath them and the light
dispersed their shadow that had been spread over the waters all night.36...
Darkness, too, is neither a self-subsistent being nor a created thing; it is a shadow, as
Scripture makes clear. It was created neither before heaven nor after the clouds, for it was with the
clouds and was brought forth from the clouds. Darkness exists in another, for it has not substance
of its own. When that in which it exists vanishes, the darkness likewise vanishes with it.37
2. Saint Basil: In the beginning God created heaven and earth. By naming the two
extremes, he suggests the substance of the whole world, according to heaven the privilege of
seniority, and putting earth in the second rank. All intermediate beings were created at the same time
as the extremities. Thus, although there is no mention of the elements, fire, water and air, imagine
that they were all compounded together, and you will find water, air and fire, in the earth....Upon
the essence of the heavens we are contented with what Isaiah says, for, in simple language, he gives
us sufficient idea of their nature, The heaven was made like smoke [Is. 51:6], that is to say, He
created a subtle substance, without solidity or density, from which to form the heavens. As to the
form of them we also content ourselves with the language of the same prophet, when praising God
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in [Is.
40:22]....Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? If ever you hear in the Psalms, I made
firm her pillars [Ps. 74:3]; see in these pillars the power which sustains it. Because what means this
other passage, He founded her upon the seas [Ps. 23:2], if not that the water is spread all around
the earth? But let us admit that the earth rests upon itself, or let us say that it rides the waters, we
must still remain faithful to thought of true religion and recognize that all is sustained by the
Creators power. Let us then reply to ourselves, and let us reply to those who ask us upon what
support this enormous mass rests, For in His hand are the ends of the earth [Ps. 94:4]. It is a
doctrine as infallible for our own information as profitable for our hearers. 38
3. Saint Anastasios: It says, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth [Gen.
1:1]. It uses the name heaven collectively for all the heavenly and spiritual arrangements: both of
the holy powers and of the named compositions of the noetic cosmos. Thus, you must first consider
the cosmos above. This was createdas the theologian saysin the following way: First He takes
thought of the angelic and heavenly forces; and the thought was a done feat.39
4. Saint Bede: By asserting that God created the world at the beginning of time, Scripture
signifies that He indeed existed eternally before time. And when it tells that He created heaven and
earth in the very beginning of creation, by such great swiftness of work it declares that He, for
Whom to have willed is to have done, is omnipotent....It is clearly inferred that the creation of each
part was completed simultaneously, and this with such great swiftness of divine power that the first
moment of the infant world had not yet passed.40
5. Saint Gregory Palamas: The Holy Spirit...taught us that God is the only Being Who truly
isthe only eternal and immutable BeingWho neither receives being from non-being nor returns
36
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 6, FC, 74:78.

Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 16, FC , 74:86.
38
Saint Basil, Hom. I(7-9), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
39
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 1, V I.3, p. 23.
40
Saint Bed e the V enerable, Bede: On Genesis, Book O ne [1:1], Translated Texts for Historians Series,
Volume 48, trans. by C. B. Kendall (Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 2008), p. 68.
37
17
to non-being; Who is Trihypostatic and Almighty, and Who through His Logos brought forth all
things from non-being in six days....First of all God created the heavens and the earth as a kind of
all-embracing material substance with the potentiality of giving birth to all things. In this way He
rightly rebuts those who wrongly think that matter preexisted on its own as an autonomous entity.
After this initial creation, He Who brings forth all things from non-being proceeds as it were
to embellish and adorn the world. In six days He allotted its own proper and appropriate rank to each
of His creatures that together constitute His world. He differentiates each by command alone, as
though bringing forth from hidden treasuries the things stored within, giving them form, and
disposing and composing them harmoniously, with perfection and aptness, one to the other, each to
all and all to each. Establishing the immovable earth as the center He encircled it in the highest vault
with the ever-moving heavens and in His great wisdom bound the two together by means of the
intermediary regions. Thus, the same world is both at rest and moving.41
1. Saint John of Damascus: The heaven is the circumference of things created, both visible
and invisible. For within its boundary are included and marked off both the mental faculties of the
angels and all the world of sense. But the Deity alone is uncircumscribed, filling all things, and
surrounding all things, and bounding all things, for He is above all things, and has created all
things....All things have been made and established by the divine command, and have the divine will
and counsel for a foundation that cannot be moved. For He spoke, and they came to be; He gave
charge, and they were created. He established them unto the age, and unto the age of the age; He
Himself set an ordinance, and it shall not pass away [Ps. 148:5, 6]. The heaven of heaven, then, is
the first heaven which is above the firmament. So here we have two heavens, for God called the
firmament also heaven [Gen. 1:8]. And it is customary in the divine Scripture to speak of the air also
as heavens, because we see it above us. Bless Him, it says, all ye birds of the heaven, meaning
of the air. For it is the air and not the heaven that is the region in which birds fly. So here we have
three heavens, as the divine apostle said [2 Cor. 12:2]. But if you should wish to look 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 heaven, he usually says heavens of heavens [Ps. 148:4], and this clearly means heaven of heaven,
which is above the firmament, and the waters which are above the heavens, whether it is the air and
the firmament, or the seven zones of the firmament, or the firmament itself which are spoken of in
the plural as heavens according to the Hebrew custom.
All things, then, which are brought into existence are subject to corruption according to the
law of their nature, and so even the heavens themselves are corruptible. But by the grace of God they
are maintained and preserved.42 Only the Deity, however, is by nature without beginning and without
end. Wherefore it has been said, They themselves shall be undone, but Thou shalt continue; and all
like an outer garment shall become old, and like a vesture shalt Thou roll them round, and they shall
be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail [Ps. 101:25, 26]. Nevertheless, the
heavens will not be utterly destroyed. For they will wax old and be wound round as a covering, and
will be changed, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth [Rev. 21:1].
41
Saint Gregory Palamas: Topics of N atural and Theological Science, 21, 22, The Philokalia, 4:354,
355.
42
Saint Basil, Hexaemeron, Homilies 1, 3.
18
For the great part the heaven is greater than the earth, but we need not investigate the
essence of the heaven, for it is quite beyond our knowledge. It must not be supposed that the heavens
or the luminaries are endowed with life. For they are inanimate and insensible.43 So that when the
divine Scripture saith, Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice exceedingly [Ps. 95:10],
it is the angels in heaven and the men on earth that are invited to rejoice. For the Scripture is familiar
with the figure of personification, and is wont to speak of inanimate things as though they were
animate: for example, The sea beheld and fled; the Jordan was turned about to the hinder parts [Ps.
113:3]. And again, What is it with thee, O sea, that thou fleddest? And thou, O Jordan, that thou
wast turned about to the hinder parts [Ps. 113:5]? Mountains, too, and hills are asked the reason of
their leaping in the same way as we are wont to say, the city was gathered together, when we do not
mean the buildings, but the inhabitants of the city: again, The heavens declare the glory of God [Ps.
18:1], does not mean that they send forth a voice that can be heard by bodily ears, but that from
their own greatness they bring before our minds the power of the Creator: and when we contemplate
their beauty we praise the Maker as the Master-Craftsman. 44
C. Time and Matter
1. Saint Ambrose (ca. 339-397), Bishop of Milan: What is more absurd than to link the
eternity of the work of creation with the eternity of God the Omnipotent? Or to identify the creation
itself with God so as to confer divine honors on the sky, the earth, and the sea?45...God created first
heaven and earth, but He did not will them to be perpetual; rather, they subserve the final end of our
corruptible nature. Hence in the book of Isaiah, He says, Lift up your eyes to the sky, and look on
the earth beneath: for the sky was darkened like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,
and the inhabitants shall die in like manner [Is. 51:6].46...Many of the Gentiles maintain that the
world is coeternal with God, as if it were a shadow of divine power, affirming also that it subsists
of itself. Although they admit that the cause of it is God, they assert that the cause does not proceed
from His own will and rule....Moses, therefore, says that God created heaven and earth. He did not
say that He made it subsist or that He provided a cause for the world to exist. 47 Further on, Saint
Ambrose affirms, They labor to no purpose who claim perpetuity for the heavens. In the course
of the beginning, O Lord, Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are works of
Thy hands. They themselves shall be undone, but Thou shalt continue; and all like an outer garment
shall become old, and like a vesture shalt Thou roll them round, and they shall be changed. But Thou
art the same, and Thy years shall not fail [Ps. 101:25-27]. To such a degree did the Lord confirm
this that He said, The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words in no wise shall pass
away [Mt. 24:35].48 Moreover, In the beginning of time, therefore, God created heaven and earth.
Time proceeds from this world, not before the world.49
D. Time of Creation
43
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Hom. 13.

Saint John of Damascus, Concerning the heaven, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. VI, Vol. IX:21, 22.
45
Saint Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days of C reation, The First Homily, Book One: The First Day, Ch.
1(2), Hexameron, Paradise, and Cain and Abel, Fathers of the Church Series [FC], Vol. 42, trans. by John
J. Savage (Washington, D.C.: CUA Press, 1985, repr.), p. 3.
46
Saint Am brose, H om. 2, Ch. 8(2 8), Hexameron, FC, 42:30.
47
Ibid., Hom. 1, Ch. 5(18 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:17.
48
49
44
19
1. Saint Ephraim: After Moses spoke of heaven and earth, of the darkness, the abyss and
the wind that came to be at the beginning of the first night, he then turned to speak about the light
that came to be at dawn of the first day. At the end of the twelve hours of that night, the light was
created between the clouds and the waters and it chased away the shadow of the clouds that were
overshadowing the waters and making them dark. For Nisan (March-April) was the first month; in
it the number of the hours of day and night were equal.50
2. Saint Ambrose: This month shall be to you the beginning of months [Ex. 12:2]. There
is reference to the Pasch of the Lord, which is celebrated at the beginning of spring. Therefore, He
created heaven and earth at the time when the months began, from which time it is fitting that the
world took its rise. Then there was the mild temperature of spring, a season suitable for all things.
Consequently, the year, too, has the stamp of a world coming to birth, as the splendor of the
springtime shines forth all the more clearly because of the winters ice and darkness now past. The
shape of the circles of years to come has been given form by the first dawn of the world. Based on
that precedent, the succession of years would tend to arise, and the commencement of each year new
seedlings would be produced, as the Lord God has said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass
bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit whose
seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth [Gen. 1:11].51
1. Saint Basil: The earth, says holy Scripture, was unseen and unformed [Gen. 1:2]. The
heavens and the earth were created without distinction. How then is it that the heavens are perfect
whilst the earth is still unformed and incomplete? In one word, what was the unwrought condition
of the earth? And for what reason was it invisible? The fertility of the earth is its perfect finishing;
growth of all kinds of plants, the upspringing of tall trees, both productive and sterile, flowers sweet
scents and fair colors, and all that which, a little later, at the voice of God came forth from the earth
to beautify her, their universal mother. As nothing of all this yet existed, Scripture is right in calling
the earth not fitted out. We could also say of the heavens that they were still imperfect and had not
received their natural adornment, since at that time they did not shine with the glory of the sun and
of the moon and were not crowned by the choirs of the stars. These bodies were not yet created.
Thus, you will not diverge from the truth in saying that the heavens also were without form. The
earth was invisible for two reasons: it may be because man, the spectator, did not yet exist, or
because being submerged under the waters which overflowed the surface, it could not be seen, since
the waters had not yet been gathered together into their own places, where God afterwards collected
them, and gave them the name of seas....It is in this sense, because it was hidden under the waters,
that the earth was still invisible. However, as light did not yet exist, and as the earth lay in darkness,
because of the obscurity of the air above it, it should not astonish us that for this reason Scripture
calls it invisible.52
But the corrupters of the truth, who, incapable of submitting their reason to holy Scripture,
distort at will the meaning of the holy Scriptures, pretend that these words mean matter....If matter
is uncreated, it has a claim to the same honors as God, since it must be of equal rank with Him. Is
this not the summit of wickedness, that an extreme deformity, without quality, without form, shape,
50
51
52
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 8, FC, 74:80.

Saint Basil, Hom. II(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
20
ugliness without configuration, to use their own expression, should enjoy the same prerogatives with
Him, Who is wisdom, power, and beauty itself, the Creator and the Demiurge of the universe? This
is not all. If matter is so great as to be capable of being acted on by the whole wisdom of God, it
would in a way raise its hypostasis to an equality with the inaccessible power of God, since it would
be able to measure by itself all the extent of the Divine intelligence. The form of the world is due
to the wisdom of the supreme Artificer; matter came to the Creator from without; and thus the world
results from a double origin. It has received from outside its matter and its essence, and from God
its form and figure. They thus come to deny that the mighty God has presided at the formation of
the universe, and pretend that He has only brought a crowning contribution to a common work, that
He has only contributed some small portion to the genesis of beings. Indeed, it was He Who
assigned to the heavens the nature adapted for the heavens, and gave to the earth an essence in
accordance with its form. He formed, as He wished, fire, air, and water, and gave to each the essence
which the object of its existence required. Finally, He welded all the diverse parts of the universe
by links of indissoluble attachment and established between them so perfect a fellowship and
harmony that the most distant, in spite of their distance, appeared united in one universal
sympathy.53
2. Saint Ambrose: Justly is the earth called invisible, because it was without order, not
having as yet received from its Creator its appropriate form and beauty....Things were first created
and afterwards put in order, lest it be supposed that they were not actually created and that they had
no beginning....Add to this the fact that God willed it that we be imitators of Himself, so that we first
make something and afterwards beautify it. We would run the danger of attempting two projects at
one time and accomplishing neither. And our faith grows strong, step by step. For that reason, God
created first and afterwards beautified, in order that we may believe that He Who made and He Who
adorned were one and the same Person.54
3. Saint Chrysostom: The earth was invisible and lacking all shape,...namely, it was
invisible because it was concealed by darkness and water. Then, at the command of the Lord, light
was created and a separation made between light and darkness. One received the name day and the
other night....So by His command He made a division in the mass of water.55
4. Saint John of Damascus: The earth is one of the four elements...brought into being by
God, out of nothing on the first day. For in the beginning, He said, God created the heaven and
the earth [Gen. 1:1].....We must admit that all things are sustained and preserved by the power of
the Creator. In the beginning, then, as the holy Scripture says, it was hidden beneath the waters, and
was unwrought, that is to say, not beautified.56...Air is the most subtle element....It is heavier, indeed,
than fire: but lighter than earth and water....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 deep [Gen. 1:2]; for its object is to show that the air has not derived its light
from itself, but that it is quite a different essence from light.57...
53
Ibid., Hom. II(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Am brose, The Second H omily, C h. 7(2 6), Hexameron, FC, 42:29.
55
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 4, On Genesis, 5, 74:54.
56
Saint John of D amascus, C oncernin g Earth and its products, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. X, V ol.
IX:28, 29.
57
Ibid., Concerning air and winds, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. VIII, p. 26.
54
21
Further, some hold that the earth is in the form of a sphere, others that it is in that of a cone.
At all events it is much smaller than the heaven, and suspended almost like a point in its midst. And
it will pass away and be changed. But blessed is the man who inherits the earth promised to the
meek [Mt. 5:5]. For the earth that is to be the possession of the holy is immortal. Who, then, can fitly
marvel at the boundless and incomprehensible wisdom of the Creator? Or who can render sufficient
thanks to the Giver of so many blessings?58
1. Saint Ephraim: Heaven, earth, fire, wind, and water were created from nothing as
Scripture bears witness, whereas the light, which came to be on the first day along with the rest of
the things that came to be afterwards, came to be from something. For when these other things came
to be from nothing, [Moses] said, God created heaven and earth. Although it is not written that fire,
water, and wind were created, neither is it said that they were made.59 They, therefore, came to be
from nothing just as heaven and earth came to be from nothing.60
After God began to make [things] from something, Moses wrote, God said, Let there be
light [Gen. 1:3], and so on. Although Moses did say, God created the great serpents,
nevertheless, let the waters swarm with swarming things had been [said] prior to that. Therefore
those five created things were created from nothing and everything else was made from those [five]
things that came to be from nothing.61
Fire was also created on the first day, although it is not written down that it was created.
Since fire has no existence in and of itself but existed in something else, it was created together with
that thing in which it came to be....That fire is in the earth, nature bears witness, but that it is not
created together with the earth does Scripture affirm, when it said, In the beginning God created
heaven and earth. Fire too then, since it does not exist of itself, will remain in the earth.62
2. Saint Bede: Here it should be noted that the two elements of this world, namely water and
earth, are expressly mentioned as having been made in the beginning with heaven. But it is a known
fact that the two other elements had been added to thosenamely, fire in the iron and stones which
lay hidden, already buried even then in the bowels of the earth, and air in the earth itself with which,
from the fact that when the earth is moistened and tempered with the sun, it soon exhales the most
abundant steam, it is found to have been mixed. Likewise, burning fire implanted in the interior of
the earth is brought forth by hot springs of waters.63
3. Saint John of Damascus: Our God Himself, Whom we glorify as Three in One, the One
having made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all the things in them [Ps. 145:6], and brought
all things out of nothing into being: some He made out of no pre-existing basis of matter, such as
heaven, earth, air, fire, water; and the rest out of these elements that He had created, such as living
creatures, plants, seeds. For these are made up of earth, and water, and air, and fire, at the bidding
58
Ibid., Concerning Earth and its products, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. X, pp. 28, 29.
Saint Ephraim distinguishes (though not with rigid consistency) the term br, meaning to create, that is,
from nothing; from the term bd meaning to make, that is, out of existing materials.
60
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 14, FC , 74:85.
61
Ibid., On Genesis, Section I, 15, FC, 74:85.
62
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 15(2), FC, 74:85.
63
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:2a/b], 48:70, 71.
59
22
of the Creator.64...Fire is one of the four elements; it is light and with a greater tendency to ascend
than the others. It has the power of burning and also of giving light, and it was made by the Creator
on the first day. For the divine Scripture says, And God said, Let there be light, and there was
light [Gen. 1:3]. Fire is not a different thing from what light is, as some maintain....In the beginning,
then, that is to say, on the first day, God created light, the ornament and glory of the whole visible
creation. For take away light and all things remain in undistinguishable darkness, incapable of
displaying their native beauty. And God called the light day, but the darkness He called night [Gen.
1:5]. Further, darkness is not any essence, but an accident: for it is simply absence of light. The air,
indeed, has not light in its essence.65 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 [Gen. 1:5].66
1. Saint Ambrose: The majesty of God holds the earth together by the law of His own will,
so that what is steadfast should prevail over the void and unstable. The One founding firmly the
earth for her security; she shall not be tilted unto the age of the age [Ps. 103:6]....The substance of
the earth is supported by that power that props it up and sustains it....By the will of God, the earth
remains immovable....yet it is moved and nods according to the will of God. It does not continue to
exist due to its own foundations. It does not stay stable because of its own props. The Lord
established it by the support of His will, For in His hand are the ends of the earth, and the heights
of the mountains are His [Ps. 94:4].67
2. Saint Anastasios: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 1:1]. Do
not let the natural philosophers respond that God began to make the origin of heaven from the earth,
as from a center. For they say the center is the beginning of every sphere....That which fails for men,
succeeds for God. Therefore, so that you might learn that God does not follow the laws of nature,
but creates in a way beyond nature and technology, Moses says here, God created the heaven
which is the sphereand then the earthwhich is the center.68
H. Water
1. Saint Basil: That which floated on the surface of the earth was waterthe fluid essence
which had not yet been confined to its own place. Thus the earth was not only invisible; it was still
incomplete. Even today excessive damp is a hindrance to the productiveness of the earth. Nothing
was yet produced; the earth was in travail with it in virtue of the power that she had received from
the Creator. But she was waiting for the appointed time and the divine order to bring forth.69...The
earth was invisible. Why? Because the deep was spread over its surface. What is the deep? A
mass of water of extreme depth. But we know that we can see many bodies through clear and
64
Saint John of D amascus, Concerning the visible creation, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. V, Vol. IX:21.
Saint Basil, Hexaemeron, Hom. 2.
66
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning Fire, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. VII, Vol. IX.
67
68
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 1, VI.2, p. 21.
69
65
23
transparent water. How then was it that no part of the earth appeared through the water? Because
the air which surrounded it was still without light and in darkness.70
I. Darkness
1. Saint Ephraim: He [Moses] goes on to write that the earth was void and desolation.71 He
then turned to write that darkness was upon the face of the abyss. For the abyss of waters was
created at that time. But how was it created on the day on which it was created? Even though it was
created on this day and at this moment, Moses does not tell us here how it was created. For now, we
should accept the creation of the abyss as it is written. 72
2. Saint Basil: Darkness was over the abyss [Gen. 1:2]. A new source for fables and most
impious imaginations if one distorts the sense of these words at the will of ones fancies. For them
darkness is an evil power, or rather the personification of evil, having his origin in himself in
opposition to, and in perpetual struggle with, the goodness of God.73...It is equally impious to say
that evil has its origin from God; because the contrary cannot proceed from its contrary. If then evil
is neither uncreate nor created by God, from whence comes its nature? Certainly that evil exists, no
one living in the world will deny. What shall we say then? Evil is not a living animated essence; it
is the condition of the soul opposed to virtue, developed in the careless on account of their falling
away from good.74 But reason asks, was darkness created with the world? Is it older than light? Why
in spite of its inferiority has it preceded it? Darkness, we reply, did not exist in essence; it is a
condition produced in the air by the withdrawal of light. 75
3. Saint Ambrose: Darkness was over the abyss [Gen. 1:2]. There was darkness because the
brilliance of light was absent; there was darkness because the air itself was dark.76...The earth was
invisible, because water flowed over it and covered it. Darkness was diffused over it, because there
was not yet the light of day, or the rays of the sun which can reveal even what lies hid beneath the
waters.77
4. Saint Chrysostom: He made no mention of the creation of the waters, but then said,
Darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water [Gen. 1:2], this, you see,
was covering the face of the earth, darkness I mean, and the depths of water.78
Saint Paul informs us that in Him were all things created, the things in the heavens and the
things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or authorities. All things through Him and to Him have been created [Col. 1:16].
1. Saint Irenaeos: God produced the substance of matter. We have learned from the
Scriptures that God holds the supremacy over all things. But whence or in what way He produced
it, neither has Scripture anywhere declared; nor does it become us to conjecture, so as, in accordance
with our own opinions, to form endless conjectures concerning God, but we should leave such
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
Ibid., Hom. II(4), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section I, 3(2), FC, 74:76.
Ibid., On Genesis, Section I, 4, FC, 74:77.
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 3, On Genesis, 3, 74:40, 41.
24
knowledge in the hands of God Himself. In like manner, also, we must leave the cause why...certain
of His creatures sinned and revolted from a state of submission to God, and others, indeed the great
majority, persevered, and do still persevere, in [willing] subjection to Him Who formed them. We
must leave to God and His Logos of what nature those are who sinned and of what nature those who
persevereand leave to God and His Logos, too, the cause of these things. 79
2. Saint Ephraim: Moses wrote about the things within the firmament for us, although he
did not write about everything for us; for he did not record for us the day on which the spiritual
beings were created.80
3. Saint Basil: Moreover, from the things created at the beginning may be learnt the
fellowship of the Spirit with the Father and the Son. The pure, intelligent, and supermundane
powers...are styled holy, because they have their holiness of the grace given by the Holy Spirit.
Accordingly the mode of the creation of the heavenly powers is passed over in silence, for the
historian of the cosmogony has revealed to us only the creation of things perceptible by sense. But
do thou, who hast power from the things that are seen to form an analogy of the unseen, glorify the
Maker by Whom all things were made, visible and invisible, Principalities and Powers, Authorities,
Thrones, and Dominions, and all other reasonable natures whom we cannot name [1 Cor. 12:4-6].
And in the creation bethink thee first, I pray thee, of the original Cause of all things that are made,
the Father; of the creative Cause, the Son; of the perfecting Cause, the Spirit; so that the ministering
spirits subsist by the will of the Father, are brought into being by the operation of the Son, and
perfected by the presence of the Spirit. Moreover, the perfection of angels is sanctification and
continuance in it....
The first principle of existing things is One, creating through the Son and perfecting through
the Spirit. The operation of the Father Who works all in all is not imperfect, neither is the creating
work of the Son incomplete if not perfected by the Spirit. The Father, Who creates by His sole will,
could not stand in any need of the Son, but nevertheless He wills through the Son; nor could the Son,
Who works according to the likeness of the Father, need co-operation, but the Son too wills to make
perfect through the Spirit. By the Logos [Word] of the Lord were the heavens established, and all
the might of them by the Spirit of His mouth [Ps. 32:6]. The Word then is not a mere significant
impression on the air, borne by the organs of speech; nor is the Spirit of His mouth a vapor, emitted
by the organs of respiration; but the Word is He Who was with God in the beginning and was
God, and the Spirit of the mouth of God [Ps. 32:6] is the Spirit of the truth Who proceedeth from
the Father [Jn. 15:26]. You are therefore to perceive Three, the Lord Who gives the order, the
Logos Who creates [Jn. 1:1], and the Spirit Who confirms. And what other thing could confirmation
be than the perfecting according to holiness? This perfecting expresses the confirmations firmness,
unchangeableness, and fixity in good. But there is no sanctification without the Spirit. The powers
of the heavens are not holy by nature; were it so there would in this respect be no difference between
them and the Holy Spirit. It is in proportion to their relative excellence that they have their fitting
reward of holiness from the Spirit. The branding-iron is conceived of together with the fire; and yet
the material and the fire are distinct. Thus too in the case of the heavenly powers; their substance
is, peradventure, an aerial spirit, or an immaterial fire, as it is written, The One making His angels
spirits, and His liturgists a flame of fire [Ps. 103:5]; wherefore they exist in space and become
79
80
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. II, Ch. XXVIII, 7, A nte-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
25
visible, and appear in their proper bodily form to them that are worthy. But their sanctification, being
external to their substance, superinduces their perfection through the communion of the Spirit. They
keep their rank by their abiding in the good and true, and while they retain their freedom of will,
never fall away from their patient attendance on Him Who is truly good. It results that, if by your
argument you do away with the Spirit, the hosts of the angels are disbanded, the dominions of
archangels are destroyed, all is thrown into confusion, and their life loses law, order, and
distinctness.81...
What then is that light which disappeared suddenly from the world, so that darkness should
cover the deep? If anything had existed before the formation of this sensible and perishable world,
no doubt we conclude it would have been in light. The orders of angels, the heavenly hosts, all
intellectual natures named or unnamed, all the ministering spirits, did not live in darkness, but
enjoyed a condition fitted for them in light and spiritual joy. No one will contradict this; least of all
Solomon who looks for celestial light as one of the rewards promised to those practising the virtues,
for the righteous always have light [Prov. 13:9]. And it is the light which made the apostle say,
giving thanks to the God and Father Who rendereth us sufficient for the portion of the lot of the
saints in the light [Col. 1:12]; and as at that time the water covered everything, we are obliged to
say that darkness was upon the face of the deep.82
4. Saint Ambrose: The Angels, Dominations, and Powers, although they began to exist at
some time, were already in existence when the world was created. For all things were created,
things visible and things invisible, whether Thrones or Dominations or Principalities or Powers. All
things, we are told, have been created through Him [Jn. 1:3, 10; 1 Cor. 8:6] and to Him [Col.
1:16]....For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things [Rom. 11:36].83 Blessed
Theophylact (ca. 1050/60-ca. 1108) explains: For of Him (ex Aftou), and through Him (di Aftou),
and to Him (eis Afton), are all things. He is the Source of all; for this it says, of Him. And He is
the Creator of all; for this it says, through Him. And He is the One Who holds all things together;
for this it says, to Him. For all things have their beginning from Him, and came to be through Him,
and to Him.84
5. Saint Anastasios: God made all things...not from some preexisting material, but out of
nothing, He brought forth the spiritual and elemental things.85...Let there be lights in the firmament
of heaven to illuminate the earth [Gen. 1:14]. The blessed angels are not illuminated by any
creation, but by God Himself. On account of this, Scripture says; There will always be light for the
righteous [Prov. 13:9].86
6. Saint Bede: That higher heaven, which is inaccessible to the sight of all mortals, was not
created void and empty like the earth,...because truly as soon as it was created it was filled with its
inhabitants, that is, with the blessed hosts of angels. They were created in the beginning with heaven
and earth, and immediately referred their own creation together with that of the entire primordial
creation to the praise of the Creator as the Creator Himself asserts, when, speaking to His holy
servant Job, He says, Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Tell me now, if thou hast
81
82
83
84
85
86
Saint Basil, On the H oly Spirit, Ch. 16, 38, N PN F, 2 nd Ser, VIII:23.
Blessed T heophy lact, P.G. 124:85CD (col. 496).
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 1, IV.3, p. 15.
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, IV.1, p. 103.
26
knowledge [Job 38:4]. And a little further on, When the stars were made, all My angels praised
Me with a loud voice [Job 38:7 LXX].87
7. Saint John of Damascus: He is Himself the Maker and Creator of the angels: for He
brought them out of nothing into being and created them after His own image, an incorporeal race,
a sort of spirit or immaterial fire: in the words of the divine David: The One making His angels
spirits, and His liturgists a flame of fire [Ps. 103:5]....They have heaven for their dwelling place,
and have one duty, to sing Gods praise and carry out His divine will. Moreover, as that most holy,
and sacred, and gifted theologian, Dionysios the Areopagite (1st C.),88 says, All theology, that is to
say, the holy Scripture, has nine different names for the heavenly essences. These essences...divide
into three groups, each containing three. And the first group, he says, consists of those who are in
Gods presence and are said to be directly and immediately one with Him, namely, the Seraphim
with their six wings, the many-eyed Cherubim, and those that sit in the holiest Thrones. The second
group is that of the Dominions, and the Principalities, and the Authorities [Col. 1:16]; and the third,
and last, is that of the Rulers and Archangels and Angels. Some, indeed,89 like Gregory the
Theologian, say that these were before the creation of other things. He thinks that the angelic and
heavenly powers were first and that thought was their function.90 Others, again, hold that they were
created after the first heaven was made. But all are agreed that it was before the foundation of man.
For myself, I am in harmony with the theologian. For it was fitting that the mental essence should
be the first created, and then that which can be perceived, and finally man himself, in whose being
both parts are united. But those who say that the angels are creators of any kind of essence whatever
are the mouth of their father, the devil. For since they are created things they are not creators. But
He Who creates and provides for and maintains all things is God, Who alone is uncreate and is
praised and glorified in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 91
8. Saint Gregory Palamas: The noetic nature of angels...did not receive an earthy body from
God and was not united to it in such a way as to have a quickening power in regard to it. Yet their
nature can admit opposites, that is, good and evil. This is confirmed by the fact that the wicked
angels fell away because of their pride. Thus, angels are somehow composite, being formed of their
essence and one of these contrary qualities of virtue or vice. Hence, it is evident that even angels do
not have goodness as their essence.92
K. Fallen Angels
1. Saint Jerome (ca. 342-420): Adam died; we, too, are subject to death; but the devil, who
was a prince and fell, did not die. It is not possible for the angelic order to submit to death, but only
to damnation. Hence, God said you shall fall like one of the princes. How hath Lucifer, that rose
in the morning, fallen from heaven!...But thou saidst in thine heart, I will go up to heaven, I will
set my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit on a lofty mount, on the lofty mountains toward
87
88
89
90
91
92
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:2a/b], 48:69.

Saint Dionysios the Areopagite, Celestial Hierarchies, ch. 6.
See Saint Epiphanios, Haeres. 6, n. 4 and 5; Basil, Hex. i; Chrysost., 2 Hom . in Gen.
See Greg. Naz., who is Saint Gregory the Theologian, Orat. 2.
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning Angels, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. III, Vol. IX:18, 19.
Saint Gregory Palamas, Topics of N atural and Theological Science, 30, The Philokalia, 4:358, 359.
27
the north: I will go up above the clouds: I will be like the Most High. But now thou shalt go down
to hell, even to the foundations of the earth [Is. 4:12-15].93
2. Saint Paulinus (353/4-431), Bishop of Nola: Lucifer was one of the angelic princes before
he fell and became the devil by defection. To him the words of Scripture in Isaiah are addressed. But
we are not condemned to everlasting death as he is, for he was the author of sin. He will be punished
both on his own account and for the man who died by the sin with which the devil killed him. This
is because man did not deserve to be finally excluded from Paradise and from the earth, for the
justice of God more indulgently decreed that he sinned not through his own design but through
anothers design. It is more sinful to deceive than to be deceived, to devise a sin than to execute it.
So he who consented to the deceit was punished for a time for his improvement, but the deviser of
death was doomed to everlasting punishment. This punishment for his sin will never end, because
the sin never ceases.94
3. Saint Gregory the Great also writes: The angels were created such that if they wished
they could continue steadfast in the light of blessedness, but if they did not wish they could also fall.
Consequently, even Satan fell with his legions of followers [Is. 14:12-15]. But after his fall, the
angels who remained steadfast were strengthened so that they certainly could not fall. This is well
documented in the historical account at the very beginning of the book of Genesis, because God
created heaven which He then called the firmament. Therefore, the heavens were those which were
first well made, but then called the firmament because they received the virtue of immutability so
that they certainly should not fall.95
Elsewhere, he notes: Archangels are distinguished by personal names to indicate by the
word the service they are able to perform....Michael means Who is like God?...As often as
something requiring wonderful courage is to be done, Michael is said to be sent....The ancient
enemy, who in his pride desired to be like God, said, I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of
heaven I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of the testament in the recesses of the
north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High [cf. Is. 14:13, 14].
At the end of the world, when he is left to his own strength, he is to be destroyed by a most dreadful
punishment when he does battle with the Archangel Michael [Rev. 12:7], so that the one who
proudly elevated himself to likeness to God may learn, after he has been destroyed by Michael, that
no one can rise to likeness to God by pride.96
4. Saint Gregory Palamas: Every noetic being, since it is likewise created in the image of
God, is our fellow-servant, even if certain noetic beings are more honorable than us in that they
possess no body and so more closely resemble the utterly bodiless and uncreated nature. Or, rather,
those noetic beings who have kept their rank and who maintain the purpose for which they were
created deserve our homage and are far superior to us, even though they are fellow-servants. On the
other hand, the noetic beings who did not keep their rank but rebelled and rejected the purpose for
which they were created are totally estranged from those close to God, and they have fallen from
93
Saint Jerome, Hom. 14, 1-59 On Th e Psalms, Vol. 1, FC, 48:107.

Saint Paulinus, Letter 23, Letters of Saint P aulin us of Nola: Letters 23-51, Vol. 2, ACW, 36:47.
95
Saint Gregory the Dialogist, Fragment I: On Angels, The Homilies of Saint Gregory the Great On the
Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, p. 287.
96
Saint Gregory the Great, Hom. 34, Forty Gospel Homilies, p. 287.
94
28
honor. And if they attempt to drag us after them and to make us fall, they are not only worthless and
disgraced but are also Gods enemies and destructive and inimical to the human race. 97
1. Saint Ephraim: It was appropriate to reveal here that the Spirit hovered in order for us
to learn that the work of creation was held in common by the Spirit with the Father and the Son. The
Father spoke. The Son created. And so it was also right that the Spirit offer His work, clearly shown
through His hovering, in order to demonstrate His unity with the other Persons. Thus, we learn that
all was brought to perfection and accomplished by the Trinity.98
2. Saint Basil: And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. Does this spirit mean the
diffusion of air? The sacred writer wishes to enumerate to you the elements of the world, to tell you
that God created the heavens, the earth, water, and air and that the last was now diffused and in
motion; or rather, that which is truer and confirmed by the authority of the ancients, by the Spirit of
God, he means the Holy Spirit. How then did the Spirit of God move upon the waters? The
explanation that I am about to give you is not an original one, but that of a Syrian, who was as
ignorant in the wisdom of this world as he was versed in the knowledge of the Truth. He said, then,
that the Syriac word was more expressive, and that being more analogous to the Hebrew term it was
a nearer approach to the scriptural sense. This is the meaning of the word; by saying was hovering
the Syrians, he says, understand that It cherished the nature of the waters as one sees a bird cover
the eggs with her body and impart to them vital force from her own warmth. Such is, as nearly as
possible, the meaning of these wordsthe Spirit was hovering; so let us understand that it was the
Spirit Who prepared the nature of water to produce living beings: a sufficient proof for those who
ask if the Holy Spirit took an active part in the creation of the world.99
3. Saint Ambrose: While adorning the firmament of the heavens, the Spirit fittingly moved
over the earth, destined to bear fruit, because by the aid of the Spirit it held the seeds of new birth
which were to germinate according to the words of the prophet: Thou wilt send forth Thy Spirit,
and they will be created; and Thou wilt renew the face of the earth [Ps. 103:31].100
4. Saint Chrysostom: And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water [Gen. 1:2]. It
seems to me to mean this: that some life-giving force was present in the waters. It was not simply
water that was stationary and immobile, but moving and possessed of some vital power. I mean,
what does not move is quite useless, whereas what moves is capable of many things....It is not
without reason that the sacred Scripture says the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. It
intends later to describe to us that creatures in these waters were produced by command of the
Creator of all things.101
5. Saint Anastasios: We clearly know that a perceptible darkness was lying upon the
perceptible deep, and that a breath of God was borne upon the perceptible water. Either this was a
blast of air, which is customarily called wind by mankind or this was the Holy Spirit, which
predicted and represented beforehand the grace of holy Baptism. Indeed, there was need of both: the
97
Saint Ephraim , Comm entary on Genesis, 1:117, J. A. Assemani, ed. Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri
Opera Omnia (Rome, 1737); In Genesis I-11, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, ed. by Andrew
Louth (Downers Grove, IL: Inter V arsity Press. 2001).
99
100
101
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 3, On Genesis, 4, 74 :41.
98
29
airy wind to blow crosswise upon the water of Baptism and the Holy Spirit to sanctify it. Perhaps
it was on account of this that the water and the spirit were placed after the darkness.102...In addition
to Baptism, here among the first things we also learn about the mystery of the Trinity. It says, And
God said, The Father, of course. Then, Let there be light [Gen. 1:3]. That is; Let Christ appear
upon the earth. And Gods Holy Spirit was that which was borne upon the water. 103
6. Saint Bede: When Moses taught in the beginning God, that is, the Father in the Son, made
heaven and earth, he also properly brought in a mention of the Holy Spirit by adding, And the Spirit
of God moved over the waters, in order to signify that the power of the whole Trinity at once
worked together in the creation of the world.104
7. Saint Gregory Palamas: The Spirit of the supreme Logos is a kind of ineffable yet intense
longing or eros experienced by the Begetter for the Logos begotten ineffably from Him, a longing
experienced also by the beloved Logos and Son of the Father for His Begetter; but the Logos
possesses this love by virtue of the fact that it comes from the Father in the very act through which
He comes from the Father, and it resides co-naturally in Him....The Logos says the Spirit of the
truth Who proceedeth from the Father [Jn. 15:26], so that we may know that from the Father comes
not solely the LogosWho is begotten from the Fatherbut also the Spirit Who proceeds from the
Father. Yet the Spirit belongs also to the Son, Who receives Him from the Father as the Spirit of
Truth, Wisdom and Logos. For Truth and Wisdom constitute a Logos that befits His Begetter, a
Logos that rejoices with the Father as the Father rejoices in Him....This preeternal rejoicing of the
Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit Who, as I said, is common to Both, which explains why He is
sent from Both to those who are worthy. Yet the Spirit has His existence from the Father alone, and
hence He proceeds as regards His existence only from the Father.105
M. Light [Gen. 1:3]
1. Saint Ephraim: The light then was like a bright mist over the face of the earth. Whether
it was like the dawn or like the pillar that gave light to the people in the wilderness [Ex. 13:21], it
is obvious that it would have been unable to chase away the darkness that was spread over the face
of everything, unless it had spread out completely over everything, either by its substance or its
brightness. The light was released so that it might spread over everything without being fastened
down. It dispersed the darkness that was over everything although it did not move. It was only when
[the light] went away and when it came that it moved, for when [the light] went away the rule was
given to the night and at [the lights] coming there would be an end to [the nights] rule.106...
Because that first light was indeed created good, it rendered its service by its brightness for
three days and it also served, as we say, for the conception and the birth of everything that the earth
brought forth on the third day. The sun was in the firmament in order to ripen whatever had sprouted
under that first light. It is said that from this light, now diffused, and from fire, which were both
created on the first day, the sun, which was in the firmament, was fashioned, while the moon and
the stars also came to be from that same first light.107
102
103
104
105
106
107
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 1, XI.3, p. 41.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 1, XI.4, p. 43.
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:2c], 48:73.
Saint Gregory Palamas, Topics of Natural and Theological Science, 36, The Philokalia, 4:361, 362.
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 8(3), FC, 74:81 .
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 9, FC, 74:81, 82.
30
2. Saint Basil: And God said, Let there be light [Gen. 1:3]. The first word of God created
the nature of light; it made darkness vanish, dispelled gloom, illuminated the world, and gave to all
beings at the same time a sweet and gracious aspect. The heavens, until then enveloped in darkness,
appeared with that beauty which they still present to our eyes. The air was lighted up, or rather made
the light circulate mixed with its substance, and, distributing its splendor rapidly in every direction,
so dispersed itself to its extreme limits. Up it sprang to the very ether and heaven. In an instant it
lighted up the whole extent of the world, the North and the South, the East and the West. For the
ether also is such a subtle substance and so transparent that it needs not the space of a moment for
light to pass through it. Just as it carries our sight instantaneously to the object of vision, so without
the least interval,...it receives these rays of light in its uttermost limits. With light the ether becomes
more pleasing and the waters more limpid. These last, not content with receiving its splendor, return
it by the reflection of light and in all directions send forth quivering flashes. The divine word gives
every object a more cheerful and a more attractive appearance....So, with a single word and in one
instant, the Creator of all things gave the boon of light to the world.
The order [Gen. 1:3] was itself an operation, and a state of things was brought into
being....It must be well understood that when we speak of the voice, of the word, of the command
of God, this divine language does not mean to us a sound which escapes from the organs of speech,
a collision of air struck by the tongue; it is a simple sign of the will of God; and, if we give it the
form of an order, it is only the better to impress the souls whom we instruct. And God saw the light,
that it was good. How can we worthily praise light after the testimony given by the Creator to its
goodness? When God proclaimed the goodness of light, it was not in regard to the charm of the eye
but as a provision for future advantage, because at that time there were as yet no eyes to judge its
beauty. And God divided between the light and between the darkness [Gen. 1:4]; that is to say,
God gave them natures incapable of mixing, perpetually in opposition to each other, and put between
them the widest space and distance.108
3. Saint Ambrose: Let light be made [Gen. 1:3], He said. When the word light is used,
it is not intended to mean merely the preparation for performance; rather, it is the splendor of the
operation itself in action. The Fabricator of nature uttered the word light and also created it. The
word of God is His will; the work of God is nature. He created light and illumined the darkness. He
did not speak in order that action should follow, rather, the action was completed with the word.
David appropriately uttered the statement: For He spoke, and they came to be; He gave charge, and
they were created [Ps. 148:5]....God did not speak as one would utter a sound through the vocal
organs or as a movement of the tongue might produce an exhortation from heaven or as a sound of
words might strike this air of ours. His purpose was to reveal the knowledge of His will by the
effects of His work.109
4. Saint Chrysostom: God the mighty Artificer said, Let light be created, and light was
created [Gen. 1:3]. He spoke, it was created. He gave His command: darkness was scattered and
light produced. So you see His ineffable power?...God it is to Whom all things respond as He creates
them by word and command. Remember how He merely spoke, and light was created and darkness
dissipated. Some people say that matter was the basis for creation, and that darkness preexisted.
What could be worse than this madness? In the beginning God created heaven and earth [Gen.
108
109
Saint Basil, Hom. II(7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

31
1:1], and do you say that matter was the basis for creation? 110 The Son of Thunder [Mk. 3:17] led
his listeners to a loftier teaching, In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and
the Logos was God [Jn. 1:1]. And he added that He was the true Light, which giveth light to every
man coming into the world [Jn. 1:9]. In other words, just as in our text this visible light, produced
by command of the Lord, removed the darkness of our vision, in like manner the light coming to our
minds dissipated the darkness of error, and led those in error to the truth.111
5. Saint Anastasios: Therefore, He says, Let there be light, and not, He made light, so
that through the Let there be you might know this: the Logos gave His consentwith the same
will, of His own accord, and with joyto His Father in His incarnation.112 The Logos was not
brought forth by command, Be made! He did not endure the incarnation as something forced or
necessary. And when the Father saw Him bearing His corporeality so, the Father was pleased,
Accordingly, it is written: And He saw that it was good [Gen. 1:4].113...On the first day, before the
advent of the sun and moon and stars, God illuminated creation through one unique and undivided
light [Gen. 1:3]. That is, in the world He revealed and displayed the illumination of the sole rule of
the Divine.114
6. Saint Bede: It is appropriate for the works of God that He should begin the adornment
of the world with light. Since He Himself is the true light and inhabits inaccessible light, the most
blessed sight of which the angels in the heaven of heavens had begun to enjoy immediately as they
were created, He properly also bestowed the first grace of material light upon this world for the sake
of adornment, so that there would exist the means by which the other things that He created would
become visible.115
1. Saint Basil: And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night [Gen. 1:5].
Since the birth of the sun, the light that it diffuses in the air, when shining on our hemisphere, is day;
and the shadow produced by its disappearance is night. But at that time it was not after the
movement of the sun, but following this primitive light spread abroad in the air or withdrawn in a
measure determined by God, that day came and was followed by night. And there was evening and
there was morningday one [Gen. 1:5]. Evening is then the boundary common to day and night;
and in the same way morning constitutes the approach of night today. It was to give day the
privileges of seniority that Scripture put the end of the first day before that of the first night, because
night follows day: for, before the creation of light, the world was not in night, but in darkness. It is
the opposite of day which was called night, and it did not receive its name until after day. Thus were
created the evening and the morning. Scripture means the space of a day and a night, and afterwards
no more says day and night, but calls them both under the name of the more important: a custom
110

Ibid., Hom. 3, On Genesis, 7, 74:42, 43.
112
I am the light of the world [Jn. 8:12]; Whenever I may be in the world, I am the light of the world [Jn.
9:5].
113
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 1, VIII.4, p. 29.
114
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, IV .5, p. 107.
115
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:3], 48:73.
111
32
which you will find throughout Scripture. Everywhere the measure of time is counted by days,
without mention of nights.116...
And the evening and the morning were one day. Why does Scripture say one day not
the first day? Before speaking to us of the second, the third, and the fourth days, would it not have
been more natural to call that one the first which began the series? If it therefore says one day,
it is from a wish to determine the measure of day and night, and to combine the time that they
contain. Now twenty-four hours fill up the space of one daywe mean of a day and of a night....But
must we believe in a mysterious reason for this? God Who made the nature of time measured it out
and determined it by intervals of days; and, wishing to give it a week as a measure, He ordered the
week to revolve from period to period upon itself, to count the movement of time, forming the week
of one day revolving seven times upon itself: a proper circle begins and ends with itself. Such is also
the character of eternity, to revolve upon itself and to end nowhere. If then the beginning of time is
called one day rather than the first day, it is because Scripture wishes to establish its relationship
with eternity. It was, in reality, fit and natural to call one the day whose character is to be one
wholly separated and isolated from all the others....This day without evening, without succession
and without end is not unknown to Scripture, and it is the day that the Psalmist calls the eighth day,
because it is outside this time of weeks. Thus whether you call it day, or whether you call it eternity,
you express the same idea. Give this state the name of day; there are not several, but only one. If you
call it eternity still it is unique and not manifold. Thus it is in order that you may carry your thoughts
forward toward a future life, that Scripture marks by the word one the day which is the type of
eternity, the first fruits of days, the contemporary of light, the holy Lords day honored by the
resurrection of our Lord. And the evening and the morning were one day.117
2. Saint Ambrose: God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light
and between the darkness [Gen. 1:4]. He spoke, and no one heard the sound of His voice. He
divided, and no one noticed the effort expended in His work. He saw, and no one observed the
glance of His eyes.118
3. Saint Ambrose: Some inquire why Scripture first mentions evening and after that,
morning? Would not this appear to mean that night came before day? They do not notice that this
is preceded by a reference to day: And God called the light, day, and the darkness, night [Gen.
1:5]; and then, again, because the evening is the termination of day and morning is the termination
of night. Therefore, in order to give preference and primacy to the day of creation, Scripture first
indicated the end of a day, which night was soon to follow, and then it added the termination of
night. There is a further reason why Scripture could not prefer night to day: It included in the term
day the space of time for both day and night and bestowed on that term the prestige, as it were, of
a principal name. And this usage is found in Scripture to confer a name on the more important
element.119
116
117
118
119
Saint Basil, Hom. II(8), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. II(8), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
Ibid., Hom. 2, Ch. 10(3 6), Hexameron, FC, 42:41, 42.
33
We read: day one (eemera mia). Note, the cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are
adjectives referring to quantity, and the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to
distribution.
1. Saint Basil: We have now recounted the works of the first day, or rather of one day. Far
be it from me indeed, to take from it the privilege it enjoys of having been for the Creator a day
apart, a day which is not counted in the same order as the others!120
2. Saint Ambrose: In notable fashion has Scripture spoken of a day, not the first day.
Because a second, then a third, day, and finally the remaining days were to follow, a first day could
have been mentioned, following in this way the natural order. But Scripture established a law that
twenty-four hours, including both day and night, should be given the name of day only, as if one
were to say the length of one day is twenty-four hours in extent. 121
3. Saint Chrysostom: Evening came, and morning came: one day. He made a point of
speaking of the end of the day and the end of the night as one, so as to grasp a certain order and
sequence in visible things and avoid any impression of confusion.122 Why say one day?...He
created things in sequence and provided us with a clear instruction about created things through the
tongue of the blessed author, so that we might learn about them precisely and not fall into the error
of those led by purely human reasoning. You see, if there are still those, despite this manner of
creation, who say that things get existence from themselves, what would these people not have been
rash enough to invent in their anxiety to say and do everything against their own welfare, had not
God employed such considerateness and instruction?123
After all, what could be more pitiful and more stupid than people coming up with arguments
like this, claiming that beings get existence of themselves, and withdrawing all creation from Gods
providence? How could you have the idea, I ask you, that so many elements and such great
arrangement were being guided without anyone to supervise and control it all? Surely no ship ever
managed to navigate the waves of the sea without a pilot; no house ever stood firm with no
householder in chargeso is it feasible that this immense universe and the design of all these
elements could happen simply by chance without anyone present with the power to guide it all,
controlling and maintaining all things in existence from His innate wisdom?124
4. Saint Bede: And there was evening and morning one day. At this point one day was
completedwithout a doubt a day of twenty-four hours....Hence, it is also preferred to say that there
was evening and morning rather than night and day, in order to reveal that what was then done by
the circuit of that first and most excellent light is now known to be performed day and night by the
circuit of the sunwith this exception alone, that after the creation of the stars night also is flooded
with light, just like but lesser than day. During that first three-day period night remained utterly dark
and obscure, for it was in every way fitting that day beginning in light was prolonged into the
morning of the following day, since the handiwork of the One Who is the true light and in Whom
there is no darkness was reported to begin with light and all things were completed in light.125
120
121
122
123
124
125
Saint Basil, Hom. III(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Am brose, H om. 2, Ch. 10(37), Hexameron, FC, 42:42.
Ibid., Hom. 3, On Genesis, 13, 74:45.
34
1. Saint Ambrose: On this one day, by the work of the omnipotent God, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, together with the Holy Spirit, we know that the heavens were founded, the earth was created,
the waters and the air were sent forth around us, and a separation was made between light and
darkness. Who, therefore, does not marvel at the fact that a world formed of dissimilar elements
should rise to the level of unity in one body, that this body should combine by indissoluble laws of
concord and love to link together and form a union of such discordant elements? Furthermore, who
does not marvel that these elements so naturally separate should be tied together in the bonds of
unity and peace as if by an indivisible compact? Or who in a moment of weakness would, on
beholding this, question the possibilities of order or plans? By the might of His will, a divine power
incomprehensible to human minds and incapable of being expressed in our language, has woven
closely together all these elements.126
2. Saint Sophronios: We must say that already from the first day, after God had made the
light, He separated for Himself the day from the night and the light from the darkness [Gen. 1:3-5].
How otherwise were the three days that went before able to be measured, or how was evening able
to happen, or morning, unless there was a separation between light and darkness [Gen. 1:5, 8,
13]?127
1. Saint Ambrose: God, therefore, created the heavens and the earth and those things which
He as Author has ordained to exist, not just as a designer of their form but as a Creator of their
nature....If matter is uncreated, then God is without the power to create matter and must borrow from
matter what is a conditional basis for His work. If, however, matter is unformed, it surely is
remarkable that such material, coeternal with God, which has not received from the Creator its
substance, but has itself possessed it in timeless existence, has been unable to bestow beauty on
itself. The Creator of all things, therefore, would have found ready for His work more things than
He contributed to it. He would have found material on which to work and would have merely
bestowed the form which would confer beauty on what has already been found. Hence, such a day
should be distinguished from the others as one day and should not be compared with other days
as the first day; for on it the foundations of all things were laid and there began to come into
existence the causes of all things on which the substance of this world and of the entire visible
creation is based.128
II. SECOND DAY
A. The Voice of God
D. Fire and Water
Relevant Scripture for the 2nd Day
126
127
128
Saint Am brose, Book II: The Second Day, T he Third Homily, Ch. 1(1), Hexameron, FC, 42:45, 46.
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 4, IX.1, p. 133.
Saint Am brose, H om. 3, Ch. 1(2 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:45, 46.
35
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be dividing
between water and water, and it was so [Gen. 1:6].
And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the
firmament and the water which was above the firmament [Gen. 1:7].
And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was
evening and there was morning, the second day [Gen. 1:8].
A. The Voice of God
1. Saint Basil: And God said, Let there be a firmament (Gk. stereoma) in the midst of the
water, and let it be dividing between water and water, and it was so [Gen. 1:6]. Yesterday we heard
Gods decree, Let there be light [Gen. 1:3]. Today it is, Let there be a firmament. There appears
to be something more in this. The word is not limited to a simple command. It lays down the reason
necessitating the structure of the firmament: it is, it is said, to separate the waters from the waters.
And first let us ask how God speaks? Is it in our manner? And is it not more conformable with true
religion to say, that the divine will and the first impetus of divine intelligence are the Logos of God?
It is He Whom Scripture vaguely represents, to show us that God has not only wished to create the
world, but to create it with the help of a Co-operator....By making God command and speak, the
Scripture tacitly shows us Him to Whom this order and these words are addressed. And certainly,
Gods immaterial nature had no need of the material language of voice, since His very thoughts
could be transmitted to His Fellow-worker. What need then of speech, for those Who by thought
alone could communicate their counsels to each other? Voice was made for hearing, and hearing for
voice. This language is only a wise and ingenious contrivance to set our minds seeking the Person
to Whom the words are addressed.129
2. Saint Ambrose: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters and let it divide the
waters from the waters; and it was so [Gen. 1:6]. This is the word of a commander, not of an
adviser. It is He Who gives orders to nature, and does not comply with its power....It is His will that
is the measure of things, and His word that is the completion of the work....Since His word is
natures birth, justly therefore does He Who gave nature its origin presume to give nature its law.130
1. Saint Basil: 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 [Plato], they
pretend; and it is of a nature neither to admit of a second, nor of a third, nor of several others. 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 [Epicurian doctrines]. As for
myself, far from not believing in a second, I seek for the third whereon the blessed Paul was found
worthy to gaze. And does not the psalmist in saying the heavens of the heavens [Ps. 148:4] give
us an idea of their plurality? 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 [Gen. 1:1]; while here Scripture relates
in greater detail the manner in which each was created. I, however, since Scripture gives to this
129
130
Saint Basil, Hom. III(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Am brose, H om. 3, Ch. 2(4 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:48.
36
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.131
2. Saint Ambrose: The question arises whether there are two heavens or more. We cannot
deny the existence of not only a second heaven, but also of a third, since the apostle attests in this
writings that he was caught up to the third heaven.132 David, too, introduced heaven of heavens, into
the chorus of those who give praise to God.133
1. Saint Kyril (ca. 315-386), Bishop Jerusalem: For what fault have they to find with the
vast creation of God, Who out of the fluid nature of the waters formed the stable substance of the
heavens? For God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters [Gen. 1:6]. God spoke
once for all, and it stands fast, never failing.134
2. Saint Ephraim: The upper waters, because they had been separated on the second day
from the lower waters by the firmament set between them, were also sweet like the lower
waters....They were not salty, therefore, because they would not have become stagnant, for they had
not been left on the land to become stagnant.135
3. Saint Basil: Now we must say something about the nature of the firmament, and why it
received the order to hold the middle place between the waters. Scripture constantly makes use of
the word firmament to express extraordinary strength....I made firm her pillars [Ps. 75:3]. Praise
ye Him in the firmament of His power [Ps. 150:1]. It is the custom of Scripture to call firmament
all that is strong and unyielding. It even uses the word to denote the condensation of the air. God
says, For, behold, I am He that strengthens the thunder [Amos 4:13]. Scripture means by the
strengthening of the thunder, the strength and resistance of the wind, which, enclosed in the hollows
of the clouds, produces the noise of thunder when it breaks through with violence. Here then,
according to me, is a firm substance, capable of retaining the fluid and unstable element water; and
as, according to the common acceptation, it appears that the firmament owes its origin to water, we
must not believe that it resembles frozen water or any other matter produced by the filtration of
water. For I am taught by Scripture not to allow my imagination to wander too far afield. But do not
let us forget to remark that, after these divine words, Let there be a firmament [Gen. 1:6], it is not
said and the firmament was made but, God made the firmament, and God divided between the
water that was under the firmament and between the water that was above the firmament [Gen.
1:7]....Hear, O ye deaf! See, O ye blind!who, then, is deaf [cf. Is. 42:18, 19]? He who does not
hear this startling voice of the Holy Spirit. Who is blind? He who does not see such clear proofs of
131

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years agowhether in the body I know not, or out of the body I
kno w not, God know eth such a one was carried off as far as the third heaven [2 C or. 12 :2].
133
Saint Am brose, H om. 3, Ch. 2(5 , 6), Hexameron, FC, 42:49, 50.
134
Saint Cyril (Ky ril) of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 9.5, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VII, revised translation
by Edwin Hamilton Gifford, D.D . Edited by Philip Schaff D.D., LL.D. and Henry Wace, D.D. (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, August 1974, repr.), p. 52.
135
132
37
the Only-begotten. Let there be a firmament. It is the voice of the primary and principal Cause.
And God made the firmament. Here is a witness to the active and creative power of God.136
4. Saint Ambrose: And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and
let it be a division between water and water, and it was so [Gen. 1:6]. The question has arisen
whether He calls the firmament the heaven which He has already created, concerning which it is
written: In the beginning God created heaven and earth [Gen. 1:1]....Whereas in one place a
summary of the work, as it were, is briefly stated, in the other, the nature of the operation is depicted
according to the specific aspect of things as they appear at the same moment of creation. But there
is something which needs our consideration: there is the question of another word for heaven,
firmament, and there emerges an aspect and condition of more sold character, to which is added
the person of a co-operating Agent. And, God made the firmament, and God divided between the
water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament [Gen. 1:7].137...
He Who commanded the waters to be separated by the interposition of the firmament lying
between them provided also the matter of their remaining in position, once they were divided and
separated. The word of God gives nature its power and an enduring quality to its matter, as long as
He Who established it wishes it to be so, as it is written: He established them unto the age, and unto
the age of the age; He Himself set an ordinance, and it shall not pass away [Ps. 148:6]. He said this
concerning these waters which you say cannot exist in the higher parts of the heavens; for listen to
the words which precede: Praise ye Him, the heavens of the heavensand thou water, the one
above the heavens [Ps. 148:4].138...
Accordingly, God balanced the universe with weights and measures. He has measured even
the drops of rain, as we read in the book of Job [cf. Job 36:27]. Knowing that either there would be
a tendency toward a failure or a dissolution of the universe, if one element preponderated over the
other, He controlled for that reason the extent of each. 139
5. Saint Chrysostom: God had only to speak, and the effect followed immediately [Gen.
140
1:6]. That is to say, once the firmament existed, He ordered some of the water to go below the
firmament, and some to be on top of the firmament.141
6. Saint Anastasios: When you hear in the psalms of David the phrase heavens of the
heavens [Ps. 148:4], this is an idiosyncrasy of the Hebrew language. It often calls a singular thing
plural. But when you see Paul snatched up to the third heaven [2 Cor. 12:2], you should consider
the first heaven the inner atmosphere. As it says, I know all the winged creatures of the heaven [Ps.
49:12]; that is, of the inner atmosphere. Then the second of Pauls heavens is the heaven of the
stars. And third is the highest heaven of the angels.142...The sweet-sounding Gregory of Nyssa
thought that the separation of the two waters represented the distribution of the spiritual hosts.
God, he said, stationed some in the heavens for the purpose of giving divine praise, but He
ordained others to minister to those on earth. Accordingly, it is said that these are ministering spirits
being sent forth to minister for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation [Heb.
136
137
138
139
140
141
142

Ibid., Hom. 3, Ch. 3(10 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:53, 54.
38
1:14].143...We have learned from the divine Scripture that the creation of two and only two heavens
[Gen. 1:1, 7] presents a type of the two curtains of the sanctuary [cf. Exod. 26:31, 36, 37]. And these
reveal the two natures of Jesus [cf. Heb. 10:20], and also of the two peoples and two Churches: the
Jerusalem above and we the faithful [cf. Gal. 4:25, 26].144
7. Saint Bede: It is certain that this firmament is in the midst of the waters, for we ourselves
see the waters that were placed beneath it and in the air and lands, and we are informed about those
that were placed above it, not only by the authority of this Scriptural passage, but also by the words
of the prophet, who says, Stretching out the heaven like a leathern curtain; the One covering His
upper chambers in waters [Ps. 103:3]....But if it puzzles anyone, how the waters, whose nature it
is always to flow and to sink to the lowest point, can settle above heaven, whose shape seems to be
round, he should remember holy Scripture saying about God, He bindeth water in His clouds, and
the cloud is not rent under it [cf. Job 26:8]....Although He willed to fix the liquid waters there, is
this any greater miracle than that, as Scripture says, He upon nothing hangeth the earth [Job 26:7;
cf. Is. 40:12]....He arranged for everything to be created through the Word, that is to say, His onlybegotten Son, Who is coeternal with Himself....We should understand that, when the creation and
arrangement of heaven and the waters were done, they did not exceed the limits prescribed for them
in the Word of God, according to the verse of the psalmist, He Himself set an ordinance, and it shall
not pass away [Ps. 148:6].145
8. Saint John of Damascus: Water also is one of the four elements, the most beautiful of
Gods creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great
readiness. It 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 [Gen. 1:2]. 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 Masters 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.146
Thus saith the Lord that made the heaven, this God that created the earth, and made it; He
marked it out, He made it not in vain, but formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none
beside [Is. 45:18].
D. Fire and Water
1. Saint Basil: But let us continue our explanation: Let it be dividing between water and
water [Gen. 1:6]. The mass of waters, which from all directions flowed over the earth, and was
suspended in the air, was infinite, so that there was no proportion between it and the other elements.
Thus, as it has been already said, the abyss covered the earth. Therefore, the prodigious mass of
waters was spread around the earth; not in proportion with it and infinitely larger, thanks to the
143
144
145
146
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 2, III.2, p. 55.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:6-8], 48:76, 77.
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning the Waters, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. IX, Vol. IX.
39
foresight of the supreme Artificer, Who, from the beginning, foresaw what was to come, and at the
first provided all for the future needs of the world. But what need was there for this superabundance
of water? The essence of fire is necessary for the world, not only in the economy of earthly produce,
but for the completion of the universe; for it would be imperfect if the most powerful and the most
vital of its elements were lacking. Now fire and water are hostile to and destructive of each other.
The creation of heat was then indispensable for the formation and the preservation of beings, and
the abundance of waters was no less so in the presence of the constant and inevitable consumption
by fire.147
Survey creation; you will see the power of heat reigning over all that is born and perishes.
On account of it comes all the water spread over the earth, as well as that which is beyond our sight
and is dispersed in the depths of the earth. On account of it there are an abundance of fountains,
springs or wells, courses of rivers, both mountain torrents and ever flowing streams, for the storing
of moisture in many and various reservoirs. The habitable part of our earth, thus, is surrounded by
water, linked together by vast seas and irrigated by countless perennial rivers, thanks to the ineffable
wisdom of Him Who ordered all to prevent this rival element to fire from being entirely destroyed.
However, a time will come, when all shall be consumed by fire; as Isaiah says of the God of the
universe in these words, Who says to the deep, Thou shalt be dried up, and I will dry up the rivers
[Is. 44:27]. Reject then the foolish wisdom of this world, and receive with me the more simple but
infallible doctrine of truth.148
Therefore we read: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be dividing
between water and water [Gen. 1:6]. I have said what the word firmament in Scripture means. It
is not in reality a firm and solid substance which has weight and resistance; this name would
otherwise have better suited the earth. But, as the substance of superincumbent bodies is light,
without consistency, and cannot be grasped by any one of our senses, it is in comparison with these
pure and imperceptible substances that the firmament has received its name. The aerial waters which
veil the heavens with vapors that are sent forth by rivers, fountains, marshes, lakes, and seas, prevent
the ether from invading and burning up the world. Thus we see even this sun, in the summer season,
dry up in a moment a damp and marshy country, and make it perfectly arid.149
1. Saint Ephraim: And God said, Let there be a firmament between the waters and let it
separate the waters below the firmament from the waters above the firmament. The firmament
between was pressed together from water.150...The firmament was created on the evening of the
second night, just as the heavens came to be on the evening of the first night. But when the
firmament came into existence, the covering of clouds that had served for a night and a day in the
place of the firmament dissipated. Because the firmament had been created between the light and
the darkness, no darkness remained above it, for the shadow of the clouds was dispelled when the
clouds themselves were dispelled. Nor did any light remain there, for its allotted measure of time
had come to an end and so it sank into the waters that were beneath the firmament. The wind could
147
148
149
150
Ibid., Hom. III(5), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

40
not have remained there either because it did not even exist there.151...There was no light, therefore,
on the first night. On the night of the second and third day, it sank into the waters beneath the
firmament and rose up as we said.152
2. Saint Basil: And God called the firmament heaven [Gen. 1:8]. We often find the visible
region called heaven, on account of the density and continuity of the air within our ken, and deriving
its name heaven from the word which means to see. It is of it that Scripture says, The birds of
the sky [Ps. 8:7], Fowl that may fly...in the open firmament of heaven [Gen. 1:20]; and, elsewhere,
They mount as far as the heavens [Ps. 106:25]....In the curses on Israel it is said, And thou shalt
have over thine head a sky of brass [Deut. 28:23]. What does this mean? It threatens him with a
complete drought, with an absence of the aerial waters which cause the fruits of the earth to be
brought forth and to grow. Since, then, Scripture says that the dew or the rain fails from heaven, we
understand that it is from those waters which have been ordered to occupy the higher regions.153 But
as far as concerns the separation of the waters,...let us understand that by water that water is meant;
for the dividing of the waters by the firmament let us accept the reason which has been given us.
Although, however, waters above the heaven are invited to give glory to the Lord of the universe,
do not let us think of them as intelligent beings; the heavens are not alive because they declare the
glory of God, nor the firmament a sensible being because it proclaimeth the working of His hands
[Ps. 18:1].154
3. Saint Ambrose: Let it not disturb you, that above He speaks of heaven and here of a
firmament since David also says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
proclaimeth the working of His hands [Ps. 18:1]....It seems to me that the word heaven is a generic
term, because Scripture testifies to the existence of very many heavens. The word firmament is
more specific, since here also we read: And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that
it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day [Gen. 1:8]. In a general
way, He would seem to have said above that heaven was made in the beginning so as to take in the
entire fabric of celestial creation, and that here the specific solidity of this exterior firmament is
meant. This is called the firmament of heaven, as we read in the prophetic hymn: Blessed art Thou
in the firmament of heaven [Dan. 3:56].155...
The firmament cannot be broken, you see, without a noise. It is also called a firmament
because it is not weak nor without resistance. Hence, in dealing with thunderbolts, which give forth
a tremendous crash when currents of air on the point of arising in the midst of the clouds meet
together in collision, the Scripture speaks of strengthening the thunderbolt. For, behold, I am He
Who strengtheneth the thunder, and createth the wind, and proclaimeth to men His Christ, forming
the morning and the darkness, and mounting on the high places of the earththe Lord God
Almighty is His name [Amos 4:13]. Therefore, the firmament is called because of its firmness or
because it has been made firm by divine power, just as Scripture teaches us, saying, Praise ye Him
in the firmament of His power [Ps. 150:1].156
151
152
153
154
155
156
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 18, 18(2), FC, 74:88 .

41
1. Saint Basil: And God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:8]. God does not judge the beauty
of His work by the charm of the eyes, and He does not form the same idea of beauty that we do.
What He esteems beautiful is that which presents in its perfection all the fitness of art, and that
which tends to the usefulness of its end. He, then, Who proposed to Himself a manifest design in His
works, approved each one of them, as fulfilling its end in accordance with His creative
purpose....Therefore, the visible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, and
His power and divinity are eternal. Thus, earth, air, sky, water, day, night, all visible things, remind
us of Who is our Benefactor.157
2. Saint Ambrose: And God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:10]. He did not, of course,
recognize that of which He was ignorant. Rather, His approval was given to what gave Him
pleasure.158...Artists usually work first on individual parts and afterwards join them together with
skill....God, however, as Judge of the whole work, foreseeing what is going to happen as something
completed, commends that part of His work which is still in its initial stages, being already
cognizant of its termination. This is not to be wondered at, since in His case the completion of a
thing does not depend on the termination of the actual work. Ir rests, rather, on the predetermination
of His will.159
3. Saint Bede: This must equally be understood of the things mentioned as having been
created in the following four days. But whenever we hear added, And God saw that it was good,
we are to understand not that in the benevolence of His Spirit it was, as it were, discovered after it
was done that it was pleasing, but rather that it was pleasing that it should stay in that goodness
when it was pleasing that it was done.160
III. THIRD DAY
Relevant Scripture for the 3rd Day
And God said, Let the water, the one under the heaven, be brought together in one
congregation, and let the dry land be seen; and it was so. And the water, the one under the heaven,
was brought together into their congregations, and the dry land was seen [Gen. 1:9].
And God called the dry land Earth, and the systems of the waters He called Seas, and God
saw that it was good [Gen. 1:10].
And God said, Let the earth shoot forth the herb [pasture] of grass bearing seed according
to kind and according to similitude; and the fruit-tree yielding fruit, the seed of which is in itself,
according to kind on the earth; and it was so [Gen. 1:11].
157
158
159
160

42
And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to kind and according
to similitude; and the fruit tree yielding fruit, the seed of which is in it, according to kind on the
earth, and God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:12].
And there was evening and there was morning, the third day [Gen. 1:13].
1. Saint Ephraim: The waters that the earth drank on the first day were not salty. Even if
these waters were like the deep on the surface of the earth, they were not yet seas. For it was in the
seas that these waters, which were not salty before being gathered together, became salty. When they
were sent throughout the entire earth for the earth to drink they were sweet, but when they were
gathered into seas on the third day, they became salty, lest they become stagnant due to their being
gathered together, and so that they might receive the rivers that enter into them without increasing. 161
The seas had been created when the waters were created and were hidden in those waters, and
although the seas became bitter, the waters above them were not bitter.162
Although Noah had commanded that all sorts of food be brought for himself and those with
him because there would be no food anywhere, he did not allow water to be brought because those
who had entered the ark would be able to take from the water outside of the ark to drink. Therefore,
just as the waters of the Flood were not salty while the seas were hidden within them, neither were
the waters that were gathered on the third day bitter even though the seas below them were bitter.163
Just as the gathering of the waters did not precede that word which said, Let the waters be
gathered and let the dry land appear, neither did the seas exist until that moment when God called
the gathering of water seas. In their new place the waters attained that saltiness that had not been
theirs even outside of their old place. For their place became deep at that very moment when God
said, Let the waters be gathered into one place.164
2. Saint Basil: I said that the earth, without being naturally invisible, was invisible to us,
it was because of the mass of water that entirely covered it. Hear then how Scripture explains itself.
Let the waters be brought together in one congregation (Gk. synagogeen mia), and let the dry land
appear [Gen. 1:9]. The veil is lifted and allows the earth, hitherto invisible, to be seen.165 It was
ordered that it should be the natural property of water to flow, and in obedience to this order, the
waters are never weary in their course. To take their assigned places they were obliged to flow; and,
once arrived there, to remain in their place and not to go farther. Thus, in the language of
Ecclesiastes, All the waters run into the sea; yet the sea is not full [Eccl. 1:6, 7]. Waters flow in
virtue of Gods order, and the sea is enclosed in limits according to this first law, Let the waters be
gathered together unto one place.166
To say that the waters were gathered in one place indicates that previously they were
scattered in many places. The mountains, intersected by deep ravines, accumulated water in their
valleys, when from every direction the waters betook themselves to the one gathering place. What
vast plains, in their extent resembling wide seas, what valleys, what cavities hollowed in many
161
162
163
164
165
166
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 10(2), FC, 74:82, 83.

Saint Basil, Hom. IV(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
Ibid., Hom. IV(3), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
43
different ways, at that time full of water, must have been emptied by the command of God! But we
must not therefore say, that if the water covered the face of the earth, all the basins which have since
received the sea were originally full. Where can the gathering of the waters have come from if the
basins were already full? These basins, we reply, were only prepared at the moment when the water
had to unite in a single mass. But, all of a sudden, God created this vast space, and the mass of
waters flowed in....Then why did God call the different masses of water seas? This is the reason; the
waters flowed into one place, and their different accumulations, that is to say, the gulfs that the earth
embraced in her folds, received from the Lord the name of seas: North Sea, South Sea, Eastern Sea,
and Western Sea. See why God calls the gathering together of waters seas. 167
Let the water, the one under the heaven, be brought together in one congregation, and let
the dry land be seen [Gen. 1:9]. God did not say to let the earth appear, so as not to show itself
again without form, mud-like, and in combination with the water, nor yet endued with proper form
and virtue. At the same time, lest we should attribute the drying of the earth to the sun, the Creator
shows it to us dried before the creation of the sun. Let us follow the thought Scripture gives us. Not
only the water which was covering the earth flowed off from it, but all that which had filtered into
its depths withdrew in obedience to the irresistible order of the sovereign Master. And it was so.
This is quite enough to show that the Creators voice had effect....
Why does Scriptures say above that the waters were congregated unto one place [Gen. 1:9],
and that the dry earth appeared? Why does it add here the dry land appeared, and God gave it the
name of earth? It is that dryness is the property which appears to characterize the nature of the
subject, whilst the word Earth is only its simple name. It is because dryness is not one of those
qualities which the Earth acquired afterwards, but one of those which constituted its essence from
the beginning. It is then with reason that God chose the most ancient characteristic of the earth
whereby to designate it.168
3. Saint Ambrose: The third day rises, a notable day which freed the earth from inundation
at the bidding of God: Let the water which is under the heaven be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear; and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected
into its places, and the dry land appeared [Gen. 1:9].169 He added that the dry land, which before
was not seen, showed itself when this covering was removed.170 The waters listen to the command
of God, and the voice of God is the efficient cause of nature. The voice coincides with the
completion of the effect of its operation....Does it not seem that the voice of God gave it this natural
tendency? The creature followed the injunction of its Creator and from the law proceeded custom,
the law of its first constitution left its imprint for future ages. Hence, God created day and night at
the same time. Since that time, day and night continue their daily succession and renewal. The water
was ordered to run together in a mass. From that moment, water runs.171...Accordingly, if either by
waters own force or by the skill of an engineer water is conducted and raised contrary to its own
167
168
169
170
171
Ibid., Hom. IV(4), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. IV(5), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
Saint Am brose, Book Three: The Third Day, The Fourth Homily, C h. 1(1 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:67.
Ibid., Hom. 4, Ch. 2(1), Hexameron, FC, 42:71.
44
nature, do we wonder if by the operation of divine command it has acquired some disposition in its
nature which it did not have before?172
Scripture reckoned an extraordinary happening by stating: All the rivers run into the sea,
yet the sea doth not overflow [Eccl. 1:7]. By the command of God, therefore, two things are
accomplished: the waters flow, yet do not overflow. A boundary is set up by which the seas are
circumscribed and confined, lest the water should inundate everything by pouring over the earth and
lest the earth, devoid of cultivation, may prevent the soil from fulfilling its natural function of
producing in abundance. Let them recognize the fact, therefore, that is the result of divine precept
and of celestial operation; for the Lord addresses Job from the clouds, saying, among other things,
this, also, about the barrier of the sea: And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.
And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be
confined within thee [Job 38:10, 11].173...
The mass of water is continuous and unbroken, yet there are different coastal bays....And
so there is one general mass which is called a sea and many bodies of water which are called seas
after the regions where they are situated.174...Still, there are some lakes and standing waters which
are not connected with other waters. How then can we speak of one mass of water? Just as God
made two luminaries,...although there still exist, to be sure, the lights of the stars, in like manner,
we speak also of one mass of water, although there are very many such. The reason is that what has
not been taken in consideration in any enumeration is not reckoned in the sum total.175...
The term dry applies not only to the general nature of the Earth, but can also be used in
a specific way, so that the earth may be useful, firm, suitable, and ready for cultivation. At the same
time, it was provided that the earth would, to all appearance, have been dry by the hand of God
rather than by the sun; for the Earth actually became dry before the sun was created. David, too,
distinguished the sea from the land, referring to the Lord God: For the sea is His, and He made her;
and the dry land did His hands fashion [Ps. 94:5].176
4. Saint Chrysostom: And God said, Let the water, the one under the heaven, be brought
together in one congregation, and let the dry land be seen; and it was so. And the water, the one
under the heaven, was brought together into their congregations, and the dry land was seen [Gen.
1:9]. That is what happened. How? In the way the Lord directed. He simply spoke, and the work
followed. You see, this is Gods way: created things are governed by His will. And God called the
dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters He called Seas, and God saw that it was good [Gen.
1:10]. Do you see, dearly beloved, how the Earth, which was previously invisible and lacking all
shape through being hidden by the waters as though under covers, He unveils, as it were, and shows
its face at long last, giving it its own name.177
5. Saint Anastasios: Look at the paradoxes of the mysteries! The earth is drowned in the
depth of the waters, yet God prefers to call her dry [Gen. 1:2, 9]. But when the waters are removed
and separated from her, when she was dried, God no longer called her dry, but Earth [Gen. 1: 9, 10].
This was done so that we might accept without hesitation that God, in all His six-day creation, was
172
173
174
175
176
177
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Saint
Hom. 4, Ch. 2(9), Hexameron, FC, 42:73.

Hom. 4, Ch. 2(10 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:75.
Chrysostom, Hom. 5, On Genesis, 9, 74:70, 71.
45
sketching and designing beforehand types and images of the new creation in Christ [2 Cor.
5:17].178...In the beginning, God made this water and the faith sweet. But it was changed in time by
the air and the elements and became saltyaccording to divine consent. And this was a rough sketch
of the sea of human fickleness, which turned from virtue to a briny evil. But this evil was changed
once more by Christ, through the sea of Baptism, into something even better.179
6. Saint Bede: The waters which had filled up everything between heaven and earth are
drawn up and gathered together into one place, so that the light, which illumined the waters brightly
together in the two previous days, would shine more brightly in the pure air; and so that the earth,
which lay hidden, would appear, and so that the same earth, which remained muddy and infirm as
long as it was covered with waters, would be rendered by their withdrawal dry and fit for receiving
offspring.180...Prior to the separation of the waters, God called this whole more solid part of the
world, earth...But now, after the world begins to be formed at this time, and the face of the earth
appears in its own place as the waters recede, in order to distinguish that part which was still covered
with waters, the remaining part which was licensed to be dry received the name of earth. Earth
[terra] is so-called in Latin, because it is rubbed smooth [teratur] by the feet of animals.181
7. Saint John of Damascus: But when the Scripture speaks of one mass it evidently does not
mean that they were gathered together into one place: for immediately it goes on to say, And the
gatherings of the waters He called seas [Gen. 1:10]: but the words signify that the waters were
separated off in a body from the earth into distinct groups. Thus, the waters were gathered together
into their special collections and the dry land was brought to view.182
1. Saint Basil: Scripture does not merely wish to say that a pleasing aspect of the sea
presented itself to God. It is not with eyes that the Creator views the beauty of His works. He
contemplates them in His ineffable wisdom. However, it is not in this that Scripture makes God find
the goodness and charm of the sea. Here it is the purpose of the work which makes the goodness.
In the first place sea water is the source of all the moisture of the earth. It filters through
imperceptible conduits, as is proved by the subterranean openings and caves whither its waves
penetrate; it is received in oblique and sinuous canals; then, driven out by the wind, it rises to the
surface of the earth, and breaks it, having become drinkable and free from its bitterness by this long
percolation. Often, moved by the same cause, it springs even from mines that it has crossed, deriving
warmth from them, and rises boiling, and bursts forth of a burning heat, as may be seen in islands
and on the sea coast....To what do these words tend? To prove that the earth is all undermined with
invisible conduits, where the water travels everywhere underground from the sources of the sea.183
Thus, in the eyes of God, the sea is good, because it makes the undercurrent of moisture
in the depths of the earth. It is good again, because from all sides it receives the rivers without
exceeding its limits. It is good, because it is the origin and source of the waters in the air. Warmed
by the rays of the sun, it escapes in vapor, is attracted into the high regions of the air, and is there
178
179
180
181
182
183
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 3, VIII.5, p. 81.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 3, X.2, p. 87.
Ibid., On Genesis, Book One [1:10a/b], 48:79.
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning the waters, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. IX, Vol. IX:26, 27.
Saint Basil, Hom. IV(6), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
46
cooled on account of its rising high above the refraction of the rays from the ground, and, the shade
of the clouds adding to this refrigeration, it is changed into rain and fattens the earth.184
1. Saint Ephraim: After Moses spoke of the firmament that came to be on the second day,
he then turned to write about the gathering of the waters and about the grass and the trees that the
earth brought forth on the third day, saying, And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be
gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. From the fact that He said, Let the
waters be gathered into one place, it is evident that it is the earth that supports the seas and that the
abysses beneath the earth do not stand on nothing. Although the waters, by the word of God, were
gathered in the night, the surface of the earth still became dry in the twinkling of an eye.185
After these two things had occurred, God commanded the earth to bring forth at dawn grass
and herbs of every kind and all the various fruit-bearing trees [Gen. 1:11, 12]. Although the grasses
were only a moment old at their creation, they appeared as if they were months old. Likewise, the
trees, although only a day old when they sprouted forth, were nevertheless like trees years old as
they were fully grown and fruits were already budding on their branches.186 The grass that would
be required as food for the animals who were to be created two days later was thus made ready. And
the new corn that would be food for Adam and his descendants, who would be thrown out of
Paradise four days later, was thus prepared.187
2. Saint Basil: It was deep wisdom that commanded the earth, when it rested after
discharging the weight of the waters, first to bring forth grass, then wood as we see it doing still at
this time. For the voice that was then heard and this command were as a natural and permanent law
for it; it gave fertility and the power to produce fruit for all ages to come. Let the earth shoot forth
the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind [Gen. 1:11]. The production of vegetables
shows first germination. When the germs begin to sprout they form grass; this develops and becomes
a plant, which insensibly receives its different articulations, and reaches its maturity in the seed.
Thus, all things which sprout and are green are developed. Let the earth bring forth by itself without
having any need of help from without. Some consider the sun as the source of all productiveness on
the earth....The reason why the adornment of the earth was before the sun is the following: that those
who worship the sun, as the source of life, may renounce their error.188
So that although some grass is of service to animals, even their gain is our gain too, and
seeds are especially designed for our use....In fact, first comes germination, then verdure, then the
growth of the plant, which after having attained its full growth arrives at perfection in seed. How
then, they say, can Scripture describe all the plants of the earth as seed-bearing, when the reed,
couch-grass, mint, crocus, garlic, and the flowering rush and countless other species, produce no
seed? To this we reply that many vegetables have their seminal virtue in the lower part and in the
roots. The need, for example, after its annual growth sends forth a protuberance from its roots, which
takes the place of seed for future trees. Numbers of other vegetables are the same, and all over the
earth they reproduce by the roots. Nothing then is truer than that each plant produces its seed or
184
185
186
187
188
Ibid., Hom. IV(7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 22, FC , 74:89, 90.
Saint Basil, Hom. V(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
47
contains some seminal virtue; this is what is meant by after its kind. So that the shoot of a reed
does not produce an olive tree, but from a reed grows another reed, and from one sort of seed a plant
of the same sort always germinates. Thus, all which sprang from the earth, in its first bringing forth,
is kept the same to our time, thanks to the constant reproduction of kind. Let the earth bring forth.
See how, at this short word, at this brief command, the cold and sterile earth travailed and hastened
to bring forth its fruit, as it cast away its sad and dismal covering to clothe itself in a more brilliant
robe, proud of its proper adornment and displaying the infinite variety of plants.189
The earth instantly brought forth grass. Instantly, too, with useful plants, appear noxious
plants: with corn, hemlock; with the other nutritious plants, hellebore, monkshood, mandrake, and
the juice of the poppy. What then? Shall we show no gratitude for so many beneficial gifts, and
reproach the Creator for those which may be harmful to our life? And shall we not reflect that all
has not been created in view of the wants of our bellies? The nourishing plants, which are destined
for our use, are close at hand, and known by all the world. But in creation nothing exists without a
reason. The blood of the bull is a poison: ought this animal then, whose strength is so serviceable
to man, not to have been created, or, if created, to have been bloodless? But you have sense enough
in yourself to keep you free from deadly things. What! Sheep and goats know how to turn away from
what threatens their life, discerning danger by instinct alone: and you, who have reason and the art
of medicine to supply what you need, and the experience of your forebears to tell you to avoid all
that is dangerous, you tell me that you find it difficult to keep yourself from poisons! But not a
single thing has been created without reason, not a single thing is useless. One serves as food to
some animal; medicine has found in another a relief for one of our maladies. Thus the starling eats
hemlock, its constitution rendering it insusceptible to the action of the poison....The quail, thanks
to its peculiar temperament, whereby it escapes the dangerous effects, feeds on hellebore. There are
even circumstances where poisons are useful to men; with mandrake doctors give us sleep; with
opium they lull violent pain. Hemlock has before now been used to appease the rage of unruly
diseases; and many times hellebore has taken away long standing disease. These plants, then, instead
of making you accuse the Creator, give you a new subject for gratitude.190
God did not command the earth immediately to give forth seed and fruit, but to produce
germs, to grow green, and to arrive at maturity in the seed; so that this first command teaches nature
what she has to do in the course of ages....In a moment earth began by germination to obey the laws
of the Creator, completed every stage of growth, and brought germs to perfection. The meadows
were covered with deep grass, the fertile plains quivered with harvests, and the movement of the
corn was like the waving of the sea. Every plant, every herb, the smallest shrub, the least vegetable,
arose from the earth in all its luxuriance. There was no failure in this first vegetation: no
husbandmans inexperience, no inclemency of the weather, nothing could injure it; then the sentence
of condemnation was not fettering the earths fertility. All this was before the sin which condemned
us to eat our bread by the sweat of our brow.191
At this command every copse was thickly planted; all the trees, fir, cedar, cypress, pine,
rose to their greatest height, the shrubs were straightway clothed with thick foliage. The plants called
crown-plants, roses, myrtles, laurels, did not exist; in one moment they came into being, each one
189
190
191
Ibid., Hom. V(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

48
with its distinctive peculiarities. Most marked differences separated them from other plants, and each
one was distinguished by a character of its own. But then the rose was without thorns; since then the
thorn has been added to its beauty, to make us feel that sorrow is very near to pleasure, and to
remind us of our sin, which condemned the earth to produce thorns and caltrops.
But, they say, the earth has received the command to produce trees yielding fruit whose
seed was in itself, and we see many trees which have neither fruit nor seed. What shall we reply?
First, that only the more important trees are mentioned; and then, that a careful examination will
show us that every tree has seed, or some property which takes the place of it. The black poplar, the
willow, the elm, the white poplar, all the trees of this family, do not produce any apparent fruit;
however, an attentive observer finds seed in each of them....
But, we have already said, it is
chiefly a question of the trees which contribute most to our life; which offer their various fruits to
man and provide him with plentiful nourishment. Such is the vine, which produces wine to make
glad the heart of man; such is the olive tree, whose fruit brightens his face with oil. How many
things in nature are combined in the same plant! In a vine, roots, green and flexible branches, which
spread themselves far over the earth, buds, tendrils, bunches of sour grapes and ripe grapes. The
sight of a vine, when observed by an intelligent eye, serves to remind you of your nature.192
Plants reproduce themselves in so many different ways, that we can only touch upon the
chief among them. Immediately the tops of the mountains were covered with foliage: paradises were
artfully laid out, and an infinitude of plants embellished the banks of the rivers. Some were for the
adornment of mans table; some to nourish animals with their fruits and their leaves; some to
provide medicinal help by giving us their sap, their juice, their chips, their bark or their fruit. In a
word, the experience of ages, profiting from every chance, has not been able to discover anything
useful, which the penetrating foresight of the Creator did not first perceive and call into existence.
Therefore, when you see the trees in our gardens, or those of the forest, those which love the water
or the land, those which bear flowers, or those which do not flower, I should like to see you
recognizing grandeur even in small objects, adding incessantly to your admiration of, and redoubling
your love for the Creator.193
Let the earth bring forth. This short command was in a moment a vast nature, an elaborate
system. Swifter than thought it produced the countless qualities of plants. It is this command which,
still at this day, is imposed on the earth, and in the course of each year displays all the strength of
its power to produce herbs, seeds, and trees.194
3. Saint Ambrose: When the waters receded, it was proper that a special aspect and charm
be bestowed on the earth so that it would cease to be invisible and without form. For many maintain
that a thing is invisible because it has no special aspect. For that reason they hold that the earth was
invisiblenot because it could not be seen by the Most High God or by His angels, but because it
was without a special aspect. It could not be seen by men or even beasts because they had not yet
been created. What provides this aspect for the earth is the soils verdure and vegetation. Hence, in
order to bestow visibility and form on the earth, God says, Let the earth bring forth the green and
192
193
194

49
such as may seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon
the earth [Gen. 1:11].195...
That first declaration of God is a law of nature which requires that every creature be born.
This law has continued in force for all ages, with the intent to prescribe how a continuous succession
of plants, in time to come, may experience modes of generation and fructification. And so, first there
is germination, when the seeds seem to burst forth newly born; next, when the sprout has burst forth
and becomes a green shoot; when the green shoot has grown a little it become the green herb. How
serviceable, how effective, is the speech: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, that is to say,
Let the earth bring forth of itself; let it not seek the aid of another; let is not be needful of any other
ministrations.196
Many, it is true, are accustomed to state that the earth could not have germinated without
the warmth of the suns temperature heat and in some way by its fostering rays. Hence, the Gentiles
bestow divine honors on the sun....But before the light of the sun shall appear, let the green herb be
born; let its light be prior to that of the sun. Let the earth germinate before it receives the fostering
care of the sun, lest there should be an occasion for human error to grow. Let everyone be informed
that the sun is not the author of vegetation. The earth is freed through the clemency of God; the fruit
of the earth emerges therefrom through His indulgence. How can the sun give the faculty of life to
growing plants, when these have already been brought forth by the life-giving creative power of God
before the sun entered into such a life as this? The sun is younger than the green shoot, younger than
the green plant!197...
Let the earth bring forth the green herb after its kind. And forthwith the earth in labor
brought forth new plants....We marvel at the speed of that productivity.198...How fitting it is that He
did not command the earth generously to give forth seed and fruits, but ordained that the fields
should first germinate and then bring forth plants. Next He bade the seed to grow according to the
specific nature of its kind, so that at no time would the landscape be without its charm; first, the
verdure of spring for our pleasure, and later the heaped-up piles of harvest for our use.199...
Let us now discuss the plant that bears fruit according to its kind, which may have seed in
itself [Gen. 1:11]. For He spoke, and they came into being [Ps. 32:9], and immediately the earth
was adorned with groves as formerly it had been decked with flowers and with the verdure of the
grass of the fields. The trees were assembled; the forests arose and the peaks of the hills were
clothed with leaves....For nature maintained in every case through future ages the prerogatives which
had been impressed on it at the moment of creation.200...
Who on seeing a pine cone would not marvel at the art that is indelibly impressed on nature
by the command of God and at the fact that, although extended at unequal lengths, the sheath arises
from the center core in homogenous fashion, whereby it protects its own fruit. Hence, it preserves
the same appearance and arrangement all around. And in every place there is a surplus of kernels
and in the circle of the year there comes the blessing of the fruit. Therefore, in this pine cone nature
seems to express an image of itself; it preserves its peculiar properties which it received from the
195
196
197
198
199
200

Ibid., Hom. 5, Ch. 11(4 7), Hexameron, FC, 42:102.
50
divine and celestial command and it repeats in the succession and order of the years its generation
until the end of time is fulfilled.201...Indeed, God said, Let the earth bring forth, and immediately
the whole earth was filled with growing vegetation.202
4. Saint Chrysostom: After making visible the face of the earth, He further bestows on it
by His own design a pleasing aspect, beautifying its face with a profusion of seeds. And God said,
Let the earth shoot forth the herb of grass bearing seed...and the fruit-tree bearing yielding fruit,
the seed of which is in itself, according to kind on the earth; and it was so [Gen. 1:11]. What does
this mean? According to the text, the Lord gave directions and, at once, the earth went into labor and
adorned itself with its own crop of seeds. 203
Consider here, I ask you, dearly beloved, how everything came into being on the earth by
the word of the Lord. I mean, it was no man who was the cause, or plough, or help from oxen, or
effort toward it from any other sourcesimply that everything heard the command, and at once
sprang from the earth into view. From this we learn that at present likewise what provides us with
the harvest of fruits is not the effort of the farmers, or their toil, or the other labors put into farming.
Indeed, before all these it is the word of God, the same as was directed to it from the beginning. For
the particular purpose of correcting later human folly, sacred Scripture gives us a precise description
of everything according to the order of creation so as to offset the absurdities of people speaking idly
from their own reasoning in an endeavor to assert that the assistance of the sun is responsible for the
germination of the crops.204
There are some people who try to ascribe these things to some of the stars. For this reason
the Holy Spirit teaches us that before the creation of these elements the earth heard His word and
command and brought forth plants, with no need of anything by way of assistance. In other words,
in place of anything else the earth had need only of that word that was spoken. So, taking our lead
from sacred Scripture, let us never tolerate those who lightly propound contrary views. I mean, even
if human beings till the earth, even if they get assistance from brute beasts, and bestow great
attention on the earth, even if the weather is kind, and everything goes according to plan, it will be
all to no avail unless the Lord will; all the toil and trouble will be fruitless unless the hand from on
high takes part and brings to fruition these efforts. Who could fail to be absolutely astonished at the
thought of how the word uttered by the Lord [Gen. 1:11] penetrated to the very bowels of the earth
and, as though with a veil, adorned the face of the earth with a variety of flowers? In an instant you
could see the earth, which just before had been shapeless and unkempt, take on such beauty as
almost to defy comparison with heaven. I mean, just as heaven would shortly be adorned with a
variety of stars, so too the earth was beautified with a range of flowers to such an extent that even
the Creator was moved to commendation, God saw, the text reminds us, that it was good [Gen.
1:12].205
5. Saint Bede: It is clear...that the adornment of the world was accomplished in springtime,
for that is the time when green plants usually appear on earth and trees are usually loaded with fruits.
Likewise, it should be noted that the first shoots of the plants and the trees did not appear from seed,
201
202
203
204
205
Ibid., Hom. 5, Ch. 16(6 8), Hexameron, FC, 42:119, 120.

51
but from the earth. For at the one command of the Creator, the earth, which appeared as dry land,
was suddenly adorned with plants and clothed with blossoming groves, and each of these
immediately produced fruits and seeds of its own kind from itself. It was proper in the beginning for
every species of things to come forth at the Lords command in perfect shape, in the same way as
man himself, for whom all things were made on earth, is also known to have been perfectly formed,
that is, in the freshness of young manhood.206
1. Saint Chrysostom: The text says, And God saw that it was good. And there came
evening and there came morning, the third day [Gen. 1:12, 13]. Do you see how by the repetition
of the teaching it wants to impress on our understanding the force of the words? Evening came, and
morning came: a third day. You see, there was need to mention: A third day had passed. But see how
in the case of each day it speaks this way: Evening came, and morning came: a third daynot idly
or to no purpose, but to prevent our confusing the order, and thinking that with evening falling the
day came to an end, instead of realizing that the evening is the end of the light and the beginning of
night, whereas the dawn is the end of the night and the completion of the day. This in fact is what
the blessed Moses wants to teach us in saying, Evening came, and morning came: a third day. Do
not be surprised, dearly beloved, if sacred Scripture repeats this over and over again.207
IV. FOURTH DAY
D. Astrology
Relevant Scripture for the 4th Day
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven for illumination (Gk.
favsis) upon the earth, to divide between the day and between the night, and let them be for signs
and for seasons and for days and for years [Gen. 1:14].
And let them be for illumination in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the
earth; and it was so [Gen. 1:15].
And God made the two lights, the great ones: the light, the great one, for rulership of the
day; and the light, the lesser, for rulership of the night; and the stars also [Gen. 1:16].
And God Himself placed them in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth
[Gen. 1:17], and to rule the day and the night, and to divide between the light and between the
darkness. And God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:18].
And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day [Gen. 1:19].
206
207

52

1. Saint Dionysios (1st C.): The great, shining, ever-lighting sun is the apparent image of
the divine goodness, a distant echo of the good. It illuminates whatever is capable of receiving its
light, and yet it never loses the utter fullness of its light.208
2. Saint Ephraim: That God said, Let them be for signs, refers to measures of time, and
Let them be for seasons, clearly indicates summer and winter. Let them be for days, are measured
by the rising and setting of the sun, and Let them be for years, are comprised of the daily cycles
of the sun and the monthly cycles of the moon.209...
Although all that was done before the fourth day was begun in the evening, the works on
the fourth day were fashioned at dawn. Because the third day had been completed, in that Moses
said, It was evening and it was morning; day three [Gen. 1:13]. God did not create the two lights
in the evening lest night be changed into day and morning be given priority over evening.210
Because the days followed the same order in which the first day was created, the night of
the fourth day, like that of the other days, preceded its day. And if its evening preceded its dawn,
the lights were not created in the evening, but rather at dawn. But to say that one of them was
created in the evening and the other at dawn cannot be allowed for Moses said, Let there be lights,
and God made the two great lights [Gen. 1:14, 16]. If they were great when they were created and
they were created at dawn, then the sun would have stood in the east and the moon opposite in the
west. The sun would have been set very low because it was created in the place where it set out over
the earth, whereas the moon would have been set higher because it was created in the place where
it stands on the fifteenth day. Indeed, at the moment the sun appears over the earth, the lights see
each other and the moon sinks. From the position of the moon, from its size and from the light it
produced, it is clear, then, that it was fifteen days old when it was created.211
Just as the trees, the vegetation, the animals, the birds, and even mankind were old, so also
were they young. They were old according to the appearance of their limbs and their substances, yet
they were young because of the hour and moment of their creation. Likewise, the moon was both
old and young. It was young, for it was but a moment old, but was also old, for it was full as it is on
the fifteenth day.212
If the moon had been created a day old or even two, it would have given no light....The sun,
although it was only one day old, was nevertheless four days old, for it is according to the sun that
each day is counted and will be reckoned. Accordingly, those eleven days, by which the moon was
older than the sun, were added to the moon at that first moment are also added to it each year, for
these days are used in the lunar reckoning.213...Thus, Adam and his descendants learned from this
year that, henceforth, eleven days were to be added to every year. 214
3. Saint Basil: If such is the beauty of visible things, what shall we think of invisible things?
If the grandeur of heaven exceeds the measure of human intelligence, what mind shall be able to
208
Saint Dionysios the Areopagite, The Complete Works: Divine Names, 4.697D, trans. by C. Luibheid,
Classics of Western Sp irituality (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 198 7).
209
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 23(2), FC, 74:90.
210
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 23(3), FC, 74:90, 91.
211
212
213
214
53
trace the nature of the everlasting? If the sun, subject to corruption, is so beautiful, so grand, so rapid
in its movement, so invariable in its course; if its grandeur is in such perfect harmony with and due
proportion to the universe: if, by the beauty of its nature, it shines like a brilliant eye in the middle
of creation; if finally, one cannot tire of contemplating it, what will be the beauty of the Sun of
Righteousness?215 If the blind man suffers from not seeing the material sun, what a deprivation is
it for the sinner not to enjoy the true Light!216
Heaven and earth were the first; after them was created light; the day had been distinguished
from the night, then had appeared the firmament and the dry element. The water had been gathered
into the reservoir assigned to it; the earth displayed its productions; it had caused many kinds of
herbs to germinate and it was adorned with all kinds of plants. However, the sun and the moon did
not yet exist, in order that those who live in ignorance of God may not consider the sun as the origin
and the father of light, or as the maker of all that grows out of the earth. That is why there was a
fourth day, and then God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven [Gen. 1:14].
When once you have learnt Who spoke, think immediately of the hearer. God said, Let there be
lights,....and God made two great lights. Who spoke? And Who made? Do you not see a double
person? Everywhere, in mystic language, history is sown with the dogmas of theology. The motive
follows which caused the lights to be created. It was to illuminate the earth. Already light was
created; why therefore say that the sun was created to give lighting?...He has put to illuminate
instead of to give light. Now there is nothing here contradictory to what has been said of light.
Then the actual nature of light was produced: now the suns body is constructed to be a vehicle for
that original light....The apostle speaks to us of certain lights which shine in the world without being
confounded with the true Light of the world, the possession of which made the saints luminaries of
the souls which they instructed and drew from the darkness of ignorance. This is why the Creator
of all things, made the sun in addition to that glorious light, and placed it shining in the heavens.217
And let no one suppose it to be a thing incredible that the brightness of the light is one
thing, and the body which is its material vehicle is another. First, in all composite things, we
distinguish substance susceptible of quality, and the quality which it receives....And do not tell me
that it is impossible to separate them. Even I do not pretend to be able to separate light from the body
of the sun; but I maintain that that which we separate in thought, may be separated in reality by the
Creator of nature. You cannot, moreover, separate the brightness of fire from the virtue of burning
which it possesses; but God, who wished to attract His servant by a wonderful sight, set a fire in the
burning bush, which displayed all the brilliancy of flame while its devouring property was dormant.
It is that which the psalmist affirms in saying, The voice of the Lord cutting in two the flame of fire
[Ps. 28:7]. Thus, in the requital which awaits us after this life, a mysterious voice seems to tell us
that the double nature of fire will be divided; the just will enjoy its light, and the torment of its heat
will be the torture of the wicked....The sun and moon thus received the command to divide the day
from the night. God had already separated light from darkness; then He placed their natures in
opposition, so that they could not mingle, and that there could never be anything in common
between darkness and light. And this is precisely what Scripture says that God divided the light and
215
Bu t to yo u that fear M y name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and healing shall be in H is win gs [M al.
4:2].
216
Saint Basil, Hom. VI(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
217
Ibid., Hom. VI(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
54
darkness [Gen. 1:18]. Darkness, thus, fled at the approach of light, the two being at their first
creation divided by a natural antipathy. 218
4. Saint Ambrose: On the fourth day God bade the luminaries of the heavens to be created:
the sun, the moon, and stars. The sun begins to arise.219 Three days have passed. What else does this
signifyO the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God [Rom. 11:33]!
when the woods came into being before these two luminaries of the world, unless it is that all might
recognize by the testimony of holy Scripture that without the aid of the sun the earth can be
productive? The earth which could cause the first seeds of things to germinate without the aid of the
sun can surely nourish the seeds provided for it and can, without the heat of the sun, bring forth
offspring by its own fostering care.220...Hear God speaking, Let there be lights made in the
firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth [Gen. 1:14]. Who says this? God says it. And to
Whom is He speaking, if not to His Son? Therefore, God the Father says, Let the sun be made, and
the Son made the sun; for it is fitting that the Sun of Justice should make the sun of the world [Mal.
4:2]. He, therefore, brought it to light. He illuminated it and granted it the power of
light.221...Furthermore, that we may know that the fertility of the earth is not to be ascribed to the
heat of the sun, but should be assigned to the goodness of God, the prophet says: All things wait
for Thee, to give them their food in due season; having given to them, they will gather it; having
opened Thy hand, the universe shall be filled full of goodness [Ps. 103:28, 29]. And further on,
Thou wilt send forth Thy Spirit, and they will be created; and Thou wilt renew the face of the earth
[Ps. 103:31]. And in the Gospels: Look at the birds of the heaven, for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor do they gather into storehouses; and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them [Mt. 6:26]?
The sun and moon are not, therefore, authors of fecundity, but God the Father through the Lord
Jesus bestows on all things the gift of freedom of fertility.222
5. Saint Chrysostom: Just as the earth was beautified by the things produced from it, in like
manner He caused heaven, which was already visible, to be more conspicuous and bright by lending
it the variety that comes from a range of stars and from the creation of the two huge lights, namely,
the sun and the moon.223...Do you see the wisdom of the Creator? He merely spoke, and this
marvellous body came into being, namely, the sun....In one moment of time it traverses the whole
world and scatters its rays from end to end, making its great resources available: it not only supplies
heat to the earth but also dries it up, and not only dries it up but enkindles it, and supplies us with
many different resources, so marvellous a body is it....After all, the greater the sun is shown to be,
so much the more marvellous is the revelation of the Creator.224
Pagan peoples, however,...treated it as a deity. Hence, the reason for the blessed Pauls
saying that they reverenced and worshipped the creature beyond Him Who created [Rom. 1:25]
it....So then, foreseeing the inclination of slothful people to error, sacred Scripture teaches us that
the creation of this heavenly body took place three days later, after the growth of all the plants from
the earth, after the earths taking its own form, so that afterwards no one could say that without this
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
Ibid., Hom. VI(3), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Am brose, Book IV: T he Fourth Day, T he Sixth H omily, C h. 1(1 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:126.
Ibid., Hom. 6, On Genesis, 10, 11, 74:83.
55
force these things would not have been brought forth from the earth. Hence, it shows you everything
completed before the creation of this body lest you should attribute the production of the crops to
it instead of to the Creator of all things, the One Who said from the beginning, Let the earth shoot
forth a crop of vegetation [cf. Gen. 1:11].225
But if they were to say that the suns virtue also contributed to the ripening of the crops, I
would not gainsay them....Once, however, His mighty hand is ready, the work of the elements makes
its most efficacious contribution.226 But the sun has limitations and powerlessness: listen to what it
says in Sirach: What could provide more light than the sun? Yet even it fails [Sir. 17:31]. Do not
be deceived by appearances, it tells us: Unless the Creator willed so to direct, it would disappear as
though it had never existed....Accordingly, He created it on the fourth day lest you think it is the
cause of the day. In other words, what we said about the plants we will say also about the day,
namely, that three days occurred before the creation of the sun. The Lord wanted to make daylight
more brilliant by means of this heavenly body alsosomething we would say is true in the case of
the lesser light as well, by which I mean the moon; after all, three nights occurred before its creation.
Still, once created, the moon makes its own contribution, banishing the gloom of the night and
accomplishing (you could almost say) the same things the sun does in other respects. 227
6. Saint Anastasios: The light, which had been spread over the three preceding days and had
been diffused throughout the whole universe, represents the light of the uncreated Trinity, which
came first. It was everywhere: it left no place bereft of its presence. Then, on the fourth day, the
solar disk was crafted. And that earlier light, which was present everywhere, was represented in it.
This reveals that that divine light was put away, as in a disk, at first shadowy through the sin of
Adam, but later resplendent through its unification with God in person. 228...
Before Christ arrived and shone forth, three laws, three ways of life by holy and divine
ordinance, arose among humanity....First, the way of life in the law given to Adam; second the way
in the law given to Noah; and third, the way of life after the law was given to Moses. But all of these
were imperfect. The deep shadow of impiety still governed, nocturnal and gloomy, before the
multitude of apostles and teachers began to shine. I am talking about the stars shining down upon
the earth. This was before the Sun of the righteousness of Christ dawned [Mal. 3:30 or 4:2], with the
moon of the Church as His bride. On account of this, before the fourth day, God made three days
that were imperfect: without sun and without moon.229...
He created the stars in the firmament above by a command [Gen. 1:14]. Yet He created the
sun and moon on the earth by Himself [Gen. 1:15]just as He created Adam and Eve [Gen. 1:27];
and having carried them up, He placed them in the firmament [Gen. 1:17].230...According to my
reckoning, the fact that Adam our forefather was created outside of Paradise and then placed inside
the garden [Gen. 2:8, 15]this is in perfect accord with the physical sun. Similarly, it was created
225

227
228
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 4, II.4, p. 99.
229
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, II.2, p. 97.
230
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, IV.3, p. 105. See Is. 48:13: My hand also hath founded the earth, and
My right hand hath m ade firm the heaven: I will call them , and they shall stand together.
226
56
on earth, where Adam was created, according to what Scripture says, and then placed in heaven
[Gen. 1:16, 17].231
7. Saint Bede: He that lives forever created all things together [Eccl. 18:1]: on the first day
of this age He made light to render other created things capable of receiving form....Therefore, it was
proper that the elements should receive the benefit of fuller adornment in the same order in which
they were created, that is, that on the fourth day, heaven should be adorned with lights....For when
the lights were made to augment the primordial light, it came about that even the night, which up
to this point had known nothing except the ancient darkness, would advance full of light, illuminated
either by the brilliance at least of the moon, or the stars, or both....But along with the increase of
light, the formation of the lights offered as a divine gift to the world the fact that they could mark
off divisions in the flow of time....But even leaving aside the marking of times, the lights are
necessary as signs in the activities of this life. Sailors need them in navigation, as does everyone
traveling in the sandy deserts of Ethiopia....Likewise, they are for signs, because by contemplating
them we sometimes also foresee what the state of the weather is going to be.232
1. Saint Kyril of Jerusalem: Men ought to have been astonished and amazed not only at the
arrangement of the sun and moon but also at the well-ordered movements of the stars and their
unfettered courses and the timely rising of each of them; how some indicate the time for sowing,
others the times of navigation.233
2. Saint Basil: And let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years [Gen.
1:14]. The signs which the luminaries give are necessary to human life....Who does not know how
useful are these signs in life? Thanks to them, the sailor keeps back his vessel in the harbor,
foreseeing the perils with which the winds threaten him, and the traveler beforehand takes shelter
from harm, waiting until the weather has become fairer. Thanks to them, husbandmen, busy with
sowing seed or cultivating plants, are able to know which seasons are favorable to their labors.
Further, the Lord has announced to us that at the dissolution of the universe, signs will appear in the
sun, in the moon, and in the stars.234...
We have spoken about signs. By times, we understand the succession of seasonswinter,
spring, summer and autumnwhich we see follow each other in so regular a course, thanks to the
regularity of the movement of the luminaries. It is thus that seasons, following the course of the sun,
succeed each other to rule our life. Let them be for days [Gen. 1:14] says Scripture, not to produce
them but to rule them; because day and night are older than the creation of the luminaries and it is
this that the psalm declares to us. To the One alone having made great lights, for His mercy is unto
the agethe sun to exercise authority over the day, for His mercy is unto the age, the moon and the
stars to exercise authority over the night, for His mercy is unto the age [Ps. 135:7-9]. How does the
sun rule by day? Because carrying everywhere light with it, it is no sooner risen above the horizon
than it drives away darkness and brings us day. Thus we might, without self deception, define day
as air lighted by the sun, or as the space of time that the sun passes in our hemisphere. The functions
231
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, VIII.4, p. 131.

233
Saint Kyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 9.8, The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechesis,
Volume 1, The Fathers of the Church, Volume 61, translated by Leo P. McCauley, S.J. and Anthony A.
Stephenson (Washington, D.C.: CUA, n.d.), p. 189.
234
232
57
of the sun and moon serve further to mark years. The moon, after having twelve times run her
course, forms a year which sometimes needs an intercalary month to make it exactly agree with the
seasons.235
3. Saint Ambrose: The sun, moon, and stars serve as signs also. We cannot deny that some
signs are formed from the sun and moon together. The Lord said, And there shall be signs in the
sun, and the moon, and the stars [Lk. 21:25]. And when the apostles asked for a sign of His coming,
He replied, And straightway after the affliction of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken [Mt. 24:29]. These, He said, were to be the signs of a fulfillment in the future, but
for us in our anxiety these should serve as an appropriate measure of time. 236
4. Saint Chrysostom: The sun was designed for rulership of the day and the lesser light
for rulership of the night [Gen. 1:16]. The text implies the sun took control of the day and the
moon of the night, so that the sun should render the day brighter with its rays, and the moon should
dissipate the gloom and with its light provide the human race with the possibility of discharging their
duties. I mean, by this arrangement, the traveller travels the path in confidence, the sailor steers the
boat and navigates the seas, and everyone conducting personal affairs can without any concern
follow the dictates of individual intuition.237
Then, after teaching us the usefulness of these lights, the text goes on, And the stars [Gen.
1:16]. Notice how He made clear to us their usefulness also: And God Himself placed them in the
firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth [Gen. 1:17], and to rule the day and the night,
and to divide between the light and between the darkness. And God saw that it was good [Gen.
1:18]. What does it mean, He Himself placed them? As though to say He fixed? By no means;
after all, we often see them traverse a mighty span in the twinkling of an eye, never standing still
in one place but following their own course which they had been directed to run by the Lord. So
what does He placed mean? It is equivalent to saying He directed them to be in heaven. You can,
in fact, see Scripture leading up to this when it says elsewhere that He Himself placed Adam in
Paradise [Gen. 2:8], not because He had fixed him in Paradise, but because He directed him to be
in Paradise. By the same token, about the stars, we would say that He directed them to be in the
firmament of heaven and shed their light on the earth....Each of the heavenly bodies, the sun and
moon, keeps to its own boundaries and never oversteps its due measure, but rather maintains the
Lords design and fulfills its proper purpose.238
Who could tell all the other advantages conferred on the human race through the usefulness
of these lights and the stars? The text says, remember, Let them be for signs and for seasons and
for days and for years [Gen. 1:14]. Sacred Scripture wants to teach us that the movement of these
bodies conveys to us the knowledge of times, the changing of solstices, the number of the days, and
the course of the year, and from these facts we can fathom everything....The navigator...holds his
course and crosses the sea...The farmer knows when he must sow the seed, till the soil, do the
ploughing, and when he needs to sharpen his sickle and set about harvesting the crops. Not a few
aids for our daily living are contributed to us by the knowledge of times, the number of days, and
235
236
237
238

58
the cycle of the year....Hence, we need to learn from these few details how to estimate the usefulness
of the heavenly bodies, to marvel at their creation and adore and praise their Creator, to be in awe
at His ineffable love shown to human beings; for humanity alone and for no other reason did He
create everything, intending a little later to place them like some king or ruler over things created
by Him.239
5. Saint Bede: The risen sun obstructs the moon and the stars with its greater light, so that
they do not illumine the earth; hence it takes its name [sol] in Latin, because it alone [solus] shines
upon the earth by day, when the stars and the moon are dimmed.240...
If someone asks what kind of daily light there could have been before the creation of the
heavenly bodies, it is not wide of the mark to suppose that it would have been such as we see every
day in the morningthat is, when the sunrise approaches but is not yet visible on earth and the rays
of the stars are dimmed, the day shines indeed but still does not gleam brightly until the sun has
risen. Hence, there could not have been any distinction of times, except of day and night alone, and
it was rightly said after the lights were made, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days
and years. For changes of times began to be discerned when, on the fourth day of the infant world,
the sun advancing from due east consecrated the vernal equinox at its rising....When the full moon
appeared in the evening, it prescribed by its first ascent the times which were to be observed in the
celebration of Easter. Indeed, not only the ancient people of God [Israelites] but also we today keep
as the first hour in the Easter observance the moment when the evening full moon (that is, the
fourteenth day of the moon) appears in the face of heaven after the vernal equinox has passed. For
when the following Sunday comes, the fit time for celebrating the resurrection of the Lord is at hand,
which also fulfils to the letter the word of the prophet, who said, He made the moon for seasons;
the sun knoweth his going down [Ps. 103:20]. The stars, showing by their appearance what the
weather will be like and by their course which watch of the night it is, the stars are for signs and for
seasons, because some coming into the sky signify summer, and other signify winter. And they are
for day, because some accompany the sun during the days of spring, and others during the days of
autumn. And they are for years because the morning stars, which rise now, for example, in the vernal
equinox, come every year into the face of heaven in the same equinox; the stars, which rise now in
the solstice in the evening or morning, always rise in it at the same hours. But there are certain stars,
which astronomers call planets, that is, wanderers, which make greater years by their orbit through
which they return to the same place in the sky.241
6. Saint John of Damascus: On these luminaries the Creator bestowed the first-created light:
not because He was in need of other light, but that that light might not remain idle. For a luminary
is not merely light, but a vessel for containing light....The course which the Demiurge appointed for
them to run is unceasing and remaineth fixed as He established them. For the divine David says, For
I will behold the heavens, the works of Thy fingers, the moon and stars, which Thou didst found [Ps.
8:3]; and by the word found, he referred to the fixity and unchangeableness of the order and series
granted to them by God. For He appointed them for seasons, and signs, and days and years. It is
through the sun that the four seasons are brought about....For the Creator made this wise provision
that we should not pass from the extreme of cold, or heat, or dryness, or moisture, to the opposite
239
240
241

Ibid., On Genesis, Book One [1:17b-18b], 48:83, 84.
59
extreme, and thus incur grievous maladies. For reason itself teaches us the danger of sudden
changes.242
1. Saint Sophronios: David says in his songs: Praise ye the Lord from the heavens; praise
ye Him in the heights....Praise ye Him, O sun and moon; praise ye Him, all the stars and the light.
Praise ye Him, the heavens of the heavensand thou water, the one above the heavens. Let them
praise the name of the Lord; for He spoke, and they came to be; He gave charge, and they were
created. He established them unto the age, and unto the age of the age; He Himself set an ordinance,
and it shall not pass away [Ps. 148:1-5].243 How did the same God through the same prophet say,
In the course of the beginning, O Lord, Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are works of Thy hands. They themselves shall be undone, but Thou shalt continue; and all like an
outer garment shall become old, and like a vesture shalt Thou roll them round, and they shall be
changed [Ps. 101:25, 26]? Again, through another prophet, He says, And all the powers of the
heavens shall melt, and the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll: and all the stars shall fall like
leaves from a vine, and as leaves fall from a fig-tree [Is. 34:4]at the consummation of the ages
[Heb. 9:26; Mt. 24:29]. On account of this, their Creator Himself, God the Logos, Jesus says: The
heaven and the earth shall pass away [Mt. 24:35].244
From what has been said, do we not clearly learn that the physical heavens will pass away,
like types? But the firm heaven of faith will not pass away. The visible sun, like a type, will be
extinguished; but the Sun Christ, Whom the other sun foreshadowed, remains forever and ever [Jn.
8:35; Heb. 7:24]. In like manner, the prototype moon will perish; but the true moon of the Church,
which the nocturnal one announced in advance, will not become old. And the holy stars, the rational
choirs of saints, will endure forever; but their types, the seasonal stars, will fall like leaves [2 Cor.
4:18]. When the righteous will shine like the sun, that is, like Christ, all physical lights will perish
[Mt. 13:43245; Dan. 12:3246]....Our outer being is composed from the same physical powers, two by
two: the dry and illuminating power of the sun, and the wet and illuminating power of the moon. So
too, our inner being is born and shaped from the same spiritual things, two plus two [2 Cor. 4:16247].
It is born from the moon Church, through water and Spirit [Jn. 3:5]; and it is nourished from the sun
Christ, through His body and blood [Jn. 6:53-56; 1 Cor. 10:16; 1 Jn. 5:6].248...
242
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars, An Exact
Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. VII, V ol. IX:22-25.
243
And, Thou, O L ord, in the beginning founded the earth, and the heav ens are the works of Thy hands.
They shall perish, but Thou remainest; and they shall all become old as an outer garment, and as a covering
Thou shalt roll them up, and they shall be changed. But Thou art the same, and T hy years shall not fail [Heb.
1:10-12].
244
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 4, X.4, p. 143.
245
Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who hath ears to
hear, let him hear [Mt. 13:43].
246
And the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and some of the many righ teous as the stars
forev er and ever [Dan. 12:3].
247
Wherefore, we are no t fainthearted; but even if our o utward m an is being utterly destroyed, yet the inward
man is being renew ed day by day [2 Cor. 4:16].
248
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 4, X.5, p. 143.
60
Joshua (Jesus), son of Navee, was a prototype of Jesus Christ. He made the sun stand still
at Gibeon, and then the moon above the deep valley [Josh. 10:12, 13],249 the two opposite one
another, as it was in the beginning. When these two lights were brought together and fixed, standing
firm, as a type of the beings Christ and the Church, the enemies were slaughtered by them [Josh.
10:16-27].250...
Now with respect to Eve, if you want to see an eclipsea diminishment and then again a
renewal of light, as with the moonthen think about the prophets statement to God: Because your
precepts are light upon the earth [Is. 26:9]. Through her disobedience, Eve underwent an eclipse
of these precepts....Similarly, Christ replaced the eclipse of her light with a brighter light, the true
light, from the second Eve [Jn. 1:9; 2:8], as from a full moon, the Mother of God, Maria. She never
lost, never suffered an eclipse, never was deprived of the essential light of her virginity....In Eves
eclipse through disobedience, she had fled and concealed herself beneath the tree of disobedience
and transgression. She was afraid of the Sun of righteousness, God.251
D. Astrology
The Lord God said through His Prophet Hosea, But I am the Lord thy God, making firm
the heaven and creating the earth, whose hands created the army of the heaven; and I exhibited them
not side by side for you to follow after them; and I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and you
shall know no God but Me, and there is no one saving beside Me [Hos. 13:4].
1. Saint Basil: But those who overstep the borders, making the words of Scripture their
apology for the art of casting nativities, pretend that our lives depend upon the motion of the
heavenly bodies, and that thus the Chaldeans read in the planets that which will happen to us. By
these very simple words let them be for signs, they understand neither the variations of the
weather, nor the change of seasons; they only see in them, at the will of their imagination, the
distribution of human destinies. What do they say in reality? When the planets cross in the signs of
the Zodiac, certain figures formed by their meeting give birth to certain destinies, and others produce
different destinies....If heaven has different characteristics derived from these animals, it is then
itself subject to external influences since its causes depend on the brutes who graze in our fields. A
ridiculous assertion; but how much more ridiculous the pretense of arriving at the influence on each
other of things which have not the least connection! They do not, however, stop here; even our acts,
where each one feels his will ruling, I mean, the practice of virtue or of vice, depend, according to
them, on the influence of celestial bodies. But, above all, what impiety! For the evil stars throw the
blame of their wickedness upon Him Who made them. If evil is inherent in their nature, the Creator
is the author of evil. If they make it themselves, they are animals endowed with the power of choice,
whose acts will be free and voluntary. Is it not the height of folly to tell these lies about beings
without souls? Again, what a want of sense does it show to distribute good and evil without regard
to personal merit; to say that a star is beneficent because it occupies a certain place; that it becomes
evil, because it is viewed by another star; and that if it moves ever so little from this figure it loses
its malignant influence. If the origin of our virtues and of our vices is not in ourselves, but is the fatal
249
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord, in the day in which the Lord delivered the Amorite into the power of
Israel, when he destroyed them in Gabaon, and they were destroyed from before the children of Israel: and
Joshua said, Let the sun stand over against Gabaon, and the moon over against the valley of Aelon [Josh.
10:12].
250
251
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, VIII.5, p. 131.
61
consequence of our birth, it is useless for legislators to prescribe for us what we ought to do, and
what we ought to avoid; it is useless for judges to honor virtue and to punish vice. The guilt is not
in the robber, not in the assassin: it was willed for him; it was impossible for him to hold back his
hand, urged to evil by inevitable necessity. As for us Christians, we shall see our great hopes vanish,
since from the moment that man does not act with freedom, there is neither reward for justice nor
punishment for sin. Under the reign of necessity and of fatality there is no place for merit, the first
condition of all righteous judgment. But let us stop. You who are sound in yourselves have no need
to hear more, and time does not allow us to make attacks without limit against these unhappy
men.252
2. Saint Sophronios: Let them be for signs, for seasons, for days, and for years [Gen.
1:14]. God does not say such things because He wants to teach people to become astrologers. He
does not teach them to pin their hopes for guidance upon the sun, moon, and starsas the foolish,
moronic astrologers think. Rather, through the visible luminaries and stars, we learn about spiritual
signs and seasons and years and orders and government. We also learn amazing mysteries about
those famous stars: the holy apostles, prophets, and teachers that shone and gave guidance upon the
earth [1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11, 12]. Irradiated by the Sun of righteousness, they say, We received
everything from His fulness [Mal. 3:20].253
3. Saint John of Damascus: Now the Greeks declare that all our affairs are controlled by the
rising and setting and collision of these stars, namely, the sun and moon: for it is with these matters
that astrology has to do. But we hold that we get from them signs of rain and drought, cold and heat,
moisture and dryness, and of the various winds, and so forth, but no sign whatever as to our actions.
For we have been created with free wills by our Creator and are masters over our own actions.
Indeed, if all our actions depend on the courses of the stars, all we do is done of necessity: and
necessity precludes either virtue or vice. But if we possess neither virtue nor vice, we do not deserve
praise or punishment; and God, too, will turn out to be unjust, since He gives good things to some
and afflicts others. Nay, 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.
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, someone 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....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.254 And so
not even that star which the Magi saw at the birth of the Friend and Savior of man, our Lord, Who
252
253
254
Saint Basil, Hom. VI(5-7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Nativity of Christ.
62
became flesh for our sake, is of the number of those that were made in the beginning. And this is
evidently the case because sometimes its course was from east to west, and sometimes from north
to south; at one moment it was hidden, and at the next it was revealed: which is quite out of harmony
with the order and nature of the stars.255
1. Saint Ambrose: With the voice, so to speak, of her gifts does Nature cry out: Good,
indeed, is the sun, but good only in respect of service, not command. Good, too, as one who assists
at my fecundity, not as one who creates; good, also as the nourisher of my fruits, not as one who is
the author of them. At times the sun burns up my produce and often is the cause of injury to me,
leaving me in many places without provision. I am not ungrateful to my fellow servant, one who is
granted to me for my use, subject like me to toil, to vanity, and to the service of corruption! With
me he groans, with me he is in travail, in order that there may come the adoption of sons and the
redemption of the human race by which we, too, may be freed from servitude [cf. Rom. 8:21, 22].
By my side he praises the Author; along with me he sings a hymn to the Lord God.256
1. Saint Ephraim: Just as the sun, which rules the day by the fact that it gives light to the
earth [Gen. 1:17], actually causes the fruits of the earth to ripen, so too does the moon, which rules
the night and tempers the strength of the night by its brightness, also bring forth, according to its first
nature, fruits and vegetation. For Moses speaks in his blessing of the yield which the moon brought
forth [Deut. 33:14], along with the other things on account of which the light was created, although
they say that, for the sake of the things that were to come forth, the light was created on the first day.
After the earth brought forth everything during the course of the third day, then [the moon] came
to be in the manner of the light on the fourth day, so that through the moon, as well as through the
light, all fruit would have its beginning, and then through the sun all vegetation would become
ripe.257 Thus, through light and water the earth brought forth everything. While God is able to bring
forth everything from the earth without these things, it was His will to show that there was nothing
created on earth that was not created for the purpose of mankind or for his service. 258
2. Saint Basil: Could the earth with such a wide extent be lighted up entirely in one moment
if an immense disc were not pouring forth its light over it? Recognize here the wisdom of the
Artificer. See how He made the heat of the sun proportionate to this distance. Its heat is so regulated
that it neither consumes the earth by excess, nor lets it grow cold and sterile by defect.
To all this the properties of the moon are near akin; she, too, has an immense body, whose
splendor only yields to that of the sun. Our eyes, however, do not always see her in her full size.
Now she presents a perfectly rounded disc, now when diminished and lessened she shows a
deficiency on one side. When waxing she is shadowed on one side, and when she is waning another
side is hidden. Now it is not without a secret reason of the divine Maker of the universe, that the
moon appears from time to time under such different forms. It presents a striking example of our
nature. Nothing is stable in man. I believe also that the variations of the moon do not take place
255
Saint John of D amascus, Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars, An Exact
256
257
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 9(3), FC, 74:82 .
258
63
without exerting great influence upon the organization of animals and of all living things....Evidently
the moon must be, as Scripture says, of enormous size and power to make all nature thus participate
in her changes.259
On its variations depends also the condition of the air, as is proved by sudden disturbances
which often come after the new moon, in the midst of a calm and of a stillness in the winds, to
agitate the clouds and to hurl them against each other; as the flux and reflux in straits, and the ebb
and flow of the ocean prove, so that those who live on its shores see it regularly following the
revolutions of the moon.
I have entered into these details, to show you the grandeur of the luminaries, and to make
you see that, in the inspired words, there is not one idle syllable. And yet my sermon has scarcely
touched on any important point; there are many other discoveries about the size and distance of the
sun and moon to which anyone who will make a serious study of their action and of their
characteristics may arrive by the aid of reason. 260
3. Saint Ambrose: The prophet has beautifully expounded the meaning of those words of
his: The sun to exercise authority over the day; the moon and the stars to exercise authority over
the night [Ps. 135:8, 9]. For in the same psalm, he wrote: He made the moon for seasons; the sun
knoweth his going down [Ps. 103:20].261...Let us reflect on the fact that the light of day is one thing
and the light of the sun and moon and stars another.262...
When God wished to show to Moses His marvellous power,...He appeared to him in a
flaming bush [Ex. 3:2]. But the bush was not on fire....One function of fire, therefore, was void, the
other was in operation. The power of kindling was lacking, though the power of illumination was
functioning. And so Moses marvelled that fire, contrary to its nature, did not burn the bush....The
fire of the Lord illuminates, not consumes.263
4. Saint John of Damascus: It must be understood, then, that the moon derives its light from
the sun; not that God was unable to grant it light of its own, but in order that rhythm and order may
be unimpressed upon nature, one part ruling, the other being ruled, and that we might thus be taught
to live in community and to share 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 [Rom. 1:25], and this also teaches us how all things
are changeable and alterable. 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 moons body that is found to conceal the sun. But do
not marvel that the moons body is the smaller....
259
260
261
262
263
Saint Basil, Hom. VI(10), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

64
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. 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 bissextile.264 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. It is evident that both sun and moon and stars are
compound and liable to corruption according to the laws of their various natures.265
1. Saint Sophronios: We see some stars shining in the north; others in the south; some
shining above the Arctic; and others rising in the opposite places. They shine on the entire inhabited
world, and so symbolize the lights of the Church. Then why do the stars not shine together in one
season? Rather, some of them rise in the spring, right after the resurrection of Christ. Of such a sort
were the blessed apostles, and their disciples that rose with them.266...To speak here about their
positions would be neither unimportant nor without mystical significance. Some of them travel like
solitary monks. They are like some of the twelve apostles that were sent out alone to preach, in
accordance with the words, I am alone until I should pass by [Ps. 140:11]. They are like those
hermits that live alone among sheer cliffs and say, For Thou, O Lord, alone didst cause me to dwell
in hope [Ps. 4:7]. Other stars travel in pairs and triples, like those that were sent out among the
seventy-two [Lk. 10:1], or like the two that contended together in their monastic struggles. They
heard the One Who said, For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in
the midst of them [Mt. 18:20]. Still other stars go about like a chorus or a crown, in accordance with
the verse, Behold, now! what is good or what is delightful except for brethren to go on dwelling
together in unity [Ps. 132:1]? And some are perfect. These are exceedingly bright and have some
groups of disciples, few in number and small in size, close by. They include teachers and high
priests, who says, Behold, I and the children whom God gave me [Heb. 2:13; Is. 8:18]. Such a one
264
A leap year (or intercalary or bissextile year) is a year containing one additional day (or, in the case of
lunisolar calendars, a month) in order to keep the calendar synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal
year.
265
Saint Joh n of D amascus, Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars, An Exact
266
65
was Paul....And other stars present an image of the cross.267...Therefore, God ordained that the stars,
in order to be a type of the soulful lights of heaven: the teachers. 268
1. Saint Chrysostom: The text goes on: God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:18]. Do you see
how each day sacred Scripture shows Him satisfied with His creatures, so as to undercut a pretext
of people daring to find fault with the things created by Him?...But knowing the extent of the
limitations of our reasoning, He repeats the process each time, to teach us that everything was
created with a certain inventive wisdom and ineffable love.269 And there came to be evening and
there came to be morning, the fourth day [Gen. 1:19]. In other words, when He had completed the
arrangement of heaven, beautifying it with the stars and creating those two great lights, He brought
the day to a close. Notice how it speaks in this way in the case of each day, wanting to rivet the
sacred truths in our mind by the repetition in the teaching. 270
Accordingly, let us carve these truths across our heart and hold fast to them; let us shake
off all sloth, let us cling carefully to these salutary truths and with all forbearance instruct people
ensnared in pagan error not to confuse this order by deserting the Creature to worship the creatures
that have been created for our welfare and utility....The Creator is sufficient of Himself and needed
none of them; instead, it was to show His love for us that He created them all, demonstrating the
great regard He has for the human race; and it was for us to move from these creatures to bring to
Him a proper adoration.271 If the creature is so wonderful, surpassing all human understanding, do
not stop there. What on earth can He be like Who creates this merely by a word of command?272
2. Saint Sophronios: Messiah (Gk. Mesias) stands in the middle (Gk. mesos).273...At
creations beginning, the fourth day was the middle of the seven days. Therefore, in the fourth day
the Sun of righteousness was symbolized [Mal. 3:30 or 4:2],274 because He is the Mediator between
God and man [1 Tim. 2:5].275 And He reigns in the middle of what is seen and unseen. He is between
the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the Mediator and the cornerstone of the two peoples....He
worked out salvation in the middle of the earth [Ps. 73:13],276 in the middle of the day.277 To Him
is the glory forever! Amen.278
3. Saint Bede: And God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:18]. Holy Scripture necessarily
repeats that God saw that what He made was good a number of times, so that the piety of the faithful
may be informed from this not to give judgment of the visible and invisible creation according to
267
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, IX.5, p. 139.

269
270
271
272
273
274
Bu t to you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and healing shall be in his wings: and
ye sh all go forth, and bound as young calves let loose from bond s [Mal. 4:2].
275
For there is one God, and one M ediator between G od and m an, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Him self
a ransom for all, the testim ony in its ow n times [1 T im. 2:5, 6].
276
But God is our King before the ages; He H imself wrought salvation in the midst of the earth [Ps. 73:13].
277
Her sun is gone down while it is yet noon [Jer. 15:9]. Cf. Mt. 27:45-50; Mk. 15:33-37; Lk. 23:44-46.
278
268
66
human reasoning, which is often offended even by good things of which it does not know the causes
and order, but to believe in and submit to God Who approves it. For everyone makes progress the
more easily in learning anything, the more devoutly he believes in God before he learned it.279
In God the Father and Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [Col. 2:2,
3]. And, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and there is good understanding to all
that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at
nought wisdom and instruction [Prov. 1:7]. Therefore, Be wary lest there shall be anyone who
leadeth you captive through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according
to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ [Col. 2:8].
1. Saint Basil: But enough on the greatness of the sun and moon. May He Who has given
us intelligence to recognize in the smallest objects of creation the great wisdom of the Contriver
make us find in great bodies a still higher idea of their Creator! However, compared with their
Author, the sun and moon are but a fly and an ant. The whole universe cannot give us a right idea
of the greatness of God; and it is only by signs, weak and slight in themselves, often by the help of
the smallest insects and of the least plants, that we raise ourselves to Him. Content with these words
let us offer our thanks: I to Him Who has given me the ministry of the word; you to Him Who feeds
you with spiritual foodWho, even at this moment, makes you find in my weak voice the strength
of barley bread. May He feed you forever, and in proportion to your faith grant you the
manifestation of the Spirit in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be glory and power forever and ever!
Amen.280
V. FIFTH DAY
F. Winged Creatures Below the Firmament [Gen. 1:21, 22]
G. Hybrids
And God said, Let the waters produce creeping things having life, and winged creatures
flying above the earth in the firmament of the heaven; and it was so [Gen. 1:20].
And God made the whales, the great ones, and every creeping thing having life, which the
waters produced according to their kinds, and every creature that flies with wings according to kind,
and God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:21].
And God blessed them saying, By ye increasing and multiplying, and fill the waters in the
seas, and let the creatures that fly multiply on the earth [Gen. 1:22].
And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day [Gen. 1:23].
279
280
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:18c], 48:84.

67

1. Saint Sophronios: God blessed nothing in the six-day creation except man and woman
[Gen. 1:28] and the things that were born from the water [Gen. 1:22]. So even at the beginning,
when they arose, the prophetic oracle was fulfilled, which said, The voice of the Lord is upon the
waters [Ps. 28:3], that were blessed by Him before all else.281...The waters were separated into four
areas: the water above the heaven, the firmament that rose from the water, the water on the earth,
and the water below the ground, dark and final [Gen. 1:6, 7].282
1. Saint Ambrose: The entire earth was now arrayed in its verdant garb of diverse plants.
The sun, too, and the moon, those twin luminaries, and the stars in their splendor shone forth in the
heavens. A third element still remained, in which the blessing of life was to be bestowed by the gift
of God....The earth opening up the seeds gives life to everything. Then, under the command of Gods
word, it blossomed forth at the gift of creative life. Water alone seemed not yet to have been affected
by the generosity of Gods gift. There still was something which waited for the hands of the Creator.
With the water He saved a certain fitting and special endowment which He would set aside for the
functions appropriate to it. The earth was the first element on which the boon of life was conferred,
but this life has no animating soul. The water, in its turn, was bidden to produce that which would
bestow the force and dignity of something that is alivesomething that is provided with a sense of
self-preservation and with the instinct of shrinking from death. 283
1. Saint Ephraim: When the waters were gathered, which had been ordered on the second
day, there appeared rivers as well as springs, lakes, and ponds. At the word of God these waters
dispersed throughout creation and brought forth swarming things and fish from within them; the
serpents were created in the abysses and the birds soared in flocks out of the waves into the air.284
2. Saint Basil: And God said, Let the waters produce creeping things (erpeta) having life,
and winged creatures flying above the earth in the firmament of the heaven, and it was so [Gen.
1:20]. After the creation of the luminaries, the waters are now filled with living beings and its own
adornment is given to this part of the world. Earth had received hers from her own plants, the
heavens had received the flowers of the stars; and, like two eyes, the great luminaries beautified
them in concert. It still remained for the waters to receive their adornment. The command was given,
and immediately the rivers and lakes becoming fruitful brought forth their natural broods; the sea
travailed with all kinds of swimming creatures; not even in mud and marshes did the water remain
idle; it took its part in creation. Everywhere from its ebullition did frogs, gnats, and flies come
forth.285
Thus, everywhere the water hastened to obey the Creators command. Who could count the
species which the great and ineffable power of God caused to be suddenly seen living and moving,
when this command had empowered the waters to bring forth life? Let the waters bring forth moving
creatures that have life. Then for the first time is made a being with life and feeling. For though
281

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 5, V II.2, p. 167.
283
Saint Ambrose, Book Five: The Fifth Day, The Seventh Homily, C h. 1(1 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:159, 160.
284
285
Saint Basil, Hom. VII(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
282
68
plants and trees be said to live, seeing that they share the power of being nourished and growing;
nevertheless, they are neither living beings, nor have they life. Every creature that swims, whether
it skims on the surface of the waters, or cleaves the depths, is of the nature of a moving creature,
since it drags itself on the body of the water. Certain aquatic animals have feet and walk; especially
amphibia, such as seals, crabs, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and frogs; but they are above all gifted
with the power of swimming. Thus it is said, Let the waters produce moving creatures. In these
few words what species is omitted? Which is not included in the command of the Creator? Do we
not see viviparous (producing live young) animals, seals, dolphins, rays, and all cartilaginous
animals? Do we not see oviparous (egg-laying) animals comprising every sort of fish, those which
have a skin and those which have scales, those which have fins and those which have not? This
command has only required one word, even less than a word, a sign, a motion of the divine will, and
it has such a wide sense that it includes all the varieties and all the families of fish....It is from the
same power, the same command, that all, small and great receive their existence. Let the waters
bring forth. These words show you the natural affinity of animals which swim in the water; thus,
fish, when drawn out of the water, quickly die, because they have no respiration such as could attract
our airand water is their element, as air is that of terrestrial animals. Fish have a peculiar lot, a
special nature, a nourishment of their own, a life apart. Thus they cannot be tamed and cannot bear
the touch of a mans hand.286
Let the waters bring forth moving creatures after their kind (genos). God caused to be born
the firstlings of each species to serve as seeds for nature. Their multitudinous numbers are kept up
in subsequent succession, when it is necessary for them to grow and multiply. Of another kind is the
species of testacea, as muscles, scallops, sea snails, conches, and the infinite variety of oysters.
Another kind is that of the crustacea, as crabs and lobsters; another of fish without shells, with soft
and tender flesh, like polypi and cuttle fish. And amidst these last what an innumerable variety!
There are weevers, lampreys, and eels, produced in the mud of rivers and ponds, which more
resemble venomous reptiles than fish in their nature. Of another kind is the species of the ovipara;
of another, that of the vivipara. Among the latter are swordfish, cod, in one word, all cartilaginous
fish, and even the greater part of the cetacea, as dolphins, seals, which, it is said, if they see their
little ones, still quite young, frightened, take them back into their belly to protect them. The species
of the cetacean is one; another is that of small fish. What infinite variety in the different kinds! All
have their own names, different food, different form, shape, and quality of flesh. All present infinite
variety, and are divided into innumerable classes.287
The food of fish differs according to their species. Some feed on mud; others eat sea weed;
others content themselves with the herbs that grow in water. But the greater part devour each other,
and the smaller is food for the larger, and if one which has possessed itself of a fish weaker than
itself becomes a prey to another, the conqueror and the conquered are both swallowed up in the belly
of the last. And we mortals, do we act otherwise when we press our inferiors?288
286
287
288
Ibid., Hom. VII(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

69
God has foreseen all, He has neglected nothing. His eye, which never sleeps, watches over
all. He is present everywhere and gives to each being the means of preservation. 289
What object of luxury was not given to man? Some to supply his needs, some to make him
contemplate the marvels of creation. Such are these animals created to strike us with terror and awe.
Thus the Creator wishes that all may keep you awake, so that full of hope in Him you may avoid the
evils with which all these creatures threaten you. 290
3. Saint Chrysostom: Today, God switches to the waters and shows us from them living
beings coming at His word and command. And God said, Let the waters produce creeping things
(erpeta) having life, and winged creatures flying above the earth in the firmament of the heaven,
and it was so [Gen. 1:20]. He simply said (before), Let the earth shoot forth [Gen. 1:11], and
immediately He awakened it to birth pangs. Now He says, Let the waters bring forth. See how His
directions correspond: in one case, the text says, Let it shoot forth, in this case, Let the waters
produce creeping things having life [Gen. 1:20]....There were then created on earth winged
creatures flying across the firmament of heavenand all of a sudden such kinds of reptiles and such
variety of birds as to beggar counting.291
It was Gods Word, and His Word endowed those creatures with life. Do you see how He
brings everything from non-being to being?...Did you see the considerateness of the Lord toward
our race?...I mean, how would we have been able to know these things precisely had not He in His
really unspeakable love deemed it proper to teach humanity through the tongue of the biblical
author, so that we might know the order of created things and the power of the Creator, and how His
word took effect, and His Word endowed creatures with life and the way to existence?292
Yet there are some stupid people who, despite this kind of teaching, are rash enough to
withhold belief, and do not admit that these visible things have a creator. Some of them hold they
came into existence by themselves, others that they were formed from some underlying matter. See
the extent of the devils wiles, how he exploits the facile thinking of people in the thrall of
error....You see, if God in His care for our salvation had not directed the tongue of the biblical author
in this way, it would have been sufficient to say that God made heaven and earth, the sea and living
things, and not add the order of the days, nor what was created first and what later. But, lest He
should leave any grounds for excuse to those bent on folly, He explains in this way both the order
of created things and the number of the days, and He teaches us everything with great
considerateness so that we may learn the whole truth and not turn our minds to the error of those
uttering all these ideas from their own reasoning. But we are able to know the ineffable power of our
Creator.293
1. Saint Basil: Let the waters it is said bring forth creeping things having life, and winged
creatures flying above the earth in the firmament of the heaven [Gen. 1:20]. Why do the waters give
birth also to birds? Because there is, so to say, a family link between the creatures that fly and those
that swim. In the same way that fish cut the waters, using their fins to carry them forward and their
289
290
291
292
293

70
tails to direct their movements round and round and straightforward, so we see birds float in the air
by the help of their wings. Both endowed with the property of swimming, their common derivation
from the waters has made them of one family. At the same time no bird is without feet, because
finding all its food upon the earth it cannot do without their service.294
There are also innumerable kinds of birds. If we review them all, as we have partly done
the fish, we shall find that under one name, the creatures which fly differ infinitely in size, form and
color; that in their life, their actions and their manners, they present a variety equally beyond the
power of description.295
What a variety, I have said, in the actions and lives of flying creatures. Some of these
unreasoning creatures even have a government, if the feature of government is to make the activity
of all the individuals center in one common end.296...They received the command to fly above the
earth because earth provides them with nourishment. In the firmament of the heaven [Gen. 1:20],
that is to say, as we have said before, in that part of the air called ouranon, heaven, from the word
oran, which means to see; called firmament, because the air which extends over our heads,
compared to the ether, has greater density, and is thickened by the vapors which exhale from the
earth. You have then heaven adorned, earth beautified, the sea populated with its own creatures, the
air filled with birds which scour it in every direction. Studious listener, think of all these creations
which God has drawn out of nothing, think of all those which my speech has left out, to avoid
tediousness, and not to exceed my limits; recognize everywhere the wisdom of God; never cease to
wonder, and, through, every creature, to glorify the Creator.297...What a difference He has foreseen
among winged creatures! How He has divided them by kinds! How He has characterized each one
of them by distinct qualities! But the day will not suffice me to recount the wonders of the
air....What have you to say, you who do not believe in the change that Paul promises you in the
resurrection [1 Cor. 15:42 ff.], when you see so many metamorphoses among creatures of the air?298
2. Saint Chrysostom: God made the huge sea monsters and every single living reptile which
the waters produced in a range of kinds, and every winged creature according to kind. God saw that
they were good, and God blessed them in these words. Be ye increasing and multiplying, and fill
the waters in the seas, and let the creatures that fly be multiplied on the earth [Gen. 1:22]....Some
might say, Why did He make the sea monsters? What is the advantage of their creation? Of set
purpose was it said, And God made the whales, the great ones, and every creeping things having
life, which the waters produced according to kinds, and every creature that flies with wings
according to kind, and God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:21]. In other words, it is said, although you
stand in ignorance of the reason for the created things, do not presume to find fault with their
creation. Having heard the Lord give His approval and declare them good, how can you be so
demented as to dare to ask, Why were they made? Are you scorning their creation as pointless?...If
you were well disposed you would be able from the creation of these things to get an insight into
the power of your Lord and His ineffable loveHis power, for the reason that He caused living
beings like this to be created from the waters by His word and command, and His love, for the
294
295
296
297
298
Saint Basil, Hom. VIII(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. VIII(3), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
Ibid., Hom. VIII(8), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.
71
reason that in creating them He gave each of them a particular place, and assigned them a boundless
area of the sea so that they might not hinder one another and that they cause no harm to the human
race; indeed, they dwell in the waters and provide an example to teach the Creators extraordinary
power.299
1. Saint Ambrose: There are three races of living creatures: those of the earth, the air, and
the water. This is not open to doubt.300...It is not without reason that both species (fish and birds)
have the innate faculty of swimming, since both have their origin in water.301
Let the waters abound with life, said the Lorda brief statement, but a significant one that
is widely effective in endowing with their nature the smallest and the largest animals without
distinction. The whale, as well as the frog, came into existence at the same time by the same creative
power. Without effort does God produce the greatest things....Take note of the fact that there are far
more animals in the sea than on land.302...And so, at this command [Gen. 1:20], the waters
immediately poured forth their offspring. The rivers were in labor....Before man there existed things
to delight us!...Nature gave us nourishment and did not prescribe vice. For you did...the waters
generate all their produce. Not satisfied with these, you have tasted food that is forbidden to
you.303...We are unable to record the multiplicity of the names of all those species which by
command were brought to life in a moment of time. At the same instant substantial form and the
principle of life were brought into existence; associated was a sort of vital vigor and power. The
earth was replete with plants. The sea was filled with living things.304...
We know that the serpent species is given the name of creeper from the fact that it creeps
over the earth. With more assurance we can say that every creature that swims presents the natural
appearance of a creature that creeps. For, when these animals sink into deep water, they seem to
cleave through it. Yet, when they swim, they seem to creep with their whole body as they propel it
over the surface of the water. Hence, David has also said, This here sea, the great and wide, there
are creeping things of which there is no count, living creatures small with the great [Ps. 103:26]....
There are a great many animals provided with feet for walking. They are amphibians, living either
in the water or on the land, such as seals, crocodiles, and hippopotamuses. These animals do not
walk, however, when they are in deep water. Rather, by using their feet they are able by swimming
to propel themselves forward; not, however, as one would perform the act of walking. The animal
makes progress as one would with the use of an oar.305
2. Saint Bede: And God said, Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life,
and winged creatures flying above the earth in the firmament of heaven; and it was so [Gen. 1:20].
After the face of heaven was adorned with lights on the fourth day, portions of the lower world,
namely, the waters and the air, were fittingly adorned on the fifth day with these creatures that move
with the breath of life, because these elements are connected with each other and with heaven by a
certain family relationship, as it were. They are linked with each other because the nature of the
299
300
301
302
303
304
305

Saint Am brose, H om. 8, Ch. 12(37), Hexameron, FC, 42:193.
Ibid., Hom. 7, Ch. 1(3), Hexameron, FC, 42:160, 161.
72
waters is very near to the quality of the air....And lest by chance anyone should think that any
species of flying or aquatic creatures was overlooked in this word of the Lord, because there are
living creatures of the waters which move not be creeping, but by swimming or by walking with
feet, and because there are among birds those that have feathers even though they lack all capacity
for flight, it is carefully added:306 And God created the great whales and every living and moving
creature which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every winged bird according
to its kind [Gen. 1:21]. Therefore, no species was excepted when every living creature of those
which the waters brought forth in their various kinds was created along with the great whalesthat
is, not only creeping and swimming and flying creatures, but also those which, not being adapted
for any form of locomotion, cling fast to the rocks, as in the case with many kinds of shellfish.307
3. Saint John of Damascus: By the divine decree hollow places are made in the earth, and
so into these the waters are gathered. And this is how mountains are formed. God, then, bade the
first water produce living breath, since it was to be by water and the Holy Spirit that moved upon
the waters in the beginning [Gen. 1:2], that man was to be renewed. For this is what the divine Basil
said:308 Therefore it produced living creatures, small and big; whales and dragons, fish that swim in
the waters, and feathered fowl. The birds form a link between water and earth and air: for they have
their origin in the water, they live on the earth and they fly in the air. Water, then, is the most
beautiful element and rich in usefulness, and purifies from all filth, and not only from the filth of the
body but from that of the soul, if it should have received the grace of the Spirit. 309
F. Winged Creatures Below the Firmament [Gen. 1:21, 22]
1. Saint Ambrose: Let us now examine the sense of the words, Let the waters abound with
life and above the earth let winged creatures fly below the firmament of the heavens [Gen. 1:20].
It is clear that above the earth is said because they search for their food on the earth. But why,
below the firmament? Eagles fly above all other birds, yet they do not fly below the firmament
of the heavens. The Greek word for heaven is ouranos, derived from the Greek word to see, for
the reason that the air is clear and transparent and so living species are said to fly through the air.
One should not be disturbed by the phrase below the firmament of the heavens. The word
firmament is used, not in its proper, but in its derivative sense. The air which we perceive with our
eyes is, in comparison with that ethereal substance, the firmament, of greater thickness and
density.310
G. Hybrids
1. Saint Ambrose speaks of pure and untarnished generations without mingling. Fish know
nothing of union with alien species. They do not have unnatural betrothals such as are designedly
brought about between animals of two different species as, for instance, the donkey and the mare,
or against the female donkey and the horse, both being examples of unnatural union. Certainly there
are cases in which nature suffers more in the nature of defilement rather than that of injury to the
individual. Man as an abettor of hybrid barrenness is responsible for this. He considers a mongrel
animal more valuable than one of a genuine species. You mix together alien species and you mingle
306
307
308
309
310
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:20], 48:85, 86.

Ibid., On Genesis, Book One [1:21a/d], 48:86.
Saint Basil, Hexaemeron, Hom. 8.
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning the waters, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. IX, Vol. IX:26, 27.
Saint Am brose, H om. 8, Ch. 22(73), Hexameron, FC, 42:216, 217.
73
diverse seeds. You go to the extent of frequently forcing animals to a forbidden copulationall this
in the name of efficiency.311
1. Saint Bede: And God saw that it was good. And He blessed them saying, Increase and
multiply and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth. And the evening
and the morning were the fifth day [Gen. 1:21-23]. God commands to increase and multiply and
fill the waters of the sea, pertains to both kinds of living things made from the waters, that is, to fish
and to birds, because just as no fish can live except in the waters, so there are many birds which,
although they occasionally rest on land and give birth there to their young, feed not just from the
land but also from the sea and use their marine habitations more willingly than their terrestrial ones.
But what He adds, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth, refers to both kinds of birds, that
is, those that feed from the waters and those that feed from the land.312
VI. SIXTH DAY
D. The Creation of Terrestrial Animals, Each According to Its Kind [Gen. 1:24]
F. Quadrupeds
J. True Dominion
K. Every Herb, Tree, and Green Plant Shall Be for Food [Gen. 1:29, 30]
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature (soul) according to kind,
quadrupeds and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth according to kind; and it was so [Gen. 1:24].
And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to kind, and the cattle according to
kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to kind, and God saw that it was good [Gen. 1:25].
And God said, Let Us make man according to Our image and according to similitude, and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and of the flying creatures of the heaven and of the
cattle and of all the earth and of all the reptiles, the creeping ones, on the earth [Gen. 1:26].
And God made the man, according to the image of God He made him, male and female He
made them [Gen. 1:27].
And God blessed them, saying, Be ye increasing and multiplying, and fill the earth and
subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the
cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth [Gen. 1:28].
311
312

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:21e-23], 48:87.
74
And God said, Behold I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is
upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be
for food [Gen. 1:29].
And to all the wild beasts of the earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to
every reptile creeping on the earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even every green plant for
food; and it was so [Gen. 1:30].
And God saw all the things that He had made, and, behold, they were very good. And there
was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Gen. 1:31].
1. Saint Sophronios: God made all things in complete and surpassing wisdom [Job 8:3; Wis.
9:1; Amos 5:8]. Why then, when He created light on the first day, did He not immediately create
with all the things of light, such as the stars? But no, He left the things of light and went back to the
waters and made from them the firmament of the sky [Gen. 1:7]. And after He had fixed the sky in
place, even then He did not arrange the stars in it and finish. No, He was leaving it half-done. On
the third day, God returned to the waters once again. He gathered the waters together and separated
them from the land [Gen. 1:9]. But again, He did not bring these to completion. He did not fill them
with the things born in the waters and from the waters: the fish, the whales, and the birds. God left
the waters half-done and not producing, and returned to the land. God said, Let the earth shoot forth
the herb of grass and the fruit-tree [cf. Gen. 1:11]. And with this done, why did He not immediately
make the living beings come out of the earth, both the wild beasts and the reptiles? Instead, He left
His creation from the earth half-done and returned again to the sky. And on the fourth day, God
made the stars and the two luminaries [Gen. 1:16]. From there He turned again to the waters. And
on the fifth day God finished the genesis of the fish and birds from the waters [Gen. 1:20].
Then, eventually, on the sixth day, He returned to the land and brought to fulfillment the
things from it: the animalscattle, serpents, and wild beastsand the human being [Gen. 1:24-27].
Through all these activities, God demonstrated that the first three days were demonstrations of
unfinished creativity. But the last three daysthe fourth, fifth, and sixthconsisted of the
organization and fulfillment of the whole creation of the cosmos. This was done on account of the
three-day Christ, Who said, Behold,...I give signs today and tomorrow, and the third day I am
being perfected [Lk. 13:32], I Who am Lord over the rational lights of heaven, and those on earth,
and those under the earth [cf. Phil. 2:10]. Heaven, earth, and sea became full of His glory [Is. 6:3].
And when the sun and moon began to shine, even the earth and sea were immediately adorned,
wonderfully giving birth to the life of living things.313
1. Saint Basil: And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature (soul) according
to kind, quadrupeds and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth according to kind: and it was so [Gen.
1:24]. The command of God advanced step by step and earth thus received her adornment.
Yesterday it was said, Let the waters produce creeping things [Gen. 1:20], and today Let the earth
bring forth the living creature. Is the earth then alive?...At these words Let the earth bring forth,
it did not produce a germ contained in it, but He Who gave the order at the same time gifted it with
the grace and power to bring forth. When the earth [on the third day] had heard this command, Let
313
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 6, I.2, pp. 171, 173.
75
the earth shoot forth the herb [pasture] of grass bearing seed according to kind and according to
similitude; and the fruit-tree yielding fruit, the seed of which is in itself, according to kind on the
earth [Gen. 1:11], it was not grass that it had hidden in it that it caused to spring forth, it did not
bring to the surface a palm tree, an oak, a cypress, hitherto kept back in its depths. It is the word of
God which forms the nature of things created. Let the earth shoot forth; that is to say not that she
may bring forth that which she has but that she may acquire that which she lacks, when God gives
her the power. Even so now, Let the earth bring forth the living creature, not the living creature
that is contained in herself, but that which the command of God gives her.314
But why did the waters receive the command to bring forth the moving creature that has life
and the earth to bring forth the living creature? We conclude that, by their nature, swimming
creatures appear only to have an imperfect life, because they live in the thick element of water. They
are hard of hearing, and their sight is dull because they see through the water; they have no memory,
no imagination, no idea of social intercourse. Thus divine language appears to indicate that, in
aquatic animals, the carnal life originates their psychic movements, whilst in terrestrial animals,
gifted with a more perfect life, the soul enjoys supreme authority. In fact the greater part of
quadrupeds have more power of penetration in their senses; their apprehension of present objects
is keen, and they keep all exact remembrance of the past. It seems therefore, that God, after the
command given to the waters to bring forth moving creatures that have life, created simply living
bodies for aquatic animals, whilst for terrestrial animals He commanded the soul to exist and to
direct the body, showing thus that the inhabitants of the earth are gifted with greater vital force.
Without doubt terrestrial animals are devoid of reason. At the same time how many affections of the
soul each one of them expresses by the voice of nature! They express by cries their joy and sadness,
recognition of what is familiar to them, the need of food, regret at being separated from their
companions, and numberless emotions. Aquatic animals, on the contrary, are not only dumb; it is
impossible to tame them, to teach them, to train them for mans society. The ox knoweth his owner,
and the ass his masters crib [Is. 1:3]. But the fish does not know who feeds him.315
2. Saint Gregory Palamas: The soul of each animal not imbued with intelligence is the life
of the body that it animates; it does not possess life as essence, but as activity, since here life is
relative and not something in itself. Indeed, the soul of animals consists of nothing except that which
is actuated by the body. Thus, when the body dissolves, the soul inevitably dissolves as well. Their
soul is no less mortal than their body, since everything that it is relates and refers to what is mortal.
So when the body dies the soul dies also.316
1. Saint Basil: Let the earth bring forth the living soul [Gen. 1:24]. Why did the earth
produce a living soul? So that you may make a difference between the soul of cattle and that of man.
You will soon learn how the human soul was formed; hear now about the soul of creatures devoid
of reason. Since, according to Scripture, the life of every creature is in the blood [Lev. 17:11], as
the blood when thickened changes into flesh, and flesh when corrupted decomposes into earth, so
the soul of beasts is naturally an earthy substance. Let the earth bring forth a living soul. See the
affinity of the soul with blood, of blood with flesh, of flesh with earth; and remounting in an inverse
314
315
316
Saint Basil, Hom. VIII(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

76
sense from the earth to the flesh, from the flesh to the blood, from the blood to the soul, you will find
that the soul of beasts is earth. Do not suppose that it is older than the essence of their body, nor that
it survives the dissolution of the flesh.317...But I am being called to speak of domestic animals, of
wild beasts, and of reptiles after their kind.318
D. The Creation of Terrestrial Animals, Each According to Its Kind [Gen. 1:24]
1. Saint Basil: The servant of God, Moses, is silent as to shapes...and measurements....He
has passed over in silence, as useless, all that is unimportant for us. Shall I then prefer foolish
wisdom to the oracles of the Holy Spirit? Shall I not rather exalt Him Who, not wishing to fill our
minds with these vanities, has regulated all the economy of Scripture in view of the edification and
the making perfect of our souls?319
Let the earth bring forth every living creature according to kind [Gen. 1:24]. Behold the
word of God pervading creation, beginning even then the efficacy which is seen displayed today,
and will be displayed to the end of the world!...Nature always makes a horse succeed to a horse, a
lion to a lion, an eagle to an eagle, and preserving each animal by these uninterrupted successions
she transmits it to the end of all things. Animals do not see their peculiarities destroyed or effaced
by any length of time; their nature, as though it had been just constituted, follows the course of ages,
forever young. This command that the earth bring froth the living creature has continued and earth
does not cease to obey the Creator....320
3. Saint Ambrose: The Word of God permeates every creature in the constitution of the
world. Hence, as God had ordained, all kinds of living creatures were quickly produced from the
earth. In compliance with a fixed law they all succeed each other from age to age according to their
aspect and kind. The lion generates a lion; the tiger, a tiger; the ox, an ox; the swan, a swan; and the
eagle, an eagle. What was once enjoined became in nature a habit for all time. Hence, the earth has
not ceased to offer the homage of her service. The original species of living creatures is reproduced
for future ages by successive generations of its kind.321
4. Saint Chrysostom: God not merely quickened the waters to birth of living things, but also
directed land creatures in their turn to be produced from the earth. And God said, Let the earth
produce the living creature according to kind, quadrupeds and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth
according to kind; and it was so. And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to kind, and
cattle according to kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to kind, and God saw that it was
good [Gen. 1:24, 25]. See the earth also for a second time producing twofold fruit, and doing the
Lords bidding. On the first occasion, remember, it brought forth a crop of seeds, but on this
occasion living beings, four-footed creatures, reptiles, wild beasts, and cattle....It was not simply for
our use that He produced all these things; instead, it was also for our benefit in the sense that we
might see the overflowing abundance of His creatures and be overwhelmed at the Creators power,
and be in a position to know that all these things were produced by a certain wisdom and ineffable
317
318
319
320
321
Saint Basil, Hom. VIII(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. IX(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
Saint Am brose, Book VI: T he Sixth D ay, T he N inth H omily, C h. 3(9 ), Hexameron, FC, 42:232.
77
love out of regard for the human being that was destined to come into being.322...Again, as with the
trees, so too with wild beasts: some are useful for our food, others for serving us. 323
5. Saint Bede: The consequence was that the earth was filled with its own living things, that
is, creatures born from itself. For the earth itself has a special relationship with the waters,...as Peter
attests, who says that by the word of God were there heavens of old, and an earth having stood
together out of water and in water [2 Pe. 3:5]. Therefore, God commands the earth to bring forth
cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth,...and under the name of creeping things of the
earth serpents are also included. But the word cattle designates those animals that were meant for
the use of men.324
1. Saint Basil: Cattle are terrestrial and bent toward the earth. Man, a celestial growth, rises
superior to them as much by the mold of his bodily conformation as by the dignity of his soul. What
is the form of quadrupeds? Their head is bent toward the earth and looks toward their belly, and only
pursues their bellys good. Thy head, O man! is turned toward heaven; thine eyes look up. When
therefore thou degradest thyself by the passions of the flesh, slave of thy belly, and thy lowest parts,
thou approachest animals without reason and becomest like one of them. Thou art called to more
noble cares; seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth. Raise thy soul above the earth;
draw from its natural conformation the rule of thy conduct; fix thy conversation in heaven. Thy true
country is the heavenly Jerusalem; thy fellow-citizens and thy compatriots are the firstborn ones
who have been registered in the heavens [Heb. 12:23].325
2. Saint John of Damascus: Moreover, at the bidding of the Creator it produced also all
manner of kinds of living creatures, creeping things, and wild beasts, and cattle. All, indeed, are for
the seasonable use of man: but of them some are for food, such as stags, sheep, deer, and such like:
others for service such as camels, oxen, horses, asses, and such like: and others for enjoyment, such
as apes, and among birds, jays and parrots, and such like. Again, amongst plants and herbs some are
fruit bearing, others edible, others fragrant and flowery, given to us for our enjoyment, for example,
the rose and such like, and others for the healing of disease. For there is not a single animal or plant
in which the Creator has not implanted some form of energy capable of being used to satisfy mans
needs. For He Who knew all things before they were, saw that in the future man would go forward
in the strength of his own will, and would be subject to corruption; and, therefore, He created all
things for his seasonable use, alike those in the firmament, and those on the earth, and those in the
waters.326
F. Quadrupeds
1. Saint Ephraim: After speaking about the creation of the swarming things and of the birds
and the sea serpents on the fifth day, he turned to write about the creeping things and the animals
and the beasts that were created on the sixth day...Although the entire earth was swarming with
swarming things, nevertheless the cattle and the beasts were set along the border of Paradise so that
322

324
325
Saint Basil, Hom. IX(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.
326
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning Earth and its products, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. X, V ol.
IX:28, 29.
323
78
they might dwell near Adam.327 Therefore the entire earth stirred with creeping things as had been
commanded. The earth also brought forth the beasts of the field as companions to the wild beasts,
and it brought forth as many beasts as would be suitable for the service of that one who, on that very
day, was to transgress the commandment of His Lord.328
2. Saint Basil: Let the earth bring forth the living creature [Gen. 1:24]. Thus when the soul
of brutes appeared it was not concealed in the earth, but it was born by the command of God. Brutes
have one and the same soul of which the common characteristic is absence of reason. But each
animal is distinguished by peculiar qualities. They not only show us in our Creator a care which
extends to all beings, but a certain presentiment of future even in brutes. Then we ought not to attach
ourselves to this present life and ought to give all heed to that which is to come. Will you not be
industrious for yourself, O man? And will you not lay up in the present age rest in that which is to
come, after having seen the example of the ant? What language can attain to the marvels of the
Creator? What ear could understand them? And what time would be sufficient to relate them? Let
us say, then, with the prophet, How magnified are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom didst Thou make
them all [Ps. 103:25]. ....Each knows naturally what is salutary and marvellously appropriates what
suits its nature.329
With animals invincible affection unites parents with children. It is the Creator, God
Himself, who substitutes the strength of feeling for reason in them....It is proof that the instinct of
animals is innate, and that in all beings there is nothing disorderly, nothing unforeseen. All bear the
marks of the wisdom of the Creator, and show that they have come to life with the means of assuring
their preservation.330
The easiest animals to catch are the most productive. And let nobody accuse the Creator of
having produced venomous animals, destroyers and enemies of our life. Else let them consider it a
crime in the schoolmaster when he disciplines the restlessness of youth by the use of the rod and
whip to maintain order.331
3. Saint Sophronios: We learn that the marine and terrestrial creatures are a vivid type of
two peoples. And the fish of the Gentiles were blessed, as were the winged bird that came out of
them [Gen. 1:20-22]; but the herds of animals born from the earth did not receive an equal blessing
from God [Gen. 1:24, 25]. And here I am speaking about the people of Israel. First: because they
were not baptized and had no relationship with the water and the Spirit that is borne upon the water
[Gen. 1:2]. Second: they were deprived of the blessing because the snake was among them, the
enemy that would plot treachery against Everather, against the holy Churchand they were about
to fall beneath Christs awful curse [Gen. 3:16-19]. In all the Law we do not find a single instance
when God, from His own mouth, blessed someone and then afterwards called down curses upon
him.332
4. Saint Bede: The change of wording should be noted, because it was said above that God
commanded the earth to bring forth the cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth [Gen.
1:24], but now with the order changed God is said to have made the beasts of the earth, the cattle,
327
328
329
330
331
332

Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 6, III.1, pp. 183, 185.
79
and every creeping thing of the earth. It must be understood that everything that He wanted came
into existence faster than speech. It matters not at all what human speech names first in the class of
created things that divine power fashioned collectively all at once. But since this follows: And God
saw that it was good [Gen. 1:25], it is deservedly asked why there is not also added here concerning
these living things what was said about the things which the waters had brought forth, and He
blessed them, saying, Be ye increasing and multiplying, and fill the earth [Gen. 1:22]. Is it not
very probable that what Scripture pointed out that God said about the first creation of life was left
for us to understand also about the second, especially since He was going to add many other things
in the works of this day? Further on, Scripture necessarily took care to repeat this about the creation
of man, saying, And God blessed them and said, Be ye increasing and multiplying, and fill the
earth [Gen. 1:28], lest anyone should think that sin was present in that honorable marriage and that
the marriage bed was to be coupled with filth and fornication. But after the habitation of the earth
had been made and adorned, it remained for the inhabiter and the lord of things himself to be
created, for whose sake all things were ordained.333
1. Saint Justin to Trypho the Jew: And God said, Let Us make man according to Our
image and according to likeness....And God made the man, according to the image of God He made
him, male and female He made them [Gen. 1:26, 27]. And that you may not change the force of the
words just quoted, and repeat what your teachers asserteither that God said to Himself, Let Us
make, just as we, when about to do something, oftentimes say to ourselves, Let us make; or that
God spoke to the elements, to wit, the earth and other similar substances of which we believe man
was formed, Let us make,I shall quote again the words narrated by Moses himself, from which
we can indisputably learn that [God] conversed with some One Who was numerically distinct from
Himself, and also a rational Being. These are the words: And God said, Behold, Adam is become
as one of us, to know good and evil [Gen. 3:22].334
2. Saint Irenaeos: For the body is not possessed of greater power than the soul, since indeed
the former is inspired, and vivified, and increased, and held together by the latter; but the soul
possesses and rules over the body. It is doubtless retarded in its velocity, just in the exact proportion
in which the body shares in its motion; but it never loses the knowledge which properly belongs to
it. For the body may be compared to an instrument; but the soul is possessed of the reason of an
artist.335...Souls themselves possess the figure of the body [in which they dwell]; for they themselves
have been adapted to the vessel [in which they exist], as I have said before.336...All the followers of
Valentinus, therefore, lose their case, when they say that man was not fashioned out of this earth,
but from a fluid and diffused substance. For, from the earth out of which the Lord formed eyes for
that man [Jn. 9:6],337 from the same earth it is evident that man was also fashioned at the beginning.
For it were incompatible that the eyes should indeed be formed from one source and the rest of the
333

Saint Justin Martyr, Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew, Ch. 62, Ante-Nicene
Fathers, V ol. I.
335
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. II, Ch. XX XIII, 4, A nte-N icene Fathers, V ol. I.
336
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. II, Ch. XIX , 6, Ante-N icene Fathers, V ol. I.
337
Having said these things, He spat on the ground, and made clay out of the spittle, and anointed the eyes
of the blind one with the clay [Jn. 9:6].
334
80
body from another; as neither would it be compatible that one [being] fashioned the body, and
another the eyes.338
3. Saint Ephraim: After [Moses] spoke about the reptiles, the beasts and the cattle that were
created on the sixth day, he turned to write about the creation of man who was fashioned on the sixth
day, saying, And God said...[Gen. 1:26]. But to Whom was God speaking? Here, as in every place
where He creates, it is clear that He was speaking to His Son. The evangelist said about Him that
all things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that
hath come to be [Jn. 1:3]. Paul, too, confirms this when he said, For in Him were all things created,
the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible [Col. 1:16].339
And God said, Let Us make man in Our image [Gen. 1:26]....Moses explains in what
way we are the image of God, when He said, Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the birds, and over the cattle, and over all the earth [Gen. 1:26]. It is the dominion that Adam
received over the earth and over all that is in it that constitutes likeness of God Who has dominion
over the heavenly things and the earthly things.340
Then Moses said, male and female He created them [Gen. 1:27], to make known that Eve
was inside Adam, in the rib that was drawn out from him. Although she was not in his mind she was
in his body, and she was not only in his body with him, but she was also in soul and spirit with him,
for God added nothing to that rib that he took out except the structure and adornment. If everything
that was suitable for Eve, who came to be from the rib, was complete in and from that rib, it is
rightly said that male and female He created them.341
4. Saint Gregory the Theologian (329-389): Now the Creator-Logos determined to produce
a single living being out of bothI mean the visible and the invisible creationsand He fashions
man; and taking a body from already existing matter, and placing in it a breath taken from Himself
which the Logos knew to be an intelligent soul and the image of God, as a sort of second world, He
placed him, great in littleness, on the earth; a new angel, a mingled worshipper, fully initiated into
the visible creation, but only partially into the intellectual; king of all upon earth, but subject to the
King above; earthly and heavenly; temporal and yet immortal; visible and yet intellectual; halfway
between greatness and lowliness; in one person combining spirit and flesh; spirit, because of the
favor bestowed on him; flesh, because of the height to which he had been raised; the one that he
might continue to live and praise his Benefactor, the other that he might suffer, and by suffering be
put in remembrance, and corrected if he became proud of his greatness. A living creature trained
here, and then moved elsewhere; and, to complete the mystery, divinized by its inclination to God.
For to this, I think, tends that light of truth which we here possess but in measure, that we should
both see and experience the splendor of God, which is worthy of Him Who made us, and will
remake us again after a loftier fashion.342...If man appeared in the world last, honored by the
handiwork and image of God, this is not in the least surprising; since for him, as for a king, the royal
338
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XV, 4, Ante-N icene Fathers, V ol. I.
340
341
342
Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration XXXVIII(11), On the Theophany or Nativity of Christ, NPNF,
2 nd Ser., VII:348.
339
81
dwelling had to be prepared and only then was the king to be led in, accompanied by all
creatures.343
5. Saint Basil: And God said, Let Us make man [Gen. 1:26]. Does not the light of theology
shine, in these words, as through windows; and does not the second Person show Himself in a
mystical way, without yet manifesting Himself until the great day?...To Whom does He say, in Our
image, to Whom if it is not to Him Who is effulgence of the glory and impress of His hypostasis
[Heb. 1:3], and the image of the invisible God [Col. 1:15]? It is then to His living image, to Him
Who has said I and the Father are one [Jn. 10:30], and The one who hath seen Me hath seen the
Father [Jn. 14:9], that God says, Let Us make man in Our image [Gen. 1:26]. Where is the
unlikeness in these Beings Who have only one image? And God created man [Gen. 1:27]. It is not
They made. Here Scripture avoids the plurality of the Persons. After having enlightened the Jew,
it dissipates the error of the Gentiles in putting itself under the shelter of unity, to make you
understand that the Son is with the Father, and guarding you from the danger of polytheism. He
created him (man) in the image of God. God still shows us His Co-operator, because He does not
say, in His image, but in the image of God.344
6. Saint Gregory of Nyssa and Saint Makrina: Scripture informs us that the Deity proceeded
by a sort of graduated and ordered advance to the creation of man. After the foundations of the
universe were laid, as the history records, man did not appear on the earth at once; but the creation
of the brutes preceded his, and the plants preceded them. Thereby, Scripture shows that the vital
forces blended with the world of matter according to a gradation; first, it infused itself into insensate
nature; and in continuation of this advanced into the sentient world; and then ascended to intelligent
and rational beings. Accordingly, while all existing things must be either corporeal or spiritual, the
former are divided into the animate and inanimate. By animate, I mean possessed of life: and of the
things possessed of life, some have it with sensation, the rest have no sensation. Again, of these
sentient things, some have reason, the rest have not....The creation of man is related as coming last,
as of one who took up into himself every single form of life, both that of plants and that which is
seen in brutes. His nourishment and growth he derives from vegetable life; for even in vegetables
such processes are to be seen when aliment is being drawn in by their roots and given off in fruit and
leaves. His sentient organization he derives from the brute creation. But his faculty of thought and
reason is incommunicable, and is a peculiar gift in our nature, to be considered by itself. However,
just as this nature has the instinct acquisitive of the necessaries to material existencean instinct
which, when manifested in us men, we call Appetiteand as we admit this appertains to the
vegetable form of life, since we can notice it there too like so many impulses working naturally to
satisfy themselves with their kindred aliment and to issue in germination, so all the peculiar
conditions of the brute creation are blended with the intellectual part of the soul. To them, she
continued, belongs anger; to them belongs fear; to them all those other opposing activities within
us; everything except the faculty of reason and thought. That alone, the choice product, as has been
said, of all our life, bears the stamp of the divine character. But since, according to the view which
we have just enunciated, it is not possible for this reasoning faculty to exist in the life of the body
without existing by means of sensations, and since sensation is already found subsisting in the brute
343
Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration 44, On New W eek, Spring, and the Commemoration of the Martyr
Mamas, 4, FC, 107:232.
344
82
creation, necessarily as it were, by reason of this one condition, our soul has touch with the other
things which are knit up with it; and these are all those phenomena within us that we call passions;
which have not been allotted to human nature for any bad purpose at all (for the Creator would most
certainly be the author of evil, if in them, so deeply rooted as they are in our nature, any necessities
of wrongdoing were found), but according to the use which our free will puts them to, these
emotions of the soul become the instruments of virtue or of vice....Thus too, with ourselves, if these
instincts are not turned by reasoning into the right direction, and if our feelings get the mastery of
our mind, the man is changed from a reasoning into an unreasoning being, and from godlike
intelligence sinks by the force of these passions to the level of the brute.345
7. Saint Ambrose: And God said, Let Us make man according to Our image and likeness
[Gen. 1:26]. To Whom does He speak? Surely not to Himself, because He does not say, I shall
make, but Let Us make. He does not speak to the angels, because they are servers; and servants
cannot have a part in a work along with their Master and Creator. He speaks, rather, to the
Sonalthough the Jews are unwilling to accept this, and the Arians object to it.346...
All virtue comes from God. By means of Isaiah, He says, Behold, Jerusalem, I have painted
thy walls [Is. 49:16]. That soul of yours is painted by God, Who holds in Himself the flashing
beauty of virtue and the splendor of piety. That soul is well painted in which shines the imprint of
divine operation. That soul is well painted in which resides the splendor of grace and the reflection
of its paternal nature. Precious is that picture which in its brilliance is in accord with that divine
reflection.347...Our soul, therefore, is made to the image of God. In this is mans entire essence,
because without it man is nothing but earth and unto earth he shall return. Hence, in order to
convince you that without the soul the flesh is nothing, Scripture says, And do not become afraid
because of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul [Mt. 10:28]....What shall a man
give as an exchange for his soul [Mt. 16:26]? In this is no slight part of himselfin fact, it is the
substantial part of the entire human race. This is the means by which men lord it over other living
things, wild beasts and birds. Your soul is made in the image of God, whereas your body is related
to the beasts. In one there is the holy seal of imitation of the divine. In the other there is found base
association with beasts and wild animals.348
8. Saint Chrysostom: A little time before, remember, we heard Him saying, after the
creation of heaven and earth, Let there be light [Gen. 1:3] and Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the water [Gen. 1:6]; and again, Let the water, the one under the heaven, be brought
together in one congregation, and let the dry land be seen [Gen. 1:9], and Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven [Gen. 1:14], and Let the waters produce creeping things having life [Gen.
1:20]. Did you see the whole of creation made in those five days merely by word and command?
Notice today how great the difference in the words. That is, no longer does it say, Let a man be
created. Instead, what? Let Us make man according to Our image and similitude [Gen. 1:26].
What is new in this? What is strange? Who on earth is this creature now being made whose making
required in the Creator such planning and care? Do not be surprised, dearly beloved. I mean, the
human being is the creature more important than all the other visible beings, and for this creature
345
346
347
348
Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Argument, On the Soul and the Resurrection, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. V.
83
all the others have been producedsky, earth, sea, sun, moon, stars, the reptiles, the cattle, all the
brute beasts.349
9. Saint Maximos: Humanity clearly has the power of naturally uniting at the mean point
of each division since it is related to the extremities of each division in its own parts....For this
reason the human person was introduced last among beings, as a kind of natural bond.350
10. Saint Sophronios: On account of their relatedness and coessentiality, God refers to
Adam and Eve and all humankind as one person. Listen how He says, Let Us make man in Our
image and likeness, and let them govern [Gen. 1:26]. He is referring to the two as one person. And
again He says, And God made man, in the image of God He made him, male and female He made
them [Gen. 1:27]. Look, even here He names the two as one human.351...Divine Scripture said this
once and then a second time: And God made the human, in the image of God He made him [Gen.
1:27; 5:1]. But it did not add in the likeness. That which is in the image was God-built and is our
inborn nature. But that which is in the likeness is something related to our free will. Through
conduct in virtue it is acquired and added. 352
11. Saint Bede: God did not say, as He did in His other creatures, Let man be made; and
man was made, or Let the earth bring forth man; and the earth brought forth man.353
12. Saint John of Damascus: God creates with His own hands man of a visible nature and
an invisible nature, after His own image and likeness. On the one hand mans body He formed of
earth, and on the other his reasoning and thinking soul He bestowed upon him by His own inbreathing (emphysematos), and this is what we mean by after His image. For the phrase after His image
clearly refers to the side of his nature which consists of mind and free will, whereas after His
likeness means likeness in virtue so far as that is possible.
Body and soul were formed at one and the same time, not first the one and then the
other....God then made man without evil, upright, virtuous, free from pain and care, glorified with
every virtue, adorned with all that is good, like a sort of second microcosm within the great world.
Man was another angel capable of worship, compound, surveying the visible creation and initiated
into the mysteries of the realm of thought, king over the things of earth, but subject to the higher
King of the earth and of the heaven. Man was temporal and eternal, belonging to the realm of sight
and to the realm of thought, midway between greatness and lowliness, spirit and flesh: for he is spirit
by grace, but flesh by overweening pride: spirit that he may abide and glorify his Benefactor, and
flesh that he may suffer, and suffering may be admonished and disciplined when he prides himself
in his greatness. Here, that is, in the present life, his life is ordered as an animals, but elsewhere,
that is, in the age to come, he is changed andto complete the mysterybecomes divinized by
merely inclining himself toward God; becoming divinized, in the way of participating in the divine
glory and not in that of a change into the divine being.
But God made him by nature sinless, and endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean
not that sin could find no place in him (for that is the case with Deity alone), but that sin is the result
of the free volition he enjoys rather than an integral part of his nature; that is to say, he has the power
349

A. Louth, Difficulty 41, N atures are instituted afresh, and God become man, Maximus the Confessor,
The Early Church Fathers (London/NY: Routledge, 1996), pp. 156-162.
351
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 6, V.1, p. 193.
352
353
350
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to continue and go forward in the path of goodness, by cooperating with the divine grace, and
likewise to turn from good and take to wickedness; for God has conceded this by conferring freedom
of will upon him. For there is no virtue in what is the result of mere force.
The soul, accordingly, is a living essence, simple, incorporeal, invisible in its proper nature
to bodily eyes, immortal, reasoning and intelligent, formless, making use of an organized body, and
being the source of its powers of life, and growth, and sensation, and generation, mind being but its
purest part and not in any wise alien to it; (for as the eye to the body, so is the mind to the soul).
Furthermore, it enjoys freedom and volition and energy. It is mutable, that is, it is given to change,
because it is created. All these qualities according to nature it has received of the grace of the
Creator, of which grace it has received both its being and this particular kind of nature.
With regard to the question if man has community alike with inanimate things and animate
creatures, whether they are devoid of or possess the faculty of reason, it is to be noted that man has
community with things inanimate, and participates in the life of unreasoning creatures, and shares
in the mental processes of those endowed with reason. For the bond of union between man and
inanimate things is the body and its composition out of the four elements: and the bond between man
and plants consists, in addition to these things, of their powers of nourishment and growth and
seeding, that is, generation: and finally, over and above these links man is connected with
unreasoning animals by appetite, that is anger and desire, and sense and impulsive movement.
Lastly, mans reason unites him to incorporeal and intelligent natures, for he applies his reason and
mind and judgment to everything, and pursues after virtues, and eagerly follows after piety, which
is the crown of the virtues. And so man is a microcosm.354
13. Saint Gregory Palamas: The soul of each man is also the life of the body that it
animates, and possesses a quickening activity in relation to something else, namely, to the body that
it quickens. Yet the soul has life not only as an activity but also as its essence, since it is selfexistent; for it possesses a spiritual and noetic life that is evidently different from the bodys and
from what is actuated by the body. Hence, when the body dissolves the human soul does not perish
with it; and not only does it not perish but it continues to exist immortally, since it is not manifest
only in relation to something else, but possesses its own life as its essence.355 The spiritual and noetic
soul possesses life as essence, yet it can admit contraries, that is to say, good and evil. Thus, it is
evident that it does not have goodness as essence, nor evil either; both are as it were qualities and
when either is present it is because the soul has chosen it. They are present, not with respect to place,
but whenever the noetic soul, having received free will from its Creator, inclines to one or to the
other and wills to live in accordance with it. 356
1. Saint Irenaeos: If, however, anyone should say, What then? Could not God have
exhibited man as perfect from beginning?Let him know that...all things are possible to Him. But
created things must be inferior to Him Who created them, from the very fact of their later origin; for
it was not possible for things recently created to have been uncreated. But inasmuch as they are not
uncreated, for this very reason do they come short of the perfect. Because, as these things are of a
later date, so are they infantile; so are they unaccustomed to, and unexercised in, perfect discipline.
354
355
356
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning Man, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. XII, Vol. IX:30-32.
Ibid., Topics of Natural and T heological Science, 33, The Philokalia, 4:359.
85
For as it certainly is in the power of a mother to give strong food to her infantbut she does not do
soas the child is not yet able to receive more substantial nourishment; so also it was possible for
God Himself to have made man perfect from the first, but man could not receive this [perfection],
being as yet an infant. And for this cause our Lord in these last times, when He had summed up all
things into Himself, came to us, not as He might have come, but as we were capable of beholding
Him. He might easily have come to us in His immortal glory, but in that case we could never have
endured the greatness of the glory; and therefore it was that He, Who was the perfect bread of the
Father, offered Himself to us as milk, because we were as infants. He did this when He appeared as
a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of His flesh, and having, by such a
course of milk nourishment, become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also
to contain in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father.
And on this account does Paul declare to the Corinthians, I gave you milk to drink, and not
solid food; for ye were not yet able, but neither now are ye yet able [1 Cor. 3:2]....It was for this
reason that the Son of God, although He was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common
with the rest of mankind, partaking of it thus not for His own benefit, but for that of the infantile
stage of mans existence, in order that man might be able to receive Him....
With God there are simultaneously exhibited power, wisdom, and goodness. His power and
goodness [appear] in this, that of His own will He called into being and fashioned things having no
previous existence; His wisdom [is shown] in His having made created things parts of one
harmonious and consistent whole; and those things which, through His super-eminent kindness,
receive growth and a long period of existence, do reflect the glory of the uncreated One, of that God
Who bestows what bestows what is good ungrudgingly....
But being in subjection to God is continuance in immortality, and immortality is the glory
of the uncreated One. By this arrangement, therefore, and these harmonies, and a sequence of this
nature, man, a created and organized being, is rendered after the image and likeness of the uncreated
Godthe Father planning everything well and giving His commands, the Son carrying these into
execution and performing the work of creating, and the Spirit nourishing and increasing what is
made, but man making progress day by day, and ascending toward the perfect, that is, approximating
to the uncreated One. For the Uncreated is perfect, that is, God. Now it was necessary that man
should in the first instance be created; and having been created, should receive growth; and having
received growth, should be strengthened; and having been strengthened, should abound; and having
abounded, should recover [from the disease of sin]; and having recovered, should be glorified; and
being glorified, should see his Lord. For God is He Who is yet to be seen, and the beholding of God
is productive of immortality, but immortality renders one nigh unto God.357
1. Saint Gregory of Nyssa: That there is, then, a Word of God, and a Breath of Godthe
Greek, with his innate ideas, and the Jew, with his Scriptures, will perhaps not deny. But the
dispensation as regards the Word of God, whereby He became man, both parties would perhaps
equally reject, as being incredible and unfitting to be told of God. By starting, therefore, from
another point we will bring these gainsayers to a belief in this fact. They believe that all things came
into being by thought and skill on the part of Him Who framed the system of the universe; or else
357
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. IV, Ch. XXX VIII, 1-3, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
86
they hold views that do not conform to this opinion. But should they not grant that reason and
wisdom guided the framing of the world, they will install unreason and unskilfulness on the throne
of the universe. But if this is an absurdity and impiety, it is abundantly plain that they must allow
that thought and skill rule the world.
Now in what has been previously said, the Word of God has been shown not to be this
actual utterance of speech, or the possession of some science or art, but to be a power essentially and
substantially existing, willing all good, and being possessed of strength to execute all its will....If,
then, the subsistence of the whole world has been made to depend on the power of the Word, as the
train of the argument has shown, an absolute necessity prevents us entertaining the thought of there
being any other cause of the organization of the several parts of the world than the Word Himself,
through Whom all things in it passed into being. If anyone wants to call Him Word, or Skill, or
Power, or God, or anything else that is high and prized, we will not quarrel with him. For whatever
word or name be invented as descriptive of the Subject, one thing is intended by the expressions,
namely the eternal power of God which is creative of things that are, the Discoverer of things that
are not, the sustaining Cause of things that are brought into being, the foreseeing Cause of things
yet to be. This, then, whether it be God, or Word, or Skill, or Power, has been shown by inference
to be the Maker of the nature of man, not urged to framing him by any necessity, but in the
superabundance of love energizing the production of such a creature. For needful it was that neither
His light should be unseen, nor His glory without witness, nor His goodness unenjoyed, nor that any
other quality observed in the divine nature should in any case lie idle, with none to share it or enjoy
it.
If, therefore, man comes to his birth upon these conditions, namely to be a partaker of the
good things in God, necessarily he is framed of such a kind as to be adapted to the participation of
such good. For as the eye, by virtue of the bright ray which is by nature wrapped up in it, is in
fellowship with the light, and by its innate capacity draws to itself that which is akin to it, so was
it needful that a certain affinity with the Divine should be mingled with the nature of man, in order
that by means of this correspondence it might aim at that which was native to it. It is thus even with
the nature of the unreasoning creatures, whose lot is cast in water or in air; each of them has an
organization adapted to its kind of life, so that by a peculiar formation of the body, to the one of
them the air, to the other the water, is its proper and congenial element. Thus, then, it was needful
for man, born for the enjoyment of Divine good, to have something in his nature akin to that in
which he is to participate. For this end he has been furnished with life, with thought, with skill, and
with all the excellences that we attribute to God, in order that by each of them he might have his
desire set upon that which is not strange to him.
Since, then, one of the excellences connected with the Divine nature is also eternal
existence, it was altogether needful that the equipment of our nature should not be without the
further gift of this attribute, but should have in itself the immortal, that by its inherent faculty it
might both recognize what is above it, and be possessed with a desire for the divine and eternal life.
In truth this has been shown in the comprehensive utterance of one expression, in the description
of the cosmogony, where it is said that man was made in the image of God [Gen. 1:27]. For in this
likeness, implied in the word image, there is a summary of all things that characterize Deity; and
whatever else Moses relates, in a style more in the way of history, of these matters, placing doctrines
before us in the form of a story, is connected with the same instruction. For that Paradise of his, with
its peculiar fruits, the eating of which did not afford to them who tasted thereof satisfaction of the
87
appetite; but knowledge and eternity of life is in entire agreement with what has been previously
considered with regard to man, in the view that our nature at its beginnings was good and in the
midst of good.
But, perhaps, what has been said will be contradicted by one who looks only to the present
condition of things, and thinks to convict our statement of untruthfulness, inasmuch as man is seen
no longer under those primeval circumstances, but under almost entirely opposite ones. Where is
the divine resemblance in the soul? Where the bodys freedom from suffering? Where the eternity
of life? Man is of brief existence, subject to passions, liable to decay, and ready both in body and
mind for every form of suffering. By these and the like assertions, and by directing the attack
against human nature, the opponent will think that he upsets the account that has been offered
respecting man. But to secure that our argument may not have to be diverted from its course at any
future stage, we will briefly discuss these points. That the life of man is at present subject to
abnormal conditions is no proof that man was not created in the midst of good. For since man is the
work of God, Who through His goodness brought this creature into being, no one could reasonably
suspect that he, of whose constitution goodness is the cause, was created by his Maker in the midst
of evil.
But there is another reason for our present circumstances being what they are, and for our
being destitute of the primeval surroundings: and yet again the starting-point of our answer to this
argument against us is not beyond and outside the assent of our opponents. For He Who made man
for the participation of His own peculiar good, and incorporated in him the instincts for all that was
excellent, in order that his desire might be carried forward by a corresponding movement in each
case to its like, would never have deprived him of that most excellent and precious of all goods; I
mean the gift implied in being his own master, and having a free will. For if necessity in any way
was the master of the life of man, the image would have been falsified in that particular part, by
being estranged owing to this unlikeness to its Archetype. How can that nature which is under a
yoke and bondage to any kind of necessity be called an image of a Master Being? Was it not, then,
most right that that which is in every detail made like the Divine should possess in its nature a
self-ruling and independent principle, such as to enable the participation of good to be the reward
of its virtue?
Whence, then, comes it, you will ask, that he who had been distinguished throughout with
most excellent endowments exchanged these good things for the worse? The reason of this also is
plain. No growth of evil had its beginning in the Divine will. Vice would have been blameless were
it inscribed with the name of God as its Maker and Father. But the evil is, in some way or other,
engendered from within [Jas. 1:14, 15],358 springing up in the will at that moment when there is a
retrocession of the soul from the beautiful. For as sight is an activity of nature, and blindness a
deprivation of that natural operation, such is the kind of opposition between virtue and vice. It is,
in fact, not possible to form any other notion of the origin of vice than as the absence of virtue. For
as when the light has been removed the darkness supervenes, but as long as light is present there is
no darkness, in like manner as long as the good is present in the nature, vice is a thing that has no
inherent existence; while the departure of the better state becomes the origin of its opposite. Since
then, this is the peculiarity of the possession of a free will, that it chooses as it likes the thing that
358
Bu t each is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. Then after he conceiveth the
desire, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, after it is fully form ed, bringeth forth death [Jas. 1:14 , 15].
88
pleases it, you will find that it is not God Who is the author of the present evils, seeing that He has
ordered your nature so as to be its own master and free; but rather the recklessness that makes choice
of the worse in preference to the better.359
2. Saint Symeon the New Theologian: Adam was made with a body that was incorrupt,
although material and not yet spiritual, and was placed by the Creator God as an immortal king over
an incorrupt world, not only over Paradise, but also over the whole of creation which was under the
heavens....This whole creation in the beginning was incorrupt and was created by God in the manner
of Paradise. But later it was subjected by God to corruption, and submitted to the futility of men.360
J. True Dominion
1. Saint Sophronios: And God said, Let Us make man according to Our image and
according to likeness [similitude], and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and of the
flying creatures of the heaven and of the cattle and of all the earth and of all the reptiles, the creeping
ones, on the earth [Gen. 1:26]. We find that the first-formed man himself did not at all control the
fish of the sea. Nor did any other of the just that were born in time. I say that dominion is not
established through some technological inventiveness or hunting weapons or strategies.361...Paul said
that the image of the invisible God is Christ [Col. 1:15], and it is He Who leads and rules all things,
because He inherited all and all things have been subjugated to Him [Heb. 1:2]with One
exception: the One Who placed all things beneath Him, Who is God the Father [1 Cor. 15:24, 27].
The things in heaven and on earth and below the ground genuflect before Him [Phil. 2:10]. That is,
He rules the rational fish of the sea, the spiritual birds of heaven, the brutish men, and all the earth
[Gen. 1:26]. He places the subjection of the fish first, because before all others He ruled over us the
Gentile nations, who were born and reborn through water and Spirit [Jn. 3:5; 1 Jn. 5:6], and also the
souls in the depths of Hades, lying in the shadows and darkness of death since the beginning of time
[Is. 9:1; Mt. 4:16; Lk. 1:79]. And in the second rank, He says, are the birds of heaven, the noetic
forces. He says of these, I know all the winged creatures of the heaven [Ps. 50:12]. In fact, when
He went up with His body from the earth, it was through the Church that He was seen and
recognized by the Principalities and the Authorities [Eph. 3:10; 1 Tim. 3:16].362...When the full
number from the Gentile nations has been reached [Rom. 11:25], then even those cattle and wild
beasts that were born from the earth and are related to Himwho are Israelwill be wholly
subjugated to the rule of Christ [1 Cor. 15:28]. About Israel, He said, And I have other sheep which
are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there
shall be one flock and one Shepherd [Jn. 10:16]. And so that saying will come true of Christ. And
that which was said by God about the two of them will be understood of Him and His spouse, the
Church, Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and the cattle and all the earth
[Gen. 1:26]; and, complete dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the
inhabited world [Ps. 71:8].363
K. Every Herb, Tree, and Green Plant Shall Be for Food [Gen. 1:29, 30]
359
Saint Gregory of Ny ssa, The G reat Catechism, Ch. V, N PN F, 2 nd Ser., V:478-480.

Saint Symeon the New T heologian, Homily 45, 1.4, The Sin of Adam and Our Redemption (Saint
Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1979), pp. 64, 67, 75.
361
362
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 6, VI.4, p. 197.
363
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 6, VI.4, p. 199.
360
89
1. Saint Bede: And God said, Behold I have given to you every plant bearing seed upon
the earth and all trees that have within themselves seed of their own kind to be your meat and to all
beasts of the earth and to every bird and to all that move upon the earth and wherein there is life, that
they may have to feed upon every [Gen. 1:29, 30]. Now here it is clear that before the sin of man
earth produced nothing harmfulno poisonous plant, no unfruitful tree. Since it is plainly said that
every plant and all trees were given to men and to birds and to all the living creatures of the earth
for food, it is clear that those birds did not live by stealing the food of weaker animals, nor did the
wolf search out an ambush around the sheepfold, nor was the dust the serpents food, but all things
in harmony fed upon the green plants and the fruits of the trees.364
1. Saint Chrysostom: And God saw all the things that He had made, and, behold, they were
very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Gen. 1:31]. And, they
were finished, the heaven and the earth and the whole cosmos of them [Gen. 2:1]. At the close of
the sixth day He also brought to a close all His creatinghence the addition of the words that
heaven and earth and all their array were completed.365 And God finished on that day, the sixth, His
works which He made; and He ceased on that day, the seventh, from all His works which He
Himself began to make [Gen. 2:2]. Notice how it says the same thing twice over, so that we might
learn all the works of creation were done up to the sixth day. 366
VII. SEVENTH DAY
A. God Ceased from All His Works [Gen. 2:2]
G. Seventh Day Was Done as a Type of a Greater Blessing and Sanctification
Genesis, Chapter 2
And, they were finished, the heaven and the earth and the whole cosmos of them [Gen.
2:1].
He ceased on that day, the seventh, from all His works which He Himself began to make
[Gen. 2:2].
And God blessed that day, the seventh, and sanctified it, because in it He ceased from all
His works which God Himself began to make [Gen. 2:3].
A. God Ceased from All His Works
364
365
366
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:29-30c], 48:94.

90
1. Saint Gregory the Theologian: One thing indeed is evident, that God, having in six days
created matter, and given it form, and having arranged it in all kinds of shapes and mixtures, and
having made this present visible world, on the seventh day rested from all His works, as is shown
by the very name of the Sabbath, which in Hebrew means Rest. If there be, however, anymore
lofty reason than this, let others discuss it. 367
2. Saint Ephraim: From what toil did God rest? For the creatures that came to be on the first
day came to be by implication, except for the light which came to be through His word. And the rest
of the works which came to be afterwards came to be through His word.368 It was not because He
rests on [that day] that God, Who does not weary, blessed and sanctified the seventh day, nor
because He was to give it to that people, who did not understand that since they were freed from
their servitude, they were to give rest to their servants and maidservants. He gave it to them so that,
even if they had to be coerced, they would rest. For it was given to them in order to depict by a
temporal rest, which He gave to a temporal people, the mystery of the true rest which will be given
to the eternal people in the eternal world. 369 All because a full week was required, God exalted by
His word that seventh day which His works had not exalted so that, because of the honor accorded
that day, it might be united to its companions, and that the reckoning of the week, which is required
for the service of the world, might be complete.370
1. Saint Chrysostom: It says He stopped creating and bringing from non-being into being;
He had produced everything He had to, after all, and had created the being destined to enjoy
it....He had brought creation to a close on the sixth day; there was nothing else He intended to
produce on the seventh day for the reason that everything He intended had been fulfilled.371 Hence,
in order that this day, too, might have some distinction and not seem to bear some inferiority through
the fact that nothing was created then, He conferred a blessing on it. God blessed that day, the
seventh, and sanctified it [Gen. 2:3]....Already at this point from the outset God provides us with
instruction in a cryptic matter, teaching us that He set aside the whole of one day in the cycle of the
week and marked it off for the performance of spiritual works.372
2. Saint Bede: And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. God
did not rest after having completed the fabric of the world as if after the fashion of human weakness
He were weary from too much work; rather He is said to have rested from all His work, because He
ceased from the further introduction of any new creature....God Himself, Who had perfect rest in
Himself eternally before the creation, after creating the world also rested, not in the works which
He made, but from all the works which He made, as might be expected, having no need in Himself
to rest in His creatures, but rather Himself offering rest to the rational creatures, since He always
rests perfectly in Himself, and He is blessed with that good which belongs to Him.373
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration XL I, On Pentecost, II, N PN F, 2 nd Ser., Vol. VII.
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 33(2), FC, 74:96, 97.
91
1. Saint Bede: Moreover, it can properly be understood that on the seventh day God
completed His work which He had done, even on that very day which He blessed and sanctified
[Gen. 2:3]. For it is not the case that blessing and sanctification is no work, just as Solomon must
not be said to have done no work when he dedicated the temple that he had made [cf. 3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.)
8:63]. On the contrary, it is an outstanding work of God when He glorified those things which He
made with an eternal blessing and sanctification. Finally, concerning the work which He does on
the eternal day of the week, He Himself says in the parable of the faithful servants, Verily I say to
you that he shall gird himself about and shall have them recline at table, and will come forth and
minister to them [Lk. 12:37]. For he who girds himself, who prepares the table for them to recline
at, who passes, and who ministers, is certainly working. But nonetheless, by all these words nothing
else is intimated than that the Lord blesses and sanctifies His saints forever, that is, He rewards them
with the vision of His glory which He gave them for their good works.374
1. Saint Chrysostom: While sacred Scriptures say in this passage that God rested from His
works, in the Gospels Christ says, My Father worketh until now, and I work [Jn. 5:17]. Does there
not seem from the sequence of expressions to be some contradiction in what is said? Perish the
thought! There is nothing contradictory in the contents of sacred Scripture. You see, in saying at this
point that God rested from His works, Scripture teaches us that He ceased creating and bringing
from non-being into being on the seventh day; whereas Christ, in saying that My Father is at work
up until now and I am at work, reveals His unceasing care for us. He calls work the maintenance
of created things, bestowal of permanence on them, and governance of them through all time. If this
were not so, after all, how would everything have subsisted, without the guiding hand above
directing all visible things and the human race as well? If anyone in a spirit of great gratitude has
a mind to survey everything, detail by detail, done for our benefit each day by the Creator of all
things, you would find an abyss of loving-kindness. I mean, what reasoning or what imagination
would arrive at the unspeakable goodness which He displays for the race of human beings, making
the sun rise on the evil and the good, sending rain upon just and unjust [cf. Mt. 5:45], and bestowing
every other kind of good?375
2. Saint Bede: After completing the adornment of the world, He had rested from
undertaking anymore new kinds of things. Nor should that be considered contrary to this statement,
which He Himself makes in the Gospel: My Father worketh until now, and I work [Jn. 5:17]. He
was replying, of course, to those who, on account of the rest of God which was commended in
ancient times by the authority of this Scripture, complained that He [Jesus] did not observe the
Sabbath. For He had rested on the seventh day from forming the species of creation, because since
then He has not formed any new ones. But from then until now He works at the governance of those
same species which were instituted at that time, so that His sovereign power did not rest from
governing heaven and earth and all the things that He had created even on that seventh day itself;
otherwise they would immediately fall into ruin.376
374
375
376
Ibid., On Genesis, Book One [2:2], 48:97, 98.

Saint Chrysostom , Hom. 10, On Genesis, 18, 74:139, 140.
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [2:3a/b], 48:100.
92
1. Saint Chrysostom: Instead of mentioning all, it says, This is the book of the generation
of heaven and of earth when it came to be, in the day God created the heaven and the earth [Gen.
2:4], and so on. Do you see how it confines the whole account to heaven and earth, leaving us to
get from them a sweeping view of all the other things? I mean, when it said heaven and earth, it
included everything together in those words, both things on earth and things in heaven.377...The Holy
Spirit, in His foreknowledge of future events wishes to prevent anyones being able to engage in
controversy later on, and in opposition to sacred Scripture to set notions from their own reasoning
against the dogmas of the Church; so now again, after teaching us the order of created thingswhat
was created first and what secondand the fact that, in compliance with the Lords word and
direction, earth was stirred into pangs of fertility and plants were produced without depending on
the sun for assistance (how could it, after all, the sun not yet being created?), nor on the moisture
from showers, nor on human labor (human beings, after all, not having been brought forth),
accordingly once again He makes mention of all the items one by one so as to stop the unbridled
tongue of people spoiling to make a show of their shamelessness.378
What in fact does it say? In the day God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 2:4], and
everything green and blooming of the field before it came to be upon the earth and all grass of the
field before it came to spring up, for God did not send rain on the earth and there was no man to
work the ground [Gen. 2:5]. But there was going up a fountain out of the earth, and it was watering
all the face of the earth [Gen. 2:6]....No showers had so far been sent from on high....All this
happens that you may learn that there was no dependence on the assistance of the other elements for
the growth of its plants; instead, what was required was the direction of the Creator.379 What human
reasoning could arrive at this design?...The Creator of all creates everything in a way contrary to
humankind so that you may learn even from this His ineffable power and the fact that, when He
wishes, the very elements can be seen to perform in a way contrary to their own abilities in
compliance with the Creators wishes.380 Do you see how, whenever the Lord wishes, each of the
elements changes its properties into the very opposite? The Lord, you see, is also Creator, and He
governs everything according to His own will.381
1. Saint Ambrose: We now seem to have reached the end of our discourse, since the sixth
day is completed and the sum total of the work of the world has been concluded. There has taken
place, in fact, the creation of man himself, who holds the principate over every living thing and is
what might be called the summation of the universe and the delight of every creature in the world.
Surely we should now make our contribution of silence, since God has rested from the work of the
world [cf. Gen. 2:2]. He found repose in the deep recesses of man, in mans mind and purpose; for
377

379
380
Ibid., Hom. 12, On Genesis, 7, 74 :160 . We hav e seen this many times in the lives of the saints, with
the change in rivers being diverted or drawing back, fires not burning, winds blowing enem y ships to
destruction, the earth opening up and swallowing people, even in non-earthquake areas as the Sinai. The
above is also a foretype of Paradise, where He is the light and nourishment for everything in that garden for
those being saved.
381
Ibid., Hom. 12, On Genesis, 9, 74 :161 .
378
93
He had made man with the power of reasoning, an imitator of Himself, a striver after virtue, and one
eager for heavenly grace. God finds comfort in these traits, as His own testimony declares: And to
whom will I have respect, but to the humble and meek, and the man that trembleth at My words [Is.
66:21]?382
I give thanks to our Lord God, Who made a work of such a nature that He could find rest
therein. He made the heavens. I do not read that He rested. He made the earth. I do not read that He
rested. He made the sun, moon, and stars. I do not read that He found rest there. But I do read that
He made man and then found rest in one whose sins He would remit. It may well be that He had
given a symbolic picture then of the future Passion of the Lord, thus revealing that in man one day
Christ would find repose. He anticipated for Himself repose [of death] in the body for the
redemption of mankind, as He declares in His own words: I have slept and taken my rest and I have
risen up, because the Lord hath protected me [cf. Ps. 3:5].383 He, the Creator, rested. To Him be
honor, praise, and glory everlasting from the beginning of time, now, always, and forever! Amen.384
G. The Seventh Day Was Done as a Type of a Greater Blessing and Sanctification
1. Saint Bede: And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [Gen. 2:3]. He did this
namely with that blessing and sanctification which He revealed more fully to His people in the Law,
saying, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy [Ex. 20:8]. Six days thou shalt labor, and shalt
perform all thy work [Ex. 20:9]. But on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; on it
thou shalt do no work [Ex. 20:10]. And a little further on, For in six days the Lord made the heaven
and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord
blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it [Ex. 20:11].
Truly this blessing and sanctification of the seventh day was done as a type of a greater
blessing and sanctification. For just as the blood of the Lords Passion, which had to be poured out
once for the salvation of the world, was signified by the frequent, indeed, daily sacrifices under the
law, so also by the rest of the seventh day [Saturday, the Hebrew Sabbath], which always used to
be celebrated after the works of the six days, was prefigured in that great day of the Sabbath, on
which the Lord was to rest once in the grave, after having completed and perfected on the sixth day
[Great Friday] all His works, by which He restored the world, long since lost, which He completed
on the sixth day [sixth day of creation]. On that day also, being mindful, as it were, of the old work,
He declared in clear language that He had now completed the salvation of the world. Then, when
Jesus took the vinegar, He said, It hath been finished. And having bowed His head, He delivered
up the spirit [Jn. 19:30].
But also this sanctification and blessing of the seventh day, and the rest of God on that day
after His works, signified that they were exceedingly good, because each of us after good works,
which He Himself works in us both to will and to accomplish (energize) [Phil. 2:13], struggles
toward the rest of heavenly life in which we may enjoy His eternal sanctification and blessing.
Hence, it is proper that this seventh day is not described as having had an evening, because it truly
signifies our eternal rest in it.385
382
383
384
385
I laid down and slept; I was awakened, for the Lord Himself will help m e [Ps. 3:5, LXX ].
Saint Am brose, H om. 10, Ch. 10(7 6), Hexameron, FC, 42:282, 283.
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [2:3a], 48:99, 100.
94
1. Saint Gregory of Nyssa leaves us with this thought: Whenever this transitory and fleeting
time ceases, and the hebdomad (seven days), which measures time, will by all means halt, then that
octave, which is the next age, will succeed it. The whole of the latter becomes one day....For this
reason, the perceptible sun does not enlighten that day, but the true Light [Jn. 1:9], the Sun of
righteousness [Mal. 4:2], Who is designated Rising or Orient by the prophecy because He is
never veiled by the settings.386
2. Saint Anastasios: The phrase and evening came and morning came was not applied to
the seventh day, as it was to the other days. This is a vivid symbol that the consummation took place
on this day [Mt. 13:39, 40, 49; 24:3; 28:20]. That is what the Fathers say, especially those around
the sacred Clement and Irenaeos and Justin the martyr and philosopher. 387
3. Saint Bede: Therefore, on the seventh day God completed His work which He had made,
because in it He put a limit to the sum total of the day which He had made with the addition of that
seventh day which He wished to be called and to be the Sabbath, because He endowed it above other
days with His mystical blessing and sanctification, as the following verses teach. Hence, also,
because the day of Judgment and of the consummation of time will come after the seventh day, it
is called the octave [concerning the eighth] in the Scriptures, clearly because only seven days
preceded it. For it was said in a title of Psalms, Unto the end, in hymns, for the octave, a psalm of
David [Ps. 6]. That this was written of the day of Judgment the entire text of the following psalm
teaches, in which the prophet, fearing the wrath of the Judge Who is to come, exclaims, Do not ever
reprove me, O Lord, in Thine anger, nor chasten me in Thy wrath [Ps. 6:1], and so forth. But also,
although the Lords resurrection would come after a great many thousands of days, nevertheless it
was also called the octave in the title of another psalm, because it certainly followed the seventh day
so that it would be the first day of the following week, that is, the very same day [Sunday] on which,
In the beginning...God said, Let there be light, and light was made [Gen. 1:1, 3]. And, indeed,
that this psalm was written about the resurrection of the Lord is proved by the very One Who speaks
in it, saying, Because of the distress of the beggars and the sighing of the poor, now will I raise
Myself, saith the Lord [Ps. 11:5].388
VIII. RECAPITULATION AND EXPANSION
A. A Recounting for Each According to Kind
F. The Man Placed in Eden [Gen. 2:8]
G. The Logos in Eden
386
Saint Gregory of Ny ssa, On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, 2.5.53, trans. by R. E. Heine (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1995), pp. 136, 137.
387
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 7 Alpha, III.1, p. 213.
388
95
N. A Man Shall Leave Father and Mother [Gen. 2:24]
Q. Eve Gave to Her Husband Also with Her, and They Ate [Gen. 3:6]
S. Where art thou [Gen. 3:10]?
T. He Shall Watch for Thy Head, and Thou Shalt Watch for His Heel [Gen. 3:15]
V. To Thy Husband Shall Be Thy Turning Back, and He Shall Lord It Over Thee [Gen. 3:16]
W. The Serpent [Gen. 3:14] and the Ground are Cursed [Gen. 3:17]
Y. Adam Hath Become As One of Us [Gen. 3:22]
AA. Humanity Learns What is Infirmity
EE. In Adam All Die
FF. The Church
Relevant Scripture for the Recapitulation
Genesis, Chapter 2
This is the book of the generation of heaven and of earth when it came to be, in the day the
Lord God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 2:4], and everything green and blooming of the
field before it came to be upon the earth and all grass of the field before it came to spring up, for
God did not send rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground [Gen. 2:5].
But there was going up a fountain out of the earth, and it was watering all the face of the
earth [Gen. 2:6].
And God formed the man of dust of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life,
and the man became a living soul [Gen. 2:7].
And God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and placed there the man whom He had
formed [Gen. 2:8].
And God made to spring up also out of the earth every tree beautiful to the eye and good
for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of learning the knowledge of
good and evil [Gen. 2:9]....
And the Lord God took the man whom He had formed, and placed him in the Paradise to
work and keep it [Gen. 2:15].
And the Lord God gave a charge to Adam, saying, Of every tree which is in the garden
thou mayest freely eat [Gen. 2:16], but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evilof it ye shall
not eat, but in whatsoever day ye eat of it, ye shall surely die [Gen. 2:17].
96
And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone, let Us make for him a help
suitable to him [Gen. 2:18].
And God formed yet out of the earth all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the heaven
and He led them to Adam to see what he would call them, and whatever Adam called any living
creature, that was the name of it [Gen. 2:19].
And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to all the birds of the sky, and to all the wild
beasts of the field, but for Adam there was not found a help like to himself [Gen. 2:20].
And God cast a state of ecstasy upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and
filled up the flesh instead thereof [Gen. 2:21].
And God formed the rib which he took from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam
[Gen. 2:22].
And Adam said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
woman, because she was taken out of her husband [Gen. 2:23].
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the
two shall be one flesh [Gen. 2:24].
And the two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed [Gen. 2:25]....
Genesis, Chapter 3
Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the brutes on the earth, which the Lord God
made, and the serpent said to the woman, Wherefore has God said, Eat not of every tree of the
garden [Gen. 3:1]?
And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden [Gem.
3:2], but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, Ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye touch it, lest ye should die [Gen. 3:3].
And the serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not surely die [Gen. 3:4].
For God knew that in whatever day ye should eat of it your eyes would be opened, and ye
would be as gods, knowing good and evil [Gen. 3:5].
And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to
look upon and beautiful to contemplate, and having taken of its fruit she ate, and she gave to her
husband also with her, and they ate [Gen. 3:6].
And the eyes of both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they sewed
fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons to go round them [Gen. 3:7].
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon; and both
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the
garden [Gen. 3:8].
And the Lord God called Adam and said to him, Adam, where art thou [Gen. 3:9]?
And he said to him, I heard thy voice as thou walkedst in the garden, and I feared because
I was naked and I hid myself [Gen. 3:10].
And God said to him, Who told thee that thou wast naked, unless thou hast eaten of the tree
concerning which I charged thee of it alone not to eat [Gen. 3:11]?
And Adam said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with meshe gave me of the tree
and I ate [Gen. 3:12].
And the Lord God said to the woman, Why hast thou done this? And the woman said,
The serpent deceived me and I ate [Gen. 3:13].
97
And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above
all cattle and all the brutes of the earth, on thy breast and belly thou shalt go, and thou shalt eat earth
all the days of thy life [Gen. 3:14]. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between
thy seed and her seed, he shall watch against thy head, and thou shalt watch against his heel [Gen.
3:15].
And to the woman He said, Multiplying will I multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings; in
sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and to thy husband shall be thy turning back, and he shall lord
it over thee [Gen. 3:16].
And to Adam He said, Because thou didst hearken to the voice of thy wife, and didst eat
of the tree concerning which I Myself enjoined thee of it only not to eatbecause of it is the ground
accursed in thy labors, in sorrows shalt thou eat all the days of thy life [Gen. 3:17]. Thorns and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [Gen. 3:18]. In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken, for
earth thou art and to earth shalt thou go away [Gen. 3:19].
And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou didst this thou art accursed from all
of the animals and from all the brutes of the earth, on thy breast and the belly shalt thou proceed, and
thou shalt eat earth all the days of thy life [Gen. 3:14].
And I will put enmity between thee and between the woman and between thy seed and
between the seed of her, he shall watch for thy head, and thou shalt watch for his heel [Gen. 3:15].
And to the woman He said, Multiplying will I multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings; in
sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and to thy husband [shall be] thy turning back, and he shall
lord it over thee [Gen. 3:16].
And to Adam He said, Because thou didst hearken to the voice of thy wife, and didst eat
of the tree concerning which I Myself enjoined thee of it only not to eatbecause of it is the ground
accursed in thy labors, in sorrows shalt thou eat all the days of thy life [Gen. 3:17].
Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [Gen.
3:18].
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou return to the earth out of which
thou wast taken, for earth thou art and to earth shalt thou go away [Gen. 3:19].
And Adam called the name of his wife Life [Zoe], because she was the mother of all living
[Gen. 3:20].
And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife leather tunics and clothed them [Gen.
3:21].
And God said, Behold, Adam is become as one of Us, to know good and evil, and now lest
at any time he should stretch forth his hand, and take of the tree of life and eat, and so he shall live
unto the age [Gen. 3:22].
So the Lord God sent him forth out of the garden of Delight to cultivate the ground out of
which he was taken [Gen. 3:23].
And He expelled Adam and caused him to dwell over against the Paradise of Delight, and
ordered the cherubs and the flaming sword, the one turning around, to guard the way of the tree of
life [Gen. 3:24].
A. A Recounting for Each According to Kind
98
1. Saint Athanasios the Great: And all the visible creation was made in six days:in the
first, the light which He called day; in the second the firmament; in the third, gathering together the
waters, He bared the dry land, and brought out the various fruits that are in it; and in the fourth, He
made the sun and the moon and all the host of the stars; and on the fifth, He created the race of living
things in the sea, and of birds in the air; and on the sixth, He made the quadrupeds on the earth, and
at length man. And, the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being perceived by the things which are made [Rom. 1:20]; and neither the light is as the night, nor
the sun as the moon; nor the irrational as rational man; nor the Angels as the Thrones, nor the
Thrones as the Authorities, yet they are all creatures, but each of the things made according to its
kind exists and remains in its own essence, as it was made.389
1. Saint Anastasios: Throughout all the six-day creation, divine Scriptures named Him with
a simple, uncompounded name [Gen. 1:1-2:3]. It made the Creator and creations story something
simple and uncomplicated. But when it doubles the name of the Creator, it immediately doubles, by
means of the recapitulation, the things that were created [Gen. 2:4-3:2]. And it makes additions that
are not meager. Thus, it clearly teaches us about the mystery of the new creation in Christ and the
mystery of the Church [2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 5:32]. Not only does it multiply the second things beyond
the first, but it also points out that the difference of the second creation is something great and
incomparable. In the earlier description of creation, it is said that the grass and the fruit-bearing tree
sprang up from the earth [Gen. 1:11]. In the later recapitulation, there is: the Paradise of delight
[Gen. 2:15]; every tree beautiful to look upon and good to eat; the tree of life [Gen. 2:9; 3:22], and
the undying foliage [Gen. 3:6]. There is the first watering of the land flowed over the whole face of
the earth from a single spring [Gen. 2:6]. The second watering came from four rivers and irrigated
the inhabited world to produce fruits [Gen. 2:10-14].390...In brief, this is what I have said about the
sovereign name of God: in the recapitulation of the creation of man, Moses doubled the name and
addressed Him as the Lord God. This happened when the garden, which was a type of the Church,
and man came into being.391 And, Scripture afterward did not address God with a simple name.
It named Him in a compound way, our Lord and God, as if addressing Christ, Who is a compound
(syntheto).392
1. Saint Ephraim: After Moses spoke of the sabbath rest, of how God blessed and sanctified
this day, he returned to the account of how the Creation was first fashioned, briefly passing over
those things which he has already spoken, while recounting in detail about the creation account a
second time, saying, These are the generations of heaven and earth when they were created. In the
day that God made heaven and earth, when no tree of the field existed and no vegetation had
sproutedfor God had not brought down rain upon the earth and Adam was not there to till the
earth; but a spring rose up and watered the whole face of the earth. 393
389
Saint Athanasios of Alexandria, Second Discourse Against the Arians, Chap. XVI, 19, NPNF , 2 nd Ser.,
Volume IV (O ak Harbor, W A: Logos Research Sy stems, Inc., 1997).
390
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 7 Beta, II.2.2, p. 241.
391
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 7 Beta, II.4, p. 243.
392
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 7 Beta, III.3, p. 245.
393
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n II, 1, FC, 74:97.
99
Understand, O hearer, that although the days of creation were finished and God had blessed
the Sabbath day which was sanctified and He had completed His account, Moses still returned to
tell the story of the beginning of creation even after the days of creation had been finished.394...
After the great spring rose up from the great abyss and watered the whole face of the earth,
and after the waters had been gathered together on the third day, then the earth brought forth all the
vegetation.395 These waters, then, over which the darkness had been spread on the first day are the
same ones that rose up from the spring and, in the blink of an eye, covered the entire earth. This was
also the [same spring] that was opened in the days of Noah and that covered the surface of all the
mountains on the earth. This spring did not rise up from below the earth but out of the earth, for
Moses said, the spring rose up not from below the earth but, out of the earth. The earth itself,
which bears these waters in its womb, bears witness that these waters were not prior to the earth. 396
The spring then rose up out of the earth, as Scripture says, and watered the whole face
of the earth. Thus the earth produced trees, grasses, and plants. It was not that God was unable
to bring forth everything from the earth in any other way. Rather, it was His will that [the earth]
should bring forth by means of water. [God] began the creation [of the vegetation] this way right
from the beginning so that this procedure would be perpetuated until the end of time. 397
2. Saint Bede: These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were
created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth, and every plant of the field
before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew [Gen. 2:4, 5]. With this
conclusion holy Scripture strikes at those who maintain that the world always existed without a
beginning, or who believe that it was indeed made by God, but from matter which God did not
make, and which was coeternal without a beginning with the Creator Himself. For it says, the
generations of the heaven and the earththe very order of the divine creation, by which the
adornment of them by the works of the six days attained the perfection that was indicated above.
This accords with what the Creator Himself said in the Decalogue of His Law: For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them [Exod. 20:11]. And, In the day
in which the Lord God made the heaven and earth, and every herb of the field,...and all the grass
[Gen. 2:4, 5], should not be regarded as contradicting the aforementioned statement of God, but it
should clearly be understood that in this passage Scripture used the word day for all that time when
the primordial creation was formed. For the heaven was not made, nor illuminated by the stars, and
the earth was not separated from the waters and planted with trees and green plants in any one alone
of the six days....In the beginning of the world, in accordance with Gods plan, the earth did not
produce these things the way it now generates new growth spontaneously if there is an irrigation of
waters. But by means of the even more wonderful work of the Creator at that time, before any plants
came into being and grew from the earth or put out shoots, the fields, mountains, and hills were
suddenly covered with green plants and trees having their appropriate height, multitude of branches,
shadiness of leaves, and abundance of fruits, which they received not little by little from the earth
by springing forth or by germinating and springing up with successive growths, but by suddenly
394
395
396
397
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
On
On
On
On
Genesis,
Genesis,
Genesis,
Genesis,
Section II, 1(2), FC, 74:97.

Section II, 3, FC, 74:98.
Section II, 3(2), FC, 74:98.
Sectio n II, 3(3), FC, 74:98 .
100
coming into being from it. And in fact his interpretation seems to be further supported by the next
words, which say:398
For the Lord God had not rained upon the earth, and there was not a man to work the earth.
But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth [Gen. 2:5, 6]. The first
creation of green plants and trees was accomplished in an otherwise far different manner? In it,
under the new governance of the supreme Maker, the earth, which came into being dry, without rain
and without human labor, was suddenly filled far and wide with diverse kinds of crops....But it says,
a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth....Now the watering of this
spring, of whatever kind it was, happened after the earth was clothed in green plants and trees. This
is also shown by the very language of Scripture, which,...showing that God had not sent rain before
the creation of the plants and the herbs. But then, using a verb in the imperfect tense, it added what
happened next, saying that a spring rose out of the earth and kept watering all the surface of the
earth. It signified by this inflection of the verb that it happened more often than once, since it does
not say it rose once [ascendit], but it rose repeatedly [Lat. ascendebat, Gk. anevainen].399
1. Saint Irenaeos: God formed the man of dust of the earth, and breathed into his face the
breath of life, and the man became a living soul [Gen. 2:7]. It was not angels, therefore, who made
us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor anyone else, except
the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not
stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined
with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him
were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by Whom and in Whom, freely
and spontaneously, He made all things.400...Again, He fashioned man with His own hands, taking
the purest, the finest and the most delicate elements of the earth, mixing with the earth, in due
measure, His own power; and because He sketched upon the handiwork His own formin order that
what would be seen should be godlike; for man was placed upon the earth fashioned in the image
of Godand that he might be alive, He breathed into his face a breath of life, so that both
according to the inspiration and according to the formation, man was like God. 401
Elsewhere, Saint Irenaeos says, At the beginning of our formation in Adam, that breath of
life which proceeded from God, having been united to what had been fashioned, animated the man,
and manifested him as a being endowed with reason; so also, in [the times of] the end, the Logos of
the Father and the Spirit of God, having become united with the ancient substance of Adams
formation, rendered man living and perfect, receptive of the perfect Father, in order that as in the
natural [Adam] we all were dead, so in the spiritual we may all be made alive. For never at any time
did Adam escape the hands of God, to Whom the Father speaking, said, Let Us make man in Our
image, after Our likeness. And for this reason in the last times, not of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man [Jn. 1:13], but by the good pleasure of the Father, His hands formed a living man,
in order that Adam might be created [again] after the image and likeness of God.402
398
399
400
401
402
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [2:4-5], 48:105-107.

Ibid., On Genesis, Book One [2:5c-6], 48:107, 108.
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. IV, Ch. XX, 1, Ante-N icene Fathers, Vol. I.
Saint Irenaeos, Epideixis, Ch. 11; M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, p. 134.
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. I(3), Ante-Nicene Fathers, I:527.
101
2. Saint Ephraim: Then, on the sixth day the Lord formed Adam from the dust of the earth
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life; and Adam became a living being [Gen. 2:7]. Even
though the beasts, the cattle, and the birds were equal to Adam in their ability to procreate and in
that they had life, God still gave honor to Adam in many ways: first, in that it was said, God formed
him with His own hands and breathed life into him [Gen. 2:7]; God set him as ruler over Paradise
and over all that is outside of Paradise; God clothed Adam in glory; and God gave him reason and
thought so that he might perceive the majesty of God.403
3. Saint Gregory the Theologian: Now the Creator Logos determined to produce a single
living being out of bothI mean the visible and the invisible creationsand He fashions man; and
taking a body from already existing matter, and placing in it a breath taken from Himself which the
Logos knew to be an intelligent soul and the image of God, as a sort of second world, He placed
him, great in littleness, on the earth; a new angel, a mingled worshipper, fully initiated into the
visible creation, but only partially into the intellectual; king of all upon earth, but subject to the King
above; earthly and heavenly; temporal and yet immortal; visible and yet intellectual; halfway
between greatness and lowliness; in one person combining spirit and flesh; spirit, because of the
favor bestowed on him; flesh, because of the height to which he had been raised; the one that he
might continue to live and praise his Benefactor, the other that he might suffer, and by suffering be
put in remembrance, and corrected if he became proud of his greatness. A living creature trained
here, and then moved elsewhere; and, to complete the mystery, divinized by its inclination to God.
For to this, I think, tends that light of truth which we here possess but in measure, that we should
both see and experience the splendor of God, which is worthy of Him Who made us, and will
remake us again after a loftier fashion.404
4. Saint Maximos concurs with Saint Gregory the Theologian, where he discusses the
mystery by which human beings came to be. Gregory, he says, makes clear the significance of
what he said. Intellect and the senses, once distinguished from one another, remained within their
own limits, and bore the magnificence of the Creator Logos in themselves....Though they praised
Gods mighty words silently, they were piercing heralds. But the two had not yet mingled, because
the mind and the senses had not been joined together. This mingling would be a mark of greater
wisdom and Gods extravagance in the creation of living things, but the abundance of Gods
goodness was not yet made known. Hence the Creator Logos, wishing to display this mingling and
to produce a single living being with both intellect and sensation, invisible and visible, made man.
Taking a body from already existing matter and breathing life into it from Himself [Gen. 2:7], the
Logos fashioned an intellectual soul made in the image of God as a kind of second cosmos. He
placed this marvellous creature, though weak in comparison to other animals, on the earth, like an
angel he was able to worship God with the senses as well as the intellect, and so on. 405 Gregory also
wrote: Since this is the way things are with the Three Persons, with the one God, the worship of
God should not be limited to heavenly beings, but should include worshippers here below so that
403
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n II, 4, FC, 74:99.

Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration XXXVIII(11) On the Theophany or N ativity of Christ, NPNF , 2 nd
Ser., VII:348.
405
Blowers and W ilken, Saint Maximos Amb iguum 7, On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ, p. 68; P.G.
91:1 096 A; Saint G regory, Oration on the Lights, 38.11.
404
102
all things may be filled with the glory of God. For everything is of God. This is why man was
created by the hand of God and was honored by being made in the image of God.406...
The soul, as our teacher Gregory [the Theologian] clearly states, originates not from
underlying matter, like bodies, but, ineffably and unknowably, from a divinely willed vital
inbreathing comprehended only by the souls Creator Himself. The soul arises at conception
simultaneously with the body to form one complete human being. The body, of course, is created
from the underlying matter of another body at conception, and at once enters into synthesis with the
soul to form one species with it. Our teacher makes this point even more clearly elsewhere with the
phrase ...according to the double power of inbreathing, we are all inbreathed with breath and with
the Holy Spirit.407 Thus, we must distinguish intellectually at conception between, on the one hand,
the vital inbreathing and the Holy Spirit that underlie the noetic essence of the soul, and, on the other
hand, the enfleshment and breath underlie the nature of bodies, as the fathers say. Our progenitor
Adam came into being in a secret way, with a different principle of his souls being and a different
mode of its generation, and obviously a different principle and generative mode for his body as well.
Holy Scripture abundantly reveals this to us, and does not allow us to confuse Adams soul and body
as naturally coinciding according to one and the same mode of generation; nor does it allow us to
know the essential principle and mode of generation of either one.
Granted, then, that for Adam there is a dual power of inbreathing and that the two are
concurrent at the beginning of his existence, what might one say of the dualityof soul and body,
I meanin the humanity of our God and Savior Jesus Christ? This same union [of soul and body]
in Christ retains as much resemblance as possible to that in the first Adam. For as our teacher
himself says,408 the God Who took [Adams] body from what clearly was newly finished preexistent
matter, which He endowed with life from Himself (precisely what the Logos knew as an intelligent
soul and the image of God), created humanity. And in the same way, the Creator of humanity was
He Who assumed His body from the immaculate Virgin, as if from undefiled earth, and Who,
endowing it with life from Himself (what, again, the Logos knew as an intelligent soul and the image
of God), fashioned His own humanity; or rather, the Creator of humanity was He Who, as almighty
and immutable, willingly for our sake fashioned His own manhood at the time He took the flesh and
animated it with an intelligent and rational soul.
In my judgment at least, our teacher Gregory is saying that our Lord and God has honored
the three births that we ourselves undergo, that is to say, the three general modes of our origin in
being, in well being, and in eternal being. The first birth, in which we receive being itself, is bodily
birth, a single appearance of both togethersoul and body according to their coexistence as parts
simultaneous with each other, distinguished as two only by the different modes of origin proper to
each. The second birth comes through Baptism, in which we receive well being in abundance. The
third birth comes through resurrection, in which we are translated by grace unto eternal well being.
So then it is necessary to scrutinize our teachers words precisely because of those who calumniate
well established truths. For by dividing bodily birth within a single notion for the reason given here,
406
Saint Maximos Ambiguum, On the C osmic M ystery of Jesus Christ, pp. 68, 69; Saint Gregory, Oration
on the Lights, 39.13.
407
Saint Gregory the Theologian, The Fourth Theological Oration, which is the Second Concerning the Son,
30.20.
408
Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration On the Theophany, 38.11, P.G. 36:321C-324A.
103
our teacher determines that at the one common moment of His conceptionnot in some movement
thought to happen in a prior timethe Lord received the life-giving spirit, the infusion of His
humanity, or in other words, the intelligent soul appearing simultaneously with His body born from
the Virgin, and not after conception.409
5. Saint Anastasios: Not in the first account of mans creation, but in the second there is
mention of Gods inbreathing, which gives life and brings salvation [Gen. 2:7]. In the first creation
it said: Male and female He made them [Gen. 1:27]. In the second making of man, the one leading
to Christ, it does not say male and female. For male and female do not exist in Jesus Christ [Gal.
3:28]. Christ is one [Rom. 5:17]. And His single and undivided person exists as one. The first meal
that God gave to Adam was fit for animals and was shared with the speechless and wild beasts [Gen.
1:29, 30]. The second meal is rational and foreign to every nature devoid of reason [Gen. 2:16, 17].
God did not summon the first animals and herds. But He brings the second to man, and they were
given names [Gen. 2:19, 20].410...The first Adam came into being on the sixth day....Indeed in the
sixth hour of the sixth day, in the afternoon, in the garden of Paradise, Adam came into being from
earth and Gods breath [Gen. 2:7]I am speaking now of his visible and invisible nature. 411
6. Saint Gregory Palamas: Last of all man was brought forth. So great was the honor and
providential care which God bestowed upon man that he brought the entire sensible world into being
before him and for his sake. The kingdom of the heavens was prepared for him from the foundation
of the world [Mt. 25:34]. God first took counsel concerning him, and then he was fashioned by
Gods hand and according to the image of God [Gen. 1:26, 27]. God did not form the whole man
from matter and from the elements of this sensible world, as He did the other animals. He formed
only mans body from these materials but mans soul He took from things supracelestial or, rather,
it came from God Himself when mysteriously He breathed life into man [Gen. 2:7]. The human soul
is something great and wondrous, superior to the entire world; it overlooks the universe and has all
things in its care; it is capable of knowing and receiving God, and more than anything else has the
capacity of manifesting the sublime magnificence of the Master-Craftsman. Not only capable of
receiving God and His grace through ascetic struggle, it is also able to be united in Him in a single
hypostasis.412
1. Saint Irenaeos: In the previous books I have set forth the causes for which God permitted
these things to be made, and have pointed out that all such have been created for the benefit of that
human nature which is saved, ripening for immortality that which is [possessed] of its own free will
and its own power, and preparing and rendering it more adapted for eternal subjection to God. And
therefore the creation is suited to [the wants of] man; for man was not made for its sake, but creation
for the sake of man. Those nations, however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto
heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were
like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons that they are counted
as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle [Is. 40:15]
409
Blowers and W ilken, Saint Maxim os Ambiguum 42, On the Cosmic M ystery of Jesus Christ, p. 89; P.G.
91:1 325 CD .
410
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 7 Beta, II.2.2, p. 241.
411
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 7Alpha, III.2, p. 215.
412
104
so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces toward the growth of the wheat, and
its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the
Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, For then there shall be great affliction, such
as hath not been from the beginning of the world until the present, no, nor ever shall be [Mt. 24:21].
For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with
incorruption.413
2. Saint Gregory Palamas: Our intellect, because created in Gods image, possesses likewise
the image of this sublime Eros or intense longingan image expressed in the love experienced by
the intellect for the spiritual knowledge that originates from it and continually abides in it. This love
is of the intellect and in the intellect and issues forth from it together with its innermost intelligence
or logos. This is shown clearly by the fact that even those who are unable to perceive what lies
deeply within themselves possess an insatiable desire for spiritual knowledge....Thus, we worship
one true and perfect God in three true and perfect hypostasesnot, certainly, a threefold God but
One Who is simple. For Goodness is not something threefold, nor a triad of goodnesses. Rather, the
most sublime Goodness is a holy, awe-inspiring and venerable Trinity flowing forth out of Itself into
Itself without change and divinely established in Itself before the ages. The Trinity is without limits
and is limited only by Itself; It limits all things, transcends all and permits no beings to be outside
Itself.414
F. The Man Placed in Eden [Gen. 2:8]
1. Saint Ephraim: Although Adam was created and was blessed to rule over the earth and
over everything that was created and blessed therein, yet God made him to dwell within
Paradise.415...God did not bless Adam in Paradise, because that place and all that is in it is blessed.
But God blessed him on the earth first so that by that blessing with which His grace blessed
beforehand, the curse of the earth, which was about to be cursed by His justice, might thus be
diminished. But even though the blessing was one of promise, in that it was fulfilled after his
expulsion from Paradise, His grace, nevertheless, was of actuality; for on that same day, God set
Adam in the garden to dwell, clothed him with glory [Ps. 8:5], and made him ruler over all the trees
of Paradise.416
G. The Logos in Eden
1. Saint Irenaeos: And that mans nourishment and growth might take place in luxury, a
place was prepared for him, better than this earthexcelling in air, beauty, light, food, plants, fruit,
waters, and every other thing needful for lifeand its name was Paradise. And so beautiful and
good was Paradise that the Logos of God was always walking in it; He would walk and talk with the
man, prefiguring the future that would come to pass, that He would dwell with him and speak with
him, and would be with mankind, teaching him righteousness.417
1. Saint Irenaeos: But, in order that the man should not entertain thoughts of grandeur nor
be exaltedas if he had no Lord, and, because of the authority given to the man and the boldness
413
414
415
416
417
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XXIX , 1, Ante-N icene Fathers, V ol. I.
Ibid., On Genesis, Section I, 31(2), FC, 74:96.
Saint Irenaeos, Epideixis, Ch. 12; M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, pp. 139, 130.
105
toward God his Creatorin passing beyond his own measure, and adopt an attitude of self-conceited
arrogance against God, a law was given to him from God, that he might know that he had as Lord
the Lord of all. And He placed certain limits upon him, so that, if he should keep the commandment
of God, he would remain always as he was, that is, immortal; if, however, he should not keep it, he
would become mortal, dissolving into the earth whence his frame was taken. And the commandment
was this: You may eat freely from every tree of Paradise, but of that tree alone, whence is the
knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat; for on the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die
[Gen 2:16, 17].418
2. Saint Anastasios: God calls the two beings one man. From every tree in the garden, thou
mayest eat [singular]. This is addressed to one person. But from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, do not eat from this [addressed in the plural]. On whichever day you eat from this, you will
die in death [Gen. 2:16, 17]. You see here that the different individuals are called one man. That is:
the single in the dual and the dual in the single are revealed, through the likeness of their nature. 419
1. Saint John of Damascus: In its midst God planted the tree of life and the tree of
knowledge. The tree of knowledge was for trial, and proof, and exercise of mans obedience and
disobedience. Hence, it was named the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or else it was because
to those who partook of it was given power to know their own nature. Now this is a good thing for
those who are mature, but an evil thing for the immature and those whose appetites are too
strong....The tree of life, on the other hand, was a tree having the energy that is the cause of life, or
to be eaten only by those who deserve to live and are not subject to death....It seems to me, that, just
as man is a creature, in whom we find both sense and mind blended together, in like manner also
mans most holy temple combines the properties of sense and mind, and has this twofold expression:
Verily it has been fitly named the tree of life. For since the life is not cut short by death, the
sweetness of the divine participation is imparted to those who share it....Thus, to my thinking, the
divine Paradise is twofold....Indeed, it is possible to understand by every tree the knowledge of the
divine power derived from created things. In the words of the divine apostle, For the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived by the things which
are made [Rom. 1:20]. But of all these thoughts and speculations the sublimest is that dealing with
ourselves, that is, with our own composition. As the divine David says, Thy knowledge is to be
regarded as a marvel by meto be too strong for meI will in no wise be able to face it for myself
[Ps. 138:5]. But for the reasons we have already mentioned, such knowledge was dangerous for
Adam who had been so lately created.420
2. Saint Anastasios: Please examine the following things in order. Before his placement in
Paradise, man was not directed to work and guard the trees [Gen. 1:29, 30]. The previous trees held
a perishable food. But he is directed to guard the second trees, those of Paradise [Gen. 2:15-17].
They are to remain as nourishment for eternal life [Jn. 6:27].421...And God made to spring up also
out of the earth every tree beautiful to the eye and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of
the garden, and the tree of learning the knowledge of good and evil [Gen. 2:9]. Both trees are said
418
419
420
421
Ibid., Epideixis, 15; M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, p. 120.

Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 10, III.5, p. 363.
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning Paradise, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. XI, Vol. IX:29, 30.
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 7 Beta, II.3, pp. 241, 243.
106
to be in the middleand here I am speaking of the tree of divinity and the tree of the opposing
powerbecause both virtue and evil are equally desirable to everyone who seeks them. We have
the power of free choice.422...Scripture uses the dative case when it says that they [the trees] were
in the middle of the garden, and not the genitive of the things in the middle of the garden. This was
so that we might learn, by the terms used, that they were not linked by nature or by birth to the other
trees. They were created as exercises in good and evil, to test our free will.423
1. Saint Anastasios: The rib that was taken and built up into the woman; it was said about
Christ that for her sake, He will leave His Father (the biological one, the Judean people) and His
mother (the Synagogue that bore Him) and will cling to His wife. This was the rib that was formed
from Him and was crafted into the Church of the nations.424 And the two will be as one flesh [Gen.
2:24]: Christ and the Church are of one likeness, of one accord. We are the body of Christ and
different members, the ribs, the flesh, and bones [1 Cor. 12:27].425
1. Saint Irenaeos: So, while man was walking about Paradise, God brought before him all
the animals and commanded him to give name to them all, and whatever Adam called any living
creature, that was the name of it [Gen. 2:19].426...Accordingly he was free and master of himself
(aftexousios), having been made by God in this way, in order that he should rule over everything
upon earth. And this great created world, prepared by God before the fashioning of man, was given
to the man as his domain, having everything in it.427
2. Saint Ephraim: After he [Moses] spoke about Adams entry into Paradise and about the
law that had been set down for him, Moses turned to write about the names that [Adam] gave to the
animals saying, the Lord formed out of the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the sky
and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them [Gen. 2:19].428
They were not really formed; for the earth brought forth the animals, and the water the
birds [Gen. 1:20, 24]. When Moses said, He formed, Moses wished to make known that every
animal, reptile, beast, and bird comes into being from the conjunction of earth and water.429 That
[Moses] said, He brought them to Adam, is so that God might make known the wisdom of Adam
and the harmony that existed between the animals and Adam before he transgressed the
commandment. The animals came to Adam as to a loving shepherd. Without fear they passed before
him in orderly fashion, by kinds and by species. They were neither afraid of him nor were they afraid
of each other. A species of predatory animals would pass by with a species that is preyed upon
following safely right behind.430
422

424
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and straightway blood and water came out [Jn.
19:3 4].
425
426
Saint Irenaeos, Epideixis, 13; M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, p. 147.
427
Ibid., Epideixis, 11; M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, p. 149.
428
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section II, 9(2), FC, 74:103.
429
Ibid., On Genesis, Section II, 9, FC, 74:103.
430
Ibid., On Genesis, Section II, 9(3), FC, 74:103.
423
107
Adam, thus, began his rule over the earth when he became lord over all on that day
according to the blessing he was given....God gave Adam not only rule over everything, which had
been promised to him, but He also allowed him to bestow names [on the animals].431...For someone
to give a few names to be remembered is not a great thing, but it is too large and too great a thing
for any human being to bestow thousands of names in a single moment, without repeating any. It
is possible for someone to bestow many names on many kinds of insects, animals, beasts, and birds,
but never to name one kind by the name of another belongs either to God or to someone to whom
it has been granted by God.432
3. Saint Anastasios: In the six-day creation, He makes and forms man last [Gen. 1:27]. But
in the second creation, He leads him in first [Gen. 2:15],433 and then [presents] the things that are an
image of the Church. First, Christ became incarnate. Then the Church arose, in which the wild beasts
entered last [Gen. 2:19]. 434
1. Saint Ephraim: And the Lord cast sleep upon Adam and he slept. God took one of his
ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the Lord fashioned the rib which He had taken from
Adam into a woman and brought her to Adam [Gen. 2:21, 22]. That man, awake, anointed with
splendor, and who did not yet know sleep, fell on the earth naked and slept. It is likely that Adam
saw in his dream what was done to him as if he were awake. After Adams rib had been taken out
in the twinkling of an eye, God closed up the flesh in its place in the blink of an eyelash. After the
extracted rib had been fashioned with all sorts of beautiful things to adorn it, God then brought her
to Adam, who was both one and two. He was one in that he was Adam, and he was two because he
had been created male and female [Gen. 1:27].435...Adam did not call the rib that was fashioned Eve,
by her own name, but named her woman, the name that was set down for all her kind. Then Adam
said, Let the man leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife so that they might be joined
and the two might become one [Gen. 2:24], without division as they were from the beginning.436
2. Saint Anastasios: And the Lord God cast an ecstasy upon Adam, and he slept. And He
took one of his ribs [Gen. 2:21]. Through this we learn that by the death of Christ, the Church (the
rib) was made and brought to light. And because of this, when Christ was lanced in one rib after His
death, He gushed forth blood and water [Jn. 19:34]. This is the mystery and the rebirth of the
Church, through fire and water [Ps. 65:12].437...Indeed, He gave birth from His own rib to the
woman of life, when He fell asleep in a life-producing sleep [Gen. 2:21; 1 Thess. 4:13-15]. She was
cut from Him [Gen. 2:21, 22] Who had said, I am the life [Jn. 11:25; 14:6; 6:35, 48]. On account
of her, those things were done. He came into the world to stay and on account of her He undid death
[Jn. 11:4; Acts 2:24]. On account of her, He gave life to the living beings among the Gentiles, who
had been brought to Him in the garden [Gen. 2:19; Eph. 2:11-13, 17-19]. On account of her, He gave
life to the dead in Hades [Mt. 16:18; Rom. 4:17; Rev. 1:18; 20:12, 13]indeed, He bestowed life
431

433
And the Lord God took the man whom He had formed, and placed him in the Paradise to work and keep
it [Gen. 2:15].
434
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 9, VII.4, p. 353.
435
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section II, 12, FC, 74:104, 105.
436
Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n II, 13(3), FC, 74:105, 106.
437
432
108
on their mortal nature. And on account of this, He Who had made us alive received from God on her
behalf the fatal command. Through His death, the new Adam gave to His wife, the Church, the name
of Life [Gen. 3:20]. And she became the mother of all those living the life concealed in Christ [Col.
3:3; Rom. 6:4, 5; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17].438
1. Saint Anastasios: She will be called woman, because she was taken from her man [Gen.
2:23]. She had been led to Adam. It was to point out that these things relate to the Church, which
at the end of the ages will be married to Christ. On account of this, the future tense is used: She will
at long last be called Woman, because she was taken from her Man....Adam was not her man: there
had been no intercourse....These things refer to and prophesy Christ and the Church, which was born
from Him and was united with Him. For Christ alone is both the Parent and the Groom of His own
Bride and Woman, the Church [Eph. 5:22-32].439...She had been stolen, but has now come back. She
had become an adulteress under another man, the devil.440...The Church arose from the flesh of
Adams rib, so also the Synagogue arose from the circumcision of Abrahams foreskin, the
forefather of the Jews [Gen. 17:23, 24]. But when that flesh was cut offI am speaking of the
foreskin of Abrahamit was immediately thrown away and trampled into the ground. This was a
prophecy of the rejection and divorce of the Israelite race of Abraham. But the flesh of the rib,
honored by God as life from life [Gen. 3:20; Jn. 14:6], was not thrown away. It was immediately
built up by the hand of God into a perfect Woman, the Church of God [Gen. 2:22].441...This now
is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh [Gen. 2:23]that is to say: Of Me, of Christ, from
Whom she was born. Because of this, she also hears, Thou wilt turn to thy Husband, and He shall
lord it over thee [Gen. 3:16] as Lord of all things [Est. 4:17; Act 10:36; Rom. 10:12].442
N. A Man Shall Leave Father and Mother [Gen. 2:24]
1. Saint Anastasios: We are limbs of His body, from His flesh and from His bones [Eph.
5:30], according to the statement by Paul. Thus Adam, in some way, was the father and the husband
of his own wife, as Christ is of the Church. He is her father, for He gave birth to her through water
and the Spirit [Jn. 3:5; 1 Jn. 5:6]. He is her husband, because He planted in her the seed of the word
[Mk. 4:14; Lk. 8:11], through which she bore unspeakably many children for Him [Is. 54:1; Gal.
4:27]. I mean the children of the nations. And she nurtured and strengthened them, and increased
their number. In this way, the Church is also called the helper of Christ. Since His Ascension, she
has given birth, instructed, illuminated, strengthened, and converted the nations to God; because the
first woman, the Synagogue, became an adulteress [Jer. 3:1-10; Ezek. 16:8-43; Hos. 2:1-13; 4:13,
14]. On account of these events, Christ left his father (the Jewish people) and his mother (the
Synagogue) and bonded with His Gentile wife. And the two became as one flesh, one people [Gen.
2:24].443
1. Saint Irenaeos: Adam, having been led astray, sinned on the sixth day of the creation, in
which day also he has been renewed by Christ. Saint Irenaeos describes for us the scene wherein the
438
439
440
441
442
443
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
Hexaemeron,
Hexaemeron,
Hexaemeron,
Hexaemeron,
Hexaemeron,
Hexaemeron,
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
11, VII.1, p. 455.

10, I.1, p. 355.
10, I.2, p. 355.
10, I.4, p. 357.
9, VII.3, p. 353.
10, II.2, p. 359.
109
devil is showing his well-practised prowess in falsehood: The devil had indeed been already
accustomed to lie against God, for the purpose of leading men astray. For at the beginning, when
God had given to man a variety of things for food, while He commanded him not to eat of one tree
only, as the Scripture tells us that God said to Adam: From every tree which is in the garden thou
shalt eat food; but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from this ye shall not eat: for in the
day that ye shall eat of it, ye shall die by death [Gen. 2:16, 17]. The devil, then, lying against the
Lord, tempted man, as the Scripture says that the serpent said to the woman: Hath God indeed said
this, Eat not of every tree of the garden [Gen. 3:1]? And when she had exposed the falsehood, and
simply related the command, as He had said, From every tree of the garden we shall eat; but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye should die [Gen. 3:2, 3], he had [thus] learned from the woman the
command of God, having brought his cunning into play, he finally deceived her by a falsehood,
saying, Ye shall not die by death; for God knew that in the day ye shall eat of it your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil [Gen. 3:4].
In the first place, then, in the garden of God he disputed about God, as if God were not
there, for he was ignorant of the greatness of God; and then, in the next place, after he had learned
from the woman that God had said that they should die if they tasted the aforesaid tree, opening his
mouth, he uttered the third falsehood, Ye shall not die by death. But that God was true, and the
serpent a liar, was proved by the result, death having passed upon them who had eaten. For along
with the fruit they did also fall under the power of death, because they did eat in disobedience; and
disobedience to God entails death. Wherefore, as they became forfeit to death, from that [moment]
they were handed over to it.
Thus, then, in the day that they did eat, in the same did they die, and became deaths
debtors, since it was one day of the creation. For it is said, There was made in the evening, and
there was made in the morning, one day. Now in this same day that they did eat, in that also did
they die. But according to the cycle and progress of the days, after which one is termed first, another
second, and another third, if anybody seeks diligently to learn upon what day out of the seven it was
that Adam died, he will find it by examining the dispensation of the Lord. For by summing up in
Himself the whole human race from the beginning to the end, He has also summed up its death.
From this it is clear that the Lord suffered death, in obedience to His Father, upon that day on which
Adam died while he disobeyed God. Now he died on the same day in which he did eat. For God
said, In that day on which ye shall eat of it, ye shall die by death.
The Lord, therefore, recapitulating in Himself this day, underwent His sufferings upon the
day preceding the Sabbath, that is, the sixth day of the creation, on which day man was created; thus
granting him a second creation by means of His Passion, which is that [creation] out of death. And
there are some, again, who relegate the death of Adam to the thousandth year; for since a day of the
Lord is as a thousand years [2 Pe. 3:8], he did not overstep the thousand years, but died within
them, thus bearing out the sentence of his sin.444...It follows that, in regard to all these significations,
God is indeed true. For they died who tasted of the tree; and the serpent is proved a liar and a
444
And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred an d thirty years, and he died [G en. 5:5].
110
murderer, as the Lord said of him: For that one was a manslayer from the beginning, and hath not
stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him [Jn. 8:44].445
2. Saint Anastasios: The serpent spoke to the woman before any meal had been eaten. That
is, the Church had been fasting from all sin and idolatry....He conversed with her in his desire to
mislead her to godless polytheism....Do you hear? He did not say, You will be like God, but like
gods. So he stealthily introduced and taught them polytheism.446 Thereby he also maligned God as
envious. He is envious of you, lest you too become like Him: gods knowing all things. And on
account of this, He commanded you not to eat from this my fruit, nor to touch me, nor to genuflect
before me. For I give knowledge of good things and bad things to the one who kneels to me. I give
infernal wisdom [2 Thess. 2:9-11]: astrology, divination, potions or drugs or spells, predictions,
prognostications, miracle-mongering, incantations, the obedience of beasts, the services of flying
creatures, the transformations of animals, exploring astronomical phenomena, bringing down fire,
walking on water, apprehending the abyss, taking up of creeping things, and the revelation of
treasures.447
1. Saint Irenaeos: This commandment not to eat from the tree of knowledge the man did not
keep, but disobeyed God, being mislead by the angel who, because of the many gifts of God, which
He gave to the man, became jealous and looked upon him with envy, and so ruined himself and
made the man a sinner, persuading him to disobey the commandment of God.448...The devil lied,...as
he is the apostate angel. He can only go to this length, as he did at the beginning, [namely] to
deceive and lead astray the mind of man into disobeying the commandments of God, and gradually
to darken the hearts of those who would endeavor to serve him, to the forgetting of the true God, but
to the adoration of himself as God.449
2. Saint Kyril of Jerusalem: If then thou seekest the cause of Christs coming, go back to
the first book of the Scriptures. In six days God made the world: but the world was for man. The sun
however resplendent with bright beams, yet was made to give light to man, yea, and all living
creatures were formed to serve us: herbs and trees were created for our enjoyment. All the works
of creation were good, but none of these was an image of God, save man only. The sun was formed
by a mere command, but man by Gods hands: Let Us make man according to Our image and
according to likeness [Gen. 1:26]. A wooden image of an earthly king is held in honor; how much
more a rational image of God? But when this the greatest of the works of creation was disporting
himself in Paradise, the envy of the devil cast him out. The enemy was rejoicing over the fall of him
whom he had envied: wouldest thou have the enemy continue to rejoice?450
Q. Eve Gave to Her Husband Also with Her, and They Ate [Gen. 3:6]
1. Saint Anastasios: He offered to the woman that she would be made divine by a
451
meal. ...If you consider it spiritually, it was necessary not to touch the man alone, who was Christ.
Adam was not deceived [1 Cor. 15:45; 1 Tim. 2:14], because he was a type of Christ. The woman
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XXIII, 1, 2, Ante-N icene Fathers, Vol. I.
Saint Ireneaos, Epideixis 15, 16; Steenberg, p. 170.
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XXIV , 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
Saint Cyril (Ky ril) of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 12.5, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VII.
111
was deceived, because she was the nature of humanity, the Church [2 Cor. 11:3]. So it was necessary
to note that the woman was separated, as if at a distance, from her husband, God. Then the serpent
attacked and deceived her. He would not have had the strength to deceive her, so long as he saw that
she was not apart from her husband. From these things it is clearly possible to learn that all things
having to do with this woman refer to Christs Church [Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:22-32].452...Again, The
evil dragon had conversed with the first Church. He annoyed her, persuaded here, and deceived her.
She took and enjoyed the fruit, the evil meal....She turned back to her husband. She let the serpent
go. She rightfully returned to him, whom she had wrongfully abandoned. And her man received her,
because he desired her exceedingly....He did not complain, did not lash out, did not criticize, did not
insult, and did not reject her. Instead, having received from heror rather on behalf of her, he
eagerly tasted the fruit of this tree. Consider this fruit of the tree as referring to Christs death upon
the Cross. On behalf of the Church, as on behalf of His own wife, he accepted if from her and tasted
it for three days. On behalf of everyone He tasted death....The vinegar and gall hinted at such a
deadly meal, which were tasted in the garden and on the tree of Golgotha. He was like Adam in all
things, except for sin alone. In our likeness, Jesus willingly made all our things His own. This
certainly included temptation, which He voluntarily accepted from the devil right after His Baptism.
In His likeness to Adam He, Who cannot be tested [Deut. 6:16; Is. 7:12; Mt. 4:7; Acts 15:10], was
tested. Just as the devil urged the earlier Adam to idolatry through Eve, so also he made his case and
brought his attack against the second Adam through the flesh. But he missed the mark.453
1. Saint Ephraim: Moses says that the two of them were naked and were not ashamed....
They were not children,...but young adults. The names that Adam bestowed should be sufficient to
convince us of the level of his wisdom. And the fact that [Moses] said, he will till it and keep it,
should make known to us Adams strength. The law was set for them testifies to their full maturity
and their transgression of the commandment should bear witness to their arrogance.454
It was because of the glory with which they were clothed that they were not ashamed. It was
when this glory was stripped from them after they had transgressed the commandment that they were
ashamed because they were naked. The two of them then hastened to cover themselves with
leavesnot their entire bodies but only their shameful members.455...
Just as Israel, without a veil, was unable to look upon the face of Moses [Exod. 34:33-35],
neither were the animals able to look upon the splendor of the house of Adam; when the beasts
passed before Adam and they received their names from him, they would cast their eyes downwards,
for their eyes could not endure Adams glory.456...
After she ate, Eve neither grew nor did she shrink, nor were her eyes opened. She neither
received the divinity for which she had been looking, nor did she find that the opening of her eyes
had taken her to Paradise. She then brought the fruit to her husband and made him eat....After Eve
ate, she did not surely die, as God had said, nor did she find divinity, as the serpent had said. And,
if Eve had been stripped naked Adam would have been afraid and would not have eaten. Although
452
453
454
455
456
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 10, VII.4, p. 379.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 10, X.1, 2, pp. 387, 389.
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section II, 14, FC, 74:106.
112
Adam would not have been guilty, since he had not eaten, he would not have been victorious, either,
for he would not really have been tempted. It would have been the nakedness of his wife that made
him desist from eating and not the love or fear of his Commander.457...
Then, after Eve had enticed Adam into eating, Scripture says, The eyes of both of them
were opened and they knew that they were naked [Gen. 3:7]. The opening of their eyes was not so
that they would become like God as the serpent had said but so that they would see their nakedness
as that enemy had expected.458
S. Where Art Thou [Gen. 3:9]?
1. Saint Irenaeos: In the case of Adam,...having been beguiled by another under the pretext
of immortality, he is immediately seized with terror, and hides himself; not as if he were able to
escape from God; but, in a state of confusion at having transgressed His command, he feels
unworthy to appear before and to hold converse with God. Now, the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom [Prov. 1:7; 9:10]; the sense of sin leads to repentance, and God bestows His
compassion upon those who are penitent. For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through
means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig leaves, while there were many other
leaves, which would have irritated his body in a lesser degree. He, however, adopted a dress
conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful
propensity of his flesh (since he had lost his natural disposition and childlike mind, and had come
to the knowledge of evil things), he girded a bridle of continence upon himself and his wife, fearing
God, and waiting for His coming, and indicating, as it were, some such thing [as follows]:
Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that robe of sanctity which I had from
the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords
no gratification, but which gnaws. He might have retained this clothing perpetually, thus humbling
himself, if the merciful God had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig leaves. For this
purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might light upon the woman; and again, He
interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred.
The serpent, says she, beguiled me, and I did eat. But He put no question to the serpent; for He
knew that he had been the prime mover in the guilty deed; but He pronounced the curse upon him
in the first instance, that it might fall upon man with a mitigated rebuke. For God detested him who
had led man astray; but by degrees, and little by little, He showed compassion to him who had been
beguiled.459...
Wherefore also the Scripture, pointing out what should come to pass, says, that when Adam
had hid himself because of his disobedience, the Lord came to him at eventide, called him forth, and
said, Where art thou [Gen. 3:9]? That means that in the last times the very same Word of God
came to call man, reminding him of his doings....For just as at that time God spoke to Adam at
eventide, searching him out, so in the last times, by means of the same voice, searching out his
posterity, He has visited them.460
T. He Shall Watch for Thy Head, and Thou Shalt Watch for His Heel [Gen. 3:15]
457
458
459
460

Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. III, Ch. XXIII, 5, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. III, Ch. XXIII, 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
113
1. Saint Anastasios: He will watch out for your head, and you will watch out for his heel.
Whose heel? Of the woman? Come now!...God directed the woman, the Church, to hate the evil
serpent and not obey him [Gen. 3:15]. But the Church is not able to watchor more precisely, to
ambush and crushhis head. And on account of this, God transferred the statement from the woman
to the manor more precisely, to Christ....The heel is the extremity of the whole body of Christ, the
Church [Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 4:25], after he in the final season winnows her [Amos 9:9;
Lk. 22:31]. Her heel, the extremity, is the presence of the Antichrist in the final seasons [1 Jn. 2:18,
22; 4:3; 2 Jn. 1:7]. The evil serpent awaits and watches for his season, because the serpent will use
Antichrist as a tool to step on the Church [Rev. 13:11-18; 20:10]. And again it will be through food,
since there will be a famine then [Rev. 6:8; 18:8; Bel 27; cf. Amos 8:11]....Christ stationed the
Cherubim and the flaming sword, which encircles and guards the Church on all sides [Gen. 3:25]:
to prevent the head of the serpent from penetrating inside.461...
Perhaps for this reason, when He said to the serpent about Christ: He shall watch against
thy head, and thou shalt watch against his heel [Gen. 3:15], God changed the statement from the
woman to the man because of the previous statement, which was common to both: the two shall be
into one flesh [Mt. 19:5].462 Through this masculine-feminine phrasing, He taught us that Christ and
the Church are inseparable [Eph. 5:32]. They have the same nature, one flesh, one body [Mk. 10:8;
1 Cor. 6:15; Eph. 5:29, 30]. They are monogamous [Mt. 19:6; 9:1; 1 Cor. 6:13; 7:39].463
1. Saint Irenaeos: Christ has, therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things,
both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away
captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as thou canst perceive in Genesis that God said to
the serpent,
And I will put enmity between thee and between the woman and between thy seed and between the
Seed of her, He shall watch for thy head, and thou shalt watch for His heel [Gen. 3:15]. For from
that time, He who should be born of a woman, [namely] from the Virgin, after the likeness of Adam,
was preached as keeping watch for the head of the serpent. This is the seed of which the apostle says
in the Epistle to the Galatians, Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until
the Seed should come to whom promise hath been made [Gal. 3:19]. This fact is exhibited in a still
clearer light in the same Epistle, where he thus speaks: But when the fullness of the time came, God
sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law [Gal. 4:4]. For indeed the enemy would
not have been fairly vanquished, unless it had been a man [born] of a woman who conquered him.
For it was by means of a woman that he got the advantage over man at first, setting himself up as
mans opponent. And therefore does the Lord profess Himself to be the Son of man, comprising in
Himself that original man out of whom the woman was fashioned, in order that, as our species went
down to death through a vanquished man, so we may ascend to life again through a victorious One;
and as through a man death received the palm [of victory] against us, so again by a Man we may
receive the palm against death.464
461
462
463
464

Gen. 2:24; M k. 10:8; 1 C or. 6:16; Eph. 5:31.
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XXI, 1, A nte-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
114
Elsewhere in this work, Saint Irenaeos points out that this Word was manifested when the
Word of God was made man, assimilating Himself to man, and man to Himself, so that by means
of his resemblance to the Son, man might become precious to the Father. For in times long past, it
was said that man was created after the image of God, but it was not [actually] shown; for the Logos
was as yet invisible, after Whose image man was created, wherefore also he [man] did easily lose
the similitude. When, however, the Word of God became flesh, He confirmed both these: for He
both showed forth the image truly, since He became Himself what was His image; and He
reestablished the similitude after a sure manner, by assimilating man to the invisible Father through
means of the visible Word.465
V. To Thy Husband Shall Be Thy Turning Back, and He Shall Lord it over Thee [Gen. 3:16]
1. Saint Anastasios: The wife returns to her husband....Certainly we learn through all these
statements that the wife had been separated out of her husband. She then returned to him and again
became his rib and wife and flesh and bone, for she was the woman that said, in the book of the
Prophet Hosea: I will go, and return to my former husband; for it was better with me than now
[Hos. 2:9]. God, therefore, spoke to the Church; He called His wife, saying: And Thou wilt return
to Thy man, and He will lord it over thee [Gen. 3:16]. So we learn why, as soon as He had planted
Paradise, a type of the Church, Scripture named God the Lord, bestowing the title Lord upon Him
[Gen. 2:8]. It was because of the lordship of God over His wife at the end of time [Rev. 19:6-9].
Before Paradise you will not find Him named Lord and God, but only God.466...It is absolutely
necessary that we consider everything about the first-formed Adam and Eveall the way to the very
last stroke and dotas relating to Christ and the Church. 467
W. The Serpent [Gen. 3:14] and the Ground are Cursed [Gen. 3:17]
1. Saint Irenaeos: He pronounced no curse against Adam personally, but against the ground,
in reference to his works, as a certain person among the ancients has observed: God did indeed
transfer the curse to the earth, that it might not remain in man. But man received, as the punishment
of his transgression, the toilsome task of tilling the earth, and to eat bread in the sweat of his face,
and to return to the dust from whence he was taken.468 Similarly also did the woman [receive] toil,
and labor, and groans, and the pangs of parturition, and a state of subjection, that is, that she should
serve her husband;469 so that they should neither perish altogether when cursed by God, nor, by
remaining unreprimanded, should be led to despise God. But the curse in all its fulness fell upon the
serpent, which had beguiled them. And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou didst this
thou art accursed from all of the animals and from all the brutes of the earth, on thy breast and the
belly shalt thou proceed, and thou shalt eat earth all the days of thy life [Gen. 3:14]. And this same
thing does the Lord also say in the Gospel, to those who are found upon the left hand: Go from Me,
ye who have been cursed, into the fire, the everlasting one, which hath been prepared for the devil
465
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XVI, 2, A nte-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.

467
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 11, V.13, p. 439.
468
And to Adam He said, Because thou didst hearken to the voice of thy wife, and didst eat of the tree
concerning which I Myself enjoined thee of it only not to eatbecause of it is the ground accursed in thy
labors, in sorrows shalt thou eat all the days of thy life [Gen. 3:17].
469
And to the woman He said, Multiplying will I multiply thy sorrows and thy groaning s; in sorrow shalt
thou bring forth children, and to thy husband shall be thy turning back, and he shall lord it over thee [Gen.
3:16].
466
115
and his angels [Mt. 25:41], indicating that eternal fire was not originally prepared for man, but for
him who beguiled man, and caused him to offendfor him, I say, who is chief of the apostasy, and
for those angels who became apostates along with him; which [fire], indeed, they too shall justly
feel, who, like him, persevere in works of wickedness, without repentance, and without retracing
their steps.470
1. Saint Anastasios: The first body had a position between corruptibility and
incorruptibility. The very wise Solomon confirms this for us when he says that God made man for
incorruptibility [Wis. 2:23]. That is, in a state between immutability and mutability. If man chooses
the betterso it seemed to Gregory the Theologianhe is on the way to the perfect incorruptibility
and immortality. But if he chooses the worse, he endures the perfect death [Rev. 20:13-15]. And this
is what happened, according to the voice that said to Adam: For earth thou art and to earth thou
shalt return [Gen. 3:19].471
2. Saint Gregory Palamas: God made not death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction
of any living thing [Wis. 1:13]....Not only did God not make death, but He hindered it from
happening. However, as He had created man as a living being with free will (self-governance,
aftexousion), He could not prevent it without destroying His creature by taking away the freedom
He had given. Nevertheless, in His wisdom and goodness He found a way to keep man from death
while preserving his free will. How was this to be achieved? As soon as He had formed man and
brought him to life, He gave him a counsel that would make him immortal. To establish this
instruction very firmly from the beginning, He made it His commandment and proclaimed it openly,
emphasizing that to break this life-giving precept meant death. 472...
We should inquire and learn about the origin of physical death. God, Who is Life itself,
fullness of life, and the Cause of all life in time and eternity, and indeed of preeternal and Godlike
life, neither gave us bodily death, nor created, nor commanded it to exist. If God did not make this
death, He is also not responsible for physical diseases; so where do our bodily illnesses and
maladies, as well as the death of our bodies come from? Listen and understand what the source of
this death is. The spiritual serpent and archetype of wickedness deserted to evil in the beginning and
so was deprived of the true and good life. He was justly driven away from the life from which he
had already fled, and became a dead spirit, not dead in essence, for deadness has no essential
existence, but dead through casting off true life. He was not satisfied, though, with hurtling toward
evil, but also made himself a death-dealing spirit, deceitfully, alas, persuading mankind to share in
His own death.473
Because our ancestors agreed with Satan against the Creators will and stripped off the
garments of life and heavenly radiance, they became, sad to say, spiritually dead like Satan. Satan
is not just a dead spirit, but brings death upon all who draw near to him. Both those who shared in
his state of death had bodies through which the deadening counsel which they had put into practice
finished its work. Once their spirits had died and become sources of death, they passed on their
deadness to the bodies, which would have disintegrated immediately and returned to the earth, had
470
471
472
473
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. III, Ch. XX III, 3, A nte-N icene Fathers, 1 st Ser., Vol. I.
Saint Gregory Palamas, H om. 31, 1, 2, The Hom ilies, II:100 , 101.
Ibid., Hom. 31, 12, The Hom ilies, II:106, 107.
116
they not been preserved by a higher providence and power to await the decision of Him Who
upholds all things by His word alone [Heb. 1:3]. He...held back the sentence of physical death and
postponed it. When He did pronounce it, in His profound wisdom and great love for mankind, He
refrained from putting it into effect until a future time....He pronounced: Earth thou art, and to earth
shalt thou go away [Gen. 3:19]. He did not utter these words as a commandment, but to foretell
what was in all fairness to take place, with His permission and without Him preventing it.474...
On account of sin we put on coats of skins [Gen. 3:21]: our infirm mortal bodies beset
with pain. We moved into this temporary, perishing world, and were sentenced to live lives full of
suffering and misfortune.475
Elsewhere, Saint Gregory writes that man was justly abandoned by God in the beginning
as he had first abandoned God. Because of the devils overwhelming evil, death became twofold,
for he brought about not just physical but also eternal death.476...Originally God created the first
Adam undefiled, and he was new until he voluntarily obeyed the devil. He turned aside after the
pleasures of the flesh, underwent the defilement of sin, grew old and fell into what is contrary to
nature.477...We were condemned to physical death after the transgression....Physical death is when
the soul leaves the body and is separated from it. The death of the soul is when God leaves the soul
and is separated from it, although in another way, the soul remains immortal. Once separated from
God it becomes more ugly and useless than a dead body, but unlike such a body it does not
disintegrate after death since it is not composite.478...Just as through one man, Adam, who was called
to account or set straight, death passed down by heredity to those born afterward, so the grace of
eternal and heavenly life passed down from the one divine and human Logos to all those born again
of Him.479
Y. Adam Hath Become as One of Us [Gen. 3:22]
1. Saint Justin (ca. 100-ca. 165): And God said, Behold, Adam is become as one of Us,
to know good and evil, and now lest at any time he should stretch forth his hand, and take of the tree
of life and eat, and so he shall live unto the age [Gen. 3:22]. In saying, therefore, as one of Us,
Moses has declared that [there is a certain] number of Persons associated with One Another, and that
they are at least Two....The teachers of the dogma of heresy cannot prove that [God] spoke to angels,
or that the human frame was the workmanship of angels. But this Only-begotten, Who was truly
brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all the creatures, and the Father communed
with Him; even as the Scripture by Solomon has made clear, that He Whom Solomon calls Wisdom,
was begotten as a Beginning before all His creatures. 480
2. Saint Anastasios: Look, Adam hath become as one of Us [Gen. 3:22]; by Us is meant
the three Hypostases of the Divinity [Mt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:13; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Tim. 1:2;
2 Tim. 1:2; 1 Pe. 1:2; 2 Jn. 3; Jude 20, 21; Rev. 1:4, 8; 4:8]; that is to say, in a later season, at the
final age, one of the Trinity, the Son and Logos of the Father [Jn. 1:1], will become a composite. He
474
Ibid., Hom. 31, 13, The Hom ilies, II:108.

Saint Gregory Palamas, H om. 31, 1, The Hom ilies, II:100.
476
Ibid., Hom. 16, 4, The Hom ilies, I:179, 180.
477
Ibid., Hom. 16, 5, The Hom ilies, I:183.
478
479
480
Saint Justin Martyr, Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew, Ch. 62, Ante-Nicene
Fathers, V ol. I.
475
117
will become God and also man [Jn. 1:14]. At the same time through this statement, God proclaimed
to Adam: Thou wilt become as one of the Trinity, unified with the divinity through Him [Christ].
He will raise thee up to share the throne of the Cherubim. Thou wilt sit on the right side of the
Majesty, and be worshipped and praised by every Power and Authority [Mt. 19:28; 2 Cor. 4:17; Phil.
3:21; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 2:12].481
1. Saint Irenaeos: Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from
the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He
pitied him, and did not desire that he should continue a sinner forever, nor that the sin which
surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to
his state of sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease,482 putting an end to it by the
dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live
to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God.483
AA. Humanity Learns What is Infirmity in a Creation that Groans Too
1. Saint Irenaeos: For how could a man have learned that he is himself an infirm being, and
mortal by nature, but that God is immortal and powerful, unless he had learned by experience what
is in both? For there is nothing evil in learning ones infirmities by endurance; yea, rather, it has
even the beneficial effect of preventing him from forming an undue opinion of his own nature. But
the being lifted up against God, and taking His glory to oneself, rendering man ungrateful, has
brought much evil upon him....But the experience of both confers upon him the true knowledge as
to God and man, and increases his love toward God. Now, where there exists an increase of love,
there a greater glory is wrought out by the power of God for those who love Him.484...
But man, being endowed with reason, and in this respect like to God, having been made free
in his will, and with power over himself, is himself the cause to himself, that sometimes he becomes
wheat and sometimes chaff. Wherefore also he shall be justly condemned, because, having been
created a rational being, he lost the true rationality; and living irrationally, opposed the righteousness
of God, giving himself over to every earthly spirit, and serving all lusts; as says the prophet, And
man, being in honor, did not understand; he is to be compared to the cattle, the creatures without
understanding, and is become like unto them [Ps. 48:12].485
2. Saint John of Damascus: Indeed, before the transgression all things were under his power.
For God set him as ruler over all things on the earth and in the waters. Even the serpent was
accustomed to man, and approached him more readily than it did other living creatures, and held
intercourse with him with delightful motions.486 And hence it was through it that the devil, the prince
of evil, made his most wicked suggestion to our first parents [Gen. 3:1]. Moreover, the earth of its
own accord used to yield fruits, for the benefit of the animals that were obedient to man; and there
was neither rain nor tempest on the earth. But after the transgression, when he was compared with
the unintelligent cattle and became like unto them [Ps. 48:12], after he had contrived that in him
irrational desire should have rule over reasoning mind and had become disobedient to the Masters
481
482
483
484
485
486
Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 12, II.1, p. 465.

For the one w ho died hath been justified from sin [Rom. 6:7].
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. III, Ch. XX III, 6, A nte-N icene Fathers, 1 st Ser., Vol. I.
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. III, 1, Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1 st Ser., Vol. I.
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. IV, C h. IV, 3, Ante-N icene Fathers, 1 st Ser., Vol. I.
Saint Basil, Ho mily on P aradise.
118
command, the subject creation rose up against him whom the Creator had appointed to be ruler: and
it was appointed for him that he should till with sweat the earth from which he had been taken.487
But even now wild beasts are not without their uses; for, by the terror they cause, they
bring man to the knowledge of his Creator and lead him to call upon His name. And, further, at the
transgression the thorn sprung out of the earth in accordance with the Lords express declaration and
was conjoined with the pleasures of the rose, that it might lead us to remember the transgression on
account of which the earth was condemned to bring forth for us thorns and prickles.488 That this is
the case is made worthy of belief from the fact that their endurance is secured by the word of the
Lord, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.489
1. Saint Irenaeos: So from the earth, while it was still virgin, God took mud from the earth
and fashioned man, the beginning of humankind. Thus the Lord, recapitulating this man, received
the same arrangement of embodiment as this one, being born from the Virgin by the will and
wisdom of God.490...For as by one mans disobedience sin entered, and death obtained [a place]
through sin; so also by the obedience of One Man, righteousness having been introduced, shall cause
life to fructify in those persons who in times past were dead. And as the protoplast himself Adam
had his substance from untilled and as yet virgin soil (for God did not send rain on the earth and
there was no man to work the ground [Gen. 2:5]), and was formed by the hand of God, that is, by
the Word of God, for all things were made by Him [Jn. 1:3], and the Lord took dust from the earth
and formed man, so did He Who is the Word, recapitulating Adam in Himself, rightly receive a
birth, enabling Him to gather up Adam [into Himself], from Mary, who was as yet a virgin. If, then,
the first Adam had a man for his father, and was born of human seed, it would be reasonable to say
that the second Adam was begotten of Joseph. But if the former was taken from the dust, and God
was his Maker, it was incumbent that the latter also, making a recapitulation in Himself, should be
formed as man by God, to have an analogy with the former as respects His origin. Why, then, did
not God again take dust, but wrought so that the formation should be made of Mary? It was that
there might not be another formation called into being, nor any other which should [require to] be
saved, but that the very same formation should be summed up [in Christ as had existed in Adam],
the analogy having been preserved.491
1. Saint Irenaeos: The heretics being all unlearned and ignorant of Gods arrangements, and
not acquainted with that dispensation by which He took upon Him human nature, inasmuch as they
blind themselves with regard to the truth, do in fact speak against their own salvation.492...It
behooves us...to avoid their doctrines, and to take careful heed lest we should suffer any injury from
them; but to flee to the Church and be brought up in her bosom, and be nourished with the Lords
Scriptures. For the Church has been planted as a garden in this world; therefore, the Spirit of God
487
Saint John of D amascus, Concerning Earth and its products, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. X, V ol.
IX:28, 29.
488
Saint Basil, Ho mily on P aradise.
489
Saint John of Damascus, Concerning Earth and its products, An Exact Exposition, Bk. II, Ch. X, V ol.
IX:28, 29.
490
Saint Irenaeos, Epideixis 32, M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, p. 109.
491
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. III, Ch. XXI, 10, Ante-Nicene Fathers, I:454
492
Ibid., Against Heresies, Bk. V, Ch. XX, 20, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I.
119
says, You may freely eat from every tree of the garden,493 that is, you may eat from every Scripture
of the Lord, but you shall not eat with an uplifted mind, nor touch any heretical discord. For these
men profess that they themselves have the knowledge of good and evil, and they set their own
opinions on what is beyond the limits of understanding. Wherefore, also the apostle says, For I say,
through the grace which is given to me, to everyone that is among you, not to be high minded
beyond what is needful to be minded, but to be minded so as to be sober minded, as God allotted a
measure of faith to each [Rom. 12:3], that we not be cast forth from the paradise of life by eating
of the knowledge of these menthat knowledge which knows more than it should.494
Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and
thus death passed to all men, on account of which all have sinned....Death reigned...even over those
who did not sin in the likeness of Adams transgression, who is a type of the coming One. But not
as the offense, so much also is the free gift: For if through the offense of the one many died, much
more the grace of God and the gift in grace which is of the one Man, Jesus Christ, did abound to the
many. For on the one hand the judgment was out of one offense, but on the other hand the free gift
was out of many offenses to justification [Rom. 5:12-16].
1. Saint Chrysostom: And what at length is this that he is saying? That on the one hand one
sin had the strength to bring in death and condemnation, but on the other hand grace did not abolish
only that one sin, but also those that followed after that. In order that the words as and so not
seem to make an equal measure of the blessings and the bad things, and that you not think upon
hearing Adam that it was only that one sin which he brought in which was abolished, he says that
the taking away of many offenses took place...and that righteousness was given. And Christ did not
only give the same benefit that Adam did harm, but also much more and greater.495
EE. In Adam All Die
For since by a man came death, also by a Man came a resurrection of the dead. For even
as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ shall all be made alive [1 Cor. 15:21,22].
Death is swallowed up in victory....Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is
the law. But thanks be to God Who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Cor. 15:54
57].
1. Saint Kyril of Alexandria (tenure 412-444): Since Adam produced children in his fallen
state, we, his descendants, are corruptible, as coming from a corrupt source. The curse of mortality
was transmitted to his seed after him, for we are born of mortal substance. Our Lord Jesus Christ is
the new beginning of our race, reforming us unto incorruptibility by assaulting death, and nullifying
the curse through His own flesh. Corruption and death are the universal and general consequences
of Adams transgressions. In like manner the universal and general ransom has been accomplished
finally in Christ.496...He compares death to a scorpion, the sting of which is sin; for by its poison it
slays the soul. And the law, he says, was the strength of sin; for so he himself again elsewhere
protests, saying, I had not known sin but through the lawfor where there is no law, there is no
493
And the Lord God gave a charge to Adam , saying, Of every tree which is in the garden thou m ayest
freely eat [Gen. 2:16].
494
Saint Irenaeos, Epideixis 15, M . C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation, p. 156; SC 153:258 -261..
495
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 10, On Romans, P.G. 60:521 (cols. 475, 476).
496
Saint Kyril of Alexandria, Selected Letters VI, 20, pp. 200 204.
120
transgression of the law [cf. Rom. 7:7; 4:15]. For this reason Christ has removed those who believe
in Him from the jurisdiction of the law that condemns; and He has also abolished the sting of death,
even sin; and sin being taken away, death, as a necessary consequence, departed with it; for it was
from it, and because of it, that death came into the world.497
2. In the prayer of Saint Makrina recorded by St. Gregory of Nyssa, she said, Thou hast
restored again what Thou hadst given, transforming with incorruptibility and grace what is mortal
and shameful in us. Thou hast redeemed us from the curse and sin, having become both on our
behalf. Thou hast crushed the head of the serpent...and negated the one who had power over us
through death.498
3. Saint Chrysostom: Seest thou how the discourse is of bodily death? Therefore, it is also
of bodily resurrection. For if these bodies do not rise again, how is death swallowed up? And not
this only, but how is the law the power of sin? For that sin indeed is the sting of death, and
more grievous than it, and by it has its strength, is evident. 499
FF. The Church
1. Saint Sophronios praises the Bride of Christ, the Church: O the wonder! Thou hast alone
become a helper to man and to thy Helper and Protector God. Thou dost labor, teach, report,
illuminate, bring back, and call to Him, as if to the light, those who sit in the darkness and shadow
of death [Job 12:22; Lk. 1:79; 106:9]. Thou dost give birth and rebirth, and thou dost give
nourishment with the Bread and give drink with the Cup....Thou art industrious, keeping the home,
loving thy Husband, affectionate, strong, helpful, and armed with shield and sword [Rom. 6:13;
13:12; 2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 6:11-17; 1 Pe. 4:1]. Thou art always ready and eager to risk and give thy life
for thy Man, Adam, Christ. Therefore, since thou art so, He stationed and placed the Cherubim
beneath thee as their queen [Gen. 3:25; Rev. 12:6-14].500...Do not wane or eclipse, ever-shining
moon [Gen. 1:14-18; Rev. 12:1], and guide us in this night of godlessness and amidst the
incomprehensible obscurity of the Scriptures [2 Cor. 4:6]. Do not set, O wife and companion of the
Sun of Christ [Mt. 17:2; Rev. 1:16; 21:23, 24; 22:5], Who is the Husband of the moon and shines
all around thee. Do not stop sending down to us His rays, so that illuminated by Him through thee,
I might ignite a multitude of lights in thee.501
For a further and in-depth analysis in a homily based on the Church Fathers, see our
publication, The Great Synaxaristes: Triodion, Cheesefare Sunday, A Homily: On the First Three
Chapters of Genesis, Leading to the Expulsion from Paradise, and the Aftermath (Buena Vista, CO:
Holy Apostles Convent, 2010), pp. 308-419.
IX. GENESIS, PRE-FLOOD, GLOBAL FLOOD, AND POST-FLOOD
A. Earlier Times Between the Tribes of Seth and Cain [Gen. 6]
497
498
499
500
501
Saint Kyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke, Ch. 20, Hom. 136, p. 541.
Saint Makrina, The Life of St. Makrina, P.G. 46:984CD.
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 42, On First Corinthians, P.G. 61:397 (col. 365).
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 12, V.6, p. 487.
121

T. The Blessing and Command of God [Gen. 9:1]
W. Shem and Japheth
X. One Race: The Human Race
Relevant Scripture to the Flood
Genesis, Chapter 5
And Lamech...begot a son [Gen. 5:28]. And he called his name Noah, saying, This one will
allow us to rest awhile from our works, and from the sorrows of our hands, and from the earth which
the Lord God Himself cursed [Gen. 5:29]....
And Noah (Noe) was five hundred years old, and he begot three sons, Shem (Sem), Ham
(Cham), and Japheth [Gen. 5:32]....
Genesis, Chapter 6
And it came to pass when men began to be numerous upon the earth, and daughters were
born to them, that the sons of God having seen the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took
to themselves wives of all whom they chose [Gen. 6:1, 2].
And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall certainly not remain among these men unto the age,
because they are flesh; but their days shall be a hundred and twenty years [Gen. 6:3].
Now the giants were upon the earth in those days; and after that when the sons of God were
wont to be going into the daughters of men, they kept bearing children to them, those were the giants
of old, the men of renown [Gen. 6:4].
The Lord God said, I will blot out man whom I have made from the face of the earth, even
man with cattle, and reptiles with flying creatures of the sky, for I am provoked that I have made
them [Gen. 6:7].
122
But Noah found grace before the Lord God. And these are the generations of Noah. Noah
was a just man; being perfect in his generation, Noah was well-pleasing to God [Gen. 6:8, 9].
And Noe begot three sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth [Gen. 6:10].
But the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with wrongdoing [Gen.
6:11].
And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was being ruined; because all flesh ruined his way
upon the earth [Gen. 6:12].
And God said to Noah, The time of all men is come before Me; because the earth is filled
with wrongdoing by them; and behold, I destroy them and the earth [Gen. 6:13].
Make therefore for thyself an ark of square timber; thou shalt make the ark in
compartments, and thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch [Gen. 6:14].
And in this way shalt thou make the ark: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and
fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it [Gen. 6:15].
Thou shalt make the ark, joining it together, and thou shalt finish it in a cubit from above,
and the door of the ark thou shalt make on the side; with lower, second, and third stories thou shalt
make it [Gen. 6:16].
And behold, even I am bringing the cataclysm of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh
in which is the breath of life under heaven, and whatsoever is upon the earth shall come to an end
[Gen. 6:17].
And I will establish My covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, and thy sons
and thy wife, and thy sons wives with thee. And of all cattle and of all reptiles and of all wild
beasts, even of all flesh, thou shalt bring by pairs of all, into the ark, that thou mayest feed them with
thyself: male and female they shall be. Of all winged birds after their kind, and of all cattle after their
kind, and of all reptiles creeping upon the earth after their kind, pairs of all shall come in to thee,
male and female to be fed with thee. And thou shalt take to thyself of all kinds of food which ye eat,
and thou shalt gather them to thyself, and it shall be for thee and them to eat [Gen. 6:18-21].
And Noah did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him, so did he [Gen. 6:22].
Genesis, Chapter 7
Enter thou and all thy family into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this
generation [Gen. 7:1].
He then bid him: And of the clean cattle take in to thee by sevens, male and female, and
of the unclean cattle pairs male and female. And of clean flying creatures of the sky by sevens each,
male and female, and of all unclean flying creatures pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all
the earth [Gen. 7:2].
And of clean flying creatures of the sky sevens, male and female, and of all unclean flying
creatures pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all the earth [Gen. 7:3].
For yet seven days having passed I bring rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights,
and I will blot out every that riseth up, which I have made, from off the face of all the earth [Gen.
7:4].
And Noah did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him [Gen. 7:5].
And Noah was six hundred years old when the cataclysm of water came to be upon the earth
[Gen. 7:6].
123
And Noah entered, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, into the
ark, because of the water of the cataclysm [Gen. 7:7].
And of the flying creatures and of the beasts, the clean ones, and of the beasts, those not
clean, and of all the creeping things upon the earth [Gen. 7:8], two by two they went in toward Noah
in the ark, male and female, as God Himself enjoined Noah [Gen. 7:9].
And it came to pass after the seven days that the water of the cataclysm came upon the earth
[Gen. 7:10].
In the six hundredth year in the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventh and
twentieth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the abyss were broken up, and the
cataracts of the heaven were opened [Gen. 7:11].
And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights [Gen. 7:12].
On that very day Noah entered, and Shem, Ham, Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife
of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark [Gen. 7:13].
And all the wild beasts according to kind, and all cattle according to kind, and every
creeping thing moving itself upon the earth according to kind, and every winged creature according
to kind [Gen. 7:14], went in toward Noah in the ark, two by two of all flesh in which is the breath
of life [Gen. 7:15].
And the ones entering, males and female of all flesh, entered as God Himself commanded
Noah; and the Lord God shut the ark from the outside of Him [Gen. 7:16].
And the cataclysm was upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and the water was
increased and raised the ark and it was lifted up from the earth; and the water was prevailing and was
increased exceedingly upon the earth, and the ark was borne upon the water [Gen. 7:17, 18].
And the water was prevailing exceedingly upon the earth, and covered all the mountains,
the high ones, which were under the heaven [Gen. 7:19].
Fifteen cubits upwards was the water raised, and it covered all the mountains, the high ones
[Gen. 7:20].
And there died all flesh that moved upon the earth, of flying creatures and cattle, and of
wild beasts, and every reptile moving upon the earth, and every man. And all things which have the
breath of life, and whatever was on the dry land, died [Gen. 7:21, 22].
And God blotted out every offspring which was upon the face of the earth, both man and
beast, and reptiles, and birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth, and Noah was left
alone, and those with him in the ark [Gen. 7:23].
And the water was raised over the earth a hundred and fifty days [Gen. 7:24].
Genesis, Chapter 8
And God remembered Noah, and all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and
all the creeping things, as many as were with him in the ark, and God brought a wind upon the earth,
and the water stayed [Gen. 8:1].
And the fountains of the abyss were covered over, and the cataracts of the heaven, and the
rain from the heaven was constrained [Gen. 8:2].
And the water kept abating, and continued going off the earth; and after fifty and a hundred
days the water was diminishing; and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventh and
twentieth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat [Gen. 8:3, 4].
124
And the traversing water kept diminishing until the tenth month; then in the eleventh month,
the first of the month, the heads of the mountains were seen [Gen. 8:5].
And it came to pass after forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made
[Gen. 8:6].
And he sent forth a raven to see if the water had abated; and it went forth and returned not
until the water came to be dried from off the earth [Gen. 8:7].
And he sent forth a dove after it to see if the water had abated from off the earth [Gen. 8:8].
And the dove, not finding rest for her feet, returned to him into the ark, because the water
was on all the face of the earth; and he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her in to
himself into the ark [Gen. 8:9].
And holding out yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove from the ark [Gen.
8:10].
And the dove returned to him toward the evening; and Noah knew that the water had abated
from off the earth [Gen. 8:11].
And holding out yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove; and she did not continue
to return to him again anymore [Gen. 8:12].
And it came to pass in the first and six hundredth year of the life of Noah, of the first month,
of the first day of the month, the water subsided from off the earth; and Noah opened the roof of the
ark which he made, and he saw that the water did subside from the face of the earth [Gen. 8:13, 14].
And the Lord God spoke to Noah, saying, Come thou out from the ark, thou and thy wife
and thy sons and the wives of thy sons with thee [Gen. 8:15, 16].
And all the wild beasts, as many as are with thee, and all flesh from birds to beasts, and
every creeping thing moving upon the earth, bring forth with thyself: and be ye increasing and
multiplying upon the earth [Gen. 8:17].
And Noah came forth, and his wife and his sons, and the wives of his sons with him [Gen.
8:18].
And all the wild beasts and all the cattle and every winged creature, and every creeping
thing moving upon the earth according to their kind, came forth out of the ark [Gen. 8:19].
And Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of all clean beasts, and of all clean birds, and
offered a whole burnt-offering upon the altar. And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and
the Lord God having considered, said, I will not anymore curse the earth, because of the works of
men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth; I will not,
therefore, anymore smite all living flesh as I have done. All the days of the earth, seed and harvest,
cold and heat, summer and spring, shall not cease by day or night [Gen. 8:20-22].
Genesis, Chapter 9
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, By ye increasing and multiplying,
and fill the earth and have dominion over it. And the dread and the fear of you shall be upon all the
wild beasts of the earth, on all the birds of the sky, and on all things moving upon the earth, and
upon all the fishes of the sea, I have placed them under you power. And every reptile which is living
shall be to you for meat, I have given all things to you as the green herbs [Gen. 9:1-3]....
And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard [Gen. 9:20].
And he drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was naked in his house [Gen. 9:21].
125
And Ham the father of Chanaan saw the nakedness of his father, and he went out and told
his two brothers without [Gen. 9:22].
And Shem and Japheth having taken a garment, put it on both their backs and went
backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their face was backward, and they saw
not the nakedness of their father [Gen. 9:23].
And Noah recovered from the wine, and knew all that his younger son had done to him
[Gen. 9:24].
And he said, Cursed be the servant Chanaan, a slave shall he be to his brethren [Gen.
9:25].
And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Chanaan shall be his bond-servant
[Gen. 9:26].
May God make room for Japheth, and let him dwell in the habitations of Shem, and let
Chanaan be his servant [Gen. 9:27].
A. Earlier Times Between the Tribes of Seth and Cain [Genesis 6]
1. Saint Ephraim: After recounting the ten generations from Adam to Noah, Moses said,
Noah was five hundred years old and begot Shem and Ham and Japhet [Gen. 5:32]. During this
entire time Noah was an example to his sons by his virtue, for he had preserved his virginity for five
hundred years among those of whom it was said, All flesh corrupted its path [Gen. 6:12].502
Moses then turned to speak about the evil desire that was working in the children of his
[Noahs] generation, saying, and it came to pass that when men increased and daughters were born
to them [Gen. 6:1]. For Moses called those of the house of Cain men, and said that daughters were
born to them to show that the line of their generation had been cut off.503
And the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they took to wife
such of them as they chose [Gen. 6:2]. Moses called the sons of Seth504 sons of God, those who had
been called the righteous people of God. The beautiful daughters of men whom they saw were the
daughters of Cain who adorned themselves and became a snare to the eyes of the sons of Seth.
Moses said, They took to wife such of them as they chose, because when they took them, they
acted very haughtily over those whom they chose.505
The sons of Cain were interested in neither the wealth nor the appearance of those women;
they were seeking ploughmen for their lands that had been left uncultivated. Although this thing
began because of licentious and poor menthe licentious being driven by beauty and the poor being
attracted to wealththe entire tribe of Seth followed suit and was stirred to a frenzy over them.506
Saint Ephraim interjects that the daughters of Cains tribe had adorned themselves for the
sons of Seth, and Jobel enticed them with the choice portions of the flesh of animals507 and Jubal
502
Saint Ephraim the Syrian , Comm entary on Genesis, Section VI, 1, FC, 91:134.
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VI, 2, FC, 74:134.
504
Gen. 5:3, 5-8.
505
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VI, 3, FC, 74:134, 135.
506
Ibid., On Genesis, Section VI, 3(2), FC, 74:135.
507
Jobel, son of Lamech who had taken two wives, was the son of the wife named Ada; and he was the father
of those that dw elt in tents, feeding cattle [G en. 4:20].
503
126
captivated them with the sweet sounds of his lyres.508 Then the sons of Seth yielded and, because
of these things, they forgot that noble covenant that had been established by their father and they
came down from their place, for it was higher than where the descendants of Cain dwelt. Thus,
Lamech,509 by his cunning ploys, intermarried those tribes so that when God takes pity on the tribe
of Seth that has mixed with us, so that it not perish, God might also have mercy on us so that we
might escape from the punishment of murder on account of those who are married to us, for they
have committed no murder.510
Saint Ephraim, continuing, relates that because the sons of Seth were going into the
daughters of Cain, they turned away from their first wives whom they had previously taken. Then
these wives, too, disdained their own continence and now, because of their husbands, quickly began
to abandon their modesty which up until that time they had preserved for their husbands sake. It is
because of this wantonness that assailed both men and the women, that Scripture says, All flesh
corrupted its path [Gen. 6:12].511
2. Saint Chrysostom: We read, Now when the sons of God, the descendants of Seth and
Enos [Gen. 4:26], saw that the daughters of men were comely; such an expression indicates to us
all their licentiousness. It was not through a desire to raise families that they set about this behavior
but out of sheer lechery that they took to themselves wives of all whom they chose [Gen. 6:2].
They had no intention of curbing their unbridled desire. We may learn that they behaved this way
neither by the dictates of marriage nor for the sake of raising a family.512...By giants...I think sacred
Scripture is referring to men of great physical stature. Do you see the excess of their ingratitude? Do
you see their unresponsive spirit? They no longer had the will to be rescued, immersed as they were
in evil desire as if in some intoxication.513
1. Saint Ephraim: Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is
flesh, but his days shall be one hundred and twenty years [Gen. 6:3]. This generation will not live
nine hundred years like the previous generations, for it is flesh and its days are filled with the deeds
of flesh. Therefore, their days will be one hundred and twenty years....Grace granted one hundred
and twenty years for repentance to a generation that, according to Justice, was not worthy of
repentance.514
Because of all the evil they committed, the Lord said, I will blot out everything from man
to beast to reptile and bird, for I am sorry that I have made them [Gen. 6:7]. The expression that
God was sorry does not mean that God did not know that they would come to this, but rather that
508
Gen. 4:19.
This Lamech is not Noahs father [Gen. 5:29] who w as of the line of Seth; but rather, this is another
Lamech of the line of Cain who took to himself two wives, the name of the one was Ada, and the name of
the second Sella [Gen. 4:19]. This is the first recorded case of polygamy. This Lamech had slain a man and
was in fear over it because veng eance hath been exacted seven times on Cains behalf, on Lam echs it shall
be seventy times seven [G en. 4:24].
510
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section IV, 3(3), FC, 74:132, 133.
511
509
512
Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 22, 8, 9, Homilies on Genesis 18-45, trans. by R. C . Hill, The Fathers of the
Church (FC), Vol. 82 (W ashington, D .C.: Th e Ca tholic U niversity of A merica Press, 1990), pp. 7 4, 75.
513
514
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 22, On Genesis, 12, FC, 82:77, 78.

127
He wished to make their great wickedness manifest before the generations to come, that they had
committed such wantonness that they even brought remorse to God, Who does not feel remorse. In
addition, God defended His justice; He did not drown them in the Flood without reason. That Nature
that does not feel remorse humbled Himself to say, I am sorry, so that that rebellious generation
might hear and quake in fear; and so that remorse might be sown in those whose heart rebelled
against remorse.515 If there had been any blemish in the works of God, He would have created a new
world and would not have preserved in the ark anything that had caused remorse to Him Who made
it....It was on account of the offenders that His remorse was extended to those who committed no
evil [that is, the beasts and birds]. This vindicates God Who said, I am sorry; for it was out of love
for those sinners who were to perish, not because He was announcing ignorance on His part. That
they should perish in their deeds was a great sorrow to that Grace that had made them, but if they
did not perish, future generations would have been corrupted because of them. 516
2. Saint Chrysostom: The Lord God reconsidered, the text goes on, what He had done in
creating the human being on the earth....Not that God regretsperish the thought! Rather, sacred
Scripture recounts it to us in human fashion as to teach us that the excess of their sins aroused the
loving God to such anger.517 The Lord God said, I will blot out man,...with cattle, and reptiles with
flying creatures of the sky, for I am provoked that I have made them [Gen. 6:7]....Indeed, I have
brought creatures from non-being to being, I have implanted in their nature the knowledge of what
is to be done and not to be done, I have blessed them with free will, I have invoked longsuffering
beyond all telling, and after that long period of time, My anger and the threats I have made, I also
set another time limit in My desire to bring them to a sense of their failings and to revoke My anger.
But since they gained no benefit from all this, it was necessary to put threats into effect, to achieve
their utter ruin, and to blot out their race like some pernicious leaven lest they should become
lessons in evil to succeeding generations.518
3. Saint Gregory Palamas, discussing lack of self-control and its antidote, fasting, writes: By
means of our forefathers self-indulgence in Paradise and their contempt for the fast already in
existence there, death entered the world. Sin reigned and brought in the condemnation of our nature
from Adam until Christ. The Flood covered the whole earth because of the self-indulgence of
Adams descendants in this world of ours and their disdain for the chastity which came before. In
those days God said to Noah, My Spirit shall not abide in these men, for they are flesh [Gen. 6:3].
The deeds of those who are flesh are none other than unlimited eating, drunkenness, sensual
pleasure, and the evils that spring from them. Because of the abominable depravity and selfindulgence among the men of Sodom, fire fell on them from heaven [Gen. 19:24].519
1. Saint Makarios the Great (ca. 301-391): Abraham...was fully persuaded by faith that He
Who had promised, and could not lie, would fulfill His own word....[Even earlier] Noah, in like
manner, being commanded in his five hundredth year by God to prepare the ark, and warned that
515
Ibid., On Genesis, Section VI, 7, FC, 74:137.

Ibid., On Genesis, Section VI, 7(2), FC, 74:137, 138. [Note: God took on this remorse and other human
characteristics due to human w eaknesses.]
517
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 22, On Genesis, 15, FC, 82:80.
518
Ibid., Hom. 22, On Genesis, 16, FC, 82:80, 81.
519
Saint Gregory Palamas, Hom . Six, The Homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas, Vol. One, trans. by
Christopher Veniamin (South Canaan, PA: Saint Tikhons Seminary Press, 2002), pp. 73, 74.
516
128
He would bring a flood upon the world, which was not brought until his six-hundredth, waited
patiently for a hundred years, nothing doubting whether God would do what He said or not, but
being once for all fully persuaded by faith that what God had spoken most assuredly come to pass.
So, being found approved by resolution and faith and endurance and much patience, he alone with
his house was saved, having kept the commandment in purity.520
2. Saint Chrysostom: Noah pleased God [Gen. 6:8, 9]. Such was the caliber of his virtue as
to win approval from God. He proved acceptable to God and was pleasing to that unsleeping Eye
on account of his good deeds. The conduct of his life attracted divine favor and not only delivered
him from the wrath due to fall on everyone but also made him a suppliant for the others. Who could
have a happier lot than Noah, being in a position to demonstrate such virtue as to have the Lord of
all as his Eulogist?521...Let no one blame somebody else and impute the guilt to others, but attribute
it all to his own negligence. Why do I say others? Let no one think the devil himself is sufficient to
bar the way leading to virtue. He deceives and undoes the negligent, but he really cannot impede or
coerce.522
3. Saint Anastasios: And the son of Methuselah was Lamech [Gen. 5:25, who is not the
same as that of the same name of the line of Cain]. This Lamech of Seths line gave birth to Noah,
a type of Christ, and prophesied saying: This one will give us rest from all our work and distress
and from the earth, which the Lord God hath cursed [Gen. 5:29]. And God bore witness that Noah
was a perfect and just man [Gen. 6:8, 9, 18; 7:1]. Noah entreated God not to annihilate the whole
human race [Gen. 7:20-22; 8:8-17], and the Lord did as he asked: when He became man, He
reconciled the Father to men [Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:19, 20].523...In the two
thousand and five hundredth year, which was the middle of the third day of time, the world was
recreated anew through Noah after the Flood [Gen. 8:15-9:17]. Noah is translated a re-creation
(anaplasis).524
1. Saint Chrysostom: Noah was five hundred years old. Scripture then added that he begot
three sons, teaching us the surpassing greatness of his continenceand this despite the fact that all
the people of the time gave themselves up to such incontinence and gave evidence of much lechery,
and all his contemporaries rushed headlong into evil.525 Scriptures purpose is that we may learn how
the good man remained alone in fighting the battle of temperance, not to mention his other virtues,
while all others displayed great frenzy and fury, until he reached the age of five hundred. Noah had
three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. It seems to me the good man was responding to Gods plan in
both refraining from association at this time and also having these children. I mean, since disaster
was about to overwhelm the world on account of the extent of wickedness and the surpassing evil,
the loving God by contrast wanted to let the good man survive like some root or leaven; so that in
the wake of the worlds destruction, he might be the beginning of people destined to appear later.
For this reason he had three children after five hundred years and stopped at that, showing through
520
Saint Makarios, Hom ily IX, Fifty Spiritual Hom ilies, 5, 6 (Willits, CA: Eastern Orthodox Boo ks,
1974), p. 71.
521
522
Ibid., Hom. 23, On Genesis, 17, FC, 82:100.
523
524
Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 7 Alpha, I.3, p. 207.
525
129
this conduct that he had acted in accord with the loving-kindness which God would show to the
human race.526
1. Saint Ephraim: But when they showed no fear and did not repent, neither when their lives
had been shortened nor when He said, I am sorry, God then said to Noah, because the end of all
flesh is before Me, make thyself an ark of gopher wood: three hundred cubits in length, fifty cubits
in width, and thirty cubits in height and finish it to a cubit above. Make it three stories and daub it
with pitch on the outside [Gen. 6:13-16]. God brought that difficult task to this just man in the hope
that He would not have to bring the flood upon them.527
2. Saint Chrysostom: Notice Gods considerateness, His ineffable power and His love
beyond telling. His care for the good man emerges in various waysin directing him to build the
ark for himself, in instructing him how to build it, its breadth, its height. He lavishes upon Noah the
greatest encouragement. He suggests to him His hopes of salvation in building the ark and wanting
those guilty of such awful sins to be broughtby the building of the arkto an awareness of their
conduct and to come to a change of heart without experiencing His anger....These people, however,
did not even gain anything from the incidentnot because it was beyond them, but because their
wills were set against it.528
God shares with Noah also the secret of the kind of punishment He was due to inflict on
them: And behold I bring a flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath
of life under heaven, and whatsoever things are upon the earth shall die [Gen. 6:17]. Indeed, The
world now needs purifying, you see, but do not let this disturb you or unsettle your mind; seeing the
incurable condition of the ulcer, I must stem the flow of evil lest they render themselves liable to
worse punishments. Hence, even in this instance, out of fidelity to My own loving-kindness and
tempering My anger with goodness, I am applying this punishment in a way that will be painless and
not felt by them. You see, it is not that I am ignoring the magnitude of their sins nor what they in
fact deserve; rather, I am looking ahead to later developments, and thus I want to impose a fitting
punishment on these people and protect from harm those who follow in the future.529
3. Saint Bede: Just as the Lord Himself declared, the unexpected hour of the last judgment
is signified by the sudden inundation of the Flood: And even as it came to pass in the days of Noah,
so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man: They were eating, they were drinking, they were
marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark, and the flood
came, and destroyed all [Lk. 17:26, 27]. Indeed the construction of the ark, which went on for a
hundred years, signifies the whole time of this age in which the holy Church is built and brought to
its perfect end....When the end of the world comes, all the people who are found outside the Church
will perish. And in this sense, the ark plainly signifies the Church. Noah signifies the Lord Who
builds the Church in His saints, and the Flood signifies the end of the world or last judgment.530 That
526

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VI, 8, FC, 74:138.
528
529
530
Saint Bed e the V enerable, Bed e: On Genesis, Book T wo [6:13-14a],Translated Texts for Historians Series,
Vol. 48, translated by C alvin B. Kendall (Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University P ress, 2008), Book Two, pp.
172, 173.
527
130
name Noah, since it means rest, and the Lord will give rest to men and comfort them, it was
foretold that men would rest from the works and labors of their hands.531
Make the ark of timber planed smooth, God says. Not only the men who were saved in
the ark, but also the animals which entered it at the same time, and even the timbers of which it was
made signify mystically the faithful of the holy Church. Therefore, the timbers of which it was made
are commanded to be planed smooth, because everyone is laid down in the construction of the
Church by coming to the faith. Having first been torn from the root of the old way of life by the
knowledge and correction of those who have gone before in Christ, he must dig out everything that
he discovers in himself of culpable wrongdoing and degradation, and adjust himself in all his
thought and conduct to the rule of catholic faith and truth, in order that the new man who is to be
created can be fittingly laid in place in the layout of the heavenly building in his own place and time.
In place of timber planed smooth, however, the old translation put squared timbers,532...which
equally relates to the same perfecting of the elect.533
Thou shalt make little rooms in the ark. The different rooms in the ark were arranged as
dens for the different animals which were to enter it....In My Fathers house are many abodes [Jn.
14:2]. Therefore, there are little rooms in the ark, because everyone does not have one reward in
the Church, nor does everyone experience the same progress in faith, although all are contained
within the one Faith and are washed clean by the same Baptism.534
And thou shalt smear it with pitch within and without. And thus shalt thou make it [Gen.
6:14, 15].535 Pitch is a very hot and strong glue, the power of which is this, that timbers which have
been smeared with it cannot be devoured by worms, nor can they be destroyed by the heat of the sun
or the blasts of the winds or the inundation of waters. Hence, what can be meant mystically by pitch
other than constancy of faith? And the ark is smeared with pitch within and without, and thus the
whole is made perfect, just as both the thoughts and deeds of the elect, in order not to be conquered
or beguiled by the assault of vices, are fortified by the strength of faith in all things.536
The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the
height of it thirty cubits....The length of the ark is justly commanded to be three hundred cubits, the
number which is represented in Greek by the letter T. This letter is written in the shape of a cross,
because as long as the holy Church endures unconquered and steady among misfortunes, it certainly
follows the footsteps of the Lords Passion, mindful of what He said, And whosoever taketh not his
cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me [Mt. 10:38]. The breadth extends for fifty cubits,
in which number is represented the Holy Spirit.537...The height is thirty cubits, because clearly this
is the sole and only hope of the elect that they may ascend to the contemplation of the Holy Trinity
531
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:13-14a], 48:173.

Make therefore for thy self an ark of square timber [tetragonon]; thou shalt make the ark in com partments,
and thou shalt pitch it w ithin and w ithou t with pitch [Gen. 6:14].
533
534
Ibid., On Genesis, Book Two [6:14b], 48:175.
535
And thou shalt pitch it w ithin and w ithou t with pitch. And thus shalt thou make the ark [Gen. 6:14, 15].
536
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:14c-15a], 48:175, 176.
537
The number fifty is sacred because of its association with Pentecost.
532
131
by the observance of the Ten Commandments of the Law, which are brought to perfection through
the love of God and ones neighbor. For three tens make thirty.538
Thou shalt make a window in the ark and in a cubit thou shalt finish the top of it.539...Noah
could send forth a bird through it to discover if the waters had now ceased [Gen. 8:8], and if the
earth had dried up or put forth shoots, and also so that he himself, when the window was open, might
see the light of the sky.540 But that the top of the ark is said to have been finished in a cubit seems
to be because it had three hundred cubits of length and fifty of width at the bottom; but with the
corners drawn little by little into a narrow space, it was contracted into the space of one cubit at the
very top, clearly having been made shorter and narrower in proportion is it was made higher....This
was in order that the torrents of rain might be shed from the narrow peak of the roof, when, as the
floodgates of the sky opened up, it poured for so long a time. But this form of the ark is also
mystically suited to the condition of the holy Church. For just as the ark was broader in the lower
parts, where it is thought to have held the animals, it was narrower in the upper parts where it
contained the men and the birds, until it reached the measure of one cubit at the top, so the Church
has in it more unspiritual than spiritual persons; it has more who, in the manner of four-footed
animals are included to lust for earthly things with the whole intent of their mind, than those who
seek heavenly things on the wings of the virtues. And the holier those in it are, the fewer of them
are found, until it comes to the Mediator of God and men [1 Tim. 2:15] Himself, Who appeared as
a man among men so as to be blessed as God above all things forever.541
And the door of the ark thou shalt set lower down in the side.542 This door, through which
entered both the humans and all the animals who were to be saved in the ark, signifies the very unity
of faith, without which no one can enter the Church (for there is one Lord, one Faith, one
Baptism543). One God, because the door is appropriately ordered to be placed in the side of the ark,
since without doubt it signifies that door which the soldiers spear opened in the side of the Lord
Savior when He was placed on the Cross, from which immediately there came out blood and water
[Jn. 19:34]. By these sacraments each of the faithful individually is received into the fellowship of
the holy Church as if into the interior of the ark.544
Again, what about provisions? Saint Bede comments upon this verse: Thou shalt take unto
thyself of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up by thee; and it shall be food for thee
and them.545 And the Lord filled His Church with the varied nourishment of the spiritual life, in order
both to attract the crowds of the faithful to a comprehension of the heavenly rewards by the universal
precepts of His commandments, and to call all those who are made more perfect by the disciplines
538
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:15b/d], 48:176.

Thou shalt narrow the ark in m aking it, and in a cubit above thou shalt finish it, and the door of the ark
thou shalt m ake on the side; with lower, seco nd, and third stories tho u shalt make it [Gen . 6:16].
540
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:16a], 48:177, 178.
541
Ibid., On Genesis, Book Two [6:16a], 48:178.
542
Thou shalt narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above thou shalt finish it, and the door of the ark
thou shalt m ake on the side; with lower, seco nd, and third stories tho u shalt make it [Gen . 6:16].
543
Eph. 4:5.
544
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:16b], 48:178, 179.
545
And thou shalt tak e to thyself of all kinds of food which ye eat, and thou shalt gather them to thyself, and
it shall be for thee and them to eat [Gen. 6:21].
539
132
of a stricter rule to the higher rewards of the same eternal kingdom....There is no question that the
ark was of such great capacity that it could hold all of them.546
1. Saint Ephraim: Noah began the ark in the first year that was allowed that generation for
repentance, and he finished it in one hundred years.547 Although Noah was an example to that
generation by his righteousness and had, in his uprightness, announced to them the Flood during that
one hundred years, they still did not repent. So Noah said to them, Some of all flesh will come to
be saved with me in the ark. But the people mocked him, saying, How will all the beasts and birds
that are scattered throughout every corner of the earth come from all those regions? His Lord then
said to him, Go into the ark, thou and all thy household, for I have seen that thou art righteous in
this generation. Take with thee seven pairs of all clean animals and two pairs of the animals that are
unclean [Gen. 7:2]. He called the gentle animals clean and the vicious one unclean, for even in the
beginning God had multiplied the clean ones. He was hoping that something visible might persuade
those whom words could not persuade. In seven days I will send rain upon the earth for forty days
and nights, and I will blot out all that I have made [Gen. 7:4].548
1. Saint Chrysostom: Thus, the good man came to know which animals are clean and which
are unclean.549...And Noah did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him [Gen. 7:5]. See
how here, too, sacred Scripture hails the just mans gratitude and obedience, teaching us that he
neglected none of the commands but discharged them all, providing a demonstration in this way too
of his characteristic virtue.550
And Noah was six hundred years old [Gen. 7:6].
1. Saint Ephraim: God already endured the trial of that generation for one hundred years.
He subtracted twenty years. But the seven days which He delayed, after the beasts had entered the
ark, were more than the twenty years He subtracted from them because of the signs done in them.551
If they did not repent because of the signs done in those seven days, it was clear that they would not
have repented in the twenty years in which there would have been no signs. Therefore, God sent
offwith many fewer sinsthose whose lives He had shortened by twenty years.552
2. Saint Chrysostom: Noah was five hundred years old [Gen. 5:32]....God promised to put
up with them for a hundred and twenty years, so that they may employ the intervening time properly,
shun evil and take up virtue instead. He orders the good man to build the ark so that the very sight
of the ark may also provide them in turn with an adequate reminder and that no one would be
unaware of the magnitude of the punishment due to be inflicted. After all, that very fact that that
good man who had reached the very pinnacle of virtue was displaying such earnestness in building
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:21], 48:181, 182.

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VI, 8(2), FC, 74:138.
133
the ark should have been sufficient to put fear and anxiety into everyone with sense and to persuade
them to placate this so kind and loving Lord.553...
While accepting the reprieve of a hundred and twenty years for repentance, they made no
further use of that period....Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth.
To this point we had learned that when the Lords anger occurred and He made this forecast, Noah
was five hundred years old. When, however, the deluge was brought upon them, he was six hundred
years old, so that a hundred years had passed in the meantime, and yet they gained no benefit from
those hundred years, despite the advantage given them of so much instruction from Noahs building
the ark.554
When He saw them committing irreparable sins, day after day, and not only gaining nothing
from His ineffable longsuffering but even developing worse ulcers, consequently He cut the time
short lest they render themselves liable to worse punishment. And what punishment is worse than
this, someone says? That punishment is worse, dearly beloved, more fearful and enduring which
lasts into the world to come. In fact, for proof that some people, while not escaping punishment in
the next life for making amends in this, will nevertheless endure a light one there on account of what
happens here and will thus reduce the severity of those sanctions, listen to the words of Christ as He
laments: Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! For if the works of power which have
taken place in you took place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes....Hence, it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for
thee [cf. Mt. 11:21, 24].555
Seeing their unrepentant attitude, He reduced the period. He had promised to allow in His
longsuffering....To show the extraordinary degree of His ineffable love and goodness, He did not
even decline to remind them seven days556 ahead of time of the onset of the deluge so that they might
be stricken with the urgency of the situation and give evidence of some conversion. 557
1. Saint Ephraim: On that same day elephants came from the east, apes and peacocks
approached from the south, other animals gathered from the west, and still others hastened to come
from the north. Lions came from the jungles and wild beasts arrived from their lairs. Deer and wild
asses came from their lands and the mountain beasts gathered from their mountains.558
When those of that generation gathered to see this novel sight, it was not to repent, but
rather to amuse themselves. Then, in their very presence, the lions began to enter the ark; and the
bulls, with no fear, hurried in right on their heels to seek shelter with the lions. The wolves and the
lambs entered together; and the hawks and the sparrows together with the doves and the eagles.559
When those of that generation were still not persuaded, neither by the gathering of all the
animals at that time nor by the love that instantly grew between [the animals], the Lord said to
553

555
556
And it came to pass after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth [Gen. 7:10].
557
558
559
Ibid., On Genesis, Section VI, 9(3), FC, 74:139. Note: This peace on the ark is a sign of a new beginning,
of a pre-Fall state, and is thus also a type of the Church.
554
134
Noah, In seven days, I will blot out everything that I have made [Gen. 7:4].560 He delayed yet
seven more days for them, even after Noah and every creature had entered the ark, leaving the gate
of the ark open to them. This is a wondrous thing that no lion remembered its jungle and no species
of beast or bird visited its customary haunt! Although those of that generation saw all that went on
outside and inside the ark, they were still not persuaded to renounce their evil deeds.561
2. Saint Bede: Noah did not labor long and hard to gather and lead or push them into the
ark. But compelled by divine command, they all came willingly, each in their own rank; and with
Noah taking the lead with his sons and their wives, they followed in regular succession; and one at
a time they approached their own little rooms under the guidance of the Lord, as if by their own
volition.562
1. Saint Chrysostom: Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons wives boarded the ark on
account of the water from the deluge. The clean birds, the unclean birds, the reptilesall of them
embarked two by two with Noah in the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noah
[Gen. 7:7-9]. It was not without purpose that he added the words just as the Lord had commanded
Noah; it was for the sake of adding further commendation of the just man, both because he had
carried out everything just as the Lord had commanded and had omitted nothing of what he had been
told by Him.563...
The text goes on, The Lord God shut the ark from the outside [Gen. 7:16], to teach us that
He had ensured the good mans complete safety. The reason for adding from the outside to He
shut was that the good man might not be in the position of seeing the disaster occur and suffering
even greater distress....You see, even if it is the wicked who perish, nevertheless the souls of good
people are likely to show compassion when they see people being punished...as for example the
patriarch did for the Sodomites [Gen. 18:22, 23]....So He locked him in the ark as though in a prison,
lest Noah should have a sight of these events and be terror-struck. In His care for Noah, therefore,
the loving God does not allow him to view the torrent of water nor see the disaster occurring that
involved the destruction of the world.564
1. Saint Ephraim: For this reason, at the end of the seven days, in the six hundredth year
of Noahs life, in the second month...the springs of the great abyss burst forth and the flood gates
of heaven were opened. The Lord shut the door before Noah [Gen. 7:11, 16], lest those left behind
come at the time of the floods and break down the gate of the ark. The deluge came and God blotted
out all flesh. Only Noah was left and those that were with him in the ark [Gen. 7:23]. The springs
of the abyss and the flood gates of heaven were open forty days and forty nights [Gen. 7:12] and the
ark was afloat for one hundred fifty days [Gen. 7:24; 8:3, 4].565
2. Saint Chrysostom: The water of the cataclysm happened after seven days, just as the Lord
had promised Noah, then six hundred years of age, in the second month, on the seventh and
560
561
562
563
564
565
Ibid., On Genesis, Section VI, 10, FC, 74:139, 140.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:14e-15a], 48:186.
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VI, 11(2), FC, 74:140, 141.
135
twentieth day of the month,566 on this day all the fountains of the abyss were broken up, and the
cataracts of the heaven were opened [Gen. 7:10, 11]. See the precision of Scripture....Scripture is
describing everything in a human manner; it is not that there are sluice gates in heaven, but rather
that it describes everything in terms customary with us, as if to say that the Lord simply gave a
direction and immediately the waters obeyed their Creators command, fell out of the heavens on
all sides and inundated the whole world.567...The deluge fell forty days and forty nights upon the
earth, and the ark began to float [Gen. 7:17]. See how precisely Scripture describes to us the great
force of the waters, and the fact that each day the Flood increased in extent [Gen. 7:17-20]. 568...
The likelihood is that on the first day some proportion of them were drowned, and an
additional number on the second day, and likewise on the third day and so on. His reason for
extending it for forty days was that He might remove from them any grounds for excuse. You see,
had it been His wish and command, He could have submerged everything in one downpour; instead,
out of fidelity to His characteristic love He arranged for a stay of so many days. 569
3. Saint Bede: Among the Hebrews the months are not reckoned from the first to the first
[of the Roman month] but rather according to the course of the moon, and their first month, in which
Passover was commanded to be held, and in which the world was made, is called Nisan, which we
call April. Their second month is Iyar, which we call May, on the seventeenth day of which, that is,
when the moon of that month was in its seventeenth day, there came the Flood, after Noah had
entered the ark on that very same day with the people and all the animals and birds that were to be
saved by it.570...
For yet seven days having passed I bring rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights,
and I will blot out every offspring which I have made from the face of all the earth [Gen. 7:4]....And
it came to pass after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth [Gen. 7:10].
Therefore, this day was the eighth after the building of the ark was brought to completion.
Accordingly, it is evident that the ark in a great mystery was finished on the tenth day of that second
month. For the old first month that came from the Hebrews can fittingly be taken as the people of
God, and the second month as the people of the New Covenant. This is why it is commanded in the
Law that any who, being unclean by occasion of a dead man, or being placed on a journey too far
off, or being prevented by any other necessity whatever, could not come to celebrate the passover
in the first month should do so in the second month, on the fourteenth day in the evening, in the
blood of the lamb and with unleavened bread.571 It is clear that we were signified by the addition of
566
The Septuagint records the 27 th of the second month, whereas the KJV gives the 17 th of the second month.
568
569
570
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [7:11-12], 48:186.
571
And Moses ordered the children of Israel to sacrifice the passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month
in the wilderness of Sina, as the Lord appointed Moses, so the children of Israel did. And there came men who
were unclean by reason of a dead body, and they were not able to keep the passover on that day; and they
came before Moses and Aaron on that day . And those men said to Moses, We are unclean by reason of the
dead body of a man: shall we therefore fail to offer the gift to the Lord in its season in the midst of the
children of Israel? And Moses said to them, Stand there, and I will hear what charge the Lord will give
concerning you. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whatever
(continued...)
567
136
this month, we who with the earlier people of God were unable to celebrate the sacrament of the
Lords Passion, inasmuch as we were still placed far from the communion of saints, and were
unclean, or rather dead, with sins....The great deep signifies Scripture of the Old Covenant, which
could not open the veins of its spiritual sense to the world during all the long time that it was shut
up by the veil of the letter. But, after being unveiled by the Lord, it now itself supplies the most
abundant fountains of the knowledge of salvation to the Church. And the opened flood gates of
heaven signify the pouring out of evangelical and apostolic preaching, which plainly water earthly
hearts from heaven.572
1. Saint Ambrose: If the Flood in the time of Noah hid even the mountains when there
already was a separation of the waters above the heavens and those below the firmamentif this
were so, then how can one doubt that the tops of the mountains were hidden in the inundation we
speak of? Whence, then, came that overabundant supply of water? What reservoirs were hidden in
the inundation we speak of? Whence, then, came that overabundant supply of water? What
reservoirs were there, so continuous and unbroken as to hold all the water in place?573...On this
subject there is much at hand for the formulation of reply. First of all, the Creator of all things had
the power of enlarging spacea power which some before us have in their private opinion laid
down as a possibility. And I am not overlooking in this case the potency of God; but what He
actually has done, which I have not learned from the clear testimony of Scripture, I pass over as a
mystery, lest, perchance, that stir up other questions starting even from this point. Nevertheless, I
maintain in accord with the Scriptures that God can extend the low-lying regions and the open
plains, as He has said: I will go before thee, and will level mountains: I will break to pieces brazen
doors, and burst iron bars [Is. 45:2]. The very force of water can also make its bed deeper by the
violent movements of the waves and by the impact of the surf of that wild element.574
1. Saint Ephraim: Noah and those with him had been in the ark three hundred sixty-five
days, for from the seventeenth of the second month, that is, Iyor, until the twenty-seventh of the
same month the following year, according to the lunar reckoning, there were three hundred sixtyfive days. Notice that even the house of Noah employed this reckoning of three hundred sixty-five
days in a year. Why then should you say that it was the Chaldeans and Egyptians who invented and
571
(...continued)
man shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or on a journey far off, among you, or among your posterity;
he shall then keep the passover to the Lord, in the seco nd m onth , on the fourteenth day; in the evening they
shall offer it, with unleavened bread and b itter herbs shall they eat it. They shall not leave of it until the
morrow, and they shall not break a bone of it; they shall sacrifice it according to the ordinance of the
passov er. And whatsoever man shall be clean, and is not far off on a journey, and shall fail to keep the
passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people, because he has not offered the gift to the Lord in its
season: that man shall bear his iniquity. And if there should come to you a stranger in your land, and should
keep the passover to the Lord, he shall keep it according to the law of the passover and according to its
ordinance: there shall be one law for you, both for the stranger, and for the native of the land [Num. 9:414].
572
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:16c-17a], 48:186-188.
573
Saint Am brose, H om. 4, Ch. 3(1 4), Hexameron, 42:78.
574
Ibid., Hom. 4, Ch. 3(15 ), Hexameron, 42:78, 79.
137
developed it?575...Those whom Noah had brought in one by one in order to maintain chastity on
the ark, he brought out two by two so that they might be fruitful and multiply in creation. Even
with respect to the animals that had preserved their chastity in the ark God said, Bring forth with
thee every animal that is with thee of all flesh that they might breed on the earth and be fruitful and
multiply on it [Gen. 8:17].576
2. Saint Chrysostom: Now was it not due to the grace from above that the ark was tossed
this way and that without being submerged in such a force of water, with no steersman at the helm?
You cannot say that it was designed like a ship so as to be able to steer a course by some kind of
expertise. The ark was shut in on all sides; and by direction of the Creator not only did the force of
the water cause it no harm but it rose to the top and guaranteed the safety of its passengers.577
Great was this just mans virtue and the depth of his faith. Faith, you see, was responsible
for the building of the ark, for his putting up with his quarters without resentment, tolerating the
hardships of existence with animals and all the wild beasts. On this account blessed Paul called him
to mind and to celebrate his virtues shouted aloud: By faith Noah, after he was divinely warned
concerning the things not yet seen, was moved to be wary and prepared an ark to the salvation of
his house, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness according to
faith [Heb. 11:7].578...So it was through the faith that he exemplified that he condemned those who
exemplified lack of faith, failing to believe the forewarning.579
Now call to mind the esteem enjoyed by the first-formed human being before the Fall, and
consider Gods goodness: after his transgression undermined the authority given him, the good Lord
by contrast found another man [that is, Noah] capable of correcting that original image by preserving
the imprint of virtue and demonstrating strict obedience to law. So He placed him once more in his
pristine position of esteem, as if to teach us through this procedure the extent of the authority Adam
had before the Fall. Accordingly, the good mans virtue profited from Gods loving-kindness to
restore the former control, and once more the wild animals recognized their subordination. In other
words, whenever the animals saw the good man, they lost all thought of their own natureor, rather,
not their nature but their ferocity, and changed to docility the ferocity innate in their nature....Well,
this remarkable man bore his existence with the wild animals with equanimity, and neither the
straitened circumstances, nor the protracted length of time, nor being locked in, nor lack of fresh air
to breathe caused him to become jaded; instead, through his faith in God everything seemed easy,
and thus he lived in that terrible prison as we would in meadows and leafy glades.580...
We are told that for all those days, the text says, the water remained at flood level....Consider here again, I ask you, the just mans greatness of soul and the extraordinary degree of his
fortitude. What sufferings would he not have endured in having engraved on his mind and having
seen with the eyes of his intellect, as it were, the bodies of human beings, of cattle clean and
unclean, all alike undergoing death, mingled together without any distinction being made. Further,
in addition to this, he pondered within himself the loneliness, the isolation, that distressing existence,
with no consolation coming from any quarter, neither from converse, nor from pleasant prospects,
575
576
577
578
579
580

Cf. Gen. 6:14-19(13-18 KJV ).
138
nor from knowing with precision how long he was destined to put up with existence in that terrible
prison. After all, as long as there was the crashing and booming of the waves, fear was daily sent
surging through him....Still he took it all in good stead, knowing the Lords inventiveness and the
fact that being Lord of all life He does everything and changes what He want to, so he bore no
resentment against life in those circumstances. You see, Gods grace came to lend heart to his
enthusiasm and provided him with sufficient comfort, not allowing him to fall victim to brooding
nor dwell on ignoble or unmanly alternatives.581...Hardships are the means of winning Gods favor
for us, and a little struggle here brings us great confidence. 582
3. Saint Bede: Concerning the ark of Noah, it should be pondered more deeply that all the
things that were done in it or in connection with it were full of miracles of divine power. For if the
thing were done in the way customary to men, how would eight humans have been able to give food
and drink daily to so great a multitude of birds, pack animals, wild beasts, and creeping things, and
to supply other things which need requires, especially since Scripture does not mention that God
gave any orders about carrying drink into the ark? How could the dung and urine of so many living
creatures not have made the place unbearable by its stench to the animals themselves, and how could
it not rot out the bottom of the ark even though it were very well pitched? How is it that, remaining
in one spot for a whole year, birds would not lose their power of flight, nor four-footed animals their
power of walking? Therefore, it was the Lord HimselfHe Who preserved the ark unimpaired with
all those that it carried, and Who steered it so that it would not be broken apart in the sea and set it
down in so suitable a place in the mountains, where from the door which it had there was an easy
and ready egress to the earth for all the living creatures that were contained in itWho provided for
these same creatures as well, so that they were fed in the ark and survived in good health. Nor is it,
as some declare, pointless to believe that, when the creatures were about to enter the ark, Noah
prepared nourishment sufficient for the needs of a single day for each one separately, and that each
was refreshed by this, in order to signify mystically that we are all refreshed in the Church with the
food of life according to the measure of our own capacity; and that from then on they remained,
having been quieted and even lulled to sleep by divine command, to the day of their departure.583
1. Saint Chrysostom: Accordingly, the world needed a complete cleansing; every stain had
to be expunged from it, all leaven of the previous wickedness had to be sifted out and no trace of evil
left....Our Lord cleansed the whole world by the deluge and, so to say, freed human beings from
their wickedness, their defilement, and all their corruption, leaving the world more resplendent and
once more revealing the brightness of its countenance, and not permitting even a trace of the
previous ugliness to persist.584...Not only people, but also cattle, four-footed beasts, and reptiles were
drowned and even the birds of heaven and whatever inhabited the mountains, namely, animals and
other wild creatures. So sacred Scripture narrates this, not simply to teach us the flood level, but that
we may be able to understand along with this that there was absolutely nothing left standingno
wild beasts, no animals, no cattle; rather everything was annihilated along with the human race.
Since it was for their sake that all these creatures had been created, with the imminent destruction
581
582
583
584

139
of the human being, it was fitting that these creatures, too, should meet their end....And all things
which have the breath of life, and whatever was on the dry land, died [Gen. 7:22]. That was not an
idle reference in the words, whatever was on dry land; instead, its purpose was to teach us that
while all others perished, the just man with everyone in the ark alone were saved.585
1. Saint Cyprian (d. 258): For it has been delivered to us, that there is one God, and one
Christ, and one hope, and one Faith, and one Church, and one Baptism ordained only in the one
Church, from which unity whosoever will depart must needs be found with heretics....Moreover,
Peter himself, showing and vindicating the unity, has commanded and warned us that we cannot be
saved, except by the one only Baptism of one Church. In the ark, says he, of Noah, few, that is,
eight souls, were saved by means of water, as also Baptism shall in like manner save you. In how
short and spiritual a summary has he set forth the sacrament of unity! For as, in that baptism of the
world in which its ancient iniquity was purged away, he who was not in the ark of Noah could not
be saved by means of water, so neither can he appear to be saved by Baptism who has not been
baptized in the Church which is established in the unity of the Lord according to the sacrament of
the one ark.586
2. Saint Jerome: Noahs ark was a type of the Church.587
3. Saint Bede: According to another interpretation, the ark signifies the Church, and the
Flood signifies the water of Baptism, by which the Church herself is washed clean in all its members
and sanctified as the Apostle Peter explains: When the long-suffering of God was waiting in the
days of Noah, while an ark was being constructed, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved
by means of water. There is also an antitype which now saveth usbaptism (not a putting away of
the filth of the flesh, but the examination of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ [1 Pe. 3:20, 21].588...Now those who receive baptism outside the Church from
heretics or schismatics, unless they come again to their senses by returning to catholic unity,
perish.589
Elsewhere, Saint Bede comments upon Saint Peters Epistle: Peter calls the antitype of
Baptism590 similar to the ark and the waters of the Flood, and quite properly, because the very
construction of the ark from smooth planks [Gen. 6:14] signifies also the building of the Church
which comes about by the collection of the souls of the faithful by the architects of the word. And
that a few, that is, eight souls were saved by means of water when the entire world was perishing,
indicates that the number of elect, compared with that of the perishing Gentiles, Jews, heretics, and
false faithful, is smaller....The number eight itself of the souls which were saved by means of water
also signifies that the holy Church receives the washing of Baptism through the mystery of the
Lords resurrection from the dead on the eighth day, that is, after the seventh day, the Sabbath, He
585

Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle LXXIII, to Pompey, 11, Ante-Nicene Fathers, V:389.
587
Saint Jerom e, The Dialogue Against the Luciferians, 22; Against Jovianus, Bk. I, 17, NPNF , 2 nd Ser.,
VI:331, 360.
588
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [6:13-14a], 48:173, 174.
589
Ibid., On Genesis, Book Two [6:17-18b], 48:181.
590
There is also an antitype which now saveth usbaptism (not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but
the examination of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ [1 Pe. 3:21]....
586
140
showed us both an example of the future resurrection and the mystery of the new way of life by
which we, though still situated on earth, might live a heavenly life. 591
1. Saint Justin: You know, then, sirs, I [Justin] said, that God has said in Isaiah to
Jerusalem: I saved thee in the deluge of Noah.592 By this which God said was meant that the
mystery of saved men appeared in the deluge. For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at
the deluge, that is, with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were
a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, forever the first
in power. For Christ, being the firstborn of every creature, became again the chief of another race
regenerated by Himself through water, and faith, and wood, containing the mystery of the Cross;
even as Noah was saved by wood when he rode over the waters with his household. Accordingly,
when the prophet says, I saved thee in the times of Noah,as I have already remarked, he addresses
the people who are equally faithful to God, and possess the same signs. For when Moses had the rod
in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe that this was spoken to your nation
only, or to the land. But the whole earth, as the Scripture says, was inundated, and the water rose in
height fifteen cubits above all the mountains: so that it is evident this was not spoken to the land, but
to the people who obeyed Him: for whom also He had before prepared a resting-place in Jerusalem,
as was previously demonstrated by all the symbols of the deluge; I mean, that by water, faith, and
wood, those who are afore-prepared, and who repent of the sins which they have committed, shall
escape from the impending judgment of God.593
1. Saint Chrysostom: God directed the flood of water to halt so that little by little He might
show His characteristic love and now give the good man a breath of fresh air, free him from the
turmoil of his thoughts, and restore him to a state of tranquility by granting him the enjoyment of
daylight and a breath of fresh air. And the fountains of the abyss were covered over, and the
cataracts of the heaven, and the rain from the heaven was constrained [Gen. 8:2].594 It is as if to say
that the Lord decided and once again the waters kept to their own limits, there was no further
flooding, and instead they gradually subsided. Notice how suddenly the change took place and how
far the waters subsided so that the ark could come to rest on the mountains.595
And it came to pass after forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had
made [Gen. 8:6]. And he sent forth a raven to see if the water had abated; and it went forth and
returned not until the water came to be dried from off the earth [Gen. 8:7]....With the waters giving
way, perhaps the unclean bird did not come back because it happened upon corpses of men and
591
Saint Bed e, Commentary on 1 Peter, 104, 105.

From the time of the water of Noah this is My purpose: as I swore to him at that time, saying of the earth,
I will no more be w roth with thee, neither when thou art threatened [Is. 54:9].
593
Saint Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. CXXXVIII, Ante-Nicene Fathers, The Apostolic Fathers, Volume
I, Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D. and James Donaldson, LL.D., Editors, and notes in American edition by A.
Cleveland C oxe, D.D . (Grand R apids, MI: Wm. B . Eerdmans Publishing Co., May 1987 , repr.), p. 268.
594
595
592
141
beasts and, finding nourishment to its liking, stayed there.596 Noah then sent forth a dove after it to
see if the water had abated from off the earth [Gen. 8:8]. A tame and friendly bird characterized by
great gentleness, with no other diet than seeds, being numbered as it is among the clean birds.
Scripture said that the mountain peaks became visible, but now says that the dove found nowhere
to rest and came back to Noah in the ark, because water covered the whole face of the earth....Even
if the water had partly subsided and the mountain peaks had become visible, still from the abundance
of water even the very mountain peaks were muddy or were covered with a muddy slime.
Hence, the dove was able neither to perch anywhere nor to succeed in finding food to its
liking; so it turned back, teaching the just man by her return that there was still a great flood. Do you
see the extent of the birds gentleness, how she returned and by her coming taught the just man to
display some little patience? And holding out yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove
from the ark [Gen. 10:10]. And the dove returned to him toward the evening [Gen. 10:11]. It is not
idly and to no purpose that the phrase toward the evening occurs here; instead, it is for us to learn
that the bird, that had been feeding all day and had found some suitable food, came back in the
evening carrying a dry olive twig in her mouth. That is the kind of creature it is, tame and always
looking for company.597 But perhaps someone might say, Where did it find the olive twig?...The
whole incident happened through Gods design, both its discovery and the doves taking it in its
mouth and going back again to the just man.598
2. Saint Anastasios: And God divided between the light and the darkness [Gen. 1:4]. This
excellent division of the light and the darkness upon the water of the deep was foretold also by the
two birds sent out from the ark by Noah [Gen. 8:6-13]. And it is possible to see here too that the
darkness came first: It was first the raven that flew out over the waters. But this dark raven, Satan,
was drowned and destroyed; or else he wandered to the dense and thoroughly physical place of sin.
For not all make room for the Word. Then the Spirit of God, the dove, was borne in flight above the
water. But it did not find rest for its feet yet, so that it might settle in man,599 or build a nest,600 and
go about in him.601 Finally, all the peaks of the mountains were covered [cf. Gen. 8:11], which
revealed the shameless nakedness of sin among the nations, and their excessive mass of evil, and
their hardness of heart, firmly fixed in madness. On account of this, the Spirit of God, the dove, was
still borne above the water [cf. Gen. 1:2].602
3. Saint Bede: The word spirit603 can be taken to mean Gods life-bearer Himself, the
Spirit, of Whom in the beginning it was said, and the Spirit of God moved over the waters [Gen.
1:2]. And this there is no doubt, because just as then, when the waters were gathered together into
one place, He dried up the earth [Gen. 1:9], so also now, when the waters of the Flood were removed
from its midst, He uncovered the face of the earth a second time. And this airy wind can also be
596

598
599
Cf. Ezek. 37:27; Jn. 1:14.
600
Cf. Rom. 8:11; 2 Tim. 1:14.
601
Cf. Lev. 26:12; 2 Cor. 6:16.
602
603
And God remembered Noah, and all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and all the reptiles
that creep, as many as were with him in the ark, and God brought a wind [Bede, spirit] upon the earth, and
the w ater stay ed [G en. 8:1].
597
142
called by the name of spirit, in accordance with the verse of the psalmist, He spoke and raised a
wind of tempest [Ps. 107:25],604 by whose frequent gusts the waters are commonly lowered or
moved from their place. And hence is that passage in Exodus: And Moses stretched forth his hand
over the sea, and the Lord carried back the sea with a strong south wind all the night, and made the
sea dry, and the water was divided [Ex. 14:21].605
The fact that it says that the waters returned from off the earth, going and coming, clearly
indicates, on the literal level, that all the downflows of rivers and streams returned to the original
deep through the hidden veins of the earth, in conformity with that saying of Solomon: All the
rivers run into the sea, yet the sea does not overflow; unto the place from whence the rivers come
they return to flow again [Eccl. 1:7]. Mystically, however, after one hundred and fifty days [Gen.
8:3] the fountains of the deep and the flood gates of the heaven are shut up; and with the cessation
of the rains the waters return, because, after the words of holy Scripture have instructed us in the
faith and hope of eternal rest and immortality, they will cease to teach us further, since, after leading
us to the beatific vision of our Creator when we have been perfected by the glory of eternal flesh and
spirit, they have nothing greater to promise. For this reason, the book of Psalms, which is made up
of the number of one hundred and fifty, concludes appropriately in divine praisederiving, indeed,
the beginning of blessedness from temperance and the carrying out of the divine law, when it says,
Blessed is the man who walked not in the counsel of the ungodly [Ps. 1:1], and so forth, but near
the end commending the new joys of the world to come, and in the very end concluding everything
in the praise of God, when it says, Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise is in the congregation
of the saints [Ps. 149:1], and finally, Let every spirit praise the Lord. 606 The whole 150th Psalm
is deservedly sung and completed in the praise of God, because without a doubt the sum of all our
blessedness is in this, that, living in His house, we may praise Him forever.607...
Further on we read that Noah opened the covering of the ark which he made [Gen. 8:13].
The covering of the ark means its highest plank of which it had already been said, and in a cubit
thou shalt finish the top of it [Gen. 6:16]. I have said that in this covering one cubit long and wide
there is clearly signified Himself, the Mediator of God and men [1 Tim. 2:5], Who wished to be
associated after the manner of men with the members of His Church, so that He might transcend it
exceedingly by the dignity of His power and protect it altogether from the deep.608 It was said above
that in the beginning of the first month the fact of the earth was dried [Gen. 8:13], and now it is
written that nearly at the end of the second month the earth was dried, evidently because in the first
instance the ground was dried out on the surface as the plants turned green, so that it could be
revived and bring to life again the plants which the water had destroyed. But now it was dried deep
down even to the point where it could sustain the steps of those trampling upon it; it was clothed to
such an extent with flourishing plants that it was even suitable for pasturing flocks and herds.609
And the Lord God spoke to Noah, saying, Come thou out from the ark, thou and thy wife
and thy sons and the wives of thy sons with thee. And all the wild beasts, as many as are with thee,
604
605
606
607
608
609
He spoke an d raised a w ind of tempest, and her waves were lifted up [Ps. 106:25 LX X].
Let every breath praise the Lord [Ps. 150:5 ].
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [8:2-3], 48:191, 192.
Ibid., On Genesis, Book Two [6:13], 48:196, 197.
Ibid., On Genesis, Book Two [6:14], 48:197.
143
and all flesh from birds to beasts, and every creeping thing moving upon the earth, bring forth with
thyself: and be ye increasing and multiplying upon the earth [Gen. 8:15-17].
1. Saint Chrysostom: See how once again this good man receives that former blessing which
Adam had received before the Fall. Be ye increasing and multiplying, and fill the earth and subdue
it [Gen. 1:28], so too does he hear be ye increasing and multiplying upon the earth. In other
words, just as the former man became the beginning and root of all creatures before the deluge, so
too this just man become a kind of leaven, beginning and root of everything after the deluge. From
this point on, what is comprised in the make-up of human beings takes its beginning, and the whole
of creation recovers its proper order, both the soil reawakening to productivity as well as everything
else that had been created for the service of human beings.610
Now according to the Lords direction, the text says, he disembarked from the ark with
everything else after receiving the blessing in the words, By ye increasing and multiplying. From
then on the just man was living alone in the whole earth along with his wife, his children and their
wives. As soon as he disembarks he expresses his own gratitude, and offers thanks to his Lord both
for what had happened and for what lay ahead.611
So, Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of all clean beasts, and of all clean birds, and
offered a whole burnt-offering upon the altar. And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and
the Lord God having considered, said, I will not anymore curse the earth, because of the works of
men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not
therefore anymore smite all living flesh as I have done. All the days of the earth, seed and harvest,
cold and heat, summer and spring, shall not cease by day or night [Gen. 8:20-22].
Saint Chrysostom: God is saying that unchangeable shall be the arrangementthat the earth
will never cease supplying its resources for the hard work of farming, nor will the seasons be
interchanged....You see, since for the period of the deluge a certain confusion occurred in all this
arrangement and this good man lived in the ark all this time as if it were one single night, hence God
said, Now neither day nor night shall leave its proper course, but rather their service will be
uninterrupted to the end of time.612
2. Saint Bede: It should be noted that the men and animals that entered the ark on the
seventeenth day of the second month and departed a year later on the twenty-seventh day of the
same month were in the ark for an entire solar year....And Noah was in the ark with the creatures and
humans who were to be saved through the Flood for an entire solar year, because the Lord through
the whole period of this age and through all the regions of the world not only washes His Church
with the water of Baptism but also illuminates it with the grace of His Spirit. 613
1. Saint Bede: Noah built an altar and took of all clean beasts and birds and offered a whole
burnt-offering, and God said that all the days of the earth, seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer
and spring, shall not cease by day or night [Gen. 8:22]. For after it is recorded, all the days, it
immediately added, of the earth, in order that you might understand that mankind must needs be
secure from the onset of a universal flood for all the days that the earth will be in its present state.
610
611
612
613

144
But the time will come, after this constant succession of passing events that goes on year by year
has ceased, when the whole world with its living creatures will be destroyed by fire, as Peter attests
when he says: For this escapeth their notice willingly: that by the word of God were there heavens
of old, and an earth having stood together out of water and in water, by which the world of that time,
having been deluged by water, perished. But the present heavens and the earth, which have been laid
up in store by the same word, are being kept for fire until a day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly men [2 Pe. 3:5-7].614
T. The Blessing and Command of God
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, By ye increasing and multiplying,
and fill the earth and have dominion over it. And the dread and the fear of you shall be upon all the
wild beasts of the earth, on all the birds of the sky, and on all things moving upon the earth, and
upon all the fishes of the sea, I have placed them under you power. And every reptile which is living
shall be to you for meat, I have given all things to you as the green herbs [Gen. 9:1-3].
1. Saint Chrysostom: God says that I have put under you all the animals of the earth, all
the birds of heaven, everything moving on the earth, and all the fish of the sea. This good man Noah
was accorded the same blessing as Adam, and through his virtue recovering the control previously
lostor rather, on account of the Lords ineffable love....Every living creature is there for your
foodI have given you them all as I did the green grassexcept you are not to eat flesh with its
lifeblood in it. Notice the same rule as that imposed on the first-formed man, but differently
observed. He bade Adam abstain from one tree only, in just the same way in this case....
From this the eating of meat takes its beginning, not for the purpose of promoting them to
gluttony, but since some of the people were about to offer sacrifices and make thanksgiving to the
Lord, He grants them authority over food and obviates any anxiety lest they seem to be abstaining
from food on the score of its being consecrated....Now as for the exception of not eating flesh with
its lifeblood in it, the statement means strangled, for an animals blood is its soul. So since they
were about to offer sacrifices in the form of animals, He is more or less teaching them in these words
that as long as the blood has been set aside for Me, the flesh is for you. By doing this, however,
He checks ahead of time any impulse of theirs for homicide....615
The Lord God then said to Noah, like one person speaking with another, making His
agreement with him, regarding the sign of the covenant: I am putting My bow in the clouds, and
it will acts as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth [Gen. 9:13]. It is a guarantee, the
promisenot because God needs to recall it, but for us to fix our eyes on that sign given us and thus
suspect no trouble....So even if you see a great rush of water falling, do not suspect any trouble in
that event, that is, a deluge to wipe out every creature.616
2. Saint Bede: The literal sense is clear: that the beginning of the second age of the world
is blessed by the Lord, as are the beginnings of the first and of the other ages. For Noah is blessed
with his sons, that is to say, all those, whether born from his flesh or possessed of faith and
obedience, who demonstrate that they are truly his sons. Also: that his descendants are ordered to
fill the earth, just as it is also known to have happened; that men are proclaimed to be a necessary
terror to all the animals of earth and the birds of heaven; and, that these together with the fish are
614
615
616
Ibid., On Genesis, Book Two [8:22], 48:203.

Ibid., Hom. 28, On Genesis, 6, 7, FC, 82:187, 188.
145
granted to them to eat, just as they received vegetables for consumption up to the Flood [Gen.
1:29]....For they are given to the sons of Noah for food in accordance with what is said to Peter when
all the four-footed animals and creeping things of the earth were displayed in the mystic linen sheet,
Rise up, Peter, slay and eat [Acts 10:13]. That is, destroy the wicked habits of the Gentiles by
preaching the truth, and bring them into the body of the Church by initiating them into the sacred
Mysteries.617
1. Saint Chrysostom: Noah, first tiller of the soil, planted a vineyard. He drank some wine
and got drunk. This shows that the just man came to grief not through intemperance but rather
through ignorance. But it was he who made the first discovery of wine drinking, and through
ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink fell into a drunken stupor. Now as a sage
once said, Give strong drink to those that are in sorrow, and the wine to drink to those in pain [Prov.
31:6]. Who can deny that this just man was deeply distressed to see himself so isolated, peoples
bodies strewn about before his eyes and the one tomb serving them as well as cattle and wild
animals? It is, after all, the practice of the prophets and the just to grieve not only for themselves but
for the rest of mankind....
Indeed, he was overcome with depression to see both the intensity of the awful solitude, and
the earth itself, which previously had been bedecked with numerous plants and beautified with
flowers, and now suddenly like plucked foliage turned out to be bare and empty. The intensity of
his depression was very profound. Finding little encouragement for himself in his situation, he gave
himself up to cultivation of the soil. The usefulness of crop-growing was hardly known. Doubtless,
had Abel known of it at the outset he would have made a libation of wine as well in making his
offerings.
But Noah, being inventive in regard to farming, and given to great industry, probably tasted
even the fruit, pressed some bunches of grapes, made wine and had a draught of it. Through
ignorance he was surprised into drunkenness. Since a carnivorous diet had been introduced into life,
now wine drinking was, too. Notice how the remedy for depression, the restorative for his health,
when through ignorance he went to excess, not only did not help him, but even harmed his
constitution.618
1. Saint Justin: For another mystery was accomplished and predicted in the days of Noah,
of which you are not aware. It is this: in the blessings wherewith Noah blessed his two sons, and in
the curse pronounced on his sons son [Gen. 9:25]. For the Spirit of prophecy would not curse the
son that had been by God blessed along with his brothers. But since the punishment of the sin would
cleave to the whole descent of the son that mocked at his fathers nakedness, he made the curse
originate with his son. Now, in what he said, he foretold that the descendants of Shem would keep
in retention the property and dwellings of Canaan: and again that the descendants of Japheth would
take possession of the property of which Shems descendants had dispossessed Canaans
descendants; and spoil the descendants of Shem, even as they plundered the sons of Canaan. And
listen to the way in which it has so come to pass. For you, who have derived your lineage from
Shem, invaded the territory of the sons of Canaan by the will of God; and you possessed it. And it
617
618
Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book Two [9:1-3], 48:204, 205.

Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 29, On Genesis, 2-9, FC , 82:199-206.
146
is manifest that the sons of Japheth, having invaded you in turn by the judgment of God, have taken
your land from you, and have possessed it. Thus it is written: And Noah awoke from the wine, and
knew what his younger son had done unto him; and he said, Cursed be Canaan, the servant; a
servant shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan
shall be his servant. May the Lord enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the houses of Shem; and let
Canaan be his servant. Accordingly, as two peoples were blessedthose from Shem, and those
from Japhethand as the offspring of Shem were decreed first to possess the dwellings of Canaan,
and the offspring of Japheth were predicted as in turn receiving the same possessions, and to the two
peoples there was the one people of Canaan handed over for servants; so Christ has come according
to the power given Him from the Almighty Father, and summoning men to friendship, and blessing,
and repentance, and dwelling together, has promised, as has already been proved, that there shall
be a future possession for all the saints in this same land. And hence all men everywhere, whether
bond or free, who believe in Christ, and recognize the truth in His own words and those of His
prophets, know that they shall be with Him in that land, and inherit everlasting and incorruptible
good.619
2. Saint Ephraim: In the ark, Noah had drunk no wine....It was at least six years after
departing the ark that the just man had not tasted any wine. Another indication that it was...a long
absence is when Moses said that Ham went out into the street and told his brothers.620 How could
there be a street there, unless they had built a village for themselves?....It would have taken them
several years to build a village. The brothers of Ham, knowing the nobility of their father and that
he, like Jacob [later], was protected by angels both while awake and while asleep, hid his nakedness,
trembling all the while; their faces did not see his nakedness. Now Noah had been both sleeping and
awake. He was sleeping in that he had not perceived his nakedness, but awake in that he had been
aware of everything that his youngest son had done to him. Noah cursed Canaan. But what sin could
Canaan have committed even if he had been right behind his father when Ham observed the
nakedness of Noah?
Some say that because Ham had been blessed along with those who entered the ark and
came out of it, Noah did not curse Ham himself, even though his son, who was cursed, grieved him
greatly. Others, however, say that from that the fact that Scripture says, Noah knew everything that
his youngest son had done to him, it is clear that it was not Ham, for Ham was the middle son and
not the youngest. For this reason they speak of the youngest son, who was Canaan, and say that
Canaan the youngest told of the nakedness of the old man. Then Ham went out into the street and
jokingly told his brothers. For this reason then, even though it might be thought that Canaan was
cursed unjustly, in that he did what he did in his youth, still he was cursed justly for he was not
cursed in the stead of another. For Noah knew that unless Canaan was to deserve the curse in his old
age, he would not have been cursed in his youth.
Ham was justly withheld from both the blessing and from the curse. If he had been cursed
even because of his laughter, he would have been cursed justly; but had he been cursed, all the sons
of Ham who had taken no part in the jesting or the laughing would have been cursed along with
Ham. Therefore, Canaan was cursed because of his jesting, and Ham was deprived of the blessing
because of his laughter.
619
620
Saint Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. CXXXIX, Ante-Nicene Fathers, I:268, 269.
Into the street, is the reading in the Peshitta and Tragum Pseudo-Jonathan.
147
After Ham had been cursed through his one son, Noah blessed Shem and Japhet, and said,
May God increase Japhet and may he dwell in the tent of Shem, and let Canaan be their slave [Gen.
9:27]. Japhet increased and became powerful in his inheritance in the north and in the west. And
God dwelt in the tent of Abraham, the descendant of Shem; and Canaan became their slave when
in the days of Joshua bar-Nun (Jesus of Navee), the Israelites destroyed the dwelling-places of
Canaan and pressed their leaders into bondage [Josh. 17:13].621
3. Saint Chrysostom: Right from the beginning Ham was corrupt in attitude, it was not by
chance that Scripture said that Ham saw his fathers nakedness. Instead, why Ham, the father of
Canaan, saw? Why, tell me, does he mention his sons name at this point too? For you to learn that
he was intemperate and incontinent, and with the same inclination with which he gave himself to
procreation in such a terrible situation, he now vented his insolence on his father....
The youngest son ought to have kept it quiet, but instead he went out and bruited it abroad,
making a laughingstock of his father as far as he could in his shameful intent....He demonstrated
disrespect toward his father, was unmindful of the respect due from children for their parents, drew
attention to sins, wanted to suborn his brothers and make them join him in his disrespect....Actually
Ham was not the youngest: he was the second, ahead of Japheth. Yet, Ham was more juvenile in his
attitude; rashness demoting him in order. Since he was not prepared to respect the limits of his
position, he lost the precedence conferred on him by nature....It was not idly or to no purpose that
Noah made mention of the son but for some hidden reason: it was his intention both to curse him
for the sin of disrespect he had committed against him and at the same time not to undermine the
blessing already bestowed by God [cf. Gen. 9:1]....Ham did not endure less punishment than his son,
he too felt its effect. Accordingly, this incident occurred so that Ham should endure greater anguish
on account of his natural affection for Canaan, so that Gods blessing should continue without
impairment, and so that his son in being the object of the curse should atone for his own sins....
By the onset of sin, the man would be robbed of his freedom and brought into
subjectionhence the origin of his subsequent condition of servitude. Before this, you see, there
was no such indulgence, people being pampered in this way and needing others to minister to their
needs; rather, each one looked to his own needs, there being great equality of esteem and complete
absence of discrimination. When sin entered the scene, on the contrary, it impaired freedom,
destroyed the worth inherent in nature and introduced servitude so as to provide constant instruction
and reminder to the human race to shun the servitude of sin while returning to the freedom of
virtue....
Canaan shall be a menial slave to his brothers. You did not exercise your position
properly, he is saying, nor have you gained any advantage from your parity of esteem, hence I
intend thee to come to thy senses through subjection....This, of course, made Hams life bitter and
painful as he pondered the fact that after his own death his son was due to pay the penalty for his
doings. I mean, for proof that the sons life was inherently depraved and all his successors proved
to be abominable in their decline into evil, listen to Scriptures words in the form of a curse [Ezek.
16:3; Dan. 13:56]....Noah was a father, after all, and a loving father at that, and he had no wish to
621
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VII, 1-4, FC, 74:144-146.
148
inflict the due penalty but rather to stop the evil from going further. For this reason, he says, I
sentence you to servitude so that you may have a constant and ineluctable reminder.622
4. Saint Anastasios: Remember what we said about the fifth day. Regarding Gods blessing
of the fish [Gen. 1:20-22], we said that the serpent did not share with the animals of the earth an
equal blessing, because of the curse that He was about to give to the serpent [Gen. 1:25]. For in all
the Scripture of the Law you will not find someone blessed by the mouth of God and then cursed
by God....Noah did not dare curse his son, for God had blessed Ham with his two brothers after the
Flood [Gen. 9:1-7]. On account of this, Noah did not say, Ham is accursed. But rather, Canaan
is accursed [Gen. 9:25]. Noah dashed to pieces the descendants who would be born from Ham
[Gen. 9:18, 19], but not Ham himself.623
W. Shem and Japheth
1. Saint Irenaeos: The significance of the blessing is this, that the God and Lord of all
became for Shem (Sem) a peculiar object of worship. This blessing flourished when it reached
Abraham, Who, of the Seed of Shem, by genealogy was the tenth generation downwards [cf. Gen.
11:10-26]; and for this reason the Father and God of all was pleased to be called the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; for the blessing of Shem extended to
Abraham.624
Saint Chrysostom: With the blessing of Shem and Japheth, I am inclined to think he is
suggesting the calling of the two peoplesthrough Shem the Jews, on the one hand, the Patriarch
Abraham coming from him, and through Japheth, on the other hand, came the calling of the
nations.625
X. One Race: the Human Race
1. Saint Irenaeos: First of all believe that there is one God, Who has established all things,
and completed them; and having caused that from what had no being, all things should come into
existence:626 He Who contains all things, and is Himself contained by no one. Rightly also has
Malachi said among the prophets: Have ye not all one father? Did not one God create you [Mal.
2:10]? In accordance with this, too, does the apostle say, One God and Father of all, Who is over
all, and through all, and in you all [Eph. 4:6].627
X. THE TOWER OF BABEL
B. Pre-Babel Period
622
623
624
625
626
627
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 29, On Genesis, 13 -25, FC, 82:207-216 .

Saint Irenaeos, Epideixis 21; Steenberg, p. 207.
Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 29, On Genesis, 26 , FC, 82:217.
This is also stated in Shepherd of Hermas, Bk. ii, sim. I.
Saint Irenaeos, Against Heresies, Bk. IV, C h. XX, 2, Ante-N icene Fathers, 1 st Ser., Vol. I:488
149
Relevant Scriptures for the Tower of Babel

Genesis, Chapter 9
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years [Gen. 9:28].
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died [Gen. 9:29].
Genesis, Chapter 10
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were
born to them after the flood [Gen. 10:1]....
And to Shem himself also were children born, the father of all the sons of Heber, the brother
of Japheth the elder [Gen. 10:21]....
And to Heber were born two sons, the name of the one, Phalek, because in his days the earth
was divided, and the name of his brother Jektan [Gen. 10:25].
Genesis, Chapter 11
And all the earth was one lip, and there was one language to all [Gen. 11:1].
And it came to pass as they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Senaar,
and they dwelt there [Gen. 11:2].
And a man said to his neighbor, Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire. And
the brick was to them for stone, and their mortar was bitumen [Gen. 11:3].
And they said, Come, let us build to ourselves a city and tower, whose top shall be to
heaven, and let us make to ourselves a name, before we are scattered abroad upon the face of all the
earth [Gen. 11:3].
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built [Gen.
11:4].
And the Lord said, Behold, there is one race, and one lip of all, and they have begun to do
this, and now nothing shall fail from them of all that they may have undertaken to do [Gen. 11:6].
Come, and let Us go down and confuse their tongue there lest each should give heed to the
voice of his neighbor [Gen. 11:7].
And the Lord scattered them thence over the face of all the earth, and they left off building
the city and the tower [Gen. 11:8].
On this account its name was called Confusion, because there the Lord confounded the
languages of all the earth, and thence the Lord scattered them upon the face of all the earth [Gen.
11:9].
It may seem that there are two accounts, but they record the same incident. In Genesis,
chapter 11, we read how the people had one lip, and how they found a plain in the land of Senaar
(between the rivers). In the previous chapter, Genesis 10, we find that the people were dispersed.
The solution is that Genesis 11 is the chronological record of the history, whereas Genesis 10
provides us with the significance and result of what had taken place. Although chapter 10 is placed
before chapter 11, it just provides the reader with an introduction and a summary of the outcome of
the dispersion as a result of the confounding of the language. This type of juxtaposition of the
sequence of events was common in Hebrew narrative. This same idea of a summary or outline that
150
undergoes a review with a closer look is also seen in the earlier chapters of Genesis, involving a
recapitulation of the accounts of the creation and of the making of man.
B. Pre-Babel Period
1. Saint Ephraim: Concerning Nimrod, Moses said that he was a mighty hunter before the
Lord [Gen. 10:9], because, according to the will of the Lord, it was he who fought with each of these
nations and chased them out from there so that they would go out and settle in the regions that had
been set apart for them by God....Nimrod reigned in Erech, which is now Edessa, and in Accad,
which is now Nisibis, and in Calah, which is now Seleucia-Ctesiphon, which is now Hatra, and
Resen, the great city that is, at that time, which is now Reshaina. 628
2. Saint Chrysostom: Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the deluge. He died
after a life span of nine hundred and fifty years. Do not think that sacred Scripture indicated this to
no purpose; rather notice in this instance as well the good mans continence in the fact that, through
enjoying security and prosperity, and attaining such a long life after disembarking from the ark, he
still refrained from procreation. Scripture, you observe, did not make mention of his having further
children than the three sons.629
1. Saint Ephraim: For what purpose would those who had nothing to fear build a fortified
city or a tower that reaches to heaven, since they had a firm covenant that there would be no flood?
They said, Lest we should be scattered over the face of the whole earth. But who else was there,
apart from themselves, to scatter them? From the fact that they said, Let us make a name for
ourselves [Gen. 11:4], it is clear that their vainglory and their unity, which built both the city and
the tower, were brought to nought because of the division that came upon them.630
2. Saint Chrysostom: Their vain plan for this life proved the source of their troubles. Notice
how much security they wanted to be able to count on in their building, unaware that unless the
Lord should build the house, the ones building do labor in vain [Ps. 126:1]. The text says, Let us
build for ourselves, not for God. See the intensity of their wickedness. Despite having a fresh
memory of that recent disaster, they fell into such terrible folly. With the mention of building
themselves a tower, whose top shall be to heaven [Gen. 11:4], sacred Scripture meant to bring to
our attention the excess of their temerity. The text reveals the root of their wickedness: Let us make
to ourselves a namethat is to say, so that we may enjoy an undying reputation, the meaning is,
so that we may be in a position to be remembered in perpetuity. Indeed, such will be our
performance and achievement that we shall never pass into oblivion! Furthermore, Let us do this
before we are scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth [Gen. 11:3]. What they are saying is
that while we are still in this situation, let us put into effect what we have resolved, to leave an
indelible memory for ourselves with succeeding generations....What procures you, however, great
confidence with the Lord is to have said, He dispersed, he gave to the poor; his righteousness
abideth unto the age of the age [Ps. 111:8].631
628
629
630
631
Saint
Saint
Saint
Saint
Ephraim , On
Chrysostom,
Ephraim , On
Chrysostom,
Genesis, Section VIII, 1, 1(2), FC, 74:146, 147.

Hom. 29, On Genesis, 28 , FC, 82:217.
Genesis, Section VIII, 2, FC, 74:147.
Hom. 30, On Genesis, 5-7, FC , 82:222-225.
151
1. Saint Ephraim: The Lord came down and saw the work of their mad folly and said,
Nothing that they propose will be impossible for them; that is, they will not escape punishment,
for the opposite of that which they said, lest we should be scattered, will befall them. Come, let
Us go down and there confuse their languages. Here, God was not speaking to one, for this Come,
let Us go down, would be superfluous if only said to one. He said it both to the Son and to the Spirit
so that neither the ancient nor the more recent languages should be given without the Son and the
Spirit.
It is likely that they lost their common language when they received these new languages;
for it their original language had not perished their first deed would not have come to nought. It was
when they lost their original language, which was lost by all the nations, with one exception, that
their first building came to naught. In addition, because of their new languages, which made them
foreigners to each other and incapable of understanding one another, war broke out among them on
account of the divisions that the languages brought among them.
Thus, war broke out among those who had been building that fortified city out of fear of
others. And all those who had been keeping themselves away from the city were scattered
throughout the earth. It was Nimrod who scattered them. It was also he who seized Babel and
became its first ruler. If Nimrod had not scattered them each to his own place, he would not have
been able to take that place where they all had lived before. 632
2. Saint Chrysostom: Out of fidelity to his characteristic love God promised never again to
inflict a deluge; these people, on the contrary, were not brought to their senses even by His
punishments nor were they improved by His kindnesses.633...
See how in a human fashion the Scripture uses narration, saying, The Lord God
descended, after employing much long-suffering and waiting for them to put into effect all their
wickedness, and only then thwarting their attempt....He then shows them how vain are their
exploits....That the Lord descended teaches us that He saw in precise detail the excess of their
wickedness....The Lord God said, Lo, they are all of one race and tongue (that is, one language and
one idiom). If despite their advantage of such similarity of thought and language they rushed
headlong into such awful folly, how would they avoid worse crimes with the passage of time? They
will leave undone none of the things they have planned to do. Nothing will succeed in checking their
impulse, rather they will be anxious to put into operation everything planned by them in case they
should shortly be punished for things already perpetrated....The same case is seen with the firstformed, And God said, Behold, Adam is become as one of Us, to know good and evil, and now
lest at any time he should stretch forth his hand, and take of the tree of life and eat, and so he shall
live unto the age [Gen. 3:22].634....
The punishment that ensues is like an everlasting memorial. In other words, since they
abused their similarity of language, I intend them to come to their senses through their difference
in language....His purpose was that just as similarity of language achieved their living together, so
difference in language might cause dispersal among them. How could people lacking the same
language and converse live in conformity with one another? See Gods loving-kindness in the extent
of the helplessness to which He reduced them; from then on they resembled lunatics: when one gave
632
633
634
Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n VIII, 3, 4, FC, 74:147, 148.

Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 30, On Genesis, 9, FC, 82:22 6.
Ibid., Hom. 30, On Genesis, 10 -12, FC, 82:226-229 .
152
a direction, another responded in a different fashion. Hence, they stopped building the city and the
tower. That is why it was given the name Confusion, because there it was that the Lord God
confused the languages of the whole earth, and from there the Lord God dispersed them in all the
earth.
Notice the extent of the action taken to ensure remembrance of it would last for all time:
first the conflict of tongues, or rather prior to this, the giving of the namethe name Phalek,
remember, which Heber gave his son, means division [cf. Gen. 10:25]. Next, the place name: the
place was called Confusion, which is what Babylon means. Then Heber kept the same language
as he had had before, so that this too should prove an unmistakable sign of the conflict. 635
1. Saint Ephraim: Moses then wrote about the nations that came from Noah. From and
including Japheth there were fifteen nations. From and including Ham there were thirty nations,
apart from the Philistines and the Cappadocians who later came from them. From and including
Shem there were twenty-seven nations, a total of seventy-two nations. Each of these nations dwelt
in its own distinct place with its own people and spoke its own tongue. 636
Saint Gregory the Theologian explains that the old confusion of tongues was beneficial
when people, who were of one language in wickedness and impiety, just as some still are, were
building the tower of Babel. But by the confusion of their language, the unity of their intention was
broken up and their understanding destroyed. And that division also might be called noble of which
David says, Plunge them into the depths, O Lord, and divide their tongues [Ps. 54:9]. Why?
Because they loved all the subject matters of engulfing destruction, and a deceitful tongue [Ps.
51:3]. Thus much upon this point. Now much more worthy of praise is the present miraculous unity
of language at Pentecost. Being poured from one Spirit on many people, it brings them again into
harmony.637
Therefore, by the confounding of the tongues due to the overbold recklessness of the tower
builders, the Most High divided the peoples into nations; but at Pentecost, when He divided the
tongues of fire, He called all into unity;638 for now the tongues are made wise by means of the glory
of divine knowledge. On the day of Pentecost, the last feast, the fire of the good Comforter came on
earth, as though in the form of tongues. The light of the Paraclete enlightened the cosmos.639 The
Spirit, coming down to those on earth, bedewed and illuminated the apostles. Thus, the fire became
to them a cloud, illuminating with spiritual light and raining flames on them. And through them, we
have received the grace by both fire and water. We are also told that the tongues, as it were, of fire
were seen divided in the midst of the faithful, and yet this fire consumed them not. Indeed, it rained
dew on them and refreshed them.640 The dumbfounding of the one lip at the Babel tower in Senaar
was brought about for chastisement, but the concord of the tongues at Pentecost was for the salvation
635
636
637
638
639
640

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Section VIII, 1, 1(2), FC, 74:146, 147.
Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration 41, On Pentecost, 16.
Pentecostarion, Sund ay of P entecost, Kontakion, M ode Plagal Four.
Pentecostarion, Sun day of Pentecost, O rthros Kathism a, M ode Fou r.
Pentecostarion, Sund ay of P entecost, Orthros C anon, Sessional Hymn, Mode Plag al Four.
153
of souls.641 The mouths of the sophists were stopped, and knowledge of the Trinity was made
manifest.
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THE CONSENSUS OF THE

EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

E. God Called the Firmament Heaven [Gen. 1:8]

VII. SEVENTH DAY

IX. GENESIS, PRE-FLOOD, GLOBAL FLOOD, AND POST-FLOOD

Saint Paulinus (353/4-431), Bishop of Nola

Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:3], 48:73.

P. The Certainty of Order and Plan

Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 6, FC, 74:78.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Hom. 13.

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 8, FC, 74:80.

Ibid., Hom. II(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. II(4), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:2a/b], 48:69.

Saint Jerome, Hom. 14, 1-59 On Th e Psalms, Vol. 1, FC, 48:107.

Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 1, XI.3, p. 41.

Saint Basil, Hom. II(7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 3, On Genesis, 5, 74:41, 42.

Saint Basil, Hom. II(8), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. III(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. III(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. III(3), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. III(4), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 2, III.2, p. 55.

Ibid., Hom. III(5), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Ibid., On Genesis, Sectio n I, 18, 18(2), FC, 74:88 .

Saint Basil, Hom. III(10), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 10(2), FC, 74:82, 83.

Ibid., Hom. IV(4), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Hom. 4, Ch. 2(9), Hexameron, FC, 42:73.

Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 3, VIII.5, p. 81.

Ibid., Hom. IV(7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. V(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. V(6), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Am brose, H om. 5, Ch. 6(2 5), Hexameron, FC, 42:86.

Ibid., Hom. 5, Ch. 16(6 8), Hexameron, FC, 42:119, 120.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:11-13], 48:79, 80.

A. The Creation of Luminaries [Gen. 1:14]

Ibid., Hom. VI(3), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. 6, On Genesis, 12, 74:83, 84.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, VIII.4, p. 131.

Ibid., Hom. VI(8), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. 6, On Genesis, 17, 74:87.

Saint Basil, Hom. VI(5-7), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. VI(10), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hexaemeron, Book 4, IX.5, p. 139.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:18c], 48:84.

A. The Voice of the Lord Is Upon the Waters

Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 5, VI.4, p. 165.

Ibid., Hom. VII(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Ibid., Hom. VII(5), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. VIII(2), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 7, On Genesis, 11, 74:97, 98.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:20], 48:85, 86.

Ibid., Hom. 7, Ch. 3(9), Hexameron, FC, 42:166.

Saint Anastasios, Hexaemeron, Book 6, I.2, pp. 171, 173.

Saint Basil, Hom. VIII(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., Vol. VIII.

Saint Basil, Hom. VIII(1), Hexaemeron, NPNF , 2 nd Ser., V ol. VIII.

Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 7, On Genesis, 13, 74:99.

Saint Ephraim , On Genesis, Sectio n I, 27, FC , 74:93.

Saint Bed e, On Genesis, Book One [1:25a/b], 48:88, 89.

Saint Chrysostom, Hom. 8, On Genesis, 4, 74:107.