For For any reader: nine sermons on the six days of creation, preached to working people, full of the natural history of the ancient world and the wonder of it. The friendliest way into Basil; also the model for Ambrose's Hexaemeron.
Length About 55,000 words, about 4 hours.
Should I read this?
For the general reader
4 of 5strongly recommended
For the researcher
4 of 5important
Difficulty
3 of 5demanding
Nine Lenten sermons on the six days of creation, preached to working people of Caesarea: the firmament, the seas, the plants, the fish and birds, with the natural history of the ancient world pressed into the praise of the Creator. The most enjoyable thing he wrote, and the model for Ambrose's and every later Christian hexaemeron.
How it proceeds
Philosophic3 of 5
Scriptural5 of 5
Experiential2 of 5
Sociological2 of 5
Historical2 of 5
Independent intensities, 0–5 — what the work is made of, not how good it is.
The Hexaemeron consists of nine homilies that Basil of Caesarea delivered to his congregation during Lent, likely between 370 and 378. These sermons arose from the practical need to provide his people with a thorough, accessible exposition of the creation account in Genesis 1, countering both popular misconceptions and the sophisticated cosmological theories that competed with Christian teaching in fourth-century Cappadocia.
Basil moves systematically through the six days of creation, dedicating careful attention to each divine word and work. Rather than offering merely allegorical interpretation, he engages seriously with the natural philosophy of his time, drawing on contemporary knowledge of astronomy, geography, and biology to illuminate the text. He argues that the created order reveals God's wisdom and providence, while maintaining that Scripture's account is both historically reliable and spiritually instructive. His approach combines rigorous exegesis with pastoral sensitivity, explaining complex theological concepts through vivid imagery and practical applications. Throughout, Basil emphasizes that proper understanding of creation leads to wonder, worship, and moral transformation.
The Hexaemeron became a foundational text for Christian cosmology and biblical interpretation, influencing centuries of theological reflection on the relationship between Scripture and natural knowledge. Its integration of careful textual study with engagement with secular learning established a model for Christian intellectual life that shaped both Eastern and Western traditions.
Who should read this: Pastors and teachers seeking to understand how early Christian leaders approached Genesis with both reverence and intellectual rigor will find this work invaluable. Those interested in the historical development of Christian attitudes toward science and nature will discover here a sophisticated predecessor to later debates, though readers expecting simple answers to modern creation controversies may find Basil's fourth-century concerns quite different from contemporary ones.
Blomfield Jackson's translation (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 8, 1895), on New Advent as an index to the nine homilies, one page each, with some of Jackson's notes. Suits the general reader: Jackson's English is plain, and the homilies were preached to ordinary people.
Blomfield Jackson's translation of the nine homilies (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 8, 1895) on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, one homily to a page with Jackson's notes on Basil's natural history and his sources. The same text as New Advent's in CCEL's reader; suits any reader.
Blomfield Jackson's translation of the nine homilies (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 8, 1895) as a proofread Wikisource transcription, an index to the introduction and the nine homilies on their own pages. Clean text, printable and quotable.
Migne's Patrologia Graeca vol. 29 (1857): the Greek of the nine homilies on the Hexaemeron, first in the volume, with the Latin version facing. For readers of Greek; the English translations are elsewhere on this page.
Much harder than the work: Greek with Latin facing; no English
Nine Homilies on the Six Days of Creation
by Basil the Great
For For any reader: nine sermons on the six days of creation, preached to working people, full of the natural history of the ancient world and the wonder of it. The friendliest way into Basil; also the model for Ambrose's Hexaemeron.
Length About 55,000 words, about 4 hours.
Should I read this?
Nine Lenten sermons on the six days of creation, preached to working people of Caesarea: the firmament, the seas, the plants, the fish and birds, with the natural history of the ancient world pressed into the praise of the Creator. The most enjoyable thing he wrote, and the model for Ambrose's and every later Christian hexaemeron.
How it proceeds
Independent intensities, 0–5 — what the work is made of, not how good it is.
The Hexaemeron consists of nine homilies that Basil of Caesarea delivered to his congregation during Lent, likely between 370 and 378. These sermons arose from the practical need to provide his people with a thorough, accessible exposition of the creation account in Genesis 1, countering both popular misconceptions and the sophisticated cosmological theories that competed with Christian teaching in fourth-century Cappadocia.
Basil moves systematically through the six days of creation, dedicating careful attention to each divine word and work. Rather than offering merely allegorical interpretation, he engages seriously with the natural philosophy of his time, drawing on contemporary knowledge of astronomy, geography, and biology to illuminate the text. He argues that the created order reveals God's wisdom and providence, while maintaining that Scripture's account is both historically reliable and spiritually instructive. His approach combines rigorous exegesis with pastoral sensitivity, explaining complex theological concepts through vivid imagery and practical applications. Throughout, Basil emphasizes that proper understanding of creation leads to wonder, worship, and moral transformation.
The Hexaemeron became a foundational text for Christian cosmology and biblical interpretation, influencing centuries of theological reflection on the relationship between Scripture and natural knowledge. Its integration of careful textual study with engagement with secular learning established a model for Christian intellectual life that shaped both Eastern and Western traditions.
Who should read this: Pastors and teachers seeking to understand how early Christian leaders approached Genesis with both reverence and intellectual rigor will find this work invaluable. Those interested in the historical development of Christian attitudes toward science and nature will discover here a sophisticated predecessor to later debates, though readers expecting simple answers to modern creation controversies may find Basil's fourth-century concerns quite different from contemporary ones.
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