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| Concerning the Heaven.
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Chapter VI.—Concerning the
Heaven.
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.
Since1683
| 1683 Cf.
Chrysost., In Genes., hom. 4; Basil, Hex. hom. 3,
&c. | , therefore,
the Scripture speaks of heaven, and heaven of heaven1684
, and heavens of heavens1685
, and the blessed Paul says that he was
snatched away to the third heaven1686
, we say
that in the cosmogony of the universe we accept the creation of a
heaven which the foreign philosophers, appropriating the views of
Moses, call a starless sphere. But further, God called the
firmament also heaven1687
, which He
commanded to be in the midst of the waters, setting it to divide the
waters that are above the firmament from the waters that are below the
firmament. And its nature, according to the divine
Basilius1688
| 1688 Basil,
Hom. 1 in Hexaëmeron. | , who is
versed in the mysteries of divine Scripture, is delicate as
smoke. Others, however, hold that it is watery in nature, since
it is set in the midst of the waters: others say it is composed
of the four elements: and lastly, others speak of it as a fifth
body, distinct from the four elements1689
| 1689 The
Peripatetics. See Nemes., ch. 5. | .
Further, some have thought that the heaven encircles the
universe and has the form of a sphere, and that everywhere it is the
highest point, and that the centre of the space enclosed by it is the
lowest part: and, further, that those bodies that are light and
airy are allotted by the Creator the upper region: while those
that are heavy and tend to descend occupy the lower region, which is
the middle. The element, then, that is lightest and most inclined
to soar upwards is fire, and hence they hold that its position is
immediately after the heaven, and they call it ether, and after it
comes the lower air. But earth and water, which are heavier and
have more of a downward tendency, are suspended in the centre.
Therefore, taking them in the reverse order, we have in the lowest
situation earth and water: but water is lighter than earth, and
hence is more easily set in motion: above these on all hands,
like a covering, is the circle of air, and all round the air is the
circle of ether, and outside air is the circle of the heaven.
Further, they say that the heaven moves in a circle and
so compresses all that is within it, that they remain firm and not
liable to fall asunder.
They say also that there are seven zones of the
heaven1690
| 1690 Basil, Hom.
3, in Hexaëmeron. | , one higher than
the other. And its nature, they say, is of extreme fineness, like
that of smoke, and each zone contains one of the planets. For
there are said to be seven planets: Sol, Luna, Jupiter, Mercury,
Mars, Venus and Saturn. But sometimes Venus is called Lucifer and
sometimes Vesper. These are called planets because their
movements are the reverse of those of the heaven. For while the
heaven and all other stars move from east to west, these alone move
from west to east. And this can easily be seen in the case of the
moon, which moves each evening a little backwards.
All, therefore, who hold that the heaven is in the form
of a sphere, say that it is equally removed and distant from the earth
at all points, whether above, or sideways, or below. And by
‘below’ and ‘sideways’ I mean all that comes
within the range of our senses. For it follows from what has been
said, that the heaven occupies the whole of the upper region and the
earth the whole of the lower. They say, besides, that the heaven
encircles the earth in the manner of a sphere, and bears along with it
in its most rapid revolutions sun, moon and stars, and that when the
sun is over the earth it becomes day there, and when it is under the
earth it is night. And,
again, when the sun goes under the earth it is night here, but day
yonder.
Others have pictured the heaven as a
hemisphere. This idea is suggested by these words of David, the
singer of God, Who stretchest out the heavens like a
curtain1691
, by which word he
clearly means a tent: and by these from the blessed Isaiah,
Who hath established the heavens like a vault1692
: and also because when the sun,
moon, and stars set they make a circuit round the earth from west to
north, and so reach once more the east1693
| 1693 Chrysost.,
Hom. 14 and 17, ad Hebr. | . Still, whether it is this way or
that, 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 Himself spoke and they were made: He
Himself commanded and they were created. He hath also established
them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which will not
pass1694
.
The heaven of heaven, then, is the first heaven
which is above the firmament1695
| 1695 Greg. Nyss. de
opif. Hom. | . So here we
have two heavens, for God called the firmament also Heaven1696
. 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 said1697
. 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, and this clearly means heaven of heaven1698
, 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 nature1699
, and so even the heavens themselves are
corruptible. But by the grace of God they are maintained and
preserved1700
| 1700 Basil,
Hom. 1 and 3, in Hexaëmeron. | . Only the
Deity, however, is by nature without beginning and without end1701
. Wherefore it has been said, They
will perish, but Thou dost endure1702
: 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 earth1703
.
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 life1704
| 1704 Cf.
August., Retract. ii. 2. | . For
they are inanimate and insensible1705
| 1705 Basil, Hom.
13, in Hexaëmeron. | . So
that when the divine Scripture saith, Let the heavens rejoice and
the earth be glad1706
, 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 example1707
| 1707 Text, ὡς τό. N. καὶ τὸ
ἀνάπαλιν. | , The sea saw
it and fled: Jordan was driven back1708
. And again, What ailed thee, O
thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou, O Jordan, that thou was driven
back1709
? 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 God1710
, 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-Craftsman1711
| 1711 Basil,
Hom. 1 and 3, in Hexaëmeron. | .E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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