The Hexaemeron: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Hexaemeron, credited to Basil of Caesarea, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Hexaemeron, by Basil of Caesarea. Read by Jonathan Lange. The Hexaemeron is the title of nine homilies delivered by St. Basil on the the cosmogony of the opening chapters of Genesis. When and where they were delivered is quite uncertain. They are Lenten sermons, delivered at both the morning and evening services, and appear to have been listened to by working men. (Hom. iii. 1) Some words in Hom. viii. have confirmed the opinion that they were preached extempore, in accordance with what is believed to have been Basil's ordinary practice. Internal evidence points in the same direction for though a marked contrast might be expected between the style of a work intended to be read, like the De Spiritu Sancto, and that of the orations to be spoken in public, the Hexaemeron shews signs of being an unwritten composition. In earlier ages, it was the most celebrated and admired of Basil's works. Photius (Migne, Pat. Gr. cxli) puts it first of all, and speaks warmly of its eloquence and force. As an example of oratory he would rank it with the works of Plato and Demosthenes. (Introduction by Nicene Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. VIII)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Hexaemeron
• Author credits: Basil of Caesarea
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 9
• Listed recording duration: 4:46:36

Catalogue topics

• religion
• Christianity
• homilies
• Genesis
• creation
• sermons
• oratories

Track guide

1. 1 - In the Beginning God Made the Heaven and the Earth — 33:23
2. 2 - The Earth Was Invisible and Unfinished — 32:27
3. 3 - On the Firmament — 33:33
4. 4 - Upon the Gathering Together of the Waters — 22:38
5. 5 - The Germination of the Earth — 31:53
6. 6 - The Creation of Luminous Bodies — 43:20
7. 7 - The Creation of Moving Creatures — 25:56
8. 8 - The Creation of Fowl and Water Animals — 33:47
9. 9 - The Creation of Terrestrial Animals — 29:46

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.