Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Hexaemeron
The least plant brings to mind the Creator — Genesis 1 as a textbook of divine wisdom written in creation
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Hexaemeron (Late) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Both |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | not engaged |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Immediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Passive |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Scripture |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Hexaemeron
Created time begins with "In the beginning." Each of the six days adds a layer of order to the cosmos. Basil reads the days as literal, sequential, temporal periods. God is eternal, beyond the temporal sequence He creates.
Space
Hexaemeron
The cosmos as Basil describes it is finite, bounded, three-dimensional: heaven above, earth below, waters gathered, firmament stretched out. The spatial structure is that of Genesis 1, read in light of ancient natural philosophy.
Matter
Hexaemeron
Created ex nihilo: "In the beginning God created" — not from pre-existent material. Matter is good, finite, conserved, and organised by God's wisdom. The created kinds (plants, animals) contain spermatikoi logoi that govern their ongoing reproduction.
Observer
Hexaemeron
The human observer is a creature within the created order, reading the "book of nature" to know its Author. The observer is passive before God's revelation in creation and Scripture, embodied, and part of a worshipping community.
Energy
Hexaemeron
God implants creative power (spermatikoi logoi) in matter at the beginning; this power drives the ongoing processes of nature. Energy is finite, conserved, and operates within a divinely ordered framework.
Information
Hexaemeron
Creation is an informational system: it "speaks" the Creator's wisdom. Scripture and nature are two complementary books. Information is conserved by God's providential sustenance of the created order.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Basil's literal reading of the six days is in tension with Origen's allegorical method and with modern scientific cosmology. His use of ancient natural philosophy (which was state-of-the-art in his time) creates awkward passages when read in light of later science. The Hexaemeron's natural theology — reading God from nature — is in tension with the apophatic tradition that insists God is beyond all created analogy.