Robert Grosseteste: On the Six Days of Creation: A Translation of the Hexaemeron

by Robert Grosseteste, C.F.J. Martin (Translator)

This is a new translation of Grosseteste's masterful commentary on the Biblical account of the Creation. Presenting a rich look at the unity of the medieval outlook, the Hexaemeron combines the learning of East and West in a distinctively English way.

Genres: Theology

382 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 1997

About the author

Robert Grosseteste (/ˈɡroʊstɛst/ GROHS-test; Latin: Robertus Grosseteste; c. 1175 – 9 October 1253) was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian, scientist and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. Upon his death, he was almost universally revered as a saint in England, but attempts to procure a formal canonization failed. A. C. Crombie calls him "the real founder of the tradition of scientific thought in medieval Oxford, and in some ways, of the modern English intellectual tradition".

Reviews

[Jeri Massi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unity, unity, unity: that's what Grosseteste shows us with painstaking care: how the account of the six days of creation demonstrates the Trinity, the eternality of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the reality of the "real" world as opposed to this "accidental" world, the imminence of heaven.

This is not a book for lightweights. You should have some familiarity with the pre-Copernican model of the cosmos before you attempt Grosseteste, and you should be familiar with his times and with the prevailing theology and religious mindset of his age.

Modern religious Creationism is a joke, really. Evangelicals and Christian Fundamentalists believe in an atheistic universe, and they simply overlay Creation onto it. But Grossteste gives us a truly Christian, complex, and very unified view of Creation. And he's not really saying that the Genesis account is or is not literally true. The point he makes is that the narrative of Creation in Genesis is telling us about the entire world, the entire work of Jesus Christ, the entire wisdom of God. There is a breadth and scope of his understanding of the Genesis account that really does highlight the nincompoopery of Christian Fundamentalism, and yet compels the reader to embrace the truth of Creation as God's act, really, of salvation.

I write this from a religious point of view, not a historical point of view. I don't think Grosseteste should be limited to consideration for his historic value, but rather I think his greatest value remains in exactly what he says (if you can follow him). For Grosseteste lifts up God and Christ and the Holy Spirit. As a Christian, I have at last found a truly Creationist writer, and I like him. OK, the spheres thing is dated, but still, his work is brilliant and rejuvenating to people of faith. Again, this glowing review applies only if you can follow him, and I am guessing that most Evangelicals and just about all Christian Fundamentalists cannot. Thank Jerry Falwell or Bob Jones Sr or Jack Hyles for your horrible education.

[Garbanzo Beans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible. I love the medieval mind, and Brother Grossteste is such a great example of that. We have the Quadriga being used the entire book and is constantly quoting classical/church fathers as sources. He is very concerned with a synthesis of all the church fathers, while not going further than necessary to make claims he doesn't feel he needs to. A very tempered Hexaemeron with some great pieces to meditate on. Highly recommend this great work of unity in Christendom's history.