63 MICHAEL OF GLYCAS 64
A those who were blind. That great man B lamenting them, says that they will be condemned on the day of judgment more than others, because although they were so sharp-sighted for vanities, they were voluntarily blind in their search for truth. Now, why is it necessary to recount how many things these same people have conjectured regarding the magnitude of both the sun and the moon? Anaximander and Anaximenes said the sun is twenty-seven times larger than the earth; Anaxagoras, that it is larger than the Peloponnese; others, when they held it to be only a foot wide, even wished for the sun to be that same size. The same things are found handed down regarding the moon. For there were some who made it larger than the earth, while others established an equal magnitude for both, others smaller than the earth, and others asserted it to be only a palm-breadth wide; and thus, while ignorant of the depth of the sea—which nevertheless could be explored by dropping a sounding line—they were not afraid to profess with singular ambition that they knew the interval between the moon and the earth, and in turn between the sun and the moon. And thus far we have indicated what were the opinions of those we mentioned regarding the origin and magnitude of these stars. But that most expert man of sacred matters, the excellent Basil, added this also for the demonstration of their magnitude: Although the stars in the heavens are almost infinite in number, yet all their light combined is not sufficiently effective to dissipate the sadness of night, whereas the sun alone, appearing above the horizon, can melt and dissipate the air near the earth, which had been, as it were, frozen and thickened before it. Hence it comes about that we have morning winds, and in a clear sky, dews bedew the earth. But how could the sun illuminate the entire earth, which is of such magnitude, in a single moment of time, if its brightness did not proceed from a certain immense orb?
The same can also be seen in the moon. C For its body is truly great, and after the sun, it is the most splendid. For regarding these, the holy Scripture also says: "And God made the great luminaries." He calls them "great," not because they are larger than the lesser stars, but because they are of such amplitude that the splendor proceeding from them is sufficient to illuminate the heaven itself and the air, and at the same time to extend across the entire earth and sea. Therefore, beware lest you follow a false persuasion regarding this star, nor believe its magnitude to be cubital. For our vision, as if consumed and diminished in the air, is in no way sufficient for the accurate comprehension of those things which we behold above us. And so, the holy Scriptures call the sun "great" out of a certain admiration and wonder, and not by reason of any comparison. For those same Scriptures also call whales or sea-monsters "great," not because they are larger than a shrimp or a pilchard, but because they are like the greatest mountains. "And God made the great luminaries." And how, indeed, D [are they to be understood?]