The Firmament and the Waters Above - St. John Chrysostom

What is the firmament? What does Scripture mean by “waters above the heavens”? St. John expounds upon the Scriptural testimony and raises our minds and hearts both to God’s creation and God Himself.

0:00 Introduction
1:26 Scripture: Genesis 1:6-8 and Psalm 148:4-6
2:33 Commentary on Psalm 148:4
3:00 Commentary on Genesis 1 (Homily 4)
18:16 Commentary on Genesis 1 (Homily 6)
22:00 On the Statues to the People of Antioch (Homily 9)
22:59 On the Statues to the People of Antioch (Homily 12)
25:04 Commentary on Matthew 26:6-7 (Homily 80)
25:22 Commentary on Hebrews 8:1-2 (Homily 14)
26:52 Commentary on Hebrews 9:2 (Homily 15)
27:14 Commentary on Ephesians 5:15-17 (Homily 19)
31:36 Scripture: Psalm 148:4-6

To my knowledge, what follows are all of St. John Chrysostom’s teachings on day two of creation, the firmament and the waters above that are available in English. I did not focus on his commentary on the sun, moon, and stars when placed into the firmament on day four. The golden-mouthed Archbishop poured over the scriptures and his homilies on Scripture continues to stand out as exceedingly faithful to the truth and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Regardless of what modern scientists and astronomers tell us, the Patristic axiom remains immovable: we must follow the Holy Fathers. So much of modern science is saturated with philosophy and pseudo-science. The modern heliocentric model has turned the plain reading of many scriptures on their head. In addition to the many scientific and observational reasons to question the heliocentric dogma so often assumed today, the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, especially St. John Chrysostom, beckon us to revisit modern assumptions and reconsider the truth about the realm in which we God has placed us to work out our salvation.

-READ St. John’s commentary on Genesis 1-17:
https://archive.org/details/saint-joh...
-READ St. John’s homilies on Matthew, Ephesians, Hebrews, and more:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/
-READ St. John’s commentary on Psalm 148:
https://www.amazon.com/St-John-Chryso...
-READ St. John’s homilies On the Statues to the People of Antioch:
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf...
-FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you:
https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/
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St. John teaches:

‘The water above the heavens.’ You hear Moses also saying that he left some of the waters below, and caused some to float on the surfaces of the heavens, fixing the firmament in the middle of the abyss, and let the waters remain on the surfaces. -Commentary on Psalm 148:4

And what is more pleasing or more beautiful than the firmament of Heaven. -Homily 80 on the Gospel of Matthew

The text goes on: "God made the firmament, and God divided the water which was below the firmament from the water which was above the firmament." That is to say, once the firmament existed, he ordered some of the water to go below the firmament, and some to be on top of the firmament. Now, what would you say this means, the firmament? Water that has congealed, or some air that has been compressed, or some other substance? No sensible person would be rash enough to make a decision on it. Instead, it is better to be quite grateful and ready to accept what is told us and not reach beyond the limits of our own nature by meddling in matters beyond us, but rather to know only the simple fact and keep it within us—namely, that by the Lord's command the firmament was produced, causing division of the waters, keeping some below and being able to carry the rest elevated on top of it. -Homily 4 on Genesis

I beg you, so as to be able to curb those people wanting to come up with objections against the Church, and be quite sure in your knowledge of the efficacy of what is contained in the Sacred Scriptures. That, after all, is the reason why you gather here so regularly, and why we provide you with such abundant instruction, so that you may be well prepared for anyone seeking to indoctrinate you. -Homily 4 on Genesis

You see, this is said out of considerateness for us, and you will notice the same words used in the case of each created thing, refuting in anticipation the temerity of those who later will be disposed to sharpen their tongue against God's creation and raise the question, why did this and that come into being? So, to check those people ahead of time in their endeavors to voice that opinion, the text says, "God saw that it was good." When you hear that God "saw" and God "praised", take the word in a sense proper to God. That is to say, the Creator knew the beauty of the created thing before he created it, whereas we are human beings and encompassed with such limitations that we cannot understand it in any other way... -Homily 4 on Genesis
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