That Basil’s friends should think highly of it is only what might be expected.  “Whenever I take his Hexæmeron in hand,” says Gregory of Nazianzus, (Orat. xliii. 67) “and quote its words, I am brought face to face with my Creator:  I begin to understand the method of creation:  I feel more awe than ever I did before, when I only looked at God’s work with my eyes.”