Bareille begins his translation of the six sermons on Genesis with the following words: "The following discourses, which are given in the Vatican manuscript and several other manuscripts as discourses by Chrysostom, are unquestionably by Severian, Bishop of Gabala. Cosmas the Egyptian in his Christian Topography provides conclusive evidence ; there he quotes long fragments extracted from the works of Severian. However, these fragments are found word for word in the speeches that follow. We need not expect the eloquence of the works of Chrysostom, although in this respect Severian has been compared by his contemporaries to our great orator. It is not eloquence that the discourses on creation offer us, but rather verbiage : ineptitude and futility erupt at every step. So the orator uses the text: "This is bone of my bones" to prove that Adam had the spirit of prophecy, in the following way: "How could he know that he had bones, without the aid of the prophetic spirit, because he had never seen his bones?" Similarly, he said, the first man was named Adam, because the letters of his name are the first words that in Greek designate the four cardinal points, ἀνατολή, east, δύσις, west; ἄρκτος, north: μεσημδρία , south" These speeches were delivered during Lent, as Severian himself tells us in the first discourse."
It is unfortunate that Bareille was unable to perceive the splendour of Severian's oratory, and the kind of golden halo with which he begins so many of his sermons, and that must have contributed greatly to his reputation. That he was a speaker that men wanted to hear, even when they disagreed with him, is evident from this sermon.
Likewise he was an original thinker. Not content to accept the traditional approach of the early Christian writers to Genesis, he contrived to come up with an original theory. His approach to demands for blind acceptance of authority are interesting; he accepts that the Fathers are holy, but denies that this means that they are always right. This sane approach would be held by everyone today. His preaching demands that his listeners question their assumptions. He uses scripture in ways that might not be usual, but that are difficult to show are mistaken. In a way he is a late representative of the Greek philosophical tendency to investigate.
It is unfortunate that his name is associated indelibly with the Flat Earth. He owes this to the uncritical enthusiasm of Cosmas Indicopleustes, whose Christian Topography has attracted derision since its composition. But Severian undoubtedly was not thus committed to his own idea. It was orthodox, it was biblical, it was possible. Whether it was right was for his listeners to determine.
2. 1 Cor. 12:2.
3. Gen. 1: 4.
4. John., 1:1-2.
5. Dan., 3:57.
6. Psalm. 115:16. The references given by Bareille can be hard to find in an English version of the Psalms. Some have been checked and adjusted. Those which have not have been left in Roman numerals.
7. Psalm. 103: 3.
8. Gen. 2:7.
9. Gen. 1:2.
10. Prov. 8: 24-26.
11. III Kingdoms, 18:45.
12. Dan. 3:86.
13. Psalm 103:4 (???).
14. Deut. 4:36.
15. Matth., 6:22.
16. Luke., 11:36.
17. Exod., xx, 11.
18. III Kingdoms 18: 45.
19. Psalm 48:7.
20. Matth. 5: 14.
21. Acts 1: 7.
22. Psalm.4:4 (??).