Androgynous numbers
By Peter Leithart
Why did God create the world in six days? Philo said that 6 is the perfect number, both the sum and the product of its factors, which happen to be the first three integers (1, 2, 3).
But there’s more: “We may say that [6] is in its nature both male and female, and is a result of the distinctive power of either. For among things that are, it is the odd that is male and the even female. Now of odd numbers 3 is the starting-point, and of even numbers 2, and the product of these two is 6.”
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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