SOURCE: "Basil the Great" in Ethical Patterns in Early Christian Thought," Cambridge University Press, 1976, pp. 84-113.

[In the essay reprinted below, Osborn examines Basil's views on the moral and ethical obligations of a Christian. Drawing especially on the Moralia and the Longer and Shorter Rules, the critic contends that Basil's guidelines for devoting one's life to the glory of God were intended for the laity as well as for members of the monastic community, even though Basil believed that only an ascetic could achieve perfect righteousness.]

Basil was born in Caesarea of Cappadocia about 330 of rich but honest parents.¹ His father was a teacher of rhetoric, a lawyer and a wealthy land-owner. One of his grandfathers had died a martyr. The piety and devotion of Basil's mother was reflected in her children, three of whom became bishops, one a nun and another a monk. Three of these children were canonised. After careful training at home, he studied rhetoric and philosophy in Caesarea and Constantinople. In 351 he went to Athens where for five years he took advantage of its rich intellectual life. He returned to Caesarea as a professor of rhetoric for two years, and then turned from the bright prospects of his academic future, was baptised and entered a life of religious discipline. After visiting Egypt and Syria to observe the monks, he selected a quiet country retreat, and gathered a few others who wished to live a hermit's life. He wrote in moving terms of the rich beauty of his surroundings and of its silence. Seeing the dangers of solitary life, he organized monks into a community. He gave to his community a set of rules and a detailed pattern of life. Far more than Pachomius had done in Egypt, he put emphasis on the common life which members shared. Together with his learning, sancity and perception, he had great powers of organisation. Monasticism in the East has retained the shape which he gave it. His programme of social relief produced hospitals and homes for the poor.² The Emperor Julian tried to bring him from his place of retreat to the splendour of the court, for they had been students together. This and other efforts to move him failed, but in 364 he was ordained and took an active part in the fight against Arianism. In 370 he became Bishop of Caesarea, and held this office until his early death in 379. From these years he is remembered as the defender of the Nicene faith in the face of imperial Arianism. The Emperor Valens came to Cappadocia, determined to stamp out opposition. The rest of the province yielded; but Basil stood firm against all threats. Confiscation of property meant nothing to him, since he only had an old cloak and a few books. Exile was nothing to a stranger and pilgrim in all the earth. Pain and death held no terrors. When a threatening prefect expressed surprise at Basil's stand he was told that he had not met a proper bishop. before. The emperor talked with Basil on problems of faith with his household cook, one Demosthenes, in attendance. When the latter entered the discussion, Basil suggested that a Demosthenes who could not speak Greek would be better making sauces in the kitchen than improvising at theology. He once replied to a threat of torture which included tearing out his liver with the comment that he would be obliged for the treatment since his liver gave him a lot of trouble where it was. He showed no consideration for himself or for his few friends, once making Gregory of Nazianzus the bishop of a desolate but strategic outpost.³ His theological work was crucial but he saw small reward for the struggles of his strenuous life. Jerome and others accused him of pride. He was reserved, conscious of his abilities and deeply concerned by the doctrinal dangers of his time. The body, which he ill-treated, gave him great pain and he declared himself an old man at forty-five. He died five years later, two years before the second ecumenical council at Constantinople, to be remembered as Basil the Great.⁴

His chief theological work concerned the Holy Spirit. The Spirit must be 'counted with' and not 'counted below' the Father and Son. 'We glorify the Spirit with the Father and the Son because we believe that he is not foreign to the divine nature.'⁵ Basil did not write in the abstract. His founding of monastic communities grew from a direct awareness of the varied gifts of the Spirit. The 'enthusiasm' of the earliest church had been exemplified in the behaviour of the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote. They wanted 'spirit without letter' and believed that the fullness of the last days was already on them. The second century rejected the Montanist movement which claimed even greater heights of spiritual ecstasy. The third century faced the brief problem of Cyprian's contemporaries who demanded martyrdom. Monasticism saw the revival of enthusiasm on a wide scale. The spiritual gifts of the anchorites were not immediately disruptive because they were exercised, in isolation, for the perfection of the individual. They displayed all the intensity of those who would take the kingdom by storm. In time the ideal of Antony led to excesses and the reforms of Pachomius had moderating effects. It was left to Basil, however, to establish the common life (cenobitism), through an appreciation of spiritual gifts and their interdependence. Basil saw in the successors to Antony a new hope for the church. God was pouring out his Spirit and the day of Pentecost had come again. The community of monks, indwelt and endowed by the Spirit, reproduced the earliest Christian community. Their charismatic endowments were not for their own elevation but for the enrichment of a common life. With sound theological judgment Basil turned to scripture for the direction and rule of his community. He cites more than 1500 verses of New Testament.⁶ His exhaustive knowledge and continuous use of scripture point to profound insight. Spirit without letter would be just as disastrous as letter without spirit. The challenge and opportunity of his time caused him to discover afresh the ethical patterns of the New Testament. His rigour, enthusiasm and devotion cannot fail to move the twentieth-century reader one way or another. Yet these are only half of Basil. The other half is integration of these qualities in a fellowship of the Spirit and an obedience to the Word. God has made us, like members of one body, to need one another's help.⁷ The need for community is evident because Basil 'once saw a swarm of bees flying in military formation according to the law of their nature and following their king[!] in good order'.⁸ Renunciation of the world is joined to an affirmation of its order and beauty. The length of the elephant's trunk is due to stiffness of legs which is due to weight of body.⁹ Every season brings its special fruits. Spring is the time for flowers, summer for wheat harvest, autumn for apples and winter is the time for talking.¹⁰

Basil is a strenuous Christian. The pictures of the soldier, the athlete and the child come readily to his mind.¹¹ His monk is the Christian soldier who takes the kingdom by force, the athlete who throws everything into the contest and the child who is saved with simplicity and trust. Not that Basil ever loses his pride or activism; but they are tempered by submission to the king, for whom he fights and in whose love he finds his only rest.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

(i) Rigorism

The righteousness of the Christian is marked by excess. It abounds in every way, goes beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, and is governed by the single standard of the Lord's teaching.¹² Frequent reference to the teaching of the Lord determines the quality of this righteousness. The Lord sent his followers to teach all that he had commanded and not, 'to observe some things and neglect others'. If all commands had not been essential, all would not have been written down. This righteousness is always superior to that of the law, and goes beyond literal requirements. The Christian must neither speak evil, do violence, fight or avenge himself. He never returns evil for evil, but rejects anger, is patient and suffers, not in order to justify himself, but rather to reform his brother. He must not slander his brother secretly, nor may he joke, laugh or be idle. While he lives a temperate life, he never thinks of himself as his own master. He does not complain in time of need or weariness. Every action and word is governed by one obedience. He is never glad when others go wrong and always looks for reconciliation.¹³

With this extreme account of righteousness there is an insistence on the gravity of all kinds of sin. There is no distinction between one fault and another. Basil was troubled by the effects of sin and disobedience in a divided church. From scripture he knew that all sin is a revolt against God and must be punished. The New Testament makes no distinction between large and small sins. He who commits sin is the slave of sin, and the word will judge him: whoever does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God dwells upon him. The only possible distinction between sins is between those which dominate us and those which do not. The large sin is one which is our master, the small sin is one which we have mastered. So every thought should be obedient to God and every disobedient thought must be punished. God does not condemn the number of our sins, nor their relative seriousness; he condemns the plain contradiction of his will; so it is wrong to be tolerant towards some sins and to condemn others. At this point Basil is close to the Stoics who insisted that it was as easy to drown in one foot of water as in ten feet; but the New Testament also told him what happened to those who broke the least commandment, while the Old Testament warned those who swerved to the right or the left. As all sin is condemned, so all men are called to virtue. The will and commandments of God are found in scripture, which is interpreted according to concrete situations. Distinctions may be introduced, but severity and rigour remain. The letter of scripture is followed, for example, when he who calls his neighbour a fool is condemned to hell, although Basil explains, 'What is Raca? A vernacular word of mild insult, used among friends and relations."¹⁴

With God it must be all or nothing, obedience or disobedience. Sin is the only source of evil. Like Clement and Origen, Basil strictly separates evil from God and attributes it to man's free choice. Reason in relation to conduct is called conscience. All men have an elementary sense of good and evil. Man's pursuit of good should take the practical route of conquering sin. Sin must be torn out. The words of the Lord show the need for vigilance. He who defends a sinner is worse than he who has made one to stumble and earned a millstone around his neck. The unrepentant sinner is like the eye which should be plucked out and cast away.¹⁵ True repentance brings joy to the Lord. The sinner who will not repent becomes as a Gentile and a taxgatherer.¹⁶ With fear and tears the lost soul must turn from sin.¹⁷ Repentance must be obvious.¹⁸ Great care must be taken before a sinner is trusted with any office in the brotherhood.¹⁸ Penitence is central in the life of every monk. While love is the supreme virtue, the monk lives in continual penitence through his desire to obtain remission of past sins. He prays for the freedom of his soul. He practises mortification and good works which help him to stamp out sin. He does not laugh because his Lord has condemned laughter and because there are so many sinners to be mourned. Sleep brings slackness in thoughts of God and, when overdone, leads men to despise God's judgements.²⁰ Every idle word earns judgement. It may be a good word; but, if it does not fulfil a purpose in the Lord, if it does not edify faith, then it grieves the Holy Spirit.²¹ On the other hand if a sister does not sing psalms with fervour, 'Let her either correct herself or else be expelled.'²²

In the church of God a minister must be upright. His life is examined before his admission to office.²³ Unworthy ministers should be dismissed and not replaced until worthy candidates are available. Yet the church has fallen upon sad days. Its laws are in confusion. There is no just judgement and no limit on vice.²⁴ The righteousness of God is the justice which all shall know when they receive the reward of their works. At present men enjoy the long-suffering of God, but in that terrible day, his justice will be made clear to all.²⁵ He is the one -God of mercy and judgement,²⁶ who will duly reward those who have done well. Generosity, for example, earns his blessing. Whoever gives to the afflicted gives to the Lord and shall receive his reward from the Lord.²⁷ The soul looks to the great day when all creation shall stand before the judge to give an account of its deeds. That day and that hour must ever be remembered so that life may be lived in the fear of God.²⁸ The body is trained to work hard and the soul is accustomed to trials; but the end of everlasting blessedness with the saints is never forgotten.²⁹

(ii) Rule

Basil's discourse on morals sets out in separate prescriptions what the New Testament tells Christians to do.

Let us now try to fulfil in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ our promise concerning the Morals. As many things as we find in the New Testament in scattered passages forbidden or approved, these to the best of our ability we have tried to gather into summarised rules for the easy comprehension of whoever wants them.

The Rules fulfil the ministry of the word for the perfecting of souls. The life of the monk is governed in every aspect. His clothing, food, sleep, in fact, every part of his life is regulated. Many laws or canons cover particular sins and prescribe punishment in a wide variety of special cases.³⁰ Basil, an enemy of compromise, is always practical in his outlook. 'The saints that have gone before teach us that the use of the girdle is necessary … It is especially necessary that he who means to do work in person should be neatly dressed and able to move without hindrance.'³¹

Punishment is remedial and beneficial rather than retributive. A just judge requires that an evil doer should pay his debt with interest, 'if he is to be made better by punishment and render other men wiser by his example'. Such punishment is to be received willingly, 'as befits a son who is sick and at death's door'.³² Correction and cure must be prescribed according to individual need. 'There is no fault that cannot be cured by care or overcome by the fear of God.' The privileged patrician needs a very distasteful job to help him to achieve the Lord's humility.³³ Special responsibility hangs heavily upon the superior, who shares the condemnation of a brother if he has not warned the brother concerning his sin and taught him a way of reformation. One of the greatest faults is to give wrong guidance and cause a brother to go astray.³⁴ A superior heals the weak brother, just as a doctor heals those who are sick in body. Surgery may be painful or drugs may be bitter, but they can achieve a cure. Godly sorrow is necessary.³⁵ The same principle is applied to heal diseases of body and of soul.

We must take care so to use the art of medicine, if need arise as not to assign to it the whole cause of health or sickness, but to accept the use of its remedies as designed for the glory of God and a type of the care of souls … For as with the flesh both the putting away of foreign elements and the addition of what is lacking are necessary; so also with our souls, it is fitting that what is foreign be removed and what is according to our nature be received. Because 'God made man upright' and created us for good works that we should walk in them.³⁶

The corporate aspects of sin are clear within the brotherhood. If one allows another to sin, one is guilty of that sin. As our Lord said to Pilate, 'He that delivered me to you has the greater sin.' We must not be silent when others sin. The Old Testament tells us to rebuke our neighbours and the gospel tells us to show our brother his faults.³⁷ Within the community any offence requires direct and drastic action. A man may provide such offence by transgressing the law, leading another to transgress it, preventing someone from doing God's will, or encouraging a weak man to do something which is wrong. There is intricate variety in the apportioning of blame.³⁸ Various community problems are considered. Laziness is linked with sin because one should be zealous and endure to the end.³⁹ Spiritual sickness may show itself in eating delicacies or in eating too much.⁴⁰ When a good man falls into sin, his condition is different from that of an indifferent man who has committed the same sin. The latter is corrupt in his whole nature and requires more drastic action.⁴¹ Obedience is the answer to sin. When monks dispute among themselves and reject the commands of their Lord, the king is no longer among them.⁴² Disobedience must be punished and if punishment does not cure the ill, then the diseased member must be cut off from the community. 'Insubordination and defiance are the proofs of a multitude of sins, of tainted faith, of doubtful hope, of proud and overweening conduct.'⁴³

Moderation, quiet and self-control should rule the lives of those who receive what God gives from the wealth of his universe. The providence of God rules justly over all things and must never be questioned.⁴⁴ The true good of man is his soul, uniquely his soul and man should know himself, or as scripture says, take heed to himself. Health, beauty, youth, long life, riches, glory and power, must be regarded with moderation. Reason helps moderation. Basil answers reasonably the unreasonable question, 'if a brother having nothing of his own be asked by another for the actual thing he is wearing, what ought he to do, especially if he who asks is naked?' The matter of giving and receiving is a question of stewardship and there is happily a Pauline principle, 'Let each man abide in that wherein he was called.' Another problem shows moderation of appetite, 'How can a man avoid taking pleasure in eating?' The answer is that one must hold to the criterion of what is fitting and useful and regard pleasure as irrelevant.⁴⁵

(iii) Order and Natural Law

The beauty of nature inspires quietness in the soul.⁴⁶ Basil marvels at the ordered beauty of the creation, and uses philosophy to explain the links between the ordered universe, the providence of God, and human responsibility. He rejects any argument which would threaten man's responsibility and freedom. The design of the creator is seen on every side. Appropriate herbs are provided to heal the various sicknesses of the body. Man must use God's world in a right way. The rich man must care for those in need. Divine judgement falls on the selfish. Money should not be lent or borrowed at interest, and if it is, both lender and borrower are selfishly at fault.⁴⁷ Basil's sermons on the six days of creation show how the order of nature is important to moral life. Nature teaches us by her example to show vigour in producing good works.⁴⁸ The serpent symbolises the fickleness and shiftiness of sin. Justice and honesty must go together.⁴⁹ Fishes which move by regular laws of migration indicate obedience to the law of God. They have no reason in them but the inward law of nature tells them what to do.⁵⁰ The ox and the ass know their master and can even follow a known track when a man has lost his way. Man is not always able to show his superiority over dumb creatures.⁵¹ Storks show qualities of kindness and care which shame many men. When the old lose their feathers others surround them to keep them warm. Man can learn also from the industry of the swallow who builds a nest by perseverance and before whose example no man can plead his poverty.⁵² Nature is a good teacher. Man by standing upright on his two feet looks to his heavenly country, while cattle with their four feet bend towards the earth. 'Raise your soul above the earth. Draw from its natural shape the rule of your conduct; fix your way of life in heaven.'⁵³ The care which irrational creatures take of their lives warns us to watch over the salvation of our souls. The bear, the fox and the tortoise all know how to heal their wounds.⁵⁴ Basil does not hesitate to read off from nature recommendations concerning human conduct. Porphyry writes in similar vein of the lessons to be drawn from nature. Ants, bees and other gregarious animals preserve a communal and reciprocal justice. Doves are very strong on chastity and storks on kindness to parents.⁵⁵ Both these writers have a strong dualistic tendency which does not diminish their allegiance to natural order. Basil draws one violent conclusion from nature. The body is like a charging beast that must be whipped by reason to calm it down.⁵⁶

DISCIPLESHIP

(i) Seized by a Vehement Desire to Follow Christ

Throughout Basil's account of Christian discipleship, there sounds a ruthless call to self denial. Asceticism is required of all. He who is attached to this life or tolerates 'anything which even to a small degree draws him away from the commandment of God'⁵⁷ cannot be a disciple of the Lord. The glory of God is declared by doing his will.⁵⁸ Confession of the Lord and possession of spiritual gifts cannot save the disobedient from condemnation.⁵⁹ It is no help to live with others who please God and to preserve an outward appearance of virtue when one has no real virtue within. God must be obeyed in God's way.⁶⁰ Every offensive thing must be cut away however necessary and dear it may seem.⁶¹ The Law condemns bad deeds but the gospel goes further and condemns the inner passions of the soul. There is an initial act of renunciation which cannot be avoided. The soldier must enlist. 'For if a man has not first succeeded in denying himself and taking up his cross, he finds, as he goes, many hindrances to following, arising from himself.'⁶² One must renounce the devil, fleshly lusts, physical relationships, human friendships, all behaviour contrary to the gospel, worldly affections, parents, relations and possessions.⁶³ 'Accordingly perfect renunciation consists in a man's attaining complete passionlessness as regards actual living and having "the sentence of death" so as to put no confidence in himself.' The first disciples show the way. John and James left their father 'and even the boat, their sole source of livelihood'. Matthew left all and followed, not only leaving the profits behind, 'but also despising the dangers that were likely to come upon himself and his family at the hands of the authorities for leaving the accounts of the custom-house in disorder'. All of this shows that anyone 'who is seized by the vehement desire of following Christ can no longer care for anything to do with this life'.⁶⁴ Yet all is gain, for the things which are given up are no better than dung, and what is gained is the pearl of great price. Renunciation looses the chains which bind us to all present, material and transitory things, and releases us from human obligation 'making us more ready to start on the way to God'.⁶⁵ So Basil's message is good news, because man is able to fulfil all the commandments of God. God forgives all sins when we produce fruits of repentance, and are washed in the blood of Christ. An inner spark of divine love enables us to keep the commandments of God. For if we love him we will keep his commandments, and the two commandments to love God and our neighbour are all the law and the prophets. Yet the promise does not remove the need for constant vigilance. None of the saints of old won their crowns by living in luxury. They all passed through the fire of affliction. The Christian follows the commandment of his Lord and the example of the holy men of old who showed in adversity their greatness of soul.⁶⁶ The athlete of Christ fights for victory over sin, by straining every muscle. Christians struggle and suffer together. They fight in the arena for the common heritage 'for the treasure of the sound faith, derived from our fathers'.⁶⁷ Those who are being attacked by Arians are congratulated on their good fortune. They have won the blessings of persecution in a period of peace.⁶⁸ A soldier does not worry about rations or lodging, but faces dangers and death for the reward of nearness to his king, the friendship and favour of his king. 'Come, then, soldier of Christ, take to heart these small lessons from human affairs and consider eternal blessings.'⁶⁹ Ascetic life is a peaceful substitute for martyrdom, the peak of perfection. As with Clement, each Christian should order his life as a preparation for martyrdom. So Basil kept a direct link between the life of the monk and the perseverance which gave to martyrs their perfection.⁷⁰

(ii) His Glory as Object and Desire

The ascetic life is not an end in itself. It is a means to the end of the glory of God. 'Ever to be pressing the soul on beyond its strength to do the will of God, having his glory as its object and desire.'⁷¹ Prayer should be unceasing but special times of the day have been chosen as appropriate for the remembering of the blessings of God. These times are the dawn, the third, sixth and ninth hour with a final service at midnight.⁷² All must be done to the glory of God.⁷³ Prayer is governed by a sense of God's presence. When one talks with a ruler or a superior, one fixes one's eyes upon him. Much more, when one prays, one fixes one's mind upon God.⁷⁴

Man and woman are equal before God⁷⁵ and possess two chief faculties, reason and free choice. The beginning of the moral life comes with the Delphic injunction, 'Know thyself, or the theme of Deuteronomy, 'Take heed to yourself.'⁷⁶ Self-knowledge is a condition of the good life. One must consciously choose between animal life and higher spiritual life. Quietness of mind and freedom from distraction enable a soul to fix its gaze on God. The wax tablet must be smoothed out before it can be written on.⁷⁷ Prayer should leave imprinted a clear idea of God. In this way God dwells in the soul which becomes his temple.⁷⁸ The inner man consists of contemplation and since the kingdom of heaven is within, this kingdom must be contemplation.⁷⁹ Basil praises the quietness and beauty of his new home in the country. 'However, the best thing to be said about the place is that being suitable for growing fruits of every kind, it nurtures what to me is the sweetest fruit of all, quietness.⁸⁰ The life of a religious community enjoys tranquillity of soul through solitude. It is here, and here alone, that one may live the spiritual life, away from the noise and distractions of the world.

The Longer Rules begin with the exhortation to apply ourselves to the care of our souls for the love of Jesus Christ,⁸¹ who calls us back from death to life and who has shared our weakness and disease that we might be healed. Only through him may we regain the image and likeness of God which man possessed in paradise before his fall.⁸² The fear of God is important for all who begin to practise piety.⁸³ To follow God we must loosen all chains of attachment to this life. We must remove from our previous environment and forget all former habits. No distraction must threaten the achievement of our aim. If our minds wander we cannot hope to succeed in loving God and our neighbour. This art is to be learnt by concentration.⁸⁴ Solitude is a great help to a soul which wishes to avoid distraction.⁸⁵ To follow the Lord Jesus Christ means taking up the cross after him.⁸⁶ We must suffer and endure for Christ's sake,⁸⁷ continue in prayer and in vigils to the end that we may be disciples of Christ and conform to his pattern. As sheep we follow him who is our shepherd, as branches we bear fruit in him, as members of his body we are equipped with the gifts of the Spirit. We are the bride of Christ, temples of God, a sacrifice to him and 'children of God, formed after the likeness of God according to the measure granted to men'. It is a mark of the Christian that he sees his Lord always before him.⁸⁸

We are called to be made like God.⁸⁹ We cannot become like God unless we know what he is like. Theological inquiry is necessary to find the truth which rules the goal of human life.⁹⁰ Perfection of life can only be found in the outward and inward imitation of Christ, the following of his example in life and death. Paul spoke of being made like the death of Christ.⁹¹ As every man is made in the image of God, the blasphemy of the Arians, who deny that the Son is like God, is all the more outrageous.⁹²

Perfection calls man to continence, to the renunciation of every worldly relationship, to fasting, to the study of scripture and to watching. There has been disagreement on the shape of Basil's thought. Some have maintained that he describes a progress in gradual stages towards the direct love of God, moving through an ordo amoris like that of Augustine. A stronger case can be made for seeing his initial drive of life and thought towards God alone. Duty to the world, neighbour and church,⁹³ develop from this point. The perfect Christian is considered on the Stoic pattern of the wise man. Moses too is described as a sage.⁹⁴ Man must advance by degrees until he is completely like God. He always has to fight against temptations and his life is a continual struggle. Perfection is not secure or stationary. Life must be lived either for or against God. There is no neutrality. The Christian life is always a battle against demons and evil passions. Spiritual perfection can build on the basis of the fear of God, whose terrible judgements are always before us, and whose demnation will consign sinners to hell. The discipline of the monk is simply a continuation of the discipline which is imposed on every baptised Christian. There is one morality of the gospel, and it is this gospel which the discipline of Basil is concerned to realise, a gospel of perfection. Passionlessness, a goal of Christian living, is constancy, perseverance under suffering, and freedom from passion through self-rule.⁹⁵ All of these are universal features of Christian moral exhortation; but as Basil develops them they show his Hellenic background and personal extremism.

(iii) Ever Pressing the Soul on Beyond its Strength

Basil understands soul and body in much the same way as did Plato and the later Platonists. The true self is the soul which has been made in the image of God. The body is simply a dependent possession of the soul. Basil shows admiration for the beauty of physical things, and he shares with Plato an admiration for the excellence of man's physical form. But the soul, for Plato and Basil, is the essential part of man. It is what belongs to man as man. The soul must be liberated from its prison within the body. It must be purified from the passions. Here Basil talks like Plato, the Pythagoreans and the Stoics; Marcus Aurelius spoke of man as a soul carrying a corpse. Yet Basil's account of temperance is based on Paul, and he quotes Galatians 5:16-18 and Romans 7:14ff. The Christian soldier fights against the flesh and against the devil. Body and soul are irreconcilable. The soul can only be strong through the body becoming weak. The victory of the soul is the defeat of the body. An emaciated body is a sign of piety.⁹⁶ We must be grateful when woken for prayer because the soul perceives nothing in sleep but meets God in prayer.⁹⁷ If anyone is annoyed when woken, he deserves 'temporary separation and deprivation of food'.⁹⁸ There is a tricky problem concerning the possession of a night shirt, if that shirt is a hair shirt. More than one garment is forbidden; but hair cloth is special. 'For its use is not on account of bodily necessity but for afflicting and humiliating the soul.'⁹⁹

Continence or self-rule, listed by Paul among the gifts of the Spirit, is that self-mastery which comes through restraint, the suffering of hardship and the buffeting of the body. Incontinence was the cause of man's first disobedience while all the saints have practised continence.¹⁰⁰ Laughter can be incontinent if it lacks moderation and control and should not be confused with spiritual joy or hilarity.¹⁰¹ Continence mortifies the body, introduces eternal blessings and takes the sting out of pleasure.¹⁰² The demons know and fear the power of continence as the Lord said that 'this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting'.¹⁰³ The monk must therefore chastise and mortify his body, for the athlete of Christ trains his body in self-control.¹⁰⁴ The fear of God purifies soul and body. It penetrates the soul so that the soul no longer tolerates sin, and refuses to do anything contrary to the divine commands.

The monastic virtues are poverty whereby the monk treats nothing as his own and cares for the property of his community, and obedience by which the monk is subject to the authority of his superior. His obedience must be perfect, enthusiastic and exact. Like the little hungry child when it hears its nurse calling it to eat, he obeys commands with enthusiasm, for his life springs from their fulfilment.¹⁰⁵ The monk lives in isolation from worldly pursuits, in detachment from the world, and from himself. His renunciation is shown in purity of conscience, poverty, humility and obedience. He mortifies himself both physically and spiritually. His love and his renunciation must bear fruit in prayer throughout the day, in work which all monks must do, and in charitable service to those in need. He must dress in a way appropriate to the temperate life, showing humility and avoiding softness. The purpose of clothing is to hide nakedness and to protect from the heat and the cold. The monk from his poverty will have only one tunic. He is temperate in eating and eats whatever is put before him. He eats what is necessary in order to live and observes a mean between indulgence and self-torture. Fasting can get out of hand if it depends upon the will of the individual, and it should be done under the direction of a superior. All forms of luxury are to be avoided.¹⁰⁶

The members of the brotherhood are not to be distracted. Their parents and relations are no longer their private concern.¹⁰⁷ Under no circumstances may the monk leave his community for the sake of his family. He must no longer think in terms of what is his, but in terms of what belongs to the community. Visits from his parents may awaken memories of his past life, and it is generally forbidden for monks to speak with their parents or with strangers. There may be some exception to this rule if spiritual advancement can be seen as a result. When a monk talks with a nun he must do so under the direction of their superiors who will choose persons, time and place for the conversation. There should be two or three monks and two or three nuns of a serious disposition. A' monk must never meet a nun by herself. Basil writes also of the danger of homosexual behaviour to the common life of the monastery. The monk abhors such tendencies.¹⁰⁸

It has been common to look for philosophical interest in Basil's asceticism and tendency to dualism. While Basil's account of the Spirit¹⁰⁹ shows some awareness of Plotinus, his pessimistic view of the world is closer to Porphyry. Not that God made a bad world; he is not the source of evil.¹¹⁰ Evil is separation from God and has no being.¹¹¹ But man remains a wanderer or fugitive in the world. Only through the incarnation of the Son and the gift of the Spirit can his release be secured."¹¹²

A world-denying strain of Platonism may be distinguished from a world-affirming strain in the tradition from Plato to Philo and the Hermetic literature.¹¹³ The two strains continue in later Platonism. Plato commended the study of astronomy provided it left the stars alone.¹¹⁴ Plotinus, for all his optimism, still pleaded for the flight of the alone to the alone.¹¹⁵ The stronger pessimism of Porphyry is evident in his On Abstinence from Animal Food. The philosopher turns from the body and its passions to pure intellect and the supreme God.

Senses and passions work always on the irrational part of the soul, food and drink can poison the soul with passions. To stand against these things is a great struggle but there is no other way of purity.¹¹⁶ As far as we can we should avoid contact with all that incites passions. That is why the Pythagoreans live away from the noises of the world. Plato chose an unhealthy part of Athens as the place for his Academy.¹¹⁷ The philosopher meditating on death despises luxury and lives free from want on a slender diet. 'For he who in this way mortifies the body will obtain all possible good through self sufficiency and be made like the divine.'¹¹⁸ The worship of the supreme God can employ neither material sacrifice nor verbal utterance—only silent contemplation is appropriate.¹¹⁹

This is the kind of Platonism which Basil knows and understands. In his "Discourse to the young," he argues for the similarity of classical and Christian moralities. Socrates, when attacked, turned the other cheek. Alexander would not look at the daughters of Darius because after capturing men he did not want to be conquered by women; he was in effect fulfilling the precept against committing adultery in the heart.¹²⁰ But, to sum up, the body in every part should be despised by everyone who does not want to be buried in its pleasures as if in slime.' Both Plato and Paul warn us against the body. We should not pander to it but whip it with the lash of reason until it settles down. Pythagoras is quoted on the body as the prison of the soul.

It was for this reason, in fact that Plato also, as we are told, providing against the harmful influence of the body, deliberately settled in the disease-infested part of Attica, the Academy, in order that he might prune away, as one prunes the vine of its excessive growth, the excessive well-being of his body. And I myself have heard physicians say that extreme good health is even dangerous.¹²¹

However wrong this estimate of Plato may be,¹²² it is the one which Basil knows, a Platonism which is more dependent on Porphyry than on Plotinus. Like Clement he wishes to show that Christian sage can excel pagan philosopher. He admires the scorn of Diogenes for worldly things and his claim to superior wealth because he had fewer needs than the king.¹²³ Julian, of course, was critical of the moral influence of Christianity and the free forgiveness which it offered.¹²⁴ Basil could not afford to offer a morality less stringent than that of his imperial friend.

On the other hand Basil was no Manichee. He maintained a unity between the ascetic and the created world. The 'world' which he rejected was an attitude to life, a 'system of purely human values which takes no account of the judgement of God'.¹²⁵ The ascetic 'renounces also all the affections of this world which can hinder the aim of godliness'.¹²⁶ Yet the flesh can hamper us in the vision of God.¹²⁷ It is the heavy prison house of the soul.¹²⁸

There is also a positive side to Basil's Platonism. With the sense of man's temporality and hostility between soul and body, there is that yearning for absolute beauty which only God can satisfy. God is beauty itself to whom all things look and from whom all things flow. He is the ever-springing fount of pure grace, and a treasure which can never be spent.¹²⁹ It is God's will that all should participate in his life.¹³⁰

FAITH

(i) Sound Faith and Godly Doctrines

Faith for Basil is the apostolic rule of faith. It must be guarded and kept. Sound faith is the only basis for good living. 'For by these two things the man of God is perfected.'¹³¹ The exposition of the faith requires care and discernment, for the devil is always trying to destroy faith. Faith which works through love is a mark of the Christian. 'I think it both fitting and necessary that I should now expound our sound faith and godly doctrines concerning the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and then add the discourse on morals.'¹³² Such faith is simple, strong, quiet and full of light. Belief in the word of God is a living faith which works by love and shows itself in good works. Faith is an unhesitating assent to that which we learn from God. It is the full conviction of the truth which is declared and taught to us by the grace of God. Faith is firm and unshakeable, pure and exact, founded upon scripture. Scripture is divinely inspired and is the source of all doctrine.¹³³

If we are asked why we are Christians, we must answer that it is through our faith.¹³⁴ Faith is linked with baptism as inseparable in salvation. 'Faith is perfected through baptism, baptism is established through faith.'¹³⁵ Faith is directed to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and they who deny the trinity are acting against faith.¹³⁶

Basil's faith is more static than Clement's. It does not go beyond essentials. Christians should not puzzle over anything superfluous but stand firm in the ancient faith. Let them confess one Name and one God and avoid all kinds of novelty.¹³⁷ Yet there is continuity, for Basil simply takes over all of Origen's negative theology.¹³⁸ God cannot be known in the way other things are known. Eunomius has shown insufferable pride and presumption in his attempt to enter the being of God;¹³⁹ 'to know God is to keep his commands'.¹⁴⁰ For Clement the mystery of God is an invitation to pilgrimage from faith to knowledge, for Basil it is a warning against intellectual impertinence.

The faith of the fathers stands as a fixed point of reference in times of uncertainty. 'Now I charge you by the fathers, by the true faith, by our blessed friend, lift up your souls.'¹⁴¹ The struggle against heresy is a constant fight in defence of the faith.¹⁴² One should not waver concerning what the Lord has said but be convinced that every word of God is true and possible. A man who doesn't trust the Lord in small things will believe him far less in great things.¹⁴³ Human conditions can never cancel out the commandments of God.¹⁴⁴ Faith must be steadfast and immovable from the good things which are in the Lord.¹⁴⁵ The mark of a believer is to hold fast to the faith which is 'unhesitating conviction of the truth of the inspired Word.' What is not of faith, as the apostle says, is sin.¹⁴⁶ The power of faith is recognised by animals, for with it one may walk upon serpents and scorpions. The snake did not hurt Paul because it found him full of faith. On the other hand, 'if you have not. faith, do not fear wild animals so much as your lack of faith, through which you make yourself susceptible to all corruption.'¹⁴⁷

When the waves of trouble seem to overwhelm Basil, he asks for prayer that he might please God. He does not wish to be a wicked servant who thanks his master only for what is good and refuses to accept the chastisement of adversity. Rather, 'Let me gain benefit from my very hardships, trusting most in God when I need him most.'¹⁴⁸ Against the heretics the struggle must go on. Christians are called upon to fight their way through temptations for the prize of the truth. They must never cease to fight the good fight, nor throw away the achievement of past toil.¹⁴⁹ Anxiety is a good thing if it does not lead to dejection and despair. We must trust in the goodness of God, knowing that, if we turn to him, he will not cast us off for ever, since he is with us always.¹⁵⁰ The trial may be heavy, but no one who avoids the dust and the blows of battle can win a victor's crown. The mockery of the devil and the onslaughts of his minions are troublesome but despicable. They combine wickedness with weakness. We should not cry too loud when we are hurt. There is only one thing which is worth deep sorrow, and that is 'the loss of one's own self', which comes from denying God and losing the eternal reward.¹⁵¹ The endurance of the Christian philosopher is the endurance of the man of faith and is marked by the new virtue of humility.¹⁵²

(ii) Whose Feet Will You Wash?

Faith must always be linked to humility. We should not be proud of our good deeds,¹⁵³ nor should we choose any but the lowest seat at a meal.¹⁵⁴ Simple clothing shows humility.¹⁵⁵ Within the brotherhood the ideal of humility is shown by a superior as he performs acts of service to lower brethren. The brethren must readily receive such service and not resist. The dangers of pride and the need for humility are recognised in the ordering of communities.¹⁵⁶ Our Lord spoke of the dangers of exalting oneself and the apostle pointed the way of lowliness and humility.¹⁵⁷ The humility and endurance of the monk has many forms, and leads to patience and sweetness. Basil expounds humility with great persuasion, and shows how it should be practised. Humility is the virtue which places us in our right place in the order of being. It places us truly in the presence of God and springs from a sense of his glory. In a sermon on humility, Basil speaks of the moving example of the humility of the Word of God, who became flesh, descending from heavenly glory and abasing himself for our sake. He shows the child in the manger, the young boy in the carpenter's shop, always obedient and subject to his parents. He shows Jesus receiving baptism at the hands of his servant John and giving himself up as an innocent victim to his enemies, receiving injury, outrage, humiliation, and finally a shameful death. We are to imitate this humility of Christ, a humility which his apostles have also followed, and such humility will gain eternal glory. One may gain humility, not by the extravagance of ascetic extremes, but by quietness and moderation in daily life. Humility is bound to a recognition of the grace of God and to humble dependence upon him. It always sees the wonder of God's providence and trusts in that providence.¹⁵⁸ Humility cannot be practised except within a community. How can one follow our Lord's pattern of humility unless one has brethren who have feet to be washed? 'Whose feet will you wash? For whom will you care? If you live by yourself to whom will you come last?'¹⁵⁹ With humility goes silence.¹⁶⁰ 'For there are a tone of voice, a symmetry of language, an appropriateness of occasion and a special vocabulary which belong to godly men … These can only be learned by one who has unlearned his former habits. Now silence both induces forgetfulness of the past through lack of practice and affords leisure to learn good habits.'¹⁶¹ Silence brings peace and unity, removing causes of tension. There can be a time for speaking, when the time for silence is past.¹⁶² Yet. even theological opinions do not normally provide a ground for breaking silence.¹⁶³

(iii) Free Will

Sin does not come from God, but from man's misuse of his free will. Sin is man's work. Basil's system, following Origen, is built upon the fact of free will which enables man to strive towards perfection. Sin may be seen negatively as the absence of good in the universe, positively as a revolt against God, a self-willed disobedience.¹⁶⁴ Greek thought, especially as mediated through Origen, moulds Basil's insistence on free Will.¹⁶⁵ In the homily "That God is not the author of evil," Basil declares, 'The origin and root of sin is what is in our own control and our free will.' In the sixth homily of the Hexaemeron he refutes astrology, using the anti-fatalist arguments of Carneades.¹⁶⁶ If man's affairs are governed by fate then there is no such thing as human responsibility; there can be no ground for the processes of law and no one can be blamed for moral faults. Fatalism is absurd. 'Under the reign of necessity and of fatality there is no place for merit, the first condition of all righteous judgement.'¹⁶⁷ Man is free to choose good or evil.

LOVE

(i) Wounded With Love

Basil begins the Morals with a reference to the first and great commandment to love God with all the heart, and the second to love one's neighbour as oneself. Only by keeping God's commandments can love for him be proved. The keeping of the commandments of Christ is linked with the endurance of his suffering even to death.¹⁶⁸ 'Love to God cannot be taught.' We were not taught to rejoice in life or to hold on to life nor did anyone show us how to love our parents. There is sown in the hearts of men the word which inclines to the love of God and shows that there is nothing comparable with the beauty and magnificence of God. The yearning of the soul for God as it cries, 'I am wounded with love' points to the beauty which cannot be seen, but is desired with an insatiable desire. The beauty of the morning star and the brightness of the sun and moon cannot compare with the glory of God.¹⁶⁹ To be separated from God is worse than all the punishment of hell. We cling to him who is our maker and whose goodness is evident on every hand. Apart from the beauties of creation, we learn the divine goodness in the humility and suffering of Christ. It is not possible to say everything about the love of God but it is important to remind the soul of it and to stir up a longing for God.¹⁷⁰ The love of God is the first duty of the Christian life, the perfection of virtue, and the supreme object of every baptised child of God. As the centre of all religious and moral activity, it gives to the discipline of the monastery and to the whole life of perfection the one aim of union with God in love. The soul is moved by love of God to prayer in which it is renewed and strengthened. Prayer gives to the soul a clear notion of God. God dwells in the soul so that it may become his temple and be conscious of him at all times, undistracted by worldly cares and passions. Prayer, constant prayer, is union with God.¹⁷¹ The love of wisdom begins with the love of God whose wisdom made all things; it is this love which grows to perfection.¹⁷²

(ii) The Sure Sign of Christ's Disciples

A Christian must be pure from hatred and must love his enemies. He must love his friends and be prepared to lay down his life for them. 'A sure sign of Christ's disciples is their mutual love in him.' One does not have the love of Christ towards a neighbour if one harms him in any way even though the harmful act may be permitted by scripture. The Christian is a man of peace and tries to pacify any man who may be vexed with him; but in love the Christian may grieve another for the other's good.¹⁷³ Hospitality should be practised among Christians in a quiet and frugal way.¹⁷⁴ One will not go to law even for the clothes on one's back, but one will strive to bring others to the peace which is in Christ.¹⁷⁵ Basil puts persistent stress on the need for neighbourly love. All begins with love of God. This is the first and greatest commandment, but a pure love of the glory of God is not yet fully Christian. The lover of God must also be a lover of his brother. This theme runs through all Basil's letters and is the reason why they were written.¹⁷⁶ He is delighted to know that Maximus the philosopher had discovered the highest good which is love to God and to one's neighbour.¹⁷⁷ The monk who treads the way to the mansions of the Lord has a love to the Lord God, which takes up all his heart, strength and mind;¹⁷⁸ and he must love when he is hated.¹⁷⁹ Friends know that to lose is to win, for love bears all things and never fails. 'He who subjects himself to his neighbour in love can never be humiliated."¹⁸⁰

The love of one's neighbour shows too in the requirements of social ethics. Marriage brings duties for husband and wife, for children and parents. Society brings obligations to all its members, especially to those who rule. The animals display a pattern of ordered community. The church is charged to follow the same way of peace. The clergy and the bishops have their obligation to one another. The care of poor and sick springs from personal interest; for there is a natural as well as a Christian law which requires this duty. It is wrong to give money only in old age or after death. Generosity should have personal discernment, and charity should have particular objects.¹⁸¹ Man's response to God's infinite love and mercy is in both commandments, for love of God and neighbour go together. What is done for the least of his brothers is done for the Lord.¹⁸² Love for God and neighbour are both implanted in every human heart. At the moment of its creation the soul receives from God seeds of reason which prompt this love. Weakened by sin, love needs to be restored by grace which can lead it on to perfect communion with God.¹⁸³

(iii) One Body Having Christ as Head

The monks are members of Christ, and their community is his body. Souls are united and find concord and peace in him. The Holy Spirit distributes gifts in abundance and thereby maintains the life of the community. Every spiritual gift goes with a charge or an office which the gift should fulfil. The charge of the superior implies a special gift for commanding and ordering. Love of the brethren brings fulfilment of all the duties of the community. It is shown by good example, by prayer, by the work of our hands, by teaching or by hospitality. It cares for the sick, for travellers, for orphans. All this is a way of fulfilling the command to love the brethern. Common life is the core of Basil's message. Men must live together in no superficial way, but by sharing in a common love. Only in the community can one avoid the dangers of the solitary life and practise brotherly love and true humility. Only here can one grow towards fullness of love and life in the Holy Spirit. The health of the monastery depends upon the proper use and co-ordination of the many gifts which the Spirit has given. The second commandment, like all God's law, simply cultivates and grows the innate abilities which are planted in us like seeds. 'Who does not know that man is a tame and sociable animal, and not a solitary and fierce one? For nothing is so characteristic of our nature as to associate with one another, to need one another, and to love our kind.'¹⁸⁴ The implanted seed of love must grow as must the love of God which is implanted by the Holy Spirit. The intention of man is there, but the achievement of such love is only possible through rigorous discipline and painful obedience. The unity of Christians in the body of Christ is a unity of love. Christ loves and gives, Christ receives and is loved. The spiritual union of Christ with believers is the basis of the love of the brethren.¹⁸⁵

The community must still have its rules. To avoid disorder there must be a way to bring disputes before the brotherhood or the superior.¹⁸⁶ The idle man must either be brought to diligence or treated as a persistent sinner.¹⁸⁷ Through the common life the individual is able to recognise and overcome his sins.¹⁸⁸ Basil reformed but did not abandon the system of Pachomius. Basil's scheme is more humane and more intimate than the earlier form of community life. He also sees an important place for the community of monks in the life of the whole church, which should be ordered like a community.¹⁸⁹

Basil declares his work to be that of restoring the laws of ancient love and the peace of the fathers.¹⁹⁰ The 'brotherhood' is another name for the church.¹⁹¹ He speaks of 'the good old times when God's churches flourished, rooted in faith, united in love, all the members being in harmony, as though in one body'. Then Christians were truly at peace and the loss of this peace is the saddest feature of his day.¹⁹² The first Christians shared a common life, common thoughts and sentiments and ate from one table. They showed brotherhood without division and love without pretence. They were one body in outward solidarity, and in inward unity. For Basil the monastic community is a renewing of the primitive church of Jerusalem. The need is sadly urgent. Love is cold, 'brotherly agreement is destroyed, the very name of unity is ignored, brotherly advice is heard no more, nowhere is there Christian pity, nowhere falls the tear of sympathy.' Christians have no concern for one another and are worse than animals who at least herd together. 'But our most savage warfare is with our own people.'¹⁹³

The whole of Basil's moral teaching is drawn together by his account of love. 'For Basil charity is the first of the virtues, and the monastic life has only one end—charity and union with God.'¹⁹⁴ The first and great commandment is to love God, the second is to love one's neighbour,¹⁹⁵ and a proof of our love for God and for his Son is that we keep his commandments. These we keep even to death, bearing all suffering and tribulation for love of him.¹⁹⁶ The love of God moves us to fulfil his commandments. Basil explains how this works, the love of God is implanted in our souls and it responds to the need of our hearts. The first motive which inspires us to love God is God's unspeakable beauty. The second reason is that we are rational creatures and are therefore obliged to love a creator who is infinitely good. The third reason is the consideration of the many blessings we have received from God.

God has ordered the whole creation for the benefit of men. He made man in his image and when man fell he did not desert the human race. Through the old and new dispensations he has loved man and wrought man's redemption, through Jesus. We are moved also by the fear that we might neglect the love of God and of Christ, and so give to the devil the opportunity to triumph on our account at the terrible day of judgment.¹⁹⁷

Basil's ethics are of permanent value. As an account of Christian living they possess clarity and imagination. He is sensitive to later Platonism; but the most ardent index-maker could hardly deny his main impulse to the New Testament. As the first expositor of the ascetic way he illuminates the subsequent course of Christianity. His account of justice shows tendencies to legalism. He is fond of rules and prolific in producing them. His rigorism runs to literalism. His greater righteousness involves keeping rules more carefully; yet there is a strong strain of individualism and an extended plea for freedom as essential to morals. He is an advocate of natural law and sees beauty in natural order; yet he pleads for violence and excess in storming the kingdom. His chief danger would seem to lie in the ascetic extremes. Clement's right use of the world and care of the body for the good of the soul have both disappeared. The body is whipped or starved, not tended. The path of renunciation is so demanding that it can easily become an end in itself. Basil is aware of this danger and declares no other end than the glory of God. The opposite tendency to mystic contemplation is not far away. Origen had shown the way and Basil is ever ready to follow. Yet the sheer mass of practical prescription and the prevalence of the theme of following maintain the sovereignty of the Lord over his disciple. Faith is tied to creed, firm and exact. Yet Basil has even more to say on the faith that trusts through adversity 'trusting most in God when we need him most'. Freedom never becomes licence. Love is certainly threatened by fraternal duties but these also form a check against vague sentiment. The notion of reward supplants sovereign grace. He who gives to the afflicted gives to the Lord and will be rewarded by the Lord. The common life springs from enthusiasm.

In each section there is tension and sensitivity. The great retreat lies in the attitude to the physical world. Basil could enjoy natural beauty when its quietness soothed him; but he could not see how the way of righteousness might be trodden by body and soul together or how the path of discipleship could lead into the world of people and daily work. Work was a curse on man consequent to the Fall.

Basil poses two insoluble problems. First, there is the question of a double standard for monk and layman. In fact there was a single standard but only the monk could achieve it. Basil meant to unify Christian morality so this point has to be handled very carefully. The asceticism of the monk was simply the continuation of the life of every believer. 'The monk is the authentic and courageous Christian who strains to live out his Christianity to the full, and to practise with greater fidelity all the virtues of the Gospel.' Basil did not want to put a barrier between the simple believer and the monk nor to divide Christian ethics into two parts. 'There is only one morality, that of the Gospel. But only the monastic life in community reaches the perfection, … of the ideal of the Gospel.'¹⁹⁸ At the same time Basil expected an elite, a Christian nobility,¹⁹⁹ and he could not tolerate mediocrity. As an enthusiast, he wanted the fresh movement of the Spirit to stir a sluggish church. When, by placing asceticism in the centre of the church, he made a double standard inevitable, it was the opposite of his desire. History does not give men unlimited choice. Clement had to choose between a closed fatalist amoral elitism and an open, ethical elitist optimism of grace. Basil had to choose between an elite estranged from the church and an elite within one community and one gospel.

The evidence remains ambiguous. Christianity cannot approve a plurality of moral standards. Yet from early days there was a distinction between a path of perfection and a lower way. This distinction between 'precepts' and 'counsels' existed in the second century and the Didache described two ways.²⁰⁰ Yet the opposition to Gnosticism maintained the perfection of baptismal faith and denied the predetermined categories of spiritual and carnal Christians; the passing of the Gnostic threat made it easier for later writers like Ambrose to distinguish clearly precepts and counsels. 'Every duty is either ordinary or perfect.'²⁰¹ Porphyry had used the customary distinction between the philosopher and the common herd. Things are permitted to the many which are not permitted to the best of men. The philosopher follows divine laws.²⁰² Whenever Christianity drew on the philosophic ideal, as it did in Clement and Basil, some trace of this distinction lingered on.²⁰³

Basil remains unclear at this point because as an enthusiast he put no limits on the spread of perfection. He wanted the whole church to follow the way the monks had shown.²⁰⁴ The transformed life of those few who follow the one way of Christ is the best way to preach and to change the world.²⁰⁵ He never saw the monks as an enclosed order; they were the beginning of a reformation for the whole church.²⁰⁶ So Basil deliberately tried to discard the two ways or double standard of Christian living. Too many Christians chose the easy way, selecting the convenient commandments. Basil demanded total renunciation and total obedience for all who would enter the kingdom. Did this mean that all should be monks? No, but it would be very difficult for those who live in the wrong environment. Speaking carefully he says it will be most difficult, not to say wholly impossible.²⁰⁷ When less careful he claims that pleasing God²⁰⁸ is impossible for one surrounded by the distractions of the world. There is some distinction between the three great demands.²⁰⁹ Obedience and poverty are required of all. Poverty means the dedication of one's wealth, not necessarily ceasing to be its legal owner. Chastity in the sense of celibacy or married abstinence is put forward as good but not obligatory; but Basil continues to regard his disciples as a celibate 6lite.²¹⁰ The general conclusion remains that, in opposition to sectarian asceticism, Basil directed his teaching to the church as a whole; but on this point it is better to understand his inconsistency than to fight for his consistency.

However much we may admire the spirit and heroism of Basil and the early ascetics, we should remember that their contribution was neither distinctively Christian nor ultimately harmless. Asceticism was everywhere. The community at Qumran was strangely similar to that of Basil in spite of their separation in time and space. The harmful aspects of asceticism are important because 'much in the traditional ascetic disciplines is morally objectionable at just the points where it is not true to Christian theism'.²¹¹

This points to a second insoluble problem: the right assessment of asceticism in general and monasticism in particular. It is wise to see Basil in his historical setting where he stands as a moderator, and reformer. There is an ascetic tendency in most virtue. 'What has the man of virtue learnt?' asks a modern philosopher; 'He has learnt to conquer the obscuring effects of passion upon his judgements of good and evil.'²¹² It is unlikely that we might achieve an assessment of final praise or blame in the matter. There can be general agreement that Basil, by largeness of mind and sensitivity of spirit, gave to the ascetic movement a tendency which lifted and held it higher.²¹³ On the negative side, critics of the monastic movement will find many unhappy elements in its varied development. One unbalanced verdict ran: 'A hideous, sordid, and emaciated maniac, without knowledge, without patriotism, without natural affection, passing his life in a long routine of useless and atrocious self-torture, and quailing before the ghastly phantoms of his delirious brain, had become the ideal of the nations which had known the writings of Plato and Cicero and the lives of Socrates and Cato.'²¹⁴ Historians are never kind to enthusiasts and the monks have been blamed for disrupting the unity of the church and for ensuring the later triumph of Islam.²¹⁵ Christian asceticism has long been an object of 'widespread and constant moral repugnance'.²¹⁶

But an equally forceful statement may be found on the opposing side. Basil shaped Christian asceticism which in turn shaped later Christian morals. The originality of the life of faith was 'its reverence for the lowly, for sorrow, suffering, and death, together with its triumphant victory over these contradictions of human life'.²¹⁷

In his moral theology of the cross,²¹⁸ we may find 'the root of the most profound factor contributed by Christianity to the development of the moral sense, and contributed with perfect strength and delicacy'.²¹⁹ Later centuries were to go wrong as this insight changed into 'an aesthetic of spiritual agony and raptures over suffering'. There had always been some tendency of this kind. 'Yet, however strongly we feel about the unsightly phlegm of this corruption, and however indignantly we condemn it, we should never forget that it represented the shadow thrown by the most profound and at the same time the most heroic mood of the human soul in its spiritual exaltation; it is, in fact, religion itself, fully ripe.'²²⁰ This is too much. Ripeness and consistency were not to be found in Basil. But he saw clearly where it should all lead: through the desert, to God. For Basil as for the New Testament, ethics point beyond themselves to religion and finally to God, 'das Wunder in den Wüsten, das Ausgewanderten geschieht'.²²¹

Notes

¹ The following abbreviations will be used in this chapter: M.=Moralia; L.R.=Longer Rules; S.R.=Shorter Rules; Ep. =Letter; H. =Hexaemeron; S. =On the Spirit. The first three works are quoted with some modifications from the translations of W. K. L. Clarke, The Ascetic Works of Saint Basil (London, 1925). See also the translation of B. Jackson (Oxford, 1845).

² 'For the first time, the hospital, the almshouse, and school become regular adjuncts of a monastic settlement.' K. E. Kirk, The Vision of God (London, 1932), p. 266. See for extended treatment, S. Giet, Les idées sociales de S. Basile (Paris, 1941).

³ Sasima. See S. Giet, Sasimes (Paris, 1941).

⁴ See Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 20; Gregory of Nyssa, Funeral Oration, Life of St Macrina; Ephraem Syrus, Encomium on Basil the Great; Socrates, H.E. 4.26; Sozomen, H.E. 6.15-17; Jerome, De vir. illust., 116; Dictionary of Christian Biography, in loc.

⁵Ep. 159.2.

⁶ See J. Gribomont, 'Les règles morales de S. Basile et le NT', Studia Patristica 11 (Berlin, 1957), 417ff.

⁷L.R. 7.

⁸On the Judgement of God, 214E. For 'king' bees compare Ambrose, Hex. 5.21.68, and Seneca, De Clem. 1.19.2. Dr A. Lenox-Conyngham has drawn my attention to these parallel references.

⁹H. 9.5.

¹⁰Ep. 13.

¹¹ K. Holl comments, 'Eine merkwürdige Mischung kindlicher Einfalt und heiligen Ernstes ist die Signatur des griechischen Christentums in seinen liebenswürdigsten Vertretern, ein naiver Sinn und eine abgeschlossene Stimmung, die uns immer zugleich an die Jugendzeit des Christentums und an das Sterbegefühl der alten Völker erinnern', p. 282, Ueber das griechische Mönchtum, Ges. Aufsätze 11 (Tübingen, 1928).

¹²M. 80.22.318C.

¹³Ep. 22.

¹⁴S.R. 51. For the general point, see S. Giet, 'Le rigorisme de S. Basile'. Revue des Sciences Religieuses 23, (1949), 333-42, and also D. Amand, L'ascèse monastique de S. Basile (Maredsous, 1948), pp. 164-75.

¹⁵S.R. 7.

¹⁶S.R. 9.

¹⁷S.R. 10.

¹⁸S.R. 14.

¹⁹S.R. 18.

²⁰S.R. 32.

²¹S.R. 23.

²²S.R. 281.

²³Ep. 54.

²⁴Ep. 92.2.

²⁵L.R. Preface 328 and 329.

²⁶L.R. Preface 329 and 330.

²⁷Ep. 150.3.

²⁸Ep. 174.

²⁹Ep. 42.4.

³⁰Ep. 188, Ep. 199, Ep. 217.

³¹L.R. 23.

³²S.R. 158.

³³L.R. 10.

³⁴L.R. 25.

³⁵L.R. 52.

³⁶L.R. 55.

³⁷S.R. 46-7.

³⁸S.R. 64.

³⁹S.R. 69.

⁴⁰S.R. 71.

⁴¹S.R. 81.

⁴²On the Judgement of God, 214.

⁴³ L.R. 28.

⁴⁴Ep. 2.6 and Ep. 6.2.

⁴⁵S.R. 91 and 126.

⁴⁶Ep. 14.

⁴⁷ On usury, see Hom. on Psalm 14 and Hom. on avarice.

⁴⁸H. 5.7.

⁴⁹H. 7.3.

⁵⁰H. 7.4.

⁵¹H. 8.1.

⁵²H. 8.5.

⁵³H. 9.2.

⁵⁴H. 9.3.

⁵⁵On Abstinence, 3.11.

⁵⁶To the young, 9(7).

⁵⁷M. 2.

⁵⁸M. 4.

⁵⁹M. 7.

⁶⁰M 16 and M. 18.

⁶¹M 41.

⁶²S.R. 237.

⁶³L.R. 8.348f.

⁶⁴L.R. 8.349.

⁶⁵L.R. 8.350.

⁶⁶Ep. 206.

⁶⁷Ep. 243.4.

⁶⁸Ep. 257.1.

⁶⁹Preliminary sketch of the ascetic life, 200A.

⁷⁰Ep. 252: 'the bond, as it were, of blood which binds the life of strict discipline to those perfected through endurance'.

⁷¹S.R. 211.

⁷²L.R. 37.383f.

⁷³L.R. 55.401.

⁷⁴S.R. 201.

⁷⁵Hom. on Psalm 1.3 Sec S. Giet, Les idées sociales de S. Basile (Paris, 1941), pp. 71-5.

⁷⁶ When all has been said of hospitals and school, the monk's chief work was to 'take heed to himself'. 'Von der Erkenntnis aus, dass die sittliche Aufgabe in der Vollendung der eigenen Personlichkeit besteht, ist das M6nchtum zu einer intensiven Selbstbeobachtung gefiihrt worden': K. Holl, Ueber das griechische Mönchtum, Ges. Aufsätze, II (Tübingen, 1928), p. 277.

⁷⁷Ep. 2.2.

⁷⁸Ep. 2.4.

⁷⁹Ep. 8.12.

⁸⁰Ep. 14. H. von Campenhausen comments, 'Anyone who is able to enjoy solitude to that extent cannot expect it to last forever', The Fathers of the Greek Church (London, 1963), p. 89.

⁸¹L.R. Preface 327.

⁸²L.R. 2.339.

⁸³L.R. 4.341.

⁸⁴L.R. 5.341.

⁸⁵L.R. 6.344.

⁸⁶L.R. 8.348f.

⁸⁷M 55.

⁸⁸M 80.

⁸⁹ For the closely-woven Platonism of Basil's thought, there is no better summary than the account of his ethical outlook in the Homilies on the Psalms, given by A. Benito y Duran, 'Filosofia de san Basilio Magno', Studia Patristica, v, Texte and Untersuchungen 80 (Berlin, 1962).

⁹⁰S. 1.2.

⁹¹S. 15.35.

⁹²H. 9.6.

⁹³ Basil remains sensitive to social relationships. A strong case has been made out for his social concerns, by S. Giet, Les idées sociales de S. Basile; but a concluding reference to Basil's 'inlassable et géniale activité' (p. 425) overstates the case.

⁹⁴ T. Spidlik, La sophiologie de S. Basile (Rome, 1961), pp. 24f.

⁹⁵ A. Dirking, 'Die Bedeutung des Wortes Apathie beim heiligen Basilius dem Grossen', Theolisches Quartalschrift, 134(1954), 21 1f.

⁹⁶ M. Viller and K. Rahner, Aszese und Mystik in der Väterzeit (Freiburg, 1939), p. 127.

⁹⁷S.R. 43.

⁹⁸S.R. 44.

⁹⁹S.R. 90.

¹⁰⁰L.R. 16.358.

¹⁰¹L.R. 17.

¹⁰²L.R. 17.360.

¹⁰³L.R. 18.362.

¹⁰⁴L.R. 17.361. Amand, L'ascèse monastique de S. Basile, p. 201f.

¹⁰⁵ Amand, op. cit., pp.318-35.

¹⁰⁶Ibid. pp. 212-42.

¹⁰⁷L.R. 32.375.

¹⁰⁸ Amand, L 'ascèse monastique de S. Basile, p. 242ff.

¹⁰⁹ H. Dehnard, Das Problem der Abhängigkeit des Basilius von Plotin (Berlin, 1964), examines common expressions in Basil and Plotinus. The similarities between Plotinus, Origen and Gregory are due to a common philosophical tradition (p. 31). In De Spiritu, Basil has drawn on Plotinus' metaphysical formulae to complete Gregory's account of the Spirit and uses Plotinus' account of the world soul to describe the activity of the Spirit; there is no evidence of any real influence of Plotinus. Basil uses the common terms because they are the best he can find (p. 87). Dehnard can find no trace of any dependence of Basil on Porphyry (p. 88)! D. Amand, op. cit., pp. 351-64, shows that Basil has taken over the metaphysical dualism of later Platonism. The extent of Basil's debt to later classical thought has been the subject of discussion. Courtonne shows that his debt to classical literature is not great; Y. Courtonne, S. Basile et l'hellénisme (Paris, 1934).

¹¹⁰ Hom. That God is not the author of evils, passim.

¹¹¹Ibid. 5.

¹¹² See L. Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, Untersuchungen zu einem Kirchenvater des 4. Jahrhunderts (Basel, 1953), pp. 29-38.

¹¹³"³ See A. J. Festugière, La révélation d'Hermès trismégiste, II (Paris, 1949), x ff.

¹¹⁴Republic 530.

¹¹⁵ Plotinus, Enneads, VI.9.9-11.

¹¹⁶On Abstinence, 1.33-5.

¹¹⁷Ibid. 1.36.

¹¹⁸Ibid. 1.54.

¹¹⁹Ibid. 2.33.

¹²⁰To the young, 7(5).

¹²¹Ibid. 9(7).

¹²² Nevertheless, it remains true that 'Neither Christians nor Platonists, if they are to be faithful to their deepest convictions, can simply be negative in their attitude to the body and the world, regarding them as wholly evil and alien. Their fundamental belief that the material world, with all that is in it, is good, and made by a good power simply because of his goodness, prevents them from becoming Gnostics or Manichees': A. H. Armstrong, St. Augustine and Christian Platonism (Villanova University Press, 1967), p. 10.

¹²³To the young, 9(7).

¹²⁴ A. von Harnack, Mission and Expansion (ET, London, 2 ed. 1908) 2, 215.

¹²⁵ J. Gribomont, 'Le renoncement au monde dans l'ideal ascetique de S. Basile', Irénikon (1958), pp. 282-307 and 460-75, esp. p. 298.

¹²⁶L.R. 8.

¹²⁷ 'Because of the weakness of the flesh which enfolds us', Hom. on Psalm 33.11.

¹²⁸Hom. on Psalm 29.6.

¹²⁹Hom. on Psalm 1.3.

¹³⁰Hom. on Psalm 29.4.

¹³¹De Fide and Preface to S.R.

¹³²On the Judgement of God, 223C.

¹³³Ep. 2.3.

¹³⁴S. 10.26.

¹³⁵S. 12.28.

¹³⁶S. 18. For additional comment on true faith, see Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, pp. 66-72.

¹³⁷Ep. 175.

¹³⁸ See also J. Gribomont, L'Origénisme de S. Basile, L 'homme devant Dieu, Melanges offerts à H. de Lubac (Paris, 1963), 1,294, 'Des heritiers d'Origene le plus discret est Basile.' Thanks to Basil's discretion, the influence of Origen lived on, 'ramenée à l'essentiel et décantée'.

¹³⁹Against Eunomius, 1.12.

¹⁴⁰Homily on the Martyr Mamas 4. See Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, pp. 89f., for the contrast with Origen's unrelenting enquiry.

¹⁴¹Ep. 28.3.

¹⁴²Ep. 125.

¹⁴³M. 8.

¹⁴⁴M. 12.

¹⁴⁵M. 39.

¹⁴⁶M. 80.

¹⁴⁷H. 9.6.

¹⁴⁸Ep. 123.

¹⁴⁹Ep. 140.1.

¹⁵⁰Ep. 174.

¹⁵¹Ep. 240.2.

¹⁵² Morison points out that Basil does not describe his monk as a philosopher: St. Basil and his Rule, A Study in Early Monasticism (Oxford, 1912), p. 35; but the influence of the idea is clear.

¹⁵³M. 57.

¹⁵⁴L.R. 21.

¹⁵⁵L.R. 22.

¹⁵⁶L.R. 35.

¹⁵⁷S.R. 56.

¹⁵⁸ Amand L'ascèse monastique de S. Basile, pp. 312-18.

¹⁵⁹L.R. 7.345-8.

¹⁶⁰ See Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, pp. 112-15, for a developed account of the following points.

¹⁶¹L.R. 13.

¹⁶²Ep. 223.1.

¹⁶³Ep. 9.3.

¹⁶⁴ Amand, L'ascèse monastique de S. Basile, pp. 14651.

¹⁶⁵ Epictetus speaks similarly of self-determination: Diss.2, 2, 3; 4, 1, 56; 4, 1, 62; 4, 1, 68; 4, 1, 100; see M. Spanneut, 'Epiktet', RAC 5, 642-5.

¹⁶⁶ Cf. Sextus Empiricus, adv. math. v; Origen, Philocalia, 23, 17.

¹⁶⁷H. 6, 7. D. Amand, Fatalisme et liberté dans l'antiquité grecque (Louvain, 1945), chapter 8, pp. 383ff.

¹⁶⁸M 3. See, for example, Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, pp. 38f., on 'Die Motive des asketischen Lebens'.

¹⁶⁹L.R. 2.336-7. See Amand, L'ascèse monastique, pp. 295ff.

¹⁷⁰L.R. 2.338-40.

¹⁷¹ Amand, L'ascèse monastique, p. 91.

¹⁷² T. Spidlik, La sophilogie de S. Basile (Rome, 1961) pp. 24f.

¹⁷³M 5.

¹⁷⁴M 38.

¹⁷⁵M 49-50.

¹⁷⁶ 'God gave to those, who could not see one another in person, the great comfort of communication by letters', Ep. 220. See Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, p. 61, 'Ein grosser Teil der Korrespondenz des B. dient einzig dieser Absicht: Gemeinschaft herzustellen'.

¹⁷⁷Ep. 9.1.

¹⁷⁸Ep. 23.

¹⁷⁹Ep. 43.

¹⁸⁰Ep. 65.

¹⁸¹ See J. Rivière, S. Basile (Paris, 1925), pp. 208-87. Also the comprehensive treatment of S. Giet, Les idées sociales de S. Basile (Paris, 1941), covers many aspects of the subject.

¹⁸²L.R. 3.

¹⁸³ See G. M. Cossu, "II motivo formale della carita in S. Basilio Magno', Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata (1960), pp. 3-30, and 'L'amore naturale verso Dio e verso il prossimo', ibid. pp. 87-107.

¹⁸⁴L.R. 3. Basil's reasons (L.R. 7) for the superiority of the cenobite over the anchorite are summarised by W. K. L. Clarke, St. Basil the Great (Cambridge, 1913), pp. 85f.: we are not self-sufficient in provision of bodily needs, solitude goes against the law of love, we need someone to correct our faults, we have duties to others, we are members one of another, we have different gifts, we are in danger of thinking that we have arrived at perfection.

¹⁸⁵ See D. M. Nothomb, 'Charité et unité', Le Proche-Orient Chrétien, 4 (1954), 321.

¹⁸⁶L.R. 49.

¹⁸⁷S.R. 61.

¹⁸⁸L.R. 26, 28, 29: see Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, p. 44.

¹⁸⁹ Church and community react on one another: Vischer, op. cit., p. 49, 'Er gestaltet die Kirche nach dem Bild des Klosters.'

¹⁹⁰Ep. 70.

¹⁹¹Ep. 133; Ep. 255; Ep. 266.1. See Vischer, op. cit., p. 54.

¹⁹² In her persecutions, the church found true peace and real unity, Ep. 164.1. See Vischer, op. cit., p. 53.

¹⁹³S. 30.78.

¹⁹⁴ Amand, L'ascèse monastique, p. 295.

¹⁹⁵S.R. 163.

¹⁹⁶M. 3. 1-2.

¹⁹⁷ Amand, L'ascèse monastique, pp. 296-303.

¹⁹⁸Ibid. pp. 12f.

¹⁹⁹ Cf. Jerome's commendation of a 'holy arrogance'. Ep. 22.16.

²⁰⁰Didache 6.

²⁰¹De officiis 1.36.

²⁰²On Abstinence 4.18.

²⁰³ That it was there is indicated by evidence brought against it in discussions of the early church. Basil could not, as a bishop, restrict perfection to monks, in the opinion of K. Holl (Ueber das griechische Mönchtum, p. 278). But Vischer comments, 'Dabei übersieht Holl jedoch, dass Basilius der Mcinung ist, die Kirche müsse nach dem Vorbild des Mönchtums gebildet werden' (Basilius der Grosse, p. 50). Reluctance to admit non-Christian elements in monasticism is typified by the comment of R. N. Flew, The Idea of Perfection in Christian Theology (Oxford, 1934), p. 159, 'The soil for the plant of monachism may have been prepared by many movements of the mind … but the seed itself is easily recognizable, and it is sown by those at work within the garden of the Church.' The same writer however, does not hesitate to say of Basil, 'It is clear that we have to do with the Stoic ideal of apatheia': p. 176.

²⁰⁴ Vischer, Basilius der Grosse, p. 167.

²⁰⁵ J. Gribomont, 'Le renoncement au monde', Irénikon (1958), p. 475.

²⁰⁶ J. Gribomont, 'Les règles morales', p. 417. Gribomont goes on to describe the historical setting of Basil's rules in the conflict between Eustathian enthusiasm and the rest of the church, p. 423.

²⁰⁷L.R. 6.

²⁰⁸S.R. 263.

²⁰⁹ See J. Gribomont, 'Le monachisme au IVe siècle en Asie-Mineure: de Gangres au Messalianisme', Studia Patristica II (Berlin, 1957), 400-15.

²¹⁰Ibid. p. 413.

²¹¹ D. Cupitt, Crises of Moral Authority (London, 1972), p. 47.

²¹² G. H. von Wright, The Varieties of Goodness (London, 1963), p. 147.

²¹³ Amand, Fatalisme et liberté, p. 349, 'le grand réformateur du cénobitisme oriental'. W. K. L. Clarke summarises Basil's work as the organisation of asceticism, the moderation of austerities, the introduction of the common life and the bringing of monasticism into the service of the church. See St. Basil the Great (Cambridge, 1913), p. 115.

²¹⁴ W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals (1884), 2, 107.

²¹⁵ N. Zernov, Eastern Christendom (London, 1961), p. 80.

²¹⁶ D. Cupitt, Crisis of Modern Authority, p. 30.

²¹⁷ A. von Harnack, Mission and Expansion, I, 217.

²¹⁸ The centrality of the cross comes out most clearly in the final sections of Morals. The mark of a Christian is to be cleansed in the blood of Christ, to eat in memory of him who died, to live for him who died for them and to love as Christ loved: Morals, 72.22.

²¹⁹ Harnack, Mission and Expansion, p. 218.

²²⁰Ibid.

²²¹ R. M. Rilke, Stundenbuch.

Abbreviations

ABR

Australian Biblical Review

ATR

Anglican Theological Review

BHT

Beiträge zur historischen Theologie

CQ

Classical Quarterly

CR

The Classical Review

CSEL

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum

DCB

Dictionary of Christian Biography

DR

Downside Review

GCS

Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller

JBL

Journal of Biblical Literature

JR

The Journal of Religion

JTS

Journal of Theological Studies

MSR

Mélanges de Science Religieuse

NTS

New Testament Studies

POC

Le Proche-Orient Chretien

RA

Recherches augustiniennes

RAC

Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum

RAM

Revue d'Ascétique et Mystique

RB

Revue Biblique

REA

Revue des Études Augustiniennes

REG

Revue des Études Grecques

RHPR

Revue d'Histoire et Philosophie Religieuses

RP

Historia Philosophiae Graecae, H. Ritter et L. Preller (8th edition, 1898)

RSR

Recherches de Science Religieuse.

RevSR

Revue des Sciences Religieuses

SA

Studia Anselmiana

SC

Sources Chretiennes

SVF

Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, von Arnim

TU

Texte und Untersuchungen

TWNT

Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament, Kittel

VC

Vigiliae Christianae

ZAM

Zeitschrift für Aszese und Mystik

ZNW

Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft