SOURCE: "The Church in the Life and Works of Basil of Caesarea" in The Church and the Charisma of Leadership in Basil of Caesarea, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1979, pp. 1-201.

[In the following excerpt, Fedwick explains Basil's concept of the church as a community of believers drawn together by love of God and each other, and spiritually secluded from those who reject the teachings of Christ. The critic traces the expressions of this idea in Basil's ascetic writings, in the treatises Against Eunomius and On the Holy Spirit, and in several of the homilies.]

The term by which Basil of Caesarea most commonly addresses the communities of Christians is "church," "churches of God."¹ Obviously referred to are not simply liturgical gatherings but established bodies of Christians living in a locality.² It would be inappropriate to ask whether Basil employs the term [Ekhanoia] with reference to the universal or local church. Throughout his writings the bishop of Caesarea shows no awareness of such a distinction as every local body is for him but the manifestation of a universal reality—the reality of being reached and grasped at a certain point of time by the saving action of God the Father acting for man's sake through the Son in the Holy Spirit.³ The church is the body of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit.⁴ As the work of God, the Almighty, the church cannot be confined to one people, culture, or social order. Neither can it be circumscribed spatially.⁵ By its very essence, the church provides the place and opportunity for humans to rediscover their common nature,⁶ so that those who were before their calling opposed to each other because of social, cultural or national differences might become "through the instrumentality of the church habituated to each other in love."⁷ Consequently, the end of the Christian church and the general end of human existence converge: both consist in being totally possessed and ruled by God.⁸

Basil first experienced the church in the bosom of his religious family. Although in his panegyric Gregory of Nazianzus speaks foremost of the cultural and intellectual upbringing of the future leader of the church of Caesarea, Basil himself, in recalling his childhood, maintains an eloquent silence on the matter. He acquaints us instead with his early contacts with religion in its various applied forms. The fullness of assurance that Scripture and tradition are of equal weight and authority in the establishment of orthodoxy, which echoes throughout Basil's writings, seems to have originated from his domestic experience.⁹ Whereas from his parents Basil and Emmelia, Basil learned "from infancy the Holy Scriptures," Macrina, his grandmother, was the link for his acquaintance with an evolved (spiritual rather than speculative) form of Origenism, embodied since the time of Gregory Thaumaturgus in the liturgical tradition of the church of Neocaesarea.¹⁰ There can be little doubt that Basil became first acquainted with the "words and sayings" of Gregory before he knew anything about the symbol of Nicaea.¹¹ One of the fundamental principles of Neocaesarean theology, the radical distinction between creator and creature, lord and servant, will later find wide application in Basil's controversy with the Arians (Son as the intermediate hypostasis), Anomoeans (unlikeness of Father and the end Son), and the Pneumatomachi (creaturehood of the Son and of the Holy Spirit).¹²

Another distinctive characteristic acquired by Basil early in his life was a strong awareness of the Christian faith as a holocaust not only of human freedom but also, whenever necessary, of human life.¹³ Macrina and her husband, it is known, barely managed to escape the persecution of the second Maximinus.¹⁴ The narrative of the severe hardships, the long wanderings of his ancestors through the wilderness of Pontus, put Basil from the beginning in contact with a church of martyrs, a church founded on the blood of Christ and that of many of his followers.¹⁵

If one may assume that the church of Neocaesarea was at the time under the influence of Eustathian asceticism, Basil must also have perceived a continuity between the family type of religion as practiced in his household and the religion of the ascetics living in communities nearby the urban churches.¹⁶ This experience further establishes in his consciousness the close link and even total inseparability of Christian life and ascetic practice which we find prominently represented in his early writings.

Outside the family environment there was another aspect of the church which Basil was soon destined to discover and which was to fill his heart not only with sorrow and grief but also with the desire to correct it later in life. The fellowship that claimed apostolic origin and martyrdom within its ranks was to reveal itself also as a community of sinners whose members hindered its expansion rather than contributed to its growth.¹⁷ His own words in the first preface to the Moralia seem to indicate the uneasiness he experienced from having become acquainted during his travels abroad with the state of many churches strongly divided against each other:

Seeing a great and exceeding discord on the part of many men both in their relations with one another and their views about the divine Scripture, … and what was most horrible of all, its very leaders differing so much from one another in sentiment and opinion and wondering, more over, what and whence was the cause of so great an evil, first of all I lived as it were in profound darkness and was inclining, as it were on scales, first in this direction and then in that. Now one man would attract me, now another.¹⁸

That Basil did not let this negative dimension prevail over his consciousness we find evidenced in his early decision to give up a promising career as a sophist-rhetorician, and in his rejection of the eremitic type of asceticism on grounds that it does not serve the common interests of Christians but tends to separate one individual from the other, thus aggravating even more the dissension in the churches. As we shall see Basil's full support and further elaboration of the communal type of asceticism was aimed at healing the church's wounds caused by internal divisions.

After these preliminary remarks based mostly on Basil's own recollections and those of others regarding his first experiences of the church, we will now briefly review some of his writings. We shall consider only those in which some reference is made to the church and its ministerial structure. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the exact chronology of Basil's writings, we can review them here in only an approximate order.

A. Contra Eunomium 1 - 3

One of the earliest writings to be considered in which the term "church" occurs is the Against Eunomius, Books 1 - 3, written ca. 364.¹⁹ The overall plan of the work is to refute Eunomius' attempt to couch Christian truths in Aristotelian categories and to expose the danger which might follow for Christians from the encroachment of philosophical ideas upon the "simplicity" of expression of their ecclesiastical faith.²⁰ Prior to writing his apologies, Basil had taken part in a public debate with the Semi-Arians at the Council of Constantinople in January of 360, but apparently without attracting much attention. Thus the treatises against Eunomius constitute his first major contribution to the defence of orthodox Christianity. The rationale for writing the refutation was to protect the faith of those members of the orthodox community who were unskilled ("weak") in Arian sophistries.

What emerges from the opening paragraphs of the first apology against Eunomius is Basil's awareness of a church founded on the "simplicity" … of the evangelical witness and the apostolic traditions.²¹ By emphasizing simplicity Basil shows opposition to any "private" reelaboration or restatement of the ecclesiastical formulae handed down by past generations. He is not so much opposed to knowledge as to the arrogance and self-sufficiency that a man like Eunomius exhibits by calling into question the viability of past formulae and by trying to replace them with some of his own.²² Also salient throughout Basil's treatises is a strong consciousness of the centrality of the person of Christ in the economy of salvation. Only through Christ is there access to true knowledge.²³ People who do not believe in the divinity of Christ are, as it were, dead and nonexistent.… ²⁴

Very characteristic of Basil's understanding of the church's role in establishing the truth is the inclusion of past authorities in the apologies.²⁵ The use of authorities is most conspicuous in the third book, in which the main thesis that the Spirit is not a creature is entirely drawn from liturgical evidence.²⁶

B. The Theme of the Church and its Charismatic Structure in the Homilies

The hearers of Basil's homilies belonged to varied classes and occupations, with the poor class predominating. Among the people attending his sermons were architects, builders, merchants, husbandmen, soldiers, probably members of the clergy, and also ascetics of the family and communal type.²⁷ The catechumens seem to have constituted the majority of church members at the time belonging to all of the aforementioned walks of life with the exception of the clergy and the ascetics. Thus, most of Basil's homilies can be interpreted as exhortations to baptism and thereby the acceptance of the ascetic life.

Indeed, "Homily 11," chronologically the first of those to be reviewed here, deals with the subject of envy. It was probably in replying to an outbreak of jealousy that Basil made an excursus on the charismatic structure of the church. Some of his colleagues—the custom then being that several preachers addressed the public on a single occasion—or perhaps some members of the congregation, coveted his charisma of brilliant eloquence. At any rate, the point was made by Basil that neither natural endowments, nor riches, nor strength, nor power are ends in themselves but instruments … of virtue.²⁸ They only provide blessedness if used for the purpose of serving the neighbours. Particularly practical wisdom … and the competence to interpret the words of God are devices and charismata of the Holy Spirit given for the good of others.

It is your good, and it is for your sake that your brother was endowed with the gift of teaching, if only you are willing to accept it.… Why then do you refuse to lend your ears gladly to the spiritual word so profuse in the church, and gushing forth like a river from the pious heart filled with the charismata of the Spirit? Why do you not with gratitude take advantage of the benefits?²⁹

Per se charismata are instruments intended more for the good of others than the one possessing them.³⁰ The lesson for the church conveyed in this incidental remark is that, like material possessions, spiritual gifts are also to be regarded not as a privategood but as the common property of all.

"Homily 13" hinges upon the instrumentality of the logos as a means of communication and discipleship among people.³¹ Basil speaks with approval of the exercise of the various crafts … in the church. These crafts, whose introduction is elsewhere attributed to the period after the Fall, are highly regarded as outstanding achievements of the human logos.³² Despite their characteristic of being not "us" or "ours" but things "around us," they are used by Basil as incentives to cheer up the poor and destitute.³³ They should, however, be put in the perspective of the gospel requirements. Basil feels that each disciple of the logos is a minister in charge of one of the activities … demanded by the gospel.

In the great house, which is the church, there are not only vessels of every kind—golden and silver, of wood and earthenware—but also manifold crafts. Indeed the house of God, that is, the church of the living God, houses hunters, travellers, architects, builders, husbandmen, shepherds, athletes, soldiers.¹⁴

Basil then proceeds to attribute a higher meaning to each of these occupations, interpreting them symbolically, as significant of higher mysteries.³⁵

The theme of the church as a house is developed also in the "Homily on Psalm 29." The church is the new house of David, built by Christ. "The renovation of the church must be understood as the renewal of the mind, which takes place through the Holy Spirit in each, individually, of those who complete … the body of the church of Christ."³⁶ Again, the "Homily on Psalm 48" represents the church as housing people of all walks and pursuits of life "in order that no one may be left without its aid."³⁷ Through the kerygma of the Holy Spirit people of all races and cultures are called to fill its ranks. The church's function in history is described as that of leveling all differences of racial and cultural background or origin. There is one common goal assigned to all: strive to be ruled by God.

In the "Homily on Psalm 44" the church is treated within a christological perspective. The homily relates the words of the psalm to the various aspects of Christ's divinity and humanity: Christ the Word of the Father (393A), Christ the Man anointed by the Spirit (405A), Christ Man and the church, his body (397C), the preaching and the preachers of the gospel (396C; 401A). According to this homily, every believer is a member of the body of Christ.³⁸ The church is the only perfect dove of Christ "which admits to the right hand … of Christ those who are conspicuous by their good works, discerning them from the evil ones, as a shepherd discerns the sheep from the goats."³⁹ Then the preacher proceeds to talk about the soul not subject to sin whom he calls queen and bride standing at the right hand of the "bridal Word."⁴⁰ "As the doctrines are not of one kind but variegated and manifold, comprising moral, natural and mystical sayings …, Scripture … declares that the garment of the bride is variegated."⁴¹

Returning again to the church, Basil refers to it by the names bride of Christ and daughter of the King, adopted through love.⁴² Through the words of the psalmist, God summons the church to abjure its former parent who begot it for destruction, to reject the teachings of the demons and instead to apply itself to the study and observance of the commandments. Through love for God the church becomes his daughter.⁴³ Only after the church's mind … has been purified of evil teachings and its natural pride overcome through obedience to the humble account of the gospel does it acquire a mind capable of ascending … from contemplation … of the visible order to recognition of its Creator.⁴⁴ Although he ascribes to the church many of the attributes of Christ the Man, Basil maintains that not the church, but Christ its head is the object of Christian worship.… ⁴⁵

The church is not only endowed with words but also with many deeds, and therefore it is capable of bringing virgins to the King, but only virgins that keep close to the bride of the King and "do not deflect from the ecclesiastical discipline.…, "⁴⁶ In the context of the church generated through the proclamation of the gospel, Basil regards the Old Testament patriarchs as the fathers of the church "because for them through Christ were born children doing the works of Abraham."⁴⁷ At the end of this long exposition Basil invites his hearers to ponder the greatness of the authority … of the church in constituting … and ordaining … princes all over the earth, that is, saints.⁴⁸ For them all the church, the bride of Christ, is a mother, whom all people remember through their confession of benefits and thanksgiving.…⁴⁹

In the "Homilies on Psalm 45 and 59," Basil applies to the church the Stoic notion of the city, "an established community …, administered … according to law."⁵⁰ However, the church is a city only of a special kind, that is, "fortified by the faith encompassing it," and a dwelling "made joyful by the inflowing of the Holy Spirit."⁵¹ The notion of the Greek polis is applied both to the historical and eschatological community.⁵² The latter is in a certain sense identified with the "church of those who [here on earth] have their conversation in heaven."⁵³

The "Homily on Psalm 59" brings out also the idea that to the tradition of the Christian church belong the books of the Old Testament which were actually written more with the purpose of serving the Christians ("those who accepted the change") than the Jews.⁵⁴

According to the "Homily on Psalm 28," although between the two Testaments there is a continuity of teaching, after the advent of Christ the church is the sole "holy court' where God should be adored and worshipped.⁵⁵ In the same homily the Jewish synagogue is called "parasynagogue"—illicit assembly.⁵⁶

The "Homily on Psalm 33" presents the idea of Christians as children generated through apostolic preaching and ecclesiastical instructions; it speaks also of the bond of charity, peace and harmony binding together the stronger members to the weaker.⁵⁷ The homilies on the Hexaemeron, delivered in a time of relative calm, probably 378, afford only incidental remarks. Their main concern is the "edification" of the hearers (the church) for whose spiritual benefit Basil presents an account of the origins of the universe based largely on the reading of the Genesis in the light of contemporary scientific ideas. More than popularizing philosophical theories, Basil's objective is to show that Moses' account of the origins of life in the universe is more trustworthy than that of all Greek philosophers. Already in the expositions of the Psalms we saw Basil crediting the church with the authority … to discern … between what is good and viable and what is evil and objectionable. The same is claimed here with regard to scientific knowledge. Only the church, and consequently only a Christian as a result of being delivered from sin and ignorance, has a mind … capable of knowing and deciding what cosmogonic account is genuine.

Many objections have been and perhaps could yet be raised regarding Basil's assumptions and treatment of science and its methods.⁵⁸ It should perhaps be remembered that science … for him more than for anyone else was not a neutral field, nor an independent body, but part of a larger, more general and fundamental world view which implied the acceptance or rejection of an ultimate cause.⁵⁹ Because, as he understood them, the philosophical speculations of the Greek intellectuals led a great many of them to the negation of God, Basil, in his Hexaemeron, tried to discredit them on that score in the eyes of his audience.⁶⁰ Naturally the image of the church conveyed by such polemic is not one of openness and dialogue with the world of scientists, but one that is by and large determined by claims of "ideological" superiority.⁶¹

C. The Church as the Community of Complete Christians in the Ascetic Writings

To appreciate fully Basil's contribution to the understanding of the church and the functions of its leaders, it is important to preface the analysis of his ascetic writings with an historical note.⁶²

Beginning with the accession to power of Julian in 361, the milieu of the church changed. Until that moment, Christian religion, despite internal difficulties and struggles, enjoyed some recognition and assistance from the state. Under the auspices of the emperors who regarded themselves not only as heads of the state but also as "external bishops" of the church, that is, the supreme lawgivers and defenders of Christian public and private interests, it was natural for Basil to feel comfortable in his retreat in Pontus.⁶³ The peaceful coexistence between church and state, which had occasionally been somewhat strained in the past, was forcefully interrupted by Julian and was not to be restored completely until after the death of Basil in 379. In his solitude Basil must soon have become aware of the change. "Epistle 18" encourages two young Christians living in the imperial court to persevere in their convictions. By the time Basil made his appearance in Caesarea in 362, the proposals of the emperor-philosopher for revitalizing the ancestral religion had already been made public.⁶⁴ Julian's reform posed a menacing challenge to the church. His religion, more than a revival of old beliefs, was a curious but also updated blend of Neoplatonic and Christian elements. Julian indeed "wanted to smite the Galileans with their own weapons, wanted to build up an organization of pagan clergy on the Christian pattern, wanted to train his priests on principles and for tasks which he had learned among the Christians."⁶⁵

Basil must have been impressed with the careful selection and high moral standards demanded of the new hierarchy by the philosophizing emperor. In one of his letters addressed to the High Priest Theodore, Julian was also stressing the importance of the social aspect—something hitherto unheard of among pagans:

The Jews do not allow any of their own people to become beggars, and the Christians support not only their own but also our poor; but we leave ours unhelped.… It is matters like this which have contributed most to the spread of Christianity: mercy to strangers, care for burying the dead, and the obvious honourableness of their conduct.… And the people must learn to give part of their possessions to others; to the better placed—generously, to the indigent and the poor—sufficient to ward off distress; and, strange though it sounds, to give food and clothing to one's enemies is a pious duty, for we give to men as men, not to particular persons. ⁶⁶

Whether or not Basil was in Caesarea at the time of Julian's reprisal-visit to that city in September of 362, the confiscation of church property, the subordination of the clergy to the military authority, and the burden of heavy taxes imposed on all Christians of Caesarea by the emperor must have made clear to Basil, as to any one else, that in order to survive the church needed a different kind of structure and arrangement that would make its well-being less dependent on the state.⁶⁷ The strengthening of internal unity and the autonomy of the bishops in the administering of its affairs had to be given priority.⁶⁸ If at the time Basil had come up with concrete plans and tried a solution, he did not succeed in putting his projects into practice. A conflict arose between him and the bishop Eusebius, and to avoid the threat of an internal schism Basil retreated to Pontus.⁶⁹ The reign of Julian, in any event, was short-lived.⁷⁰

Whatever thoughts on the church and the functions of its leaders Basil might have had during his exile in Pontus, we see him busily engaged in the organization of ascetic communities. The corporate type of Christian life had definitively prevailed in his mind over the individual one. From the moment when in 365, with a visit of Valens imminent, Eusebius recalls him to Caesarea, Basil will be seen as uncompromisingly committed to the project of church reform on the pattern of the pre-Constantinian model or, better yet, of the apostolic community of Jerusalem.

The desire to strengthen the internal organization, the distinctiveness and self-sufficiency of the church as a society of its own is characteristic of Basil's activities displayed during the period 365-378. It would be easy perhaps simply to read his ascetic works from that period and draw conclusions from the material evidence.⁷¹ The issue, however, becomes complicated from the moment when we firmly realize that Basil was above all an ascetic. In the fourth century there were various existing models of perfect Christian life. However impartial we may try to be in the analysis of Basil's writings concerned with his awareness of the church, conclusions will largely depend upon whether we make of him a tributary of the desert type of asceticism represented in its organized form by Pachomius, or of the urban version practiced under the instigation of Eustathius of Sebaste in the northern provinces of Asia Minor. Since the question of Basil's indebtedness to either of these two representatives of Christian asceticism in the fourth century has been long debated, and although the opinion of modern scholars tends somewhat to favour Eustathius' influence on Basil, because of its undeniable import we have tried to reopen this question in two Appendices placed at the end of this work.⁷² The following discussion of the church as a community of complete Christians presupposes some of the results reached in our two Appendices, and the reader, if in doubt, would be well advised to become acquainted with them first.

As we mentioned earlier, during the period commencing in 362 Basil became an uncompromising advocate of the ecclesial type of asceticism. This asceticism in his original intention was to be developed not on the margins of the local churches but as a sequel to the sacrament of baptism. All Christians, independently of sex, race, social condition and even age, were, within their limits, to practise the ascetic life.⁷³ Whereas the form could vary, the quality of the desire to become similar to God, so far as this is humanly possible, was to be the same.⁷⁴

Basil's thought on the corporate character of Christian perfection is developed mainly in his Asceticons.⁷⁵ His recommendation of the corporate type of sanctity is based upon the premise "that all men by nature desire beautiful things, despite the fact that they differ as to what is supremely beautiful."⁷⁶ While some of the Gentiles have declared that the end is theoretical knowledge …, others, practical activity …, others, some profitable use of life and body, and others, simply pleasure …, Christianity transcends them all by placing man's end in "the blessed life in the world to come," which will consist in being "ruled by God."⁷⁷ "Up to this time," Basil observes, "nothing better than the latter idea [life under the rule of God] has been found in rational nature."⁷⁸

Christian righteousness and holiness are identified by Basil with the observance of all divine commandments: "There is one rule and canon prescribed for our works, to fulfil God's commandments in a manner pleasing to Him."⁷⁹ The disposition … of complete subordination to the divine rule is identified with the knowledge … of God.⁸⁰Gnosis in Basil's terminology is thus not the same as the abstract epist m of the Platonist philosophers. It is rather a religious intimacy and communion, between man and God grounded on love. When Basil insists that all divine commandments ought to be implemented without distinction, his ideal of evangelical sanctity may be suspected of formalistic legalism. However, Basil expressly distinguishes between the character of the gospel and the Jewish law precisely on the score "that as the law forbids bad deeds, so the gospel forbids the very hidden sins of the soul," and so on.⁸¹ It is here that we arrive at the core of Basil's ascetic teaching. Before stating that moral perfection consists in the implementation of all divine commandments, Basil makes clear that God's decrees act only as reminders and stimuli to man's inborn tendency to love. They do not force themselves upon man's faculty of self-determination from the outside but only activate and cultivate the logos spermatikos implanted in man from his first constitution.⁸²

Love, Basil teaches, is such a moral action … that, although it is only one, as regards power it accomplishes and comprehends every commandment; hence all commandments issue in love.⁸³ This is an important conclusion that Basil reaches at the very beginning of his "systematic" part of the Asceticon. For the man seeking happiness and fulfillment there is one simple thing to be done: to let himself be moved by the love of God and of his neighbours. "For 'he that loveth me', saith the Lord, 'will keep my commandments'. And again: 'On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets'."⁸⁴ Moreover, the Lord

demanded as a proof [… syllogistic demonstration] that we are His disciples, not signs and marvellous works—and yet He bestowed the working of these too in the Holy Spirit—but what does He say? 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one towards another.' ⁸⁵

The two commandments of love are so bound up together that the Lord

transfers to Himself benefits conferred on one's neighbours. For He says: 'I was hungry and ye gave me to eat,' and so on. To which He adds: 'Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.' ⁸⁶

At this point, an inescapable conclusion imposes itself: If all commandments and virtues are indeed represented in love as their most genuine form and expression, Christian perfection cannot be individual, but can flourish and achieve perfection only in a life of communion … with God and one's neighbours. We have thus reached the topic Basil deals with in the first chapter of his Asceticons: the corporate or ecclesial dimension of Christian perfection.⁸⁷

"Interrogations 1-3" of the Small Asceticon and the "Longer Questions 1-7" of the Great Ascetion, basically deal with the environmental problem, that is, with the ideal conditions for leading a life in conformity with the divine commandments. Two aspects are involved: (1) Should Christians converted to the gospel continue to live among those who hold in contempt the divine commandments … ? (2) If not, should they live by themselves, in solitude, or should they come together with like-minded brethren … and form communities of their own?⁸⁸ Both questions are very important from the ecclesial point of view despite the fact that some passages of Basil's ascetic works can be interpreted as favouring the constitution of particular ("monastic") communities within the universal community of the church.⁸⁹ In spite of such ambiguities, his Asceticons offer a valuable contribution for the understanding of the church as a community of baptized people trying to live a perfect life not only in the monastic seclusion but also in the middle of the world.

In referring to the subject treated in the first chapters of both Asceticons we called it an environmental problem. The fourth century was a time of numerous critical changes in the church's internal and external organization. When Basil insists in his treatises on the quality rather than the form of Christian life, and when he maintains that to be perfect it is not enough to follow some more convenient norms and ignore the rest, he is trying to protect the church's elements of distinctiveness, sacredness, and secrecy which so significantly, in his opinion, characterized early Christianity.⁹⁰ The fourth century saw crowds of people flocking into the church not for the sake of improving the spiritual character of their lives, but often for the mere convenience of becoming eligible for public offices and careers.⁹¹ With the indiscriminately swelled ranks, the church's awareness of being a sacred community distinct from earthly society was in danger of disappearing. There was hardly any disciplina arcani left to keep church doctrines, rites and customs out of reach of the unworthy.⁹² More as a solicitous pastor than a "monastic legislator," Basil, following a service in the church, evidences readiness to answer questions from those who are willing to inquire further "concerning that which belongs to sound faith and the true method of right conduct according to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" by means of which "the man of God is perfected."⁹³ If they are sincerely determined to redress their morals, to take up their cross as true disciples of the Lord and to deny themselves completely, he asks this elite not "to mix with those who are fearlessly and scornfully disposed towards the exact observance of the commandments."⁹⁴

Life in the "world," that is, among people who despise the teaching of Christ, is described by Basil as full of overt and hidden dangers.⁹⁵ Basil does not advocate a physical separation or total withdrawal from this environment, at least not as a permanent measure. The concept of the fuga mundi, it has been noticed, does not occur in this context at all, and the description of Christians as having their "citizenship in heaven" appears to be more ethical than institutional in nature.⁹⁶ In a letter written from his Pontic retreat, where Basil retired to amend his way of life "long perverted by the intimacy with wicked people," he states:

One way of escaping … all this [that is the cares … of life] is separation … from the whole world. However, separation from the world … not through bodily withdrawal from it… but through severance of the soul's sympathy with the body, so as to live without city, home, goods, society, possessions, means of life, business engagements, intercourse, human learning, that the heart may readily receive every impression of divine doctrine. ⁹⁷

It is obvious that what counts most is spiritual withdrawal from the environment of sinners and outsiders. However, as a temporary measure, seclusion from people and also withdrawal from the political community are recommended at the beginning of one's conversion to "philosophy"—the life according to the gospel.⁹⁸ Basil himself spent some time in the solitude of his estate. But, as his own letters show us, during his retreat Basil continued to be in touch with the world of friends, magistrates, public servants.⁹⁹ Whereas at one point he perhaps thought that he should cut off these relations too, later on he understood that quiet … lies not so much in physical separation as in freeing oneself from ties caused by a passionate attachment to life, in the avoidance of distractions, and giving up of all unnecessary worldly cares.…¹⁰⁰ The criterion, however, for discerning and judging what things in concreto should be avoided is a very subjective one: it is anything that, in one's opinion, seems to interfere with the way of piety … and the strictness of the gospel.¹⁰¹

Undoubtedly Basil advocates the necessity of abandoning the world in order to serve God adequately, not the world as such—for our anxieties will pursue us everywhere—but the world conceived as the society of outsiders-sinners …, people hostile to the teaching and the spirit of Christ.¹⁰²

Next Basil speaks in his Asceticons against withdrawing from the company of the like-minded, that is, from those who share sound views on the commandments and on the gospel.¹⁰³ Many in the fourth century, affected adversely by the evils of the world and of the church, fled to the desert. Basil categorically rejects such a solution as unchristian (unscriptural) and inhuman. Instead, Basil wishes his converts to come together, to live together … as closely as possible in one body, with Christ as the head and the Holy Spirit as the soul.¹⁰⁴

W. K. L. Clarke had already noticed that the doctrine contained in the Longer Rule 7 on the disadvantages of eremitic life and benefits of community life can be applied "equally well to a Christian life in the world."¹⁰⁵ There can be no doubt that Basil meant something more than a convent when he spoke of the benefits of sharing … spiritual gifts (charismata) and material possessions with others. He assuredly intended his new church to be patterned on the model of the first Christian community of Jerusalem, whose members "were together and had all things in common."¹⁰⁶ We shall, then, summarize Basil's teaching from his Longer Rule 7.¹⁰⁷ Concomitantly, we shall adduce parallel passages from Basil's other writings in order to see whether his doctrine on the corporate type of Christian life is applicable to all members in the church.

Basil's arguments in favour of communal Christianity are contained in the following general principles:

1. No man is individually self-sufficient… By nature he needs the assistance of other fellow members in providing for his bodily needs.¹⁰⁸
2. The logos of Christian love does not allow each man to look to his own good exclusively. "For 'love', we read, 'seeketh not its own'."¹⁰⁹
3. It is harmful to the soul when men have no one to rebuke them for their faults.¹¹⁰
4. The solitary life is idle and fruitless for it allows only a partial implementation of the commandments.¹¹¹
5. "All of us who have been received in one hope of our calling are one body having Christ as head, and we are severally members of one another. But if we are not joined together harmoniously in the close links of one body in the Holy Spirit, but each of us chooses solitude, not serving the common welfare in a way well-pleasing to God but fulfilling private desires, how, when we are thus separated and divided off, can we preserve the mutual relation and service of the limbs one to another, or their subjection to our head, which is Christ?"¹¹²
6. A charisma is a gift of the Holy Spirit given and >accepted for the benefit of others.¹¹³ No person can possess all the charismata. But "when a number live together," a man enjoys not only his own charisma, but he multiplies it "by imparting it to others, and reaps the fruits of other men's charismata as if they were his own."¹¹⁴
7. Life in the company of many provides a good protection against the plots of the enemy, and the presence of others is a good means for the correction of one's own faults.¹¹⁵
8. In a structure that allows no personal relations it is impossible to practice many of the Christian virtues such as humility, mercy or long-suffering. Scripture provides only the theory of perfection; theory without practice is void.¹¹⁶

It was perhaps only natural that in the course of later institutional developments such an exposition of the advantages of the communal life, strongly motivated by scriptural and philosophical arguments, should be almost exclusively applied by many Christians to monastic institutes. Basil, in such a view, would be speaking here not to all Christians but only to those who have decided to practice not only the commandments but also the so-called evangelical precepts. Such an attempt to limit the scope of Basil's projected reform of the contemporary church to one small portion of it should, however, be dismissed as ill-founded and anachronistic.¹¹⁷

As we observed earlier, throughout his works Basil never employs a special name to designate his close followers. His disciples, even those addressed in the shorter interrogations of the Great Asceticon, are active members of the local church. Through them Basil expects to revive the ideal of the first apostolic community, whose members were of one heart and one soul," and had all things in common with no one seeking what is his own but only what is for the good of others.¹¹⁸ The communal life in Basil's terminology is the "apostolic life"; it is Christian life grounded on and nurtured by love; it is in other words "faith working through love."¹¹⁹ As the Moralia, the manual for ascetics living in the world, puts it,

the logos wishes Christians to be: as disciples of Christ, conformed only to the pattern of what they see in Him, or hear from Him; … as members of Christ, who are perfect in the working of all the commandments of the Lord, or equipped with the charismata of the Holy Spirit according to the worthiness of the head, which is Christ; … as light in the world, so that both they themselves are not receptive of evil and enlighten those who approach them to a knowledge of the truth, and these either become what they should be or reveal what they are; as salt in the world, so that they who communicate with them … are renewed in the spirit unto incorruptibility.¹²⁰

Between his churches as communities of perfect Christians and the world … Basil does not think any friendship … possible, for no one can be a friend of the wicked and undiscerning.…¹²¹ He does, however, admit a beneficial relationship with a view to winning the wicked to the church.¹²²

As we mentioned earlier, in his long exposition of the benefits resulting for the individual from the adoption of a communal standard of life. Basil had also tried to deprive the eremitic experience of reasonable foundation by declaring it to be inhuman and unscriptural. Previously he had identified the requirement to abandon the world with the demand to flee and resist the company of outsiders not physically, but so far as friendship was concerned. His further appeal to constitute new fellowships of perfect Christians alongside the officially supported societies of the [hoi exothei] was aimed at the formation of a new nucleus of authentic practitioners of the gospel, whose conversation would be in heaven, from where the light of the gospel would diffuse to all.

Basil's plea to Christians to adopt a corporate concept of sanctity acquires further moment if considered in its historical context. Fourth-century churches were mostly found in the cities or near populated areas. Many Christians perhaps, in view of the scarcely edifying urban life, would have preferred to spend their time after baptism in some quiet spot, far from those centres of corruption and loose morality. Basil himself, after suffering a similar crisis of Christian identity, realized that … spiritual peace, and … freedom from sins, was to be found not through "bodily separation" from the world "but in the severance of the soul's sympathy with the body."¹²³ Through his action, he thus prevented the questionable Egyptian experiment of Christians deserting the churches from repeating itself in Asia Minor.

D. The Holy Spirit and Life in the Brotherhood: The Basilian Brotherhood as the Body of Christ

The term [adelphotes] is indiscriminately applied by Basil to both the ascetic community and the local church.¹²⁴ Basil's cenobia were clearly structured on the pattern of the first community of Jerusalem—the ideal church, according to Basil, in which all things were common, whose members were united by the same faith and brotherly love, "all in common seeking in the one Holy Spirit the will of the one Lord Jesus Christ."¹²⁵ These communities of perfect Christians patterned on the model church of Jerusalem were designed to serve as models for the contemporary local churches.¹²⁶ Since we shall continually speak of the Holy Spirit as being for Basil the main architect of the church, we here propose to outline first the notion of charisma in Basil's writings, notably in the Moralia and the De Spiritu Sancto, and second the idea of the Christian life as a life in the body of Christ characterized by the presence and riches of the Holy Spirit. Our intent is to indicate briefly that the Basilian brotherhoods—the ascetic communities and ideally all the local churches—are organic unities, whose life and functioning depends directly upon the charismatic operation of the Holy Spirit.

i. What is Charisma?

From time to time throughout this chapter we have heard Basil speak of the charismata and the charismatic structure of the church. We must now consider more closely the significance of this term in his theological vocabulary, especially in view of its frequent occurrence in the Moralia and the De Spiritu Sancto. As Basil seems to derive his notion of charisma from Paul, we shall first outline Paul's concept inasmuch as he is the first to introduce this term into the Christian theological vocabulary.¹²⁷

Although the reality signified by the word 'charisma' is familiar to other New Testament writers, Paul is the first to give it a precise theological significance.¹²⁸ The basic notion of charisma can be found in Romans 6.23: "The charisma of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." "Other charismata only exist because of the existence of this one charisma to which they are all related, and they only exist where the gift of eternal life is manifested in the eschatologically inaugurated dominion of Christ."¹²⁹ In our opinion, the key passage to study in considering Paul's notion of charisma is 2 Corinthians 13.13.… As it stands, this text admits of two equally possible renderings, "The participation [fellowship] of the Holy Spirit," or, "The participation [fellowship] in the Holy Spirit."¹³⁰ This is precisely what charisma is: It is a participation or communion both in the objective and subjective sense; that is, it is a fellowship of and in the Holy Spirit.

Charisma points first towards the event of man's participation in the eschatological riches imparted by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this latter sense it is referred to by Paul also by the terms [klesis] and [phanerosis tou Pneumatos] (cf. 1 Cor 12.7). In the second place or rather concomitantly with the first sense, charisma is a participation in the fate and sufferings of others. Paul identifies it with the diakonia, the service which Christians render to their fellowmen (1 Cor 12.4 ff.). The term that comprehends all these aspects of charisma is …, the calling from God addressed to each person individually to participate in his life through his Son in the Holy Spirit and to render the necessary services to our neighbours (Rom 11.29; 1 Cor 7.7, 17 ff.).

Charisma essentially is a koinonia in and of the Holy Spirit through which Christians are called by the Risen Lord to serve his cause by serving their neighbours. The Pauline concept of charisma encompasses the whole range of human actions which under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit are performed for the specific purpose of proclaiming the lordship of Christ and edifying his church. Reacting against the Enthusiasts of Corinth, the apostle reminds them that they should not restrict this notion exclusively to the supernatural and miraculous phenomena such as ecstasies and glossolalia (1 Cor 12.22 ff.). As the Antichrist can also produce signs, wonders and powers (see Mt 24.24; Mk 13.22 and 2 Thess 2.9), the possession of the former is not yet a guarantee of participation in eternal life. Conversely, Paul points out that such inconspicuous and ordinary tasks as tending the sick or providing physical welfare for the poor can be charismata of the Spirit if accompanied by faith in the lordship of Christ and the intention to edify his community, the church. In other words, the true measure of charisma is the way in which, in and for the Lord, an existing set of natural circumstances is transformed by the new obedience to the Risen Lord. My previous condition of life becomes charisma as soon as in baptism the Spirit transforms and takes possession of me. From that moment on nothing is secular or unclean for me as a Christian anymore, but everything becomes holy and purified as long as I use it to proclaim the lordship of Christ and to build up his church.¹³¹ It is in virtue of this comprehensive conception that Paul could speak of marriage, of virginity, of widowhood, of the condition of being slave or free, male or female, etc., as charismata, that is, possible callings and services.¹³² As Kasemann observes:

Charisma is no longer the distinguishing mark of elect individuals but that which is the common endowment of all who call upon the name of the Lord, or, to use the phraseology of the primitive Christian tradition as we have it in Acts 2.17 ff., a demonstration of the fact that the Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh.¹³³

In summing up Paul's teaching on charismata, the same author writes:

Paul's teaching on the subject of charismata constitutes the proof, first, that he made no basic distinction between justification and sanctification and did not understand justification in a merely declaratory sense; further, that he binds justification by faith tightly to baptism, so that it is not permissible to drive a wedge into his gospel, separating the juridical from the sacramental approach; and finally, that he considers faith to be actually constituted by the new obedience.¹³⁴

In view of Basil's use of the term charisma in other contexts, we should add also Paul's application of this term in the description of the "social" relations among the Christians as members of the church, the body of Christ. First, in his teaching on charismata, Paul rules out any ecclesiastical egalitarianism.

God does not repeat himself when he acts, and there can be no mass production of grace. There is differentiation in the divine generosity, whether in the order of creation or of redemption. Equality is not for Paul a principle of Church order.¹³⁵

It is within such contexts that we often hear Paul saying. "To each his own" (Rom 12.3; 1 Cor 3.5; 11.18; 12.7).

Within the ranks of the community there are to be found both strong and weak, aristocrat and proletarian, wise and foolish, cultured and uncultured. No one, according to I Cor 12.21, may say to his brother 'I have no need of you.' Over them all stands the sign [kathos bouletai ethelesei] (I Cor 12.11, 18); this expresses the sovereignty of the divine grace and omnipotence, which is both liberal and liberating, which puts an end to worry and envy by giving individually to every man.¹³⁶

The second watchword coined by Paul in the context of his doctrine on the charismata is, "For one another" (I Cor 12.23).

"The third watchword designed to stifle self-will is to be found in Rom 12.10, Phil 2.3, 1 Peter 5.5 and with special force in Eph 5.21. It runs, 'Submit yourselves to each other in the fear of Christ'.¹³⁷ The humble subordination in love to one's neighbour by rendering him a service, without thereby exercising an act of authority is the truly Christian way of witnessing to the power of the one who "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.… And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross" (Phil 2.6-8).

Did Basil, who was familiar with all these passages, understand Paul in the very way we perceive him today? If Paul had indeed contended that there is no opposition between body and spirit, and that the bodily and material are the sphere of operation of the Pneuma (the Power and Grace of the Risen Lord),¹³⁸ at least on this point Basil along with other early writers seems to be in closer agreement with the Platonist than the Pauline tradition. His homily entitled, "Take Heed of Yourself," it is true, incorporates all life occupations and stations under the rubric of charismata.¹³⁹ Also, his understanding is that each charisma or calling expresses itself in a specific praxis. At the conclusion of the homily Basil pays a high tribute to the body … as the place where divine wisdom, love, generosity, goodness and beauty reveal themselves.¹⁴⁰ But elsewhere, in a quite thoroughgoing manner, he almost completely surrenders to the philosophical dictum that the body is a tomb.…¹⁴¹ On the other hand, Basil expands the Pauline notion of charisma to include earthly goods as well.¹⁴² Not only the sharing of spiritual endowments produces the unity in the Body of Christ, but also the koinonia in the material possessions contributes to edifying the Christian fellowship. It is precisely in such a perspective that the opposition between spirit and matter is resolved through the realization that nothing material is intrinsically evil.¹⁴³ On the contrary, Basil admits, through an act of "dedication" anything can be converted into an instrument … of love and virtue.¹⁴⁴

After these preliminary comparisons between the thinking of Paul and Basil let us now take a closer look at Basil's notion of charisma. Although nowhere in his writings do we find what we might call a technical definition of the term, it is clear that the two Pauline criteria for validating charismata—the confession of the lordship of Christ and the edification of the church—have found ample expression in his writings. The confession of Christ, however, does not necessarily assume a dogmatic form. It is understood rather as a gnosis of God, that is, as the unconditional observance of all divine commandments.¹⁴⁵ This is the most telling proof authenticating all kinds of claims to charismata.¹⁴⁶ The other variable of this motif is the renunciation of one's own self-will through complete surrender to the authority of the Holy Scriptures.¹⁴⁷

The "edification of the church" as a criterion for testing and discerning the spirits is also often found in Basil.¹⁴⁸ Sometimes it assumes the form, known also to Paul, of the search for the "common good" of others.¹⁴⁹ This in its turn entails the renunciation of self-love and even private property.¹⁵⁰

We have already indicated that under the rubric of charisma Basil places all natural goods and services. Nowhere is this better attested perhaps than in the Moralia. Any condition or status in life is suitable to proclaim the "death of Christ" in our bodies and to take part in the victorious advance of the gospel through various parts of the world.¹⁵¹

His more detailed treatment of the individual charismata Basil precedes with a summary description of the nature of charisma:

Since the charismata of the Spirit are different, and neither is one able to receive all nor all the same, each should abide with sobriety and gratitude in the charisma given to him, and all should be harmonious with one another in the love of Christ, as members in a body. So that he who is inferior in charismata should not despair of. himself in comparison with him that excels, nor should the greater despise the less. For those who are divided and at variance with one another deserve to perish.¹⁵²

Strongly emphasized here is the non-egalitarian principle, on the one hand,¹⁵³ and the unitary character of the action of the Spirit, on the other. Charismata are the grounds of Christian unity, eschatological peace and deep love because they stem from the one and same Holy Spirit who is their only cause and source. At the same time charismata manifest the manifold and variegated character of the Bride of Christ.¹⁵⁴ This unity in diversity and diversity in unity is explained by the idea of the Holy Spirit acting as a whole in parts:

In relation to the distribution of charismata, the Spirit is to be conceived as a whole in parts. For we all are 'members one of another, having different charismata according to the grace of God that is given us' (Rom 12.5-6). Wherefore 'the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you' (I Cor 12.21), but all together complete the body of Christ in the unity of the Spirit, and render to one another the needful aid that comes of the charismata. 'But God hath set the members in the body, every one of them, as it hath pleased Him' (cf. I Cor 12.18, 11). But 'the members have the same care for one another' (I Cor 12.25) according to the spiritual communion of their inborn sympathy.… And as parts in the whole so are we individually in the Spirit, because we all 'were bap-tized in one body into one spirit' (cf. I Cor 12.13).' ¹⁵⁵

Because of the dialectical nature of charismata moderation and restraint … should accompany their use and exercise.¹⁵⁶

The extent to which Basil admitted the principle of charismatic ordering in his communities is difficult to determine simply by reading his works. A more thorough study will almost certainly show that the ministerial structure of his brotherhoods was rather loose, flexible, and open, allowing considerably more freedom for the charismatic manifestations than one would be ready or willing to admit. The Shorter Interrogation 114 is a case in point: the commands of anyone who has passed the test of the Scriptures—a criterion similar to the one for the validation of all charismata—should be obeyed as if they had the same authority as the will of God (1160A ff.). Anyone who has unselfishly dedicated himself to his brothers "in the love of Christ" (Reg. br. 146: 1177D) is capable of contributing through his individual charismata to the edification of the body of Christ as long as he does not arbitrarily volunteer his services but offers them in response to the needs of others.

ii. Life in the Spirit

While the Egyptian Christians, desirous of working out their salvation and sanctification, were advised to abandon through physical withdrawal the world of human relations and to seek in the wilderness the ideal environment for their vocation, Basil, dealing with the same subject, proposes what he terms a "paradoxical" statement: the "ambiance" … of Christian sanctification and worship is not to be found in any physical or geographical location but essentially consists in living and in being in the Holy Spirit who is the [hora] of those being sanctified.¹⁵⁷ The withdrawal of passions and the subsequent quiet … are precisely intended to facilitate this contact and even the entry of the soul into the "ambiance" called the Holy Spirit.¹⁵⁸

Baptism is the means by which every single member is introduced into the life in the Holy Spirit.¹⁵⁹ Through this sacrament of Christian regeneration humans not only bury themselves with Christ and die to sin, but they are also positively enabled to become "that very thing" of which they were born anew, that is to say, they receive from the Spirit the power to become assimilated to God:

Shining upon those that are cleansed from every spot, the Spirit makes them spiritual … by fellowship … with Himself. Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others. Hence come foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of charismata, heavenly citizenship, a place in the chorus of angels, joy without end, abiding in God, being made like to God, and, what is most desirable, being made God. ¹⁶⁰

In virtue of this deifying principle apportioned to every single member of the body of Christ, the church is referred to by Basil as the place of the fellowship … in and of the Holy Spirit.¹⁶¹ In it humans communicate with each other by sharing their material and spiritual goods and through the mutual (social) exchange of services.¹⁶²

As Basil is explicit, on the one hand, that the members of his brotherhoods are people filled with the Spirit and his endowments, so he is very firm, on the other, in asserting the organic unity of his communities as the body of Christ. To the question "Ought one in the brotherhood to obey what is said by every one?" Basil replies:

The answer to this question is fraught with considerable difficulty. In the first place the question indicates disorder when it mentions things said by every one, for the apostle says: 'Let the prophets speak by twos and threes and let the others discern' (I Cor 14.29). And the same writer in dividing charismata has assigned the proper rank (order) of each of the speakers.… And by his example of the members of the body he shows clearly that the lot of the speaker is to speak in tums.¹⁶³ '"

Basil then proceeds to explain the structure of the brotherhood basically as consisting of those entrusted with the charisma of leadership and those entrusted with the charisma of obedience.¹⁶⁴

The Holy Spirit, as it is not difficult to illustrate from Basil's works, is present not only in each member of the community. His lifegiving and sanctifying presence and operation, besides being universal and comprising all intelligent beings, as apparent particularly in the mysteries of the church—the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, the inspired writings of the Old and New Testament, the proclamations … of the church; that is, homilies, ordinances, decisions made by spiritual men, instructions, the exchange of letters and visits, consultations and spiritual advice, as well as in meetings for the purpose of edifying the faith and in the prayers of the church.¹⁶⁵

E. The Brotherhood of Churches

If Basil often appealed to the need for order and decency within his ascetic brotherhoods, in doing so he was far from basing his claims on conciliar decisions or "rules" drawn up by himself or others to that effect. ¹⁶⁶ The only commandment of vital importance and urgency for Basil was the commandment of love, often referred to as the first fruit and charisma of the Holy Spirit.¹⁶⁷ As we shall see in more detail in Chapter Four the logos of love should not only bind the Christian communities together internally, but it should also compel each individual community to seek intercourse and communion with the others. Thus, in place of a hierarchical system, we find in Basil an order of brotherhood intended to regulate not only individual but also intercommunal relations.

Basil's design provided that the ascetic communities be the prime model in this. In the Longer Rule³⁵ Basil first advocates the welding together … of several brotherhoods existing in the same parish.… ¹⁶⁸ The rule invoked is the apostolic command, "Not looking each to his own things, but each also to the things of the others" (Phil 2.4). Basil explains:

For I reckon this cannot be carried out in separation, when each section takes care for its fellow denizens, but thought for the others is outside its ken, which, as I said, is clearly opposed to the apostolic command. And the saints in the Acts bear witness to this frequently, of whom it is written in one place: 'The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul' (Acts 4.32), and in another place, 'All that believed were together, and had all things common' (Acts 2.44). So it is obvious that there was no division among them all, nor did each live under his own authority, but all had one and the same care—and that too although the total number was five thousand, and with such a number one would think perhaps there were no few obstacles to union. But where men living in a single parish are found so inferior in numbers to those, what in reason allows them to remain separated from one another?¹⁶⁹

But Basil is not satisfied with this first step of union among local brotherhoods. The same reasons of convenience and of better provision for the private needs of the individuals compel him to formulate a more far-reaching wish:

Would that it were possible, that not only those in the same parish were thus united, but that a number of brotherhoods existing in different places might be built up into a community under the single care of those who are able without partiality and wisely to manage the affairs of all in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace!¹⁷⁰

That Basil sought the implementation of the same apostolic pattern of union and brotherhood for all the churches spread throughout the oikoumene is easy to gather from his correspondence and the De Spiritu Sancto. As I shall deal more extensively with this subject in the fourth chapter, it should suffice here to provide additional evidence indicating Basil's interest in seeing all churches amalgamated into one universal brotherhood. It can hardly be said that Basil considered the church as a monad.¹⁷¹ Time and again throughout his writings he shows a consciousness of the church as a brotherhood of all believers in Christ: "All believers in Christ are one people; all Christ's people, although He is hailed from many regions, are one church."¹⁷² As we shall see in Chapter Four, the concrete circumstances in which Basil lived were far from ideal for the realization of a union of all Christians. The scene, particularly east of Illyricum, dominated by endless theological squabbles, personal rivalries and partisanship, rather resembled a storm at sea, "as when at sea many ships sailing together are all dashed one against the other by the violence of the waves, and shipwreck arises in some cases from the sea being furiously agitated from without, in others from the disorder of the sailors hindering and crowding one another."¹⁷³ Some bishops, if they were not in open warfare with their neighbours, tried to ignore them and live in confinement in their own cities. Basil, although fully conscious of his personal sins which he considered to be the major obstacle to friendship and to achieving ecclesiastical unity, often made an appeal to more transcendental ties—the bond of love, of one Lord, one faith, one hope—as the only valid motives to be taken into account in the formation of a universal brotherhood of churches.¹⁷⁴ To the bishops of Pontus unsettled by the Eustathian propaganda about his orthodoxy, Basil wrote in an expostulatory letter:

Nothing, brethren, separates us from each other, but deliberate estrangement. We have one Lord, one faith, the same hope.… For we are assured, that though you are not present in body, yet by the aid of prayer, you will do us much benefit in those most critical times. It is neither decorous before men, nor pleasing to God, that you should employ such words which not even the Gentiles who know no God have employed. Even they, as we hear, though the country they live in be self-sufficient for all things, yet, on account of the uncertainty of the future, make much of alliances with each other, and seek mutual intercourse as being advantageous to them.¹⁷⁵

It was not only the uncertainty of the situation under a hostile government that compelled Basil to seek the establishment and reinforcement of the brotherhood among Christian communities spread throughout the world, but the principle that no Christian or individual community can adequately take care of oneself or itself while ignoring the interests of others. "General disaster involves individual ruin."¹⁷⁶ Wherefore "'whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it' (I Cor 12.26), for 'there should be no schisms in the body, but the members should have the same care for one another' (I Cor 12.25), according to the spiritual fellowship of their inborn sympathy, and being moved, no doubt, by the one indwelling Spirit."¹⁷⁷ But as we said earlier the situation was far from ideal for an enduring conciliation of the spirits on whom weighed heavily the consequences of the long war in which many churches became involved following the Council of Nicaea:

We are confined now each in his own city, and everyone looks at his neighbour with distrust. What more is to be said but that our love has grown cold? Yet it is through [love] alone that, according to our Lord, His disciples are distinguished.¹⁷⁸

The love of many has grown cold throughout, brotherly concord is destroyed, the very name of unity is ignored, brotherly admonitions are heard no more; … but mutual hatred has blazed so high among fellow clansmen that they are more delighted at a neighbour's fall than their own success.… And to such depth is this evil rooted among us that we have become more brutish than the brutes; they do at least herd with their fellows, but our most savage warfare is with our own people.¹⁷⁹ …

Notes

¹ Other expressions include: "house of God," "church of Christ," "body of Christ," "dove of Christ," "bride of Christ," "city of God," "daughter of God," and also very frequently, "brotherhood." The names applied to Christians include: "brethren," "people of God," "members of the body of Christ," "believers in Christ," "God's flock," "disciples of the Lord," and "disciples of the gospel." Some of these expressions are studied below pp. 6 ff. In his work, Early Christian Doctrines (London, 1968), p. 401, J. N. D. Kelly quotes with approval the "customary" (sic!) view according to which "as contrasted with that of the West, Eastern teaching about the Church remained immature, not to say archaic, in the post-Nicene period." One could reply that all such time-honoured designations, although obviously derived from the Bible, by being repeated in new historical contexts, reflect new realities, in the case of Basil the situation of the "imperial" church under Julian and Valens.

² See e.g. In ps. 45 and 59 quoted below p. 10. On the fourth-century church as an organization (society) competing with the state see A. Momigliano, The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century (Oxford, 1963), pp. 9 ff.

³ See In ps. 48.1 discussed in n. 7, below; Ep. 161.1: Courtonne, 2:93; Dejud., 1:653A-B; Ep. 243.1: Courtonne, 3:68, and chapters 8 and 9 of the book On the Holy Spirit. For the theological impossibility of a distinction between universal and local church in general see H. M. Legrand, "The Revaluation of Local Churches: Some Theological Implications," Concilium 71 (1972) 57, and K. L. Schmidt, "[Ekhansia]" in TDNT (1965) 3: 501-536; see also J. D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (London, 1975), pp. 262 ff.

⁴ See below, pp. 41 ff., and 23 ff.

⁵ See Ep. 161.1: Courtonne, 2:93; In ps. 59.2: 464B-C.

⁶ See Reg. fus. 2.1: 908B ff.; In ps. 44.2: 392A f.

⁷In ps. 48.1: 433C-D. This important homily provides the essential elements of Basil's view on the universality (intrinsic and intentional catholicity) of the church. Before speaking of the Holy Spirit as the architect of the church … and of the church as the community of universal love (433A-D), Basil surveys the theories of the various philosophical schools concerning the end of human existence (432A-B). After the statement of the Christian position according to which the end of human life is "to be totally ruled by God," there follows a comprehensive list of all those called by the kerygma of the Holy Spirit to form the universal fellowship (433A). In order that no one may be left without the church's aid in the path to salvation, "there are three pairs of those called, in which every race of men is included".… Among those called by the Spirit are: non-Romans and Roman citizens … people of primitive culture and civilized men … the rich and the poor … whereby all social classes are comprised. See also Hex. 11.5: Smets-Esbroeck, 238:.… For the historical background of Basil's statements see Momigliano, The Conflict, pp. 12-16. On Gregory of Nazianzus' concept of universality and unity see Ph. Muraille, "L'église, peuple de l'oikouméné d'aprés s. Grégoire de Nazianze. Notes sur l'unité et l'universalité," EThL44 (1968) 154-178, and E. Bellini, La chiesa nel mistero della salvezza in san Gregorio Nazianzeno (Venegono Inferiore, 1970), pp. 71-74. On Origen see briefly G. Bardy, La théologie de l'église de saint Iréneé au concile de Nicée (Paris, 1947), pp. 160-161.

⁸ Besides In ps. 48.1, see Dejud., 2:656A f.

⁹ See Dejud., 1:653 A. For the interpretation of De sp. s. 66: Pruche, 478 ff., see G. Florovsky, "The Function of Tradition in the Ancient Church," GOTR 9 (1963) 181 ff.; also T. Spidlik, La sophiologie de saint Basile (Rome, 1961), pp. 172-186. For the quite different domestic experience of the church of Gregory of Nazianzus see Bellini, La chiesa, pp. 13-14.

¹⁰ See Dejud., 1:653A; Epp. 204.6: Courtonne, 2:178; 210.1: ibid., 190; 223.3: ibid., 3:1 ff. Whenever his orthodoxy was attacked or questioned Basil would appeal to the ties of his family with Gregory Thaumaturgus, apostle and founder of the church of Neocaesarea. K. Holl in Amphilochius von Ikonium in seinem Verhdltnis zu den grossen Kappadoziern (Tubingen, 1904), pp. 117-119, has tried to show Basil's indebtedness to the theology, mainly as contained in the Expositio fidei, of Gregory Thaumaturgus. See also J. Gribomont, "L'origénisme de saint Basile," L 'homme devant Dieu. Meanges H. de Lubac (Paris, 1963), p. 281, and H. Dehnhard, Das Problem der Abhȧngigkeit des Basilius von Plotin (Berlin, 1964), pp. 19-32. But the authenticity of Gregory's Expositio fidei attributed to him by Gregory of Nyssa (PG 46, 912D-913A) has lately been challenged by L. Abramowski, "Das Bekenntnis des Gregor Thaumaturgus bei Gregor von Nyssa und das Problem seiner Echtheit," ZKG 87 (1976) 145-166. However, it is not at all impossible that Gregory of Nyssa is quoting in the symbol most or some of the ipsissima verba of the founder of the church of Neocaesarea as they were transmitted orally through his disciples, notably Macrina. There could be posterior additions by some of his successors in the see of Neocaesarea. The term [hornios] does not have to be necessarily derived from Plotinus; it is found already in Clement of Alexandria and Origen (see PGL, s.v.). For a comparison of Gregory's Expositio fidei with Arius' Thalia see A. Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition, 2nd ed. (Atlanta, 1975), 1: 232-238.

¹¹ See the Epistles cited above, n. 10.

¹² For the evidences see Holl, Am philochias, pp. 127 ff., and n. 10, above.

¹³ See De sp. s. 75: Pruche, 516; Reg. mor. 8.1: 712CD; 70.19: 832B.

¹⁴ See Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 43.5-6: PG 36, 500B-D; Gregory of Nyssa, Vita Macrinae, 2 and 20: Maraval, 142 ff. (with the notes), and 206.

¹⁵ On the inclusion of the cult of martyrs in the homilies of the Cappadocians see J. Bernardi, La prédication des Pères cappadociens. Le prédicateur et son auditoire (Paris, 1968), pp. 398-400.

¹⁶ Probably Musonius, the bishop of Neocaesarea, was an ascetic (see Ep. 28.1: Courtonne, 1: 66-67). That many of the urban churches and schools were under the supervision of the Eustathians see below, pp. 162 ff., and 160 ff. Probably the whole family of Basil practiced the family type of asceticism which until 350 was in full vigour in Syria and Asia Minor; see E. Amand de Mendieta, "La virginité chez Eusébe d'Emèse et l'ascéticisme familial dans la première moitié du IV^e siècle," RHE 50 (1955) 777-820, esp. pp. 800 f.; Id. and M. C. Moons, "Une curieuse homélie grecque inédite sur la virginité adressée aux pères de famille," RB 53 (1953) 18-69; 211-238; also R. Metz, La consecration des vierges dans 1'Eglise romaine (Paris, 1954).

¹⁷ On the defection of Dianius, the bishop of Caesarea who baptized Basil, see Ep. 51.2; Courtonne, 1: 132-133. There was also the downfall of Hosius and Liberius.

¹⁸Dejud., 2 and I (conflated): 653c and B; Clarke, pp. 77 f. See also below, pp. 69, n. 149, and 75, n. 175.

¹⁹ This, if we are to place the Moralia after 370; see below, pp. 149 ff., our Chronological Table. On Eunomius see M. Spanneut, "Eunome," in DHGE 15 (1963) 1399-1405 (with Bibliography). Among the most recent studies should be noted, L. R. Wickham, "The Date of Eunomius' Apology: A Reconsideration," JThS 20 (1969) 231-240 (Eunomius has indeed delivered his Apology at the Council of Constantinople), and E. Cavalcanti cited below, n. 22.

²⁰C. Eun. 1.1: 497A ff.; 5: 516B ff.; 9: 532A. Cf. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, p. 249.

²¹ See C. Eun. 1.1: 497A f.

²² See C. Eun. 1.3: 505-508; 2.30: 641A; 7: 584B. Cf. Ep. 52.1: Courtonne, 1: 134; Spidlik, Sophiologie, pp. 211 ff. See also E. Cavalcanti, Studi eunomiani (Rome, 1976), pp. 34-46, and M. Girardi, "Le 'nozioni communi sullo Spirito Santo' in Basilio Magno," VChr 13 (1976) 278-283.

²³ See C. Eun. 1.26: 569C. Cf. De sp. s., 17-19: Pruche, 302 ff.; In ps. 28.3: 288A-B.

²⁴ See C. Eun. 2.19: 612B-C.

²⁵ See C. Eun. 2.5: 585B-C; 19: 612C; 1.3: 508A ("multitude of Christians … endowed with all sorts of spiritual charismata").

²⁶ See in particular C. Eun. 3.2-3: 657C ff.

²⁷ The presence of clergy seems to be implied in Hom. 3.5: Rudberg, 30. See also the remark on Hom. 11.5 below, p. 7. On the two types of ascetics see Appendix B and C below, pp. 156-165. In his otherwise valuable work on the preaching of the Cappadocians Bernardi has failed to take notice of the preface to the Small Asceticon (PG 31: 1080A-B) which, in my opinion, implies the regular attendance of Basilian ascetics at the services and instructions held in the local churches. Moreover, many of the so-called Shorter Rules seem to have been occasioned by questions put to Basil following his homilies in the church. In some cases they appear as further explanations of some points raised during the sermons. As instances cf. Reg. br. 301: 1296A f. with Hom. 3.4: Rudberg, 28 f.; Reg. br. 164: 1189B ff. with Hom. 3.5: Rudberg, 30, etc.

²⁸Hom. 11.5: 38IC-D.

²⁹ Ibid., 384B.

³⁰ A similar thought is expressed in Interrog. 3: 495A.

³¹Hom. 3.1: Rudberg, 21 ff.

³² Cf. Hom. 9.9: 394A-B; 3.6: Rudberg, 32-33.

³³Hom. 3.3: Rudberg, 26. Cf. Reg. fus. 55: 1044B ff.

³⁴Hom. 3.4: Rudberg, 28 f.; see Hom. 8.8: 328B.

³⁵Hom. 3.4: Rudberg, 29-30. For a similar procedure see In ps. 28.1: 281A-B; 29.1: 308A; 48.1: 433B.

³⁶Inps. 29.1: 308A.

³⁷In ps. 48.1: 433B. See also above, p. 2, n. 7.

³⁸In ps. 44.5: 397D.

³⁹ Ibid., 9: 408C. The authority … of discerning good from evil is attributed in Reg. mor. 80.15: 865A to one of the church members, the leader of the word, who in the body executes the function of the eye.

⁴⁰In ps. 44.9: 408C.

⁴¹ Ibid.

⁴²In ps. 44.10: 409A; 11: 412C. On the theme of the church as bride of Christ in Origen see H. J. Vogt, Das Kirchenverstandnis des Origenes (Cologne-Vienna, 1974), pp. 210-225.

⁴³Inps. 44.10: 409A-B.

⁴⁴ Ibid., 10: 409A.

⁴⁵ Ibid., 10: 409C.

⁴⁶ Ibid., 11: 412C-D.

⁴⁷ Ibid., 12: 413B.

⁴⁸ Ibid., 12: 413C.

⁴⁹ Ibid., 12: 413D.

⁵⁰In ps. 45.4: 421C-D; 59.4: 468B. On the sources of this definition see A. Hamack, History of Dogma (New York, 1961), 2: 81-82 (Platonic idea from the Republic found in Origen); also E. Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity (New York, 1956), p. 211, n. 5. … Cf. P. Scazzoso, Reminiscenze della Polis platonica nel cenobio di s. Basilio (Milan, 1970).

⁵¹In ps. 59.4: 468B; 45.4: 421C.

⁵²In ps. 45.4: 42IB-C.

⁵³ Ibid., 4: 421C; 8: 428C-429A. As a parallel to these passages see Reg. fus. 5: 920B ff., and 8: 933D ff. See also in this connection our remark below, p. 19 about the moral rather than institutional character of this "church in heaven."

⁵⁴Inps. 59.2: 461B; see In ps. 1.2: 213A. On the idea of "change" in the sense of progress from the imperfect to the perfect see In ps. 44.1-2: 388A ff.; De fide, 2: 681B; Ep. 223.3: Courtonne, 3: 12. On the concept of excommunication from the church referred to In ps. 59.4: 468A, see Ep. 61: Courtonne, 1: 151-152.

⁵⁵In ps. 28.3: 288A-C; cf. also C. Eun. 1.26: 569C.

⁵⁶ On the meaning of parasynagogue see Ep. 188, c. 1 discussed below, pp. 65-67.

⁵⁷In ps. 33.8: 369A-B. This same homily emphasizes the non-egalitarian character of Christian calling: "Just as the bones by their own firmness protect the tenderness of the flesh, so also in the church there are some who through their own constancy are able to carry the infirmities of the weak," etc. (ibid., 13: 384B-C; Way, p. 272). See also below, p. 29, n. 153. For a possible identification of the stronger members see Hex. 5.6: Giet, 304, and Epistles 28 and 29. Cf. C. Eun. 1.1: 500A.

⁵⁸ See in particular the study of Y. Courtonne, Saint Basile et l'hellénisme (Paris, 1934), and S. Giet's introduction to his edition of Basil's Hexaemeron (Paris, 1968), pp. 32 ff., esp. 43 ff.

⁵⁹ See Spidlik, Sophiologie, pp. 143 ff.

⁶⁰ See Hex. 1.3: Giet, 96 ff.; 11.8: Smets-Esbroeck, 246 f.

⁶¹ This is, however, an historical judgment. Basil's objective as we mentioned was of a religious rather than sociological nature. On Basil's attitude towards Greek science see Courtonne, S. Basile et l 'hellenisme, and E. Amand de Mendieta, "The Official Attitude of Basil of Caesarea as a Christian Bishop towards Greek Philosophy and Science," in D. Baker, ed., The Orthodox Churches and the West (Oxford, 1976), pp. 25-49.

⁶² Basil's Corpus Asceticum comprises the works listed foremost in his preface to the Hypotyposis (the text printed as spurious in PG 31, 1509-1513 has been vindicated as authentic by J. Gribomont, Histoire du texte des Ascétiques de s. Basile (Louvain, 1953), pp. 284-287; see there also, pp. 279-282, a critical edition of the Greek text). These works are: De judicio, De fide, Moralia and the Great Asceticon. However, it must be recognized that, in one way or another, all of Basil's writings bear the stamp of his ascetic training and background. Therefore in a study of his life and ideals connected with Christian asceticism one must also constantly refer to his sermons, letters and "dogmatic" writings. The existence of a previous edition of the Great Asceticon (known traditionally as the Longer and Shorter Rules) has been established only recently, thanks to the studies of F. Laun and J. Gribomont. It came to be known as the Small Asceticon. This early edition of Basil's Asceticon has been preserved only in two versions, the Latin of Rufinus from 397 (PL 103, 483-554), and in a less accessible Syriac translation from the sixth century. Both translations have been investigated and collated by Gribomont, Histoire, pp. 95-148. For reasons explained in the Chronological Table, I adopt the following chronology in the analysis of Basil's ascetic writings: Small Asceticon—between 365-369; Great Asceticon—370-376; Moralia—beginning with 360; final composition with the two prefaces, the De judicio and the De fide, from 376. The Hypotyposis—from 376.

⁶³ It is my contention that Basil became involved in the recruitment and organization of ascetic communities as a result, partially, of Julian's policies against the Christians and, partially, of emperor Valens' measures. Little consideration has been given until now in Basilian scholarship to the possible influence of these external factors on Basil's decision to switch from an isolated half-desert type of asceticism (Sarabaitism?) to one with closer ties with the church ostracized by the state. This change probably occurred during Basil's visit to Caesarea in 362, and his projects begun then were resumed on full scale on his return in 365. For the (Eastern) idea of the emperor as "always close to hand to his subjects," see P. Brown, The World of Late Antiquity (London, 1971), pp. 42-43.

⁶⁴Epistles 84 and 89 of Julian, in which the emperor-philosopher sketches his plans to revive the old religion, were written before June of 362. "On June 17, 362, a law was promulgated which made the giving of instruction in school everywhere dependent on the permission of city authorities; and these were directed to test more the character of the applicants" (H. Lietzmann, History of the Early Church [Cleveland, 1961], 3: 274). If Eusebius was elected to succeed Dianius in June or July of 362 (see Maran, Vita, 8.4), Basil must have arrived at the summons of the dying Dianius either in May or June of the same year; see Ep. 51.2: Courtonne, 1: 133.

⁶⁵ Lietzmann, History, 3: 279.

⁶⁶Ep. 89 quoted in Lietzmann, History, 3: 278-279.

⁶⁷ I place Julian's visit to Caesarea in September of 362 because on September 7 was the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of Eupsychius and Damas, who were executed by order of the emperor during his stay in Cappadocia; see Epp. 100, 176 and 252, and Maran, Vita, 8.5-6; L. Duchesne, The Early History of the Christian Church (London, 1912), 2: 265; Lietzmann, History, 3: 279-280 (I do not know on what evidence this author calls Eupsychius a bishop, 3: 280).

⁶⁸ Julian's policies had certainly affected Gregory of Nazianzus. Besides his Invectives against Julian from 363 (which were probably never pronounced in public), see Orations 20, 42 and 43. On the latter two see the important observation of Bernardi, Prédication, pp. 257-258.

⁶⁹ See Greg. Naz., Or. 43.29.

⁷⁰ The emperor died on June 26, 363, and was succeeded by the pious Jovian.

⁷¹ The same applies to his other works, see n. 62, above.

⁷² See below, pp. 156 ff.

⁷³ That Basil's ascetic ideal is addressed to all, independently of sex, social condition, and also very largely of age, can be proved from Interrog. 6: 497D-498B; Reg. fus. 10.1: 944C ff.; 11: 948A-C; Reg. mor. 75.1: 856A; Reg. fus. 12: 948C ff.; 15.1-4: 952A-957A; Reg. mor. 73.1-6: 849D-853B; 76.1-2: 857A-B. The only remote condition seems to be baptism; see Reg. fus. 8.1: 936A and Interrog. 4: 498C, in the sense that catechumens, who in the local churches constituted the majority, would be excluded from Basil's "versions" of the church. That baptism was not an immediate condition can be inferred from Basil's account of his own ascetic renunciation in Ep. 223.2: Courtonne, 3: 10. Although regulations concerning the admission of slaves, married persons, and children appear only in the Great Asceticon it must be noted that the Asceticons are not systematic works but that their composition progressively developed as questions were raised; see Scholion 2, 3 and 4 in Gribomont, Histoire, pp. 152-154.

⁷⁴ See De sp. s. 2: Pruche, 252; Reg. mor. 80.8: 861D.

⁷⁵ We have in mind particularly the "systematic" part, the so-called "Longer Rules," in the Small Asceticon, Interrogations 1-11, and the Reg. fus. 1-54 of the Great Ascetion. While in all probability the titles of the shorter questions are original, that is, posited by the disciples of Basil, the headings of the longer ones were improperly added by the editors; see J. Gribomont, "Saint Basile," Thélogie de la vie monastique (Paris, 1961), p. 104.

⁷⁶ See Reg. fus. 2.1: 909B; ibid.: 912A.

⁷⁷ Cf. In ps. 48.1: 432A-B.…

⁷⁸Inps. 48.1: 432B.

⁷⁹Reg. fus. 5.3: 921C; Clarke, p. 160.

⁸⁰ Cf Hom. 23.4: 597A.…

⁸¹Reg. mor. 43.1: 761C. See also ibid., 2: 761D; Clarke, p. 112: "That as the law makes a partial, so the gospel makes a complete demand as regards every good action," which confirms what was said above, pp. 15-16; see also Reg. br. 4: 1984C; 293, 1288C ff.

⁸² See Reg. fus. 2.1: 908B-C; 909A-B.

⁸³ See Reg. fus. 2.1: 908D; Clarke, p. 153.

⁸⁴ Ibid.

⁸⁵Reg. fus. 3.1: 917A-B; Clarke, p. 157.

⁸⁶ Ibid́.

⁸⁷ For the sake of brevity I shall quote mainly from the expanded text of the Great Asceticon unless there is an important difference in content, in which case I shall also cite the text of the Small Asceticon.

⁸⁸ The first question is taken from Reg. fus. 6.1-2: 925A-928B; the second, from Reg. fus. 7.1-4: 928B-933C, and the corresponding Interrog. 2: 493B-494A and Interrog. 3: 494B-496B.

⁸⁹ See below, pp. 163 ff.; Gribomont, "Renoncement," pp. 300-302.

⁹⁰ On the church's elements of sacredness, distinctiveness, and secrecy see Ep. 28.1: Courtonne, 1: 66-67; De sp. s. 66: Pruche, 478 ff.; E. Amand de Mendieta, The 'Unwritten' and 'Secret' Apostolic Traditions in the Theological Thought of St. Basil of Caesarea (Edinburgh, 1965); Idem … JThS 16 (1965) 129-142. However, I would be inclined to agree with the interpretation of the De sp. s. 66 given by G. Florovsky, "The Function of Tradition in the Ancient Church," GOTR 9 (1963) 181-200, despite Amand's reservations in "The Pair," p. 136.

⁹¹ In Cappadocia many tried to join the ascetic communities only to avoid taxes and military service. If Basil managed to deter many from joining the church for trivial reasons, he probably did so by making almost compulsory acceptance of ascetic renunciation part of the baptismal renunciation. This is not, however, so clear from the Asceticons alone, nor from Basil's homilies. See on the latter Bernardi, Predication, p. 396.

⁹² Besides n. 90 see Lietzmann, History, 4: 98-99.

⁹³Proem. in reg. br.: 1080A; Clarke, p. 229.

⁹⁴Reg. fus. 6.1: 925A; Clarke, p. 161; cf. ibid., 925C.

⁹⁵ For a definition of the "world" in the moral sense see De sp. s. 53: Pruche, 440 f.; see also n. 94.

⁹⁶ Cf. Gribomont, "Renoncement," pp. 295 and 300.

⁹⁷Ep. 2.2: Rudberg, 158; cf. Jackson, p. 110; see also Ep. 223.2: Courtonne, 3: 10.

⁹⁸ Besides n. 97 see Gribomont, "Renohcement," pp. 305-306, and Ep. 210.1: Courtonne, 2: 190 … in Ep. 2.2: Rudberg, 158).

⁹⁹ See Epistles 3-6, 9, 11-13, 15, 17-18, 20-21.

¹⁰⁰ See Reg. fus. 5.1-3: 920A-924D, esp. 921 A.

¹⁰¹ Cf. Gribomont, "Renoncement," pp. 300-301.

¹⁰² Cf. Ep. 2.1-2: Rudberg, 156 ff.

¹⁰³ Cf. Reg. fus. 7: 928B ff.; Interrog. 3: 494B ff.

¹⁰⁴ Besides Reg. fus. 7.2: 929C see Dejud., 3: 660A.

¹⁰⁵Saint Basil the Great. A Study in Monasticism (Cambridge, 1913), p. 86, n. 2. Unfortunately this author often fails to draw the pertinent conclusions from many of his remarkable insights. For instance, on pp. 112-113 of the same work Clarke skillfully demonstrates that the term [migas] in Gregory of Nazianzus is used to describe the ascetic life lived in the world. However, he never follows up this accurate observation.

¹⁰⁶ Text from Acts 2.44 quoted in Reg. fus. 7.4: 933C. There do not seem to be substantial changes between the exposition in the Reg. fus. 7 and the Interrog. 3 regarding our subject. The only discrepancy I noticed is that Rufinus' text speaks also of prayer as drawing benefit from the communal life; see 495C. However, in the Great Asceticon there seems to be a certain insinuation, but no more than that, as to the benefits of living in the same place.

¹⁰⁷ A rather "monastic" analysis of this interrogation can be found in E. Amand de Mendieta, L 'ascèse monastique de saint Basile (Maredsous, 1949), pp. 118-128; see also Clarke, Monasticism, pp. 85-86.

¹⁰⁸ Cf. Reg. fus. 7.1: 928C-D. The concept of "insufficiency" is also expressed in Ep. 97: Courtonne, 1: 210. See also Ep. 203.3: Courtonne, 2: 170.

¹⁰⁹Reg. fus. 7.1: 929A.

¹¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹¹ Ibid.: 929B.

¹¹² Ibid., 2: 929C; Clarke, p. 164.

¹¹³Interrog. 3: 495A: "quae [charismata] singula non tam pro se unusquisque quam pro aliis suscipit a Spiritu sancto."

¹¹⁴Reg. fus. 7.2: 932B; Clarke, p. 165.

¹¹⁵ Ibid., 3: 93213-C.

¹¹⁶ Cf. ibid., 4: 933A.

¹¹⁷ For more on this see below, pp. 161-165.

¹¹⁸ On the frequent use of Acts 2.44 and 4.32, see Amand de Mendieta, Ascese, p. 129, n. 88.

¹¹⁹ Cf. Ep. 295: Courtonne, 3: 169-170. Cf. also Reg. mor. 80.22: 868C: "What is the ethos of a Christian? Faith working through love."

¹²⁰Reg. mor. 80.1, 4, 9-10: 860C-864A; Clarke, pp. 127-128.

¹²¹ See In ps. 44.2: 392C. Compare Cicero, De officiis 1.17, 53-58: Miller, 56-60.

¹²² See Reg. mor. 80.9-10: 864A; 18.6: 732C-D, and also below, pp. 74-75.

¹²³ See Ep. 2.2 analyzed above, pp. 19 f.

¹²⁴ See on the ascetic community, Epp. 223.5: Courtonne, 3: 14; 257.2: ibid., 100; and the Great Asceticon, passim. As applied to the church, see Epp. 133: Courtonne, 2: 47; 135.2: ibid., 50; 226.2: ibid., 3: 25; 255: ibid., 96. See also Didascalia Apostolorum and Firmilian's, among Cyprian's, Epistle 175.25: CSEL 3.2. Cf. also 1 Pet 5.9. However, beginning with the fourth century it is commonly restricted to the ascetic communities; see Greg. Nys., Vit. Macr. 16: Maraval, 194 and n. 1, ibid., references to Gregory of Nazianzus, Macarius, and Jerome.

¹²⁵Dejud., 4: 660C-D; Clarke, p. 81.

¹²⁶ L. Vischer, Basilius der Grosse (Basel, 1953), p. 49, whose position Gribomont, "Renoncement," p. 474, endorses, has tried to reverse the statement of P. Humbertclaude by saying that Basil endeavoured to reform the local churches on the pattern of his cenobia, and not vice versa. It seems, however, that the most accurate statement to make is that Basil first built (or rebuilt) his ascetic communities on the pattern of the model church of Jerusalem, and that he then proceeded to apply that model to the contemporary churches: thus (a) church of Jerusalem; (b) ascetic community embodying that model; (c) the local church extending and perpetuating it. The interest in the model community of Jerusalem has been constantly present in the mind of many church reformers, from the early centuries through Basil and Augustine to the Middle Ages. In the absence of an overall study the reader may consult the works of A. Vȯȯbus, History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient … (Louvain, 1958, 1960), and P. C. Bori, La chiesa primitiva (Brescia, 1974).

¹²⁷ The following exposition of Paul's teaching on charismata is based largely on the works of E. Kȧsemann, "Ministry and Community in the New Testament," in Essays on New Testament Themes (London, 1964), pp. 63-94; Idem, "Worship in Everyday Life: a note on Romans 13," in New Testament Questions of Today (London, 1969), pp. 188-195; E. Schweizer, Church Order in the New Testament (London, 1961); Idem, Jesus (Richmond, Va., 1971); J. D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (London, 1975). See also the articles "Charisma" (by H. Conzelmann) and "Pneuma" (by E. Schweizer) in TDNT and the homonymous entries in PGL.

¹²⁸ See Kȧsemann, "Ministry," p. 64.

¹²⁹ Kȧsemann, "Ministry," p. 64.

¹³⁰ For a discussion of these possibilities see L. S. Thornton, The Common Life in the Body of Christ (London, 1963), pp. 66 ff., and J. D. G. Dunn, p. 261.

¹³¹ See Kȧsemann, "Ministry," p. 72. The term "new obedience" for the post-Easter faith is also taken from him; see also Idem, "Worship," p. 194, where it is demonstrated that for Paul there was no difference between the private and public realm.

¹³² See for the biblical references Kȧsemann, "Ministry," p. 69; contra, Dunn, Jesus, pp. 206 f.

¹³³ "Ministry," pp. 73-74.

¹³⁴ Ibid., p. 75.

¹³⁵ Ibid., p. 76.

¹³⁶ Ibid.

¹³⁷ Ibid., pp. 77-78.

¹³⁸ Cf. Kasemann, "Worship," p. 191; "Ministry," pp. 67 f.

¹³⁹Hom. 3.4: Rudberg, 29 f.; Hom. 9.5: 340B; In ps. 29.1: 308A.

¹⁴⁰Hom. 3.8: Rudberg, 36-37; Hex. 10.1, 2, 6: Smets-Esbroeck, 166 ff., 178 ff.

¹⁴¹ This is already indicated, guardedly though, in Hom. 3.3: Rudberg, 26 ff.; see Amand de Mendieta, Ascèse, pp. 191 ff.

¹⁴² Before Basil this meaning is found only in the Didache 1.5; see Hom. 11.5: 384A ff.

¹⁴³ See Reg. br. 92: 1145c f.; Hom. 11.5: 381c ff.

¹⁴⁴ Ibid., and Reg. fus. 9.1: 941B ff.; Reg. mor. 48.2: 768D ff.

¹⁴⁵ See Reg. mor. 7.1: 712B; Hom. 23.4: 597A.

¹⁴⁶Reg. br. 225: 1232B ff. and n. 145, above. The interpretation of this rule in Amand de Mendieta, Ascese, p. 143 seems to us less correct. It is evident that throughout his writings, notably the Moralia, Basil is faced with the uncontrollable demands for freedom of the Messalians, the Enthusiasts of the fourth century; see the sources on their teaching in M. Aubineau, Grégoire de Nysse, Traité de la Virginité (Paris, 1967), pp. 534-536; cf. esp. p. 534, "they regard the zeal for the works of the commandments detrimental to their souls." See also J. Gribomont, "Les Règles Morales de s. Basile et le Nouveau Testament," SP 2 (Berlin, 1957) 416-426.

¹⁴⁷ The expression, "Submit to each other," is also strongly attested in Basil's writings; see briefly Reg. br. 1: 1081C, and Spidlik, Sophiologie, pp. 74 ff.

¹⁴⁸ See the references given below, pp. 90 ff.

¹⁴⁹ See Reg. fus. 7.2: 932A; Ep. 135.1: Courtonne, 2: 50; Hom. 11.5: 381D-384A.

¹⁵⁰See Ep. 236.7: Courtonne, 3: 54-55; Hom. 6.7: 267B ff.; also Spidlik, Sophiologie, pp. 149 ff.

¹⁵¹ See in general Hom. 5.2: 241A; In ps. 1.3: 217A; Hom. 3.4: Rudberg, 29-30, and also the inclusion of the various life-situations in the Moralia; see Reg. mor. 70-79 preceded by the Reg. mor. 60 quoted next.

¹⁵²Reg. mor. 60.1: 793A-B; Clarke, p. 117 (rev.).

¹⁵³ See also Reg. br. 235: 1240C, and In ps. 33.13 cited above, n. 57.

¹⁵⁴ See In ps. 44.9: 408C.

¹⁵⁵De sp. s. 61: Pruche, 468 f. See also De jud., 3: 660A; Reg. fus. 7.2: 929C.

¹⁵⁶ See Reg. mor. 60 quoted above.

¹⁵⁷De sp. s. 62: Pruche, 470. [Hora] could also be translated "the position" or "proper place" of a person in life.

¹⁵⁸ No w the Spirit is not brought into intimate association … with the soul by local approximation.… This approximation results from the withdrawal of passions which, coming afterwards on the soul from its friendship to the flesh, have alienated it from its close friendship to God" (De sp. s. 23: Pruche, 326; Jackson, p. 15).

¹⁵⁹ See De sp. s. 61: Pruche, 470; Reg. mor. 80.22: 868D-869B.

¹⁶⁰De sp. s. 23: Pruche, 328; Jackson, pp. 15-16 (rev.). Cf. also Reg. mor. 20.1-2: 736D ff.

¹⁶¹Ep. 90.1: Courtonne, 1: 195.

¹⁶² On the social function of charismata see Reg. br. 253: 1252B-C; also the fine interpretation of the Moral Rule 58 by Amand de Mendieta, Ascèse, p. 139, n. 125; see also below, p. 119 and n. 74. B. Bobrinskoy, "Liturgie et ecclésiologie trinitaire de s. Basile," VC 89 (1969) 16 ff., has interpreted the words [he koinonia tou Pneumatos] which Basil obviously derives from 2 Cor 13.13, in the sense of a communion and participation in the Holy Spirit modelled on the eucharistic communion. Although some such meaning is possible according to Thornton, The Common Life, pp. 71 ff., if it is adopted "it must not be understood in a sense which excludes the other alternative," that is, "the human fellowship which the Holy Spirit brought into existence, the social entity which has the Holy Spirit for its creative author or fountain-source" (ibid., pp. 74 and 69; for such a sense in Basil see In ps. 48.1: 433 AD. Cf. S. Giet, Les idées et l'action sociales de s. Basile [Paris, 1941], p. 173). Cf. also Dunn, Jesus, pp. 260 f.: "shared experience."

¹⁶³Reg. br. 303: 1296D-1297A.

¹⁶⁴ Ibid.: 1297B-C; see Reg. br. 235: 1240C-D. Besides the two mentioned charismata, Basil acknowledges the existence of others; see Amand de Mendieta, Ascèse, pp. 139 and 142-144. It should be noted that Basil is far from advocating an indiscriminate or blind obedience on the part of the subjects. In Reg. br. 303: 1297BC the subjects are given the same rights to "test the spirits" as the hearers of the word in Reg. mor. 72.1-2: 845D ff.

¹⁶⁵ On the sanctification of angels by the Holy Spirit see the study of A. Heising, "Der HI. Geist und die Heiligung der Engel in der Pneumatologie des Basilius von Caesarea," ZKTh 87 (1965) 257-308. On the "inspiration" of the Bible see the dissertation of B. B. Wawryk, Doctrina Sancti Basilii Magni de inspiratione Sacrae Scripturae (Rome, 1943). On the presence of the Spirit in other ecclesiastical actions see Reg. mor. 80.22: 868D; 20.2: 736D; Ep. 188, c. 1: Courtonne, 2: 123; In ps. 44.3: 396A; Epp. 229.1: Courtonne, 3: 33-34; 92.3: ibid., 1: 202-203; 207.4: ibid., 2: 187; and in general see the studies of J. Verhees, "Pneuma, Erfahrung und Erleuchtung in der Theologie des Basilius des Grossen," Ostkirchliche Studien 25 (1976) 43-59, and "Die Bedeutung der Tranzendenz des Pneuma bei Basilius," ibid., 285-302.

¹⁶⁶ The title "Longer" and "Shorter Rules" given in some MSS to the question-answers of Basil's Asceticons is illegitimate not only because of its being interpolated but also because in replying to the questions Basil acts less as a legislator than as a spiritual adviser.

¹⁶⁷ See In ps. 32.1: 324C; Epp. 65: Courtonne, 1: 155; 133: ibid., 2: 47; 172: ibid., 107; 204.1: ibid., 173. Cf. Inps. 33.13: 384C.

¹⁶⁸ … see PG 31, 1003A and Clarke, Ascetic Works, p. 201.

¹⁶⁹Reg. fus. 35.3: 1008A-B; Clarke, pp. 203-204.

¹⁷⁰ Ibid.: 1008B; Clarke, p. 204.

¹⁷¹ See ch. 4, B, i: "Intrinsic Limitations of the Local Church."

¹⁷²Ep. 161.1: Courtonne, 2: 93; Jackson, p. 214.

¹⁷³Ep. 82: Courtonne, 1: 184; Jackson, p. 172. The last words clearly refer to the internal difficulties.

¹⁷⁴ In his study, Basilius der Grosse, L. Vischer draws attention to the frequency with which Basil makes reference to personal sins as possible obstacles to the achievement of church's union; see e.g. Epp. 59.1: Courtonne, 1: 147; 124; ibid., 2: 29-30; 266.2: ibid., 3: 135; 204.4: ibid., 2: 175; 203.1: ibid., 168.

¹⁷⁵Ep. 203.3: Courtonne, 2: 170; Jackson, p. 242.

¹⁷⁶Ep. 136.2: Courtonne, 2: 52.

¹⁷⁷ Conflation of De sp. s. 61: Pruche, 470; Jackson, p. 39 and De jud., 3: 657D-660A; Clarke, p. 80.

¹⁷⁸Ep. 191: Courtonne, 2: 145.

¹⁷⁹De sp. s. 78: Pruche, 526-528. See De jud. 3: 657c.

List of Abbreviations

1. Abbreviations of the Works of Basil of Caesarea

We refer to the works of Basil of Caesarea by the abbreviated Latin title and subdivision of the. work. Books, chapters and paragraphs are indicated by arabic numerals. All references are to the Greek text either of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (=PG) volumes 29-32 quoted by volume, column and letter, or, if available, to the modern partial editions quoted by the name of the editor, volume and page number. Unless otherwise noted, English translations are my own. When used, the translations of others have always been checked against the Greek text and, if necessary, slightly revised. All such revisions are signalled by the abbreviation "rev." in parenthesis. The translations of W. K. L. Clarke and B. Jackson have been preferred to those of R. Deferrari, A. Way and M. Wagner as being more accurate.

C. Eun. 1-3 Contra Eunomium libri tres, PG 29, 497-669.

Defide De fide, PG 31, 676-692; Eng. trans. Clarke, Ascetic Works, pp. 90-99.

De jud. De judicio Dei, PG 31, 653-676; Eng. trans. Clarke, Ascetic Works, pp. 77-89.…

De sp. s. De Spiritu Sancto, PG 32, 68-217; ed. Johnston, The Book of Saint Basil the Great on the Holy Spirit; ed. and Fr. trans. Pruche, Basile de Césarée, Traitédu Saint-Esprit; Eng. trans. Jackson, SLNPF, 8: 2-50.

Ep. 1-366 Epistolae 1-366, PG 32, 220-1112; ed. and Fr. trans. Courtonne, Saint Basile, Lettres 1-3; Eng. trans. Jackson, SLNPF, 8: 109-327; ed. and Eng. trans. Deferrari, Saint Basil, The Letters. Epp. 2, 150 and 173 are edited in Rudberg, Etudes sur la tradition, pp. 151-211.

Hex. 1-9 (11) Hexaemeron homiliae 9, PG 29, 4-208; ed. and Fr. trans. Giet, Basile de Césaré, Homélies sur l'Hexaéméron; Eng. trans. Jackson, SLNPF, 8: 52-107; Homilies 10 and 11 are edited and translated into Fr. in Smets and van Esbroeck, Basile de Césaré, Sur l 'origine de 1 'homme; see also the excellent edition of Hörner, Auctorum incertorum … sermones.

Hom. 1-29 Homiliae variae, PG 31, 163-481; 489-617; 1437-1476; 1488-1496. Homily 3 is edited in Rudberg, L'homélie de Basile.

In ps. Homiliae in psalmos 1, 7, 14.1-2, 28, 29, 32, 33, 44, 45, 48, 59, 61, 114, 115 (PG 29, 307-494; 30, 104-116; Eng. trans. A. C. Way, St. Basil, Exegetic Homilies, pp. 151-359).

Interrog. 1-203 Interrogationes fratrum, PL 103, 483-554. Known also as Small Asceticon; see Gribomont, Histoire, pp. 237 ff.…

Reg. br. 1-313 Regulae brevius tractatae, PG 31, 1080-1305; Eng. trans. Clarke, Ascetic Works, pp. 230-351; for the additional 7 Interrogations, see Gribomont, Histoire, pp. 179-186.

Reg. fus. 1-55 Regulae fusius tractatae, PG 31, 905-1052; Eng. trans. Clarke, Ascetic Works, pp. 152-228.

Reg. mor. 1-80 Regulae morales, PG 31, 700-869; Eng. trans. Clarke, Ascetic Works, pp. 101-131.

2. Other Abbreviations

CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna) …

DHGE Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclesiastiques, edd. A. Baudrillart et al. (Paris: Letouzey, 1912—).…

EThL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses (Louvain) …

GOTR Greek Orthodox Theological Review (Brookline, Mass.) …

JThS Journal of Theological Studies (Oxford) …

PG Patrologia graeca, 161 vols., ed. J. P. Migne (Paris, 1857-1866).…

PGL A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G. W. H. Lampe (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961-1965).…

RB Revue bénédictine (Maredsous) …

RHE Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique (Louvain) …

SCh Sources chrétiennes (Paris)

SCM Student Christian Movement (London) …

SLNPF A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (New York: Grand Rapids) …

SP Studia patristica (Berlin)

SPCK Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (London) …

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10 vols., edd. G. Kittel et al. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-1976).…

VC Verbum caro (Taizé)

VCh Vigiliae christianae (Amsterdam)

VChr Vetera christianorum (Bari) …

ZK Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte (Stuttgart)

ZKTh Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie (Innsbruck) …

A. Select Bibliography

A. Editions and English Translations of Basil's Works

For an alphabetical listing with short references, see the List of Abbreviations, pp. ix-xii.

… Clarke, William Kemp Lowther, trans. The Ascetic Works of St. Basil. London: SPCK, 1925.

Courtonne, Yves, ed. & trans. Saint Basile, Homélies sur la richesse. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1935.

——. Saint Basile, Lettres. 3 vols. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1957, 1961, 1966.…

Giet, Stanislas, ed. & trans. Basile de Césarée, Homélies sur l'Hexaéméron. 2nd ed. SCh 26bis. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1968.…

Jackson, Blomfield, trans. The Treatise De Spiritu Sancto, The Nine Homilies of the Hexaemeron and the Letters of Saint Basil the Great. SLNPF, series 2, volume 8. New York, 1895; rpt. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1968.…

Pruche, Benoît, ed. & trans. Basile de Césarée, Traité du Saint-Esprit. 2nd ed. SCh 17bis. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1968.…

Rudberg, Stig Y., ed. L 'homélie de Basile de Césarée sur le mot: "Observe-toi toi même." Stockholm: Almquist, 1962.

Smets, Alexis, and Michel van Esbroeck, edd. & trans. Basile de Césaré, Sur l 'origine de l 'homme (Homélies x et xl de I'Hexaéméron). SCh 160. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1970.…

Way, Agnes Clare, trans. St. Basil, Exegetic Homilies. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1963.…

B. Other texts

Aubineau, Michel, ed. & trans. Grégoire de Nysse, Traité de la virginité. SCh 119. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1966.…

Clémencet, Charles and Armand Benjamin Caillau, edd. & trans. Sancti Gregorii Nazianzeni Opera omnia. PG 35-38.…

Jaeger, Werner, et al., edd. Gregorii Nysseni Opera. Leiden: Brill, 1960—. (For works not comprised by any of the modern editions see PG 44-46).

Maraval, Pierre, ed. & trans. Grégoire de Nysse, Vie de sainte Macrine. SCh 178. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1971.…

Miller, Walter, ed. & trans. Cicero, De officiis. London: Heinemann, 1928.…

C. Studies and General Works

Abramowski, Luise. "Das Bekenntnis des Gregor Thaumaturgus bei Gregor von Nyssa und das Problem seiner Echtheit." ZKG 87 (1976) 145-166.…

Amand de Mendieta, Emmanuel. L 'ascése monastique de saint Basile. Essai historique. Maredsous: Editions de Maredsous, 1949.…

——. "La virginité chez Eusèbe d'Emèse et l'ascétisme familial dans la première moitiŕ du IV^e siecle." RHE 50 (1955) 777-820.…

——. The "Unwritten" and "Secret" Apostolic Traditions in the Theological Thought of Saint Basil of Caesarea. (Scottish Journal of Theology Occasional Papers, 13.) Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1965.

——. "The Pair 'Kerygma' and 'Dogma' in the Theological Thought of Saint Basil of Caesarea." JThS 16 (1965) 129-142.…

——. "The Official Attitude of Basil of Caesarea as a Christian Bishop towards Greek Philosophy and Science." In Derek Baker, ed., The Orthodox Churches and the West, pp. 25-49. Oxford: Blackwell, 1976.…

Bardy, Gustave. La théologie de l 'Eglise de s. Irénée au concile de Nicée. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1947.…

Bellini, Enzo. La chiesa nel mistero della salvezza in san Gregorio Nazianzeno. Venegono Inferiore: La Scuola Cattolica, 1970.…

Bernardi, Jean. La prédication des Pères cappadociens. Le prédicateur et son auditoire. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1968.…

Bobrinskoy, Boris. "Liturgie et ecclésiologie trinitaire de s. Basile." VC 89 (1969) 1-32.…

Bori, Piere Cesare. Chiesaprimitiva. L'immagine della communità delle origini—Atti 2.42-47; 4.32-37—nella storia della chiesa antica. Brescia: Paideia, 1974.…

Brown, Peter. The World of Late Antiquity. London: Thames & Hudson, 1971.…

Cavalcanti, Elena. Studi eunomiani. Rome: Pontificio Istituto orientale, 1975.

Clarke, William Kemp Lowther. Saint Basil the Great. A Study in Monasticism. Cambridge: University Press, 1913.…

Conzelmann, Hans. [Hariosma]. TDNT (Grand Rapids, 1974), 9: 402-406.…

Courtonne, Yves. Saint Basile et l'hellénisme. Etude sur la rencontre de la pensée chrétienne avec la sagesse antique dans l'Hexaéméron de Basile le Grand. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1934.…

Dehnhard, Hans. Das Problem der Abhängigkeit des Basilius von Plotin. Diss. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964.…

Duchesne, Louis. The Early History of the Christian Church. 3 vols. London: Murray, 1909, 1912, 1924.

Dunn, James D. G. Jesus and the Spirit. A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament. London: SCM, 1975.…

Florovsky, Georges. "The Function of Tradition in the Ancient Church." GOTR 9 (1963) 181-200.…

Giet, Stanislas. Les idées et l'action sociales de s. Basile. Paris: Gabalda, 1941.…

Girardi, Mario. "Le 'nozioni comuni sullo Spirito Santo' in Basilio Magno." VChr 13 (1976) 269-288.…

Gribomont, Jean. Histoire du texte des Ascétiques de s. Basile. Diss. Louvain: Publications universitaires, 1953.…

——. "Les Règles morales de s. Basile et le Nouveau Testament." SP 2 (Berlin, 1957) 416-426.

——. "Le renoncement au monde dans l'idéal ascétique de s. Basile." Irénikon 31 (1958) 282-307; 460-475.…

——. "Saint Basile." In Théologie de la vie monastique, pp. 99-113. Paris: Aubier, 1961.

——. "L'origénisme de s. Basile." In L'homme devant Dieu. Mélanges H. de Lubac, 1: 281-294. Paris: Aubier, 1963.…

Grillmeier, Aloys. Christ in Christian Tradition. 1: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451). 2nd ed. Atlanta: Knox Press, 1975.…

Harnack, Adolf von. History of Dogma. 7 vols. New York: Dover, 1961.

——. The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. 2 vols. London: Williams, 1904/1905.

Hatch, Edwin. The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity. New York: Torchbooks, 1957.…

Heising, Alkuin. "Der Hl. Geist und die Heiligung der Engel in der Pneumatologie des Basilius von Caesarea." ZKTh 87 (1965) 257-308.…

Holl, Karl. ["Basil's Trinitarian Teaching"]. In Amphilochius von Ikonium in seinem Verhältnis zu den grossen Kappadoziern, pp. 116-158. Tübingen: Mohr, 1904; rpt. 1969.…

Käsemann, Ernst. Essays on New Testament Themes. London: SCM, 1964.

——. New Testament Questions of Today. London: SCM, 1969.

Kelly, John Norman Davidson. Early Christian Doctrines. 4th ed. London: Black, 1968.…

Legrand, Hervé Marie. "The Revaluation of Local Churches: Some Theological Implications." Concilium 71 (1972) 53-64.…

Lietzmann, Hans. History of the Early Church. 4 vols. Cleveland: World, 1961.…

Malingrey, Anne Marie. "Philosophia." Etude d'un groupe de mots dans la littérature grecque, des Présocratiques au IV^esiècle après J.C. Paris: Klincksieck, 1961.…

Maran, Prudentius. Vita s. Basilii Magni. PG 29, vclxxvii. See Julien Gamier and Prudentius Maran, edd. & trans. Sancti Basilii Magni Opera omnia.…

Metz, René. La consécration des vierges dans I Eglise romaine. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1957.…

Momigliano, Arnaldo, ed. The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century. Oxford: University Press, 1963.…

Muraille, Philippe. "L'Eglise, peuple de l'oikouménè d'après s. Grégoire de Nazianze. Notes sur l'unité et l'universalité." EThL 44 (1968) 154-178.…

Scazzoso, Piero. Reminiscenze della Polis platonica nel cenobio di s. Basilio. Milan: Istituto Italiano, 1970.…

Schmidt, Karl Ludwig. [Ekklesoa]. TDNT (Grand Rapids, 1965), 3: 501-536.…

Schweizer, Eduard. Church Order in the New Testament. London: SCM, 1961.

——.… TDNT (Grand Rapids, 1965), 6: 389-455.

——. Jesus. Richmond, Va.: Knox, 1971.…

Spanneut, Michel. "Eunome." DHGE (Paris, 1963), 15: 1399-1405.

Špidlik, Thomas. La sophiologie de saint Basile. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, 1961.…

Thornton, Lionel Spencer. The Common Life in the Body of Christ. 4th ed. London: Dacre, 1963.…

Verhees, Jacques. "Pneuma, Erfahrung und Erleuchtung in der Theologie des Basilius des Grossen." Ostkirchliche Studien 25 (1976) 43-59.

——. "Die Bedeutung der Tranzendenz des Pneuma bei Basilius." Ibid., 285-302.

Viller, Marcel & Karl Rahner. Aszese und Mystik in der Väterzeit. Freiburg-im-Breisgau: Herder, 1939.

Vischer, Lukas. Basilius der Grosse. Untersuchungen zu einem Kirchenvater des vierten Jahrhunderts. Diss. Basel: Rheinhardt, 1953.…

Vogt, Hermann Josef. Das Kirchenverständnis des Origenes. Diss. Cologne-Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 1974.

Vööbus, Arthur. History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient. A Contribution to the History of Culture in the Near East. 1: The Origin of Asceticism. Early Monasticism in Persia. (CSCO 184). 2: Early Monasticism in Mesopotamia and Syria. (CSCO 197). Louvain: Secrétariat du Corpus SCO, 1958, 1960.…

Wawryk, Basilius Boris. Doctrina Sancti Basilii Magni de inspiratione Sacrae Scripturae. Diss. Rome: Gregorian University, 1943.…

Wickham, L. R. "The Date of Eunomius' Apology: A Reconsideration." JThS 20 (1969) 231-240.