St Basil The Great: Letters And Select Works

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A SELECT LIBRARY
OF THE
NICENE AND
POST-NICENE FATHERS
OF
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
SECOND SERIES
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WITH PROLEGOMENA AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Edited by
PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D
PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK
AND
HENRY WACE, D.D
PRINCIPAL OF KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON
VOLUME VIII
BASIL: LETTERS AND SELECT WORKS
T&T CLARK
EDINBURGH
__________________________________________________
WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

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The TREATISE DE SPIRITU SANCTO
THE NINE HOMILIES OF THE HEXAEMERON AND THE LETTERS
Of
SAINT BASIL THE GREAT
Archbishop of CAESARIA
Translated with Notes
by
The Rev. Blomfield Jackson, M.A

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Preface
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This translation of a portion of the works of St. Basil was originally begun under the editorial supervision of Dr. Wace. It was first announced that the translation would comprise the De Spiritu Sancto and Select Letters, but it was ultimately arranged with Dr. Wace that a volume of the series should be devoted to St. Basil, containing, as well as the De Spiritu Sancto, the whole of the Letters, and the Hexæmeron. The De Spiritu Sancto has already appeared in an English form, as have portions of the Letters, but I am not aware of an English translation of the Hexæmeron, or of all the Letters. The De Spiritu Sancto was presumably selected for publication as being at once the most famous, as it is among the most valuable, of the extant works of this Father. The Letters comprise short theological treatises and contain passages of historical and varied biographical interest, as well as valuable specimens of spiritual and consolatory exhortation. The Hexæmeron was added as being the most noted and popular of St. Basil’s compositions in older days, and as illustrating his exegetic method and skill, and his power as an extempore preacher
The edition used has been that of the Benedictine editors as issued by Migne, with the aid, in the case of the De Spiritu Sancto, of that published by Rev. C. F. H. Johnston

The editorship of Dr. Wace terminated during the progress of the work, but I am indebted to him, and very gratefully acknowledge the obligation, for valuable counsel and suggestions. I also desire to record my thanks to the Rev. C. Hole, Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History at King’s College, London, and to Mr. Reginald Geare, Head Master of the Grammar School, Bishop’s Stortford, to the former for help in the revision of proof-sheets and important suggestions, and to the latter for aid in the translation of several of the Letters.
The works consulted in the process of translation and attempted illustration are sufficiently indicated in the notes
London, December, 1894

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Genealogical table shall be presented shortly; your patient is greatly appreciated

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CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
TO ACCOMPANY THE LIFE OF ST. BASIL
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329 or 330. St. Basil born
335. Council of Tyre
336. Death of Arius
337. Death of Constantine
340. Death of Constantine II
341. Dedication creed at Antioch
343. Julian and Gallus relegated to Macellum.
Basil probably sent from Annen to school at Cæsarea
344. Macrostich, and Council of Sardica
346. Basil goes to constantinople
350. Death of Constans
351. Basil goes to constantinople
1st Creed of Sirmium
353. Death of Magnentius
355. Julian goes to Athens atter part of year
356. Basil returns to Cæsarea
357. The 2d Creed of Sirmium, or Blasphemy, subscribed by Hosius and Liberius
Basil baptized, and shortly afterwards ordained reader
358. Basil visits monastic establishments in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, and retires to the monastery on the Iris
359. The 3d Creed of Sirmium. Dated May 22. Councils of Seleucia and Ariminum
360. Acacian synod of Constantinople
Basil, now ordained Deacon, disputes with Aetius
Dianius subscribes the Creed of Ariminum, and
Basil in consequence leaves Cæsarea
He visits Gregory at Nazianzus
361. Death of Constantius and accession of Julian.
Basil writes the -Moralia
362. Basil returns to Cæsarea
Dianius dies. Eusebius baptized, elected, and consecrated bishop
Lucifer consecrates Paulinus at Antioch
Julian at Cæsarea. Martyrdom of Eupsychius
363. Julian dies (June 27). Accession of Jovian
364Jovian dies. Accession of Valentinian and Valens.
Basil ordained priest by Eusebius
Basil writes against Eunomius
Semiarian council of Lampsacus
365. Revolt of Procopius
Valens at Cæsarea
366. Semiarian deputation to Rome satisfy Liberius of their orthodoxy
Death of Liberius. Damasus bp. of Rome
Procopius defeated
367. Gratian Augustus
Valens favours the Arians
Council of Tyana
368. Semiarian Council in Caria. Famine in Cappadocia
369. Death of Emmelia. Basil visits Samosata
370. Death of Eusebius of Cæsarea
Election and consecration of Basil to the see of Cæsarea
xii Basil makes visitation tour
371. Basil threatened by arian bishops and by modestus
Valens, travelling slowly from Nicomedia to Cæsarea, arrives at the end of the year
372. Valens attends great service at Cæsarea on the Epiphany, Jan. 6
Interviews between Basil and Valens
Death of Galates
Valens endows Ptochotrophium and quits Cæsarea.
Basil visits Eusebius at Samosata.
Claim of Anthimus to metropolitan dignity at Tyana.
Basil resists Anthimus.
Basil Forces Gregory of Nazianzus to be consecrated bishop of Sasima, and consecrates his brother Gregory to Nyssa. Consequent estrangement of Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus.
Basil in Armenia. Creed signed by Eustathius.
373. St. Epiphanius writes the “Ancoratus.”
Death of Athanasius.
Basil visited by Jovinus of Perrha, and by Sanctissimus of Antioch.
374. Death of Auxentius and consecration of Ambrose at Milan.
Basil writes the “De Spiritu Sancto.”
Eusebius of Samosata banished to Thrace.
Death of Gregory, bp. of Nazianzus, the elder.
375. Death of Valentinian. Gratian and Valentinian II. emperors.
Synod of Illyria, and Letter to the Orientals.
Semiarian Council of Cyzicus.
Demosthenes harasses the Catholics.
Gregory of Nyssa deposed.
376. Synod of Iconium.
Open denunciation of Eustathius by Basil.
378. Death of Valens, Aug. 9.
Eusebius of Samosata and Meletius return from exile.
379. Resting in the Lord of Basil, Jan. 1
Theodosius Augustus.

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Prolegomena
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Sketch of the Life and Works of Saint Basil
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I. Life.
I—Parentage and Birth
Under the persecution of the second Maximinus,11 Of sufferers in this supreme struggle of heathenism to delay the official recognition of the victory of the Gospel over the empire, the Reformed Kalendar of the English Church preserves the memory of St. Blaise (Blasius), bishop of Sebasteia in Armenia, St. George, St. Agnes, St. Lucy, St. Margaret of Antioch, St. Katharine of Alexandria. a Christian gentleman of good position and fair estate in Pontus22 Greg. Naz., Or. xliii. (xx.). N.B. The reff. to the orations and letters of Greg. Naz. are to the Ordo novus in Migne. and Macrina his wife, suffered severe hardships.33 Id. They escaped with their lives, and appear to have retained, or recovered, some of their property.44 Greg. Nyss., Vit. Mac. 178, 191. Of their children the names of two only have survived: Gregory55 Bishop of an unknown see. Of the foolish duplicity of Gregory of Nyssa in fabricating a letter from him, see the mention in Epp. lviii., lix., lx. and Basil.66 Βασίλειος, Basilius=royal or kingly. The name was a common one. Fabricius catalogues “alii Basilii ultra xxx.,” all of some fame. The derivation of Βασιλεύς is uncertain, and the connexion of the last syllable with λεύς=λέως=λαός, people, almost certainly wrong. The root may be ÖBA, with the idea that the leader makes the followers march. With the type of name, cf. Melchi and the compounds of Melech (e.g. Abimelech) in Scripture, and King, LeRoy, Koenig, among modern names. The former became bishop of one of the sees of Cappadocia. The latter acquired a high reputation in Pontus and the neighboring districts as an advocate of eminence,77 Greg. Nyss., Vit. Mac. 392. and as a teacher of rhetoric. His character in the Church for probity and piety stood very high.88 Greg. Nyss., Vit. Mac. 186. He married an orphaned gentlewoman named Emmelia, whose father had suffered impoverishment and death for Christ’s sake, and who was herself a conspicuous example of high-minded and gentle Christian womanhood. Of this happy union were born ten children,99 Greg. Nyss., Vit. Mac. 182. five boys and five girls. One of the boys appears to have died in infancy, for on the death of the elder Basil four sons and five daughters were left to share the considerable wealth which he left behind him.1010 Greg. Naz., Or. xliii. (xx.). Of the nine survivors the eldest was a daughter, named, after her grandmother, Macrina. The eldest of the sons was Basil, the second Naucratius, and the third Gregory. Peter, the youngest of the whole family, was born shortly before his father’s death. Of this remarkable group the eldest is commemorated as Saint Macrina in the biography written by her brother Gregory. Naucratius died in early manhood,11
11 Ib. 181, 191
about the time of the ordination of Basil as reader. The three remaining brothers occupied respectively the sees of Cæsarea, Nyssa, and Sebasteia

As to the date of St. Basil’s birth opinions have varied between 316 and 330. The later, which is supported by Garnier, Tillemont, Maran,1212 329. Prudent Maran, the Ben. Ed. of Basil, was a Benedictine exiled for opposing the Bull Unigenitus. †1762. Fessler,1313 “Natus. c. 330.” and Böhringer, may probably be accepted as approximately correct.1414 Gregory of Nazianzus, so called, was born during the episcopate of his father, Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus. Gregory the elder died in 373, after holding the see forty-five years. The birth of Gregory the younger cannot therefore be put before 328, and Basil was a little younger than his friend. (Greg. Naz., Ep. xxxiii.) But the birth of Gregory in his father’s episcopate has naturally been contested. Vide D.C.B. ii. p. 748, and L. Montaut, Revue Critique on Greg. of N. 1878. It is true that Basil calls himself an old man in 374,1515 Ep. clxii. but he was prematurely worn out with work and bad health, and to his friends wrote freely and without concealment of his infirmities. There appears no reason to question the date 329 or 330

Two cities, Cæsarea in Cappadocia and Neocæsarea in Pontus, have both been named as his birthplace. There must be some amount of uncertainty on this point, from the fact that no direct statement exists to clear it up, and that the word πατρίς was loosely employed xiv to mean not only place of birth, but place of residence and occupation.1616 Gregory of Nazianzus calls Basil a Cappadocian in Ep. vi., and speaks of their both belonging to the same πατρίς. In his Homily In Gordium martyrem, Basil mentions the adornment of Cæsarea as being his own adornment. In Epp. lxxvi. and xcvi. he calls Cappadocia his πατρίς. In Ep. lxxiv., Cæsarea. In Ep. li. it is doubtful whether it is Pontus, whence he writes, which is his πατρίς, or Cæsarea, of which he is writing. In Ep. lxxxvii. it is apparently Pontus. Gregory of Nyssa (Orat. I. in xl. Mart.) calls Sebaste the πατρίς of his forefathers, possibly because Sebaste had at one time been under the jurisdiction of Cappadocia. So in the N.T. πατρίς is the place of the early life and education of our Lord. Basil’s parents had property and interests both in Pontus and Cappadocia and were as likely to be in the one as in the other. The early statement of Gregory of Nazianzus has been held to have weight, inasmuch as he speaks of Basil as a Cappadocian like himself before there was any other reason but that of birth for associating him with this province.1717 Maran, Vit. Bas. i. Assenting, then, to the considerations which have been held to afford reasonable ground for assigning Cæsarea as the birthplace, we may adopt the popular estimation of Basil as one of “The Three Cappadocians,”1818 Böhringer. and congratulate Cappadocia on the Christian associations which have rescued her fair fame from the slur of the epigram which described her as constituting with Crete and Cilicia a trinity of unsatisfactoriness.1919 Καππάδοχες, Κοῆτες, Κίλικες, τρία κάππα κάκιστα. On Basil’s own estimate of the Cappadocian character, cf. p. 153, n. cf. also Isidore of Pelusium, i. Epp. 351, 352, 281. Basil’s birth nearly synchronizes with the transference of the chief seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium. He is born into a world where the victory already achieved by the Church has been now for sixteen years officially recognized.2020 The edict of Milan was issued in 313. He is born into a Church in which the first great Council has already given official expression to those cardinal doctrines of the faith, of which the final and formal vindication is not to be assured till after the struggles of the next six score of years. Rome, reduced, civilly, to the subordinate rank of a provincial city, is pausing before she realises all her loss, and waits for the crowning outrage of the barbarian invasions, ere she begins to make serious efforts to grasp ecclesiastically, something of her lost imperial prestige. For a time the centre of ecclesiastical and theological interest is to be rather in the East than in
the West

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