Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 8
Basil — Letters and Select Works
SECTION 41
Chapter XI.
Chapter XI. That they who deny the Spirit are transgressors. 27. "Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow?" [939] For whom is distress and darkness? For whom eternal doom? Is it not for the transgressors? For them that deny the faith? And what is the proof of their denial? Is it not that they have set at naught their own confessions? An…
1,102 wordsSECTION 42Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIII. Statement of the reason why in the writings of Paul the angels are associated with the Father and the Son. 29. It is, however, objected that other beings which are enumerated with the Father and the Son are certainly not always glorified together with them. The apostle, for instance, in his charge to Timothy, ass…
832 wordsSECTION 43Chapter XIV.
Chapter XIV. Objection that some were baptized unto Moses and believed in him, and an answer to it; with remarks upon types. 31. But even if some are baptized unto the Spirit, it is not, it is urged, on this account right for the Spirit to be ranked with God. Some "were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." [971] A…
1,665 wordsSECTION 44Chapter XV.
Chapter XV. Reply to the suggested objection that we are baptized "into water." Also concerning baptism. 34. What more? Verily, our opponents are well equipped with arguments. We are baptized, they urge, into water, and of course we shall not honour the water above all creation, or give it a share of the honour of the Father a…
1,859 wordsSECTION 45Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVI. That the Holy Spirit is in every conception inseparable from the Father and the Son, alike in the creation of perceptible objects, in the dispensation of human affairs, and in the judgment to come. 37. Let us then revert to the point raised from the outset, that in all things the Holy Spirit is inseparable and who…
2,571 wordsSECTION 46Chapter XVII.
On this point I have said enough. [1030] 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. [1031] Acts v. 9 and 4. "Thou hast not lied," said to Ananias, interpolated into the rebuke of Sapphira. [1032] 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5, 6. [1033] 1 Cor. xii. 11. [1034] cf. Col. i. 16. [1035] hupostaseis, apparently used here as the equivalent of ousiai, unless the neg…
2,146 wordsSECTION 47Chapter XVIII.
Chapter XVIII. In what manner in the confession of the three hypostases we preserve the pious dogma of the Monarchia. Wherein also is the refutation of them that allege that the Spirit is subnumerated. [1085] 44. In delivering the formula of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, [1086] our Lord did not connect the gift with…
2,203 wordsSECTION 48[1088] Is. xliv. 6.
[1088] Is. xliv. 6. [1089] According to patristic usage theologia proper is concerned with all that relates to the Divine and Eternal nature of our Lord. cf. Bp. Lightfoot. Ap Fathers, Part II. vol. ii. p. 75. [1090] henizomenen. Var. lectiones are enizomenen, "seated in," and eneikonizomenen, "imaged in." [1091] cf. the embo…
809 wordsSECTION 49Chapter XIX.
Chapter XIX. Against those who assert that the Spirit ought not to be glorified. 48. "Be it so," it is rejoined, "but glory is by no means so absolutely due to the Spirit as to require His exaltation by us in doxologies." Whence then could we get demonstrations of the dignity of the Spirit, "passing all understanding," [1114] …
1,840 wordsSECTION 50Chapter XX.
Chapter XX. Against those who maintain that the Spirit is in the rank neither of a servant nor of a master, but in that of the free. 51. He is not a slave, it is said; not a master, but free. Oh the terrible insensibility, the pitiable audacity, of them that maintain this! Shall I rather lament in them their ignorance or their…
1,354 wordsSECTION 51Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXI. Proof from Scripture that the Spirit is called Lord. 52. But why get an unfair victory for our argument by fighting over these undignified questions, when it is within our power to prove that the excellence of the glory is beyond dispute by adducing more lofty considerations? If, indeed, we repeat what we have bee…
1,055 wordsSECTION 52Chapter XXII.
Chapter XXII. Establishment of the natural communion of the Spirit from His being, equally with the Father and the Son, unapproachable in thought. [1167] 53. Moreover the surpassing excellence of the nature of the Spirit is to be learned not only from His having the same title as the Father and the Son, and sharing in their op…
1,194 wordsSECTION 53Chapter XXIV.
Chapter XXIV. Proof of the absurdity of the refusal to glorify the Spirit, from the comparison of things glorified in creation. 55. Furthermore man is "crowned with glory and honour," [1188] and "glory, honour and peace" are laid up by promise "to every man that worketh good." [1189] There is moreover a special and peculiar gl…
1,264 wordsSECTION 54Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXV. That Scripture uses the words "in" or "by," en, cf. note on p. 3, in place of "with." Wherein also it is proved that the word "and" has the same force as "with." 58. It is, however, asked by our opponents, how it is that Scripture nowhere describes the Spirit as glorified together with the Father and the Son, but …
1,624 wordsSECTION 55Chapter XXVI.
Chapter XXVI. That the word "in," in as many senses as it bears, is understood of the Spirit. 61. Now, short and simple as this utterance is, it appears to me, as I consider it, that its meanings are many and various. For of the senses in which "in" is used, we find that all help our conceptions of the Spirit. Form is said to …
2,559 wordsSECTION 56Chapter XXVII.
[1259] Heb. i. 1. [1260] sumphues. [1261] cf. 2 Cor. iii. 5. [1262] Heb. xiii. 15. [1263] 1 Cor. vii. 40. [1264] 2 Tim. i. 14. [1265] Dan. iv. 8, lxx. [1266] John iv. 24. [1267] cf. note on § 15. So Athan. in Matt. xi. 22. Sphragis gar estin isotupos en heauto deiknus ton patera. cf. Athan., De Dec. § 20, and note 9 in t…
2,410 wordsSECTION 57[1269] "tos en te Ekklesi& 139; pephulagmenon dogmaton kai kerugmaton." To give the apparent meaning of the original seems impossible except
[1269] "tos en te Ekklesi& 139; pephulagmenon dogmaton kai kerugmaton." To give the apparent meaning of the original seems impossible except by some such paraphrase as the above. In Scripture dogma, which occurs five times (Luke ii. 1, Acts xvi. 4, xvii. 7, Eph. ii. 15, and Col. ii. 14), always has its proper sense of decree or …
1,428 wordsSECTION 58Chapter XXVIII.
Chapter XXVIII. That our opponents refuse to concede in the case of the Spirit the terms which Scripture uses in the case of men, as reigning together with Christ. 69. But let us see if we can bethink us of any defence of this usage of our fathers; for they who first originated the expression are more open to blame than we our…
1,159 wordsSECTION 59Chapter XXIX.
Chapter XXIX. Enumeration of the illustrious men in the Church who in their writings have used the word "with." 71. In answer to the objection that the doxology in the form "with the Spirit" has no written authority, we maintain that if there is no other instance of that which is unwritten, then this must not be received. But …
2,619 wordsSECTION 60[1308] 1 Cor. xi. 2.
[1308] 1 Cor. xi. 2. [1309] 2 Thess. ii. 15. [1310] Deut. xix. 15. [1311] Job viii. 9. [1312] i.e. Dianius, bp. of the Cappadocian Cæsarea, who baptized St. Basil c. 357 on his return from Athens, and ordained him Reader. He was a waverer, and signed the creed of Ariminum in 359; Basil consequently left him, but speaks rever…
1,118 wordsSECTION 61Chapter XXX.
Chapter XXX. Exposition of the present state of the Churches. 76. To what then shall I liken our present condition? It may be compared, I think, to some naval battle which has arisen out of time old quarrels, and is fought by men who cherish a deadly hate against one another, of long experience in naval warfare, and eager for …
2,261 wordsSECTION 62Introduction to the Hexæmeron.
[1343] On the authority of the ms. of the tenth century at Paris, called by the Ben. Editors Regius Secundus, they read for pneumatos pathous, denying pneumatos to be consistent with the style and practice of Basil, who they say, never uses the epithet soteoios of the Spirit. Mr. C.F.H. Johnston notes that St. Basil "always attr…
1,324 wordsSECTION 63Homily I.
Homily I. In the Beginning God made the Heaven and the Earth. 1. It is right that any one beginning to narrate the formation of the world should begin with the good order which reigns in visible things. I am about to speak of the creation of heaven and earth, which was not spontaneous, as some have imagined, but drew its origi…
2,332 wordsSECTION 646. Such being the different senses of the word beginning, see if we have not all the meanings here. You may know the epoch when the formatio
6. Such being the different senses of the word beginning, see if we have not all the meanings here. You may know the epoch when the formation of this world began, it, ascending into the past, you endeavour to discover the first day. You will thus find what was the first movement of time; then that the creation of the heavens and…
2,518 wordsSECTION 65Do not let us undertake to follow them for fear of falling into like frivolities; let them refute each other, and, without disquieting ourse
Do not let us undertake to follow them for fear of falling into like frivolities; let them refute each other, and, without disquieting ourselves about essence, let us say with Moses "God created the heavens and the earth." Let us glorify the supreme Artificer for all that was wisely and skillfully made; by the beauty of visible …
1,759 wordsSECTION 66Homily II.
Homily II. "The Earth was Invisible and Unfinished." [1412] 1. In the few words which have occupied us this morning we have found such a depth of thought that we despair of penetrating further. If such is the fore court of the sanctuary, if the portico of the temple is so grand and magnificent, if the splendour of its beauty t…
2,308 wordsSECTION 675. Do not then go beyond yourself to seek for evil, and imagine that there is an original nature of wickedness. Each of us, let us acknowled
5. Do not then go beyond yourself to seek for evil, and imagine that there is an original nature of wickedness. Each of us, let us acknowledge it, is the first author of his own vice. Among the ordinary events of life, some come naturally, like old age and sickness, others by chance like unforeseen occurrences, of which the orig…
2,503 wordsSECTION 68But, whilst I am conversing with you about the first evening of the world, evening takes me by surprise, and puts an end to my discourse. Ma
But, whilst I am conversing with you about the first evening of the world, evening takes me by surprise, and puts an end to my discourse. May the Father of the true light, Who has adorned day with celestial light, Who has made the fire to shine which illuminates us during the night, Who reserves for us in the peace of a future a…
2,132 wordsSECTION 69Homily III.
Homily III. On the Firmament. 1. We have now recounted the works of the first day, or rather of one day. Far be it from me indeed, to take from it the privilege it enjoys of having been for the Creator a day apart, a day which is not counted in the same order as the others. Our discussion yesterday treated of the works of this…
2,694 wordsSECTION 706. Survey creation; you will see the power of heat reigning over all that is born and perishes. On account of it comes all the water spread
6. Survey creation; you will see the power of heat reigning over all that is born and perishes. On account of it comes all the water spread over the earth, as well as that which is beyond our sight and is dispersed in the depths of the earth. On account of it are abundance of fountains, springs or wells, courses of rivers, both …
2,482 wordsSECTION 71[1458] Ps. cxix. 103.
[1458] Ps. cxix. 103. [1459] Gen. i. 6. [1460] Origen, c. Cels. vi. says ton men prosecheis demiourgon einai ton hui& 232;n tou Theou logon, kai hosperei autourgon tou kosmou, ton de patera tou logou, to prostetachenai to hui& 242; heautou logo poiesai ton kosmon, einai protos demiourgon. cf. Athan., c. gentes § 48, sq. [1461…
1,596 wordsSECTION 72Homily IV.
Homily IV. Upon the gathering together of the waters. 1. There are towns where the inhabitants, from dawn to eve, feast their eyes on the tricks of innumerable conjurors. They are never tired of hearing dissolute songs which cause much impurity to spring up in their souls, and they are often called happy, because they neglect …
2,254 wordsSECTION 73"And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He seas." [1533] Why does Scripture say above that the w
"And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He seas." [1533] Why does Scripture say above that the waters were gathered together unto one place, and that the dry earth appeared? Why does it add here the dry land appeared, and God gave it the name of earth? It is that dryness is the propert…
1,591 wordsSECTION 74Homily V.
Homily V. The Germination of the Earth. 1. "And God said Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself." [1535] It was deep wisdom that commanded the earth, when it rested after discharging the weight of the waters, first to bring forth grass,…
2,298 wordsSECTION 756. "Let the earth," the Creator adds, "bring forth the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself." [1550]
6. "Let the earth," the Creator adds, "bring forth the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself." [1550] At this command every copse was thickly planted; all the trees, fir, cedar, cypress, pine, rose to their greatest height, the shrubs were straightway clothed with thick foliage. [1551] The plants cal…
2,318 wordsSECTION 7610. "Let the earth bring forth." This short command was in a moment a vast nature, an elaborate system. Swifter than thought it produced the
10. "Let the earth bring forth." This short command was in a moment a vast nature, an elaborate system. Swifter than thought it produced the countless qualities of plants. It is this command which, still at this day, is imposed on the earth, and in the course of each year displays all the strength of its power to produce herbs, …
929 wordsSECTION 77Homily VI.
Homily VI. The creation of luminous bodies. 1. At the shows in the circus the spectator must join in the efforts of the athletes. This the laws of the show indicate, for they prescribe that all should have the head uncovered when present at the stadium. The object of this, in my opinion, is that each one there should not only …
2,230 wordsSECTION 78Those who devote themselves to the observation of these bodies find signs in the different phases of the moon, as if the air, by which the e
Those who devote themselves to the observation of these bodies find signs in the different phases of the moon, as if the air, by which the earth is enveloped, were obliged to vary to correspond with its change of form. Towards the third day of the new moon, if it is sharp and clear, it is a sign of fixed fine weather. If its hor…
2,304 wordsSECTION 79"Let them be for days" [1590] says Scripture, not to produce them but to rule them; because day and night are older than the creation of the
"Let them be for days" [1590] says Scripture, not to produce them but to rule them; because day and night are older than the creation of the luminaries and it is this that the psalm declares to us. "The sun to rule by day...the moon and stars to rule by night." [1591] How does the sun rule by day? Because carrying everywhere lig…
2,264 wordsSECTION 80[1565] In the Theatrum spectators might be covered. cf. Mart. xiv. 29: "In Pompeiano tectus spectabo theatro; Nam ventus populo vela negare
[1565] In the Theatrum spectators might be covered. cf. Mart. xiv. 29: "In Pompeiano tectus spectabo theatro; Nam ventus populo vela negare solet." cf. Dion Cassius lix. 7. These passages may, however, indicate exceptional cases. [1566] cf. Greg., In Ez.: Propter bonos auditores malis doctoribus sermo datur: et propter malos au…
1,476 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.