St. Basil of Caesarea

"What? Will the heretic even reproach Him for the manger; wherein He yet speechless was nurtured by the word? Or will he cast up to Him his poverty because He, the son of a carpenter, was not provided with a cradle? For this reason is the Son less than the Father, because He became mortal and died for your sake? Is it just as one should censure the physician for bending over the bed of sickness and breathing in foul odors that he may heal the sick?" - St. Basil

St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea in the fourth century, is widely known in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Church as a champion against heresy and the father of monasticism in Cappadocia. However, Christians from the west, and Protestants in particular, need an introduction to this saint. Believers in the United States are especially unaware of the great spiritual battles that were fought in the East for the sake of doctrinal purity and the name of Christ. Though it may not always be considered as such, the history of monasticism and the battles won in that context are the history of the western church as well. St. Basil, an essential champion of our faith, led a tireless and effective fight against the forces of spiritual darkness.

St. Basil was born in the year 330 in the midst of great change and turmoil within the Church due in part to heresy and in part to Constantine the Great's recent endorsement of Christianity 15 years earlier. Only 5 years before Basil's birth, in the year 325, Constantine called the first universal Church council in the city of Nicea in order to bring peace to the empire and correct doctrine within the Church. Much had changed just before Basil's birth, and much would change within the church and the state over the course of Basil's life. He would have a significant role to play in this crucial time in Church history.

Christianity in this region of the world didn't begin here, however. Indeed there has been a documented Christian presence in Cappadocia since 64 AD, the approximated year in which St. Peter wrote a letter to the Jewish believers in Cappadocia, warning them of eminent persecution by the emperor Nero. There are even indications that believers would have existed in Cappadocia as early as 34 AD. According to Acts 2:9, Jews from Cappadocia came to Jerusalem in the year 34 AD to celebrate Pentecost. " . . . and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia." We can assume that many churches sprung up in the region as a result of these people returning to their homeland as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The regional church apparently survived up to the year 180 because the Church Father, Tertullian, wrote of horrible persecution leveled against Christians in Cappadocia. This persecution may well have wiped out the majority of Christians there. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (Gregory the Wonder-maker), when he entered the area in the year 275, claimed to find only 17 believers in Christ. Gregory the Wonder-maker helped to rebuild the Cappadocian church, as St. Gregory of Nyssa later writes, "Whether in the cities (of Cappadocia), the country or the wilderness, Gregory the Wonder-maker won disciples for the Lord."

Throughout the course of the early church in Cappadocia and continuing until just before St. Basil's birth, the iron rule of Rome bore down heavily on the Church. From Nero (54-60 AD) to Diocletian (295-305) a slew of Roman emperors launched full-scale persecutions against Christians, including Marcus Aerulius (161-180), Maximus and Trajan (249-251), Valerian (253-260) and Caesar Glaerius and Diocletian (295-305). These emperors periodically felt threatened by the well-organized groups of people called "Christians," and loyalty to the Church by these Christ-followers was, at times, interpreted as disloyalty to the state. As the number of Christians grew, emperors feared that this minority, who gave the authority of their bishops precedence over the Roman government, might not be reliable in military matters. Their pacifism was also a threat to the overall unity of the empire, which was essential for maintaining Pax Romana. Additionally, influential pagan priests would complain to the emperor that the prayers of Christians were ruining the worship of their gods and should be eliminated.

The Christians in Cappadocia certainly did not escape persecution as existing historical accounts indicate. A wealthy woman from Caesarea (Kayseri) named Gulitta was martyred for her testimony on July 30, 306. Having her property seized because of her faith in Christ, she opened a court case against the government. The verdict given was that she must denounce her faith in order to receive back her property, and upon refusal, an immediate order was given for her to be burned. During the earlier persecution of Diocletian, Barlaam, a soldier, was forced to offer incense on the altar of the gods. When he refused, he was made to hold his hand over the flames. The incense was offered to the gods only after his hand burned off into the fire. Gordius, a centurion from Kayseri, was removed from his rank by Licinius and brought before the magistrate at the amphitheater. He was given the choice to recant or face branding and stretching on the rack. He is quoted as saying during his suffering, "Let us through death win life."

The persecutions against the Church might have continued had it not been for the rise of Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to call himself a Christian, claiming that he saw a vision of Christ in His glory. In the year 315 Constantine the Great and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, which stopped the official persecutions of Christians in the empire. St. Basil, born just 15 years later, was undoubtedly aware of these events and of the situation in his day, as his family was actively involved with the church. Basil's maternal grandfather was a martyr during the last persecutions and his maternal grandmother, Macrina the Elder, had been won to the Lord during the ministry of Gregory the Wonder Maker. His sister by the same name (Macrina) was known for her piety, while his brother Gregory, better known as Gregory of Nyssa, is considered one of the Cappadocian Fathers. Another of his brothers, Peter of Sebaste (Sivas), also became an important bishop in the Orthodox Church. Furthermore, Basil's father, Basil the elder, was known for his piety and skills as a professor of rhetoric in the city of Caesarea, the intellectual and political capital of Cappadocia at the time.

Despite his family background, Basil's future significance in the church was not immediately obvious when he was a child. He was sickly and therefore passed off for a while to a peasant family to be nursed to health. Furthermore, he was instructed with an emphasis on secular education, his early childhood education being given by his famous father, and then by Libanius, a pagan, at Antioch. Indeed, his grandmother, Macrina at Annesi on the Hayls (Kizilirmak) River was one of the only ones to impart spiritual training. These secular educational opportunities continued, as Caesarea was the literary capitol of the region. As a youth, he studied rhetoric and philosophy. Later, he went to study at the university in Constantinople. At age 21 Basil began his studies with Gregory of Nazianz, who he had met in secondary school in Kayseri, at the world famous university in Athens, the first known "university town" in the world. His professors were a Christian named Prohaeresius and the pagan Homerius. Gregory and Basil were well known for their piety and devout lives as they overtly practiced asceticism--a difficult task, as Athens was one of the last strong holds of paganism and polytheism in a world rapidly becoming Christian. Julian the Apostate, later to become emperor and an enemy of Christians, also studied with them. They studied grammar, history, metaphysics and rhetoric. Basil graduated in the year 356.

After returning from Athens, Basil replaced his father as head rhetorician, causing him to drift away from his life long ambition to become a priest. But before he could be entangled by worldly success, his sister, Macrina, a devout believer, challenged Basil to lead a life of self-denial. Before the year had ended, Basil was baptized and dedicated himself to God. To further investigate the ascetic lifestyle, Basil traveled to Egypt, Syria and Palestine to learn more about the ministry of the recently deceased Antony the monk, considered the founder of asceticism. Meanwhile, his sister, Macrina, and his mother began a religious colony for women on the Iris River at Annesi.

Basil's journey to Egypt greatly influenced him and the future of monasticism in his part of the world. Upon his return, he founded his first monastery called "Cenobium" at Ibora, which was located across the river from the colony of women founded by his mother and sister. Basil describes Cenobium in Letter 19, written to entice his friend Gregory to come join his monastery:

There is a high mountain, covered with a thick forest, watered on its northerly side by cool and transparent streams. At its base is outstretched an evenly sloping plain, ever enriched by the moisture from the mountain. A forest of many-colored and multifarious trees, a spontaneous growth surrounding the place, acts almost as a hedge to enclose it, so that even Kalypso's isle, which Homer seems to have admired above all others for its beauty, is insignificant as compared with this. For it is, in fact, no means far from being an island, since it is shut in on all sides by barriers. Two deep ravines break off abruptly on two sides, and on a third side, at the bottom of a cliff, the river which glides gently by forms a wall, being itself a continuous and impassable barrier; and since the mountain stretches along the fourth side, and is joined to ravines through bending sides which take the shape of a crescent, the passes at the base are blocked off. There is a lake (which) furnishes me, and every spectator, with a most pleasant sight, and provides the natives of the region with complete independence as to food, since it nourishes in its eddies an innumerable multitude of fish...Someone else might well marvel at the multitude of the flowers or of the song-birds...The highest praise which I can give to the place is that, although it is well adapted by its admirable situation to producing fruits of every kind, for me the most pleasing fruit it nourishes is tranquilty...

While the above passage demonstrates Basil's delight in monasticism, he never adhered to the form of asceticism typical to his day. Prior to Constantine the Great, ascetics in the third century would go to secluded places to escape the world of lusts and practice self-denial. This could partly be explained by the persecution of the times, as there were few church buildings where Christians could safely meet. However, with the coming of Constantine, churches began to crop up everywhere, because though the world was only twenty five percent Christian, it became socially advancing for pagans to enter the church. Unfortunately, their new "faith" was often blended with pagan practices of the mystery religions of Rome, shocking true believers that had remained pure throughout the years of persecution. Many believers had friends and relatives who were martyred in the previous era of persecutions. In such a rapidly changing church, becoming an ascetic became a sought after spiritual attainment likened to that of being a martyr from the past. The number of ascetics leaving the church increased drastically. Cappadocia, off the beaten path and with secluded valleys and rock formations that were easily carved out into cave dwellings, attracted no small number of these primeval monks during the early Byzantine Empire.

This growth in ascetic monks, who generally were not willing to submit to authority or meet with believers at church, was not considered a healthy movement by the church leaders nor, as the church became increasingly influenced by the state, by the emperor himself. Ascetics began to wander in small groups or as individuals, wearing unisex clothing and depending upon relatives for sustenance. Finally, the movement was officially condemned at the Synod of Gangra in the year 335.

Basil saw a potential for good in these ascetics' zeal to please God, though he clearly believed that the lifestyle they were leading was ungodly and appealed to the sin nature. Thus in his approach to monasticism he challenged traditional asceticism in the areas of authority, labor, worldly possessions, and charity.

Basil realized the need for authority and order in the lives of the ascetics in Cappadocia. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of obedience to the superior of the communes which he founded. Even the supervisors of the monasteries had to be open to confrontation with their fellow monks over sin issues when approached. To Basil, submitting to authority was one of the most helpful instruments in promoting spiritual advancement.

Basil's teachings on labor ran opposed to the Greek philosophy suggesting that labor was the enemy of the soul. He emphasized to his students that Joseph was a carpenter, Peter was a fisherman and Paul was a tent-maker. God specifically gave Adam work to do. This work was not for the good of the worker as much as for serving others. According to the ancient writings of the Didache (Teachings of the Apostles), even church leaders had to work or not eat (2 Thes. 3: 10). Ascetics who lived prior to Basil had, in practice, abandoned this teaching.

Basil's teachings about worldly possessions stood in contrast to ascetics before him. In the century prior to Basil, St. Antony emphasized the teaching of Matthew 19: 21 "....go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven...," claiming that owning any possessions prevented one from completely serving God. Basil, however, relied on Acts 2: 44, 45: "And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were them with all, as anyone might have need." Hence, for Basil, sharing and community were of primary importance rather than an instance of extreme, individual self-denial. He modeled these concepts at Cenobium, insisting on a minimum of 10 monks at each monastery.

On the issue of charity to the poor, Basil developed a practice of charity that was previously lacking in the 4th century Church by following the principle of Mark 12: 31, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". He also stated that it is the believer's love for Christ that was the ultimate reason for giving to the poor.

One example of his own charity was illustrated in the year 368 in Cappadocia, when there was severe drought and famine. Basil sold the properties he owned and distributed his wealth to the poor in order to save their lives. In one of his homilies to the people of Kayseri entitled "Against Wealth," he said, "Be generous and liberal in your expenditures to the poor. Let it be said of thee, 'He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever'... Do not press heavily on necessity and sell for great prices. Do not wait for a famine before you open your barns. Wait not for a time of want for gold's sake for public scarcity to promote thy private profit. Drive not a huckster's bargain out of the troubles of mankind."

A testimony to Basil's form of monasticism, which promoted the teaching of the word of God to the common man and the helping of the poor, still exists in present day Cappadocia. The ruins of Byzantine monasteries and hospitals in the region are visited by thousands of tourists every year. Throughout the centuries these monasteries were consistently located only a kilometer or two away from the towns of the area. The nearness of these ruins to towns evidences Basil's approach to monasticism and his resistance of the isolationism we have come to associate with monastic life.

Despite these differences in philosophy, Basil is still considered an asthetic, as evidenced by his simple lifestyle. He ate only what was necessary to live, even though he had chronic liver ailments. In his monasteries, one was permitted to own only one under and one outer garment. He himself wore a hair cloth at night in order to not appear ostentatious. According to Gregory of Nyssa, "He treated his body as a master would his runaway slave."

A description of Basil that was given around the year 365 provides a glimpse of what asceticism had done to his body. "He had a commanding stature, though there were apparent indications of premature aging. He was very skinny with brown eyes and long hair, being slightly bald towards the forehead. He had jutting high check bones with smooth skin."

Although the ascetic lifestyle took a physical toll on Basil, his inner life was not frail. In Letter 2 of his writings, he described his spiritual life which he enjoyed at Cenobium:

The discipline of piety nourishes the soul with divine thoughts. What then is more blessed than to imitate on earth the anthems of angels' choirs; to hasten to prayer at the very break of day, and to worship our Creator with hymns and songs; then, when the sun shines brightly and we turn to our tasks, prayer attending us wherever we go, to season our labors with sacred song as food with salt? For that state of the soul in which there is joy and no sorrow is boon bestowed by the consolation of hymns.

The very beginning of the soul's purgation is tranquility...a practice which above all things tends to relax the tone of the soul. For when the mind is not dissipated upon extraneous things, nor diffused over the world about us through the senses, it withdraws within itself, and of its own accord ascends to the contemplation of God...

A most important path to the discovery of duty is also the study of the divinely inspired Scriptures. For in them are not only found the precepts of conduct, but also the lives of saintly men, recorded and handed down to us, lie before us like living images of God's government, for our imitation of their good works. And so in whatever respect each one perceives himself deficient, if he devote himself to such imitation, he will discover there, as in the shop of a public physician, the specific remedy for his infirmity...

In spite of his obvious love for the monastic lifestyle, Basil was never able to completely fulfill his personal desire to live as an ascetic. His monastic life began in 358, but had to forsake it in 364 when he was called to Caesarea to aid the bishop in his fight against political pressure from the emperor and against heresy. The battle against the most pervasive heresy in his day, commonly referred to as Arianism, had plagued the church since before the council of Nicea in 325. The Arian Heresy began with Arius, Bishop of Alexandria, who began to write essays and teach that Christ was no more than a demi-god who was created and not equal to the Father. The Messiah was worthy of worship, but was not God himself because he was created. There is a real difference in the essence of Christ (ousia) and that of the Father. The Son is not eternal but was created in time and space so that he could mediate in the creation of the world. The Son was made divine because the Father could foresee his future ethical achievements; therefore, the Son could only be called "God" in the ethical sense.

Constantine the Great, the first "Christian" emperor, wanted to keep Christians unified in order to assure political rest and peace in the Church. At the Synod of Alexandria in 321, he had Arius deposed from his post and excommunicated. This did not, however, stop Arius from spreading his heresies, especially in the eastern part of the empire.

In 325, Constantine called for the universal Church to meet at a council in Nicea, over which he would preside. Three groups of bishops were gathered there, each with their own agenda. The Arians were led by Eusebius of Nicodemia. Secondly, there were the "Homoousians" (same essence), who believed that Christ was of the same essence as the Father. Because of its tremendous convictions, this group was small, but powerful. It was headed by Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, and by St. Athanasius. The third and largest group had no real grasp of the theological issues in question; their main agenda was the preservation of peace in the Church.

Eusebius of Nicodemia presented an Arian creed, but it was firmly voted down. Eusebius of Caesarea then presented another faulty creed called "Christ, the Created Image". Athanasius, who was the most biblical in his thinking, could not accept this second creed. Through his influence, the counsel finally decided to use the word "homoousous", which means "of the same essence" when speaking of Christ. This is why in the final draft of the Nicean Creed, the following statement about Christ emerged, "out of the essence of the Father, generated, not made, of like substance with the Father."

As mentioned earlier, the majority of bishops who had attended the council did not really understand the issues; and so they returned to their sees confused and uncertain about what the term "homoousous" and the reference to Christ as the "only begotten" really meant. Although there was an official decision concerning the topic of the person of Christ, many bishops and lay Christians continued this theological debate. This caused great division in the empire, and confusion and disagreement reigned for the next 60 years.

The Nicean Creed had used the words "upostasis" and "ousia" as synonymous meanings for "nature, essence or substance". However, the Arians or Semi-Arians were using the word "omoousious" to mean "of like substance," whereas the Nicean Creed had interpreted this term as simply "substance." It isn't hard to imagine how heretics were using word games to distort the teaching of the Bible concerning Christ's person.

Eusebius of Nicodemia began a rebellion against the Nicean Creed. Many of his followers hated the orthodox believers, particularly Athanasius. They persuaded the new emperor, Constantius, that the Nicean Creed was incorrect, and had Athanasius exiled.

At the Synod of Antioch, the heretics again changed the meaning of the word "omoousious," thus nullifying the precision of the Nicean language. They held the council without the participation of Athanasius or any bishops from the West (who held to the traditional Nicean Creed). They replaced the term "omoousious" (same substance) with "omoiousious (similar substance). Another faction sprang up from this synod known as the Anomoeans, who convinced the emperor that the term "omoiousious" actually meant "not of like substance."

In 360, under the rule of Constantius, orthodox bishops fell under the threat of being exiled if they did not sign the creed, rewritten at the Synod of Antioch. This creed stated that Jesus was like the Father, but "not so in all things." Years later St. Jerome wrote about this event, "The whole world groaned to suddenly find itself Arian." The emperor's policy threatened the existence of biblical Christian doctrine as we know it today. As Constantius exiled Orthodox bishops and replaced them with Arian ones, the Church found itself in grave danger of becoming universally diluted with heresy. The orthodox bishops, who could usually only communicate with each other by letter, even began to mistrust one another under the suspicion that the other bishop had become Arian. The unity of the Church was thus severely jeopardized.

Thus in 364 AD, at the request of the emperor, Basil went to Constantinople in order to help fight heretics against Arianism. Basil strongly opposed this heresy, stating of the Arians at one point, "Your teaching is nothing more than practical paganism, for to make the Son a creature and at the same time to offer Him worship, is to reintroduce polytheism." Although Basil was not particularly active in Constantinople, he opposed Dianius, Bishop of Caesarea, for championing the heresy. Later Eusebius, who held Orthodox views, succeeded Dianius after his death. Unfortunately he was not theologically strong enough to oppose the wiles of most Arians, nor bold enough to withstand the slick political moves by Julian the Apostate, the new emperor. The emperor, a self-proclaimed pagan, had begun a campaign to remove all Christian professors from their positions throughout the empire and methodically replace the faith with the old pagan philosophies and religions. Under the appeal of Gregory of Nazianz, Basil accepted the invitation to be ordained a priest in 364 so that he could assist Eusebius in a more official way.

A look at Basil's writings demonstrates the strength of his rhetorical skills and his aptitude in combating heresy. Basil specifically and effectively combats the Arian heresy in the following passage using John 1:1 as his foundational text:

Commenting on John 1: 1 -- "But the 'beginning' in this text is like none of these. In the beginning was the Word- marvelous utterance! How all the words are found to be in mutual equality of force! "Was" has the same force as "in the beginning". Where is the blasphemer? Where is the tongue that fights against Christ? Where is the tongue that said, "There was, when He was not?" Hear the gospel! In the beginning was. If He was in the beginning, when was He not? Shall I belittle their piety and expose their want of instruction? But, it is argued before He was begotten He was not. You know when He was begotten, that you may introduce the idea of priority to the time. For the word "before" is a word of time, placing one thing before another in antiquity. In what way is it reasonable that the creator of time should have a generation subjected to terms of time? "In the beginning was". Never give up the "was", and you never given any room for the vile blasphemy to slip in...What was the Word? The word was God! Do not put before me any ingenious distinction of phrase. Do not with your wilily cleverness blaspheme the teachings of the Spirit. Submit to the Lord! The Word was God!"

(See Appendix B for an extended list of Basil's arguments against the various heresies of his day.)

In 365 Julian died, being succeeded by the Arian emperor Valens, an even greater enemy of Orthodoxy than his pagan predecessor. Gregory once again called his elusive friend Basil to come back to Caesarea when Valens was heard to be planning a visit to the see. So powerful was Basil's oratory skills and influence that Valens returned to Constantinople when he heard that Basil had returned.

In the year 370, Eusebius passed away, and Basil replaced him as archbishop of Caesarea. A strong rhetorician, he was the best candidate suited to defend the Nicean Creed in the East. He also had many friends from his years of ministry as a monk, from having helped the common man in so many practical ways.

Basil's appointment to archbishop provoked Valens to attack. His first move was to reduce Basil's regional power by dividing Cappadocia into two provinces. In the new province of Cappadocia Secunda, Tyana was made the ecclesiastical and political capitol of the area, thus reducing the power and importance of Caesarea. An Arian bishop was appointed in this important city in order to punish the Orthodox believers.

Valens chose a more direct attack against Basil in 371 by visiting Caesarea accompanied by over one hundred Arian bishops, trying to persuade Basil to sign an Arian Creed. The archbishop was threatened banishment and even torture if he didn't change his views, but he never gave in. There is a record of Basil and Valens shouting at each other in the basilica, with Valens conceding to the saint. The emperor left Caesarea emotionally defeated and in fear that the people would revolt if he were to harm their bishop. Basil immediately aligned Cappadocia with the Nicene Orthodox of Syria, Egypt and the West.

The Church's bishops met one last time to argue the Arian issue at the Council of Constantinople in 381. Although the heresy continued in various local churches after that event, Arianism was officially condemned once and for all. Basil the Great passed away on January 1, 379 in Caesarea. Even though he was not physically present at the council in Constantinople, his hundreds of letters, homilies and books had laid the groundwork to defeat the Arians or semi-Arians. His brother, Gregory of Nyssa, and friend, Gregory of Nazianz, both of whom attended the council, had benefited by the teachings of Basil and were very effective in helping the Church refine the Nicean Creed and its language.

Appendix A: Important Writings of St. Basil

There are more extant writings of St. Basil than almost any other writer of the ancient world. Several of his writings on monasticism have been widely used, including "The Rules" or "The Longer Rules," which was appropriated by St. Benedict in the Western Church a hundred and fifty years after Basil. "On Renunciation" and "The Ascetic Discipline" are other works often referred to. His book "Life of the Spirit" is honored among monks to this day. He has other works as well, on many topics. The majority of the following works can be found on the Internet. Finding his books and writings in well-written English is difficult, and the books are expensive, but here are some of Basil's writings that make interesting reading:

Apologetics

Against Eunomius - a three volume set which refutes semi-Arianism

On the Holy Spirit - a book which cleverly ascribes dignity to the Holy Spirit in an age when the church was full of heretics who denied His deity; also has practical instruction on the Spirit-filled life

Asceticism

Longer Rules (for monks) - 55 in number

Shorter Rules (for monks) - 313 in number

Moralia - a treatise on Christian morals

On Renunciation and On the Ascetic Discipline - two separate works on the topic of self-denial; Basil's authorship is questioned by some historians

Sermons

Homilies on Creation - set of nine sermons

Homilies on the Psalms - thirteen sermons

Against Usurers - a sometimes harsh sermon to the rich and a general call for charity

To Youths - co-authored with Gregory of Nazianz; a call for Christians of his day to study the pagan philosophers in the light of the message of Scripture; this work help Christians to earn respect from their pagan philosopher antagonists.

Song of Songs - the theme of this set of sermons is that man has a natural, implanted love for God; only the heart needs only to be trained by the Holy Spirit before man can fully comprehend the beauty of God and His love for us.

Basil's Letters

There are 428 extant letters of St. Basil that can be read today, though some of them have questionable authenticity. Since Byzantine citizens of the fourth century had no newspapers, radio or T.V., letters from important people were posted in public places for the common man to learn current events. This is why so many letters of Basil's and others have been handed down to us as public domain.

The letters reveal the sometimes harsh, but usually compassionate nature of the saint. They also give insight into the world view of Christians of Basil's day, as well as historical insight and the geography of Asia Minor.

Appendix B: Arguments against Arianism

Below is a list of statements that Basil either penned or spoke against the various forms of Arianism that had infested the Church in his day. For a 21st Century Christian, his arguments may seem dry and ethereal, but it was just these arguments that conquered Satan's strategy to destroy the Church in the fourth century:

Arianism

"...and how unworthy a conception of the Father that He should need a servant to do His work. He commanded, and they were all created. What service was needed by him who creates by his will alone? But in which sense are all things said by us to be 'through the Son'? In that the divine will, starting with the prime cause, as it were from a source proceeds to operation through it own image, God the Word... If the Son is a creature, mankind is still without a revelation of the Divine."

Subordinationism - Christ not coequal with the Father; the Holy Spirit is not God.

"When we see the Son, we automatically think of the Father, for He is the express image of God and equal with the Father"

John 14: 9; Heb. 1: 3; Col. 1: 15

"The person or the 'upostasis' of the Son becomes as it where the form and countenance by which the Father is made known. In the person or the 'upostasis' of the Father is made known in the form of Son. Although their observed individuality abides in each in order to serve as a clear differentiation of the persons or the 'upostasis.'" John 14: 10; Letter IX

"Consider again this saying, 'The Father is greater than I.' For those thankless creatures, the offspring of the evil one, have made use even of this expression. I am convinced, however, even in these words we have a clear demonstration of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. For I know that comparisons must remain strictly to things of the same nature. Thus, we speak of an angel that is greater than an angel, and of a man who is as just as another man. If then, comparisons arise only among objects of the same species, and by comparison the Father has been made greater than the Son, then the Son is consubstantial with the Father."

"What? Will the heretic even reproach Him for the manger; wherein He was yet speechless He was nurtured by the word? Or will he cast up to Him his poverty because he, the son of a carpenter, was not provided with a cradle? For this reason is the Son less than the Father, because He became mortal and died for your sake. Is it just as one should censure the physician for bending over the bed of sickness and breathing in foul odors that he may heal the sick? It is for your sake that he knows not the hour or day of judgement. Nothing escapes the true wisdom, for all things are made by it. This contemplation the Father has placed in His own power: by power He means those who are empowered by His own, those who are not held down by their ignorance of things below.

God's enemies also use the following quotation: (John 5: 19) 'The Son can not do anything of Himself.' To me, this statement likewise proclaims in a special manner that the Son is of the same nature with the Father. For if every creature endowed with reason can do anything by itself, having the inclination to the better or the worse entirely within in its power, and if the Son can do nothing by Himself, then the Son is no creature. And if He is no creature, He is consubstantial with the Father. But the Son on heaven and on earth did everything that He desired; therefore, the Son is not a creature."

Sabellianism - a direct denial of the deity of Christ; like Judism in that only the Father is "God."

"Christ, by whom all things were made, both visible and invisible, and by whom all things consist, who was in the beginning with God and was God, and, after this, according to the Scriptures, was seen on earth with his conversation with men, is God." Basil's Creed

"Sabellianism is practical Judaism; a denial of the Son." John 14: 9; 16: 28

"By the names of 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' we do not understand different essences. They are all names which distinguish each other. All are God, and the Father is no more God than the Son, as one man is no more man than another. Quantitive differences are not reckoned in respect of essence; the question is only of being or non-being. But this does not exclude the idea of a variety in common in the Father and the Son; the generation of the latter. The dignity of both is equal; the essence of 'Begetter' and 'Begotten' is identical.'"

Macedonianism - the Holy Spirit is not God; Christ is a demi-god.

"Full, too, is the Spirit, not part of another, but contemplated whole and perfect in Himself. The Son is inseparatively con joined with the Father, and the Spirit with the Son. There is nothing to divide or to cut asunder the eternal conjunction. No age intervenes nor yet can our soul entertain a thought of separation as though the Only Begotten were not ever with the Father, or the Holy Ghost not coexistent with the Son. Whenever, then, when we conjoin the Trinity, be careful not to imagine the Three as parts of one undivided thing, but receive the idea of the undivided in common essence of three perfect existences." Homilies 4

(Defending the deity of the Spirit) - "Yet they ought to confess that the Father is God, that the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, as the divine words of those who have had the highest conception of them have taught us."

Letter VIII

"Let us listen again to him who was snatched up to the third heaven. What does he say? 'You are the temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you.' (1 Cor. 6: 19) But every temple is a temple of God. And if we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is God."

"The Holy Spirit is reckoned along with the Father and Son, wherefore He also is above creation; and the place assigned to Him is in accordance with the doctrine which we have derived from the words of the Lord, 'Going and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost' (Matt. 28: 19) But he who puts the Holy Spirit before the Son, or declares Him to be older than the Father, sets himself in opposition to God's commandment, is a stranger to the sound faith, since he does not preserve the traditional form of the doxology, but invents for himself a new fangled expression for the satisfaction of men. For if the Spirit is anterior to God, He is not from God. For it is written, 'the Spirit of God' (1 Cor. 2: 12). And if it is of God, how can it be older than he of whom it is?" Letter LII

Bibliography

The Cappadocian Fathers, Anthony Meredith, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York 1995

St. Basil, The Letters, Volume 1-4, Roy J. Deferrari, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1988 edition.

http://bible1.crosswalk.com/History/AD/EarlyChurchFathers/Post-Nicene/Basil/

The Emperor Constantine, Michael Grant, Phoenix Giant Publishing, 1998 edition.

Written by Stephen Scheinder.

Edited by Mike and Amy Wuthrich.