Editing Basil of Caesarea (section)

==Writings==
[[File:Meister der Sophien-Kathedrale von Ohrid 001.jpg|thumb|left|11th-century [[fresco]] of Basil the Great in the cathedral of [[Ohrid]], showing the saint as a priest during the [[Divine Liturgy]].]]

The principal theological writings of Basil are his ''On the Holy Spirit'', an appeal to Scripture and early Christian tradition to prove the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and his ''Refutation of the Apology of the Impious Eunomius'', which was written about in 364 and comprised three books against [[Eunomius of Cyzicus]], the chief exponent of [[Anomoeanism|Anomoian Arianism]]. The first three books of the ''Refutation'' are his work; his authorship of the fourth and fifth books is generally considered doubtful.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf208.vi.ii.ii.html Jackson, Blomfield. "Basil: Letters and Select Works", ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'', (Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds.) .T&T Clark, Edinburgh]</ref>

[[File:Basilii Magni Opera.tif|thumb|Title page of ''Basilii Magni Opera'' (1523), a translation of the writings of Basil the Great into [[Latin language|Latin]].]]
He was a famous preacher, and many of his homilies, including a series of [[Great Lent|Lenten]] lectures on the [[Hexaemeron (Basil of Caesarea)|''Hexaemeron'']] (also ''Hexaëmeros'', "Six Days of Creation"; {{langx|la|Hexameron}}), and an exposition of the [[psalter]], have been preserved. Some, like that against usury and that on the famine in 368, are valuable for the history of morals; others illustrate the honour paid to martyrs and [[relic]]s; the [[Address to Young Men on Greek Literature|address to young men on the study]] of [[classical literature]] shows that Basil was influenced by his own education, which taught him to appreciate the [[propaedeutics|propaedeutic]] importance of the classics.<ref>Deferrari, Roy J. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=_bFJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA579 The Classics and the Greek Writers of the Early Church: Saint Basil.]" The Classical Journal Vol. 13, No. 8 (May 1918). 579–91.</ref> In one of his Homilies, he describes, in one of the earliest descriptions of [[desalination]], how sailors in his time obtain fresh water by hanging sponges over a vessel with boiling seawater and collecting and condensing the water vapour.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nebbia |first1=Giorgio |last2=Menozzi |first2=Gabriella Nebbia |title=A Short History of Desalination |journal=Acqua Dolce Dal Mare |date=April 1966 |volume=Inchiesta Internazionale, Milano |pages=129–172 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301328310 |access-date=21 January 2021 |publisher=Federazione delle Associazioni Scientifiche e Tecniche |language=English}}</ref>

In his [[exegesis]] Basil was an admirer of [[Origen]] and the need for the spiritual interpretation of Scripture. In his work on the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]], he asserts that "to take the literal sense and stop there, is to have the heart covered by the veil of Jewish literalism. Lamps are useless when the sun is shining." He frequently stresses the need for Reserve in doctrinal and sacramental matters. At the same time, he was against the wild allegories of some contemporaries. Concerning this, he wrote:

<blockquote>"I know the laws of allegory, though less by myself than from the works of others. There are those, truly, who do not admit the common sense of the Scriptures, for whom water is not water, but some other nature, who see in a plant, in a fish, what their fancy wishes, who change the nature of reptiles and of wild beasts to suit their allegories, like the interpreters of dreams who explain visions in sleep to make them serve their own end."<ref>{{Cite book
 | last =Basil
 | contribution =''Hexameron'', 9.1
 | title =Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (2nd Series)
 | editor-last =Schaff
 | editor-first =Philip
 | volume =8 ''Basil: Letters and Select Works''
 | page =102
 | place=Edinburgh
 | publisher =T&T Clark (1895)
 | url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf208.viii.x.html
 | access-date = 2007-12-15
 }}. Cf. [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf208.viii.iv.html ''Hexameron'', 3.9] (Ibid., pp. 70–71).</ref></blockquote>

His [[ascetic]] tendencies are exhibited in the ''Moralia'' and ''Asketika'' (sometimes mistranslated as [[s:Saint Basil: Ascetical Works|''Rules'' of St. Basil]]), ethical manuals for use in the world and the cloister, respectively. There has been a good deal of discussion concerning the authenticity of the two works known as the ''Greater Asketikon'' and the ''Lesser Asketikon''.<ref name=McSorley/>

According to [[Orosius]], Basil taught [[apocatastasis]] entailing the restoration of all sinners to Christ after purification. This doctrine is most evident in his ''Commentary on Isaiah'', although there is some scholarly dispute whether this commentary should truly be attributed to him. On the other hand, Basil vehemently opposed the view that [[hell]] has an end in his short ''Regulae'', even claiming that the many people who hold it are deceived by the [[devil]]. However, the notion of a finite hell was also espoused by his siblings Macrina and Gregory of Nyssa and potentially by his dear friend Gregory of Nazianzus, which is one of the reasons to think that the relevant passage in ''Regulae'' was interpolated. The passage also seems to include ideas that could be considered in opposition to ideas in Basil's undisputed writings, for example the notion of physical punishments in hell and of hell itself as a physical place with different locations. It is potentially in contradiction to most of Basil's linguistic use as well.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ramelli |first1=Ilaria L.E. |title=BASIL AND APOKATASTASIS: NEW FINDINGS |url=https://afkimel.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/st-basil-and-apokatastasis.pdf |website=Eclectic Orthodoxy |publisher=WordPress.com |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>

In his book ''De Spiritu Sancto'', Basil lists some who for him are illustrious men of the church and quotes them; these are [[Irenaeus of Lyon]], [[Pope Clement I|Clement of Rome]], [[Dionysius of Rome]], [[Dionysius of Alexandria]], [[Eusebius]], [[Sextus Julius Africanus|Julius Africanus]], [[Gregory Thaumaturgus]], [[Firmilian]] and [[Origen]].<ref>{{cite wikisource|wslink=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume VIII/De Spiritu Sancto/Chapter 29|De Spiritu Sancto Chapter 29|author=Basil the Great|translator=John Henry MacMahon}}</ref>

Basil also stresses the complete equality of both genders, deriving from the same human 'lump' (φύραμα), both in the image of God, endowed with the same honour and dignity (ὁμοτίμως), in perfect equality (ἐξ ἴσου). Men even risk being inferior in piety (Homily on Julitta 241B). Likewise, in Homilies on Psalms 1, PG 29.216–17, he insists on the Socratic and Stoic tenet, here Christianized, that man and woman have 'one and the same virtue' and 'one and the same nature' (φύσις). Their common creation was of equal honour and dignity (ὁμότιμος); they have the same capacity and activity (ἐνέργεια), and will be given the same reward. Similarly, in Letter to Amphilochius 188, Basil again uses ἐξ ἴσου in reference to the equality of women and men.<ref name="Ilaria L.E. Ramelli 2016">Ilaria L.E. Ramelli. (2016). Social Justice and the Legitimacy of Slavery: The Role of Philosophical Asceticism from Ancient Judaism to Late Antiquity.</ref>

Basil faced the slavery issue in ''De Spiritu Sancto 20'' in the context of a Trinitarian debate. Basil recognizes that no human is "a slave by nature". This principle countered [[Aristotle]]'s conviction and was consistent with [[Gregory of Nyssa]]'s view and with that of many other patristic thinkers; even [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] and [[Theodoret]] conceded this. Basil, indeed, viewed slavery as a result of the Fall, a principle that was shared by Augustine, Theodoret, and many other Fathers.<ref>Ilaria, 2016</ref><ref>Kontoulis, Problem, 132–53, 186–91; De Wet, 'Sin as Slavery'.</ref> Sometimes slavery is a boon to the enslaved person, Basil maintained (in ''Moral Rules 75'' he recommended, that Christian slaves work harder than non-Christian slaves). This view is opposed to Gregory of Nyssa, and is reminiscent of Aristotle's argument and of Theodoret's.<ref name="Ilaria L.E. Ramelli 2016"/>

It is in the ethical manuals and moral sermons that the practical aspects of his theoretical theology are illustrated. So, for example, it is in his ''Sermon to the Lazicans'' that we find Basil explaining how it is our common nature that obliges us to treat our neighbour's natural needs (e.g., hunger, thirst) as our own, even though he is a separate individual.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Basil's three hundred letters reveal his character. They show his observant nature, which, despite the troubles of ill-health and ecclesiastical unrest, remained optimistic, tender and even playful. Basil is honoured as the chief architect of monastic life in the Greek Church.<ref>[https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1058 Rousseau, Philip. "Basil of Caesarea", ''Oxford Classical Dictionary', OUP, 2015]</ref>

Most of his extant works, and a few spuriously attributed to him, are available in the ''[[Patrologia Graeca]]'', which includes Latin translations of varying quality. Several of Basil's works appeared in the late twentieth century in the ''[[Sources Chrétiennes]]'' collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=SOURCES CHRÉTIENNES, LISTE DES PUBLICATIONS |url=https://www.sources-chretiennes.mom.fr/upload/doc/Liste_numerique.pdf |website=Sources Chrétiennes|date=November 2018|accessdate=16 February 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026074205/https://www.sources-chretiennes.mom.fr/upload/doc/Liste_numerique.pdf |archivedate=26 October 2007 |url-status=live |language=French}}</ref>

A famous quote of Basil is the below:<ref>''Περὶ τῆς πλεονεξίας, καὶ τοῦ ρητοῦ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν Εὐαγγελίου «Καθελῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας, καὶ μείζονας οἰκοδομήσω»'', 7 (
[[Patrologia Graeca]] [https://scholarios.graeca.org/phd/scholarios/pgfront/?vol=31&page=277 31, 277A 3-8]):<blockquote>τοῦ πεινῶντός ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος, ὃν σὺ κατέχεις· τοῦ γυμνητεύοντος τὸ ἱμάτιον, ὃ σὺ φυλάσσεις ἐν ἀποθήκαις· τοῦ ἀνυποδέτου τὸ ὑπόδημα, ὃ παρὰ σοὶ κατασήπεται· τοῦ χρῄζοντος τὸ ἀργύριον, ὃ κατορύξας ἔχεις. ὥστε τοσούτους ἀδικεῖς, ὅσοις παρέχειν ἐδύνασο.</blockquote></ref>
<blockquote>The bread you store belongs to the hungry. The clothes you accumulate belong to the naked. The shoes that you have in your closet are for the barefoot. The money you bury deep into the ground to keep it safe, belongs to the poor. You were unfair to as many people as you could have helped and you did not.</blockquote>

[[File:StBasilGreat.JPG|thumb|Statue of Saint Basil, depicting him in the [[vestment]]s of a Roman Catholic bishop, at the 18th-century [[St. Nicholas Church (Malá Strana)|Church of St. Nicholas]] in [[Prague]], Czech Republic.]]