Basil of Caesarea

225 Pages·2014·3.308 MB·English

by  Stephen M. Hildebrand

Basil Caesarea
of
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Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality
Hans Boersma and Matthew Levering, series editors
Available in the Series
Athanasius, by Peter J. Leithart
Vincent of Lérins and the Development
of Christian Doctrine, by Thomas G. Guarino
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Basil Caesarea
of
Stephen M. Hildebrand
J
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These websites are hyperlinked.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
www.bakeracademic.com
www.brazospress.com
www.chosenbooks.com
www.revellbooks.com
www.bethanyhouse.com
© 2014 by Stephen M. Hildebrand
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the
prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hildebrand, Stephen M., 1973-
Basil of Caesarea / Stephen M. Hildebrand.
pages cm. — (Foundations of theological exegesis and Christian spirituality)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8010-4907-1 (pbk.)
1.Basil, Saint, Bishop of Caesarea, approximately 329–379. I. Title.
BR65.B36H54 2014
270.2092—dc23 2013042565
Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition,
1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in
the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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For Samuel Joseph
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Rursus ut aeternae bona volvo perennia vitae,
Quae Deus in caelo praeparat innocuis,
Laetor obisse brevi functum mortalia
Ut cito divinas perfrueretur opes.
Ne terrena diu contagia mixtus iniquis
Duceret in fragili corporis hospitio;
Sed nullo istius temeratus crimine mundi,
Dignius aeternum tenderet ad Dominum.
Aut illum gremio exceptum fovet Abramio,
Et blandus digiti rore Eleazar alit;
Aut cum Bethlaeis infantibus in paradiso;
Quos malus Herodes perculit invidia,
Inter odoratum ludit nemus, atque coronas
Texit honorandis praemia martyribus.
Talibus inmixtus Regem comitabitur Agnum,
Virgineis infans additus agminibus.
When I ponder the everlasting goods of eternal life,
That God in heaven prepares for the innocent,
I rejoice that he, engaging but briefly mortal things,
Has departed to enjoy quickly the riches of God.
That he, though mingled with the wicked, did not long experience
earthly contagion in the fragile lodging of the body;
but because he was polluted by no offense of this world,
He fittingly inclined to the eternal Lord . . .
Taken away from the bosom of Abraham, either
charming Lazarus comforts, nourishes him with his finger’s dew,
Or, in paradise with the infants of Bethlehem,
Whom evil Herod in envy slew,
He plays in the fragrant woods
And weaves crowns, rewards for honored martyrs.
Mingling with such as these he will attend the King, the Lamb,
An infant joined to the ranks of Virgins.
St. Paulinus of Nola, To the Parents of Celsus,
poem 35, 15–20; 581–88 (PL 61, 677, 688)
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Contents
Series Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Preface xv
Abbreviations xvii
1. Awakenings: Living the Gospel at Home and in the Church 1
2. Man: Body and Soul, “Made” and “Molded” 17
3. The Two Books: Creation and Scripture 37
4. The Trinity, Simply: As We Are Baptized, So We Believe 59
5. The Trinity in Controversy: Against Eunomius and Eustathius 71
6. Heavenly Politeia: The Basics of Christian Discipleship 99
7. The Monastic Life: From Commandments to Community 125
8. Tradition and Creativity: Theology and Asceticism 147
Conclusion: Theology and Spirituality in the Thought of
St. Basil 165
Notes 169
Works Cited 189
Index 199
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Series Preface
Recent decades have witnessed a growing desire among Orthodox, Catholics,
and Protestants to engage and retrieve the exegetical, theological, and doctri-
nal resources of the early church. If the affirmations of the first four councils
constitute a common inheritance for ecumenical Christian witness, then in
the Nicene Creed Christians find a particularly rich vein for contemporary
exploration of the realities of faith. These fruits of the patristic period were,
as the fathers themselves repeatedly attest, the embodiment of a personally
and ecclesially engaged exegetical, theological, and metaphysical approach to
articulating the Christian faith. In the Foundations of Theological Exegesis
and Christian Spirituality series, we will explore this patristic witness to our
common Nicene faith.
Each volume of the present series explores how biblical exegesis, dogmatic
theology, and participatory metaphysics relate in the thought of a particular
church father. In addition to serving as introductions to the theological world
of the fathers, the volumes of the series break new ecumenical and theological
ground by taking as their starting point three related convictions. First, at
the core of the Foundations series lies the conviction that ressourcement, or
retrieval, of the shared inheritance of the Nicene faith is an important entry
point to all ecumenical endeavor. Nicene Christianity, which received its au-
thoritative shape at the councils of Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451),
was the result of more than three centuries of ecclesial engagement with the
implications of the incarnation and of the adoration of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit in the liturgy of the church. Particularly since the 1940s, when Catholic
scholars such as Henri de Lubac, Jean Daniélou, and others reached back to the
church fathers for inspiration and contemporary cultural and ecclesial renewal,
ressourcement has made significant contributions to theological development
and ecumenical discussion. The last few decades have also witnessed grow-
ing evangelical interest in an approach to the church fathers that reads them
ix
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