Basil: letters, hexaemeron - II. WORKS
7 (Ps 119,85, lxx. "The lawless have described subtilties for me, but not according to thy law, O Lord;" for A.V. & R.V., "The proud have digged pits for me which are not after the y law." The word aAEdolesciva is used in a bad sense to mean garrulity; in a good sense, keenness, subtilty).
8 It is impossible to convey in English the precise force of the prepositions used. "With" represents jmetav, of which the original meaning is "amid;" "together with," suvn, of which the original meaning is "at the same time as." The Latin of the Benedictine edition translates the first by "cum," and the second by "una cum." "Through" stands for diav, which, with the genitive, is used of the instrument; "in" for eAEn, "in," but also commonly used of the instrument or means. In the well known passage in 1Co 8,6, A.V. renders dij ou\ rav pavnta by "through whom are all things;" R.V., by "bywhom."
9 (1Co 8,6 1Co 8,
10 The story as told by Theodoret (Ecc. Hist. 2,23) is as follows: "Constantius, on his return from the west, passed some time at Constantinople" (i.e.in 360, when the synod at Constantinople was held, shortly after that of the Isaurian Seleucia, "substance" and "hypostasis" being declared inadmissible terms, and the Son pronounced like the Father according to the Scriptures). The Emperor was urged that "Eudoxuis should be convicted of blasphemy and lawlessness. Constantius however . . . replied that a decision must first be come to on matters concerning the faith, and that afterwards the case of Eudoxius should be enquired into. Basilius (of Ancyra), relying on his former intimacy, ventured boldly to object to the Emperor that he was attacking the apostolic decrees; but Constantius took this ill, and told Basilius to hold his tongue, for to you, said he, the disturbance of the churches is due. When Basilius was silenced, Eustathius (of Sebasteia) intervened and said, Since, sir, you wish a decision to be come to on what concerns the faith, consider the blasphemies uttered against the Only Begotten by Eudoxius; and, as he spoke, he produced the exposition of faith, wherein, besides many other impieties, were found the following expressions: Things that are spoken of in unlike terms are unlike in substance; there is one God the Father of Whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ by Whom are all things. Now the term of Whom is unlike the term by Whom; so the Son is unlike God the Father. Constantius ordered this exposition of the faith to be read, and was displeased with the blasphemy which it involved. He therefore asked Eudoxius if he had drawn it up. Eudoxius instantly repudiated the authorship, and said that it was written by Aetius. Now Aetius . . . at the present time was associated with Eunomius and Eudoxius, and, as he found Eudoxius to be, like himself, a sybarite in luxury as well as a heretic in faith, he chose Antioch as the most congenial place of abode, and both he and Eunomius were fast fixtures at the couches of Eudoxius. . . . TheEmperor had been told all this, and now ordered Aetius to be brought before him. On his appearance, Constantius shewed him the document in question, and proceeded to enquire if he was the author of its language. Aetius, totally ignorant of what had taken place, and unaware of the drift of the enquiry, expected that he should win praise by confession, and owned that he was the author of the phrases in question. Then the Emperor perceived the greatness of his iniquity, and forthwith condemned him to exile and to be deported to a place in Phrygia." St. Basil accompanied Eustathius and his namesake to Constantinople on this occasion, being then only in deacons orders. (Philost. iv. 12). Basil of Ancyra and Eusthathius in their turn suffered banishment. Basil, the deacon, returned to the Cappadocian Caesarea).
11 cf. the form of the Arian Creed as given by Eunomius in his jApologia (Minge, xxx. 840. "We believe in one God, Father Almighty, of whom are all things; and in one only begotten Son of God, God the word, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things; and I one Holy Ghost, the Comforter, in whom distribution of all grace in proportion as may be most expedient t is made to each of the Saints."
12 cf. Eunomius, Liber. Apol. 27, where of the Son he says u;poourgoov".
13 On the word o[rganon, a tool, as used of the Word of God, cf. Nestorius in Marius Merc. Migne, p. 761 & Cyr. Alex. Ep. 1. Migne, 10,37. "The creature did not give birth to the uncreated, but gave birth to man, organ of Godhead." cf. Thomasius, Christ. Dog. I. 336s.
Mr. Johnston quotes Philo (de Cher. 35; I. 162. n). as speaking of oovrganon de; lovgon Qeou` dij ou\ kateskeuavsqh (sc. oAE kovshoo").
14 Here of course the So is meant.
15 The ambiguity of gender in eAEx oou\ and dij oou\ can only be expressed by giving the alternatives in English.
16 There are four causes or varieties of cause:
1. The essence or quiddity (Form): too; tiv h\n ei\nai.
2. The necessitating conditions (Matter): to; tivnwn o[ntwn aAEnavgkh tou`tj ei\nai.
3. The proximate mover or stimulator of change (Efficient): h J tiv prw`ton eAEkivnhse.
4. That for the sake of which (Final Cause or End): to; tivno" e[neka. Grotes Aristotle, I. 354.
The four Aristotelian cause are thus: 1. Formal. 2. Material. 3. Efficient. 4. Final). cf. Arist. Analyt. Post. II. xi., Metaph. I. iii., and Phys. II. 3,The six causes of Basil may be referred to the four of Aristotle as follows:
Aristotle.
1. to; tiv h\n ei\nai.
2). to; eAEx ou| givnetai ti.
3). h J aAErch; th`" metabolh`" n J prwvth.
4). to; ou\ e[neca.
Basil
kaqj o): i.e., the form or idea according to whicha thing is made.
eAEx on|: i.e., the matter out of which it is made.
n Jfj ou|: i.e., the agent, using means.
dij ou|:i.e. the means.
dij o):i.e., the end.
e;n w|, or sine qua non, applying to all.
17 prokatarktikh;). cf. Plut. 2, 1056. B.D). prokatarktikh; aitiva h J eivmarmevnh.
18 cf. Clem. Alex. Strom. 8,9."Of causes some are principal, some preservative, some coperative, some indispensable; e.g. of education the principal cause is the father; the preservative, the schoolmaster; the coperative, the disposition of the pupil; the indispensable, time."
19 eAEk th`" mataiovthto" kai; kevh`" aAEpavth".
cf). mataiovth" mataiothvtwn, "vanity of vanities," Ecc. I. 2, lxx. In Arist. Eth. I. 2, a desire is said to be kenh; kai; mataiva, which goes into infinity, everything being desired for the sake of something else, i.e., kenh, void, like a desire for the moon, and mataiva, unpractical, like a desire for the empire of China. In the text mataiovth" seems to mean heathen philosophy, a vain delusion as distinguished from Christian philosophy.
20 a[yuca o)rlana. A slave, according to tle, Eth. Nich. 8,7, 6e[myucon o[ryanon).
21 u)lhreign =Lat). materiesn, from the same root as matter whence Eng). material and matter. (u[lh, (;la, is the same word as sylva=wood. With materies cf. Maderia, from the Portuguese "madera" =timber).
The word u]lh in Plato bears the same signification s in ordinary speech: it means wood, timber, and sometimes generally material. The later philosophic application of the word to signify the abstract conception of material substratum is expressed by Plato, so far as he has that concept at all, in other ways." Ed. Zeller). Plato and the older Academy, 2,296. Similarly Basil uses ulh. As a technical philosophic term for abstract matter, it is first used by Aristotle.
22 (1Co 8,6 1Co 8,
23 (1Co 11,12 1Co 11,
24 (Ex 25,10, LXX. A.V. "shittim." R. V. "acacia." St. Ambrose (de Spiritu Sancto, 2,9) seems, say the Benedictine Editor, to have here misunderstood St. Basils argument. St. Basil is accusing the Pneumatomachi not of tracing all things to God as the material "of which," but of unduly limiting the use of the term "of which" to the Father alone.
25 (Ex 25,31 Ex 25,
26 (1Co 15,47 1Co 15,
27 (Jb xxxiii, 6, LXX.
28 (1Co I. 30.
29 (1Co 11,12 1Co 11,
30 (1Co 8,6 1Co 8,
31 If Catholic Theology does not owe to St. Basil the distinction between the connotations of ouAEsiva and u Jpovstasi" which soon prevailed over the identification obtaining at the time of the Nicene Council, at all events his is the first and most famous assertion and defence of it. At Nicaea, in 325, to have spoken of St. Paul as "distinguishing the hypostases" would have been held impious. Some forty-five years later St. Basil writes to his brother, Gregory of Nyssa (Ep. xxxviii)., in fear lest Gregory should fall into the error of failing to distinguish between hypostasis and ousia, between person and essence). cf. Theodoret Dial. I. 7, and my note on his Ecc. Hist. I. 3.
32 (Rm 11,36).
33 (Rm 11,34, and Is 40,13 Is 40,
34 (Is 40,12, 13.
35 (Ps 94,16 Ps 94,
36 (Ps 34,12 Ps 34,
37 (Ps 24,3 Ps 24,
38 (Jn 5,20 Jn 5,
39 isor;r Jopiva.). cf. Plat. Phaed. 109, A.
40 (Rm 11,38 Rm 11,
41 diamonhv). cf. Arist. De Sp. I. 1.
42 cf. Col I. 16, 17.
43 (Ac 3,15 Ac 3,
44 (Ps 145,15 Ps 145,
45 (Ps 104,27 Ps 104,
46 (Ps 145,16 Ps 145,
47 (Ps 29,3 Ac 7,2 Ac 7,
48 (Ep 4,15, 16.
49 (Col 2,19 Col 2,
50 (Ep I. 22.
51 (Jn I. 16.
52 (Jn 16,15
53 poluvtropoi. Cf. the cognate adverb in He I. 1.
54 "eAEx eAEmou`." The reading in St. Lc (viii. 46) is aAEpj eAEmou`. In the parallel passage, Mc 5,30, the words are, "Jesus knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, " eAEx auAEtou; which D. inserts in Lc 8,45).
55 (Ga 6,8 Ga 6,
56 (1Jn 3,24 1Jn 3,
57 (Mt I. 20.
58 (Jn 3,6 Jn 3,
59 (1Co I. 9.
60 (Ga 4,7 Ga 4, V. reads "an heir of God through Christ;" so NCD. R.V. with the copy used by Basil agrees with A.B.
61 (Rm vi.4. It is pointed out by the Ap C.F.H. Johnston in his edition of the De Spiritu that among quotations from the New Testament on the point in question, St. Basil has omitted He 2,10, "It became him for whom (dij o]u) are all things and through whom (dij ou|) are all things," "where the Father is described as being the final Cause and efficient Cause of all things."
62 (Is 29,15, lxx.
63 (1Co 2,10 1Co 2,
64 (2Tm I. 14.
65 (1Co 12,8 1Co 12,
66 (Ps 107,13 Ps 107,
67 (Ps lxxi. 6.
68 For "shall they rejoice," Ps lxxxix. 16.
69 (Ep 3,9 Ep 3,
70 (2Th 1,1 2Th 1,
71 (Rm 1,10 Rm 1,
72 (Rm 2,17 Rm 2,
73 According to patristic usage the word "theology" is concerned with all that relates to the divine and eternal nature of Christ, as distinguished form the oiAEkonomiva, which relates to the incarnation, and consequent redemption of mankind). cf. Bishops Lightfoots Apostolic Fathers, Part II. Vol. 2,p. 75, and Newmans Arians, Chapter I. Section iii.
74 (Gn 4,1, lxx. A.V. renders "she conceived and bare Cain and said," and here St. Basil has been accused of quoting from memory. But in the Greek of the lxx. the subject to ei\pen is not expressed, and a possible construction of the sentence is to refer it to Adam. In his work adv. Eunom. 2,20, St. Basil again refers the exclamation to Adam.
75 (Nb 36,5, lxx.
76 (Gn 40,I, lxx.
77 (Ga 4,4 Ga 4,
78 (1Co 11,12 1Co 11,
79 The allusion is to the Docetae). cf. Lc 24,39.
80 The note of the Benedictine Editors remarks that the French theologian Fronton du Duc (Ducaeus) accuses Theodoret (on Cyrils Anath. vii). of misquoting St. Basil as writing here "God-bearing man" instead of "God bearing flesh," a term of different signification and less open as a Nestorian interpretation. "God-bearing," qeofovro", was an epithet applied to mere men, as, for instance, St. Ignatius. So Clement of Alexandria, 1. Strom. p. 318, and Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 37,p. 609. St. Basil does use the expression Jesus Christ a(qrwpon Qeovn in Hom. on Ps 49,
81 fuoama.
82 cf. Rm 9,2.
83 (Mt 5,11 Mt 5,
84 u Jpotavssw.cf. 1Co 15,27, and inf. cf. chapter 17,u Jpotetagmevno" is applied to the Son in the Macrostich or Lengthly Creed, brought by Eudoxius of Germanicia to Milan in 344). Vide Soc. 2,19.
85 poihth;" tw`n aiAEwvnwn.
86 Yet the great watchword of the Arians was h|n pote o[te ouAEk h\n.
87 th` eAEnnoiva tw`n aAEnqrwpwn, with the sense of "in human thought."
88 Favtasiva is the philosophic term for imagination or presentation, the mental faculty by which the object made apparent, favntasma, becomes apparent, faivnetai. AAristotle, de An. III. 3,20 defines it as "a movement of the mind generated by sensation." Fancy, which is derived from fintasiva (faivnw, VBHA=shine) has acquired a slightly different meaning in some usages of modern speech).
89 (Ep 4,10 Ep 4,
90 (Ps 139,7, P.B.
91 (Ps 110,1 Ps 110,
92 (He I. 3, with the variation of "of God" for "on high."
93 I know of no better way of conveying the sense of the original skai`oos" than by thus introducing the Latin sinister, which has the double meaning of left and ill-omened. It is to the credit of the unsuperstitious character of English speaking people that while the Greek skai`oo" and aAEooiuteoov", the Latin sinister, and laevus, the French gauche, and the German link, all have the meaning of awkward and unlucky as well as simply on the left hand, the English left (though probably derived from lift=weak) has lost all connotation but the local one.
94 (1Co I. 24
95 (Col 1,15 Col 1,
96 Heb I. 3.
97 (Jn 6,27 Jn 6,
98 The more obvious interpretation of eAEsfavgisen in Jn 6,27, would be sealed with a mark of approval, as in the miracle just performed). cf. Bengel, "sigillo id quod genuinum est commendatur, et omne quod non genuinum est excluditur." But St. Basil explains "sealed" by "stamped with the image of His Person," an interpretation which Alfred rejects. St. Basil at the end of Chapter 26,of this work, calls our Lord the carakthvr kai; iAEsovtupo" sfragiv", i.e., "express image and seal graven to the like" of the Father. St. Athanasius (Ep. I. ad Serap. xxiii). writes, "The seal has the form of Christ the sealer, and in this the sealed participate, being formed according to it." cf. Ga 4,19, and 2P I. 4.
99 (Jn 14,9 Jn 14,
100 (Mc 8,38 Mc 8,
101 (Jn 5,23 Jn 5,
102 (Jn 1,14 Jn 1,
103 (Jn 1,18 Jn 1, begotten God" is here the reading of five mss. of Basil. The words are wanting in one codex. In Chapter 8,of this work St. Basil distinctly quotes Scripture as calling the Son "only begotten Good." (Chapter 8,Section 17). But in Chapter 11,Section Is 27, where he has been alleged to quote Jn I. Jn 18, with the reading "Only begotten SON" (e.g., Alfred), the ms. authority for his text is in favour of "Only begotten God." O<< is the reading ). b.c. r,c, of A. On the comparative weight of the textual and patristic evidence vide Bp. Westcott in loc.
104 cf. Ps 110,1.
105 (Jn 5,23 Jn 5,
106 (Mt 16,27 Mt 16,
107 (Ac 7,55 Ac 7,
108 (Rm 8,34 Rm 8,
109 (Ps 110,1 Ps 110,
110 (He 8,1 He 8,
111 Mr. Johnston well points out that these five testimonies are not cited fortuitously, but "in an order which carries the reader from the future second coming, through the present session at the right hand, back to the ascension in the past."
112 Baruch 3,3, lxx.
113 The word aAEdelfovth" is in the New Testament peculiar to S. Peter (1 Peter 2,17, and 5,9); it occurs in the Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, Chap. ii.
114 Filovcristoi. The word is not common, but occurs in inscriptions). cf. Anth. Pal. I. 10,13.
oAEpqh;n pivstin e[cousa filocrivstoio menoinh`".
115 corhgiva). cf. the use of the cognate verb in 1P 4,11). eAEx iAEscuvoo" h[" corhgeiv oAE qeov".
116 prosagwghv). cf. Ep 2,18.
117 oiAEkeivwsin proo;" to;n Qeovn). cf). oiAEkei`oi tou` Qeou` in Ep 2,19.
118 eAEv.
119 cf. Ga I. 14.
120 The verb, eAEntrivbomai, appears to be used by St. Basil, if he wrote eAEntetrimmevnwn in the sense of to be eAEntribhv" or versed in a thing (cf. Soph. Ant. 177) - a sense not illustrated by classical usage. But the reading of the Moscow ms. (m) eAEnteqrammevnwn, "trained in."" "nurtured in," is per se much more probable. The idea of the country folk preserving the good old traditions shews the change of circumstances in St. Basils day from those of the 2d c., when the "pagani" or villagers were mostly still heathen, and the last to adopt the novelty of Christianity). cf. Plinys Letter to Trajan (Ep 96), "neque civitates tantum sed vicos etiam atque agros superstitionis istius contagio pervagata est."
121 (He I. 1). cf. Aug). Ep. ii. ad Serap.: "The Father is Light, and the Son brightness and true light."
122 (2Co 4,4 2Co 4,
123 (Rm 1,8 Rm 1,
124 (Rm 1,5 Rm 1,
125 (Rm 5,2 Rm 5,
126 (Rm 1,5 Rm 1,
127 (Rm 5,2 Rm 5,
128 cf. Ep 2,19.
129 (Ph 2,9 Ph 2,
130 Twoo mss., those in the B. Museum and at Viena, read here Ihsov`. In Ep. 210 4, St. Basil writes that the name above every name is auAEto; to; kalei`sqai auAEto;n Uion tou` Qeou`.
131 cf. Mt 14,33, and 27,54.
132 (Jn I. 11.
133 (1Co I. 24, and possibly Rm i. 16, if with D. we read gospel of Christ.
134 (1Co 1,24 1Co 1,
135 e.g. Jn 1,1). cf. Ps 107,20; Wisdom 9,1, 18,15; Ecclesiasticus 43,20.
136 To; poluvtropon). cf. He 1,1.
137 To;n pplou`ton th`" aAEgaqoovthtoo"). cf. Rom ii. 4, toou` plouvtou th`" crhstovthtoo".
138 (Ep 3,10 Ep 3,
139 e.g., Jn 10,12,
140 e.g., Mt xxi 5.
141 e.g., Mt 9,12.
142 e.g., Mt 9,15.
143 e.g., Jn 14,6.
144 e.g., Jn 10,9.
145 cf. Ap 21,6.
146 e.g., Jn 6,21.
147 cf. Mt 2,10.
148 e.g., 1Co 10,4.
149 I translate here the reading of the Parisian Codex called by the Benedictine Editors iRegius Secundus, too; euAEmetavbolon katwrqwkovtaa". The harder reading, to; euAEmeta;doton, which may be rendered "have perfected their readiness to distribute," has the best manuscript authority, but it is barely intelligible; and the Benedictine Editors are quite right in calling attention to the fact that the point in question here is not the readiness of the flock to distribute (1Tm 6,18), but their patient following of their Master. The Benedictine Editors boldly propose to introduce a word of no authority to; aAEmeta;bolon, rendering qui per patientiam animam immutabilem praebuerunt. The reading adopted above is supported by a passage in Ep. 244, where St. Basil is speaking of the waywardness of Eustathius, and seems to fit in best with the application of the passage to the words of our Lord, "have fled for refuge to his ruling care," corresponding with "the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" (St. Jn 10,4), and "have mended their wayward ways," with "a stranger will they not follow," 5,5. Mr. Johnston, in his valuable note, compares Origens teaching on the Names of our Lord.
150 (So three mss. Others repeat epiotaoiva translated "ruling care" above). e[nnoomo" is used by Plato for "lawful" and "law-abiding." (Legg. 921 C. and Rep. 424 E). In 1Co 9,21, A.V. renders "under the law."
151 To; th`" gnwvsew" aAEgaqovn: possibly "the good of knowledge of him."
152 (Jn 10,9 Jn 10,
153 cf. note on page 3, on metav and sovn).
154 (Ph 2,10, 11.
155 (Ep 5,29 Ep 5,
156 filanqrwpia occurs twice in the N.T. (Ac 28,2, and Titus 3,4) and is in the former passage rendered by A.V. "kindness," in the latter by "love to man." The filanqrwpiva of the Maltese barbarians corresponds with the lower classical sense of kindliness and courtesy. The love of God in Christ to man introduces practically a new connotation to the word and its cognates.
157 Or to sympathize with our infirmities.
158 poikilh diakovsmhsi". diakovsmhsi" was the technical term of the Pythagorean philosophy for the orderly arrangement of the universe (cf. Arist). Metaph. I. 5,2). hAE o[lh diakovsmhsi""); Pythagoras being credited with the first application of the word kovsmo" to the universe (Plut. 2, 886 c). So mendus in Latin, whence Augustines oxymoron, "O munde immunde!" On the scriptural use of kovsmo" and aAEiwvn vide Archbp. Trenchs New Testament Synonyms, p. 204.
159 I Hom. on Ps 65,Section 5, St. Basil describes the power of God the Word being most distinctly shewn in the oeconomy of the incarnation and His descent to the lowliness and the infirmity of the manhood). cf. Ath. on the Incarnation, sect. 54, "He was made man that we might be made God; and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality. For while He Himself was in no way injured, being impassible and incorruptible and the very Word and God, men who were suffering, and for whose sakes He endured all this, He maintained and preserved in His own impassibility."
160 (Rm 8,37 Rm 8,
161 uAEphresiva. Lit. "under-rowing." The cognate uAEphrevth" is the word used in Ac 26,16, in the words of the Saviour to St. Paul, "to make thee a minister," and in 1Co 4,1, "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ."
162 (Ep 6,10 Ep 6,
163 cf. Mt 12,29.
164 (2Tm 2,21 2Tm 2,
165 This passage is difficult to render alike from the variety of readings and the obscurity of each. I have endeavoured to represent the force of the Greek eAEk th`" eAEtoimasiva" tou` eAEfj h Jmi`n. understanding by "to; eAEfj h Jmi`n," practically, "our free will." cf. the enumeration of what is eAEfj hAEmivn, within our own control, in the Enchiridion of Epicetus, Chap. I. "Within our own control are impulse, desire inclination." On Is. 6,8, "Here am I; send me," St. Basil writes, "He did not add I will go; for the acceptance of the message is within our control (eAEf h Jmi`n), but to be made capable of going is of Him that gives the grace, of the enabling God." The Benedictine translation of the text is "per liberi arbitrii nostri praeparationem." But other readings are (I) th`" eAEfj h Jmi`v, "the preparation which is in our own control;;:: (ii) th`" e Jtoimasiva" auAEtou`, "His preparation;" and (iii) the Syriac represented by "arbitrio suo."
166 (Col 1,12, 13.
167 cf. note on page 7.
168 prokoophv: cf. Lc 2,52, where it is said that our Lord proevkopte, i.e., "continued to cut His way forward."
169 (1Co 4,6, R.V. marg.
170 There seems to be here a recollection, though not a quotation, of Ph 3,13.
171 (Jn 14,6).
172 (Jn 1,9 Jn 1,
173 (2Tm 4,8 2Tm 4,
174 (Jn 5,22 Jn 5,
175 (Jn 11,25 Jn 11,
176 (He 1,3 He 1,
177 Judith 9,5 and 6.
178 a(narno". This word is used in two senses by the Fathers. (I) In the sense of aAEivdioo" or eternal, it is applied (a) to the Trinity in unity). e.g., Quaest. Misc., . 5,442 (Migne Ath. 4,783), attributed to Athanasius, kovuo;n h J ouAEsia . koino;n to a[narcon. (b) To the Son). e.g., Greg. Naz). Orat. 29,490, eAEa;n th;n aAEpo; crovnon noh`" aAErch;n kai; a[naoocoo" oo J uivoo;", ouk a[rcitai ga;o aAEpo; oO J croovnwn despoovth". (ii) In the sense of avnaitio", ""causeless," "originis principio carens," it is applied to the Father alone, and not to the Son. So Gregory of Nazianzus, in the oration quoted above, o J uivo;", eAEa;n w J" ai[tion to;n patevra lambavnh", oouAEk a[varco", "the Son, if you understand the Father as cause, is not without beginning." a[rch ga;r uivoou` parh;r w J" a [Itio". "For the Father, as cause, is Beginning of the Son." But, though the Son in this sense was not a[narcoo", He was said to be begotten aAEnavrcw". So Greg. Naz. (Hom. xxxvii. 590) to; i[dion o[noma tou` aAEnavrcww" gennhqevnto", nio"). Cf. the Letter of Alexander of Alexandria to Alexander of Constantinople. Theod). Ecc. Hist. 1,3. th;n a[narcon auAEtw` paru; tou` patro;" gennhsin oAEnativ qevta"). cf. Hooker, Ecc. Pol. 5,54. "by the gift of eternal generation Christ hat received of the Father one and in number the self-same substance which the Father hath of himself unreceived from any other. For every beginning is a father unto that which cometh of it; and every offspring is a son unto that out of which it groweth. Seeing, therefore, the Father alone is originally that Deity which Christ originally is not (for Christ is God be being of God, light by issuing out of light), it followeth hereupon that whatsoever Christ hath common unto him with his heavenly Father, the same of necessity must be given him, but naturally and eternally given." So Hillary De Trin. xii. 21). Ubi auctor eternus est, ibi et nativatis aeternitas est: quia sicut nativitas ab auctore est, ita et ab aeterno auctoroe aeterna nativitas est." And Augustine De Trin. 5,15, "Naturam praestat filio SINE INITIO generatio."
179 h J auAEtoozwhv.
180 (Jn 6,57 Jn 6,
181 (Jn 5,19 Jn 5,
182 (Jn 12,49 Jn 12,
183 (Jn 5,19 Jn 5,
184 (He 2,10). cf. Rom 11,36, to which the reading of two manuscripts more distinctly assimilates the citation. The majority of commentators refer He 2,10, to to the Father, but Theodoret understands it of the Son, and the argument oof St. Basil necessitates the same application.
185 (Jn 17,10).
186 aAEparallavktw" e[cei). cf. Jc I. 17). parj w` ouAEk e[ni parallaghv. The word aAEparavllakto" was at first used by the Catholic bishops at Nicaea, as implying o Jmoouvsio"). /Vide Athan). De Decretis, 20, in Wace and Schaffs ed., p. 163.
187 (1Co 1,24 1Co 1,
188 (Jn 1,3 Jn 1,
189 (Col 1,16 Col 1,
190 (Jn 12,49 Jn 12,
191 (Jn 12,50 Jn 12,
192 (Jn 14,24 Jn 14,
193 (Jn 14,31 Jn 14,
194 (Jn 5,20 Jn 5,
195 (Col 2,3, A.V). cf. the amendment of R.V., "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden," and Bp. Lightfoot on St. Pauls use of the gnostic term aAEpovkrufo".
196 (Jn 14,9 Jn 14,
197 The argument appears to be not that Christ is not the "express image," or impress of the Father, as He is described in He 1,3, or form, as in Ph 2,6, but that this is not the sense in which or lords words in St. Jn 14,9, must be understood to describe "seeing the Father." Caraktho and moooofh; are equivalent to h J qeiva fuvsi", and morfhv is used by St. Basil as it is used by St. Paul, - coinciding with, if not following, the usage of the older Greek philosophy, - to mean essential attributes which the Divine Word had before the incarnation (cf. Eustathius in Theod. Dial. II). [Wace and Schaff Ed., p. 203];; "the express image made man, " - o J tw` pveuvmati swmatopoihqei;" a[nqrwpo" carakthvr).
The divine nature does not admit of fcombination, in the sense of confusion (cf. the protests of Theodoret in his Dialogues against the confusion of the Godhead and manhood in the Christ), with the human nature in our Lord, and remains invisible. On the word carakthvr vide Suicer, and on moofhv Archbp. Trenchs New Testament Synonyms and Bp. Lightfoot on Philippians 2,6.
198 (Ph 2,i.
199 (Rm 8,32 Rm 8,
200 (Ga 3,13 Ga 3,
201 (Rm 5,8 Rm 5,
202 (Mt 8,3 Mt 8,
203 (Mc 4,39 Mc 4,
204 (Mt 5,22 Mt 5,
205 (Mc iix. 25.
206 There is a difficulty in following the argument in the foregoing quotations. F. Combefis, the French Dominican editor of Basil, would boldly interpose a "not," and read whenever he does not instruct us concerning the Father. But there is no ms. authority for this violent remedy. The Benedictine Editors say all is plain if we render "postquam nos de patre erudivit." But the Greek will not admit of this).
207 (Mt 12,28, etc.
208 (Jn 15,26 Jn 15,
209 (Ps 51,10 Ps 51,
210 (Ps 51,12, lxx. R.V. and A.V., "free spirit."
211 It will be remembered that in the Nicene Creed "the Lord and Giver of life" is to; kuvrion to; zwopoiovn. In A.V. we have booth he (Jn 15,26, eAEkei`noo") and it (Rm 8,16, auAEto;; to; pneu`ma).
212 (Jn iiv. 24.
213 cf. Wisdom 1,7.
214 (Rm 12,6 Rm 12,
215 cf. Theodoret, Dial. 1,p. 164, Schaff and Waces ed. "Sine is not of nature, but of corrupt will." So the ninth article of the English Church describes it as not the nature, but the "fault and corruption of the nature, of every man." On the figure of the restored picture cf.. Ath). de Incar. 14, and Theod). Dial. ii. p. 183.
216 cf. Ep. 236. "Our mind enlightened by the Spirit looks toward the Son, and in Him, as in an image, contemplates the Father." There seems at first sight some confusion in the text between the "royal Image" in us and Christ as the image of God; but it is in proportion as we are like Christ that we see God in Christ. It is the "pure in heart" who "see God."
217 "Proficientes perficiuntur." Ben. Ed).
218 Qeo;n genesqai. The thought has its most famous expression in Ath). de Incar. 54. He was made man that we might be mad God - Qeopoihqw`men). cf). De Decretis, 14, and other passages of Ath. Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. 4,38 [lxxv.]) writes "non ab initio dii facti sumus, sed primo quidem homines, tunc demum dii." "Secundum enim beniguitatem suam bene dedit bonum, et similes sibi suae potestatis homines fecit;" and Origen (contra Celsum, 3,28), "That the human nature by fellowship with the more divine might be made divine, not in Jesus only, but also in all those who with faith take up the life which Jesus taught;" and Greg. Naz). Or. 30, 14, "Till by the power of the incarnation he make me God."
In Basil adv. Eunom. 2,4. we have, "They who are perfect in virtue are deemed worthy of the title of God."
cf.. 2P 1,4: "That ye might be partakers of the divine nature."
219 uAEpj auAEtw`n tw`n logivwn tou` pneuvmato". St. Basil is as unconscious as other early Fathers of the limitation of the word lovgia to "discourses." Vide Salmons Int. to the N.T. Ed. 4,p. 95.
220 (1Tm 6,20 1Tm 6, intellectual championship of Basil was chiefly asserted in the vindication of the consubstantiality of the Spirit, against the Arians and Semi-Arians, of whom Euonomius and Macedonius were leaders, the latter giving his name to the party who were unsound on the third Person of the Trinity, and were Macedonians as well as Pneumatomachi. But even among the maintainers of the Nicene confession there was much less clear apprehension of the nature and work of the Spirit than of the Son. Even so late as 1Tm 380, the year after St. Basils death, Gregory of Nazianzus, Orat.xxxi Spiritu Sancto, Cap. 1Tm 5, wrote "of the wise on our side some held it to an energy, some creature, some God. Others, from respect, they say, to Holy Scripture, which lays down no law on the subject, neither worship nor dishonour the Holy Spirit." cf. Schaffs Hist of Christian Ch. III. Period, Sec. 1Tm 128 letter cxxv. of St. Basil will found summary of the heresies with which he credited the Arians, submitted to Eusthathius of Sebaste in 1Tm 373, shortly before the composition of the present treatise for Amphilochius.
221 (Ac 5,29 Ac 5,
222 (Mt 28,19 Mt 28,
223 The word used is sunavfeia, a crucial word in the controversy concerning the union of the divine and human natures in our Lord, cf. the third Anathema of Cyril against Nestorius and the use of this word, and Theodorets counter statement (Theod. pp. 25, 27). Theodore of Mopsuestia had preferred sunavfeia too e[nwsi"; Andrew of Samosata saw no difference between them. Athanasius (de Sent. Dionys. 17) employs it for the mutual relationship of the Persons in the Holy Trinity: "pookatarktiko;n gavr eAEsti th`" sunafeiva" to; o[noma."
224 mhdev. The note of the Ben. Eds. is, "this reading, followed by Erasmus, stirs the wrath of Combefis, who would read, as is found in four mss., toovte h Jmii`n, then let them lay the blame on us. But he is quite unfair to Erasmus, who has more clearly apprehended the drift of the argument. Basil brings his opponents to the dilemma that the words In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost either do or do not assert a conjunction with the Father and the Son. If not, Basil ought not to be found fault with on the score of conjunction, for he abides by the words of Scripture, and conjunction no more follows from his words than from those of our Lord. If they do, he cannot be found fault with for following the words of Scripture. The attentive reader will see this to be the meaning of Basil, and received reading ought to be retained."
225 Cristofovnoi. The compound occurs in Ps Ignat ad Philad. vi.
226 (1Tm I. 10.
Basil: letters, hexaemeron - II. WORKS