Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/385

BASIL

and Newman says he seems unavoidably to ha\'e .^anized the first thirty years of his Hfe. The ex- planation of this, as well as of the disagreement with the Holy See. must be sought in a careful study of the times, with due reference to the unsettled and changeable condition of theological distinctions, the lack of anything like a final pronouncement by the Chiu-ch's defining power, the "lingering imperfections of the Saints" (Newman), the substantial orthodoxy of many of the so-called Semi-Arians, and above all the great plan which Basil was steadily pursuing of effecting unity in a disturbed and di\-ided Christen- dom. (Cf. De BrogUe, "L'Eglise et I'Empire Ro- main", Paris, 1866, V, ii; Rivington, "The Primitive Churchand the See of Peter", London, 1894; Ne^Tnan, "The Church of the Fathers", Idem, "The Arians of the Fourth Century"; Jungmann, "Dissertationes select, in hist. eccl. '", II, 13; De Smedt, "Disserta- tiones select, in primam setatem hist, eccl.", p. 276.) Writings. — Dogmatic. — Of the five books against Eimomius (c. 364) the last two are classed as sptiriotis by some critics, The work assails the equivalent Arianism of Eimomius and defends the Di\nnity of the Three Persons of the Trinity; it is well stmamarized by Jackson (Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series II, VIII). The work "De Spiritu Sancto", or treatise on the Holy Spirit (c. 375) was evoked in part by the Macedonian denial of the Divinity of the Third Person and in part by charges that Basil himself had "slurred over the Spirit" (Gregorj' Naz., Ep. hiii), that he had advocated commimion with all such as should admit simply that the Holy Ghost was not a creattue (Basil, Ep. cxiii), and that he had sanctioned the use of a novel doxology, namely, "Glorj' be to the Father with the Son to- gether with the Holy Ghost" (De Sp. S., I, i). The treatise teaches the doctrine of the DiWnity of the Holy Ghost, while avoiding the phrase "God, the Holy Ghost" for prudential reasons (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii. Wuilcknis and Swete affirm the necessity of some such reticence on Basil's part. (Cf. Jackson, op. cit., p. XXIII, note.) With regard to Basil's teaching on the Third Person, as expressed in his work against Eimomius (III, i), a controversy arose at the Coimcil of Florence between the Latins and the Greeks; but strong arguments, both external and internal, availed to place Basil on the side of the "Filioque". The dogmatic writings were edited separately by Goldhom, in his " S. Basilii Opera Dogmatica Selecta" (Leipzig, 1854). The "De Spiritu Sancto", was translated into English by Johnston (Oxford, 1892); by Lewis in the Christian Classic Series (1888) ; and by Jackson (op. cit.). Eiegetical. — These include nine homilies "On the Hexaeraeron" and thirteen (Maran) genuine homilies on particular Psalms. A lengthy commentary- on the first sixteen chapters of Isaias is of doubtful authenticity (Jack- son), though by a contemporary- hand. A commen- tary on Job has disappeared. "The Hexaemeron" was highly admired by Ciregort- of Nazianzus (Or. xliii, n. 67). It is translated entire by Jackson (op. cit.). The homilies on the Psalms are moral and hortatorj- rather than strictly exegetical. In inter- preting the Scripture, Basil uses both the literal and the allegorical methods, but favours the literal .system of Antioch. His second homily contains a denunciation of usurj' which has become famous. Homiletical. — Twenty-four sermons, doctrinal, moral, and panegjTical in character, are looked upon as generally genuine, certain critical difficulties, how- ever, remaining still un.solved. Eight of these ser- mons were translated into Latin by Rufinus. The discourses place Basil among the very greatest of Christian preachers and evince his special gift for preaching upon the responsibilities of wealth. The most noteworthy in the collection are the homilies on the rich (\i and vii) copied by St. Ambrose

(De Nabuthe Jez., v, 21-24), and the homily (xxii) on the study of pagan literature. The latter was edited by Fremion (Paris, 1819, wth French trans- lation), Sommer (Paris, 1894), Bach (Munster, 1900), and Malonej- (New York, 1901). With regard to Basil's style and his success as a preacher much has been ^Titten. (Ci' Villemain, "Tableau d'eloq. chret. au IV' siecle", Paris, 1891; Fialon, "Etude Litt. sur St. B. ", Paris, 1861; Roux, "Etude sur la predication de B. le Grand", Strasburg, 1867; Croiset, "Hist, de la htt. Grecque", Paris, 1899.) Moral and Ascetical. — This group contains much of spurious or doubtful origin. Probably authentic are the latter two of the three prefatory treatises, and the five treatises: "Morals", "On the Judgment of God", "On Faith", "The Longer Monastic Rules", "The Shorter Monastic Rules". The twenty-four sermons on morals are a cento of extracts from the wTitings of Basil made by Simeon Metaphrastes. Concerning the authenticity of the Rules there has been a good deal of discussion. As is plain from these treatises and from the homilies that touch upon ascetical or moral subjects, St. Basil was particularly felicitous in the field of spiritual instruction. Correspondence. — The extant letters of Basil are 366 in number, two- thirds of them belonging to the period of his episco- pate. The so-called "Canonical Epistles" have been assailed as spurious, but are almost surely gen- uine. The correspondence with Julian and with Libanius is probably apocrj-phal; the correspondence with Apollinaris is uncertain. All of the 366 letters are translated in the "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers". Some of the letters are really dogmatic treatises, and others are apologetic replies to per- sonal attacks. In general they are very useful for their revelation of the saint's character and for the pictures of his age which they offer. Liturgical. — A so-called "Liturgj- of St. Basil" exists in Greek and in Coptic. (See B.\sil, Liturgy of.) It goes back at least to the sixth century, but its comiexion with Basil has been a matter of critical discussion (Bright- man, "Liturgies, Eastern and Western", Oxford, 1896, I; Probst, "Die Liturgie des ^■ierten Jahrhun- derts und deren Reform", Munster, 1893, 377-412). Editioxs of St. B.\sil. — The editio princeps of the original text of the extant works of Basil appeared at Basle, 1551, and the first complete Latin translation at Rome, 1515 (autograph manuscript in the British Museum). The best edition is that of the Maurist Benedictines, Gamier and Maran (Paris, 1721-30). republished -n-ith appendixes bv Migne (P. G., XXIX-XXXII). For fragments attributed to Basil with more or less certainty, and edited by Mattha^i, Mai, Pitra, and others, see Bardenhewer, "Patrologie" (Freiburg, 1901), 247. Portions of letters recently discovered in Egj-ptian papj-ri were published by H. Landwehr, "Griechische Handschriften aus Faj-um", in "Philologus", XLIII (1884).

. —, Répertoire, Bibliographie,
 * , Gesch. der altkirch. Lit. (Freiburg, 1902).

.—Greg, Naz., Orationes, especially xliii:, Epistolæ;. ''Carm. de vitā suá'';. ., Vita Macrinæ;. ''Or. in laudem fratris Basilii''; , In Eunom., I;, ''Hist. Eccl.'', IV, xxi; VI, iii; , ''Hist. Eccl.'', VI. xv, xvi. xxii, xxii;, ''Hist. Eccl.'', II, ix; , ''Hist. Eccl.'', IV, xix;, Hist. Eccl., VIII, xi-xiii:, Encomium in Bas., ap. , ''Mon. Eccl. Gr., II:, De Vir. Illust.'', cxvi. The Vita Basilii by is a forgery of about the ninth century.

.— in Acta SS., June. III; Maran and Garnier in P. G.. XXIX;, Memoires, IX; Baronius. Annates, 334, 378;, ''Hist. Gen. des aut. sac.'', IV, ch. xvii;. ''Bibl. Port, des Péres'' (Paris. 1759), II; . Saint Basile (Paris 1903); in ''Dict. de théol.'' cath., s. v. Basile;, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series (New York, 1895), VII. Prolegomena, XI–LXXVI; Venables in ''Dict. Christ. Biog.'', s. v.; Bctler, Lives of the Saints, 14 June; Newman, Church of the Fathers. I-III; Swete. Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Cambridge. 1874);. St. Basile (Paris. 1898);. Basilius Platonizans (Berne, 1838); Martin, Essai sur les lettres de St. Basil  le grand (Rennes, 1865);, ''Die Lehre des heil. B. von der''