Basil (5)
Basil
(from , Basilius), ST., the Great, one of the most eminent of the Greek fathers, was born about the end of the year 328, probably at Neocaesarea. He began his studies at Caesarea, in Palestine, whence he proceeded to Constantinople to hear the famous Libanius, and thence to Athens, where he contracted an intimate friendship with Gregory Nazianzen. About 355 he returned to his own country, but soon after left his home again and traveled into Libya, visiting the famous monasteries of those countries. Upon his return he was first made reader in the church of Caesarea, and afterward ordained deacon. But about the year 358 he retired into a solitude of Pontus, where he built a monastery near that of his sister Macrina (q.v.), and with his brothers, Peter and Naucratius, and several others, he followed an ascetic life, and, drawing up a rule for his community, became the founder of the monastic life in those regions. In 364 (or 362) he was ordained priest by Eusebius, and in 369 or 370, on the death of Eusebius, was elected bishop of Caesarea, after great opposition, which was finally overcome only by the personal efforts of the aged Gregory of Nazianzus. But the emperor Valens soon began to persecute him because he refused to embrace the doctrine of the Arians, of which he and Gregory of Nazianzus were strenuous opponents. The death of Valens’s son gave freedom of action to Basil, who devoted his efforts to bring about a reunion between the Eastern and Western churches, which had been divided upon points of faith, and in regard to Meletius and Paulinus, two bishops of Antioch. The Western churches acknowledged Paulinus for the legal bishop; Meletius was supported by the Eastern churches. But all his efforts were ineffectual, this dispute not being terminated till nine months after his death. Basil was also engaged in some contests relating to the division which the emperor had made of Cappadocia into two provinces. Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, had been a friend of Basil, and had planted monasticism in Asia, a pursuit in which Basil fully sympathized; but Eustathius openly embraced Arianism, and Basil in 373 broke with him and wrote against him. He also wrote against Apollinaris; in fact, he took a part in most of the controversies of his age. He died Jan. 1, 379, with these words on his lips: O Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Basil was a man of great piety, profound learning, and great eloquence. During the Arian controversy he was an unflinching champion of the orthodox doctrine. At first, through fear of Sabellianism, he preferred the homoiousian formula; but in the strifes which followed, he was brought to clearer apprehension of the question, and acknowledged the Nicene Creed, which he ever afterward steadfastly maintained. For a statement of his view of the Trinity, see Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Edinb. ed., Div. I, vol. 2, p. 305 sq. SEE ARIANISM.
The Greek Church honors him as one of its most illustrious saints, and celebrates his festival January 1st. The works of Basil were first published, with a preface of Erasmus, at Basle, 1532; a better edition, with Latin translation and notes, was published by the Jesuits Fronton le Duc and Morel (Paris, 1618, 2 vols. fol., and again 1638, 3 vols. fol.). Valuable contributions to a more correct edition were made by the Dominican Combefis, in his work Basilius Magnus, ex integro recensitus (Paris, 1679, 2 vols. 8vo). The most complete edition was prepared by the Benedictine Garnier (Paris, 1721-1730, 3 vols. folio), reprinted in the excellent Paris edition of 1839 (6 vols. royal 8vo). The contents of the Benedictine edition (1721-30, 3 vols.) are as follows: Tom. 1:
(1.) Homiliae in Hexaemeron novem;
(2.) Homilies in quosdam Psalmos, viz. 1, 7, 14 (part), 23, 29, 32, 33, 44, 45, 48, 59, 61, 104;
(3.) Libri adversus Eunomium 5.
Appendix, complectens Opera quaedam Basilio falso adscripta, quibus Opus Eunomii adjungitur. Tom. ii:
(1.) Homilies de Diversis 24;
(2.) Ascetica, viz.
(i.) Praevia Institutio ascetica;
(ii.) Sermo asceticus de Renunciatione Saeculi, etc.;
(iii.) Sermo de ascetica Disciplina, etc.;
(iv.) Prooemium de Judicio Dei;
(v.) Sermo de Fide;
(vi.) Index Moralium;
(vii.) Initium Moralium;
(viii. and ix.) Sermo asceticus;
(x.) Prooemium in Regulas fusius tractatas;
(xi.) Capita Regularum fusius tractatarum;
(xii.) Regulae fusius tractatae;
(xiii.) Poenae in Monachos delinquentes;
(xiv.) Epitimia in Canonicas;
(xv.) Capita Constitutionum;
(xvi.) Constitutiones Monasticae;
(xvii.) Homilia de Spiritu S.;
(xviii.) Homilia in aliquot Scrip. Locis, dicta in Lazicis;
(xix.) Homilia in Sanctam Christi Generationem;
(xx.) Homilia de Poenitentia;
(xxi.) Homilia in Calumniatores S. Trinitatis;
(xxii.) Sermo de Libero Arbitrio;
(xxiii.) Homilia in illud. Ne dederis somnum oculis tuis, etc.;
(xxiv.) Homilia 3 de Jejunio;
(xxv.) Sermo asceticus;
(xxvi.) Liber 1 de Baptismo:
(xxvii.) Liber 2 de Baptismo;
(xxviii.) Liturgia S. Basilii Alexandrina;
(xxix.) Liturgia S. Basilii Coptica;
(xxx.) Tractatus de Consolatione in Adversis;
(xxxi.) De Laude solitariae Vitae;
(xxxii.) Admonitio ad Filium Spiritualem;
(3.) Homiliae [8] S. Basilii quas transtulit Ruffinus e Graeco in Latinum;
(4.) Notes Frontonis Ducaei; (5.) Note et Animad. F. Morelli.
Tom. 3:
(1.) Liber de Spiritu Sancto (Erasmus was the first to dispute the authenticity of this book, which is undoubtedly the work of St. Basil. See Casaubon, Exrercit. 16, cap. 43. Cave; Dupin);
(2.) S. Basilii Epistolae, distributed chronologically into three classes Class 1, containing those which were written from 357 to 370, i.e. before his episcopate, to which are added some of doubtful date; Class 2, from 370 to 378; Class 3, Epistles without date, doubtful and spurious. Appendix: Sermones 24 de Moribus, per Symeonen Magistrum et Logothetam, selecti ex omnibus S. Basilii operibus; De Virginitate liber. A. Jahn published, as a supplement to this edition, Animadversiones in Basilii M. Opera Fascic. I (Bern. 1842). The best selection from his works, containing all, indeed, that ordinary theological students need, is that of Leipzic, 1854, forming the second volume of Thilo’s Bibliotheca Patrum Graecorum Dogmatica. His writings are divided into, (1.) polemical, (2.) liturgical, (3.) exegetical, (4.) ascetic. Among his polemical books, that on the Holy Spirit, and the five books against the Eunomians, are the most important. His liturgical writings are of great value, and some of his services are still, in abridged forms, in use in the Greek Church. Both by his example and his writings he was the substantial founder of monasticism in the East, so that it is common, though erroneous, to call all Oriental monks Basilians (q.v.). A. Jahn, in the treatise Basilius Plotinizans (1831), tried to show that Basil had largely copied from Plotinus. His Liturgia Alexandrina Graeca is given in Renaudot, Lit. Orient. Collectio, vol. 1. For a list of his genuine writings, as well as of those thought to be spurious, see Cave, Hist. Lit. anno 370; Lardner, Works, 4:278. See also Feiffer, Dissert. de Vita Basilii (Groning. 1828, 8vo); Bohringer, Kirchengeschichte in Biographien, 1:2,153; Dupin, Eccl. Writers, cent. 4; Hermantius, Vie de St. Basile le Grand (Paris, 1574, 2 vols. 4to); Klose, Basilius der Grosse (Strals. 1835, 8vo); Fialon, Etude hist. et liter. sur St. Basile (Paris, 1866); Palmer, Origines Liturgicae, 1:46; Villemain, Eloquence au IVme Siecle, p. 114; Landon, Eccl. Dict. 2:62.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Basil (2)
the friend of Chrysostom, with whom he lived on terms of the closest and most affectionate intimacy. The friends were equal in age, in rank, in property; read the same books, and studied under the same masters Diodorus, afterwards bishop of Tarsus, and Carterius. They simultaneously resolved on adopting an ascetic life. Basil was the first to put the purpose into execution, living in solitude and devotion in his paternal home. On Chrysostom following his example, the two friends prepared to take a house and live together; but were prevented by the entreaties of Anthusa, Chrysostom’s mother. The circumstances attending, Basil’s elevation to the episcopate, and the pious fraud by which his scruples were overcome, are narrated in the article CHRYSOSTOM. We do not know the name of his see; but, as Chrysostom promised to give him his presence and counsel frequently, it could hardly have been far from Antioch. Baronius thinks it was Raphanea (Chrysostom, De Sacerdot. i, 1-3; 6:13).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Basil (3)
saint and martyr, bishop of Amasea, in the diocese of Pontus and province of Helenopontus, is said to have been one of the victims of the persecution set on foot, about 322, by Licinius, the colleague of Constantine, in Armenia; and especially in Pontus and the city of Amasea. The author of the Acts of this saint appears to say that he attracted the fury of the emperor by receiving into his house, and protecting from his violence, a virgin named Glaphyra one of the women attached to the household of the empress Constantia; for which act he was carried to Nicomedia, killed, and thrown into the sea. His body was alleged to have been cast ashore at Sinope, carried thence to Amasea, and buried there near a church that he had built. He is commemorated April 26.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Basil (4)
saint (the father of St. Basil the Great), was the son of St. Macrina the elder, but the name of his father is unknown; he was, however, a scion of a noble house in Cappadocia or Pontus. During the cruel persecution under Galerius and the Caesar Maximin Daia, they were compelled to flee into the deserts, where they continued for about seven years, i.e. from 306 to 313. At the end of this period they retturned to Pontus, where Basil, their son (the subject of this article), soon became known for his virtues and talents. he uniteld to vast erudition a rare gift of eloqiuence, which gained him a high reputation at the bar. The time of his death is not known, but the decease of his wife, St. Emmrelia, probably took place in 370 or 372. The Church honors their memory on May 30.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Basil (5)
bishop of Seleucia in Isauria (not to be confounded with the Basil who was the intimate friend of Chrysostom). At the Council of Constantinople in 448, he gave his vote for the condemnation of Eutyches; but in the following year, at the robber-council of Ephesus, through fear of the threats and violence of Dioscorus, or from actual weakness and fickleness of judgment, he took precisely the opposite ground, and anathematized the doctrine of two natures in Jesus Christ. In the Council of Chalcedon, 451, Basil, together with the other leaders in the assembly at Ephesus, was deposed, but in the fourth session of the council he was restored to his dignity. He wrote Forty-three Homilies; seventeen on the Old, and twenty- six on the New Testament (Dupin reckons only forty). These were published in Greek at Heidelberg (1596, 8vo); Greek and Latin, with notes, by Dausque (Heidelb. 1604, 8vo), to ether with the Oratio in Transfigurationem Domini, in Greek and Latin. The following are supposed to be spurious:
1. A Demonstration of the Coming of Christ, against the Jews, in Latin, ed. by Turrianus (Ingolstadt, 1616, 4to); Greek, in the Heidelberg edition of the Homilies (1596). This is clearly, from its style, not the work of Basil, and is not found in any MS. of his writings.
2. Life and Miracles of St. Thecla, virgin and martyr, which, according to Caveare, is evidently the work of some Greek monk of a late age, edited by Pantinus, Antwerp (1608, Gr. and Lat.). All the above were published in Greek and Latin (Paris, 1622, fol.), with the works of Gregory Thaumaturgus. See Cave, Hist. Lit. anno 448; Dupin, Eccl. Writers, cent. 5, p. 28; Landon, Eccl. Dict. s.v.