St. Basil’s on the Holy Spirit

Introduction

Basil’s apology for the divinity of the Holy Spirit articulately critiques the position of his opponents and in turn establishes a convincing argument for the divinity of the Holy Spirit from Scripture with additional support from tradition. Basil presents the arguments of the “Pneumatomachoi” (spirit-fighters) and shows them to be absurd and untenable. From Scripture, he proves that the Holy Spirit is in essence divine by applying the argument for the Son’s divinity to the Spirit, then by examining the titles and attributes shared with the Father and finally the role that the Holy Spirit plays in salvation. At the end, Basil includes a small discussion of tradition showing that the Holy Spirits divinity and subsequent worship is not a novel teaching. While his arguments are both inductively strong and deductively valid, he unfortunately writes little of the practical implications of the Holy Spirit’s divinity. Nevertheless, he has produced a wonderful treatise defending the divinity of the Holy Spirit that will continue to influence future Christian generations.

Now then, the fourth century started a new chapter in the history of church. On the one hand, around 313 AD, the edict of Milan grants tolerance to the existence of church. This paved the way for the church to become the church for the whole Roman Empire. As a result, the dark age of persecution had passed away, the expected peace was coming. On the other hand, the peace from the outside did not grant the peace from within.

Around 324 AD, Arius' assertion about the inferior status of the Son initiated one of the greatest controversies besides the second century Gnosticism. It led to the Council of Nicea. Nevertheless, it did not lead to peace; instead it created greater doctrinal confusion. In fact, Arian influence was continuing to be felt in the Christian church until the council of Constantinople. During this age of confusion, there were several great Christian thinkers. One of them was St. Basil.

About St. Basil

Together with St. Gregory of Nazianzus ("the Theologian," c. 329-389) and St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 330-395), St. Basil the Great is of one of the Cappadocia Fathers, namely the famous fourth-century theologians from Cappadocia (now central Turkey), who are best known for developing and perfecting the Trinitarian theology of St. Athanasius the Great (c. 295-373).

Their collective theological endeavors established the foundations of Orthodox Christian Trinitarian theology. To understand Orthodox Christian trinitarianism fully, one must grasp the teachings of the Cappadocia Fathers. Of the three, only St. Basil of Caesarea has earned the cognomen, "the Great." Among the three fathers, St. Basil was the best-rounded. He was a theologian and intellectual of the first order, but was also a consummate ecclesiastical statesman, organizer and liturgist. He was not only the second Athanasius in defense of Orthodox theology, but a founder of monasteries, hospices, hospitals, and so forth. St. Basil of Caesarea has earned the cognomen, "the Great," not only for his teachings, but for his actions and life as well.

St. Basil was the eldest of the three great Cappadocia fathers. He was born around 330 AD in Caesarea in Cappadocia. His father was a rich landowner as well as a learned person and his mother was a devout Christian. He had nine brothers and sisters. Eventually, two of his brothers, Peter and Gregory, together with him became bishops, while one of his sisters became a nun. In his early year, he received a good education in rhetoric and had the chance to travel through the important centers in the Empire. Later, he also had a chance to study in Athena, the then center of the intellects. During his early year, he met Gregory of Nazianzus, the other Cappadocia father, and they remained to be good friends for life. After his education, he returned to Caesarea around 355 AD. He became interested in ascetic life. He spends time to travel to Palestine and Egypt.

Around 357 AD, he was baptized, and this was the time when adults usually delayed baptism until their deathbed in order to avoid enduring the rigors of a post-baptismal Christian life for a lengthy period. His second step was to journey through the eastern Mediterranean to visit the famous ascetics of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia. Their steadfastness in the ascetic life inspired and motivated him to emulate them as his strength allowed.

St. Basil writes:

Much time had I spent in vanity, and had wasted nearly all my youth in the vain labour which I underwent in acquiring the wisdom made foolish by God. Then once upon a time, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvellous light of the truth of the Gospel, and I perceived the uselessness of "the wisdom of the princes of this world, that come to naught." I wept many tears over my miserable life and I prayed that guidance might be vouchsafed me toadmit me to the doctrines of true religion. First of all was I minded to make some mending of my ways, long perverted as they were by my intimacy with wicked men. Then I read the Gospel, and I saw there that a great means of reaching perfection was the selling of one’s goods, the sharing them with the poor, the giving up of all care for this life, and the refusal to allow the soul to be turned by any sympathy to things of earth. And I prayed that I might find some one of the brethren who had chosen this way of life, that with him I might cross life’s short and troubled strait. And many did I find in Alexandria, and many in the rest of Egypt, and others in Palestine, and in Coele Syria, and in Mesopotamia. I admired their continence in living, and their endurance in toil; I was amazed at their persistency in prayer, and at their triumphing over sleep; subdued by no natural necessity, ever keeping their souls’ purpose high and free, in hunger, in thirst, in cold, in nakedness, they never yielded to the body; they were never willing to waste attention on it; always, as though living in a flesh that was not theirs, they shewed in very deed what it is to sojourn for a while in this life, and what to have one’s citizenship and home in heaven. All this moved my admiration. I called these men’s lives blessed, in that they did in deed shew that they "bear about in their body the dying of Jesus." And I prayed that I, too, as far as in me lay, might imitate them.

[Saint Basil the Great, Letters (ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace; trans. Rev. Blomfield Jackson, M.A.; NPNF 8, Second Series; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1983) 263 (Letter 223, ch. 2).]

However, his ambition in living as a monk was cut short by his ordination to the priesthood by Eusebius in 362 AD. When Eusebius died in 370 AD, Basil was consecrated as the bishop of Caesarea, metropolitan of Cappadocia, and exarch of the civil diocese of Pontus. His swiftness in charity soon won him the love of his flock. He established hospitals, homes for the poor, hospices for travellers, and so forth. In an age when the Church was sorely divided, St. Basil sought unity. To improve relations between the Christian East and Rome, he enlisted the help of St. Athanasius who had made himself well-known in the West during earlier periods of exile. St. Basil was convinced that orthodox theology would only prevail if no effort was wasted in internecine church battles. Unfortunately, his efforts were hindered due to the struggle between Meletius and Paulinus for the episcopal throne of Antioch. St. Basil’s appeal to St. Athanasius and Rome to heal this schism failed since St. Basil was supportive of Meletius while the latter were supportive of Paulinus. The letters he received from the West affirmed the community of faith, but offered no concrete assistance regarding the Antiochene succession. St. Basil did live to see the dawn of better times, however. The Arian emperor Valens died in the catastrophic battle of Adrianople (9 August 378) and was succeeded by the orthodox emperor, Theodosius I (ruled 379-395).

From this time on till his death, he was heavily involved in church politics. He tried his best to maintain the unity of the church as well as its orthodoxy. He died on January 1st 379 AD at an age of fifty.

He did not have the temperament of a scholar. His ambition was to live an ascetic life in a monastery. When he became bishop of Caesarea, he demonstrated his excellent skill in administration. Nevertheless, he left us a lot of his writings of various characters. His ascetic writings, including the rules of monastic life, are still being used in our Orthodox Church.

Probably the most interesting writings are his doctrinal writings and his letters. His letters enable us not only to construct his life chronologically but also to give us a glimpse of his theology; important doctrinal writing, including “Adversus Eunomium” and “De Spiritu Sancto”, introduces us to the theological thinking of St. Basil. Here we find his major contributions, especially about the further clarification on the doctrines of Trinity and of Holy Spirit, to the understanding of the Orthodoxy.

The Doctrine of Holy Spirit (De Spiritu Sancto)

The Trinity is a central doctrine of most branches of Christianity; it says that God is one God, existing in three distinct persons, usually referred to as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Historically, this has been described by the Nicene (325 A.D.), Apostles’ (200 A.D.), and Athanasian Creeds (mid 300′s A.D.) although it is not explicitly described in the Bible. These creeds were created and endorsed by the orthodox, Catholic Church of the third and fourth centuries, and later retained in some form by most Protestants.

The Nicene Creed, which is a classic formulation of this doctrine, used “homoousia” (Greek: of same substance) to define the relationship among the members of the Godhead. The spelling of this word differs by a single Greek letter, “one iota”, from the word used by non-Trinitarians at the time, “homoiousia”, (of similar substance): a fact which has since become proverbial, representing the deep divisions occasioned by seemingly small imprecisions, especially in theology.

The word, Trinity, literally means, “a unity of three”. This word does not appear in the Bible, and indeed, it apparently did not exist until Tertullian coined the term in the early third century. Nevertheless, although Trinitarian Christians grant that the modern words and formulas are later developments, they still believe that this doctrine is found systematically throughout the Bible, and in the creeds and doctrines, and in other traditions of the Christian Church. It is considered a biblical doctrine only on the principle that the sense of Scripture is Scripture.

Belief in God as a Trinity is considered essential by our Orthodoxy; however, Christian faith does not ask for comprehension: it must be understood that God is a Trinity, for the sake of knowing who God is, and for understanding the salvation he has accomplished. Beyond such practical issues, speculation regarding a theory of the divine being is not necessarily encouraged. The believer does not need to know how it is that God is a Trinity; and in fact, that issue is more often taught in terms of what the Trinity is not, distinguishing the doctrine from the many alternatives.

Now then, around 360 AD, Basil discovered that Dianius, the bishop who had baptized him, had subscribed the Arian creed of Ariminum, left Caesarea, and withdrew to his friend Gregory at Nazianzus. During this period, he composed this important letter which was in fact a statement of faith. This was a rare occasion that Basil called Holy Spirit God, and He is not a creature but of one essence and substance with the Father. Additionally, this Spirit was the source of sanctification of Christian life. He was the guide to the pilgrimage of a Christian. He is also the coworker with the Father and the Son in creation of the world and resurrection of the dead. Also, the Holy Ghost should be the object of thanksgiving as the Father and the Son. He was also the one confessed in the baptism.

Around 375 AD, another important letter was composed by Basil to address to his brother about the definition. The letter was dedicated to St. Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium (c. 240-395), a colleague in defense of Nicene Orthodoxy. The immediate occasion for this treatise was the accusation that the doxology St. Basil used in public worship, "glory be to the Father with the Son together with the Holy Spirit” was an innovation.

His opponents preferred, "glory be to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit" which was a traditional formula. The second doxology was supposedly superior in that it expressed more precisely what these contenders saw as the distinct levels of glory appropriate to the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Against this, St. Basil affirmed that the Church knew and used formulas, each having its own context and meaning. St. Basil analyzes doxologies and their respective usages, as well as the theological underpinnings of each. When he sets forth the theological implications underlying this confrontation, this treatise becomes a powerful defense of the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Six years later, this work served as a source for St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan (c. 339-397) in his work, “De Spiritu Sancto”. Through this channel many of St. Basil’s ideas came to influence the Christian West.

Basil asserted that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were different in hypostasis. Nevertheless, they were in same sense inseparable and shared the same essence (homoousios = of one essence). Any person who received one of “Them” received all three persons. Moreover, Basil proclaimed that the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. The Spirit shared with the same glory with the Father and the Son.

This created main battle between “homoousios” and “homoiousios”.

For that reason, St. Basil the Great, together with St. Gregory of Nazianzus ("the Theologian") and his brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, refined the meaning of the “homousios” to account more adequately for the distinct persons of the Father and the Son. In short, they defined the “homoousios” in light of the “homoiousian” tradition, safeguarding both the unity of the divine nature as well as the distinct persons of the Father and the Son. The great contribution of St. Basil and the Cappadocians was to win the vast majority of the “homoiousians” for Nicaea.

The detail of “De Spiritu Sancto”

The basic structure of this treatise is simple. Chapter 1 is the prologue and the chapter 30, the last chapter, is the epilogue. In the prologue, St. Basil stated a recent incident as starting point to answer the question raised by Amphilochius. This question was concerned about the apparent conflict between two liturgical doxologies: the one used by Basil was “Glory to the Father with the Son and the Holy Spirit” and the other one was “through the Son in the Holy Spirit”. The whole treatise was developed around this central problem. In the epilogue, St. Basil gave his personal analysis about the current situation of the Church. It was indeed a very gloomy picture.

The major part of the treatise can be divided into three parts.

• The first part consists of chapters 2-8.

• The second part has only chapter 9.

• The third part consists of chapters 10-29.

This basic division is based upon quite formal observations.

Firstly, in the first part, Amphilochius is mostly addressed as the second person while the adversary is mostly addressed in the third person. In the third part, however, the adversary is always addressed as the second person except probably in the chapters 28-29.

Secondly, the content in the first part has to do with various themes: including the “homoousios” between the Father and the Son, while the content in the third part is dealing with the questions about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, the most distinguished feature of the third part is that the whole section is cast in the form of a debate. After the challenge of the adversary, St. Basil will answer the challenge one by one. This feature is not seen in the second part.

In the first part of the treatise, St. Basil first gives a general comment upon the simplicity of the philosophy about the syllables, especially upon the claim that from the syllables, like “from whom” and “through whom”; one can infer the ranks within the Godhead. In fact, one can use this system to say that Jesus is not God. This comment leads Basil to affirm, in chapters 6-8, once again the conclusion from the council of the Nicea: the deity of the Son. In fact, one can say that the consubstantiality of the Son and the Father is the foundation for the further discussion on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 9 is a chapter in its own. In fact, it can be said to be a summary of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit which Basil holds on to. This chapter can be said to be intended as an introduction to the following debates as recorded in the third part. In the third part, the whole section is cast into a debate format. In brief, this section is used to defend that the Holy Spirit should be co-honored and co-glorified with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is above the creature. He is neither creature nor something in between God and creature. Indeed, He is to be ranked with Father and Son. They, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are inseparable from one another. They share the same divine nature and they are confessed in the “baptismal formula”.

This “baptismal formula” holds an important position in the argument of St. Basil. In this treatise, he defended that by the order of the Lord, one should conjoint Holy Spirit with Father and Son. In fact, one could not believe in the Father and the Son only. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost had to be confessed together. Furthermore, he demonstrated that the Holy Spirit should be ranked with God by the natural fellowship. Indeed, in all things and in all operations, the Holy Spirit was inseparable from the Father and the Son. In fact, in every action, the Father is the source, the Son is the agent, and the Holy Spirit is the perfector. In addition, the Holy Spirit had the same nature as the Father and the Son. Yet, to rank the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son was not amounted to accept three gods, instead, St. Basil pointed out that three person united in one divine nature.

As I said above, on the origin of the Spirit and its difference from the Son, Basil asserted that the Spirit proceeds from God. Yet this did not mean that there was a time when the Spirit was not present with the Father and the Son. As a result, one could not claim that the Holy Spirit was a creature nor claim the Spirit was a servant.

Furthermore, He was not a free man. Indeed, He shared the very being of God. As a result, He should be worshipped together with the Father and the Son. He should be glorified together with the Father and the Son. Since the Holy Spirit is of God, it follows that if anyone sins against the Holy Spirit by denying His divinity or depriving the glory rightly belonged to Him, his sins would not be forgiven.

At the end, Basil told us further about the work of the Holy Spirit on behalf of Christians. Firstly, the Holy Spirit was the one who illuminate Christians' minds so that they could know the mysterious of the blessed Trinity. In addition, the Holy Spirit was the Lord of Life who would grant life to Christians. Furthermore, the Spirit was a gift of God to Christians and He was the source of grace. It was by the Spirit that our sins were washed away. He was our means for restoration to the blessed state intended by God. He was our guidance in this world and He made intercession for us before God.

Truly, the contribution of St. Basil in the talk of the Holy Spirit is that he firmly asserts the divinity of the Holy Spirit even though he does not explicitly call Him God. Further, he not only gives a clear definition to those terms like substance and hypostasis but also points out the difference among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He stands firmly against the attacks from Arianism as well as from Sabellianism. By his prudence in choosing the right wording, he unites the majority and paves the way for the triumph of orthodoxy. In fact, we certainly think that he is worth being the title “Basil the Great”.

Additional works

Basil also wrote a letter to “Canonicae” against those who claimed the Holy Spirit was a creature, Basil asserted again that the Holy Spirit was above all creatures and numbered with the Father and the Son. Later, in 371 AD, in a letter addressed to Atarbius, Basil indirectly described the Holy Spirit was the one who caused Christian to bear the fruit of love. In the same year, Basil wrote a letter of the great Athanasius, he described the Spirit was always giving aids to the faithful.

In 372 AD, in a letter addressed to the bishops of the West, Basil said that "the Holy Ghost is ranked and worshipped as of equal honor", with the Father and the Son. In a letter to the daughters of Count Terentius, Basil again expressed that the Spirit should be co-honored and co-glorified with the Father and the Son. He was the source of life and holiness. He was the one to perfect Christian.

["... the Holy Ghost, having His subsistence of God, the fount of holiness, power that gives life, grace that maketh perfect, through Whom man is adopted, and the mortal made immortal, conjoined with Father and Son in all things in glory and eternity, in power and kingdom, in sovereignty and godhead; as is testified by the tradition of the baptism of salvation.".]

He conjoined with Father and Son in the Godhead. In a letter to Cyriacus, Basil appealed to the council of Nicea to show that Holy Spirit could not be a creature.

In 373 AD, as Basil wanted to get a signature out of “Eustathius of Sebasteia”, the transcript became the 125th letter of Basil. In this letter, Basil affirmed again the inseparability of the Spirit from the Son and the Father. He should be co-honored and co-glorified with Father and Son. He is the source of holiness and life. He proceeds from the Father and He is of God without creation. In the same year, when Basil wrote to Eupaterius and his daughter, he asserted again that the Spirit should be co-honored and co-glorified with Father and Son. Furthermore, He was the teacher, the sanctifier, and the giver of life. He is holy in nature and he is inseparable from the divine nature.

In the end of 374 AD, Basil wrote a letter to Eustathius, the physician in defense of his faith. In this letter, he first pointed out the inseparability of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. Since they shared the same divine nature, one could not isolate the Holy Spirit from Father and Son. Furthermore, Basil argued that by looking at the unity of the actions by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one could surely infer that they had the same divine nature.

In 375 AD, the charge of Sabellianism was brought against Basil and he had to rise up to defend himself. In his letter to the notables of Neocaesarea, Basil asserted that "for of Father, Son and Holy Ghost there is the same nature and one Godhead; but there are different names, setting forth to us the circumscription and exactitude of the meanings." Later, he clarified his meaning further in a letter to Count Terentius.

In the late 375 AD, in a letter to the ascetics under him, Bail ascertained again that Holy Spirit was ranked among the Father and the Son, yet the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father were not just different name for the same Godhead.

All the letters, which Basil wrote, were written between: 360 AD to 375 AD. The first letter, Letter VIII, was written before Basil took any public offices. The rest of the letters were written during the time when Basil was either a priest or the bishop of Caesarea. Also, Basil only called the Holy Spirit God explicitly in the first letter. For the other letters, he withheld the title.

Nevertheless, we are clear that he surely affirmed that Holy Spirit is God. In addition, his understanding about the Holy Spirit might be originated from his early days or even one can say that his knowledge originated from his baptism. His basic argument for the Holy Spirit's inseparability from the Father and the Son started from the baptismal formula. He argued that even the Holy Spirit shares with the Father and the Son the same divine essence, but is of a different hypostasis from the Father and the Son. The major distinction is that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, while the Son is begotten from the Father, and the Father is un-begotten. Furthermore, the Spirit is the source of life and holiness. He is the guide and aid for the Christians. He set Christians free. Therefore, we should honor and glorify Him together with Father and Son.

Additional bibliography used

• PRAVOSLAVNO BOGOSLOVLJE O SVETOM DUHU-Beograd

• SVETI OCI O SVETOM DUHU - http://www.manastir lepavina.org/arhiva/novosti/index.php/weblog/detaljnije/sveti_oci_o_svetom_duhu/

• http://orthodoxwiki.org

• http://afkimel.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/st-basil-the-great-and-the-divinity-of-the-holy-spirit

• http://stgeorgegreenville.org/OrthodoxLife/Chapter2/Chap2-6.html

• http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/838/On_the_Holy_Spirit_Basil_the_Great

Saint Basil On The Holy Spirit- Some Aspects of his Theology', in Word and Spirit: In Honor of St. Basil the Great, (Still River: St. Bede's