The New International Encyclopædia/Basil the Great

BA′SIL THE GREAT (c.330–379). Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, founder of Eastern monasticism, theologian, and doctor of the Church. He was born at Cæsarea, of Christian parentage, about the year A.D. 330, and died there, January 1, 379. He is often grouped with his brother, Gregory of Nyssa (q.v.), and Gregory of Nazianzus (q.v.), under the general title of ‘the three Cappadocians’, all being distinguished leaders of Trinitarianism and successors of Athanasius. Basil received a careful education, under such teachers as the rhetoricians Libanius, at Constantinople, and Himerius, at Athens. Here (351–355) two of his fellow-students and friends were Gregory of Nazianzus and Julian, afterwards Emperor. Returning to Cæsarea, Basil entered with zest into the social life of the city, and thus aroused the anxiety of his pious sister, Macrina, who wished him to embrace the religious life. This he was soon led to do. He first visited the famous hermits of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and then took up his abode in a picturesque spot on the banks of the Iris, in Pontus, where he gathered a few sympathizers about him and spent several years in severe asceticism. So great were his austerities that he was described as being ‘without flesh and almost without blood.’ His monastic period falls between A.D 357 and 364. The rule of Saint Basil is still the standard of the Oriental monks. It was less systematic than that of Saint Benedict (q.v.), which arose later in Italy and controlled the monastic development of Western Europe, but it included the characteristic features of monachism; viz. a union of active labor and quiet devotion with strict asceticism.

Basil was made presbyter of Cæsarea in 364. His intense activity and devotion to the people soon gave him an influence greater even than that of the local bishop. He went about establishing new communities of monks, and founding hospitals, orphanages, etc. During a particularly severe famine (368) his labors were little short of heroic. All this time his theological position was becoming more clearly defined. He had originally sympathized with the mediating party in the Arian controversy (see Arius), though his primary interest was not in dogma, but in the practical religious life. But his antagonism to the thorough-going Arians led him ever closer to the orthodox side. This attitude aroused hostility, and when the bishopric of Cæsarea became vacant (370), and he was a candidate for the position, there was violent opposition. He was, however, elected, and his administration proved to be vigorous and successful. The office carried with it a virtual primacy of the churches in that part of Asia Minor. He was Metropolitan of Cappadocia and Exarch of Pontus, having many bishops under him, who were often opposed to his policy. But firmness and patience overcame opposition, even from the Arians, his greatest foes. A notable instance of Basil's courage was his withstanding the demands of the (Arian) Emperor Valens, in 372, when, in spite of threats of deposition, the bishop refused to surrender his orthodoxy or grant any favors to heretics. The Emperor is said to have been so impressed by Basil's dignity and courage, that he left him in peaceful possession of his see.

As a theologian, Basil ranks below Athanasius, and below his brother Gregory. In common with the other Cappadocians, he emphasized the trinity rather than the unity of the Godhead. The completed Trinitarian formula asserted one substance (ousia) and three persons (hypostases). In the form in which Basil taught this doctrine, it laid him open to the charge of tritheism. One of Basil's greatest disappointments arose from his failure to secure doctrinal harmony between Eastern and Western Christendom. In support of Catholic orthodoxy he was compelled to look toward the West, but his overtures were received with marked coolness at Rome. Pope Damasus never forgave Basil for his failure to recognize the Roman claim to primacy; and Jerome accused him of stubborn pride in thus persistently refusing Damasus due honor. Moreover, Basil's orthodoxy was for a long time under suspicion, for in his early life he had been known to have friends among the Arian heretics. He died before East and West came to an agreement.

Basil was master of a fine literary style. His works include expositions of the Bible, dogmatic, moral, and ascetic treatises, liturgical pieces, and letters. The Liturgy of Saint Basil is not wholly his work. Some 370 letters are preserved. The best complete edition of his works is the Benedictine (3 vols., Paris, 1721–30; reprinted in Migne's Patrologia Græca, Vols. XXIX, XXXII.). His chief works are translated into English in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2d series, Vol. VIII. (New York, 1895), with valuable prolegomena containing a sketch of his life and an analysis of his works. Consult, in general. Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, art. “Basilius of Caesarea” (London, 1887).