Introduction by A.M. Allchin
Introduction St Basil the Great is one of the outstanding saints and teachers of the Eastern Church. It is characteristic of him that people have always tended to think of him in company with others; sometimes in company with the other members of his remarkable family, most notably his sister St Macrina and his brother St Gregory of Nyssa; in company with the little group of theologians and .ninkers, the Cappadocian Fathers who did so much to establish a true understanding of the Church's faith during the controversies of the fourth century.
For though Basil was a man who greatly appreciated the value of solitude and silence, he was above all a man concerned to build up true conformity to the Church.
We can see signs of this in these pages in his desire, his ability, to promote unity and understanding between divided Christians. We also see it in his fatherly concern to strengthen the common life of the newly formed monastic communities of his time. He lived in an age when new forms of Christian living were springing to life. Some were so keen to emphasize the relationship of each individual with God that they neglected the importance of our inter-personal relationships. Basil is concerned to stress our need for one another and to point out the ways in which we can build up one another in faith and life. In the course of time he
has come to be revered in the Eastern Churches as a monastic teacher almost as St Benedict has been in the West.
There are two vital points in Basil's teaching as a theologian which emerge clearly in this anthology.
The first is his insistence that the mystery of God always goes beyond our understanding of it and our powers of definition. We need to use words to speak about God, but we need to recognize their limitations.
'Nobody is so blind and so stupid as to believe that thev can reach perfect understanding; indeed the deeper their understanding, the more they are conscious of their ignorance." The second is his teaching about the action of the Holy Spirit. Here Basil is a pioneer, one of the first theologians to write a treatise on the Holy Spirit.
He loves to point out that while the Spirit is one, his actions are infinitely diverse. God adapts his giving of himself to the needs of each of his creatures.
This thought of a unity in diversity seems to lie at the back of much of Basil's teaching. He sees it as the key to true community in the Church and in the world. Though his words can sometimes be very demanding, he inherited the classical Greek love for balance and moderation. So he points to the need for an alternation of manual work, prayer and study in the life of the monk. We need to find.a good rhythm. So he tells us we are not to treat our body so badly as to make it weak, nor to indulge it so as to make it obese. His advice can be very simple and down to earth. In a discussion it is wise to wait a bit before jumping in, and don't shout at the top of your voice so as to annoy everyone else, but speak loudly enough for people to hear you!
There is proper proportion to be observed in all things.
Like the ancient Greeks too, Basil was very conscious of the beauty of the world, in all its variety and exuberance. But seeing it in the light of the cross, he could not but be aware of its transience, and the imperfection of what is finest in our present experience of things. His writing sometimes becomes full of a painful longing for the beauty or glory of God himself. He points us beyond this world to the great world which lasts for ever, the world of God's eternal kingdom.
It is here that we begin to see all the importance of prayer in his version of things. In prayer, time and eternity come together; in prayer, we learn to see the sorrows and afflictions of our life, as well as its joys and achievements, in a wholly new perspective. He speaks of the way in which the life of a community and the life of each Christian needs to be penetrated by prayer, so that in the end 'the whole of life should be a season of prayer.'
Basil lived at a time when many old institutions were collapsing, when a whole order of society was passing away. He had his part in building up a new order, a new society which sought to reflect the mind of Christ.
That is one of the reasons why he can speak so directly to us today.
A.M. Allchin