Short Bibliography
Short Bibliography — Texts and Translations:
Clarke, W.K.L., The Ascetic Works of Saint Basil, London, 1925 (English translation).
Courtonne, Y., Saint Basile. Lettres, III vols., Paris, 1957-1966 (Greek text with French translation).
Deferrari, R., Saint Basil. The Letters (Loeb Classical Library), IV vols., London and Cambridge (Mass.),
1929-1939 (Greek text with English translation).
Jackson, B., On the Holy Spirit and Letters, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Michigan, 1983 (repr.)
Migne, J.P., Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca, vols. 29-32, Paris, 1857 (Greek text with Latin translation).
Studies:
Bettenson, H., The Later Christian Fathers, Oxford, 1970, pp. 59-98.
Jurgens, W.A., The Faith of the Fathers, Vol. Il, Minnesota, 1979, pp. 3-26.
Quasten, J., Patrology, Vol.
III, Utrecht/Antwerp, 1960, pp. 204-236.
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The beauties of paradise 'A nd God planted paradise in Eden in the regions of the east and there he placed the human being he had formed'. Let us now think, my friends, about the nature of a paradise which could be worthy of God, a paradise which would reflect the style and taste of such a master craftsman...
It is written that God produced from the earth every kind of beautiful and entrancing variety of wood to delight the senses. And just as he wanted the human being he had formed to surpass all other forms of life, so he wished that the home of humanity should be equal to his skill. And so he produced a place surpassing everything else in his creation, whose eminence would not be overshadowed, a place of wonderful beauty and complete security, whose splendour shone brilliantly over everything, spreading a radiant light as the stars rose, and keeping the most pleasant balance of temperature the whole year round.
In this place where God planted paradise there are no violent winds, or extremes of seasonal weather.
It is never troubled by hail or fiery whirlwinds or violent thunder storms or icy winters or wet springs. There are no sweltering summers nor dry autumns; but instead there is a constant peaceful balance throughout the year perfectly suited to the at
beauties of each, so that nobody need fear the onset of the next season.
And so the spring flowers are not destroyed by the premature arrival of the summer; nor are the summer and autumn fruit destroyed by blasts of scorching winds. But every season is assigned its proper place so that they proceed in an ordered round, calmly and without getting on top of each other or in each other's way.
And each season produces its own gifts as expected and without harm. The earth has a rich fertility sending forth streams of milk and honey, able to produce any variety of fruit, and surrounded by life-giving water. Indeed the water itself is immensely beautiful, both sweet and delicately transparent, providing great pleasure to the eyes and great benefit.
(1-2)
Nostalgia for paradise First he formed the place itself which would be fit to receive all his creations, and then he planted there every variety of beautiful tree to caress and delight the human senses. How could I ever find a means to represent to your eyes the beauty of the home from which you were exiled, so that you would feel not just sadness and nostalgia for everything that you had lost but, by thinking back to that period before your exile, you could recall the beauty and pleasures there which were not yet mixed with pain and distress?
It is true that even here and now there are fields that are full of flowers, and that we can see beauty everywhere; however, true joy is revealed only to the mind. The rose conceals thorns, bringing pain with pleasure and showing us that all the pleasures of this world are mixed with pain. None of the pleasures we enjoy on earth is entirely pure, for they are immediately entwined with grief: marriage with widowhood, the raising of children with worry, birth with death, great honours with great disgrace, health with illness. The rose flowers, but it causes me grief. Each time I see it flower I remember our sin that caused the earth to put forth thorns and spines in protest. Thus its charm lasts for the briefest of periods and leaves us while we still long for it. For the moment we have plucked it, it begins to die in our hands.
But in paradise it does not blossom briefly and then wither, but retains its bloom throughout the year, never losing its flower. Its scent never fades nor does the oe
gleam of its freshness disappear. The force of the winds and hurricanes does not harm it, nor do the periods of calm cause it to wither away. It is not frozen by the frost nor blasted by the heat of the sun; rather a gentle wind provides a light and pleasing breeze which preserves its bloom forever from the destructive actions of time.
(3-4)
Paradise contained the peak of perfection The beauty of the plants reflected the work and planting of their Creator: the small branches bearing fruit, single-stemmed and many-stemmed, multileaved, darkleaved, deciduous and evergreen, those that bear fruit and those that do not, those grown for their usefulness and those for the pleasure they bring. All of them were exceptional in their size and beauty, dense with branches and thick with clusters of leaves and fruit providing an abundance of pleasure and benefit.
How could you find a way to represent the degree of pleasure there? If you compared it with anything in this world, your comparison would be absurdly inadequate to convey a true picture of the original.
Everything there is perfect and fully completed. It did not grow gradually, slowly coming to maturity and then flowering in the course of time, but came into existence in an instant at the highest peak of perfection and power, not requiring human help.
(5-6)
Paradise the delight of humanity In paradise there was every sort of bird, every type of feather and birdsong which would provide a wonderful and lavish spectacle for anyone to feast all their senses, sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. And with the birds you could have seen and heard every possible animal species living at peace and in harmony with each other. And the snake was not an object of terror but was tame and harmless, and it did not creep along the ground on its belly but moved upright on its feet.
For all those animals which are now wild and hostile were at that time tame and gentle.
It was into this environment that God placed the man whom he had formed. He formed him elsewhere and then introduced him. And in just the same manner that he had first produced the lights and then fixed them in the sky, he formed man out of clay and then placed him in paradise. You must note that what is written is not:
'Whom he had made', but: 'Whom he had formed'.
For something that is made is done by following a model, but this was incorporeal and thus unconfined by place. So the process of making must necessarily come after the process of forming, as the soul must come after the body even though they must both exist together. Initially it is the body that exists but it is then followed by the soul that adheres to it and is made one with it since the body is not endowed with its own mental capacity.
But why have I tried to delight you by describing the pleasures of paradise and then to depress you by
juxtaposing them with the life of pain? Surely because your mind, which is led beyond this world and sets out to its true home above, will understand and seek to attain all those things we have promised: "Which the eye does not see, the ear does not hear, and the heart does not feel'. But who could know anything which the eye does not see or the ear does not hear?
And if it does not strike a chord in our heart, how can it ever be accessible to our mind? We do not reject every bodily matter and desire everything spiritual.
For as a rule everything we perceive with the senses also makes an impression on the intellect; and so while we can describe paradise in a physical way, we can also explain its spiritual sense through allegory. Thus in the sentence: 'And God placed Eden in the regions of the east', we are not told about everything which grew there, but we can know the exact location, which is delight: Eden must be interpreted as delight.
(7)
The pleasures of paradise are in harmony with the sacred But what are these pleasures we have spoken of which enter the mouth, travel into the stomach and are eventually expelled and destroyed? Was this gift given to the human race by the grace of God that it should have a full stomach, a healthy body and an abundance of sensual pleasure? Was it this that could not be expressed in words? And should we therefore follow the path of excess and brutal arrogance, seeking to fatten our body and swamping our soul with physical excess in every possible sin?
We must realize that it is a very different idea of pleasure, and one worthy of God's creation which is meant. So what sort of pleasure could be in harmony with the sacred? Remember what is written:
'Show your delight in God and he will fulfill your heart's wishes'.
(8-9)
In paradise everything was full of the beauty of God The varieties of virtue are infinite and its beauty inexpressible, because virtue comes from the complex intellect of God. Therefore it was written: 'God made paradise', not just in the east but: 'in the eastern regions'.
For everything that was planted by God shone with its own bright light of virtue. And flowing there we also find the river that delights the city of God and is the torrent of pleasure feeding and giving life to its flourishing spiritual beauty. This is the river named in the Bible which emerges from Eden and waters paradise. It is written in scripture that right at the very first moment of creation he introduced Adam to rule and be its master. But, on the other hand, he formed Adam and then created paradise. The reason is that the moment he had finished the home of humanity he introduced the master of it: so that he should not have to create a humanity that was poor and then afterwards have to produce riches to remove its poverty.
So having created perfection from the outset, he then introduced people to it. For he knew the difference between the life existing outside and that which existed inside the confines of paradise, and by comparing them he realized both the excellence of the latter's beauty and the consequence of our fall.
(10)
God the divine gardener In order to conceive of a garden that could be worthy of the hand and artistry of God, you should call to mind those words of our master to his disciples: "You are the vines, my father is the gardener', meaning that they had been planted by him. For, from this planting, we begin to grow in the house of our Lord and bear fruit in the halls of our Lord, as is written. We find the same idea in the prophets: 'I have planted a vine which will be fruitful with perfect truth'. And remember those bold words that Paul said in imitation of Christ: "We are the fellow workers of God, make yourself into his garden.
I have done the planting, but Apollos will water it and God will ensure it grows'. And, 'The just man will flower like the vine'. David was likened to a tree planted beside a flowing river which: 'Bears its fruit at the appointed time and never loses its leaves', and similarly: 'You have brought the vine with you from Egypt and, having expelled the people, have planted it'. And so, guided by this evidence, you should be able to conceive of paradise in your mind and find yourself in the beams of divine light; from there you will find the source of divine light, and the site of delightful paradise. And if you can imagine a place on earth where the saints sit in the company of all those who have shone in the light of their virtue on earth, enjoying the grace of God and leading a life full of the pleasures of truth and happiness, then you would not be far from a reasonable image of paradise.
(11)
On being worthy of the pleasures of paradise It is in that place of paradise that we can find the deep roots of all the virtues, which guided the saints, and on which humanity who emerged only recently must rely.
And human beings must undergo a rigorous training if they are to overcome their great lack of virtues and reach the state of perfection.
And it is there that we can find the gathering of the saints, the origin of light and the soul's pleasure: and it was there that God placed the human race.
If you consider this in physical terms, feeding your senses with delight, you can find an image of physical paradise full of the highest pleasure. But if you think of it in spiritual terms, leading your mind far above physical pleasures, and rising to consider the beauty of the angels, you can learn justice from their fruit, finding yourself reflected in the river of God whose surging waters delight the city of God which was made and constructed by God. And through this city flows the river that rises from Eden and waters paradise.
Consider all this and praise its maker who produced these benefits for your pleasure, and strive to make yourself worthy of this. And if you turn to him you will understand our origin and destiny because his is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(12) ol
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God allows pain for our good Ja as a ship tossed by the waves of a storm will be dashed to pieces unless it has an experienced captain
4t the helm, so anyone who is in difficulties will find their spirit broken and their hope of salvation dashed unless they are guided by the teaching of the Lord. And so if any of you find yourselves in difficulties I suggest you listen to me as I offer you, to the best of my abilities, the consolation that comes from the scriptures.
Whatever your problems, you may be crippled and oppressed by poverty, or have lost your worldly position and been reduced to an ignominious life, disease may be sapping the strength of your body, you may have lost your children and friends, the troubles of the world may weigh down upon your mind and heart, your body and limbs may be covered with leprous sores, you may be shunned by the great majority of people — yet you must not allow yourself to be broken by such terrible afflictions but must seek inner peace in the teaching of God where you will find consolation for everything that oppresses you. If you can learn from the teaching of the Lord then, just as a good captain can steer his ship into the calm of the port, you will find yourself guided to the calm of inner peace.
You must not, my friends, think that it is out of hatred for us that God sends such punishments; rather
it is in order that his love may be displayed through our just actions. The Lord himself, speaking through Solomon, says in Proverbs: 'My children, do not fall away from your adherence to the Lord because he has corrected you, for this correction is a sign that he loves you'. A parent will not hesitate to punish an erring child he or she loves most dearly, and a teacher will often strike a pupil in order to improve his or her behaviour.
(1)
The just benefit from suffering The reason for God punishing us is two-fold: he punishes the just both to improve them for the future and to reprove them for their previous actions. J shall support this from the teaching of the Lord but, before I do so, I shall show that the just are punished so that, by these trials, their true worth can be revealed more clearly. As Jacob said in Canaan: 'My children, rejoice at the trials you encounter in the knowledge that these will reveal your patience and true faith'. And later on he said: 'Happy are they who are tested since, if they come through it, they shall receive the prize of life that God has offered to those who struggle on'. And so, my friends, we should rejoice when we suffer great physical pain or are tested by the harsh struggle before the Lord our judge.
It is not when everything is going well that we should rejoice in Christ but when everything is against us. Remember what Paul said: 'Let us rejoice in the hope of God's charity but not only then, but let us rejoice in the times of tribulation since they will reveal our patience, and our patience will show our true worth and our true worth our hope. Our hope will not come to nothing because the charity of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us'.
Many great benefits have come to the just from their experience of suffering. And in the same way that the earth would not be fertile and rich unless the farmers worked hard to cultivate it, and without whose efforts it would not only cease to offer up its
produce to the human race but would turn into its opposite and bear thistles, so if decent people were not relentlessly afflicted by adversity they would not only fail to progress but would repeatedly slip and fall from the right path. We have learned this from the teacher mentioned above. For there was a man who was conscious of his own virtues and who had come before the Lord secure in what he deserved. But having been taken to the third heaven and led into paradise, and hearing words which no one can speak, he discovered that divine providence had sent the angel Satan to scourge anyone so full of pride they forget to be grateful for what has been given to them. He was delighted at this and wrote to the Corinthians: 'I shall not extol the revelation from the heights since I have been given a goad for my flesh, the angel Satan, who will strike me if I am boastful. Three times I called out to God to stop him, but he answered that his grace should suffice for me; for virtue is perfected in weakness', and again:
'I rejoice in my weakness, my persecution, my distress for Christ for when I am weak then I am strong'.
(2)
The love of God extinguishes grief And so let us be glad and bear with patience everything the world throws at us, secure in the knowledge that it is then that we are most in the mind of God. In this life you would have to be very naive to expect that, after enjoying a lifetime of luxurious abundance, you could then receive the celestial gifts in the next life. Which of the saints was able to avoid and be free from the dangers of this world? If you examine their lives carefully, you will find that none of them managed to escape the tribulations of this world but, having endured all the trials of this world patiently, they arrived at the incorruptible glory of truth.
The patriarch Abraham had such a deep faith and love of God that he was prepared to sink his sword up to the hilt in the body of his dearest son. He chose to be regarded as a murderer rather than as unfaithful to the commands of God, prefiguring the words of our
Saviour who said: 'If you love your son or daughter more than me you are not worthy of me'. And so to be seen as worthy of the Lord, he followed the divine command and offered his only son as a sacrifice, feeling no sorrow that he should be killing his own heir. Why should he not feel grief? The reason is that his heart was burning with the love of God and the heat of faith which extinguishes all grief. This was the sort of man
_ the patriarch Abraham was, someone who truly loved God and about whom the Lord has spoken in witness:
'Now I know what you are since you fear your Lord and have not spared even your dearest son for me'.
Even he could not live his life without such trials and
tribulations but endured everything and deserved to be called the father of all the saints.
(3)
God, the heavenly doctor Do not, my friends, feel pain at your physical afflictions, but be strong and thankful for whatever the Lord sends. If your body is racked with every sort of pain, do not become depressed, allowing your spirit to be broken, and do not feel driven to cry out against God; but instead you should call to mind the example of Job who surpassed all others by his patience. Remember what he said: 'As God chooses so it will be done, may his name be praised'.
I have known people whose bodies were covered with the marks of leprosy, and had reached such a peak of desperation because of this, that they were convinced that they had been utterly abandoned by God. Anyone who thinks like that does not understand the teaching of God. Each of us ought to concentrate night and day on the divine law so that we may realize that 'God is the real justice and justification himself, which is more valuable than gold and precious stones and which is sweeter than honey' and which provides the real cure for disease. For the pain of the disease will only last for a short time, while the spiritual healing will last for ever.
Believe me, my friend, the body can never be cleansed of dirt to the same degree as the soul can be purified. And does not the doctor who is to cure the sick person of disease sometimes make an incision in the skin with his knife or even, when necessary, use a flame to remove the pain which the disease has produced?
Now you would never accuse a doctor of doing this
out of hatred but would actually reward him with presents. God, the heavenly doctor, with his fatherly affections has a much greater desire to help those whom he will save from death. And for this reason he sends us temporary blows so that he may free our soul from the blows that produce everlasting death.
(8)
Cleansing the soul And so, my friends, accept whatever the Lord sends with a willing spirit and do not groan at what is imposed on you, for why should you feel joy at being part of that crowd or pain at being excluded from it?
Rather we should do everything to ensure that we are not excluded from the city of God. For those in the cities who seem so secure within the protection of their walls will discover that, if they are struck down by the sickness of corruption and neglect their real life, then they will be excluded from the heavenly city, which is the mother of all the saints. Even though you may feel pain and sorrow at being excluded from the cesspit of the city, you should tolerate it wisely, ensuring that you serve God with humility and prepare yourself for the citizenship of his city and paradise. For you have been excluded from contact with the masses not because of the state of your soul but by the nature of your illness; it is an illness which is what they call infectious. However it will not infect your soul but will serve to cleanse it.
And so I encourage you to put aside your distress, my friends, and your depression and not allow the pain to lead you to despair of the future. Do not believe those stupid people who think they will be reborn in their present bodily form on the day of resurrection, since this is merely a vain and baseless piece of superstition. Indeed I challenge anyone who believes that to show me the page of the Bible where it is written. I have certainly never seen it and I am
sure that, if they had taken the trouble to study this matter carefully, they would not have committed such a lie and blunder.
But then ignorance produces a wretched soul, and a mind full of nothing does itself terrible damage! Still, my friends, let us leave this exposure of their ignorance of the Bible and find wisdom in the words of God.
Let us look to God and say: 'Give me intelligence and teach me your words, happy are those whom you have taught, Master, and schooled in your laws so that they can find courage in times of need'. And so if the Lord has taught you the way, then you will never be tossed by the storm of lies around you.
(9)
Suffering, a prelude to the resurrection Remember the hope that Job maintained even in the midst of his terrible sufferings, and the strength he showed when his body was racked by pain. For he believed that the pain was preparing his body for the day of resurrection. Listen to what he said: 'I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the appointed day I shall be resurrected, and once again I shall be made whole and in my flesh I shall see God whom I myself and no other shall see. It is this hope which I keep in my heart'. And you too, my friends, should have the same hope and trust that you will reach the splendour of immortality in the next world, for this hope will make your present pain seem light and easy to bear. Indeed, the pain will no longer seem to be a punishment and source of grief but will serve to fill your spirit with joy.
If we seem to have spoken rather too briefly about the transformation of the body, then we need only recall the words that Paul spoke with great clarity and at some length in answer to those who were uncertain or in doubt on this matter. They had asked him how the dead would be raised and in what physical form, and he replied: 'You fools, nothing you sow will have life unless it has first died. And what you sow is not what will become the body but just the seed, like a grain of wheat or something similar. It is God who gives body to each as he sees fit'. For a simple grain of wheat which is sown on the ground does not appear
to possess any sign of life, and yet, once it has rotted into the ground, it thrusts up its head and produces numerous ears and a luxuriant clothing of vegetation around itself; this is what is meant when it is said that it is God who gives body to each as he sees fit. In the same way the corruptible body that has been buried deep in the ground has no life of its own unless, like the grain of wheat, it possesses the seed of life. And when, at God's command, the time of resurrection arrives it is not the corruptible and seeded part that shall be resurrected but the incorruptible and immortal part.
So it is written in a passage that comes later: "What was sown in corruption will rise without corruption; what is sown in contempt will rise in glory, what is sown in weakness will rise in strength, what is sown in the body will rise as the spirit'. This means that the body we have at present will be destroyed immediately after death and will rot and feed the worms. Even before death it is continually disintegrating; even before the final breath has been breathed, the limbs of our body start to grow weak and begin the process of decomposition. It has to suffer abuse and countless infirmities, hunger, thirst, fatigue, tension, and extremes of temperature, for in this life we are composed of the physical and the spiritual. It is the spiritual part of us that will rise again and be formed anew by the Holy Spirit as it is written in the Psalms: 'Let your soul depart and they shall be created and you will renew the face of the earth'.
At present we have a human body but in the future we will have a celestial one, because there are human bodies and celestial bodies. There is a human splendour and a celestial splendour. The splendour that can be
attained on earth is temporary and limited while that of heaven lasts forever, which will be shown when the corruptible becomes incorruptible and the mortal immortal.
Have no doubt, my friend, that you will have a celestial body and do not think that just because your present body is covered in leprous sores or any other blemishes that you will be excluded from the splendour of heaven for that reason. On the contrary, as the examples of Lazarus or Job remind us, you will be even more deserving to enter the kingdom of heaven. We will only be excluded from the kingdom if our faults and sins remain within us. And we shall be excluded from the kingdom if we think that our omnipotent
Lord is powerless. The only person who could think that God is powerless is someone who believed they could not be improved by him. You surely do not believe that the Lord, who can reanimate and revive arid and reduced flesh and bones, would be incapable of transforming them into the splendour of heaven? You cannot agree that God is omnipotent and then claim that in this particular area he is completely powerless!
(12)
Suffering leads to spiritual growth You may perhaps be led to despair of life, thinking that you have been abandoned by everyone and that you have been covered in sores because of the sins you have committed. But you ought to regard this as the sign of God's love rather than his hatred, because in this life God wishes to correct us, his children, so that our spirit may be received by him in a spotless and pristine condition. As it is written in the Bible: 'God rebukes those he loves and punishes each child he accepts'.
And so if you see anyone committing great sins and yet never being punished for them and whose body is never afflicted by illness or misfortune, you may be sure that they have been abandoned by God because of the magnitude of their sins. Such a person is not punished because they are not worth saving; while you are rebuked so that you are not consigned to eternal death. This is what David said: "The Lord rebukes me so that I shall not be consigned to death'. And even
Jerusalem, when it committed a crime against God by killing the prophets whom he had sent to redeem it, suffered destruction and captivity in Babylon so that, by these means, its children might be put back on the right path: a punishment intended to lead to correction. And so when the seventy years were over the city was restored to its former glory. God showed pity and offered these words of consolation through the priests in Jeremiah: 'We have spoken, my priests, to the very heart of Jerusalem and we have offered consolation: for it has drunk from the cup of divine
anger and has received twice as much punishment from the Lord for its sins'.
If you are a good Christian, you should be pleased if you suffer troubles, since you will become more worthy. And if you are a sinner, you should be pleased if you are afflicted, for in this way you will be cleansed of your sins and will find consolation in the time to come. Affliction offers benefits in each case, for: "The spirit which has suffered is a sacrifice for God; God does not despise the heart which is contrite and humble'.
If a sinner is rebuked by God but refuses to change their old ways, merely despairing for their life, and saying: 'I have no chance of being pardoned, God has abandoned me, my whole life is heading for disaster,
I can expect no peace after I die. Such a person signs their own death warrant and falls on the sword of desperation, joining the group denounced by the prophet when he says: 'You have rebuked them and yet they show no remorse, you have punished them and yet they ignore the warning'.
But you should do everything, my friends, to avoid becoming one of that group, and be ready and willing to take to heart the judgement of God when he says:
'The judgements of God are sweeter than honey'. Even though the punishment may seem harsh at the time, it will produce a wonderful yield in the future. Such punishment will steer you away from sin and lead you to virtue. You will overcome death and find life because of it. You will avoid terrible punishment in the future and gain an eternity of joy. You will be led away from pride and towards the peace and humility of God.
Remember this: 'It is good that you have made me humble so that I may learn your justice'.
If you have taken what I have said to your heart and continue to remain true to his praises and his grace, continually giving thanks to God, you will always feel the spirit of God within you. For anyone who keeps their mind on God will never be without him.
He will soothe the pains of your body and strengthen its capacity to endure; and even if your body is covered with festering wounds, you will be able to retain your mental composure and balance, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.
(13)