Letter 190 (374)
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tion of the eporch of the Cappadocia Secunda, and it was unavoidable that the influence of the bishop of Tyana would increase, for better or for worse.
In view 0/ the situation created by the imperial decrees, Basil explained to Amphilochios, the bishop of /coniutn in Pisidia, his ideas on the reorganization 0/ the churches of [sauria, a mountainolls region on the northern slopes of the Taurus, east 0/ Pisidia. Churches had grown at random, without much regard tor canonical order, and they were often at odds with one another. Basil advocated a central authority for the sake of a more efficient service to local communities.
This was an ideal; if it could nol be realized, at least Am· philochios might supervise a modicum of reorganization.
BASIL TO AMPHILOCHlOS, BISHOP OF ICONlUM,
LETTER 190 (374)
You have shown anxiety concerning the problems of the churches in Isauria in a manner worthy of your modesty and your zeal. That it would be more profitable to the greater number if the charge were divided among many bishops is evident, I think, to anyone, and this did not escape your attention, for you have described the situation nicely and made it known to us. But it is not easy to find men who are worthy .... As you know yourself, most of the time men under authority conform their mores to those of their superiors. Perhaps it would be better that one well-tested man, one alone-if it is easy to find such a one-be made to preside over the city and be entrusted, at his own risk, with the administration of all things in detail. Only let him be a true servant of God, a worker of whom one would not be ashamed, not seeking his own advantage, but the advantage of many, that they be saved [1 Co 10:33]. If he judges himself not to be up to prospective worries, he should secure
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co-workers for the harvest [Mt 9:37]. And if we find such a man, I believe that, though he be alone, he shall be worth many and be more useful to the churches inasmuch as he will take better care of the souls. While this is not easy to realize, we should begin by procuring diligently competent leaders for those small towns and boroughs that are episcopal sees for a longer time, and then we shall re-establish the bishop of the provincial capital. But one may fear that perhaps the one we propose might become an obstacle to our project, and that we would soon be fighting with our own people, should he aim at heading the majority and refuse to recognize the ordinations of the bishops. This is a heavy charge, and if time does not permit, then apply yourself to the following: have the territory that belongs properly to the bishop of Isauria duly surveyed, because he assigns at random suffragan bishops from neighboring districts. Whatever would remain to be done, leave it to us. When the time is favorable, we will appoint as bishops men whom we esteem best qualified, after a rigorous investigation.
We read in chapter 2 a fragment of a letter to the Neo-Caesaraeans (leiter 204), in which Basil hoped to make of his Pontic ancestors a recommendation for himself,' the city was at thaI time (375) in a state of general unrest, owing to the jealousy of the bishop, A tarbios, a relative who believed himself to be the one-man champion of Orthodoxy.
He had accused Basil of laxity in dealing with some heretics who appeared ready to recant their errors. A stern hegumen in the community of the Iris, and a firm ruler of his archdiocese in the heart of Anatolia, Basil was nonetheless ready to accept at face value the assurance that recent converts gave of their sincerity, unless the deceit was manifest.
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BASIL TO THE PEOPLE OF NEO-CAESARAEA,
THROUGH THEIR PRIESTS. LETTER 204 (375)
... Deceitful calumnies have filled your ears; OUf life and our faith in God have been the object of calumny. I know that a calumniator inflicts damage to three persons at a time: the one he is decrying, the one whom he addresses, and himself. 1 would have kept silent on the prejudice caused to us; know this well. It is not that I disregard the esteem you show me-how could I?-lest I would seem to forfeit it,
I am writing this letter to plead my cause now. But I see that, of the three persons who have been hit, it is I who have suffered the least. For if J am deprived of you, truth itself is stolen from yOll, ... To this hour, by the grace of the One who has called us through a holy entreaty to the full knowl* edge of Him, we are conscious not to have admitted into our heart any thought adverse to sound doctrine, and our soul was never defiled by the odious blasphemy of the Arians.
If we have at times welcomed some of their disciples who longed for our communion, who kept their distress hidden in their heart, whose words were pious words, or who did not contradict what we were saying, we would not reverse today our judgment on them, but rather follow the decisions prejudged by the vote of our fathers. I have received from our blessed father Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, a letter which I have in my hands and which I show to those who wish. He orders clearly that if someone recants the heresy of the Arians by professing the Nicene faith, he should be accepted without hesitation. Athanasius quoted for me the unanimity of the bishops of Macedon and Achaia on this policy. Thinking that it was necessary to follow so great a man because of the authority of the legislators, and since I hoped to receive the reward promised to the peacemakers, I have admitted into our communion those who made profes* sion of the Nicene faith . . .. It would be more correct to judge us, not according to one or two who do not walk in the path of truth, but according to the multitude of the
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bishops who throughout the oikoumene are united with us by the grace of the Lord. Ask those of Pisidia, of Lycaonia, of lsauria, of the two Phrygias, all those from Armenia your neighbors, the Macedonians, the Achaians, the Iilyrians, the Gauls, the Spaniards, all the Italians, Sicilians, Africans, those who form the sound part of Egypt or who remain from among the Syrians, they all send us letters and receive our replies. Through their letters addressed to us you will understand, and through the letters which we send them in response you will realize that we are all of the same mind and of the same opinion. The one, therefore, who turns away from our fellowship-have no illusion on this-has cut himself from the Church as a whole.
Upholding the unity of the Churches professing the faith of Nicaea had been the constant preoccupation of the Three
Hierarchs. They had worked together toward convening the Council of 381 in Constantinople. Basil was obsessed with the necessity of maintaining and developing contacts with the Churches in the West. In a sense, it proved too late: the two halves of Christendom, separated from each other by culture, language, instiwtional selllp, and liturgical customs, were drifting apart, inexorably. The exchange of the kiss of peace and the lifting of excommunications by the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch in our days are certainly hopeful signs, but the object oj hope is "0 distant good and not easily obtainable"!
The title given by the manuscripts and the early editions to Basil's Letter 70 is misleading: letter 70 is not an epigraph, but a pathetic appeal to Damaslls, pope of Rome from 366 to 384. The old editions oj the letters give jor this one the date oj 371, but this seems too early: ten years before the Council of Constantinople (381)!
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BASIL, "ON A SYNOD," LETTER 70
To renew the laws of antique charity and the peace of the fathers, this heavenly and salutary gift of Christ which alas has withered away, to bring it back to 'the point of its origin appears to us necessary and fruitful. I know that it will be agreeable to your Christ-loving heart, for what can be more pleasing than to see people who are separated by vast stretches of land being united through charity into a single harmony of the members in the body of Christ? Nearly all the Orient, most honored Father, that is the Orient from IIlyria to Egypt, is shaken by a violent tempest because the old heresy sown by Arius, the enemy of truth, reappears unashamedly today and, like a bitter root, bears deadly fruits.
It may prevail in the future because those in charge of the right doctrine in every locality have been expelled from the Churches by calumnies and insults, and because those who imprison the souls of simple people hold the power. We had expected as the unique deliverance from these evils that in your compassion you would visit us; your outstanding charity has always guided us in the past, and the more cheerful prospect of your visit had comforted us for some time. But seeing our hope deceived, we cannot refrain ourselves, and we come to beg you by this letter to stand up to help us and send some envoys who partake of our feelings, either to reconcile the dissidents and restore friendShip among the Churches of God, or at least to make the authors of the disturbance better known to you, so that you may judge clearly from now on those with whom it is proper to have communion. After all, we are not asking for anything new, but only for what was common to all our blessed elders and friends of God, especially among you. For we know that according to tradition, having interrogated our fathers and being instructed by the letters still kept by us, we know that Dionysios, that most blessed bishop, [Dionysios of Turio in Magna Graecia, bishop of Rome from 261 to 272) distinguished in your region for the orthodoxy of his faith and his
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other virtues, used to address letters to our Church at Caesaraea, comforted our fathers by these letters, and sent envoys to redeem our imprisoned brethren. Now our affairs are more critical and more sinister, and demand a greater attention. For it is not the ruin of earthly houses but the usurpation of Churches we deplore, not the enslaving of bodies but the enslaving of souls, every day, by the champions of heresy. Therefore if you do not arise now to succor us, soon you shall find no one to whom you could extend your hand, because all will have fallen under the power of heresy.
BASIL TO THE MOST HOLY BRETHREN, THE BISHOPS
IN THE OCCIDENT. LETTER 90 (372)
The good God, who always joins consolation with tribulations, gave us even now, in the abundance of pains, to find a measure of comfort in the letters which our most reverend father bishop [Athanasius of Alexandria] has received from your uprightness and which he has forwarded to us. It shows forth a wholesome faith and gives proof of an unopposed union and concord, as it reveals also shepherds who follow in the footsteps of the Fathers and feed wisely the people of the Lord. It all gave us much joy and put an end to OUf distress; it brought about, so to speak, a brief smile to OUf soul, after the gloomy turmoil which actually afflicted us.
The Lord has still increased His consolation by sending our dear son and fellow-minister [auv6laKovo<;] Sabinos, who has fed our souls by his accurate description of the good that is being done in your country and, having learned by experience our situation, will make it clearly known to you. So, to begin with, you shall fight with us through zealous and diligent prayer to the Lord, and furthermore you will not refuse to bring to exhausted Churches the encouragement that is in you; for the Church suffers here, most reverend brethren,
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and gives way under the continuous assaults of its enemies, as a ship in the midst of the sea is tossed about by the waves beating repeatedly, if she were not soon visited by the goodness of the Lord. Just as we regard your mutual concord and unity as our own good, so do we entreat you to sympathize with our dissensions and, because of the distance between our countries, not to separate yourselves from us, but to receive us into the harmony of onc single body, since we are made one in the community of the Spirit. [Here Basil describes the Arian persecution of the Orthodox in the eastern Churches.] ... If there is a consolation of charity, a communion in the Spirit, if you have bowels of compassion, make haste to succor us. Take on the zeal of piety, and deliver us from this tempest. Let the good message of the Fathers be spoken by you in all liberty. destroying the odious heresy of Arius and building up the Churches in the salutary doctrine which professes that the Son is consubstantial with the Father [6!lOQUOloe;j and that the Holy Spirit is equally honored [O!lOtl!lc.:>c;] and adored with them [auAAatpeUETal], Thus this liberty of speech which the Lord gave you for the truth, and this glorying in the saving Trinity, God will grant them also to us, through your prayers and your assistance.
Letter 92 (not given) written in 372, resumes the argument of the preceding letters unto making real the universality of Nicene Orthodoxy in spite of the split betlveen the two halves of Christendom, which was due to distance and to the growing polarization of two idioms and two cultures,
Greek and Latin. It is prefaced by a list of thirty-two Eastern Orthodox bishops from Asia Minor and Syria who joined
Basil voluntarily in sending a collective letter to the Westerners in favor of the unity of the Church.
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BASIL, LETTER 203, TO WESTERN BISHOPS ON THE
SEACOAST (TIapaAlunal<;), written in 375 Let not yourselves be caught by the following sophism:
"We who inhabit the seacoast are out of reach of the ills which affect many, and we have no need to be helped by others. What, then, would be our benefit in a communion with others?" Indeed, the Lord has put the sea to separate the isles from the mainland, but he has united the inhabitants of the isles and of the mainland by charity. Nothing separates us from one another, brethren, unless we submit voluntarily to separation. We have one Lord, one faith, one hope. If you regard yourselves as the head of the Church Universal, the head cannot say to the feet: "I do not need you." If you range yourselves in another class of members of the Church, you cannot say to us who are ranged in the same body: "We do not need you." The hands are in need of each other, the feet make each other steady, and the eyes see clearly when they are both in focus. As for us, we recognize our weakness and crave to be in accord with you. For we know that though not present bodily you will greatly help us by your prayers in the most critical moments. It is neither fitting in the eyes of men nor pleasing to God that you should use the very words which even the people who know not God would not use; for these people, we hear, even those who inhabit self-sufficient lands, arc eager to contract an alliance among themselves, were it only because of the uncertain future, and abide in their mutual deals, seeing they arc profitable. And we, whose fathers resolved that by means of small characters the symbols of our mutual relationship would travel from one end of the earth to the other, and that we should all be fellow-citizens and kinfolks, we would now withdraw from the oikoumene and not be ashamed of our seclusion! Do we not see that breaking the concord is fatal?
Do we not shudder to become the object of the frightful prophecy of the Lord: "Because iniquity has increased, the charity of the greater number shall wax cold" [Mt 24:12]?
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BASIL TO BISHOP AMBROSE, LETTER 197 (375)
Ambrose, prefect of Milan, called to the episcopacy by popular acclamation after the death of the Arian bishop
Allxentills, occupied the metropolitan see of Lombardy, 374397, fighting attempts at a revival of paganism and the spread of the Arian heresy in the West.
Great and numerous are the gifts of our Master, and it is impossible to measure the magnitude or the great number of those gifts. But one of the greatest gifts, if one appraises the graces we have received, is that we are able to communicate among each other, in spite of the great distance that separates liS, by our exchange of letters, for God has gratified us in two ways: meeting together or conversing by letters.
Therefore, because we have known you by the words you have spoken. because we know you, not by the physical character which we have carved in your memory, but by considering the beauty of the inner man, from the variety of your utterances-for each one of us speaks from the abundance of his heart [Mt 12:34]-we give glory to our God who chooses in every generation those men who are wellpleasing to Him .... Go then, 0 man of God, for you have not received or learned the Evangel of Christ from men, but the Lord Himself has taken you from among the judges of this earth and placed you on the seat of the Apostles; fight the good fight [2 Tm 4:7J; heal the infirmities of the people, if by misfortune they have been infected by the ills of Arian folly; retrace the former footsteps of the Fathers and, by the love you have for us, build on the foundation which you have cast, through the continuous greetings you shall send us! In that way we will be able to remain close to each other in spirit, in spite of the distance that separates our earthly abodes.