Olivier Delouis: Theodore the Studite on Pseudo-Basil’s Ascetic Constitutions

The “Constitutiones asceticae” or Ascetic constitutions (CPG 2895) are apocryphal but attributed to Basil of Cesarea in all manuscripts containing his Asketikon (CPG 2875). The abbot Theodore the Stoudite (759-826) somehow understood this problem and decided to contribute to the controversy, writing a Scholion to defend Basil’s authorship. In our paper, we will present a first critical edition, an English translation and a commentary on this short text.

Dimitris Zaganas: New Reasons to Doubt the Authenticity of the "Enarratio in Isaiam" Attributed to Basil.

Traditionally assigned to Basil of Caesarea, the Enarratio in prophetam Isaiam (CPG 2911) is an important, yet imperfect and problematic commentary on Isaiah 1-16. Three centuries have passed since Julian Garnier strongly argued against its authenticity, and contemporary scholarship is still striving to rehabilitate it, but underlying issues of the debate are left unaddressed or even have intensified. This paper will seek to problematize anew the Enarratio’s genesis, attribution and relation to Basil. However striking or numerous they may be, are the similarities between the Enarratio and genuine works of Basil sufficient to establish its authenticity? How their equally numerous discrepancies are then to be understood, and how other problematic aspects of the commentary are to be explained? The authenticity issue, to be sure, is more complex than it appears, and needs further critical study.

Arnaud PERROT: Discerning spuria and dubia in Basil’s corpus according to Julien Garnier.

The edition of Basil’s works by the 18th century Maurists has played a major role in our perception of the limits of Basil’s Corpus. Many texts transmitted by the Greek manuscripts, some of which had not aroused the slightest suspicion until the Benedictine edition, were at that time considered as ‘dubia and spuria’. Therefore, the texts condemned as dubious ones in the 18th century have been systematically less read and less exploited, or even ignored, by the specialists of Basil’s work until our days.This may have had some impact on our understanding of Basil. In this paper, I will focus (in order to understand and discuss them) on the criteria used by the Benedictine scholar Julien Garnier to identify and exclude suspicious texts.

Josien Segers: A Cappadocian Paradise? Analysis of the theological ideas found in the sermo De Paradiso (CP 3127)

My dissertation deals with three Greek sermons dating from the 4th century A.D. on the creation of man and Paradise. These texts are handed down under the name of Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa and have only been studied in a limited way, focusing on the problem of authorship, mostly by looking at the manuscripts. In this presentation, I will present the conclusions of my research on this problem and focus on one of the three texts.
The main part of this paper covers the sermon De Paradiso, which has not been studied before. Most of the manuscripts containing the sermons De creatione hominis do not include the sermon on Paradise, often because of doubts with regard to its authenticity. Most manuscripts that contain the sermon attribute it to Basil of Caesarea, but on what grounds? I will examine the (theological) ideas present in the text, most of which the author adopted from other patristic fathers – such as Origen – and pagan authors – such as Plato and Stoic philosophers. I will try to answer the following questions: (1) how did the author combine references with a diverse background? (2) Did his approach to the sources differ depending on the religious background and are their origins still recognizable? (3) Did he introduce new interpretations of sources or did he alter existing interpretations? (4) Did he express ideas not found in previous sources? And (5) can the ideas be linked to the line of thinking of (one) of the Cappadocian Fathers?

SERGEY TROSTYANSKIY: “Basil the Great’s Theory of Time, its Philosophical Underpinnings and Eschatological Significance”

Basil’s exegesis of the creation narrative by and large defined the early church’s understanding of nature and its principles. An integral part of Basil’s hermeneutics of the scriptural account of creation was the theory of time. Questions of the nature of time, and its relation to motion and, in particular, the motion of the celestial bodies, defined Basil’s theoretical agenda framed within the Arian controversy over the notion of the origins of the Word of God.
Basil’s theory appeared faithful to Aristotle in that it did not tie time to the motion of celestial bodies. It also betrayed certain Stoic influences, at least as far as the definition of time was concerned. We can also see the influence of Platonism on Basil’s theory. Plato’s Timaeus, Philo’s De opficio mundi, and possibly also various Neoplatonist treatises on the subject, influenced Basil’s discourse on the topic in a range of ways. However, despite the fact that Basil operated with classical and late antique categorical taxonomies, his account of time appears unique in that it clearly exhibits a very Christian understanding of the natural world and its origins.
This article aims to analyze Basil’s account of time so as to track its philosophical underpinnings. It is also intended to demonstrate that Basil’s theory of time was premised on a uniquely Christian eschatological and liturgical vision.

Nikolai Lipatov-Chicherin: The place of the ‘Commentary on the prophet Isaiah’ within the corpus of works of St Basil the Great.

The place of the ‘Commentary on the prophet Isaiah’ within the corpus of works of St Basil the Great.The paper makes a new contribution to the ongoing debate about the question of authorship of the ‘Commentary on the prophet Isaiah’ attributed by manuscripts to St Basil the Great. It starts with outlining objections raised by Erasmus, Garnier and their followers and proceeds to demonstrate their basic errors. Then the paper evaluates the text in terms of its language, style, theological ideas, historical background and reflections of the author’s personality. From the point of view of the speaker the book not only meets formal criteria for a genuine work of Basil but occupies an important and organic position within his oeuvre. It provides a focal point for the development of many of his ideas reflected in subsequent writings and as such it is indispensable for understanding of the evolution of Basil’s personality and theological thinking.

Thomas Tatterfield: Basil of Caesarea on Stoic Sympathy and the Body of Christ

It has been long noted that Basil of Caesarea utilizes the Stoic concept of sympathy. N. Joseph Torchia, for instance, has shown how Basil receives an account of sympathy mediated through Plotinus and applies it to the cosmos as a whole. What he and others have not sufficiently highlighted is that while Basil does use sympathy as a way of explaining how bodies relate to other bodies he also uses it within explicitly theological contexts. I will demonstrate how Basil uses stoic sympathy to make sense of Pauline passages concerning the body of Christ and its members. These members united by the Spirit experience sympathy with one another by virtue of their belonging to the one body of Christ. For Basil sympathy doesn’t merely explain how bodies relate to bodies but elucidates the unique bond of the ecclesial body. My paper will explore this uniquely theological application of Stoic sympathy and place it within the philosophical context of Basil’s thought as a whole.

Thomas Langley: Polis Body and Body Politic: Bodily Metaphors in the letters of Basil of Caesarea

While frequently discussing the politicisation of the human form, the metaphor of the state as body/body as state has been relatively neglected by late antique scholars. Yet such a metaphor is a prime example of patristic dialogue with both pagan and Christian pasts. Adapted and embellished from the Greek tradition by Cicero to become a mainstay of Roman Imperial political discourse, it was also important for St Paul's writing. Focusing on the letters of Basil of Caesarea gives us a unique glimpse into how this metaphor could impact real-world scenarios, by analysing in depth the particular contexts which they addressed. I will argue that the metaphor of the body was used in Basil's correspondence to establish an exclusive, Christian polis which made membership in the community coterminous with membership of Christ’s body. Though using Pauline examples, Basil ironically repurposed the metaphor in the service of the very tradition of polis rhetoric. Moreover, its deployment in the particular context of Basil’s letters gives a vital insight into the political and religious languages of the fourth century. The letters of Basil, one of the foremost episcopal reformers and controversialists of his age, are vital to bring to light the details of a highly significant decade in the Roman Empire's conversion . As well as illuminating a neglected aspect of patristic political thought, therefore, the metaphor of the body politic offers a fine-grained insight into the process by which Christianity became the religion of the polis and its civic elite.

Valentina Marchetto: “One Heart and One Soul” (Acts 4:32). Past and Present Unity in Basil of Caesarea

The case study I mean to present is part of a wider project on the Patristic reception of John 17:21 from the 2nd Century to the Council of Chalcedon. Through a mapping of quotations in the ancient Christian literature, it aims at understand how the Fathers read and interpreted this text, which is strictly linked with the self-definition and self-representation first of all of the group of the disciples, and, consequently, of the future believers in Christ. Within this broader context, this paper intends to analyse the occurrences of this verse in the works of Basil of Caesarea. In fact, this case provides a clear example of a specific exegetical trend, which has its starting point in Origen and is well attested later in the majority of authors involved in the Arian controversy. In this circumstance, the Johannine verse was used several times on grounds of its lexical vagueness, and, on the other hand, of its emphasis on the unity between the Father and the Son. Moreover, John 17:21 was often linked with Acts 4:32, a fact that shifts the heavenly unity between God and Christ to a more concrete and earthly shape of unity. Furthermore, by referring to Acts’ narrative, Basil bases the unity and harmony of his monastic community on the “mythical”, past unity realised by the Apostolic Church. Acts 4:32, at the same time, proves that the oneness for which Christ prayed in John has been fulfilled, and represents the example for Basil’s contemporaries.

Adam Rasmussen: “A Vessel Divinely Molded”: Basil of Caesarea on the Goodness of Human Bodies

Basil of Caesarea throughout his works constructs a theological anthropology affirming the goodness of human bodies. Although he prioritizes the soul, his anthropology is holistic and not strictly dualistic. The human being is not merely a soul using a body, but the harmonious union of body and soul. That being said, the soul is the better part, it alone having been made in the image of God. The body, far from being bad, is the soul’s useful and necessary “co-worker.” Although made of crude matter, it was “formed” by God’s own hands—a notion he draws from Origen. As such, the human body is beautiful. Its purpose is to serve the soul rather than its own desires and emotions. The spiritual person (ascetic) will thus be content with only the basic necessities. Adapting Origen’s view of the fall, Basil uses the metaphors of “flesh” and “heaviness” to warn against being drawn down from heavenly things through carnal desires. Basil’s negative view of “the flesh” does not mean that the bodily needs of the poor may be ignored. Rather the reverse: it is precisely by taking care of suffering bodies that one stores up heavenly rewards. God will punish in hell those who fail to share. Basil both maintains the superiority of the soul over the body and insists upon the goodness and significance of human bodies, especially hungry ones.

Midori Hartman: The Art of Soul Hunting: Basil of Caesarea’s Letter 10

Basil of Caesarea begins Letter 10 to an unnamed widow describing a technique (technē) used in dove-hunting (peristerōn thēreutikē). In capturing and taming a dove (peristera), which is anointed and released amongst a wild flock, the master of the tame bird is able to possess the flock through the scent of that myrrh (tou murou ekeinou euōdia). Basil offers this metaphor to contextualize how the conversion of the letter recipient’s son Dionysius mirrors this technique: Basil has anointed the wings of the young man’s soul with divine ointment in the hope that she might convert.This paper analyzes Basil’s use of animality and the language of capture in Letter 10 as a conversion tactic. I compare his hunting-conversion metaphor with Xenophon of Athens’ connection between Virtue and toil as a critique against sophistry at the end of his manual On Hunting(XII-XIII). I argue that Basil’s compact letter presumes a similar connection between character and virtue in order to appeal to the widow in terms of elite appropriation of the quotidian to appeal to deeper and higher matters, in this case God. As Basil explicates in his treatise on the proper use of a Greek education (To Young Men), such metaphors can be used because they hold utility for the soul’s search for truth.

Manuel Mira: Despised sacraments. Roots of the messalian thought in Basil of Caesarea's tractate De Spiritu Sancto.

The term "messalianism" is a label used to name different ascetics groups at the end of the fourth century. In the descriptions of the messalian thought made by Timotheus of Constantinople, the contempt of the sacraments is one of the main traits. The tractate De Spiritu Sancto shows a discussion between Basil of Caesarea and some anonymous theologians in which the former defends the transformative power of baptism against the later, who do not see in this sacrament anything more than a washing or an external purification. This paper aims to look for the relationship between the messalians and the theologians against which Basil fights, and also to uncover a debate on the efficacy of the sacraments that moves forward at the last quarter of the fourth century.

Olga Alieva: Moses in the Wilderness: Basil of Caesarea on Formation of the Prophet

Basil of Caesarea’s treatment of the life of Moses in his Hexaemeron is traditionally taken to be dependent on Philo of Alexandria and the Jewish exegetical tradition.Thus, M. Harl suggested that the tripartite division of the prophet’s life (40 years of profane culture, 40 years of solitude and 40 years of pastoral responsibility) ‘came from the Syrian monastic milieu, since it is known that such direct borrowings from the rabbinical midrashim are not rare among the authors of the Syriac Church’ (Harl 1967; cf. Perrot 2012). Without questioning the fact that Basil knew Philo’s Life of Moses, this paper seeks to demonstrate, however, that in this respect Basil was more indebted to Origen and his tripartite division of philosophy into ethics, physics, and epoptics. Roughly, Moses' years in Egypt corresponds to purification (ethics), 40 years in the wilderness — to instruction (physics); and the Sinai revelation -- to epoptics. This allows not only to make a more balanced assessment of Origen’s influence on Basil, increasingly stressed in recent scholarship, but also to suggest a more nuanced interpretation of Basil’s Address to the youthand his program of the Christian paideia.

Aogu "Nick" Iida: St. Basil of Caesarea’s Christological Understanding Pertaining to His Rebuttal Against Eunomius

This paper will focus on St. Basil of Caesarea’s writings—mainly Against Eunomius and his letters—in conjunction with his rebuttal against Eunomius. It will examine Basil’s Christological understanding as he refutes Eunomius for his Arian perspective on his understanding of the nature and substance of the Son. My examination in this paper will mainly attempt to assert that the Incarnational understanding of the Son was one of the key concepts for Basil to expand his theological understanding. While not explicitly distinguishing the notion between an economic Trinity and an immanent Trinity, this paper will argue that it was the Incarnation of the Son that was crucial to Basil’s rebuttal against Eunomius as well as for Basil’s formation of his theological assertion. For this paper, I will mainly focus on Book II of Against Eunomius and Epistles 20 and 231 to 236 (written to Amphilochius) as Basil reflects and develops his thoughts. I will also make a brief reference to Basil’s usage of the term, philanthropia, in other writings to bolster my contention, referring to Kenji Doi’s assertion on this theme and his findings and indicate that Basil’s core notion was controlled by his understanding of the Incarnation of the Son, which eventually helped him not only refute Eunomius but also expand his pastoral and practical operations such as monasteries and hospitals.

Aglaia Nikolopoulou: "Imitation" in Great Basil’s speech “Address to young men...” and Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory: a modern dialectic

Nowadays, the imitation behavior plays a major role in everyday situations. Psychologist Albert Bandura studies the effect of imitation in human development. The key-aspect of Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory is model-based learning. Repetition of an act depends on its consequences. According to Bandura, all societies can become pacifist or aggressive. Whether they will become or not, is a result of social conditions that will promote or suppress this tendency. Consequently, Bandura raises the issue of teaching the virtue. Similarly, Basil the Great gives a moral dimension in social learning, in his in his speech, “Address to young men on Greek literature”. He encourages young people to have virtuous models from the Christian Orthodox and the ancient Greek history, as well. Imitation of virtuous models is a Christian’s way to prepare for “the eternal” life. Basil the Great notes that we must put under critical thought the teachings of the ancient Greek poets, prose writers and orators and carefully choose, like the bees, only the useful models for imitation. Therefore, there are appropriate and inappropriate models for imitation. Finally, there is the model that is impossible to be imitated by human: as St. John Climacus points out we can only imitate the spiritual conduct of Jesus Christ “as much as possible by human”. In conclusion, A. Bandura through experiments and St. Basil the Great through examples, both show that virtue can be learned by imitating virtuous models and this could be an important tool for the modern educator.

Arnaud PERROT: Basil and Amelius.

The Homily on: “In the beginning was the Word (Jn 1:1)” (= Homily 16) alludes to the admiration of the Gentiles for the Prologue of the Gospel of John and to the use that they have done of this text in their own writings. Behind these words, one can easily recognize an allusion to the Neoplatonist Amelius. It is well known that ‘Basil’s Neoplatonism’ has caused much debate. In this paper, I will try to show that Basil did not read Amelius. Like the other Christian writers who refer to this passage– for example, Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyril of Alexandria–, Basil depends on Eusebius’ Evangelical Preparation and the way Eusebius has distorted the ‘testimony’ of the Platonist.

Maria Alejandra Valdes Garcia: Homiliae diversae de Basilio de Cesarea. Estudio retórico

El corpus Homiliae diversae de Basilio de Cesarea (ca. 329-379) comprende 25 homilías de muy distinto carácter. De entre las consideradas auténticas pueden agruparse fácilmente en el género del panegírico las cuatro dedicadas a distintos mártires: In martyrem Iulittam [HIul], In Gordium martyrem [HGord], In sanctos quadraginta martyres [HMart] e In sanctum martyrem Mamantem [HMam], sin embargo, el Panegírico a la mártir Julita incluye una parte exegética que es la conclusión del discurso anterior De gratiarum actione [HGrat], con lo cual no es completamente un panegírico. Otro grupo de homilías, las de tipo exegético, siguen la normativa de un recurso específico incluido en los manuales de progymnasmata. Caso distinto es el de las homilías de corte moral, en las que con frecuencia hace uso de la estructura de una thesis, lo que le da la oportunidad de argumentar con profusión y solidez sus posturas ante determinadas pasiones humanas. El corpus incluye, además, homilías de corte dogmático. El objetivo de esta comunicación es despejar los tipos de discurso que utiliza san Basilio en el conjunto de sus Homiliae diversae.

Benoît Gain: Le propre du chrétien selon Basile de Césarée : imiter le Christ ou renaître de l'eau et de l'Esprit ?

Basile de Césarée est l'un des rares Pères à fournir une définition du christianisme et du chrétien. Selon maints chercheurs, notamment E. Mersch, Basile se bornerait dans ses oeuvres ascétiques à rappeler qu'est chrétien celui qui, en tout état de vie, cherche à imiter le Christ par la pratique de l'ascèse. L'examen attentif de ses oeuvres, notamment à l'aide des travaux réalisés au XXe siècle, montre cependant que non seulement il n'ignore pas le renouvellement intérieur du disciple du Christ procuré par le baptême et l'eucharistie, mais que c'est pour lui la voie prioritaire. Si l'on ne trouve  pas chez l'évêque de Césarée la même insistance que chez d'autres auteurs sur la vie dans le Christ, c'est peut-être parce qu'il est toujours resté  soucieux de se tenir à l'écart des excès qu'avaient dénoncés les Pères réunis au synode de Gangres (c. 341).

Seraina Ruprecht: The Rhetoric of Friendship in Basil of Caesarea

What impact did the rise of Christianity in the fourth century have on the constitution of friendships and social networks in the Roman Empire? How and when did Christian authors use, adapt or avoid traditional concepts of social inclusion in a time of religious change? Did they develop novel strategies of community building? This paper offers a case study to these questions. It aims to analyse Basil of Caesarea's use of the language of friendship as a tool to establish social networks. The main source will be his letters. Basil of Caesarea here contrasts Christian love (agape) with the friendship (philia) rooted in the Graeco-Roman culture. Whereas philia is described as a worldly or bodily relationship, agape is seen as a spiritual bond between adherents of the same Christian faith (cf. Bas. epp. 133 and 154). This paper will argue that Basil purposely distinguishes between two different concepts of social inclusion and makes use of either of them according to the socio- or ecclesio-political context of the letter. Basil of Caesarea thus reacts and adapts to the changing religious circumstances by introducing a new and entirely Christian concept of social inclusion, which he juxtaposes in opposition to the classical notion of friendship.

Adam Rasmussen: Defending Moses: Understanding Basil of Caesarea's Apparent Rejection of Allegory in the Hexaemeron

A well known problem in understanding the scriptural exegesis of Basil of Caesarea is how to account for the apparent contradiction between his Origenist exegesis (in his homilies on the Psalms, for example) and his literal exegesis and criticisms of allegory in his masterpiece, the Hexaemeron. Various explanations have been offered by scholars, such as that Basil changed his point of view late in life, moving more toward "Antiochene" exegesis, or by downplaying Basil's association with Origen and his hermeneutics in the first place. Richard Lim, in an important article, criticized these explanations, instead arguing for continuity between Origen and Basil. He did so by asserting both that Basil's rejection of allegory in the Hexaemeron was limited only to what Lim termed "translational" allegory (that is, allegory that rejects the literal sense) and that the literal method of interpretation used in it was suited to its allegedly uneducated audience. Although Lim is right to reject previous scholarly explanations and maintain the connection between Basil and Origen, neither of his arguments is sustainable. I argue that a better explanation for Basil's different interpretative method in the Hexaemeron lies in his understanding of Genesis 1 as a privileged source of cosmology, which he must defend against Gnostic cosmologies. Because the Gnostics use allegorical explanations of Genesis 1 to support their dualistic cosmology, Basil must insist on the reasonableness and sufficiency of the text at the literal level.