65.  But what are these to his renown for eloquence, and his powers of instruction, which have won the favour of the ends of the world?  As yet we have been compassing the foot of the mountain, to the neglect of its summit, as yet we have been crossing a strait, paying no heed to the mighty and deep ocean.  For I think that if any one ever has become, or can become, a trumpet, in his far sounding resonance, or a voice of God, embracing the universe, or an earthquake of the world, by some unheard of miracle, it is his voice and intellect which deserve these titles, for surpassing and excelling all men as much as we surpass the irrational creatures.  Who, more than he, cleansed himself by the Spirit, and made himself worthy to set forth divine things?  Who was more enlightened by the light of knowledge, and had a closer insight into the depths of the Spirit, and by the aid of God beheld the things of God?  Whose language could better express intellectual truth, without, as most men do, limping on one foot, by either failing to express his ideas, or allowing his eloquence to outstrip his reasoning powers?  In both respects he won a like distinction, and showed himself to be his own equal, and absolutely perfect.  To search all things, yea, the deep things of God122    1 Cor. ii. 10. is, according to the testimony of S. Paul, the office of the Spirit, not because He is ignorant of them, but because He takes delight in their contemplation.  Now all the things of the Spirit Basil had fully investigated, and hence he drew his instructions for every kind of character, his lessons in the sublime, and his exhortations to quit things present, and adapt ourselves to things to come.

Ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν ἐν λόγοις τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ τὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας κράτος τὰ πέρατα οἰκειούμενον; Ἔτι περὶ τοὺς πρόποδας τοῦ ὄρους στρεφόμεθα, τῆς ἄκρας ἀπολειπόμενοι: ἔτι πορθμὸν διαπερῶμεν, ἀφέντες τὸ μέγα καὶ βαθὺ πέλαγος. Οἶμαι γὰρ εἴ τις ἐγένετο ἢ γενήσεται σάλπιγξ ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῦ ἀέρος φθάνουσα, ἢ Θεοῦ φωνὴ τὸν κόσμον περιλαμβάνουσα, ἢ σεισμὸς οἰκουμένης ἔκ τινος καινοτομίας καὶ θαύματος, ταῦτα εἶναι τὴν ἐκείνου φωνὴν καὶ διάνοιαν, τοσοῦτον ἅπαντας ἀπολείπουσαν καὶ κάτω τιθεῖσαν, ὅσον τὴν τῶν ἀλόγων φύσιν ἡμεῖς. Τίς μὲν ἑαυτὸν ἐκάθηρε μᾶλλον τῷ Πνεύματι, καὶ ἄξιον τοῦ διηγεῖσθαι τὰ θεῖα παρεσκεύασε; Τίς δὲ μᾶλλον ἐφωτίσθη φῶς γνώσεως καὶ διέκυψεν εἰς τὰ βάθη τοῦ Πνεύματος καὶ μετὰ Θεοῦ τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ διεσκέψατο; Τίς δὲ λόγον ἔσχεν ἀμείνω τῶν νοηθέντων ἑρμηνευτήν, ὡς μηδ' ἑτέρῳ σκάζειν, κατὰ τοὺς πολλούς, ἢ νῷ λόγον οὐκ ἔχοντι, ἢ λόγῳ μὴ κατὰ νοῦν βεβηκότι: ἀλλ' ἀμφοτέρωθεν ὁμοίως εὐδοκιμεῖν, καὶ αὐτὸν ἶσον ἑαυτῷ φαίνεσθαι, καὶ ὄντως ἄρτιον; Πάντα μὲν ἐρευνᾶν, καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῷ Πνεύματι μεμαρτύρηται, οὐχ ὡς ἀγνοοῦντι, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐντρυφῶντι τῇ θεωρίᾳ. Πάντα δὲ ἐκείνῳ διηρεύνηται τὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐξ ὧν ἦθος ἅπαν ἐπαίδευσε καὶ ὑψηγορίαν ἐδίδαξε καὶ τῶν παρόντων ἀπανέστησε καὶ πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα μετεσκεύασεν.