Ep. LVIII.  To Basil.

From the first I have taken you, and I take you still, for my guide of life and my teacher of the faith, and for every thing honourable that can be said; and if any one else praises your merits, he is altogether with me, or even behind me, so far am I surpassed by your piety, and so thoroughly am I yours.  And no wonder; for the longer the intimacy the greater the experience; and where the experience is more abundant the testimony is more perfect.  And if I get any profit in life it is from your friendship and company.  This is my disposition in regard to these matters, and I hope always will be.  What I now write I write unwillingly, but still I write it.  Do not be angry with me, or I shall be very angry myself, if you do not give me credit for both saying and writing it out of goodwill to you.

Many people have condemned us as not firm in our faith; those, I mean, who think and think rightly that we thoroughly agree.  Some openly charge us with heresy, others with cowardice; with heresy, those who believe that our language is not sound; with cowardice, they who blame our reserve.  I need not report what other people say; I will tell you what has recently happened.

There was a party here at which a great many distinguished friends of ours were present, and amongst them was a man who wore the name and dress which betoken piety (i.e. a Monk).  They had not yet begun to drink, but were talking about us, as often happens at such parties, and made us rather than anything else the subject of their conversation.  They admired everything connected with you, and they brought me in as professing the same philosophy; and they spoke of our friendship, and of Athens, and of our conformity of views and feelings on all points.  Our Philosopher was annoyed by this.  “What is this, gentlemen?” he said, with a very mighty shout, “what liars and flatterers you are.  You may praise these men for other reasons if you like, and I will not contradict you; but I cannot concede to you the most important point, their orthodoxy.  Basil and Gregory are falsely praised; the former, because his words are a betrayal of the faith, the latter, because his toleration aids the treason.”

What is this, said I, O vain man and new Dathan and Abiram in folly?  Where do you come from to lay down the law for us?  How do you set yourself up as a judge of such great matters?  “I have just come,” he replied, “from the festival of the Martyr Eupsychius17    He suffered under the Emperor Hadrian.  The Festival was Sept. 7., (and so it really was), and there I heard the great Basil speak most beautifully and perfectly upon the Godhead of the Father and the Son, as hardly anyone else could speak; but he slurred over the Spirit.”  And he added a sort of illustration from rivers, which pass by rocks and hollow out sand.  “As for you my good sir,” he said, looking at me, “you do now express yourself openly on the Godhead of the Spirit,” and he referred to some remarks of mine in speaking of God at a largely attended Synod, as having added in respect of the Spirit that expression which has made a noise, (how long shall we hide the candle under the bushel?) “but the other man hints obscurely, and as it were, merely suggests the doctrine, but does not openly speak out the truth; flooding people’s ears with more policy than piety, and hiding his duplicity by the power of his eloquence.”

“It is,” I said, “because I (living as I do in a corner, and unknown to most men who do not know what I say, and hardly that I speak at all) can philosophize without danger; but his word is of greater weight, because he is better known, both on his own account and on that of his Church.  And everything that he says is public, and the war around him is great, as the heretics try to snatch every naked word from Basil’s lips, to get him expelled from the Church; because he is almost the only spark of truth left and the vital force, all else around having been destroyed; so that evil may be rooted in the city, and may spread over the whole world as from a centre in that Church.  Surely then it is better to use some reserve in the truth, and ourselves to give way a little to circumstances as to a cloud, rather than by the openness of the proclamation to risk its destruction.  For no harm will come to us if we recognize the Spirit as God from other phrases which lead to this conclusion (for the truth consists not so much in sound as in sense), but a very great injury would be done to the Church if the truth were driven away in the person of one man.”  The company present would not receive my economy, as out of date and mocking them; but they shouted me down as practising it rather from cowardice than for reason.  It would be much better, they said, to protect our own people by the truth, than by your so-called Economy to weaken them while failing to win over the others.  It would be a long business and perhaps unnecessary to tell you all the details of what I said, and of what I heard, and how vexed I was with the opponents, perhaps immoderately and contrary to my own usual temper.  But, in fine, I sent them away in the same fashion.  But do you O divine and sacred head, instruct me how far I ought to go in setting forth the Deity of the Spirit; and what words I ought to use, and how far to use reserve; that I may be furnished against opponents.  For if I, who more than any one else know both you and your opinions, and have often both given and received assurance on this point, still need to be taught the truth of this matter, I shall be of all men the most ignorant and miserable.

[58] ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΙ

Ἐγώ σε καὶ βίου καθηγητὴν καὶ δογμάτων διδάσκαλον καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν εἴποι τις τῶν καλῶν ἐθέμην τε ἀπ' ἀρχῆς καὶ νῦν τίθεμαι: καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος ἐπαινέτης τῶν σῶν, ἢ μετ' ἐμοῦ πάντως ἢ μετ' ἐμέ: τοσοῦτον ἥττημαί σου τῆς εὐλαβείας καὶ οὕτω καθαρῶς εἰμι σός. Καὶ θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν: οὗ γὰρ πλείων ἡ συνουσία, πλείων καὶ ἡ πεῖρα: οὗ δὲ ἡ πεῖρα δαψιλεστέρα, καὶ ἡ μαρτυρία τελεωτέρα. Καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο μοι τοῦ ζῆν ὄφελος, ἡ σὴ φιλία καὶ συνουσία. Ἔχω μὲν οὕτω περὶ τούτων, καὶ ἔχοιμι: ἃ δὲ νῦν γράφω, γράφω μὲν οὐχ ἑκών, γράφω δὲ ὅμως. Καί μοι μηδὲν ἀχθεσθῇς: ἢ λίαν αὐτὸς ἀχθεσθήσομαι, εἰ μὴ κατ' εὔνοιαν ταῦτα λέγειν τε καὶ γράφειν πρὸς σὲ πιστευοίμην.

Πολλοὶ κατεγνώκασιν ἡμῶν ὡς περὶ τὴν πίστιν οὐκ ἰσχυρῶν, ὅσοι κοινοποιοῦσι τὰ ἡμέτερα καλῶς ποιοῦντες. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀσέβειαν ἐγκαλοῦσι φανερῶς, οἱ δὲ δειλίαν: ἀσέβειαν μέν, οἱ μηδὲ ὑγιῶς ἔχειν πιστεύοντες, δειλίαν δέ, οἱ τὴν ὑποστολὴν αἰτιώμενοι. Καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων τί χρὴ καὶ λέγειν; Ὃ δ' οὖν νεωστὶ συνέβη, τοῦτό σοι διηγήσομαι.

Συμπόσιον ἦν καὶ τοῦ συμποσίου μετεῖχον οὐκ ὀλίγοι τῶν ἐπιφανῶν καὶ ἡμῖν φίλων, ἐν δὲ τούτοις καὶ ἀνήρ τις τῶν εὐλαβείας ὄνομα καὶ σχῆμα περικειμένων. Οὔπω πότος ἦν, καὶ λόγος ἦν περὶ ἡμῶν, ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς συμποσίοις φιλεῖ συμβαίνειν ἀντ' ἄλλου τινὸς ἐπεισοδίου προτιθεμένων: πάντων δὲ τὰ σὰ θαυμαζόντων καὶ προστιθέντων ἡμᾶς ὡς τὰ ἴσα φιλοσοφοῦντας καὶ τὴν φιλίαν λεγόντων καὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας καὶ τὴν ἐν πᾶσι σύμπνοιάν τε καὶ ὁμόνοιαν, δεινὸν τὸ πρᾶγμα ποιεῖται ὁ δῆθεν φιλόσοφος. «Καὶ τί τοῦτο, φησίν, ὦ οὗτοι;» μάλα τι νεανικὸν ἐκβοήσας, «Ὡς λίαν ὑμεῖς ψευδεῖς τε καὶ κόλακες: τἄλλα μὲν ἐπαινείσθωσαν οἱ ἄνδρες, εἰ δοκεῖ, οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἀντιλέγω. Τὸ μέγιστον δὲ οὐ δίδωμι, τὴν ὀρθοδοξίαν μάτην μὲν ἐπαινεῖται Βασίλειος, μάτην δὲ Γρηγόριος, ὁ μὲν προδιδοὺς τὴν πίστιν οἷς διαλέγεται, ὁ δὲ συμπροδιδοὺς οἷς ἀνέχεται.» _«Πόθεν τοῦτο, ἔφην, ὦ μάταιε σὺ καὶ νέε Δαθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρὼν τὴν ἀπόνοιαν; Πόθεν ἡμῖν ἥκεις δογματιστής; Πῶς σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς τηλικούτων κριτήν;» _«Ἐκ τῆς κατ' Εὐψύχιον, ἔφη, συνόδου νῦν ἥκω τὸν μάρτυρα»_καὶ γὰρ εἶχεν οὕτως_«κἀκεῖσε ἤκουσα τοῦ μεγάλου Βασιλείου θεολογοῦντος τὰ μὲν περὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ ἄριστά τε καὶ τελεώτατα καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἄν τις ῥᾳδίως ἄλλος, τὸ Πνεῦμα δὲ παρασύροντος», καὶ προσετίθει τινὰ εἰκασίαν ὥσπερ τῶν ποταμῶν οἱ τὰς πέτρας μὲν παρατρέχοντες, τὴν δὲ ψάμμον κοιλαίνοντες. «Ἢ τί δή ποτε, ὦ θαυμάσιε, σὺ μέν»_ἔφη πρὸς ἐμὲ βλέπων_«ἤδη φανερῶς οὕτω τὸ Πνεῦμα θεολογεῖς» (καί τινος ἀπεμνημόνευε τῶν ἐμῶν, ὡς ἐν συνόδῳ πολυανθρώπῳ θεολογήσαντος εἶτα ἐπειπόντος τῷ Πνεύματι τοῦτο δὴ τὸ περιβόητον τό: Μέχρι τίνος ὑπὸ τῷ μοδίῳ τὸν λύχνον κρύψομεν;), «ὁ δὲ ὑποφαίνει μὲν ἀμυδρῶς καὶ οἷον σκιαγραφεῖ τὸν λόγον, οὐ παρρησιάζεται δὲ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πολιτικώτερον ἢ εὐσεβέστερον τὴν ἀκοὴν ἐπικλύζων καὶ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ λόγου τὴν διπλόην περικαλύπτων.»

«Ὅτι ἐγὼ μέν, ἔφην, ἐν παραβύστῳ κείμενος καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀγνοούμενος καὶ μηδὲ ἃ λέγοιμι μηδὲ ὅτι λέγοιμι σχεδὸν γινωσκόμενος, ἀκινδύνως φιλοσοφῶ: τοῦ δὲ πλείων ὁ λόγος, ὡς περιφανεστέρου καὶ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ παρὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ δημοσίᾳ πᾶν τὸ λεγόμενον, πολύς τε περὶ αὐτὸν ὁ πόλεμος, ζητούντων λαβέσθαι τῶν αἱρετικῶν γυμνῆς τῆς φωνῆς καὶ αὐτοῦ Βασιλείου, ἵν' ὁ μὲν ἐξωσθῇ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὁ μόνος σχεδὸν ὑπολειπόμενος τῆς ἀληθείας σπινθὴρ καὶ ἡ ζωτικὴ δύναμις, τῶν κύκλῳ πάντων κατειλημμένων, ῥιζωθῇ δὲ τὸ κακὸν ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπό τινος ὁρμητηρίου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ταύτης πᾶσαν καταδράμῃ τὴν οἰκουμένην. Βέλτιον οὖν οἰκονομηθῆναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, μικρὸν εἰξάντων ἡμῶν ὥσπερ νέφει τινὶ τῷ καιρῷ, ἢ καταλυθῆναι τῷ φανερῷ τοῦ κηρύγματος. Ἡμῖν μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν βλάβος καὶ ἀπ' ἄλλων λέξεων τοῦτο συναγουσῶν Θεὸν τὸ Πνεῦμα γινώσκειν (οὐ γὰρ ἐν ἤχῳ μᾶλλον ἢ διανοίᾳ κεῖσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν): τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ δὲ μεγάλην ζημίαν τὸ δι' ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς διωχθῆναι τὸ ἀληθές».

Οὐκ ἐδέξαντο τὴν οἰκονομίαν ὡς ἕωλον καὶ παίζουσαν αὐτοὺς οἱ παρόντες: ἀλλὰ καὶ κατεβόων ἡμῶν ὡς τὴν δειλίαν μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν λόγον οἰκονομούντων. Πολὺ γὰρ εἶναι βέλτιον τὸ ἡμέτερον φυλάττειν διὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἢ τοῦτό γε ἀχρειοῦν καὶ μὴ προσλαμβάνειν τὸ ἀλλότριον διὰ τῆς δῆθεν οἰκονομίας. Τὰ μὲν οὖν καθ' ἕκαστον, ὧν τε εἶπον, ὧν τε ἤκουσα, καὶ ὡς ἠγανάκτησα πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιτείνοντας πέρα τοῦ μετρίου σχεδὸν καὶ τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ συνηθείας, μακρὸν ἂν εἴη νῦν ἐκδιηγεῖσθαι καὶ ἴσως οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον. Τέλος δὲ τοῦ λόγου, τοὺς μὲν οὕτως ἀπεπεμψάμην. Σὺ δὲ δίδαξον ἡμᾶς, ὦ θεία καὶ ἱερὰ κεφαλή, μέχρι τίνος προϊτέον ἡμῖν τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος θεολογίας καὶ τίσι χρηστέον φωναῖς καὶ μέχρι τίνος οἰκονομητέον, ἵν' ἔχωμεν ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας. Ἐγὼ γὰρ εἰ δεοίμην νῦν τοῦτο μανθάνειν, ὁ πάντων μάλιστα σέ τε καὶ τὰ σὰ γινώσκων καὶ πολλάκις περὶ τούτων πληροφορίαν καὶ δεδωκὼς καὶ δεξάμενος, πάντων ἂν εἴην ἀμαθέστατός τε καὶ ἀθλιώτατος.