Basil of Caesarea, Against Sabellians and Arius and Anomoeans

Contra Sabellianos et Arium et Anomoeos

HOMILY 24. Against the Sabellians, and Arius, and the Anomoeans.

Judaism fights against Hellenism, and both against Christianity, just as the Egyptians and Assyrians were enemies both to each other and to Israel; just as in the case of evil we find cowardice and rashness both opposed to each other, and to courage. Such is the battle arrayed on either side against the correctness of the confession; on the one hand that of Sabellius, on the other that of those who preach the unlikeness. But we, just as we have shunned the Greeks, and turned away from their wicked idolatry, and condemned their polytheism as atheism; so we have also shunned the blasphemy of the Jews who deny the Son of God, fearing that threat: Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven. Let us therefore flee, as is right, also those who devise things akin to these against the word of truth. For since the devil, who is wise to do evil, saw the Christians' alienation from the Greeks and Jews, and that from their very names we are hostile to them, he has attached our name to each of them, and thus attempts to introduce again the Jewish denial, and the Greek polytheism. For those who say that the Only-begotten is a work of God, and a creature, and then worship and theologize 31.601 Him, by worshipping the creature and not the Creator, plainly introduce the things of the Greeks; while those who deny God from God, and confess a Son in name, but in deed and truth reject His existence, are renewing Judaism again. For when they confess the Word, they compare him to the indwelling reason; and when they speak of wisdom, they say it is like the disposition that is formed in the soul of the educated; and for this reason one person of the Father and the Son, since a man is also said to be one, not being divided from his indwelling reason and wisdom. And yet the evangelist cries out straight from the introduction: And the Word was God, giving His own existence to the Son. For if the Word was in the heart, how could he be understood as God? And how could he be with God? Since neither is the word in a man a man, nor is it said to be with him, but in him. For it is neither living, nor subsistent; but the Word of God is life and truth. And our word is no sooner spoken than it is not; but concerning the Word of God what does the psalm say? Forever, O Lord, your word endures in heaven. And on the one hand, this is the war; but on the other, what and what kind of contest is there against the truth? They concede the existence, and agree that there is a proper person of the Son, and a proper one of the Father; but they introduce unlikeness of nature. And they concede the name of the Son as far as the sound, but in truth they bring him down to the level of creation; not being ashamed by the voice of the Lord, showing Himself to the one who was eager for the vision of the Father. For he who has seen me, he says, has seen the Father. But this voice, to those who reason rightly, stops the blasphemies of both. For He does not say He is the Father, since He clearly divides the persons in saying: He who has seen me. For by this He shows His own person; Has seen the Father, referring to the paternal person, and clearly distinguishing it from Himself, and in saying: If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. For these things do not indicate a confusion of persons, but present the unchangeableness of the Godhead. Let the opponents also hear the same word; that he who of the

Contra Sabellianos et Arium et Anomoeos

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Κ∆ʹ. Κατὰ Σαβελλιανῶν, καὶ Ἀρείου, καὶ τῶν Ἀνομοίων.

Μάχεται Ἰουδαϊσμὸς Ἑλληνισμῷ, καὶ ἀμφότεροι Χριστιανισμῷ, ὥσπερ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Ἀσσύριοι καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἦσαν πολέμιοι καὶ τῷ Ἰσραήλ· ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κακίας εὑρίσκομεν δειλίαν καὶ θράσος καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἀντικείμενα, καὶ τῇ ἀνδρίᾳ. Τοιαύτη τίς ἐστι καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὀρθότητα τῆς ὁμολογίας ἑκατέρωθεν παρακειμένη μάχη· ἐντεῦθεν μὲν Σαβελλίου, ἑτέ ρωθεν δὲ τῶν τὸ ἀνόμοιον κηρυσσόντων. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, ὥσπερ ἀπεφύγομεν Ἕλληνας, καὶ τὴν πονηρὰν εἰ δωλολατρείαν ἐξετράπημεν, καὶ τὸ πολύθεον αὐ τῶν ἄθεον εἶναι κατέγνωμεν· οὕτως ἀπεφύγομεν καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων βλασφημίαν τῶν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀρνουμένων, φοβηθέντες ἐκείνην τὴν ἀπειλήν· Ὃς ἂν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώ πων, ἀπαρνήσομαι αὐτὸν κἀγὼ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Φεύγωμεν δὴ οὖν, ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς, καὶ τοὺς τὰ συγγενῆ τούτοις κατὰ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπεξευρίσκοντας. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶδεν ὁ σοφὸς τοῦ κακοποιῆσαι διάβολος τὴν πρὸς Ἕλληνας καὶ Ἰουδαίους τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀλλοτρίωσιν, καὶ ὅτι εὐθὺς ἐκ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἔχομεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πολεμίως, τὸ ἡμέτερον ἐπιθεὶς ἑκατέροις ὄνομα, οὕτως ἐπεισάγειν ἐπιχειρεῖ πάλιν τὴν Ἰου δαϊκὴν ἄρνησιν, καὶ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν πολυθεΐαν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἔργον Θεοῦ εἶναι λέγοντες τὸν Μονογενῆ, καὶ ποίημα, εἶτα προσκυνοῦντες καὶ θεολογοῦν 31.601 τες, ἐκ τοῦ λατρεύειν τῇ κτίσει, καὶ μὴ τῷ κτί σαντι, τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἄντικρυς ἐπεισάγουσιν· οἱ δὲ τὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ Θεὸν ἀρνούμενοι, καὶ ὀνόματι μὲν ὁμολογοῦντες Υἱὸν, ἔργῳ δὲ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἀθετοῦντες, τὸν Ἰουδαϊσμὸν πάλιν ἀνα νεοῦνται. Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν ὁμολογῶσι Λόγον, τῷ ἐνδια θέτῳ αὐτὸν παρεικάζουσι· καὶ σοφίαν λέγοντες, ὁμοίαν εἶναι λέγουσι τῇ ἕξει τῇ ἐν ψυχῇ τῶν πεπαι δευμένων συνισταμένῃ· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρόσωπον ἓν Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἄνθρωπος εἷς λέγεται, οὐ διαιρούμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνυπάρχοντος αὐτῷ λόγου καὶ τῆς σοφίας. Καίτοι ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς εὐθὺς ἐκ προοιμίων βοᾷ· Καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος, ἰδίαν ὕπαρξιν διδοὺς τῷ Υἱῷ. Εἰ γὰρ ἐν καρδίᾳ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, πῶς ἂν ἐνοήθη Θεός; πῶς δ' ἂν ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν; Ἐπειδὴ οὔτε ὁ ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ λόγος ἄνθρωπος, οὔτε πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶναι λέγεται, ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῷ. Οὔτε γὰρ ζῶν ἐστιν, οὔτε ὑφεστώς· ὁ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ζωή ἐστι καὶ ἀλήθεια. Καὶ ὁ μὲν λόγος ὁ ἡμέτερος ὁμοῦ τε ἐλέχθη καὶ οὐκ ἔστι· περὶ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου τί φησιν ὁ ψαλμός; Εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, Κύριε, ὁ Λόγος σου διαμένει ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν μὲν οὗτος ὁ πόλεμος· ἑτέρωθεν δὲ τίς καὶ ποῖός ἐστιν ὁ κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγών; Τὴν μὲν ὕπαρξιν συγχωροῦσι, καὶ ἴδιον εἶναι πρόσωπον Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἴδιον Πατρὸς συντίθενται· ἀνομοιότητα δὲ τῆς φύσεως παρεισάγουσι. Καὶ τὸ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ὄνομα μέχρι φωνῆς συγχωροῦσι, τῇ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν αὐτὸ κατάγουσιν· οὐ δυσωπούμενοι τὴν φω νὴν τοῦ Κυρίου, ἑαυτὸν προδεικνύντος τῷ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς θεωρίαν ἐπειγομένῳ. Ὁ ἑωρακὼς γὰρ ἐμὲ, φησὶν, ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα. Αὕτη δὲ ἡ φωνὴ ὀρθῶς λογιζομένοις ἀμφοτέρων ἐμφράττει τὰς βλασ φημίας. Οὔτε γὰρ ἑαυτὸν εἶναι τὸν Πατέρα φάσκει, ὅς γε διαιρεῖ τὰ πρόσωπα φανερῶς ἐν τῷ λέγειν· Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμέ. ∆είκνυσι γὰρ ἐκ τούτου τὸ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον· Ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα, ἀναφέρων ἐπὶ τὸ πατρικὸν πρόσωπον, καὶ διαιρῶν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ προδήλως, καὶ ἐν τῷ λέγειν· Εἰ ἐγνώκειτέ με, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα μου ἂν ᾔδειτε. Οὐ γὰρ σύγχυσιν τῶν προσώπων ἐμφαίνει ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον τῆς θεότητος παρίστησιν. Ἀκουέτωσαν δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον καὶ οἱ ἐναντίοι· ὅτι ὁ τῆς τοῦ