St. Basil the Great

Paper Summary:

This paper attempts to shed some light on the liturgical spirituality of St. Basil the Great through an examination of St. Basil's own letters and his work "On the Holy Spirit". To do so, the writer situates St. Basil's time frame and gauges it through his writings in order to elucidate St. Basil's theology and personal spiritual development. In addition, the writer looks at particular significant aspects of Basil's context such as cultural, social, and economic conditions during his period.

From the Paper:

"Saint Basil wrote a whole treatise On the Holy Spirit that was composed around 375 C.E. It was a written as a defence of Nicene orthodoxy at the request of the Bishop Amphilochios of Iconium. Basil wrote this book during a time where persecution had ceased and when Christianity had become a "state" religion. He struggles incessantly to unravel the truth in a time of turmoil in the early medieval Church. Moreover, it was written during a time of great uncertainty for the Church."

Sample of Sources Used:

• St. Basil the Great, Saint Basil: The Letters Book I, trans. Roy J. Deferrari . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1961.
• St. Basil the Great, Saint Basil: The Letters Book III, trans. Roy J. Deferrari . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1961.
• St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, trans. David Anderson. New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1980.
• Fedwick, Paul Jonanthan. The Church and the Charisma of Leadership in Basil of Caesaria. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Toronto, 1979.
• Fedwick, Paul Jonathan. Basil of Caesarea: Christian, Humanist, Ascetic. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Toronto, 1981.

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