On The Human Condition: St. Basil the Great

Popular Patristics Series #30

by Basil the Great, Nonna Verna Harrison (Translator)

This informative and enjoyable little book serves as a valuable introduction to major themes in Greek Patristic anthropology-the image of God in the human being, the Fall of humanity, and the cause of evil-and brings together the main writings of St Basil the Great, fourth-century archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, on these subjects. St Basil deftly addresses the questions posed by the human condition with characteristic clarity and sobriety. He formulates a balance between humility grounded in our creation from the earth and confidence based on the dignity of being created according to God's image. In addition to two discourses on the creation of humanity, this volume includes Letter 233 to Amphilochius of Iconium, St Basil's spiritual son-a succinct and pointed discussion regarding the functions of the human mind, the activity for which God created it, and how it can be used for good, evil, or morally neutral purposes. This letter complements the discussion of emotions in St Basil's Homily against Anger, also included in this volume. Finally, the book includes excerpts from St Basil's fatherly instructions to his ascetic communities, commonly known as the Long Rules or the Great Asceticon, which emphasize the communal dimension of human humans are naturally interrelated, social, and interdependent.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Religion, Christian, Classics, Spirituality, Anthropology

126 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

After 370, Christian leader Saint Basil, known as "the Great," Greek bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, vigorously opposed Arianism.

Arabic: باسيليوس الكبير
Greek: Μέγας Βασίλειος

People also call him of Mazaca in Asia Minor. He influenced as a 4th century theologian and monastic.

Theologically, Basil supported the Nicene faction of the church, not the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea on the other side. Ability to balance theological convictions with political connections made Basil a powerful advocate for the Nicene position.

In addition to work as a theologian, Basil cared for the poor and underprivileged. Basil established guidelines, which focus on community, liturgical prayer, and manual labor for monastic life. People remember him, together with Pachomius, as a father of communal monasticism in east. The traditions of east and west consider him.

People refer collectively to Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa as the fathers. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholics gave the title of hierarch to Basil, together with Gregory of Nazianzus and John Chrysostom. The Catholic Church recognizes him as a doctor. The epithet "revealer of heavenly mysteries," sometimes refers to Basil.

Reviews

[Sincerae Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this would be a difficult book to read, but it turned out to be a delightful little tome about the human condition from an ancient Christian standpoint. This book of homilies, a letter to a bishop, and Q&A penned by St. Basil the Great are still relevant today. The human condition remains the same. St. Basil uses many metaphors and scripture from the Bible to make his point.

St. Basil the Great or Basil of Caesarea (329/330-379) has a kind of special place in my everyday life. He was one of the Cappadocian Fathers, who were a triad of three great theologians which included his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his lifelong best friend Gregory of Nazianzus. Today Cappadocia is located in Turkey and is a great tourist attraction with many ancient underground churches still located there. I've taught in Turkey several times, so this is one reason he's special to me. Another reason is I attend a Coptic Orthodox church, and one of their three liturgies is one written by St. Basil. So when I go to church I am standing and sitting through and enjoying words written over 1500 years ago by St. Basil the Great.

St. Basil did a lot of traveling in his lifetime. He started out practicing law and teaching rhetoric, but later became more pious in keeping with his family's devout background and began to study ascetics and monasticism in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq).

I enjoyed this little book. Though short On The Human Condition needs to be read slowly and contemplated on, which I liked doing. I add it to one of the most important books I've read for 2017.

[Jackson Brunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great selection of short works and homilies, it’s insightful both theologically and historically. Very easy read; If you’ve never read a patristic before this is a great place to start!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewing the works of the church fathers is a sticky business. The primary question is just "should you read this book?" I would contend that almost all of the fathers are worth reading and it is simply a matter of when and which one you are feeling up to tackling.

This work focuses on the human condition and what makes us human. My personal favorite sermon was the sermon on "Is God the author of evil?" The works are united thematically. They do not necessarily feel as cohesive to me, but your opinion on that point may vary.

If you have never read Basil before, then I might recommend "On Social Justice" in this same series instead. I think that work is an easier starting point. I found these sermons a little more difficult to understand and follow than in that work.

If you have read some Basil, or are working through the popular patristics series, then this is a good edition.

[Misael Galdámez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look. I’m a Protestant. When I read or hear the words “the human condition,” I think of “TOTAL DEPRAVITY!1!” But y’all, this book was amazing. The first two homilies (On the Human Origin) were 🔥🔥. What a joy to reflect on our inherent dignity and beauty, and how we can show what God is like. What a joy to reflect on being rulers (sidebar: made me think of Interstellar), yet remembering our humility for we “are dust and to dust we shall return.”

My favorite of the popular patristics I have read so far.

[Connor Shackelford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I read the Patristics, I wish I had started reading them sooner.

[Scriptor Ignotus · Rating 5 out of 5]

“O human, you are a ruling being. And why do you serve the passions as a slave? Why do you throw away your own dignity and become a slave of sin? For what reason do you make yourself a prisoner of the devil? You were appointed ruler of creation, and you have renounced the nobility of your own nature.”

Saint Basil of Caesarea, alongside his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his lifelong friend and collaborator, the poetically-brilliant Gregory Nazianzus, was one of the three Cappadocian Fathers and an indispensable figure in fourth-century Nicene Christianity. Born into a family of saints and academics, Basil spent many of his formative years studying philosophy and theology in Cappadocia and at Athens, where he and Gregory Nazianzus attended the lectures of Libanius, one of the last major pagan philosophers in the twilight of the old gods, and brushed elbows with a young man who would become known to history as the emperor Julian the Apostate. A gradual convert to his ancestral faith, Basil travelled around the near east to immerse himself in the world of solitary Christian asceticism, but found the lifestyle unsuited to his naturally familial disposition and his political and administrative proclivities. He resettled in Cappadocia, where he was eventually consecrated Bishop of Caesarea. He took an active role in the social and spiritual conditions of his parish, building soup kitchens, hospitals, and hospices, and delivering daily homilies on social justice and the centrality of community to Christian life.

Central to Basil’s theology is his anthropology, and specifically his relational and communitarian understanding of the human person. In his First Homily on the Origin of Humanity, he emphasizes the special nature of human origins in the creation account. Whereas God spoke the cosmos into being through a simple formula of command and acknowledgement—He created the earth and the non-sentient animals and called them good—the creation of humanity began with the words, “Let us make” [Gen. 1. 26], suggesting that the three Persons of the Trinity consulted among themselves about the formation of the human being, and that this communal relationality constitutes the core of human identity. It also indicates the unique role of humanity as, in a sense, co-creator of itself, as the mutuality within the Triune God and within humanity separately are also conjoined in the process of creation. Humanity accords to the image and likeness of God by participating in its own creation through salvation history.

Our accordance with the image, according to Basil, is inherited by virtue of our very existence as human beings. It is grounded in our capacity for reason, the highest functionality of the embodied soul*, which governs not only our rational intellectual capacities but also our moral deliberations and our freedom of choice. Reason empowers us to rule over the irrational beasts of the earth; be they other animals, like fish and birds, or the innumerable beasts within ourselves, like anger, deceit, hypocrisy, and lust. The beastly passions, when allowed to dethrone our reason, take possession of us, undermine our humanity, and reduce us to servitude. Basil addresses this point with characteristic eloquence in his Homily Against Anger, in which he describes anger as a temporary insanity that makes us ignorant of ourselves and others, and which must be broken within us by the hardness of our reason as waves are broken on a beach. The passion of anger is contrasted with temper (thumos), which can beneficially sharpen our attention and strengthen our will against evil.

All of humanity is made according to the image, but it is only through the Christian Way that one is conformed to the likeness of God in Christ. Basil succinctly describes Christianity as “likeness to God as far as is possible for human nature”. This conformation to the divine likeness is accomplished through the usage of our reason and our free will to adopt the teachings of Christ, cultivating the fruits of the Spirit as described by Saint Paul and overcoming the malevolent forces that would turn us away from the true worship of God. In accordance with our Trinitarian nature, it is given to us to freely and consciously participate in the accomplishment of our own creation. It is through the conquest of the Self that we join with God in finalizing the creation of humanity and calling it good.

In the Second Homily, Basil reminds us that we are at once humble and exalted, because we were formed from the lowly dust of the earth, and yet the vessels of our bodies were molded by the hands of God: a dignity not afforded to the rest of creation. The remembrance of our origins should guard us against arrogance and despair, as both conditions arise from an instability of our self-perception. Our very physical stature manifests our condition. We are rooted to the earth, but our verticality suggests a striving for transcendence and the attainment of higher things. Cattle scour the earth on all fours looking for food to fill their bellies, but the human head inclines above the stomach and toward the sky, to which it longs for kinship.

Man was commanded in Genesis to “multiply” and “fill the earth”, but Basil interprets this injunction in a spiritual way befitting man’s spiritual nature, rather than in a purely physical one. For beasts, the command is simply to propagate the species and populate the world, but “multiply”, for Basil, pertains to the Church. We multiply not only by reproducing, but by growing the ranks of those “engendered according to the Gospel.” We fill the earth through good will and the propagation of the Gospel, and by “filling” ourselves with the occupation of performing good works.

The Homily Explaining that God Is Not the Cause of Evil may be less satisfying for modern readers who, like myself, take the Dostoyevskyan view that theodicy, even if intellectually coherent, can be far uglier than simple apophatic silence in the face of calamity; that the unspeakable sufferings of the world would be even more jarring if they fit neatly into some divine plan than they would be if they were morally unintelligible.

Nevertheless, Basil introduces some valuable insights through a largely anthropocentric understanding of evil. True evil does not come about by the material forces of nature, but is only a product of human fallenness. Sin arises from our capacity for self-determination, as our ability to participate in the creative nature of the divine also allows us to turn away from the good and Holy. Basil subscribes to the traditional view of evil as a privation of good. Evil has no positive essence of its own; it was neither created by God, whose nature is entirely good, nor is it eternal, which would make it coequal with God. Basil identifies it instead with a certain lapse of attention, a void or distortion that occurs when the beatific union with God is ruptured.

Saint Basil deserves to be widely read—even by non-Christians. The works excerpted in this short volume are only the tip of the iceberg, and I certainly intend to explore his writings further. May his moral clarity realign our thoughts toward God in this Christmas season.

Saint Basil, pray for us.








*According to Basil, the locus of our humanity is in an interior soul, and the physical body is merely a vessel or encasement of the soul. Bodily differences, like those between men and women, are ultimately superficial. Men and women have the same capacities of soul, and their resurrection bodies will not have their sexual distinctiveness:

“The woman also possesses creation according to the image of God, as indeed does the man. The natures are alike of equal honor, the virtues are equal, the struggles equal, the judgment alike. Let her not say, ‘I am weak.’ The weakness is in the flesh, in the soul is the power.”

[Andrew Krom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of translations of Basil's writings. The first 2 sections in this book both contain a homily on the first two chapters of Genesis. After this, there is a homily on the following topics: 'God is not the cause of Evil', 'Anger', and "Be attentive to yourself". The collection concludes with a letter to G-Naz's cousin and a section of questions and answers.

I found the intro especially helpful in this book. The translator prepared me for what I was going to read. The translator provided historical context and an understanding of what Basil believed.

[David M.]

I came to this book (indeed, I have come to the present focus on patristics) for the sake of theological reflection. This book I found substantively devotional. I use that word devotional in the sense that it developed in my youth: something that drives or facilitates personal moral reflection, and stirs self reflection. At many moments I needed to just pause and search myself. Loved this on the whole.

[Brandon LeBlanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful collection of St. Basil's writings. These homilies are brilliant works of theological insight written in a simple yet profound style. They are instructive to the souls of his lay congregation (and us!), but they would stand up next more complicated theological tomes. WILL READ AGAIN AND AGAIN!

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am becoming a great fan of this series in "Popular Patristics." It is far too difficult to obtain and read many works by the less well-known fathers of the church (that is, those other than Augustine or John Chrysostom), but in this series interesting and approachable texts by various fathers have been translated and made accessible.

Basil of Caesarea (St. Basil the Great) was part of the same large family of saints that includes St. Macrina the Elder, St. Macrina the Younger, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and number of others. Compared with Gregory, his approach is quite distinct: not mystical or so speculative, and more sober, careful, precise, and measured. Trained in rhetoric and philosophy before being converted by his sister Macrina, he also seems to be very well versed in the medicine of his day, and frequently uses his knowledge of the human body in illustration of ideas.

Like the other Cappadocian Fathers, he is well-known for his defense of the Trinity against the Arians. In this selection, however, we are introduced to Basil's homilies and writings concerning "the human condition": thus included here are Basil's ideas about the nature of the human being, the image of God in us, our potential for likeness with God, the nature of the emotions and reason, the necessity of self-examination and attention, and advocacy of communal Christian life over against the self-imposed isolation pursued by some of the "desert fathers."

In some respects I found his thought quite interesting and, indeed, remarkably fresh; one of the most remarkable qualities of the writings of the fathers is often the freshness of their writing and universal applicability (although the reverse is sometimes also true!). But above all one feels a freshness that stands against the scholasticism that develops within traditions as they become more refined. Basil is precise and careful, but yet his writing is also natural and open to the world, to the Word and to experience, and does not attempt to trap all things within a careful set of predetermined categories.

In some other respects I found his writing to be over-Platonic. His treatment of the Fall is much weaker than Augustine's, for example, and he struggles to combine soul and body successfully -- though this is something the Church still struggles to do successfully; Aquinas makes some progress on this, the Reformers make another kind of progress on it, but I do not know of any writers prior to Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky who really come close to articulating (in their very different ways) models of Christian life that adequately deal with this vexed issue. Basil comes tantalizingly close to doing so when he moves from attention to oneself as body and soul to attention to oneself as given a vocation, but he remains mired in thinking of the soul and the body as essentially in opposition and therefore misses the chance to recognize their possible union in faithful pursuit of vocation.

But Basil's use of Platonism is not always bad. His treatment of our power to love of God being based on a "seed-like principle" planted in our nature but needing cultivation and grace for development, and growing into "unbearable yearning" when struck by "lightning flashes" of the beauty of God, is both beautiful and powerful.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basil was a keen observer of humanity, and it shows in these homilies, especially the one on anger. He was an educated philosopher, which shows especially in the homily on why God is not the cause of evil. He was an able communicator, which shows throughout. His illustrations are vivid, his prose is clear, and his train of thought is easily traced. A few stray observations (spoilers, I guess?):

1) The homily on anger is worth the price of the whole book. I actually made noises, out loud, in public, as I read it.

2) The neo-Platonic influence on Basil's thought comes out in the way he sometimes pits spirit and matter against each other. For example, in his sermon on Deuteronomy 15:9, he says you can't care attentively for your body without neglecting your soul, and vice versa. Thankfully, this influence doesn't so permeate the book as to render it useless.

3) The excerpt from his Long Rules, in which he goes off on all the problems with eremitic monasticism, contains many helpful arguments for why all believers must connect with local church communities (though he was specifically advocating cenobitic monasticism).

4) His comments on the inherent lowliness (formed from the dust) and dignity (formed by God's own hands) of man are incredibly helpful. Tying this to Genesis 2 is an excellent way of getting the dual-reality to stick.

5) Although Christ is not at all absent from these writings, I think Basil might have made stronger connections to the gospel. For example, he speaks of Christ's example to us in repaying evil with good, but he doesn't discuss how Christ's actions actually enable us to repay evil with good.

6) Basil's formulation of the Imago Dei is helpful, though incomplete. He locates it almost exclusively in man's rational faculties and freedom of choice. It's true that these are aspects of God's image, but it's certainly not the whole picture.

7) Basil pictures the ideal Christian as one who is not necessarily free from all passion, but one whose passions are subject to his rational faculties. This subtle adjustment of the Stoic concept of apatheia is welcome and (I think) correct.

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous little book. The funny thing is, the homilies I thought I'd like I didn't really enjoy, and the ones I figured would be ho-hum, were actually just what I needed.

"Therefore, God created the body, but not illness; and likewise God created the soul, but not sin. Rather, the soul is made evil through a perversion of what is according to nature." Homily Explaining that God is Not the Cause of Evil.

"For if you have become accustomed to being last of all in accord with the commandment of the Lord, when will you be irritated at having your dignity affronted." Homily Against Anger

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Practical yet deep. Basil's first two homilies are commentaries on Genesis, and like all patristic Fathers, he interprets it allegorically and in light of the New Testament.

Humans are created in the image of God and thus are body and soul. Man and woman are of equal worth because they come from the same dust/soul combination. Humans are rulers over the rest of creation (animals and plants) and were vegetarians before death entered the world. Basil interprets the ruling of the animals as the ruling of the passions which are like animals in the person from sin. "Be fruitful and multiply" is ultimately about winning people to true Life in Christ, not about reproducing.

The third homily gives the theology of evil and the apologetic for why God is not its author. Here Basil focuses on the ideas that 1. We freely fell into sin and death and 2. That evil is a privation of good. Evil exists but in a lower state of being comparatively to the good.

Basil's forth homily addresses anger and the passions. We need to completely set aside all temper and anger lest we become the thing or person we hate.

"Redirect your temper onto the murderer of human beings, the father of lies, the worker of sin; but sympathize also with your brother, because if he continues in sin, with the devil he will be delivered up to eternal fire."

It's worth pointing out that St Basil also teaches that there is an eternal state called hell.

The final homilies in this collection are fairly practical. Basil analyzes what it means to "be attentive to yourself". Do not judge others but look inward to your own sins first.

[Wesley Gaines · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful examination of what it means to be human.
One of my favorite quotes: “May what is molded by God not be defiled by evil, not be altered by sin; may not fall from the hand of God. You are a vessel divinely molded, having come into being from God. Glorify your creator. For you came to be for the sake of no other thing except that you be an instrument fit for the glory of God.”
In classic patristic fashion, Basil occasionally attempts to interpret scripture such that even the most literal verses have a higher more spiritual meaning, resulting in some bizarre speculation about the firmament and the number 7, or about eating meat. In these rare cases, the scriptural interpretations feels like a bit of a stretch. But elsewhere, he interprets with brilliant clarity. His interpretation of the Creation Mandate powerfully suggests a evangelion-centered reading, rather than a merely procreative one.
A book I will return to whenever I need reminders of who I am, and what I am worth: namely that being human is both the noblest and humblest condition, simultaneously dust and yet molded by God.
His homily on why God is not the origin of evil solves many difficulties raised by the problem of Evil.
A timeless classic beautifully translated, eminently readable, and of immense value.
8.5/10

[Chelsea Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones......But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. And I would give him this advice precisely because he is an amateur and therefore much less protected than the expert against the dangers of an exclusive contemporary diet. A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down through the ages, and all its hidden implications have to be brought to light. Often it cannot be fully understood without the knowledge of a good many other modern books. If you join at 11 o’clock the conversation which begin at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said.” C. S. Lewis

[Ekaterini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Saint Basil’s work and learning about his life more in the preface. As a great philosopher and theologian of the 4th Century he brings up interesting ideas on the condition of Mankind. He speaks of the creation of mankind according to the divine image and likeness and what that means; being distinguished among all creation for our reason and rationality relating this to divine image first and then for our love and compassion to our likeness with God. He discusses the nature of both man and woman, the strengths of each and how we are made of the same essence, that essentially the soul in the resurrection are genderless. The limited Cappadocian concepts of gender were very interesting and I would like to know more. I liked the sermon of on God is not the source of evil and the end of the book which has answers to common questions about Mankind’s inherent desire to love.

[Matthew McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basil is fantastic. As I continue my journey in reading and studying the church fathers, I am in awe at how beautifully these men blend deep, rigorous theology, awestruck worship of God, and practical instruction into one coherent book/homily/etc.

Specifically, however, it was delightful to hear Basil discuss the high honor and dignity that God has bestowed upon humanity. For Basil, having a biblical understanding of our humanity is an immense aid to our own spiritual growth and participation in the life of God. The first two chapters/homilies alone are worth the price of admission. Truly an excellent little book.

[Jonathan Dunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are six or seven homilies, worthy enough, but my impression is that a lot of the titles in this series, Popular Patristics, are new translations, with an introduction, of material that is freely available, in greater abundance, on the Internet. And they are not cheap - electronic versions for 9.25 GBP. I think I will aim to read these Church Fathers through websites that already contain this material, albeit in older translations.

[Bishoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 homilies - 2 on origin of humanity, 1 on God not being the source of evil, 1 on anger, and 1 on being attentive to yourself. A letter to a Bishop and a few questions and St Basil's answer to them. I found this book very beneficial and a great read! St Basil addresses various topics in these sermons, and many practical spiritual advice can be easily extracted from the text. I find the letter to the Bishop a very good summary of Athanasius' contra heathens work! Overall, this is a must read for anyone who enjoys reading patristics.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little book. Wish the Greek would have been included. There are a few comments on the soul and the body that might raise eyebrows (based in Basil's belief that the image of God belongs to soul alone, mainly in the capacity for reason). Of course, these comments are tempered by what the others Fathers say. Not as extreme as Nyssa, in some places.

[Luke Merrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come to love the Cappadocian Fathers. This collected work of St. Basil the Great explores several topics, yet one topic stood head and shoulders above the rest; God is not the cause of evil. Basil dives deep into the good order of creation, the free choice of man and the broken will.

[Thomas Lehner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to a sacramental worldview. St. Basil the Great uses both Scripture and examples from daily life to lead us to God. While it's a fairly easy read, it's not lacking in depth or re-readability.

[Jon Gossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers an exegetically sound, spiritually balanced, theologically enriching, and practical application of how God is not the cause of evil yet sovereign over all things. Great read for a devotional.

[‎Seth Studer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dense read. Good introduction, and St. Basil's writings on the difference between the "image of God" and the "likeness of God" are beautiful...but I am not theologically equipped to fully understand them, or much of this book. The fault is my own.

[Seth Kasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great selection from St Basil on the topic of the human condition. Contains mostly sermons but also a letter and some questions and answers. 4 stars rather than 5 because I found the question and answers section lacking in some needed theological distinctions.

[Tynan Brooks]

Basil tends to strike me as the most moralistic (not a bad thing, here) of the Cappadocian Fathers, but I think the ways in which he tied this into the Greek Father's understanding of human creation and Christ as Image was great.

[M.G. Bianco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theology par excellence.

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basil at his best. His homily on anger was an unexpected gem and the real stand-out.

[Luke T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running time: 4 hours

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Homily Against Anger” and “Homily On The Words ‘Be Attentive To Yourself” were particularly great.