Basil

Also, whatever scripture says that the Son has received, it understands as having been received with respect to his body, and that body is the firstfruits of the church.

accordingly god raised up and exalted his own body first but afterwards the members of his body by these words athanasius explained what a little afterwards he applied in its way also to the entire church Basil the Great, Against Eunomius, Book 4.

That the Lord is celebrated, and receives a name above every name, also that he says, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

I live for the sake of the Father.

neither the law of Moses, nor any prophet after Moses, neither the Savior, nor his evangelists, and certainly not the apostles.

For if these things were true, the Lord who came to enlighten the world and the prophets before him would have told us of this sort in plain language, and then the apostles too." The same thing with Basil of Sarah, when he says that, "...the hearers taught in scriptures ought to test what is said by teachers and accept that which agrees with scriptures, but reject that which is foreign." He would also say in his letter, one of his homilies, where he would say that, "...therefore, let God-inspired scripture decide between us, and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God." In favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth.

You would also see the same thing said by medieval scholastics like Aquinas, like Facundus, and so on and so forth.

But there is also a problem because you can be interacting with the Catholic, for instance, and say, okay, you are quoting Basil to me.

How about where Basil said so-so-so-and-so? Maybe, for instance, in his On the Holy Spirit, where Basil would say that...

he would say something akin to praying to the saints, for instance.

So how do we square that up? Is Basil contradicting himself where he says that we cannot accord those things which are not found in Scripture and then at the same time he's talking about prayers to the saints? So if he's saying that anything that cannot be found in Scripture, then why do we find a couple of fathers saying things also that cannot be found in Scripture? Sometimes it seems as if they have an uncomfortably high standard in some of their statements, right? Or matters of, you know, you must do the cross when we're leaving church or during our liturgy and so on and so forth.

But here's what I would say, however.

They're confused, so we're gonna move on to St.

Basil.

St.

Basil the Great says, "Not everything apostolic was written as a formal definition." That's a great point right there.

Not everything apostolic was written as a formal definition.

Brothers and sisters, this is enormous.

The great St.

Basil the Great is presenting a giant challenge to everyone out there.

I want to start today by introducing this guy.

He is Basil of Caesarea or St.

Basil the Great, and he's got an awesome story.

Uh, he is from, uh, lived in fourth century, uh, in modern-day Turkey, and he's remembered as a radical Christian.

But he was born from a wealthy family, um, pursued a career in law, was educated both, uh, at loads of different places, but included Constantinople and Athens, the two key areas of the time.

And he had this radical belief and conviction that what had happened to him in this sort of reawakening ought to be happening in the church too, and he wasn't seeing it.

Ten years later, uh, a famine, uh, hit the area where they lived.

And, uh, Basil went out and preached boldly at this time.

Very touching is what St.

Basil the Great wrote, referring to the benefits of afflictions when they are confronted with patience.

Commenting on the words, O Lord, help me in my affliction of the psalmist.

He writes, not from a position of power should we ask for help, nor from physical sensitivity, nor from famous men should we expect to have help, not in the form of money, nor in the amounts of power, nor in arising to glory, nor is real power made, but from under the attire of excessive affliction does the Lord grant this help to those who ask of him.

But let in tears and lamentation and fervent prayer and vigilance make our supplication loud.

Because he receives help from tribulation who scorns the vain help from men and relies on him who can save us, the Lord Jesus Christ.

End of quote, the words of Basil the Great.

The psalmist too advises us not to rely on rulers and notables for help.

...

Irenaeus, uh, e- even the, the Eastern fathers, Basil, Chrysostom.

They all took from the message of the, of the gospel of our Lord, they all took from the initial teaching, they all formulated this instruction.

The Didache came into being.