BookPastor >> "Basil of Caesarea"

There are many things we can learn of the lives of the Early Church fathers. Do you know that Basil of Caesarea played a major role in the formation of creeds like the Nicene Creed? This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on June 9th, 2014.

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TITLE: Basil of Caesarea: His Life and Impact (Biography)
AUTHOR: Marvin Jones
PUBLISHER: Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2014, (434 pages).

During the late fourth century, one man dared to stand against the Emperor Valens. Refusing to work with Arian bishops over theological grounds, this man confronted the political establishment with courage and eloquent scholarship. The period was the early years of Christendom in Europe. The man was Basil of Caesaria (329-379 AD). In a land that has the Church and State increasingly integrated, the fight includes theological battles. One such fight was Orthodox Christianity vs the rising influence of Arianism. As one of the famous Cappadocian Fathers, (the other being Gregory of Nyssa, his brother, and Gregory of Nazianzus), Basil led the fight which led to the gathering of the Council of Nicea, and the formation of the Nicene Creed, which is a particular emphasis to re-affirm the divinity of the Holy Spirit.

Basil's Theological Impact
While many were unable to withstand the onslaught of Arianism and Alexendrianism, Orthodox Christianity had the Cappadocian Fathers to thank for. Of all the challenges, Arianism was perhaps the most formidable. Serious doubts were cast on the divinity of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and ultimately on the Trinity. Basil of Caesarea, together with a few others were also tempted to just avoid the controversies of the day, and to spring toward an ascetic lifestyle, to get away from the world. After all, it is easy to run away, and troublesome to fight the Arians. Fortunately, Basil chose to fight the huge heresy, moving from a "homoiousian theologian" to the orthodox "homoousian" theologian. The former argues that Jesus is "similar to or like" the Father, while the latter insists that Jesus is of the "same substance" as God the Father.In doing so, Basil began a tough journey to unify the Eastern and Western Church. Other theological battles include the fight against Sabellianism (modalism that effectively denies the Orthodox Trinity position); Anomoeans (that the Son was a different substance than the Father); and his most well-known contribution: "On the Holy Spirit."