In this book Olga Druzhinina analyzes St. Basil's understanding of the church, paying special attention to his Trinitarian approach to its life. Although the role of God the Trinity in the life of the church occupies a considerable place in St. Basil's thought, as Druzhinina demonstrates, it is a subject that has not previously been addressed by scholars. The analysis offered here of the life of the church as grounded in Trinitarian philanthropy provides fresh insights into St. Basil's understanding of the worldwide fellowship of believers. Druzhinina also brings into focus another neglected aspect of St. Basil's ecclesiology--his perception of the church as a two-dimensional, heaven-and-earth mystical reality with a strong bond between both parts (the heavenly and the earthly).

In this book Olga Druzhinina analyzes St. Basil's understanding of the church, paying special attention to his Trinitarian approach to its life. Although the role of God the Trinity in the life of the church occupies a considerable place in St. Basil's thought, as Druzhinina demonstrates, it is a subject that has not previously been addressed by scholars. The analysis offered here of the life of the church as grounded in Trinitarian philanthropy provides fresh insights into St. Basil's understanding of the worldwide fellowship of believers. Druzhinina also brings into focus another neglected aspect of St. Basil's ecclesiology--his perception of the church as a two-dimensional, heaven-and-earth mystical reality with a strong bond between both parts (the heavenly and the earthly).

As a priest and then bishop, Basil of Caesarea devoted sophisticated treatises to the Trinity and to articulating his vision of the Christian life. In his homilies St Basil distilled the best of his moral and theological teachings into forms readily accessible to his flock - and now to us. During his lifetime, Basil was recognized as one of the foremost rhetoricians of his day - a man supremely skilled in the art of speaking, instructing, persuading, and delighting at the same time. These rhetorical skills are on full display in the eleven Moral Homilies translated in this volume, seven of which appear in English for the first time.

If the whole of the Christian life is to be governed by the "law of love"—the twofold love of God and one's neighbor—what might it mean to read lovingly? That is the question that drives this unique book. Through theological reflection interspersed with readings of literary texts (Shakespeare and Cervantes, Nabokov and Nicholson Baker, George Eliot and W. H. Auden and Dickens), Jacobs pursues an elusive quarry: the charitable reader.

St. Basil was a towering figure in the fourth-century Church. In the midst of great controversy, he led the charge of those faithful to the doctrine proclaimed at Nicaea. For the bishop of Caesarea, the array of false teachings that plagued the Church was not merely a matter of conflicting opinions or interpretations. It was rather a result of the moral failure of so-called leaders of the Church to look first to the will of God revealed in Scripture as their compass in all things-in matters of both theology and personal conduct. Here St. Basil lays out a consistent theological ethic, rooted in a nuanced appreciation for the supremacy of Scripture. These texts, presented with the Greek on the facing page, are essential reading for anyone interested in early Christian approaches to ethics as well as the right use and interpretation of the Bible.

Basil the Great (330-379) is one of the most important figures in christian history and a theologian and spiritual teacher of ecumenical significance. At a time when the sources of their rich spiritual heritage are beingre-appropriated by Christians of many traditions, it is strange that little attention has been given to basilian spirituality. a life Pleasing to God tells the story of Basil's own spiritual development in the theologically turbulent fourth-century. Its core is a study of those passages of the Ascetic on which illustrate his understanding of the foundation of the christian life and lay out the possibilities, and problems, of christian community.

"This introduction brings together major themes in Greek Patristic anthropology - the image of God in the human being the Fall from Paradise, and the human condition in the present life and in the age to come. St. Basil the Great addresses the questions posed by the human condition with characteristic clarity, balance, and sobriety." "The volume begins with two discourses on the creation of humanity and a homily on the causes of evil, translated into English for the first time, and contains a new translation of a famous homily meditating on our human identity and experience. The volume also includes Letter 233 to Amphilochius of Iconium, St. Basil's spiritual son - a succinct and pointed discussion of how the human mind functions, 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."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This classic exposition of Trinitarian doctrine eloquently sets forth the distinction yet perpetual communion of the divine Persons. Without explicitly calling the Spirit "God, " St Basil demonstrates that He, like the Son, is of the same nature with the Father.

One of the most important middle Byzantine saints' lives, The Life of St. Basil the Younger presents the life of a holy man who lived in Constantinople in the first part of the tenth century. The first critical edition in any language, this volume provides the Greek text facing the annotated English translation, as well as an introduction.