and Newman says he seems unavoidably to ha\'e .^anized the first thirty years of his Hfe. The ex- planation of this, as well as of the disagreement with the Holy See. must be sought in a careful study of the times, with due reference to the unsettled and changeable condition of theological distinctions, the lack of anything like a final pronouncement by the Chiu-ch's defining power, the "lingering imperfections of the Saints" (Newman), the substantial orthodoxy of many of the so-called Semi-Arians, and above all the great plan which Basil was steadily pursuing of effecting unity in a disturbed and di\-ided Christen- dom. (Cf. De BrogUe, "L'Eglise et I'Empire Ro- main", Paris, 1866, V, ii; Rivington, "The Primitive Churchand the See of Peter", London, 1894; Ne^Tnan, "The Church of the Fathers", Idem, "The Arians of the Fourth Century"; Jungmann, "Dissertationes select, in hist. eccl. '", II, 13; De Smedt, "Disserta- tiones select, in primam setatem hist, eccl.", p. 276.) Writings. — Dogmatic. — Of the five books against Eimomius (c. 364) the last two are classed as sptiriotis by some critics, The work assails the equivalent Arianism of Eimomius and defends the Di\nnity of the Three Persons of the Trinity; it is well stmamarized by Jackson (Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series II, VIII). The work "De Spiritu Sancto", or treatise on the Holy Spirit (c. 375) was evoked in part by the Macedonian denial of the Divinity of the Third Person and in part by charges that Basil himself had "slurred over the Spirit" (Gregorj' Naz., Ep. hiii), that he had advocated commimion with all such as should admit simply that the Holy Ghost was not a creattue (Basil, Ep. cxiii), and that he had sanctioned the use of a novel doxology, namely, "Glorj' be to the Father with the Son to- gether with the Holy Ghost" (De Sp. S., I, i). The treatise teaches the doctrine of the DiWnity of the Holy Ghost, while avoiding the phrase "God, the Holy Ghost" for prudential reasons (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii. Wuilcknis and Swete affirm the necessity of some such reticence on Basil's part. (Cf. Jackson, op. cit., p. XXIII, note.) With regard to Basil's teaching on the Third Person, as expressed in his work against Eimomius (III, i), a controversy arose at the Coimcil of Florence between the Latins and the Greeks; but strong arguments, both external and internal, availed to place Basil on the side of the "Filioque". The dogmatic writings were edited separately by Goldhom, in his " S. Basilii Opera Dogmatica Selecta" (Leipzig, 1854). The "De Spiritu Sancto", was translated into English by Johnston (Oxford, 1892); by Lewis in the Christian Classic Series (1888) ; and by Jackson (op. cit.). Eiegetical. — These include nine homilies "On the Hexaeraeron" and thirteen (Maran) genuine homilies on particular Psalms. A lengthy commentary- on the first sixteen chapters of Isaias is of doubtful authenticity (Jack- son), though by a contemporary- hand. A commen- tary on Job has disappeared. "The Hexaemeron" was highly admired by Ciregort- of Nazianzus (Or. xliii, n. 67). It is translated entire by Jackson (op. cit.). The homilies on the Psalms are moral and hortatorj- rather than strictly exegetical. In inter- preting the Scripture, Basil uses both the literal and the allegorical methods, but favours the literal .system of Antioch. His second homily contains a denunciation of usurj' which has become famous. Homiletical. — Twenty-four sermons, doctrinal, moral, and panegjTical in character, are looked upon as generally genuine, certain critical difficulties, how- ever, remaining still un.solved. Eight of these ser- mons were translated into Latin by Rufinus. The discourses place Basil among the very greatest of Christian preachers and evince his special gift for preaching upon the responsibilities of wealth. The most noteworthy in the collection are the homilies on the rich (\i and vii) copied by St. Ambrose
(De Nabuthe Jez., v, 21-24), and the homily (xxii)
on the study of pagan literature. The latter was
edited by Fremion (Paris, 1819, wth French trans-
lation), Sommer (Paris, 1894), Bach (Munster, 1900),
and Malonej- (New York, 1901). With regard to
Basil's style and his success as a preacher much has
been ^Titten. (Ci' Villemain, "Tableau d'eloq.
chret. au IV' siecle", Paris, 1891; Fialon, "Etude
Litt. sur St. B. ", Paris, 1861; Roux, "Etude sur la
predication de B. le Grand", Strasburg, 1867; Croiset,
"Hist, de la htt. Grecque", Paris, 1899.) Moral
and Ascetical. — This group contains much of spurious
or doubtful origin. Probably authentic are the
latter two of the three prefatory treatises, and the
five treatises: "Morals", "On the Judgment of God",
"On Faith", "The Longer Monastic Rules", "The
Shorter Monastic Rules". The twenty-four sermons
on morals are a cento of extracts from the wTitings
of Basil made by Simeon Metaphrastes. Concerning
the authenticity of the Rules there has been a good
deal of discussion. As is plain from these treatises
and from the homilies that touch upon ascetical or
moral subjects, St. Basil was particularly felicitous
in the field of spiritual instruction. Correspondence. —
The extant letters of Basil are 366 in number, two-
thirds of them belonging to the period of his episco-
pate. The so-called "Canonical Epistles" have
been assailed as spurious, but are almost surely gen-
uine. The correspondence with Julian and with
Libanius is probably apocrj-phal; the correspondence
with Apollinaris is uncertain. All of the 366 letters
are translated in the "Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers". Some of the letters are really dogmatic
treatises, and others are apologetic replies to per-
sonal attacks. In general they are very useful for
their revelation of the saint's character and for the
pictures of his age which they offer. Liturgical. —
A so-called "Liturgj- of St. Basil" exists in Greek
and in Coptic. (See B.\sil, Liturgy of.) It goes back
at least to the sixth century, but its comiexion with
Basil has been a matter of critical discussion (Bright-
man, "Liturgies, Eastern and Western", Oxford,
1896, I; Probst, "Die Liturgie des ^■ierten Jahrhun-
derts und deren Reform", Munster, 1893, 377-412).
Editioxs of St. B.\sil. — The editio princeps of the
original text of the extant works of Basil appeared
at Basle, 1551, and the first complete Latin translation
at Rome, 1515 (autograph manuscript in the
British Museum). The best edition is that of the
Maurist Benedictines, Gamier and Maran (Paris,
1721-30). republished -n-ith appendixes bv Migne
(P. G., XXIX-XXXII). For fragments attributed
to Basil with more or less certainty, and edited by
Mattha^i, Mai, Pitra, and others, see Bardenhewer,
"Patrologie" (Freiburg, 1901), 247. Portions of
letters recently discovered in Egj-ptian papj-ri were
published by H. Landwehr, "Griechische Handschriften
aus Faj-um", in "Philologus", XLIII (1884).
Bibliographies. —Chevalier, Répertoire, Bibliographie, s.v.; Bardenhewer, Gesch. der altkirch. Lit. (Freiburg, 1902).
Contemporary Authorities.—Greg, Naz., Orationes, especially xliii: Idem, Epistolæ; Idem. Carm. de vitā suá; Greg. Nyss., Vita Macrinæ; Idem. Or. in laudem fratris Basilii; Idem, In Eunom., I; Socrates, Hist. Eccl., IV, xxi; VI, iii; Sozomen, Hist. Eccl., VI. xv, xvi. xxii, xxii; Rufinus, Hist. Eccl., II, ix; Theodoret, Hist. Eccl., IV, xix; Philostorgius, Hist. Eccl., VIII, xi-xiii: Ephæm Syrus, Encomium in Bas., ap. Cotellier, Mon. Eccl. Gr., II: Jerome, De Vir. Illust., cxvi. The Vita Basilii by Amphilochius is a forgery of about the ninth century.
Studies on Basil.—Bært in Acta SS., June. III; Maran and Garnier in P. G.. XXIX; Tillemont, Memoires, IX; Baronius. Annates, 334, 378; Ceillier, Hist. Gen. des aut. sac., IV, ch. xvii; Tricalet. Bibl. Port, des Péres (Paris. 1759), II; Allard. Saint Basile (Paris 1903); Allard in Dict. de théol. cath., s. v. Basile; Jackson, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series (New York, 1895), VII. Prolegomena, XI–LXXVI; Venables in Dict. Christ. Biog., s. v.; Bctler, Lives of the Saints, 14 June; Newman, Church of the Fathers. I-III; Swete. Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Cambridge. 1874); Bayle. St. Basile (Paris. 1898); Jahn. Basilius Platonizans (Berne, 1838); Martin, Essai sur les lettres de St. Basil le grand (Rennes, 1865); Scholl, Die Lehre des heil. B. von der
