At the Feet of the Fathers: St. Basil on Taking Our Examples From Scripture

At the Feet of the Fathers

Monday, May 1, 2023

St. Basil the Great

Basil of Caesarea, or St. Basil the Great (AD 330 – AD 379), was a bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was an influential theologian who stood opposed to the heresies of the early Christian church, particularly Arianism (the heresy that while Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, He is but a created creature, not begotten from eternity as of the same substance as the Father). St. Basil, together with his brother Gregory of Nyasa, and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus, are collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers.

Take Your Examples From Scripture

(St. Basil teaches us that when we have questions about this life and how to live it, Scripture contains examples for every circumstance.)

Studying inspired Scripture is the most important way of finding out what we should do. There we find both instructions for our conduct and the lives of blessed men, given to us in writing as living examples of godly life so that we can imitate their good deeds.

Whatever is wrong with you, if you imitate those examples, you can find a cure for your ailment, as if you had gone to the pharmacy.

If you love chastity, you will dwell on the story of Joseph and learn chaste actions from him. You will discover that he not only had self-control over pleasure but also had a habitually virtuous mind.

You learn endurance from Job. Everything in his life began to turn against him; in a moment, he was plunged from wealth to indigence and from being the father of fine children to childlessness. But he remained the same. His soul was not crushed. He did not even get angry at the friends who came to comfort him but trampled on him and made his troubles worse.

If you want to know about how to be both modest and great-hearted, look at David—noble in his feats of battle but meek and unruffled when he had a chance at revenge on his enemies. Moses was the same way, confronting those who sinned against God with a great heart but bearing it with a meek soul when they spoke ill against himself.

Just as painters copying a picture constantly look at the model and then do their best to transfer its lines to their own work, keep your eyes turned to the lives of the saints as if you were looking at living and moving statues, and imitate their virtues to make them yours.

- St. Basil, Letter 2, 3