Letters

Contents

Letters 49, 79, 284, 319, 332, 333, 337 and 347 are missing from the scan text used. Letters 360–366 are of disputed authenticity (see the notes).

Reading pages: 1–7 · 8 · 10–24 · 25–37 · 38–40 · 42–45 · 46–51 · 52–64 · 65–73 · 74–88 · 89–95 · 97–110 · 111–125 · 126–138 · 139–152 · 154–163 · 164–187 · 188 · 190–197 · 198–201 · 202–206 · 207–212 · 214–219 · 221–224 · 225–232 · 233–237 · 238–243 · 244–250 · 251–259 · 260–261 · 263–267 · 268–288 · 289–301 · 302–331 · 334–363 · 364–365

1. 1Basil tells Eustathius how every attempt to meet him was thwarted and resolves to accept God's ordering of events.
2. 2Basil describes to Gregory of Nazianzus the solitary life: quiet, withdrawal from the world, Scripture reading, prayer, speech, dress, food, and sleep.
3. 3Basil jokes about Candidianus's unchanged friendliness in high office and asks his help against a rustic who sacked his house at Annesi.
4. 4Basil playfully complains that Olympius's gifts have driven Poverty, the nurse of philosophy, from his retreat.
5. 5Basil consoles Nectarius on the death of his only son, urging him to accept God's wise ordering, like Job, in the hope of reunion.
6. 6Basil consoles Nectarius's wife on her son's death, pointing to providence, the mother of the Maccabees, the mortality of all things, and prayer.
7. 7Basil tells Gregory that all speech about God falls short, and urges him to defend the truth himself.
8. 8Basil explains his withdrawal to the Caesareans and defends the Trinity against Anomoean arguments from Scripture; a damaged second letter to Maximus judges Dionysius of Alexandria and accepts “like in essence” only with “without difference.”
9. 10Using the image of a perfumed decoy dove, Basil sends a widow's son, newly given to the ascetic life, to draw his mother after him.
10. 11Basil sends back friends after a feast together, prays for their journey, and asks for letters until they can join him.
11. 12Basil chides Olympius for writing less and less and begs him to write, however briefly.
12. 13A one-sentence note: as each fruit has its season, words are winter's fruit.
13. 14Basil describes to Gregory of Nazianzus his new retreat in Pontus by the river Iris, praising its beauty and above all its quiet.
14. 15Basil commends some citizens of Caesarea to Count Arcadius, praising his gentleness.
15. 16Basil challenges Eunomius, who claims to comprehend God, to explain first the nature of an ant.
16. 17Basil thanks Origenes for his writings in defense of the faith and blesses his house and children.
17. 18Basil encourages Macarius and John to endure slander and threats, since the hope of the godly alone is never disappointed.
18. 19Basil answers Gregory's brief letter through Peter and asks for another short note.
19. 20Basil teases Leontius for not writing and sends him his work against Eunomius for criticism.
20. 21Fragment: Basil jokes about fourfold repayment and welcomes Leontius's reproaches as letters.
21. 22A list of scriptural rules for monks: speech, obedience, work, poverty, correction of a sinning brother, and forgiveness.
22. 23Basil commends to an ascetic a man who wishes to renounce the world, asking that he be trained in the monastic life.
23. 24Basil cautions the elder Athanasius against giving occasion for slander about his treatment of his children, and clears Timothy the chorepiscopus as the source of the report.
24. 25Basil protests that Athanasius of Ancyra has publicly accused him on hearsay of writing mischief, and asks him to state his grievance openly.
25. 26Basil congratulates Caesarius on his escape from death (in the earthquake at Nicaea) and urges him to keep the resolutions made in danger.
26. 27Basil, kept at home by illness and winter, hopes to visit Eusebius of Samosata if the famine allows.
27. 28Basil consoles the church of Neocaesarea on the death of its bishop Musonius, praises his faithfulness to ancient tradition, and urges them to choose a worthy successor in peace.
28. 29Fragment: Basil laments to the church of Ancyra the death of its bishop Athanasius and fears divisions over his successor.
29. 30Basil tells Eusebius of his mother's death, his renewed illness, and the state of the churches, and asks for his prayers.
30. 31Basil, kept in Caesarea by the famine, commends his sick kinsman Hypatius to Eusebius's prayers and care.
31. 32Fragment: Basil asks Sophronius to protect Gregory the bishop, a poor Christian harassed by false claims on the estate of Caesarius.
32. 33Basil asks Aburgius to help Gregory the bishop in his troubles with the treasury; a second letter laments to Eusebius of Samosata the loss of Tarsus.
33. 35Basil asks an official to deal kindly with the house of his close friend Leontius as if it were his own.
34. 36Basil asks an official to keep the old tax assessment of his foster brother, a presbyter who supports him.
35. 37Basil asks an assessor to spare the household of his foster brother, which still supports him, explaining that its slaves are held for life use only.
36. 38A treatise in letter form distinguishing essence (what is common) from hypostasis (what is particular), applied to the Trinity, with the rainbow as an illustration and an explanation of Heb 1:3.
37. 39The emperor Julian invites his old fellow student Basil to court, praising the frank friendship there.
38. 40Two letters of doubtful authenticity: Julian threatens Caesarea unless Basil sends a thousand pounds of gold; Basil replies that he is poor and rebukes Julian's apostasy.
39. 42Counsel to a young hermit: persevere to the end, advance gradually, avoid relatives, crowds, and money, read Scripture, and answer the thought that urges a return to the city with the evils seen there.
40. 43A short exhortation to a young believer to live by the gospel's commands in hope of the heavenly assembly.
41. 44Basil laments the fall of a monk who had been a teacher, and urges him to repent and return, since grace still awaits him.
42. 45Basil recalls the austere life of a monk he had known in Jerusalem, laments the report of his adultery and perjury, and calls him to repent and return.
43. 46Basil laments a consecrated virgin's fall, rebukes her seducer, and calls her to repentance; a fragment of a second letter asks a bishop to come and help choose a sound bishop for Caesarea.
44. 48Basil, snowed in, sends Eusebius the news from Antioch and Constantinople and reports a schism in Caesarea.
45. 50Basil thanks bishop Innocent for a condescending letter and asks his prayers.
46. 51Basil denies the slander that he anathematized his former bishop Dianius, recalling his love for him and Dianius's deathbed profession of the Nicene faith.
47. 52Basil, reassured by Bosporius, explains to a community of canonesses why the Nicene homoousios is sound, against objections from the council against Paul of Samosata, and warns against ranking the Spirit above the Son or the Father.
48. 53Basil warns the country bishops against taking money for ordinations, even after the fact, as simony that sells the gift of God.
49. 54Basil orders the country bishops to restore the old canons for admitting minor clergy, to send him lists of ministers, and to expel those admitted without examination.
50. 55Fragment: Basil orders an aged presbyter to send away the woman living in his house, to avoid scandal, on pain of suspension.
51. 56Basil answers Pergamius's charge of forgetfulness and pride, explaining his busyness and promising never to forget him.
52. 57Fragment: Basil praises Meletius's letters and longs to meet him in person.
53. 58Basil rebukes his brother Gregory of Nyssa for three times bringing him forged letters of reconciliation from their uncle, and asks for a proper invitation.
54. 59Basil breaks a long silence with his uncle Gregory, a bishop estranged from him, and begs him to restore peace for the churches' sake.
55. 60Basil accepts his uncle Gregory's letter and asks him to set a meeting; a second letter supports Athanasius's excommunication of the governor of Libya, a Cappadocian.
56. 62Basil consoles the church of Parnassus on its bishop's death and urges them to provide for a worthy successor.
57. 63Basil offers his friendship to the governor of Neocaesarea, whom he knows only by report through Elpidius.
58. 64Basil tells Hesychius that Elpidius's praise has made him long for a visit.
59. 65Basil breaks the silence with Atarbius, urging him to love, peace, and communion with other bishops against the common danger to the churches.
60. 66Basil urges Athanasius to win the support of the Western bishops for the East and to heal the schism at Antioch.
61. 67Basil asks Athanasius to support Meletius as the rightful bishop of Antioch, around whom the divided Nicene parties should unite.
62. 68Basil sends Dorotheus to Meletius with a plan to ask Rome to send Italian bishops to the East, and reports on Euippius's party.
63. 69Basil sends Dorotheus to Athanasius, proposes asking the bishop of Rome to send envoys and to condemn Marcellus of Ancyra, and urges unity at Antioch.
64. 70Fragment: Basil asks the bishop of Rome to send help to the East, recalling Dionysius of Rome's care for Caesarea in a former crisis.
65. 71Basil answers Gregory of Nazianzus about slanders spread by a newcomer, urges that they meet more often, and asks Gregory to stand with him against the coming opponent.
66. 72Basil asks Hesychius to help persuade Callisthenes to forgive the servants of Eustochius.
67. 73Basil thanks Callisthenes for leaving the punishment of Eustochius's servants to him, and asks him to pardon them or let the Church correct them instead.
68. 74Basil asks Martinianus to protest at court against the division of Cappadocia into two provinces, describing the ruin of Caesarea.
69. 75Basil asks Aburgius to use his influence to help Caesarea, ruined by the division of the province.
70. 76Basil laments to Sophronius the ruin of Caesarea after the division of the province and asks his help.
71. 77Basil, regretting the departure of the governor Therasius, asks an unnamed friend to keep writing and to stay near Therasius.
72. 78Basil asks an official to have the governor station Elpidius in Caesarea, where public affairs depend on him.
73. 80Basil asks Athanasius for his prayers and letters and longs to meet him.
74. 81Basil offers bishop Innocent a holy presbyter as his successor; a second letter asks Athanasius to write to the Eastern bishops seeking communion, offering to hold the letters until they reply.
75. 83Basil asks a tax assessor to deal kindly with Caesarea and with a friend's property at Chamanene as if it were his own.
76. 84Basil asks a governor to free an aged man and his orphaned four-year-old grandson from enrollment in the city council.
77. 85Basil protests against tax collectors exacting oaths from peasants; a second letter asks a governor to restore grain seized from the presbyter Dorotheus at Berisa.
78. 87Basil protests to an official that the grain of the presbyter Dorotheus was seized in his name, and asks for redress.
79. 88Basil asks a tax collector for more time to raise the remainder of the trade tax from the citizens of Caesarea.
80. 89Basil asks Meletius to direct Dorotheus's mission to the West and to receive Athanasius into communion; a second letter, to the Western bishops, describes the ruin of the Eastern churches and asks for help.
81. 91Basil thanks Valerianus of Illyricum for his letter, laments the famine of love in the East, and hopes the West will renew the faith there.
82. 92A joint letter of thirty-two Eastern bishops to the bishops of Italy and Gaul describing the Arian ruin of the Eastern churches and begging them to send a synod to restore the Nicene faith and heal the schisms.
83. 93Basil approves frequent and daily communion, describes his church's practice of communicating four times a week, and defends receiving communion by one's own hand at home when no priest is present.
84. 94Basil defends to the governor Elias his building of a great church complex with a hospice, hospital, and workshops outside Caesarea against his slanderers.
85. 95Basil invites Eusebius of Samosata to a meeting with Meletius at Phargamus; a second letter asks Sophronius to defend the dismissed governor Elias before the emperor.
86. 97Basil tells the senate of Tyana that he seeks only peace and needs his brothers' fellowship; a second letter tells Eusebius of his plans to meet Meletius, his talk with Eustathius, and Gregory of Nyssa's small see.
87. 99Basil tells Count Terentius how he met Eustathius and found him orthodox, how Theodotus of Nicopolis then shut him out and insulted him, and what little he could do in Armenia.
88. 100Basil tells Eusebius that his letter came like a beacon in a storm, describes his failing health, and begs him to come to the September synod for the martyr Eupsychius.
89. 101Basil consoles a bereaved person: trials test our love for God, and for Christians death is the beginning of true life.
90. 102Basil tells the people of Satala that he has given them his own kinsman Poemenius as bishop at great personal cost, and asks them to receive him warmly.
91. 103Basil announces to Satala that God has given them a worthy shepherd.
92. 104Basil asks the prefect Modestus to restore the old exemption of the clergy from taxation as a general grant administered by the church.
93. 105Basil praises Terentius's daughters for keeping the apostolic faith and sets out a short confession of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit against those who make the Son or Spirit a creature.
94. 106Basil praises a soldier who shows that a Christian can keep perfect love for God in military life.
95. 107Basil tells the widow Julitta that he has written to her creditor and to Helladius on her behalf.
96. 108Basil reminds the guardian of Julitta's heirs of his promise to allow her time to pay and to return her documents, and urges him to show mercy.
97. 109Basil asks Helladius to help Julitta, a widowed kinswoman, against creditors who demand interest after she has paid the principal.
98. 110Basil asks the prefect Modestus to lighten the iron levy on the people of the Taurus mountains.
99. 111Basil commends to Modestus a friend who has been summoned before him.
100. 112Basil writes to Andronicus to plead for a man who has offended him and fears punishment; most of the plea is lost in the scan.
101. 113Basil urges the presbyters of Tarsus to receive into communion all who accept the Nicene faith and do not call the Holy Spirit a creature, and to ask no more.
102. 114Basil asks the church at Tarsus to receive brothers who accept the Nicene faith and deny that the Spirit is a creature; the ref ends with the close of Basil's invective against Simplicia's eunuchs.
103. 116Basil urges young Firminus to give up a military career and return to civic life in his city.
104. 117A man under ascetic vows, pressed into military service, assures his correspondent that he will obtain his discharge; then Basil playfully asks Jovinus of Perrha to repay his debt of love by a visit.
105. 119Basil asks Eustathius of Sebasteia not to believe the slanders of monks who have deserted him, and to restrain Sophronius from widening the breach.
106. 120Basil sends Meletius a memorandum for a letter to the Western bishops and reports that Anthimus has irregularly ordained Faustus for Armenia.
107. 121Basil greets Theodotus through Sanctissimus and tells him how Faustus, refused by Basil, got himself ordained by Anthimus.
108. 122Basil explains to Poemenius that he refused letters and communion to the Armenians because Anthimus ordained Faustus without the votes of the Armenian bishops.
109. 123Basil, beset by troubles, begs the monk Urbicius to come to him and to pray that he may stay thankful to God in adversity.
110. 124Basil tells Theodorus that he saw his likeness in the brothers who visited, as lovers comfort themselves with a portrait.
111. 125A statement of faith drawn up by Basil and signed by Eustathius of Sebasteia: the Nicene creed, read as distinguishing essence from hypostasis, with anathemas against those who call the Holy Spirit a creature.
112. 126Basil summons Atarbius of Neocaesarea to meet him and clear himself of reports that he had acted against the church's order and taught something akin to Sabellianism.
113. 127Basil tells Eusebius that the timely arrival of bishop Jovinus consoled him for the troubles at Nicopolis.
114. 128Basil refuses to be reconciled with Eustathius's party until it answers plainly whether it holds communion with those who reject Nicaea and call the Spirit a creature.
115. 129Basil tells Meletius why he named Apollinarius as near to Sabellianism, reports a delay in the emperor's action against him, and suggests what the letter to the Western bishops should say.
116. 130Basil explains to Theodotus why he has broken with Eustathius of Sebasteia, who has attacked him, offered an Arian creed, and reportedly re-ordained clergy.
117. 131Basil tells Olympius that the writings used to accuse him are not his, that some are Apollinarius's, and that he neither teaches three gods nor communicates with Apollinarius.
118. 132Basil, having learned that Abramius is at Antioch, greets him and asks to be remembered.
119. 133Basil greets Peter, Athanasius's successor at Alexandria, and asks him to inherit Athanasius's friendship toward him.
120. 134Basil thanks the presbyter Paeonius for his letter, urges him to keep writing, and excuses his own short reply for lack of scribes.
121. 135Basil comments on two books by Diodorus, preferring the plain one to the elaborate dialogue, and observes how Plato's dialogues handle persons.
122. 136Basil, gravely ill, laments the state of the churches and tells Eusebius why illness has kept him from visiting.
123. 137Basil, taking the hot-spring cure, asks the new governor Antipater to postpone an inquiry concerning the house of his kinswoman Palladia until he can explain the matter in person.
124. 138Basil, prevented by illness from visiting Eusebius, asks his counsel about Evagrius's demands from Rome, the orthodox at Sebasteia, and a bishop for Iconium.
125. 139Basil encourages the orthodox of Alexandria, persecuted by the Arian party, with the hope of the martyrs' crowns and the coming of Christ.
126. 140Basil encourages a persecuted church to endure, sets out the Nicene creed as the only creed he accepts, and (Letter 141) tells Eusebius that illness and unwilling colleagues, not carelessness, have hindered him.
127. 142Basil introduces a chorepiscopus to a prefect's accountant and asks him to exempt the chorepiscopus's poorhouse from taxation.
128. 143Basil commends a chorepiscopus and his poorhouse to another tax official, who himself supports a poorhouse at Amasea.
129. 144Basil commends the chorepiscopus to a prefect's officer and reminds him of a private promise to help the poor.
130. 145Basil begs Eusebius to visit the church of Caesarea before Basil dies; then (Letter 146) he greets Eusebius's nephew Antiochus and urges him to live mindful of Christ's judgment seat.
131. 147Basil compares the ruined former governor Maximus to Odysseus and asks Aburgius to make his case known to the authorities.
132. 148Basil twice asks Trajan to help the ruined former governor Maximus.
133. 150Written in the name of Heraclidas, a young man turned from public life to the ascetic life, to his friend Amphilochius: he asks for a teacher, and reports bishop Basil's teaching on poverty and almsgiving.
134. 151Basil answers the physician Eustathius, who urged reconciliation with the Eustathians: he grieves at the separation but bears it, putting God and truth first.
135. 152Basil writes two short letters to the general Victor, thanking him for his help to the church and his steady friendship.
136. 154Basil thanks Ascholius of Thessalonica for his letter, whose devotion to Athanasius shows his orthodoxy, and asks him to keep writing and to pray for calm in the East.
137. 155Basil answers an officer in Scythia who had accused him of neglect, assures him that he is remembered in the church's prayers, and asks him to send home relics of martyrs from the persecution there.
138. 156Basil tells Evagrius why he cannot settle the schism at Antioch himself; greets Antiochus twice; and answers Eupaterius and his daughter with the Nicene faith and a defence of the Holy Spirit's divinity.
139. 160Basil answers a letter circulating under Diodorus's name that allowed a man to marry his deceased wife's sister: church custom forbids it, Lev 18:18 does not permit it, and Lev 18:6 forbids it.
140. 161Basil greets Amphilochius on his unwilling ordination as bishop of Iconium and counsels him to steer his church through the storms of heresy and to reform bad customs.
141. 162Basil, ill since Easter, tells Eusebius that he still hopes to visit and asks for his prayers.
142. 163Basil thanks Count Jovinus for a letter that showed his character and excuses himself, through illness, from visiting.
143. 164Basil rejoices at Ascholius's account of a martyr among the Goths beyond the Danube, contrasting the old persecutions, which made martyrs, with the present troubles caused by heretics who bear the Christian name.
144. 165Basil thanks Ascholius for sending to Cappadocia the relics of a martyr newly crowned among the Goths.
145. 166Only the heading of this letter to Eusebius of Samosata survives in the scan.
146. 167Basil thanks the exiled Eusebius for his letters and blessing and asks to be remembered.
147. 168Basil counts Antiochus blessed to share the exile of his uncle Eusebius of Samosata and to learn from him at leisure.
148. 169Basil tells Gregory how the deacon Glycerius ran off with a band of virgins and asks him to send them back.
149. 170Basil calls the runaway deacon Glycerius to return, promising fatherly pardon and warning of deposition.
150. 171Basil asks Gregory again to send back Glycerius and the virgins, guaranteeing them safety.
151. 172Basil thanks bishop Sophronius for a loving letter and recalls the ancient peace of the churches when the faith in Father, Son, and Spirit was kept simply.
152. 173Basil tells the canoness Theodora that the gospel life requires faithful attention to the smallest commandments, and lists the virtues it demands.
153. 174Basil counsels a widow to keep the day of judgment before her eyes, to pray, and not to despair of God's goodness.
154. 175Basil declines to write a new creed for Count Magnenianus, urging him to keep the ancient faith: believe as baptized, give glory as believing.
155. 176Basil invites Amphilochius to the annual festival of the martyrs at Caesarea on 5 September and to the poorhouse's commemoration.
156. 177Basil asks Sophronius to defend the reverend Eusebius against a calumny.
157. 178Basil asks Aburgius to secure a fair trial for Eusebius, falsely suspected along with others.
158. 179Basil asks the general Arinthaeus to speak for a well-born man facing a calumnious lawsuit.
159. 180Basil commends Eumathius and his petition to the emperors to Sophronius.
160. 181Basil proposes to Otreius that they exchange news of Samosata and of the exiled Eusebius in Thrace.
161. 182Basil counts the presbyters of Samosata blessed in their steadfastness while their bishop is in exile.
162. 183Basil praises the councillors of Samosata for their steadfastness under persecution, which, like a furnace, has proved their worth.
163. 184Basil asks Eustathius of Himmeria, bereft of the exiled Eusebius, to keep writing to him.
164. 185Basil asks Theodotus of Beroea to write to him.
165. 186Basil playfully praises the pickled cabbage that restored the governor Antipater's appetite.
166. 187The governor Antipater replies to Basil with a joke about the proverb on cabbage.
167. 188Basil's first canonical letter to Amphilochius rules on the baptism of heretics and schismatics, abortion, lapsed deacons, repeated marriages, homicide, divorce, oaths, and other cases; the ref ends with most of his letter to Eustathius the physician defending the one godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
168. 190Basil advises Amphilochius on providing bishops for Isauria, reports on Nyssa, answers questions on the manna and Pharaoh's chariots; then (Letter 191) he welcomes Amphilochius's first letter of communion and proposes a meeting of the like-minded.
169. 192Basil thanks Sophronius for a letter and for quickly meeting a need of his.
170. 193Basil tells the physician Meletius that fevers have left him too weak to travel before spring.
171. 194Basil chides Zoilus for his excessive humility, asks him to write often, and speaks of his own grave illness.
172. 195Basil greets Euphronius of Colonia and asks his prayers for the return of the exiled bishops.
173. 196Basil congratulates Aburgius on his successes in imperial service and hopes to see him before he dies.
174. 197Basil welcomes Ambrose's election as bishop of Milan from the governor's office and reports the sending of the relics of bishop Dionysius of Milan from Cappadocia, vouching for their genuineness.
175. 198Basil explains to Eusebius why his letters are few and that he is near death; then (Letter 199, the Second Canonical Letter) he answers Amphilochius on oaths, fallen virgins, monks' vows, sexual immorality and adultery, abduction, unlawful and repeated marriages, deserted spouses, rebaptism of Encratites, and related cases.
176. 200Basil, ill through the winter, asks Amphilochius to pray for him, to care for his churches after his death, and to come early to the festival of the martyr Eupsychius.
177. 201Basil and Amphilochius, both ill, release each other from the reproach of not meeting.
178. 202Basil, too ill to travel, excuses himself to Amphilochius; then (Letter 203) he appeals to the bishops of the sea coast, estranged from him by slanders, to restore communion and love or to meet him and examine the charges.
179. 204Basil appeals to the church of Neocaesarea, estranged from him by slander, to examine the charges fairly, recalling their common teachers (Gregory Thaumaturgus, Macrina), his orthodoxy, and his communion with bishops throughout the world.
180. 205Basil sends Meletius to Elpidius and proposes a meeting with the bishops of the coast to remove suspicions and confirm love.
181. 206Basil hopes to meet Elpidius near Comana and consoles him on the death of a grandchild.
182. 207Basil answers the clergy of Neocaesarea, who opposed him over doctrine, his monks, and his night psalmody, defending the antiphonal psalmody common to the churches and urging them to keep the faith of Gregory Thaumaturgus.
183. 208Basil chides Eulancius for his silence, which he blames on Neocaesarea, and asks him to keep writing.
184. 209Basil thanks an unnamed friend who has stood by him in his troubles and accepts his reproach for not writing.
185. 210Basil answers the leading men of Neocaesarea, who had been told he came to intrigue there: he came to rest at his childhood retreat, and the real issue is the revived Sabellianism of their leaders; then (Letter 211) he thanks Olympius for a cheering letter.
186. 212Basil regrets missing his old friend Hilarius and laments the slanders spread against him by Anomoeans and the party of the middle way; then (Letter 213) he thanks a pious friend for a consoling letter and asks his advice about a summons to court.
187. 214Basil warns Count Terentius against the party of Paulinus at Antioch and its Western letters, defends Meletius, and explains why speaking of one hypostasis in God gives ground to Sabellianism: essence is common, hypostasis particular.
188. 215Basil tells the presbyter Dorotheus that a winter journey to Rome is impossible and doubts that his brother Gregory of Nyssa is fit for an embassy to the Western bishop.
189. 216Basil tells Meletius of his journeys to Pisidia and Pontus, the troubles at Dazimon and Neocaesarea, and his letter warning Terentius against the party of Paulinus.
190. 217Basil's third canonical letter to Amphilochius: after personal news, canons 51–84 set the penitential periods for murder, adultery, fornication, incest, perjury, sorcery, apostasy, and other sins, and stress that the fruits of repentance, not time alone, decide.
191. 218Basil, ill after his journey to Pontus, asks Amphilochius to send a trustworthy man to Lycia to find out which bishops and presbyters there hold the orthodox faith, naming several.
192. 219Basil urges the clergy of Samosata to end their quarrels and make peace; a second letter, to the Beroeans, whose heading is lost, praises their steadfastness and urges them not to lose heart.
193. 221Basil tells the Beroeans that their confession is famous everywhere and that their letter has increased his longing for them, and prays that God will crown their contest.
194. 222Basil thanks the Chalcidians for a letter that refreshed him as the Arian 'fire' spreads toward Cappadocia, praises the unity of their clergy and people, and urges them to hold together.
195. 223Basil breaks three years of silence to answer Eustathius of Sebaste and his party, describing his own conversion to the ascetic life and his long trust in them, denying their charge of heresy based on an old letter, and exposing their real motive for the breach.
196. 224Basil tells the presbyter Genethlius that the Eustathians who broke with him have attached heretical writings to their letters to make them look like his, denies any communion with Apollinarius, and points to the creed they signed and then abandoned.
197. 225Writing for a synod of bishops, Basil asks the vicar Demosthenes to excuse the absence of his brother Gregory of Nyssa, who fell ill under arrest, and to hold any inquiry into Gregory's election and accounts in Cappadocia rather than abroad.
198. 226Basil writes to his own ascetics, breaking three years of silence about the slanders of Eustathius's party, exposing their shifts of allegiance, defending the Nicene homoousios and his teaching on the Holy Spirit, and urging them not to believe one-sided accusations.
199. 227Basil consoles the clergy of Colonia on the transfer of their bishop Euphronius to Nicopolis, urging them to accept it as the Spirit's arrangement and warning them against going to the civil courts.
200. 228Basil asks the magistrates of Colonia to accept that their bishop Euphronius now also serves Nicopolis, as a protection for the Armenian churches against the Arian party.
201. 229Basil praises the clergy of Nicopolis and Bishop Poemenius for the swift appointment of their new bishop, and urges them not to provoke the people of Colonia, whose bishop has been given to them.
202. 230Basil urges the magistrates of Nicopolis to hold firmly to their new bishop; in a second letter, to Amphilochius, he commends Elpidius, reports the exile of his brother Gregory and troubles at Doara, and promises to send his book On the Holy Spirit.
203. 232Basil thanks Amphilochius for his Easter letter and gifts, laments the exile of his brother Gregory, jokes about the meaning of the gifts, and sends answers to Amphilochius's questions in a memorandum.
204. 233Answering a question of Amphilochius about the mind, Basil explains that the mind, made in God's image, can be led astray by demons or raised by the Spirit to perceive divine things, and that God can be truly known, though only in part.
205. 234Basil answers the Eunomian dilemma 'Do you worship what you know or what you do not know?': God is known from his activities, not in his essence, which remains inaccessible, and faith rests on knowing that God is, not what he is.
206. 235Basil explains that knowledge of God's existence from creation precedes faith, that 'knowledge' has many senses, and that the Eunomian demand to know God's essence confuses them, as Scripture's own uses of 'know' show.
207. 236Basil answers several questions of Amphilochius: how Christ's not knowing the day and hour (Mark 13:32) is to be understood without making the Son unlike the Father, the prophecy against Jeconiah, Encratite food rules, triple immersion in baptism, the difference between essence and hypostasis, and providence over health, wealth, and sickness.
208. 237Basil tells Eusebius of Samosata how the vicar Demosthenes has persecuted the orthodox: deposing bishops, ordering Gregory of Nyssa's arrest, enrolling Basil's clergy in the curia, and backing Eustathius against Nicopolis.
209. 238Basil consoles the presbyters of Nicopolis, driven from their church after a fellow presbyter went over to the Arian party; a second letter to Eusebius of Samosata reports the intrusion of unworthy bishops at Nyssa, Doara, and Nicopolis and voices Basil's frustration with the Western bishops.
210. 240Basil encourages the presbyters of Nicopolis, worshiping in the open air after their church was seized, to endure, and refuses to recognize the bishop installed by the Arian party.
211. 241Basil tells Eusebius that he writes of his troubles not to burden him but to find relief and to rouse him to persistent prayer, like Moses against Amalek.
212. 242Basil appeals to the Western bishops to send envoys and letters to the persecuted Eastern Churches, whose congregations, refusing the Arian 'leaven', now worship in the open air.
213. 243Basil appeals to the bishops of Italy and Gaul to make the persecution of the orthodox in the East known to the Western emperor or to send visitors, describing exiled bishops, closed churches, and congregations drawn into Arian communion, and sends the presbyter Dorotheus.
214. 244Basil explains to Patrophilus of Aegae how his breach with Eustathius of Sebaste came about, rebutting the charges of communion with Apollinarius and of deceit over the Nicopolitan creed, and listing the many creeds Eustathius has accepted, before asking whether Patrophilus remains in communion with him.
215. 245Basil assures Theophilus that he still values his friendship, though he cannot follow those who have gone over to the opposing party; a second short letter encourages the Nicopolitans not to lose heart.
216. 247Basil grieves over the violence suffered by the Nicopolitans, assures them that God's help will come soon, and tells them he has appealed to friends at court.
217. 248Basil thanks God that Amphilochius is spared the persecution raging in his own district, where a man named Asclepius died under blows for refusing communion with the intruded bishop, and offers to send him his book.
218. 249Basil commends a devout man who is moving to the addressee and asks for prayer.
219. 250Basil tells Patrophilus that peace with men who have taken in heretical bishops at Sebaste is no real peace, and urges him to rebuke openly those who do not walk according to the truth of the Gospel.
220. 251Basil thanks the church of Evaesae for rejecting slanders against him, exposes the inconsistency of Eustathius and his party, who now court the very bishops whose deposition they once rejected, and states that his own faith, baptism, and doxology in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have never changed.
221. 252Basil invites the bishops of the Pontic diocese to the annual festival of the martyrs Eupsychius and Damas at Caesarea.
222. 253Basil commends the presbyter Sanctissimus, returning from the West, to the presbyters of Antioch as a reliable reporter of Western goodwill and of what the situation requires.
223. 254Basil sends Sanctissimus with news of the West to Pelagius of Laodicea, asking his prayers; a second short letter, to Vitus of Carrhae, does the same.
224. 256Basil sympathizes with a group of monks whose dwellings were burned after Easter by Arian opponents, and asks them to pray night and day for the peace of the Churches.
225. 257Basil tells monks persecuted by the Arians that their reward will be greater than that of the martyrs under pagan persecutors, because their sufferings are not even honored as martyrdom, and urges them to stand firm though bishops are exiled and clergy betray the faith.
226. 258Basil thanks Epiphanius for his concern about the divided monks on the Mount of Olives, says he will add nothing to the Nicene creed but the glorifying of the Spirit, explains his loyalty to Meletius in the Antiochene schism, welcomes Epiphanius's confession of three hypostases, and describes the Magusaeans of Cappadocia.
227. 259Basil assures the monks Palladius and Innocent of his love, regrets that he could not make peace among the brothers, and asks for their prayers.
228. 260Basil answers Optimus's questions on Gen 4:15 (the seven vengeances on Cain, interpreted both as seven sins and seven punishments), on Lamech's seventy-sevenfold vengeance, and on Simeon's words to Mary in Luke 2:34–35, including the sword that will pierce her soul.
229. 261Basil warns the church of Sozopolis against those who say Christ had a heavenly body or that the Godhead itself suffered, setting out why the Lord took real human flesh from Mary; in a second letter he warns the monk Urbicius against the idea that God was changed into flesh.
230. 263Basil asks the Western bishops to denounce publicly to the Eastern Churches three men who are disturbing them while claiming orthodoxy: Eustathius of Sebaste, Apollinarius, and Paulinus of Antioch, whose teachings and careers he describes.
231. 264Basil writes to the exiled Barses of Edessa asking his prayers that God will soon restore peace to the persecuted Churches, wondering whether the present troubles are the prelude to the Antichrist.
232. 265Basil writes to exiled Egyptian bishops denouncing the innovations of Apollinarius and warning them not to admit the followers of Marcellus without an anathema of his heresy; a second letter, to Peter of Alexandria, explains his silence about recent disorders, accepts Peter's approach to the Marcellians, and defends Meletius and Eusebius against the charge of Arianism.
233. 267Basil, unable to travel because of illness and the care of the Churches, writes to the exiled Barses of Edessa asking his prayers and sending him some gifts.
234. 268Basil rejoices that the exiled Eusebius of Samosata has been kept safe and asks for news; a second letter consoles the widow of the general Arinthaeus, who was baptized at the end of his life.
235. 270Basil orders that a girl carried off by force be returned to her parents, that her abductor be excommunicated, and that his accomplices and the village that sheltered her be excluded from the prayers.
236. 271Basil, sorry to have missed his old schoolfellow Eusebius, recalls their shared youth and commends to him the presbyter Cyriacus as blameless in his priesthood.
237. 272Basil assures his old friend Sophronius, master of the offices, that the reports of his hostility over a disputed will are slanders, and asks him to trust him as Alexander trusted his physician.
238. 273Basil commends his close friend Hera to an unnamed official.
239. 274Basil asks Himerius, master of the offices, to protect his old friend Hera in his affairs.
240. 275Basil asks an unnamed official, who has already shown favor to Hera, to protect him further against envious enemies.
241. 276Basil asks the pagan Harmatius not to be angry with his son, who has become a Christian, since the soul owes its first debt to the true God.
242. 277Basil, moved by a friend's report, praises a young man of noble family who has turned to the life of the Gospel, urging humility and the pursuit of the lasting good over youth, wealth, glory, and eloquence.
243. 278Basil invites the young Valerianus to visit him for advice on his affairs at Caesarea; two short letters to the prefect Modestus commend a petitioner from Tyana and a relative of Basil's.
244. 281Basil renews his request to the prefect Modestus that his friend Helladius be released from the duty of tax assessment.
245. 282Basil chides a bishop who complained of not being invited and then ignored an invitation, and urges him to come at least for the martyrs' festival.
246. 283Basil tells a woman that he can meet her only at the coming synod, interprets her dream as a call to care for the contemplation of the soul, and points her to the Scriptures and the Spirit's guidance.
247. 285Basil commends to an official the steward of his Church's property, asking a hearing for him so that the Church may be freed from its burdensome estates.
248. 286Basil tells a court official that thieves caught stealing poor people's clothes at a church festival should be corrected by the Church rather than by the courts, though he leaves him free to refer the case to the count.
249. 287Basil orders that a slippery offender who evades church judgment be excommunicated with his household, in the hope that he will be ashamed.
250. 288Basil excommunicates an unrepentant offender after the three steps of Matt 18:15–17, and orders the village to shun him in everyday dealings.
251. 289Basil reports the complaint of a woman vowed to continence who has been publicly slandered by a man he has already excommunicated, and argues that such offenders should not be rescued from the civil authorities.
252. 290Basil tells his old friend Nectarius that he will not appoint church leaders to please men, but will give his testimony and leave the choice to God.
253. 291Basil rebukes his old friend Timotheus, a chorepiscopus, for entangling himself in worldly affairs and caring for men's opinion, since no one can serve the world and the life according to God at once.
254. 292Basil congratulates Palladius on his baptism and urges him to keep the garment of incorruption unstained; a second letter to Julianus asks after his health and teaches that a firm mind keeps life calm amid hardships.
255. 294Basil writes to two young men he has taught, telling them that godliness rooted in their souls is his chief hope for them, and that teaching can reach them by letter despite separation.
256. 295Basil urges monks to encourage one another, to hold fast to the faith of the Fathers, and to join right confession with good works.
257. 296Basil explains to a widow that he kept her mules longer than intended as a sign of his trust, and urges her to live mindful of judgment and her daughter to study the Scriptures.
258. 297Basil sends greetings to a widow by a woman he commends to her as his daughter and her sister, urging her on in the Lord's work.
259. 298Basil warns a devout friend against superstition about a healing spring; in a second letter he urges a reluctant tax assessor in the district of Ibora to accept the task and to assess justly, fearing neither the powerful nor despising the poor.
260. 300Basil consoles the father of a promising young student who has died, reminding him that all are mortal, that his son died free of sin and has been received into heaven, and pointing to Job's words.
261. 301Basil consoles Maximus on the death of his wife, praising their harmonious marriage, reminding him that death is the common law of nature, and pointing him to the hope of the resurrection.
262. 302Basil consoles the widow of the general Briso, reminding her that married people are one flesh, that death is God's ordinance, and that she should find comfort in her husband's memory, her children, and preparation for Christ's judgment.
263. 303Basil asks the count of the imperial private estates to stop an unjust levy of mares imposed on some people through slander.
264. 304Basil briefly commends to Aburgius a man he had mentioned before.
265. 305Basil sends greetings to a group of orthodox and hospitable men by a man who constantly praises them, and asks for news of the Churches.
266. 306Basil asks the governor of Sebaste to allow some men from Alexandria to remove the body of a kinsman who died there and to help them with the public post.
267. 307Basil asks a friend to settle a dispute between two litigants himself rather than let them go to court, and to support the wronged party if one refuses his decision.
268. 308Basil renews his request that an official protect the poor people of the village of Capralis.
269. 309Basil commends to an assessor a man who has fallen from wealth into poverty, with three children, and is anxious about his tax rating.
270. 310Basil asks an official to relieve the people of Ariarathia and some kinsmen of his who are heavily burdened.
271. 311Basil, though sure of the official's fairness to all, commends a man whose household has been burdened by public services.
272. 312Basil asks a tax assessor to help a man treat fairly in the census.
273. 313Basil asks a tax assessor in Galatia, whose appointment he had once regretted, to use his office well and to lighten the assessment of the house of Sulpicius, to whom Basil owes many favors.
274. 314Basil sends greetings by a devoted servant and asks the recipient to show him kindness.
275. 315Basil commends a kinswoman who has charge of orphans and a burdensome estate, and in a second short letter commends an oppressed man.
276. 317Basil commends a fellow countryman in need of help.
277. 318Basil commends a stranger from abroad to an official, asking him to introduce him to the governor or help him through the magistrates.
278. 320Basil sends greetings by a man returning after a fruitless year spent trying to recover a debt left in a bishop's will, testifies to his diligence, and asks for news of the Churches.
279. 321Only the heading and first words of this letter to Thecla are given here.
280. 322Basil explains why he delayed his reply and invites a friend and his wife to spend Easter with him.
281. 323Basil thanks Philagrius for his letter, prompted by the flight of some of his slaves, asks him to write often and at length, and reports that he has written to the local chorepiscopus about the matter.
282. 324Basil thanks the physician Pasinicus for writing at once and warns him that a certain Patricius is persuasive in words but not sincere in deeds.
283. 325Basil thanks Magninianus for his letter, brought by his daughter Icelium, whose character reflects her father's care.
284. 326Basil sends greetings to an official and urges him to remember God throughout his life so as to gain heavenly glory.
285. 327Basil thanks an official for his kindness, urges him to zeal for the Church, and asks him to write.
286. 328Basil greets Hyperechius and says that his health is no better than usual.
287. 329Basil thanks Phalerius for a present of fish and asks him to keep praying for him.
288. 330Basil playfully reproaches a friend for his silence and asks him to write, however briefly.
289. 331Basil writes a second time about a matter on which his first letter was ignored, asking the recipient either to set it right or to explain why not.
290. 334Basil playfully rebukes a copyist whose crooked lines made his letter hard to read.
291. 335Basil sends Libanius another young Cappadocian student, the son of a respected friend.
292. 336Libanius thanks Basil for a letter and a new student, recalls Basil's youth and conversion to a life devoted to God, and asks after his former student Firminus; in a second letter, whose opening is lost, he tells how Basil's letter was read aloud and judged superior to his own, and says he will teach poor students who are willing to work.
293. 339Basil teases Libanius for praising his poor letter, says he now spends his time with Moses and Elijah, true in sense but rude in style, and commends the son of Anysius as poor.
294. 340Libanius replies that Basil's letter disparaging his own style is itself so well written that it refutes him, and that the roots of his old studies remain; in a second letter, whose opening is lost, he begs Basil to stop being offended and write.
295. 342Basil tells Libanius that the reproaches in his letter are like the thorns of a rose, which only make its beauty more desirable.
296. 343Libanius praises Basil's eloquence, which flows like fountains, while his own dries up without daily watering.
297. 344Basil reproaches Libanius for his long silence, which can only be contempt or forgetfulness, and repays it with a greeting.
298. 345Libanius excuses his delay in writing and teases Basil for refusing to read Homer with him; a second letter reports on the young men Basil sent; the end of a third, Basil's, promises Libanius three hundred rafters.
299. 349Libanius jokes that Basil is filling his school with frosty Cappadocians, but promises to refine them.
300. 350Basil answers Libanius's joke about Cappadocian snow with a letter written, he says, under a veil of snow, from a house that is a tomb until spring.
301. 351Basil asks Libanius to send him the much-admired declamation on the peevish man, which the whole city flocked to hear.
302. 352Libanius sends Basil his speech, trembling at the thought of his judgment.
303. 353Basil praises Libanius's speech on the peevish man, whose chattering wife seems alive in it.
304. 354Libanius, delighted by Basil's praise, asks to see Basil's own sermon against drunkenness.
305. 355Five short notes of the Basil–Libanius correspondence: Libanius on Basil's Attic praise, Basil's reply that he is a disciple of fishermen, Libanius asking forgiveness for a jest, Libanius lamenting their separation, and Basil begging Libanius to write.
306. 360A confession of faith in the Trinity and the incarnation, with the invocation of saints and the veneration of their images, presented as an extract from a letter of Basil to Julian.
307. 361Basil asks Apollinarius to explain the scriptural and patristic use of 'essence' and the meaning of homoousios, suggesting that 'invariably like in essence' may express the Son's relation to the Father better.
308. 362Apollinarius replies that 'one essence' can be said of things one in genus, as all men are Adam, and that the Son is homoousios with the Father uniquely, as the only offspring of the one principle, the same in otherness and other in sameness.
309. 363Basil, delighted with Apollinarius's explanations, asks whether he may put further questions to him about Scripture.
310. 364Apollinarius explains why the Nicene faith had to be restated against those who replaced homoousios with 'like in essence', insists that homoousios means the Son is God, and adds the Spirit's place in the same Godhead.
311. 365Basil asks the emperor Theodosius to build a bridge over the flooding river Halys, which cuts Cappadocia off from its food supplies; the second half of a letter to the monk Urbicius praises continence as the health of the soul, likening it to God, who desires nothing.