Funeral Oration on Basil 787–805
Greek text: PG 46 (OCR by the Bavarian State Library / Google Books; lines extracted for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 787
787PG 46:787–788
Καλὴν ἐπέθηκεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν τάξιν ταῖς ἐτησίοις ταύταις ἡμῶν ἑορταῖς, ἃς διά τινος τεταγμένης ἀκολουθίας κατὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ταύτας ἤδη τε ἡγάγομεν, καὶ πάλιν ἄγομεν. Ἡ δὲ τάξις ἡμῖν ἐστι τῶν πνευματικῶν πανηγύρεων, ἣν καὶ ὁ μέγας Παῦλος ἐδίδαξεν, ἄνωθεν τῶν τοιούτων τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχων. Φησὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, ἐν πρώτοις μὲν τοὺς ἀποστόλους τε καὶ
Kalēn epethēken ho Theos tēn taxin tais etēsiois tautais hēmōn heortais, has dia tinos tetagmenēs akolouthias kata tas hēmeras tautas ēdē te hēgagomen, kai palin agomen. Hē de taxis hēmin esti tōn pneumatikōn panēgyreōn, hēn kai ho megas Paulos edidaxen, anōthen tōn toioutōn tēn gnōsin echōn. Phēsi gar ekeinos, en prōtois men tous apostolous te kai
God has set a fine order on these yearly feasts of ours, which, following a fixed sequence, we have already been keeping in these days and are keeping again. The order of our spiritual festivals is the one the great Paul too taught, having knowledge of such things from above. For he says that in the first place apostles and
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory begins by noting that the church's feasts in these days follow an order taught by Paul.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 787 (PG 46:787–788; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/787). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/787
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 789
789PG 46:789–790
τοὺς προφήτας τετάχθαι, μετ' ἐκείνους δὲ τοὺς ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους. Συμβαίνει τοίνυν τῇ ἀποστολικῇ ταύτῃ ἀκολουθίᾳ ἡ τάξις τῶν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ πανηγύρεων. Ἀλλὰ τὴν πρώτην οὐ συναριθμῶ ταῖς ἄλλαις. Ἡ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῇ θεοφανείᾳ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ χάρις, ἡ διὰ τῆς ἐκ Παρθένου γεννήσεως ἀναδειχθεῖσα τῷ κόσμῳ, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐστιν ἁγία πανήγυρις, ἀλλ᾽ ἁγία ἁγίων, καὶ πανήγυρις πανηγύρεων. Οὐκοῦν τὰς μετ' αὐτὴν ἀριθμήσωμεν Πρῶτον ἡμῖν ἀπόστολοί τε καὶ προφῆται τῆς πνευματικῆς χοροστασίας κατήρξαντο. Τὰ δύο γὰρ πάντως περὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐστι χαρίσματα, τὸ τε ἀποστολικὸν πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ τῆς προφητείας. Εἰσὶ δὲ οὗτοι· Στέφανος, Πέτρος, Ἰάκωβος, Ἰωάννης, Παῦλος· εἶτα μετὰ τούτους φυλάξας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν, ἐξάρχει τῆς παρούσης ἡμῖν πανηγύρεως ὁ ποιμὴν καὶ διδάσκαλος. Τίς οὗτος; Εἴπω τὸ ὄνομα, ἢ ἀρκεῖ ἡ χάρις ἀντὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος δεῖξαι τὸν ἄνδρα; Διδάσκαλον γὰρ καὶ ποιμένα μετὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἀκούσας, ἐνόησας πάντως τὸν μετὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους ποιμένα τε καὶ διδάσκαλον τοῦτον λέγω, τὸ σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς, τὸν ὑψηλὸν βίῳ τε καὶ λόγῳ Βασίλειον, τὸν ἀστεῖον τῷ Θεῷ ἐκ γεννήσεως, τὸν τοῖς ἤθεσι πολιὸν ἐκ νεότητος, τὸν παιδευθέντα μὲν κατὰ Μωϋσέα πάσῃ σοφίᾳ τῶν ἔξωθεν λόγων, τοῖς δὲ ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν ἐκ βρέφους καὶ μέχρι τῆς τελειώσεως συντραφέντα καὶ συναυξηθέντα καὶ συνακμάσαντα· ὅθεν διδάσκων πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ τῇ θείᾳ τε καὶ τῇ ἔξωθεν, οἷόν τις ἀριστεὺς περιδέξιος δι᾽ ἑκατέρας παιδεύσεως τοῖς ἀντιτεταγμένοις ἑαυτὸν ἀνθοπλίζων, ὑπεραίρει δι' ἀμφοτέρων τοὺς προσπαλαίοντας, ὑπερέχων ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τοὺς ἐν θατέρῳ τινὰ κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἰσχὺν ἔχειν νομίζοντας, τοὺς μὲν ἐκ τῆς αἱρέσεως τὰς Γραφὰς προβαλλομένους, ταῖς Γραφαῖς ἀνατρέπων, Ἕλληνας δὲ διὰ τῆς ἰδίας αὐτῶν συμποδίζων παιδεύσεως. Ἡ δὲ κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων νίκη οὐ πτῶσιν ἐποίει τῶν ἡττημένων, ἀλλ᾿ ἀνάστασιν. Οἱ γὰρ ἡττώμενοι τῆς ἀληθείας, νικηταὶ καὶ στεφανῖται κατὰ τῆς πλάνης καὶ τοῦ ψεύδους ἐγίνοντο. Τοῦτον οὖν ἔχομεν καὶ ἡμεῖς νῦν τὸν διατιθέντα ἡμῖν τὴν παροῦσαν πανήγυριν, τὸν γνήσιον ὑποφήτην τοῦ Πνεύματος, τὸν γενναῖον τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατιώτην, τὸν μεγαλόφωνον κήρυκα τοῦ σωτηρίου κηρύγματος, τὸν ἀγωνιστήν τε καὶ πρόμαχον τῆς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ παῤῥησίας· ᾧ τὰ δεύτερα μετὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους ὁ χρόνος δίδωσι μόνον. Εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τῷ Παύλῳ χρόνον μετέσχεν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου Βασίλειος, οὕτως ἂν πάντως συνεγράφη τῷ Παύλῳ ὡς Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἔξω τῆς ἀληθείας στοχάζομαι, οὐτωσὶ τὸν λόγον κατανοήσωμεν Παρείσθω τὸ προτερεύειν τοὺς ἁγίους τῷ χρόνῳ. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ χρόνου φύσις ἐν τῷ παρωχηκότι καὶ τῷ μέλλοντι, πρὸς ἀρετήν τε καὶ κακίαν ὁμοίως ἔχει, οὔτε τοῦτο οὖσα, οὔτε τὸ ἕτερον· ἐν γὰρ προαιρέσει
tous prophētas tetachthai, met' ekeinous de tous poimenas kai didaskalous. Symbainei toinyn tę̄ apostolikę̄ tautę̄ akolouthią hē taxis tōn tou eniautou panēgyreōn. Alla tēn prōtēn ou synarithmō tais allais. Hē gar epi tę̄ theophaneią tou monogenous Huiou charis, hē dia tēs ek Parthenou gennēseōs anadeichtheisa tǭ kosmǭ, ouch haplōs estin hagia panēgyris, all᾽ hagia hagiōn, kai panēgyris panēgyreōn. Oukoun tas met' autēn arithmēsōmen Prōton hēmin apostoloi te kai prophētai tēs pneumatikēs chorostasias katērxanto. Ta dyo gar pantōs peri tous autous esti charismata, to te apostolikon pneuma, kai to tēs prophēteias. Eisi de houtoi; Stephanos, Petros, Iakōbos, Iōannēs, Paulos; eita meta toutous phylaxas tēn heautou taxin, exarchei tēs parousēs hēmin panēgyreōs ho poimēn kai didaskalos. Tis houtos? Eipō to onoma, ē arkei hē charis anti tou onomatos deixai ton andra? Didaskalon gar kai poimena meta tous apostolous akousas, enoēsas pantōs ton meta tous apostolous poimena te kai didaskalon touton legō, to skeuos tēs eklogēs, ton hypsēlon biǭ te kai logǭ Basileion, ton asteion tǭ Theǭ ek gennēseōs, ton tois ēthesi polion ek neotētos, ton paideuthenta men kata Mōÿsea pasę̄ sophią tōn exōthen logōn, tois de hierois grammasin ek brephous kai mechri tēs teleiōseōs syntraphenta kai synauxēthenta kai synakmasanta; hothen didaskōn panta anthrōpon en pasę̄ sophią tę̄ theią te kai tę̄ exōthen, hoion tis aristeus peridexios di᾽ hekateras paideuseōs tois antitetagmenois heauton anthoplizōn, hyperairei di' amphoterōn tous prospalaiontas, hyperechōn en hekaterǭ tous en thaterǭ tina kata tēs alētheias ischyn echein nomizontas, tous men ek tēs haireseōs tas Graphas proballomenous, tais Graphais anatrepōn, Hellēnas de dia tēs idias autōn sympodizōn paideuseōs. Hē de kata tōn antipalōn nikē ou ptōsin epoiei tōn hēttēmenōn, all᾿ anastasin. Hoi gar hēttōmenoi tēs alētheias, nikētai kai stephanitai kata tēs planēs kai tou pseudous eginonto. Touton oun echomen kai hēmeis nyn ton diatithenta hēmin tēn parousan panēgyrin, ton gnēsion hypophētēn tou Pneumatos, ton gennaion tou Christou stratiōtēn, ton megalophōnon kēryka tou sōtēriou kērygmatos, ton agōnistēn te kai promachon tēs hyper Christou parrhēsias; hǭ ta deutera meta tous apostolous ho chronos didōsi monon. Ei gar kata ton auton tǭ Paulǭ chronon meteschen tou anthrōpinou biou Basileios, houtōs an pantōs synegraphē tǭ Paulǭ hōs Silouanos kai Timotheos kai hoti ouk exō tēs alētheias stochazomai, outōsi ton logon katanoēsōmen Pareisthō to protereuein tous hagious tǭ chronǭ. Hē gar tou chronou physis en tǭ parōchēkoti kai tǭ mellonti, pros aretēn te kai kakian homoiōs echei, oute touto ousa, oute to heteron; en gar proairesei
prophets have been appointed, and after them pastors and teachers. The order of the year's festivals agrees, then, with this apostolic sequence. But the first I do not count with the others. For the grace of the theophany of the only-begotten Son, made manifest to the world through his birth from the Virgin, is not simply a holy festival but the holy of holies and the festival of festivals. Let us count, then, those that come after it. First the apostles and prophets have begun the spiritual dance for us. For both gifts certainly belong to the same men, the apostolic spirit and that of prophecy. They are these: Stephen, Peter, James, John, Paul. Then after them, keeping his own place in the order, the pastor and teacher leads off our present festival. Who is he? Shall I say the name, or is his grace enough instead of a name to show the man? For when you hear of a teacher and pastor after the apostles, you have surely understood that I mean this pastor and teacher who came after the apostles: the vessel of election, lofty in life and word, Basil; well-pleasing to God from birth, grey-haired in character from youth; instructed like Moses in all the wisdom of outside learning, but nourished in the sacred writings from infancy to his perfection, growing and coming to his prime with them. Hence, teaching every man in all wisdom, both the divine and the outside, like a champion who fights with both hands, arming himself against his opponents with each kind of learning, he overcomes through both those who wrestle with him, surpassing in each those who think they have some strength against the truth in the other: overturning by the Scriptures those of the heresy who put forward the Scriptures, and tripping up the Greeks by their own learning. And his victory over his opponents brought not the fall but the rising of the defeated. For those defeated by the truth became victors and crowned conquerors against error and falsehood. This is the man we too now have arranging the present festival for us: the genuine interpreter of the Spirit, the noble soldier of Christ, the loud-voiced herald of the saving proclamation, the contender and champion of boldness on behalf of Christ; to whom time alone gives second place after the apostles. For if Basil had shared in human life at the same time as Paul, he would surely have been named with Paul in his letters, as Silvanus and Timothy were. And that I am not guessing beyond the truth, let us consider the argument in this way. Let the saints' priority in time be set aside. For the nature of time, in the past and in the future, stands alike toward virtue and vice, being neither the one nor the other; for the good lies in free choice,
Eph 4:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 9:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 7:22 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 3:15 (echo, low confidence) · Col 1:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Thess 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: After the Nativity and the feasts of the apostles comes Basil's, the pastor and teacher, master of both Christian and Greek learning, second to the apostles only in time.
- The feasts in order: Christmas (25 December), then Stephen, Peter, James, John, and Paul (26–28 December), then Basil (1 January).
- Allusions: Eph 4:11 and 1 Cor 12:28 (apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers); Acts 9:15 (vessel of election); Acts 7:22 (Moses' education); 2 Tim 3:15 (from infancy); Col 1:28 (teaching every man in all wisdom); 1 Thess 1:1 and 2 Thess 1:1 (Silvanus and Timothy).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR Latin v for ν and stray hyphen; OCR split word; OCR stray letter): χορο στασίας → χοροστασίας; ἄv- θρωπον → ἄνθρωπον; στρατιώτην, η τὸν → στρατιώτην, τὸν.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 789 (PG 46:789–790; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/789). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/789
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-in-basilium-789) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 791
791PG 46:791–792
τὸ ἀγαθὸν, οὐκ ἐν χρόνῳ. ᾿Αλλ' ἐξεταζέσθω πρὸς τὴν πίστιν ἡ πίστις, καὶ πρὸς τὸν λόγον ὁ λόγος· εὑρήσει γὰρ ὅ γε δικαίως ἐκ παραλλήλου ἀντεξετάζων τὰ θαύματα, μίαν ἐπ᾿ ἀμφοτέρων τὴν χάριν ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος ἐγγινομένην ἐν ἑκατέρῳ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως. Εἰ δὲ προήκει τῷ χρόνῳ Παῦλος, καὶ πολλαῖς ὕστερον γενεαῖς ἀνεδείχθη Βασίλειος, τῆς θείας ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκονομίας λέγεις τὸ ἔργον, οὐκ ἀπόδειξιν τῆς κατ᾿ ἀρετὴν ἐλαττώσεως· ἐπεὶ καὶ Μωϋσῆς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ πολλοῖς χρόνοις μεταγενέστερος, καὶ Σαμουήλ Μωϋσέως, καὶ τούτου Ἠλίας· κἀκείνου ὁ μέγας Ἰωάννης, καὶ μετὰ Ἰωάννην Παῦλος· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Βασίλειος. Ωσπερ οὖν ἐν τοῖς προάγουσιν οὐδὲν ὁ χρόνος δευτερεύων, εἰς τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν δόξαν τοὺς ἁγίους ἠλάττωσεν· οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἐν τῷ τῆς ἀρετῆς λόγῳ σιωπάσθω τὰ πρεσβεῖα τοῦ χρόνου, Τὸ γὰρ τοιοῦτον, καθὼς ἔφαμεν, τῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ Θεοῦ προμηθείας τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἔχει. Ὁ γὰρ εἰδὼς τὰ πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, καὶ τὴν συνδιεξιοῦσαν ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις γενεαῖς τοῦ διαβόλου κακίαν κατανοῶν, πρόσφορόν τε καὶ κατάλληλον τῷ καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἀῤῥωστήματι τὸν ἰατρὸν ἑτοιμάζει, ὡς ἂν μὴ ἀθεράπευτον περιίδοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν νόσον, δι᾿ ἐρημίαν τῶν διορθουμένων κατακρατοῦσαν τοῦ γένους. Τούτου χάριν ἐπικρατούσης ποτὲ τῆς Χαλδαϊκῆς φιλοσοφίας, οἱ τὴν τῶν ὄντων αἰτίαν ἐν τῇ ποιᾷ κινήσει τῶν ἄστρων ὡρίζοντο, ὑπερκεῖσθαι δέ τινα τῶν φαινομένων δύναμιν ποιητικὴν τῶν ὄντων οὐκ ᾤοντο· τότε τὸν ᾿Ἀβραὰμ ἀναδείκνυσιν, ὃς ἐπιβάθρᾳ τῇ τοιαύτῃ παιδεύσει χρησάμενος, ἀνεζήτησε τὸν διὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων νοούμενον. Καὶ ὁδὸς τοῖς ἐφεξῆς ἐγένετο πίστεως τῆς εἰς τὸν ὄντως ὄντα Θεὸν, αὐτὸς πρὸς ταύτην καθηγησάμενος, διὰ τοῦ καταλιπεῖν τὴν πατρώαν ἀπάτην, καὶ τὴν τῶν αἰσθητηρίων πρὸς τὴν φαινομένην κτίσιν συγγένειαν. Εἶτα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων δαιμονίαν τινὰ καὶ γοητικὴν σοφίαν ἐξευρηκότων, ἐξ ὑποθήκης, οἶμαι, τοῦ ποικίλως δι' ἀπάτης καταβυθίζοντος, ἀνέδειξε τὸν Μωϋσέα τῷ ὑπερβάλλοντι τῆς σοφίας τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἀπάτην ἐξαφανίσοντα. Ἐπιγινώσκει δὲ πάντως τὸν λόγον ὁ τὴν Γραφὴν ἐπιστάμενος, πῶς, ἀντεπιδεικνυμένων τοῖς θείοις σημείοις τῶν γοήτων τὰς ἰδίας ἀπάτας, ὑπερέσχε κατὰ κράτος Μωϋσῆς, διὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν συμμαχίας τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἰσχὺν πᾶσαν ἐξαφανίσας. Νοεῖς δὲ τοῦτο διά τε τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ τῷ τῶν ῥάβδων αἰνίγματι. Προϊόντος δὲ τοῦ χρόνου, καὶ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν δι᾽ ἀναρχίας ἐν δημοκρατορικῇ συγχύσει πλημμελῶς διακειμένων, ὁ Σαμουὴλ ἀναφαίνεται, κρατῶν δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸ ὑπήκοον, καὶ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους ἐπιμιξίας ἀπείργων· εἶτα πρὸς βασιλείας κατάστασιν τὴν ἀναρχίαν μετασκευάσας, συνήθροισεν αὐτὸ περὶ ἑαυτὸ τὸ ἀλλόφυλον, τῆς βασιλικῆς δυναστείας νομοθέτης γενό-
to agathon, ouk en chronǭ. ᾿All' exetazesthō pros tēn pistin hē pistis, kai pros ton logon ho logos; heurēsei gar ho ge dikaiōs ek parallēlou antexetazōn ta thaumata, mian ep᾿ amphoterōn tēn charin ek tou autou Pneumatos enginomenēn en hekaterǭ kata tēn analogian tēs pisteōs. Ei de proēkei tǭ chronǭ Paulos, kai pollais hysteron geneais anedeichthē Basileios, tēs theias hyper tōn anthrōpōn oikonomias legeis to ergon, ouk apodeixin tēs kat᾿ aretēn elattōseōs; epei kai Mōÿsēs tou Abraam pollois chronois metagenesteros, kai Samouēl Mōÿseōs, kai toutou Ēlias; kakeinou ho megas Iōannēs, kai meta Iōannēn Paulos; kai meta touton Basileios. Ōsper oun en tois proagousin ouden ho chronos deutereuōn, eis tēn kata Theon doxan tous hagious ēlattōsen; houtō kai nyn en tǭ tēs aretēs logǭ siōpasthō ta presbeia tou chronou, To gar toiouton, kathōs ephamen, tēs hyper tōn anthrōpōn tou Theou promētheias tēn apodeixin echei. Ho gar eidōs ta panta prin geneseōs autōn, kathōs phēsin ho prophētēs, kai tēn syndiexiousan tais anthrōpinais geneais tou diabolou kakian katanoōn, prosphoron te kai katallēlon tǭ kath' hekastēn genean arrhōstēmati ton iatron hetoimazei, hōs an mē atherapeuton periidoi tōn anthrōpōn tēn noson, di᾿ erēmian tōn diorthoumenōn katakratousan tou genous. Toutou charin epikratousēs pote tēs Chaldaïkēs philosophias, hoi tēn tōn ontōn aitian en tę̄ poią kinēsei tōn astrōn hōrizonto, hyperkeisthai de tina tōn phainomenōn dynamin poiētikēn tōn ontōn ouk ǭonto; tote ton ᾿Abraam anadeiknysin, hos epibathrą tę̄ toiautę̄ paideusei chrēsamenos, anezētēse ton dia tōn horōmenōn nooumenon. Kai hodos tois ephexēs egeneto pisteōs tēs eis ton ontōs onta Theon, autos pros tautēn kathēgēsamenos, dia tou katalipein tēn patrōan apatēn, kai tēn tōn aisthētēriōn pros tēn phainomenēn ktisin syngeneian. Eita tōn Aigyptiōn daimonian tina kai goētikēn sophian exeurēkotōn, ex hypothēkēs, oimai, tou poikilōs di' apatēs katabythizontos, anedeixe ton Mōÿsea tǭ hyperballonti tēs sophias tēn Aigyptian apatēn exaphanisonta. Epiginōskei de pantōs ton logon ho tēn Graphēn epistamenos, pōs, antepideiknymenōn tois theiois sēmeiois tōn goētōn tas idias apatas, hyperesche kata kratos Mōÿsēs, dia tēs anōthen symmachias tēn Aigyptian ischyn pasan exaphanisas. Noeis de touto dia te tōn allōn, kai tǭ tōn rhabdōn ainigmati. Proïontos de tou chronou, kai tōn Israēlitōn di᾽ anarchias en dēmokratorikę̄ synchysei plēmmelōs diakeimenōn, ho Samouēl anaphainetai, kratōn di᾽ heautou to hypēkoon, kai tēs pros tous allophylous epimixias apeirgōn; eita pros basileias katastasin tēn anarchian metaskeuasas, synēthroisen auto peri heauto to allophylon, tēs basilikēs dynasteias nomothetēs geno-
not in time. But let faith be examined beside faith, and word beside word; for whoever fairly compares the wonders side by side will find in both one grace from the same Spirit, present in each according to the proportion of faith. If Paul comes earlier in time, and Basil appeared many generations later, you are speaking of the work of God's dispensation on behalf of mankind, not of proof of inferiority in virtue. For Moses too came many years after Abraham, and Samuel after Moses, and Elijah after him, and the great John after him, and Paul after John, and Basil after Paul. As, then, among those who went before, coming second in time did not lessen the saints at all in glory before God, so now too, in considering virtue, let seniority in time be passed over in silence. For such a thing, as we have said, is a proof of God's providence on behalf of mankind. For he who knows all things before they come to be, as the prophet says, and who perceives the wickedness of the devil that runs its course alongside the human generations, prepares a physician fitting and suited to the illness of each generation, so as not to overlook mankind's disease left untreated, prevailing over the race for lack of those who would correct it. For this reason, when Chaldean philosophy once prevailed, whose adherents defined the cause of things as a certain movement of the stars and did not think that any power that makes the things that are lies beyond what appears, he then brought forward Abraham, who, using such learning as a stepping-stone, sought out the One known through the things that are seen. And he became a road for those after him to faith in the God who truly is, himself leading the way to it by leaving the deceit of his fathers and the kinship of the senses with the visible creation. Then, when the Egyptians had invented a demonic and magical wisdom, at the prompting, I think, of the one who in many ways drowns men through deceit, he brought forward Moses to wipe out the Egyptian deceit by the surpassing greatness of his wisdom. Whoever knows the Scripture certainly recognizes the account: how, when the magicians displayed their own deceits against the divine signs, Moses mightily prevailed, wiping out all the Egyptian power through the alliance from above. You see this through the other signs and in the riddle of the rods. As time went on, and the Israelites were in a faulty state through anarchy, in the confusion of popular rule, Samuel appears, holding the people under his own authority and keeping them from mixing with foreigners; then, having changed their anarchy into the establishment of a kingdom, he gathered the people around itself, becoming the lawgiver of royal power.
Rom 12:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 7:10–12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 8:4–22 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lateness in time does not lessen sanctity: in each age God raises the physician fitted to its disease, as he raised Abraham against Chaldean astrology, Moses against Egyptian magic, and Samuel against anarchy.
- “The proportion of faith”: Rom 12:6. “Knows all things before they come to be”: Susanna 42 (Dan 13:42 LXX), which Gregory cites as “the prophet.”
- Allusions: Exod 7:10–12 (the rods); 1 Sam 7–8 (Samuel and the kingdom).
- The scan text reads “συνήθροισεν αὐτὸ περὶ ἑαυτὸ τὸ ἀλλόφυλον” (“gathered the foreign people around itself”), which contradicts the preceding clause; it is translated by sense as the people of Israel. The last word breaks off at the page end (“γενό-”) and the next page does not continue it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR split word): καταβυ θίζοντος → καταβυθίζοντος.
Extrabiblical texts: Sus 42 (Susanna [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 791 (PG 46:791–792; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/791). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/791
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 793
793PG 46:793–794
Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ πολλαῖς ὕστερον γενεαῖς, ὅτε ᾿Αχαάβ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ γυναικεῖον ἀνδράποδον, αὐτός τε τῶν πατρῴων ἀπέστη θεσμῶν, γυναικὶ χλιδώσῃ δεδουλωμένος, καὶ τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων πλάνην δι' ἐκείνης ἐπισπασάμενος, συναπέστησεν ἑαυτῷ τὸν Ἰσραηλίτην λαόν τότε ἀναδείκνυσιν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Ἠλίαν ἀντίῤῥοπον ἔχοντα τῷ μεγέθει τῆς νόσου τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν θεραπεύουσαν δύναμιν, ἄνδρα, ἐν ὑπεροψίᾳ τῆς θεραπείας τοῦ σώματος, αὐχμῶντα τὸ πρόσωπον, καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἰδίων τριχῶν σκιαζόμενον, ἰδιαστὴν τῷ βίῳ, σεμνὸν προσιδεῖν ἐν ἀμειδεῖ τῷ προσώπῳ, καὶ συννενευμένον τῷ βλέμματι, δέρματι αἰγείῳ τοσοῦτον τοῦ σώματος σκέπ[τ]οντα, ὅσον εὐπρεπέστερόν ἐστι καλυπτόμενον, τῷ δὲ λοιπῷ διακαρτεροῦντα πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ οὐδὲν πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ θάλπους τε καὶ κρύους ἀνωμαλίαν ἐπιστρεφόμενον. ὡς ἀναφανεὶς τῷ λαῷ, τῇ τε διὰ τοῦ λιμοῦ μάστιγι σωφρονίζει τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, καθάπερ τινὶ σκυτάλῃ τῇ τοιαύτῃ πληγῇ τῆς ἀταξίας τοῦ λαοῦ καθαπτόμενος· μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τῷ θείῳ πυρὶ τῷ περὶ τὴν ἱερουργίαν γεγενημένῳ θεραπεύει τὴν περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα νόσον. Εἶτα μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἄλλος ἐκεῖνος χρόνοις ὕστερον πλείοσιν ἀναφαίνεται, ὁ ἐν πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει Ἠλίου διὰ Ζαχαρίου καὶ Ἐλισάβετ ἐπιδημήσας τῷ βίῳ, καὶ ἅπαν τὸ ἔθνος ἐξεκκλησιάζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διὰ κηρύγματος, καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τῷ αἵματι τῶν προφητῶν λύθρον, καὶ τὰ παντοδαπὰ μιάσματα, καὶ τὰ ποικίλα τῆς ἁμαρτίας δεσμά· οἷς ὑποδημάτων δίκην κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον ἅπας ὁ λαὸς ἐνεδέδετο· πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα τῷ τε κηρύγματι τῆς μετανοίας ἐκλύων, καὶ τῷ περιῤῥαντηρίῳ ὕδατι κατὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐκπλύνων, ἐν οὐδενὶ τὸ ἔλαττον τῶν ἐν ἀρετῇ προωδευκότων ἐν τοῖς κατὰ Θεὸν ἐπεδείξατο. Τί δὲ μετὰ τοῦτον ὁ Παῦλος πρὸς τὸ ἀκρότατον τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν προκοπῆς ἀναδραμεῖν ἐκωλύθη δευτερεύων τῷ χρόνῳ; οὐκ εὐθὺς ἑραστὴς τοῦ θείου κάλλους ἐγένετο, τοῦ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐναστράψαντος, ὁμοῦ τῷ τὰς λεπίδας ἀποβαλεῖν τῶν ὀμμάτων, αϊ σύμβολον ἦσαν τοῦ περικαρδίου καλύμματος, ὃ περικείμενον τῷ διορατικῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ψυχῶν, τυφλώττειν αὐτοὺς παρασκευάζει πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν; Οὐκ ἐπειδὴ τῷ μυστικῷ λουτρῷ τὸν τῆς ἀγνοίας τε καὶ ἀπάτης ῥύπον ἐναπέθετο, εὐθὺς πρὸς τὸ θειότερον μετεσκευάσθη τὴν φύσιν, καὶ οἷον ἐκδὺς τὴν παχεῖαν ταύτην καὶ σαρκώδη περιβολὴν, αὐτοῖς τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἀδύτοις ἐπεχωρίαζεν, οὐδὲν βαρούμενος τῷ ἐφολκίῳ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ ἐντὸς ἐγένετο τῆς θείας τοῦ παραδείσου φυτείας, ἐκεῖ τὴν ἄῤῥητον μυσταγωγίαν παρὰ τῆς ἀληθείας τελειούμενος, κἀκεῖθεν λαμβάνων τοῦ λόγου τὴν δύναμιν εἰς ὑπακοὴν τῆς πίστεως ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν; Ὅθεν μικροῦ δεῖν τῆς οἰκουμένης πάσης πατήρ γίνεται, διὰ τῶν πνευματικῶν ὠδίνων εἰς φῶς ἐνάγων τοὺς δι᾿ αὐτοῦ μορφουμένους κατὰ Χριστὸν εἰς εὐσέβειαν. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁγίων, ἡ κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τάξις οὐδὲν τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν προκοπῆς ἠλάττω-
Meta tauta de pollais hysteron geneais, hote ᾿Achaab ekeinos, to gynaikeion andrapodon, autos te tōn patrǭōn apestē thesmōn, gynaiki chlidōsę̄ dedoulōmenos, kai tēn tōn eidōlōn planēn di' ekeinēs epispasamenos, synapestēsen heautǭ ton Israēlitēn laon tote anadeiknysin ho Theos ton Ēlian antirrhopon echonta tǭ megethei tēs nosou tōn anthrōpōn tēn therapeuousan dynamin, andra, en hyperopsią tēs therapeias tou sōmatos, auchmōnta to prosōpon, kai tǭ plēthei tōn idiōn trichōn skiazomenon, idiastēn tǭ biǭ, semnon prosidein en ameidei tǭ prosōpǭ, kai synneneumenon tǭ blemmati, dermati aigeiǭ tosouton tou sōmatos skep[t]onta, hoson euprepesteron esti kalyptomenon, tǭ de loipǭ diakarterounta pros ton aera, kai ouden pros tēn ek tou thalpous te kai kryous anōmalian epistrephomenon. hōs anaphaneis tǭ laǭ, tę̄ te dia tou limou mastigi sōphronizei ton Israēl, kathaper tini skytalę̄ tę̄ toiautę̄ plēgę̄ tēs ataxias tou laou kathaptomenos; meta tauta de kai tǭ theiǭ pyri tǭ peri tēn hierourgian gegenēmenǭ therapeuei tēn peri ta eidōla noson. Eita met' ekeinon allos ekeinos chronois hysteron pleiosin anaphainetai, ho en pneumati kai dynamei Ēliou dia Zachariou kai Elisabet epidēmēsas tǭ biǭ, kai hapan to ethnos exekklēsiazōn en tę̄ erēmǭ dia kērygmatos, kai to epi tǭ haimati tōn prophētōn lythron, kai ta pantodapa miasmata, kai ta poikila tēs hamartias desma; hois hypodēmatōn dikēn kata ton chronon ekeinon hapas ho laos enededeto; panta ta toiauta tǭ te kērygmati tēs metanoias eklyōn, kai tǭ perirrhantēriǭ hydati kata ton Iordanēn ekplynōn, en oudeni to elatton tōn en aretę̄ proōdeukotōn en tois kata Theon epedeixato. Ti de meta touton ho Paulos pros to akrotaton tēs kata Theon prokopēs anadramein ekōlythē deutereuōn tǭ chronǭ? ouk euthys herastēs tou theiou kallous egeneto, tou tois ophthalmois enastrapsantos, homou tǭ tas lepidas apobalein tōn ommatōn, aï symbolon ēsan tou perikardiou kalymmatos, ho perikeimenon tǭ dioratikǭ tōn Ioudaiōn psychōn, typhlōttein autous paraskeuazei pros tēn alētheian? Ouk epeidē tǭ mystikǭ loutrǭ ton tēs agnoias te kai apatēs rhypon enapetheto, euthys pros to theioteron meteskeuasthē tēn physin, kai hoion ekdys tēn pacheian tautēn kai sarkōdē peribolēn, autois tois ouraniois adytois epechōriazen, ouden baroumenos tǭ epholkiǭ tou sōmatos, kai entos egeneto tēs theias tou paradeisou phyteias, ekei tēn arrhēton mystagōgian para tēs alētheias teleioumenos, kakeithen lambanōn tou logou tēn dynamin eis hypakoēn tēs pisteōs en pasi tois ethnesin? Hothen mikrou dein tēs oikoumenēs pasēs patēr ginetai, dia tōn pneumatikōn ōdinōn eis phōs enagōn tous di᾿ autou morphoumenous kata Christon eis eusebeian. Ei toinyn epi tōn allōn hagiōn, hē kata ton chronon taxis ouden tēs kata Theon prokopēs ēlattō-
After that, many generations later, when that Ahab, the slave of a woman, himself departed from the ancestral ordinances, enslaved to a luxurious wife, and having drawn in the error of idols through her, made the people of Israel depart along with him, then God brings forward Elijah, who had a healing power matching the greatness of the people's disease: a man who, in disdain of care for the body, was squalid in face and shaded by the abundance of his hair, solitary in life, solemn to look at with an unsmiling face and downcast gaze, covering with a goatskin only so much of his body as is more seemly covered, and enduring the open air with the rest, paying no attention to the changes of heat and cold. When he appeared to the people, he brought Israel to its senses with the scourge of famine, laying hold of the people's disorder by such a blow as by a lash; and afterwards he healed the disease of idolatry by the divine fire that came at the sacrifice. Then after him, many years later, another appears, who came into life through Zechariah and Elizabeth in the spirit and power of Elijah, and who gathered the whole nation into assembly in the desert by his preaching; and the stain of the prophets' blood, and defilements of every kind, and the various bonds of sin with which at that time the whole people was bound as with sandals, all such things he loosed by the preaching of repentance and washed away by the sprinkling water at the Jordan; and he showed himself in nothing inferior to those who had advanced in virtue in the things of God. And after him, was Paul hindered from running up to the summit of progress toward God because he came second in time? Did he not at once become a lover of the divine beauty that flashed on his eyes, at the moment he cast the scales from his eyes, which were a symbol of the veil over the heart, which, lying over the discernment of Jewish souls, makes them blind to the truth? When he laid aside in the mystical washing the filth of ignorance and deceit, was he not at once changed in nature to something more divine, and, as if he had put off this thick and fleshly covering, did he not dwell in the very sanctuaries of heaven, in no way weighed down by the burden of the body, and come within the divine planting of paradise, there being initiated by the truth into the ineffable mystery, and from there receiving the power of the word for the obedience of faith among all the nations? Hence he becomes the father of almost the whole inhabited world, through spiritual birth-pangs leading into the light those formed by him in Christ for godliness. If, then, in the case of the other saints, their order in time did nothing to lessen
1 Kgs 16:31 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 1:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Kgs 17:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:38 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:1–6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 9:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:14–15 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 1:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 4:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 4:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory continues the list of God's physicians for each age: Elijah against Ahab's idolatry, John the Baptist, and Paul, whose late calling did not keep him from the summit of holiness.
- Allusions: 1 Kgs 16:31–33 (Ahab and Jezebel); 2 Kgs 1:8 (Elijah's appearance); 1 Kgs 17:1 (famine); 1 Kgs 18:38 (fire); Luke 1:17 (spirit and power of Elijah); Matt 3:1–6; Acts 9:18 (scales); 2 Cor 3:14–15 (the veil); 2 Cor 12:4 (paradise, ineffable words); Rom 1:5 (obedience of faith); 1 Cor 4:15 and Gal 4:19 (spiritual fatherhood and birth-pangs).
- The remark on the veil over Jewish souls follows 2 Cor 3:14–15 and is translated as written. “The mystical washing” is baptism.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR joined words with stray letter; OCR letter error): γίνεκαι → γίνεται; ὠδίνωνιεἰς → ὠδίνων εἰς.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 793 (PG 46:793–794; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/793). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/793
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 795
795PG 46:795–796
σεν, ὁμοτίμως ἑκάστῳ τῆς χάριτος πρὸς τὴν τελειότητα συνεργούσης· εἰκότως τολμῶμεν καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς γενεᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπον, τὸ μέγα σκεῦος τῆς ἀληθείας, Βασίλειον, τοῖς ὀνομαστοῖς ἐκείνοις ἁγίοις ἐναρίθμιον εἶναι λέγειν, οὐδὲν τῆς χρονικῆς ἀκολουθίας οὔτε τὴν ὑψηλὴν ἐκείνου πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιθυμίαν, οὔτε τὴν θείαν χάριν πρὸς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς τελείωσιν ἐμποδιζούσης ὡς ἂν μὴ τῆς θείας οἰκονομίας ὁ σκοπός τι παραβλαβείη, ἤ τι παρὰ τὴν τοῦ χρόνου αἰτίαν ἐλαττωθείη τῆς παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ συνεισφερομένης συμμαχίας πρὸς τὸ μυστήριον. Πάντως δὲ οὐδεὶς ἀγνοεῖ τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον τοῦ διδασκάλου ἡμῶν ἀναδείξεως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἀνθρώπων μανία τῷ κηρύγματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατεσβέσθη, καὶ πάντα ἦν ἐν ἐρειπίοις ἤδη καὶ ἀφανισμῷ τὰ τῶν ματαίων σεβάσματα, διὰ πάσης σχεδὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης τοῦ κηρύγματος τῆς εὐσεβείας φοιτήσαντος, ὥστε τὸν ἐπικρατοῦντα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀπάτης πανταχόθεν ἐξείργεσθαι, τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὀνόματι τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐξελαυνόμενον· σοφὸς δὲ εἰς κακίαν ὧν ὁ τῆς κακίας εὑρετὴς, οὐκ ἠπόρησεν πονηρᾶς ἐπινοίας, ὥστε πάλιν ὑποχείριον ποιῆσαι δι᾿ ἀπάτης ἑαυτῷ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον· ἀλλ᾽ ἐν προσχήματι Χριστιανισμοῦ τὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν κατὰ τὸ λεληθὸς ἐπανήγαγεν, πείσας τοῖς ἰδίοις σοφίσμασι τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁρῶντας μὴ ἀποστῆναι τῆς κτίσεως, ἀλλὰ ταύτην προσκυνεῖν καὶ ταύτην σέβεσθαι, καὶ Θεὸν τὸ ποίημα οἴεσθαι, τῇ τοῦ Υἱοῦ κλήσει ὀνομαζόμενον. Εἰ δὲ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων ἐστὶν ἡ κτίσις, καὶ τῆς θείας οὐσίας κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἠλλοτρίωται φύσιν, μηδένα ποιεῖσθαι τούτου λόγον, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὄνομα ἐπιθέντας τῇ κτίσει ταύτην προσκυνεῖν, ταύτῃ λατρεύειν, ἐν ταύτῃ τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς σωτηρίας ἔχειν, παρὰ ταύτης ἀναμένειν τὴν κρίσιν. Καὶ ὅλος ἐμπεσὼν ὁ ἀποστάτης ἀνθρώποις πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν κακίαν ἱκανοῖς χωρῆσαι, ᾿Αρείῳ τε λέγω καὶ ᾿Αετίῳ, Εὐνομίῳ, Εὐδοξίῳ, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις καὶ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις, δι' ὧν ἐκλείπουσαν ἤδη τὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν πάλιν, καθὼς εἴρηται, τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ ἐπανήγαγεν, καὶ κατεκράτει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ νόσος, τῶν κτίσει λατρευόντων παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα, ὡς καὶ τῇ συμμαχίᾳ τῶν τότε βασιλέων τὴν ἀπάτην κρατύνεσθαι, καὶ πάσας τὰς ὑπερεχούσας ἀρχὰς τῆς τοιαύτης ὑπερμάχεσθαι νόσου. Καὶ πάντων μικροῦ δεῖν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ ἐπικρατοῦν μετατεθέντων, τότε παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀναδείκνυται ὁ μέγας Βασίλειος, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ ᾿Αχαάβ ὁ Ἠλίας· καὶ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἤδη τρόπον τινὰ πεπτωκυίας ἀντιλαμβανόμενος, ὥσπερ τινὰ λύχνον ἐκλελοιπότα τὸν τῆς πίστεως λόγον διὰ τῆς ἐνοικούσης αὐτῷ χάριτος ἀναλάμψαι πάλιν ἐποίησεν. Καὶ οἷόν τις πυρσὸς τοῖς νύκτωρ διαπλανωμένοις κατὰ τὸ πέλαγος ὑπερφανεὶς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, πάντας πρὸς τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὁδὸν ἐπέστρεψεν, ὑπάρχοις συμπλεκόμενος, στρατηλάταις συμμίσγων, βασιλεῦσι
sen, homotimōs hekastǭ tēs charitos pros tēn teleiotēta synergousēs; eikotōs tolmōmen kai ton en tę̄ kath' hēmas geneą tou Theou anthrōpon, to mega skeuos tēs alētheias, Basileion, tois onomastois ekeinois hagiois enarithmion einai legein, ouden tēs chronikēs akolouthias oute tēn hypsēlēn ekeinou pros ton Theon epithymian, oute tēn theian charin pros tēn tēs psychēs teleiōsin empodizousēs hōs an mē tēs theias oikonomias ho skopos ti parablabeiē, ē ti para tēn tou chronou aitian elattōtheiē tēs par᾿ autou syneispheromenēs symmachias pros to mystērion. Pantōs de oudeis agnoei ton skopon tēs kata ton chronon touton tou didaskalou hēmōn anadeixeōs. Epeidē gar hē peri ta eidōla tōn anthrōpōn mania tǭ kērygmati tou Christou katesbesthē, kai panta ēn en ereipiois ēdē kai aphanismǭ ta tōn mataiōn sebasmata, dia pasēs schedon tēs oikoumenēs tou kērygmatos tēs eusebeias phoitēsantos, hōste ton epikratounta tēs anthrōpinēs apatēs pantachothen exeirgesthai, tǭ tou Christou onomati tēs oikoumenēs exelaunomenon; sophos de eis kakian hōn ho tēs kakias heuretēs, ouk ēporēsen ponēras epinoias, hōste palin hypocheirion poiēsai di᾿ apatēs heautǭ to anthrōpinon; all᾽ en proschēmati Christianismou tēn eidōlolatreian kata to lelēthos epanēgagen, peisas tois idiois sophismasi tous pros auton horōntas mē apostēnai tēs ktiseōs, alla tautēn proskynein kai tautēn sebesthai, kai Theon to poiēma oiesthai, tę̄ tou Huiou klēsei onomazomenon. Ei de ek mē ontōn estin hē ktisis, kai tēs theias ousias kata tēn idian ēllotriōtai physin, mēdena poieisthai toutou logon, alla to tou Christou onoma epithentas tę̄ ktisei tautēn proskynein, tautę̄ latreuein, en tautę̄ tas elpidas tēs sōtērias echein, para tautēs anamenein tēn krisin. Kai holos empesōn ho apostatēs anthrōpois pasan autou tēn kakian hikanois chōrēsai, ᾿Areiǭ te legō kai ᾿Aetiǭ, Eunomiǭ, Eudoxiǭ, kai pros toutois kai pollois allois, di' hōn ekleipousan ēdē tēn eidōlolatreian palin, kathōs eirētai, tou Christianismou epanēgagen, kai katekratei tōn anthrōpōn hē nosos, tōn ktisei latreuontōn para ton ktisanta, hōs kai tę̄ symmachią tōn tote basileōn tēn apatēn kratynesthai, kai pasas tas hyperechousas archas tēs toiautēs hypermachesthai nosou. Kai pantōn mikrou dein anthrōpōn pros to epikratoun metatethentōn, tote para tou Theou anadeiknytai ho megas Basileios, kathaper epi tou ᾿Achaab ho Ēlias; kai tēs hierōsynēs ēdē tropon tina peptōkuias antilambanomenos, hōsper tina lychnon ekleloipota ton tēs pisteōs logon dia tēs enoikousēs autǭ charitos analampsai palin epoiēsen. Kai hoion tis pyrsos tois nyktōr diaplanōmenois kata to pelagos hyperphaneis tēs Ekklēsias, pantas pros tēn eutheian hodon epestrepsen, hyparchois symplekomenos, stratēlatais symmisgōn, basileusi
their progress toward God, since grace works equally with each toward perfection, we may fittingly dare to say that the man of God in our own generation, the great vessel of the truth, Basil, is to be counted among those famous saints, since the sequence of time hindered neither his lofty desire for God nor divine grace for the perfecting of his soul; so that the aim of the divine dispensation might not be harmed at all, nor anything of the help he contributed to the mystery be lessened because of time. No one, surely, is unaware of the aim of our teacher's appearance at this time. When the madness of men about idols had been quenched by the preaching of Christ, and all the objects of worship of the vain were already in ruins and obliteration, the preaching of godliness having spread through almost the whole world, so that the one who rules over human deceit was shut out on every side, driven from the world by the name of Christ; the inventor of evil, being wise for evil, was not at a loss for a wicked device to make mankind his subject again through deceit. Under the guise of Christianity he secretly brought idolatry back, persuading by his own sophistries those who looked to him not to depart from the creation, but to worship and revere it, and to think the thing made God, as long as it is called by the name of Son. And if the creation is from things that are not, and is estranged from the divine substance by its own nature, they were to take no account of this, but, putting the name of Christ on the creation, to worship it, serve it, place in it their hopes of salvation, and await judgment from it. And the apostate, falling wholly upon men able to hold all his wickedness, Arius I mean and Aetius, Eunomius, Eudoxius, and many others besides, brought back through them, as has been said, the idolatry that was already dying out, under the name of Christianity; and the disease of those who serve the creature rather than the Creator prevailed over men, so that the deceit was strengthened by the alliance of the emperors of that time, and all the highest offices fought for such a disease. When almost all men had gone over to the prevailing view, then the great Basil is brought forward by God, like Elijah in the days of Ahab; and taking hold of the priesthood, which had already in a way fallen, he made the word of faith shine again, like a lamp that had gone out, through the grace that dwelt in him. And appearing above the church like a beacon to those wandering at night on the open sea, he turned all back to the straight road, contending with prefects, mixing with generals, speaking boldly
Rom 1:25 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:17–18 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basil ranks with the earlier saints; God raised him against the Arian heresy, which Gregory calls a disguised idolatry worshipping a creature as the Son, backed by the emperors.
- Gregory's charge is that the Arians (Arius, Aetius, Eunomius, Eudoxius), by calling the Son a creature made from nothing yet worshipping him, revive idolatry; the polemic is translated as written.
- Allusion: Rom 1:25 (serving the creature rather than the Creator).
- Two displaced OCR lines are restored by logged corrections: “Θεὸν ἐπιθυμίαν, οὔτε τὴν θείαν χάριν πρὸς τὴν τῆς” and “οἴεσθαι, τῇ τοῦ Υἱοῦ κλήσει ὀνομαζόμενον. Εἰ δὲ ἐκ,” each printed in the middle of another word. “Under the name of Christianity” translates “τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ” by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR split word; OCR stray mark splitting a word; displaced OCR line removed from inside a word (restored below in its place); displaced OCR line restored to its place): τελειΘεὸν ἐπιθυμίαν, οὔτε τὴν θείαν χάριν πρὸς τὴν τῆς ότητα → τελειότητα; πρὸς τὸν ψυχῆς τελείωσιν → πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιθυμίαν, οὔτε τὴν θείαν χάριν πρὸς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς τελείωσιν; συνεισ φερομένης → συνεισφερομένης; μαοἴεσθαι, τῇ τοῦ Υἱοῦ κλήσει ὀνομαζόμενον. Εἰ δὲ ἐκ νία → μανία; Θεὸν τὸ ποίημα μὴ ὄντων → Θεὸν τὸ ποίημα οἴεσθαι, τῇ τοῦ Υἱοῦ κλήσει ὀνομαζόμενον. Εἰ δὲ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων; κατ· εκράτει → κατεκράτει.
Topics: Heresy, Christology
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 795 (PG 46:795–796; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/795). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/795
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-in-basilium-795) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 797
797PG 46:797–798
παῤῥησιαζόμενος, ἐπ' ἐκκλησίαις βοῶν, τοὺς πόῤῥωθεν ἀφεστηκότας, καθ' ὁμοιότητα Παύλου, δι' ἐπιστολῶν προσαγόμενος, ἐκφεύγων τὰς τῶν συμπλεκομένων λαβὰς, οὐκ ἔχων ὅπου κρατηθῇ παρὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων. Κρείττων μὲν γὰρ ἦν τῶν δημευόντων, αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς βασιλείας δημεύσας. Τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἐξορίαν φόβου ἀπήλλακτο, μίαν πατρίδα ἀνθρώπων, τὸν παράδεισον εἶναι λέγων, πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν γῆν ὡς κοινὴν τῆς φύσεως ἐξορίαν βλέπων. Ὁ δὲ καθ' ἡμέραν ἀποθνήσκων, καὶ πάντοτε διὰ νεκρώσεως ἑκὼν δαπανώμενος, πότε ἂν ἐφοβήθη τὸν θάνατον τὸν παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀπειλούμενον; ᾧ γε συμφορὰ ἦν τὸ μὴ πολλάκις δύνασθαι τοὺς τῶν μαρτύρων ἀγῶνας ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας μιμήσασθαι, ἐνὶ θανάτῳ ὑπεζευγμένης τῆς φύσεως· ὅς ποτε, τῶν ὑπάρχων τινὶ τὸ ἦπαρ ἐξοίσειν αὐτοῦ τῶν σπλάγχνων καταπληκτικῶς ἀπειλήσαντι, μειδιάματι τὴν ἀπαίδευτον ἀπειλὴν καταχλευάζων φησί Χάριν εἴσομαί σοι τῆς προαιρέσεως. Καὶ γὰρ οὐ μετρίως ἀνιᾷ τὸ ἧπαρ τοῖς σπλάγχνοις ἐγκείμενον. Ἐκβαλὼν οὖν αὐτὸ, καθὼς ἡπείλησας, τοῦ λυποῦντος ἐλευθερώσεις τὸ σῶμα. Τί τοίνυν αὐτοῦ τὸ μεθ᾽ ἑτέρους ἁγίους ἐπιδημῆσαι τῷ βίῳ κατασμικρύνει τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν εὐδοκίμησιν, ὡς διὰ τοῦτο τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἑορτῶν ἐλάττω δοκεῖν εἶναι τὴν ἐπὶ τούτῳ πανήγυριν; Σκόπησον γὰρ, εἰ δοκεῖ, πρὸς ἕνα τινὰ τῶν προλαβόντων ἁγίων τὸν τούτου βίον ἀντεξετάζων. Ἠγάπησε τὸν Θεὸν ὁ Παῦλος· τοῦτο γὰρ δὴ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὸ κεφάλαιον, τὸ τῆς ἀγάπης λέγω· ἀφ᾿ ἧς πᾶσα πίστις, καὶ ἐλπὶς πᾶσα, καὶ τὸ ἐξ ὑπομονῆς προσδοκώμενον, καὶ τὸ ἐν παντὶ καλῷ ἀμετάπτωτον, καὶ τὸ μετὰ παντὸς πνευματικοῦ χαρίσματος τὸ πλέον ἔχειν. ᾿Αλλ' ἐξετάσωμεν πόσον ἦν ἐν Παύλῳ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπης τὸ μέτρον. Ἐρεῖς πάντως, ὅτι ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας καὶ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας αὐτοῦ ἠγάπησε Θεόν. Τοῦτον γὰρ ἔδωκε τὸν ἀκρότατον τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπης ὅρον ὁ νόμος. Οὐκοῦν ὁ πᾶσαν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν καρδίαν τε καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν άναθεὶς τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ πρὸς ἄλλο μηδὲν τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον σπουδαζομένων ἐπιῤῥεπῶς διακείμενος, ἐν τῷ ἀκροτάτῳ γίνεται τῆς ἀγάπης ὄρῳ. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔχει τις δεῖξαι τὸν τοῦ διδασκάλου βίον περί τι τῶν κατὰ τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον σπουδαζομένων ἔχοντα τὴν ῥοπὴν, οἷον περὶ πλοῦτον, ἢ δυναστείαν, ἢ κενῆς δόξης ἐπιθυμίαν (τὰς γὰρ ἀνδραποδωδεστέρας ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ τῶν ἡδονῶν, οὐδὲ λέγειν ἄξιον εἰκός ἐστιν), ὅ τι ἂν τούτων εὑρεθῇ σπουδαζόμενον, ἐλαττοῦσθαι λέγειν δεῖ κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπης τὸ μέτρον, τῆς ἐπιθυμητικῆς αὐτοῦ διαθέσεως ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τὰ ὑλώδη μεταῤῥυείσης. Εἰ δὲ πάντων τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐχθρός τις ἦν καὶ πολέμιος, πρότερον μὲν τοῦ ἰδίου βίου πᾶσαν ἐξορίζων τὴν ἐμπαθὴ περὶ ταῦτα διάθεσιν, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὴν κοινὴν
parrhēsiazomenos, ep' ekklēsiais boōn, tous porrhōthen aphestēkotas, kath' homoiotēta Paulou, di' epistolōn prosagomenos, ekpheugōn tas tōn symplekomenōn labas, ouk echōn hopou kratēthę̄ para tōn antipalōn. Kreittōn men gar ēn tōn dēmeuontōn, autos heauton dia tēn elpida tēs basileias dēmeusas. Tou kata tēn exorian phobou apēllakto, mian patrida anthrōpōn, ton paradeison einai legōn, pasan de tēn gēn hōs koinēn tēs physeōs exorian blepōn. Ho de kath' hēmeran apothnēskōn, kai pantote dia nekrōseōs hekōn dapanōmenos, pote an ephobēthē ton thanaton ton para tōn echthrōn apeiloumenon? hǭ ge symphora ēn to mē pollakis dynasthai tous tōn martyrōn agōnas hyper tēs alētheias mimēsasthai, eni thanatǭ hypezeugmenēs tēs physeōs; hos pote, tōn hyparchōn tini to ēpar exoisein autou tōn splanchnōn kataplēktikōs apeilēsanti, meidiamati tēn apaideuton apeilēn katachleuazōn phēsi Charin eisomai soi tēs proaireseōs. Kai gar ou metriōs anią to hēpar tois splanchnois enkeimenon. Ekbalōn oun auto, kathōs hēpeilēsas, tou lypountos eleutherōseis to sōma. Ti toinyn autou to meth᾽ heterous hagious epidēmēsai tǭ biǭ katasmikrynei tēn kata Theon eudokimēsin, hōs dia touto tōn epi tois hagiois heortōn elattō dokein einai tēn epi toutǭ panēgyrin? Skopēson gar, ei dokei, pros hena tina tōn prolabontōn hagiōn ton toutou bion antexetazōn. Ēgapēse ton Theon ho Paulos; touto gar dē tōn agathōn to kephalaion, to tēs agapēs legō; aph᾿ hēs pasa pistis, kai elpis pasa, kai to ex hypomonēs prosdokōmenon, kai to en panti kalǭ ametaptōton, kai to meta pantos pneumatikou charismatos to pleon echein. ᾿All' exetasōmen poson ēn en Paulǭ tēs pros Theon agapēs to metron. Ereis pantōs, hoti ex holēs kardias kai ex holēs psychēs, kai ex holēs tēs dianoias autou ēgapēse Theon. Touton gar edōke ton akrotaton tēs pros Theon agapēs horon ho nomos. Oukoun ho pasan heautou tēn kardian te kai tēn psychēn kai tēn dianoian anatheis tǭ Theǭ, kai pros allo mēden tōn kata ton bion touton spoudazomenōn epirrhepōs diakeimenos, en tǭ akrotatǭ ginetai tēs agapēs orǭ. Ei men oun echei tis deixai ton tou didaskalou bion peri ti tōn kata ton kosmon touton spoudazomenōn echonta tēn rhopēn, hoion peri plouton, ē dynasteian, ē kenēs doxēs epithymian (tas gar andrapodōdesteras ep᾿ autǭ tōn hēdonōn, oude legein axion eikos estin), ho ti an toutōn heurethę̄ spoudazomenon, elattousthai legein dei kat᾿ ekeino tēs pros ton Theon agapēs to metron, tēs epithymētikēs autou diatheseōs apo tou Theou pros ta hylōdē metarrhyeisēs. Ei de pantōn toutōn kai tōn toioutōn echthros tis ēn kai polemios, proteron men tou idiou biou pasan exorizōn tēn empathē peri tauta diathesin, epeita de kai tēn koinēn
to emperors, crying out in churches, bringing near by letters, like Paul, those who stood far off, slipping out of the holds of those who grappled with him, giving his opponents nothing to grip. For he was stronger than those who confiscate property, since he had himself confiscated his own for the hope of the kingdom. He was free from the fear of exile, saying that men have one native land, paradise, and regarding the whole earth as the common exile of our nature. And he who died daily, and was always willingly spent in mortification, when would he have feared the death threatened by his enemies? For him it was a misfortune not to be able to imitate many times over the martyrs' contests for the truth, since nature is yoked to one death. Once, when one of the prefects threatened, to terrify him, to tear his liver out of his body, he mocked the uneducated threat with a smile and said: “I shall be grateful to you for your intention. For the liver lying in my body troubles me not a little. By casting it out, as you have threatened, you will free my body from what pains it.” How then does his having come into life after other saints diminish his good standing before God, so that the festival in his honour should seem less than the feasts of the saints? Consider, if you like, comparing his life with one of the saints who went before. Paul loved God; for this is the sum of good things, love I mean, from which comes all faith and all hope, and what is awaited with patience, and steadfastness in every good, and having the greater share of every spiritual gift. But let us examine how great was the measure of love for God in Paul. You will surely say that he loved God with his whole heart and with his whole soul and with his whole mind. For the law gave this as the highest limit of love for God. So he who has devoted his whole heart and soul and mind to God, and is not inclined toward anything else pursued in this life, reaches the highest limit of love. If, then, anyone can show the teacher's life inclining toward any of the things pursued in this world, such as wealth or power or the desire for empty glory (for the more slavish pleasures it is not even fitting to mention in his case), whatever of these is found to have been pursued, one must say that the measure of his love for God was lessened by that much, his desiring disposition having flowed away from God to material things. But if he was an enemy and opponent of all these and the like, first banishing from his own life every passionate disposition toward them, and then cleansing the common
1 Cor 15:31 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:15 (echo, low confidence) · Deut 6:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 22:37 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basil defied emperors and prefects, unafraid of confiscation, exile, or death; Gregory begins comparing him with Paul in the love of God with the whole heart.
- The prefect who threatened Basil is Modestus, praetorian prefect under Valens (not named here).
- Allusions: Eph 2:13, 17 (those far off); 1 Cor 15:31 (dying daily); 2 Cor 12:15 (spent); Deut 6:5 and Matt 22:37 (the whole heart, soul, and mind).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR split word; OCR stray mark): πνευ ματικοῦ → πνευματικοῦ; πρὸς. Θεὸν → πρὸς Θεὸν.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 797 (PG 46:797–798; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/797). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/797
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 799
799PG 46:799–800
ζωὴν ἐκκαθαίρων τῷ τε διδακτικῷ λόγῳ καὶ τῷ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὑποδείγματι· δῆλον ἂν εἴη, ὅτι ἐκεῖνο τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπης τὸ μέτρον εἶχεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὗ τὸ πλέον οὐκ ἐχώρει ἡ φύσις. Ὁ γὰρ ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας τε καὶ ψυχῆς καὶ διανοίας τὸν Θεὸν ἀγαπῶν, πῶς ἂν ὑπερτιθείη πρὸς τὸ πλέον τῆς ἀγάπης μέτρον, ὁ χώραν οὐκ ἔχει; Οὐκοῦν εἰ ἕνα τῆς τελείας ἀγάπης ὅρον ἐμάθομεν, τὸν ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας τῷ Θεῷ ἀνακείμενον, ἠγάπων δὲ Παῦλος καὶ Βασίλειος ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ τῷ Θεῷ ἀνακείμενοι, ἓν μέτρον εἶναι τῆς ἀγάπης ἐν ἀμφοτέροις εἰπεῖν τις τολμήσας, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἀλλὰ μὴν πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν μείζονα τὴν ἀγάπην ὅ τε ᾿Απόστολος λέγει, καὶ ἐπιψηφίζει τὸ ὑψηλὸν Εὐαγγέλιον. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ᾿Απόστολος προφητείας αὐτὴν καὶ γνώσεως προτιμοτέραν λέγων, πίστεως δὲ παγιωτέραν, καὶ ἐλπίδος διαρκεστέραν, καὶ πάντοτε ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ διαμένουσαν, ἧς ἄνευ ἀνόνητον εἶναι πᾶν τὸ ἐπ᾿ ἀγαθοῦ σπουδαζόμενον· ὁ δὲ Κύριος πάντα νόμον, καὶ πάντα τὰ μυστήρια τὰ προφητικὰ τοῦ τοιούτου ἐξάπτων χαρίσματος, πάντων πρωτεύειν τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ αὐτὸς ἀποφαίνεται. Εἰ οὖν ἐν τῷ ὑπερέχοντι καὶ περιληπτικῷ τῶν κατορθωμάτων οὐκ ἀπολείπεται τοῦ μεγάλου Παύλου ἄρα καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν, ὧν ἡ ἀγάπη καθηγεῖται, καὶ ὅσα ἐκ ταύτης ἐκφύεται, πάντως οὐκ ἔλαττον ἔχων ἀναφανήσεται. "Ωσπερ γὰρ ὁ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως μετέχων, ἐν πᾶσίν ἐστι τοῖς τῆς φύσεως ἰδιώμασιν οὕτως καὶ ὁ τὸ τέλειον τῆς ἀγάπης ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατορθώσας, πάντα ὅσα συνθεωρεῖται ταύτῃ τῶν ἀγαθῶν εἴδη, μετὰ τοῦ πρωτοτύπου τῶν κατορθωμάτων ἔχει. Εἴτε γὰρ πίστις ἐστὶν ἡ σώζουσα, εἴτε διὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος σωζόμεθα, εἴτε δι' ὑπομονῆς τὴν χάριν ἀπεκδεχόμεθα, ἡ ἀγάπη πάντα πιστεύει, καὶ πάντα ἐλπίζει, καὶ πάντα ὑπομένει, καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος. Καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, ἵνα μὴ τὰ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον λέγοντες διατρίβωμεν, τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀγάπην ῥίζης βλάστημα γίνεται, ὅσα τῷ τῆς ἀρετῆς λόγῳ σπουδάζεται ὥστε τὸν ταύτην ἔχοντα, μηδενὸς ἐνδεῶς ἔχειν τῶν ἄλλων. Ταύτην ἔχων ὁ μέγας Βασίλειος, οὐδενὸς ἄρα τῶν ἀγαθῶν δι᾿ αὐτῆς ἀπελείπετο. Εἰ δὲ πάντα εἶχεν, ἐν οὐδενὶ πάντως ἠλάττωτο. ᾿Αλλ' ἐρεῖ τις πάντως, ὅτι τρίτον οὐρανὸν εἶδεν ἐκεῖνος, καὶ ἡρπάγη εἰς τὸν παράδεισον, καὶ ἤκουσεν ἄῤῥητα ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι. ᾿Αλλ' οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνος φανερῶς διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς ταύτης τὴν τοιαύτην χάριν ἐδέξατο. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπικρύπτεται τὴν ἀμφιβολίαν λέγων· Εἴτε ἐν σώματι οὐκ οἶδα, εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν. Καὶ περὶ τούτου τολμήσας εἴποι τις ἂν, ὅτι ἐν σώματι τοιοῦτον μὲν οὐδὲν εἶδεν, τῇ δὲ ἀσωμάτῳ καὶ νοητῇ θεωρίᾳ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅ τι τού-
zōēn ekkathairōn tǭ te didaktikǭ logǭ kai tǭ kath' heauton hypodeigmati; dēlon an eiē, hoti ekeino tēs pros ton Theon agapēs to metron eichen en heautǭ, hou to pleon ouk echōrei hē physis. Ho gar ex holēs kardias te kai psychēs kai dianoias ton Theon agapōn, pōs an hypertitheiē pros to pleon tēs agapēs metron, ho chōran ouk echei? Oukoun ei hena tēs teleias agapēs horon emathomen, ton ex holēs kardias tǭ Theǭ anakeimenon, ēgapōn de Paulos kai Basileios en holę̄ kardią tǭ Theǭ anakeimenoi, hen metron einai tēs agapēs en amphoterois eipein tis tolmēsas, ouk an hamartoi tēs alētheias. Alla mēn pantōn tōn agathōn meizona tēn agapēn ho te ᾿Apostolos legei, kai epipsēphizei to hypsēlon Euangelion. Ho men oun ᾿Apostolos prophēteias autēn kai gnōseōs protimoteran legōn, pisteōs de pagiōteran, kai elpidos diarkesteran, kai pantote en tǭ autǭ diamenousan, hēs aneu anonēton einai pan to ep᾿ agathou spoudazomenon; ho de Kyrios panta nomon, kai panta ta mystēria ta prophētika tou toioutou exaptōn charismatos, pantōn prōteuein tēn agapēn kai autos apophainetai. Ei oun en tǭ hyperechonti kai perilēptikǭ tōn katorthōmatōn ouk apoleipetai tou megalou Paulou ara kai en tois allois pasin, hōn hē agapē kathēgeitai, kai hosa ek tautēs ekphyetai, pantōs ouk elatton echōn anaphanēsetai. "Ōsper gar ho tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs metechōn, en pasin esti tois tēs physeōs idiōmasin houtōs kai ho to teleion tēs agapēs en heautǭ katorthōsas, panta hosa syntheōreitai tautę̄ tōn agathōn eidē, meta tou prōtotypou tōn katorthōmatōn echei. Eite gar pistis estin hē sōzousa, eite dia tēs elpidos sōzometha, eite di' hypomonēs tēn charin apekdechometha, hē agapē panta pisteuei, kai panta elpizei, kai panta hypomenei, kathōs phēsin ho ᾿Apostolos. Kai ta alla panta, hina mē ta kath᾿ hekaston legontes diatribōmen, tēs kata tēn agapēn rhizēs blastēma ginetai, hosa tǭ tēs aretēs logǭ spoudazetai hōste ton tautēn echonta, mēdenos endeōs echein tōn allōn. Tautēn echōn ho megas Basileios, oudenos ara tōn agathōn di᾿ autēs apeleipeto. Ei de panta eichen, en oudeni pantōs ēlattōto. ᾿All' erei tis pantōs, hoti triton ouranon eiden ekeinos, kai hērpagē eis ton paradeison, kai ēkousen arrhēta rhēmata, ha ouk exon anthrōpǭ lalēsai. ᾿All' oude ekeinos phanerōs dia tēs sarkos tautēs tēn toiautēn charin edexato. Ou gar epikryptetai tēn amphibolian legōn; Eite en sōmati ouk oida, eite ektos tou sōmatos ouk oida ho Theos oiden. Kai peri toutou tolmēsas eipoi tis an, hoti en sōmati toiouton men ouden eiden, tę̄ de asōmatǭ kai noētę̄ theōrią ouk estin ho ti tou-
life by his teaching word and his own example, it would be clear that he had in himself that measure of love for God beyond which nature has no room. For how could one who loves God with his whole heart and soul and mind go on to a greater measure of love, which has no room? So if we have learned one limit of perfect love, being devoted to God with the whole heart, and Paul and Basil loved, devoted to God with the whole heart, whoever dares to say that the measure of love in both is one would not miss the truth. Moreover, both the apostle says and the lofty Gospel confirms that love is greater than all good things. The apostle says it is to be preferred to prophecy and knowledge, firmer than faith, more lasting than hope, and always abiding the same, and that without it everything pursued for the good is useless; and the Lord, hanging the whole law and all the prophetic mysteries on this gift, himself declares that love is first of all. If, then, he does not fall short of the great Paul in the most excellent of achievements, which embraces the others, then surely in all the other things which love leads and which grow from it he will appear to have no less. For just as one who shares in human nature has all the properties of the nature, so one who has achieved the perfection of love in himself has, together with the chief of achievements, all the forms of good seen along with it. For whether it is faith that saves, or we are saved by hope, or we wait for grace through patience, love believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, as the apostle says. And all the other things pursued for the sake of virtue, not to linger by naming each one, become shoots from the root of love, so that the one who has it lacks none of the others. The great Basil, then, having this, fell short through it of none of the good things. And if he had all things, he surely was inferior in nothing. But someone will surely say that Paul saw the third heaven, was caught up into paradise, and heard ineffable words which it is not permitted to a human being to speak. But even he did not clearly receive such a grace through this flesh. For he does not hide his doubt when he says: “Whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know; God knows.” And someone might dare to say about this man that, while he saw nothing of the kind in the body, there was nothing of these things
1 Cor 13:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 22:40 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 12:2–4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since Basil loved God with his whole heart as Paul did, and love contains every other virtue, he lacked none of Paul's virtues; even Paul's rapture to the third heaven was not in the body.
- Allusions and quotations: 1 Cor 13:2, 7–8, 13; Matt 22:40; Rom 8:24 (saved in hope); 2 Cor 12:2–4 (quoted).
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 799 (PG 46:799–800; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/799). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/799
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-in-basilium-799) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 801
801PG 46:801–802
των ἀφῆκεν ἀθέατον. Μάρτυς δὲ τούτων ὁ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ λόγος, ὅν τε ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ διεξῄει, καὶ ὃν κατέλιπεν ἐν συγγράμμασιν. Ἐκεῖνος ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπὶ τὸ Ἰλλυρικὸν ἐν κύκλῳ περιελθὼν, πᾶσι τοῖς διὰ μέσου τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν ἐκήρυξε λόγον καὶ ὁ τούτου λόγος καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα πᾶσαν μικροῦ δεῖν τὴν οἰκουμένην διέλαβεν, ἐπ᾽ ἴσης τοῖς Παύλου λόγοις παρὰ πάντων καὶ αὐτὸ σπουδαζόμενον. Παρείσθω δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ δι' ὧν ὁ βίος τούτου πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνου συμφέρεται, οἷον ἐσταυρώθη τῷ κόσμῳ ἐκεῖνος, καὶ τούτῳ ὁ κόσμος. Ἑνέκρωσε τὸ σῶμα ἐκεῖνος, ἐτελείωσε καὶ οὗτος ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τὴν δύναμιν. Χριστὸς ἦν τὸ ζῇν ἀμφοτέροις, καὶ ὁμοίως ἑκατέρῳ κέρδος ὁ θάνατος, καὶ προτιμοτέρα τοῦ πεπλανημένου βίου ἡ πρὸς τὸν Δεσπότην ἀνάλυσις. Η καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην ἀντιπαραδεῖξαι τῷ διδασκάλῳ δοκεῖ; Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν προτερεύειν ἐκεῖνον, τῷ ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν καὶ περισσότερον ἔχειν τοῦ προφήτου τῆς θείας φωνῆς μαρτυρούσης, μανίας ἂν εἴη καὶ ἀσεβείας ἅμα ἄλλον ἀντιπαρεξαγαγεῖν τῷ τοιούτῳ βίῳ διὰ συγκρίσεως ἀλλὰ τοῦ τοσούτου καὶ τοιούτου καὶ τὸ κατόπιν ἐλθεῖν, τῆς ἀνωτάτω μακαριότητος τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἔχει. Ούτωσὶ δὲ τὸν λόγον κατανοήσωμεν· Οὐκ ἦν οὔτε ἐν μαλακοῖς ἱματίοις ὁ Ἰωάννης, οὔτε κάλαμος ἦν ἀνέμοις ένσαλευόμενος. Ἠσπάζετο δὲ πρὸ τῶν οἰκουμένων τὴν ἔρημον, καὶ πάλιν τοῖς οἰκουμένοις ἐπεχωρίαζεν. Μή τις ἄρα ἐπισκήψει τῷ λόγῳ, εἰ τοῦτο προσμαρτυρήσει καὶ τῷ διδασκάλῳ ἡμῶν ἡ ἀλήθεια, ὡς ἐν τούτοις αὐτὸν τοῦ μεγάλου Ἰωάννου μὴ ἀπολείπεσθαι; Τίς οὐκ οἶδεν ὅπως μαλακήν τε καὶ τεθρυμμένην τοῦ βίου δίαιταν πολεμίαν ἡγήσατο, ἐν παντὶ τὸ καρτερικὸν καὶ ἀνδρῶδες πρὸ τῶν ἡδέων θηρώμενος, ἡλίῳ θαλπόμενος, κρύει παραβαλλόμενος, νηστείαις καὶ ἐγκρατείαις καταγυμνάζων τὸ σῶμα, ταῖς πόλεσιν ὡς ἐν ἐρήμοις ἐνδιατρίβων (οὐδὲν εἰς ἀρετὴν ἐκ τῆς συντυχίας παραβλαπτόμενος), καὶ πόλεις τὰς ἐρημίας ἀπεργαζόμενος; Οὔτε γὰρ ἡ μετὰ τῶν πολλῶν διαγωγὴ τῆς ἀκριβοῦς τι καὶ ἀσφαλοῦς πολιτείας παρέτρεψεν οὔτε, εἰ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐσχατιὰν ἐχώρησεν, γυμνωθῆναι τῶν ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ συνόντων οἷός τε ἦν· ὥστε καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου, καθ' ὁμοιότητα τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ, πόλιν τὴν ἔρημον γενέσθαι στενοχωρουμένην τοῖς ἐπιῤῥέουσιν. Τὸ δὲ μὴ κάλαμον αὐτὸν εἶναι δι' εὐκολίας πρὸς τὰς ἐναντίας ὑπολήψεις μετακλινόμενον, δείκνυσι τὸ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς παρὰ τὸν βίον κεκριμένοις αὐτῷ ἀμετάπτωτον. Ἤρεσεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡ ἀκτημοσύνη· πέτρα τις ἄσειστος ἡ κρίσις ἐγένετο. Ἐπεθύμει διὰ καθαρότητος προσεγγίζειν τῷ Θεῷ· ὅρος ἦν ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὕτη, οὐ κάλαμος. Οὐδέποτε γὰρ πρὸς τὰς ἀντιπνοίας τῶν πειρασμῶν ὑπεκλίνετο. Τῆς δὲ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπης τὸ πάγιον μόνου ἦν τοῦ ᾿Αποστόλου διὰ τῶν ἰδίων λόγων ἐνδείξασθαι, τῷ μήτε τὴν ζωὴν, μήτε τὸν θάνατον, μὴ ἐνεστῶτα, μὴ μέλλοντα, μήτε τινὰ κτίσιν ἑτέραν δύνασθαι αὐτοῦ τὴν καρδίαν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπης παρώσασθαι. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς κατ' ἀρετὴν αὐτῷ κεκριμένοις, οὐδαμῶς καλαμώδης τις ἦν καὶ ἀβέβαιος τὴν διάνοιαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ πάντων ὁ βίος εἶχε τὸ ἐν τοῖς καλοῖς ἀμετάπτωτον. Παῤῥη-
tōn aphēken atheaton. Martys de toutōn ho par᾿ autou logos, hon te eph᾿ heautou diexę̄ei, kai hon katelipen en syngrammasin. Ekeinos apo Hierosolymōn epi to Illyrikon en kyklǭ perielthōn, pasi tois dia mesou ton euangelikon ekēryxe logon kai ho toutou logos kai to kērygma pasan mikrou dein tēn oikoumenēn dielaben, ep᾽ isēs tois Paulou logois para pantōn kai auto spoudazomenon. Pareisthō de ta loipa di' hōn ho bios toutou pros ton ekeinou sympheretai, hoion estaurōthē tǭ kosmǭ ekeinos, kai toutǭ ho kosmos. Henekrōse to sōma ekeinos, eteleiōse kai houtos en astheneią tēn dynamin. Christos ēn to zę̄n amphoterois, kai homoiōs hekaterǭ kerdos ho thanatos, kai protimotera tou peplanēmenou biou hē pros ton Despotēn analysis. Ē kai ton Iōannēn antiparadeixai tǭ didaskalǭ dokei? Alla to men protereuein ekeinon, tǭ en gennētois gynaikōn kai perissoteron echein tou prophētou tēs theias phōnēs martyrousēs, manias an eiē kai asebeias hama allon antiparexagagein tǭ toioutǭ biǭ dia synkriseōs alla tou tosoutou kai toioutou kai to katopin elthein, tēs anōtatō makariotētos tēn apodeixin echei. Outōsi de ton logon katanoēsōmen; Ouk ēn oute en malakois himatiois ho Iōannēs, oute kalamos ēn anemois ensaleuomenos. Ēspazeto de pro tōn oikoumenōn tēn erēmon, kai palin tois oikoumenois epechōriazen. Mē tis ara episkēpsei tǭ logǭ, ei touto prosmartyrēsei kai tǭ didaskalǭ hēmōn hē alētheia, hōs en toutois auton tou megalou Iōannou mē apoleipesthai? Tis ouk oiden hopōs malakēn te kai tethrymmenēn tou biou diaitan polemian hēgēsato, en panti to karterikon kai andrōdes pro tōn hēdeōn thērōmenos, hēliǭ thalpomenos, kryei paraballomenos, nēsteiais kai enkrateiais katagymnazōn to sōma, tais polesin hōs en erēmois endiatribōn (ouden eis aretēn ek tēs syntychias parablaptomenos), kai poleis tas erēmias apergazomenos? Oute gar hē meta tōn pollōn diagōgē tēs akribous ti kai asphalous politeias paretrepsen oute, ei pros heauton epi tēn eschatian echōrēsen, gymnōthēnai tōn ep' ōpheleią synontōn hoios te ēn; hōste kai epi toutou, kath' homoiotēta tou Baptistou, polin tēn erēmon genesthai stenochōroumenēn tois epirrheousin. To de mē kalamon auton einai di' eukolias pros tas enantias hypolēpseis metaklinomenon, deiknysi to en pasi tois para ton bion kekrimenois autǭ ametaptōton. Ēresen ex archēs hē aktēmosynē; petra tis aseistos hē krisis egeneto. Epethymei dia katharotētos prosengizein tǭ Theǭ; horos ēn hē epithymia hautē, ou kalamos. Oudepote gar pros tas antipnoias tōn peirasmōn hypeklineto. Tēs de pros ton Theon agapēs to pagion monou ēn tou ᾿Apostolou dia tōn idiōn logōn endeixasthai, tǭ mēte tēn zōēn, mēte ton thanaton, mē enestōta, mē mellonta, mēte tina ktisin heteran dynasthai autou tēn kardian apo tēs pros ton Theon agapēs parōsasthai. Houtō kai en pasi tois kat' aretēn autǭ kekrimenois, oudamōs kalamōdēs tis ēn kai abebaios tēn dianoian, alla dia pantōn ho bios eiche to en tois kalois ametaptōton. Parrhē-
that he left unseen in bodiless and intellectual contemplation. Witness to this is his teaching, both what he expounded in person and what he left in his writings. Paul, going around from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum, preached the word of the Gospel to all in between; and this man's word and preaching reached almost the whole world, being studied by all on equal terms with Paul's words. Let the rest be passed over in which his life agrees with Paul's: that Paul was crucified to the world, and this man too to the world; that Paul mortified his body, and this man too brought his power to perfection in weakness. For both, to live was Christ, and for each death was gain alike, and departing to the Master was preferable to a life of wandering. Or does it seem right to set John beside the teacher? But that John comes first, since the divine voice testifies that among those born of women he is greater, even more than a prophet, it would be madness and impiety at once to bring forward anyone else in comparison with such a life; yet even to come after one so great and so excellent is proof of the highest blessedness. Let us consider the argument in this way. John was not in soft clothing, nor was he a reed shaken by the winds. He welcomed the desert in preference to inhabited places, and again he visited the inhabited places. Will anyone find fault with my speech if the truth testifies this also of our teacher, that in these things he did not fall short of the great John? Who does not know how he counted a soft and pampered way of life his enemy, in everything seeking out endurance and manliness rather than pleasures, warmed by the sun, exposed to the cold, training his body by fasts and self-control, living in the cities as if in deserts (suffering no harm to his virtue from the company), and making the deserts into cities? For neither did living among the many turn him at all from his exact and secure way of life, nor, if he withdrew by himself to a remote place, could he be stripped of those who were with him for their benefit; so that in his case too, as with the Baptist, the desert became a city crowded with those who streamed to it. That he was not a reed easily bending toward opposite opinions is shown by his steadfastness in all that he had decided for his life. Poverty pleased him from the beginning; the decision became an unshaken rock. He desired to draw near to God through purity; this desire was a mountain, not a reed. For he never bent before the contrary winds of temptations. The firmness of his love for God only the apostle's own words could show: that neither life nor death, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature could push his heart away from his love for God. So in all he had decided in virtue he was in no way reedlike and unsteady in mind, but through everything his life had steadfastness in what is good. John speaks
Rom 15:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 6:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 1:21–23 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:7–11 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:38–39 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basil matched Paul in spreading the Gospel and in mortification, and matched John the Baptist in austerity and steadfastness, never a reed shaken by the wind.
- Allusions: Rom 15:19 (Jerusalem to Illyricum); Gal 6:14; 1 Cor 9:27; 2 Cor 12:9; Phil 1:21–23; Matt 11:7–11 and Luke 7:24–28 (John the Baptist); Rom 8:38–39.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR split word; OCR split word with stray letter; OCR split word with wrong letter): του σούτου → τοσούτου; έρη μίας → ἐρημίας; ἀρω χῆς → ἀρχῆς.
Topics: Fasting
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 801 (PG 46:801–802; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/801). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/801
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 803
803PG 46:803–804
σιάζεται πρὸς τὸν Ἡρώδην Ἰωάννης, καὶ οὗτος πρὸς Οὐάλεντα. ᾿Αντεξετάσωμεν δὲ πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων τὰ ἀξιώματα. Ὁ μὲν μέρους τινὸς τῆς Παλαιστίνης ψήφῳ Ῥωμαίων τὴν δυναστείαν κεκλήρωτο· τούτου δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὅρος ἦν ὅλος μικροῦ δεῖν ὁ τοῦ ἡλίου δρόμος, ἐκ τῶν τῆς Περσίδος ὅρων, εἰς Βρεττανούς τε καὶ τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ παρατείνων. Καὶ τῆς μὲν πρὸς τὸν Ἡρώδην παῤῥησίας ἦν ὁ σκοπὸς, μὴ παρανομεῖν κατὰ γυναίου τινὸς, ἀλλὰ κολάζειν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν, ὡς ἀπειρημένην τῷ νόμῳ. Ἡ δὲ πρὸς Οὐάλεντα τοῦ διδασκάλου παῤῥησία τίς ἦν; Ασυλόν τε καὶ ἀμίαντον τὴν πίστιν ἐᾶν, ἧς ἡ παρανομία πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἄγος ἐγίνετο. Αντιθέτω τοίνυν ὁ δίκαιος τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξεταστὴς τήν τε δυναστείαν τῇ δυναστεία, καὶ τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς παῤῥησίας ταύτης πρὸς τὴν παῤῥησίαν ἐκείνην. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῷ σώματι τοῦ Ἡρώδου τὸ ἄγος περιωρίζετο· ἐνταῦθα δὲ πάσης ἦν ἀδικία τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, ἡ παρανομία τῆς πίστεως. Ἐκεῖνος μέχρι θανάτου ἐμμένει τῇ παῤῥησίᾳ· καὶ τούτῳ πέρας τῆς παῤῥησίας ἐξορία γίνεται, τοῦτο τοῦ βασιλέως ἀντὶ τῆς ἐπιθανατίου ψήφου καταδικάσαντος. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ Ἰωάννης ἀποθανὼν ζῇν ἐπιστεύετο· καὶ Βασιλείῳ παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡ τῆς ἐξορίας ἀναλύεται ψῆφος, οὐδὲν διὰ τῆς ἀπειλῆς μαλακισθέντι περὶ τὴν ἔνστασιν. ῾Αρα τολμήσαιμεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ὑψηλὸν Ἠλίαν ἀναβῆναι τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ δεῖξαι τὸν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς διδάσκαλον πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου χάριν τῷ βίῳ τῷ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὁμοιούμενον; Ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ φλογίνου ἅρματος διφρείαν, καὶ τὴν τῶν πυρίνων ἡνιόχησιν ἵππων, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸ ὑπερκείμενον τῆς ἄνω λήξεως μεταχώρησιν, μηδεὶς ἀπαιτείτω τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐν τοῖς ὅροις μένων τῆς φύσεως, ἀπαθὴς ἐν τῷ πυρὶ διεσώζετο, πρὸς τὸ ἀνωφερές τε καὶ κοῦφον θείᾳ δυνάμει μετασκευάζων τὸ ἐμβριθές τε καὶ γήϊνον, μήθ᾽ ὅτι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λόγον οἷόν τινα κλεῖν ἐποιεῖτο τῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ χορηγίας, ἀνιείς τε ὅτε βούλοιτο, καὶ ἀποκλείων πάλιν κατ' ἐξουσίαν, ὅτε τοῦτο πράττειν ἄμεινον ᾤετο. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ εἰς πολὺν αὐτὸν διαρκέσαι χρόνον ἀπόσιτον, μιᾷ τροφῇ τοῦ ἐγκρυφίου ἐκείνου ὀλυρίτου ἐν ὁμοίῳ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ διασώζοντα μέχρις ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα παρείσθω καὶ τοῦτο, ὡς μεῖζον ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον. "Απορος γὰρ τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἡ μίμησις. Σιγάσθω δὲ μετὰ τούτων ὅ τε βραχὺς ἐκεῖνος τοῦ ἀλεύρου κέραμος, καὶ ὁ τοῦ ἐλαίου καμψάκης· διαρκῶν ἑκάτερος πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐν τῇ τῆς τροφῆς χορηγίᾳ, καὶ παντὶ τοῦ λιμοῦ τῷ χρόνῳ συμπαρατείνων τὴν χάριν, εἰς ἔτη τρία καὶ μῆνας ἕξ. Τὰ γὰρ τῆς ἄνωθεν ἐνεργείας θαύματα, ἰδιάζουσαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν. Καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις εὐλόγως ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τὰς τοιαύτας θαυματοποιίας λογί
siazetai pros ton Hērōdēn Iōannēs, kai houtos pros Oualenta. ᾿Antexetasōmen de pros allēla tōn andrōn toutōn ta axiōmata. Ho men merous tinos tēs Palaistinēs psēphǭ Rhōmaiōn tēn dynasteian keklērōto; toutou de tēs archēs horos ēn holos mikrou dein ho tou hēliou dromos, ek tōn tēs Persidos horōn, eis Brettanous te kai ta eschata tou Ōkeanou parateinōn. Kai tēs men pros ton Hērōdēn parrhēsias ēn ho skopos, mē paranomein kata gynaiou tinos, alla kolazein eph᾽ heautou tēn epithymian, hōs apeirēmenēn tǭ nomǭ. Hē de pros Oualenta tou didaskalou parrhēsia tis ēn? Asylon te kai amianton tēn pistin ean, hēs hē paranomia pasēs tēs oikoumenēs agos egineto. Antithetō toinyn ho dikaios tōn pragmatōn exetastēs tēn te dynasteian tę̄ dynasteia, kai ton skopon tēs parrhēsias tautēs pros tēn parrhēsian ekeinēn. Ekei men gar en tǭ sōmati tou Hērōdou to agos periōrizeto; entautha de pasēs ēn adikia tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs, hē paranomia tēs pisteōs. Ekeinos mechri thanatou emmenei tę̄ parrhēsią; kai toutǭ peras tēs parrhēsias exoria ginetai, touto tou basileōs anti tēs epithanatiou psēphou katadikasantos. ᾿Alla kai Iōannēs apothanōn zę̄n episteueto; kai Basileiǭ par' autōn tōn echthrōn hē tēs exorias analyetai psēphos, ouden dia tēs apeilēs malakisthenti peri tēn enstasin. ῾Ara tolmēsaimen kai epi ton hypsēlon Ēlian anabēnai tǭ logǭ, kai deixai ton kath᾽ hēmas didaskalon pros tēn ekeinou charin tǭ biǭ tǭ kath' heauton homoioumenon? Alla tēn men epi tou phloginou harmatos diphreian, kai tēn tōn pyrinōn hēniochēsin hippōn, kai tēn pros to hyperkeimenon tēs anō lēxeōs metachōrēsin, mēdeis apaiteitō tēn anthrōpinēn physin. Oude gar ekeinos en tois horois menōn tēs physeōs, apathēs en tǭ pyri diesōzeto, pros to anōpheres te kai kouphon theią dynamei metaskeuazōn to embrithes te kai gēïnon, mēth᾽ hoti ton heautou logon hoion tina klein epoieito tēs ex ouranou chorēgias, anieis te hote bouloito, kai apokleiōn palin kat' exousian, hote touto prattein ameinon ǭeto. Alla kai to eis polyn auton diarkesai chronon apositon, mią trophę̄ tou enkryphiou ekeinou olyritou en homoiǭ tēn dynamin autou diasōzonta mechris hēmerōn tessarakonta pareisthō kai touto, hōs meizon ē kata anthrōpon. "Aporos gar tę̄ anthrōpinę̄ physei tōn hyper physin hē mimēsis. Sigasthō de meta toutōn ho te brachys ekeinos tou aleurou keramos, kai ho tou elaiou kampsakēs; diarkōn hekateros pros tēn chreian en tę̄ tēs trophēs chorēgią, kai panti tou limou tǭ chronǭ symparateinōn tēn charin, eis etē tria kai mēnas hex. Ta gar tēs anōthen energeias thaumata, idiazousan epi tōn ergōn echei tēn dynamin. Kai ouk an tis eulogōs anthrōpinę̄ physei tas toiautas thaumatopoiias logi
boldly to Herod, and this man to Valens. Let us compare the ranks of these men with each other. The one had been allotted power over a part of Palestine by the vote of the Romans; the bounds of the other's rule were almost the whole course of the sun, stretching from the borders of Persia to the Britons and the farthest parts of the Ocean. The aim of the boldness toward Herod was that he should not act lawlessly concerning a woman, but should check his desire in himself as forbidden by the law. What was the teacher's boldness toward Valens? That he should leave the faith inviolate and undefiled, the violation of which was becoming a pollution for the whole world. Let the fair examiner of things, then, set power against power, and the aim of this boldness against that boldness. There the pollution was confined to Herod's body; here the violation of the faith was an injustice to the whole of human nature. John persisted in his boldness to death; for this man the end of his boldness was exile, the emperor condemning him to this instead of a death sentence. But John too was believed to be alive after he died; and for Basil the sentence of exile was annulled by his enemies themselves, though he had in no way softened his resistance under the threat. Shall we dare to go up in our speech to the lofty Elijah too, and show that our teacher was likened in his own life to that man's grace? But let no one demand of human nature the driving of the fiery chariot, the reining of the horses of fire, and the passage to the region above. For neither did Elijah remain within the limits of nature when he was preserved unharmed in the fire, changing by divine power what is heavy and earthly into what rises and is light; nor when he made his own word a kind of key to the supply from heaven, opening when he wished and shutting again at his will when he thought it better to do so. And his lasting a long time without food, the one meal of that barley cake baked in the ashes keeping his strength the same for up to forty days, let this too be passed over as more than human. For imitation of things beyond nature is impossible for human nature. With these let us also pass over in silence that small jar of meal and the flask of oil, each sufficient for the need in supplying food and extending the grace through all the time of the famine, for three years and six months. For the wonders of the working from above have their own power in the deeds; and one could not reasonably reckon such wonder-working to human nature.
Mark 6:17–18 (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 6:14–16 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Kgs 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 17:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 19:6–8 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 17:14–16 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 4:25 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jas 5:17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basil's bold stand against the emperor Valens for the faith surpasses John's rebuke of Herod; Elijah's chariot and miracles are beyond human imitation.
- Allusions: Mark 6:17–18 (John and Herod; the woman is Herodias); Mark 6:14–16 (John believed risen); 2 Kgs 2:11 (Elijah's chariot); 1 Kgs 17:1 and 18:1 (the key of the rain); 1 Kgs 19:6–8 (the cake and forty days); 1 Kgs 17:14–16 (meal and oil); Luke 4:25 and Jas 5:17 (three years and six months).
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 803 (PG 46:803–804; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/803). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/803
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 805
805PG 46:805–806
Τίνα οὖν ἐστιν ὅσα τοῦ διδασκάλου ἡμῶν πρὸς τὰ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ θεωρούμενα τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔχει; Ζῆλος πίστεως, δυσμένεια κατὰ τῶν ἀθετούντων, ἀγάπη πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ἐπιθυμία τοῦ ὄντος ὄντως πρὸς οὐδὲν τῶν ὑλικῶν ἀποῤῥέουσα, ζωὴ διὰ πάντων ἐξητασμένη, βίος κατεσκληκὼς, βλέμμα τῷ τόνῳ τῆς ψυχῆς συντεινόμενον, σεμνότης ἀνεπιτήδευτος· ἡσυχία λόγου ἐνεργεστέρα, φροντὶς περὶ τῶν ἐλπιζομένων, καταφρόνησις τῶν ὁρωμένων, ὁμοτιμία πρὸς πᾶν τὸ φαινόμενον, εἴτε τις τῶν ὑπερόγκων ἐν ἀξιώματι τύχοι, εἴτε τῶν ταπεινῶν τε καὶ ἀπεῤῥιμμένων προφαίνοιτο. Ταῦτά ἐστι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐν οἷς μιμεῖται ὁ τοῦ διδασκάλου βίος τὰ τοῦ Ἠλίου θαύματα. Εἰ δὲ τις προφέρει τῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν τὴν ἀσιτίαν, καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦ διδασκάλου τὴν διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου ὀλιγοσιτίαν ἀντιπροσοίσομεν. Γειτνιάζει γάρ πως τῷ ἀσίτῳ τὸ ὀλιγόσιτον, καὶ μάλιστα ὅταν τὸ μὲν ἐν ὀλίγῳ γένηται χρόνῳ, τὸ δὲ πρὸς πάντα διαρκέσῃ τὸν βίον. Ἄλλως τε κἀκεῖ μὲν ὁ ὀλυρίτης ἐκεῖνος ἐγκρυφίας διεκράτει τοῦ προφήτου τὸν τόνον, ἔχων τι πάντως ἐν ἑαυτῷ τοιοῦτον, ᾧ συνετηρεῖτο τοῦ προσενεγκαμένου τὴν τροφὴν ταύτην ἡ δύναμις. Τεκμήριον δὲ, ὅτι οὐχὶ τῶν ὁμοφύλων τις αὐτῷ σιτοποιήσας τὴν τροφὴν παρεθήκατο, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγγελικῆς παρασκευῆς ἐνεφορήθη. Ὅθεν αὐτῷ πλήρης τε καὶ ἀδιάπνευστος ἦν ἡ διὰ τῆς τροφῆς ἐκείνης ἐγγινομένη τῷ σώματι δύναμις. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐδὲν καινοτομηθείσης τῆς συνηθείας, μέτρον τῆς τροφῆς ὁ λογισμὸς ἦν, τοσοῦτον παρέχων τῷ σώματι, οὐχ ὅσον ἡ φύσις ἐβούλετο, ἀλλ᾽ ὅσον ὁ τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἐνεκελεύετο νόμος. Ἡ δὲ ἱερωσύνη τοῦ διδασκάλου, μιμεῖται τὰ τῆς ἱερωσύνης τοῦ προφήτου αἰνίγματα, διὰ τοῦ τρισσεύειν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς πίστεως, τὸ οὐράνιον πῦρ πρὸς τὰς ἱερουργίας ἐφελκομένη. Πῦρ δὲ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος δύναμιν καλεῖσθαι πολλαχῆ παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς ἐδιδάχθημεν. Αὐχμὸν δὲ γῆς ὁ διδάσκαλος οὔτε ἔλυσεν, οὔτε ἐπήγαγεν. Ἐκεῖ δὲ ὁ μέγας προφήτης, πλήξας τῇ μάστιγι τῆς ἀνομβρίας τὴν γῆν, ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ ἰατρὸς τοῦ τραύματος γίνεται, ἐφάμιλλον τῇ ἀλγηδόνι τῆς μάστιγος τὴν ἐκ τῆς θεραπείας ἄνεσιν αὐτοῖς χαριζόμενος. Εἰ δὲ χρή τι καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς Ἠλίου θαῦμα εἰπεῖν θείᾳ βουλήσει τῆς τοιαύτης ποτὲ συμφορᾶς ἀπειληθείσης, καὶ ξηροῦ παντὸς τοῦ χειμερίου καιροῦ παραδραμόντος, καὶ μηδεμιᾶς καρπῶν ὑποφαινομένης ἐλπίδος τότε προσπεσὼν τῷ Θεῷ ὁ διδάσκαλος, μέχρι τῆς ἀπειλῆς τὸν φόβον ἔστησεν, λιταῖς τὸ θεῖον ἱλεωσάμενος, καὶ λύσας διὰ προσευχῶν τὴν τῆς ἀνομβρίας κατήφειαν. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ τῆς τοῦ λιμοῦ παραμυθίας, ἣν ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἐνεδείξατο χήρας ὁ μέγας Ἠλίας, ἔχει τι καὶ ὁ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς βίος ἐπὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου ὁμοίωμα. Λιμοῦ γάρ ποτε χαλεποῦ καταπονοῦντος αὐτήν τε τὴν πόλιν ἐν ᾗ διαιτώμενος ἐτύγχανεν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑποτελοῦσαν τῇ πόλει χώραν, τὰς ἑαυτοῦ κτήσεις ἀποδόμενος, καὶ
Tina oun estin hosa tou didaskalou hēmōn pros ta en tǭ prophētę̄ theōroumena tēn koinōnian echei? Zēlos pisteōs, dysmeneia kata tōn athetountōn, agapē pros ton Theon, epithymia tou ontos ontōs pros ouden tōn hylikōn aporrheousa, zōē dia pantōn exētasmenē, bios katesklēkōs, blemma tǭ tonǭ tēs psychēs synteinomenon, semnotēs anepitēdeutos; hēsychia logou energestera, phrontis peri tōn elpizomenōn, kataphronēsis tōn horōmenōn, homotimia pros pan to phainomenon, eite tis tōn hyperonkōn en axiōmati tychoi, eite tōn tapeinōn te kai aperrhimmenōn prophainoito. Tauta esti kai ta toiauta, en hois mimeitai ho tou didaskalou bios ta tou Ēliou thaumata. Ei de tis propherei tōn tessarakonta hēmerōn tēn asitian, kai hēmeis tou didaskalou tēn dia pantos tou biou oligositian antiprosoisomen. Geitniazei gar pōs tǭ asitǭ to oligositon, kai malista hotan to men en oligǭ genētai chronǭ, to de pros panta diarkesę̄ ton bion. Allōs te kakei men ho olyritēs ekeinos enkryphias diekratei tou prophētou ton tonon, echōn ti pantōs en heautǭ toiouton, hǭ synetēreito tou prosenenkamenou tēn trophēn tautēn hē dynamis. Tekmērion de, hoti ouchi tōn homophylōn tis autǭ sitopoiēsas tēn trophēn parethēkato, all᾽ angelikēs paraskeuēs enephorēthē. Hothen autǭ plērēs te kai adiapneustos ēn hē dia tēs trophēs ekeinēs enginomenē tǭ sōmati dynamis. Entautha de ouden kainotomētheisēs tēs synētheias, metron tēs trophēs ho logismos ēn, tosouton parechōn tǭ sōmati, ouch hoson hē physis ebouleto, all᾽ hoson ho tēs enkrateias enekeleueto nomos. Hē de hierōsynē tou didaskalou, mimeitai ta tēs hierōsynēs tou prophētou ainigmata, dia tou trisseuein en tǭ logǭ tēs pisteōs, to ouranion pyr pros tas hierourgias ephelkomenē. Pyr de tēn tou hagiou Pneumatos dynamin kaleisthai pollachē para tēs Graphēs edidachthēmen. Auchmon de gēs ho didaskalos oute elysen, oute epēgagen. Ekei de ho megas prophētēs, plēxas tę̄ mastigi tēs anombrias tēn gēn, ho autos kai iatros tou traumatos ginetai, ephamillon tę̄ algēdoni tēs mastigos tēn ek tēs therapeias anesin autois charizomenos. Ei de chrē ti kai pros touto tou kath' hēmas Ēliou thauma eipein theią boulēsei tēs toiautēs pote symphoras apeilētheisēs, kai xērou pantos tou cheimeriou kairou paradramontos, kai mēdemias karpōn hypophainomenēs elpidos tote prospesōn tǭ Theǭ ho didaskalos, mechri tēs apeilēs ton phobon estēsen, litais to theion hileōsamenos, kai lysas dia proseuchōn tēn tēs anombrias katēpheian. ᾿Alla kai tēs tou limou paramythias, hēn epi mias enedeixato chēras ho megas Ēlias, echei ti kai ho kath᾽ hēmas bios epi tou didaskalou homoiōma. Limou gar pote chalepou kataponountos autēn te tēn polin en hę̄ diaitōmenos etynchanen, kai pasan tēn hypotelousan tę̄ polei chōran, tas heautou ktēseis apodomenos, kai
What, then, in our teacher has a share in what is seen in the prophet? Zeal for the faith, hostility toward those who set it aside, love for God, a desire for what truly is that flows away toward nothing material, a life tested in everything, a hardened way of living, a gaze strained with the tension of the soul, unaffected dignity, a silence more effective than speech, care for the things hoped for, contempt for the things seen, equal regard for everything that appears, whether one of the very high in rank happened to be present or one of the humble and cast off appeared. These and such things are those in which the teacher's life imitates the wonders of Elijah. If anyone brings up the fast of forty days, we in turn will set against it the teacher's sparing diet through his whole life. For eating little is somehow neighbour to not eating, especially when the one happens in a short time and the other lasts through a whole life. Besides, in Elijah's case that barley cake baked in the ashes kept up the prophet's vigour, surely having something in itself by which the strength of the one who ate this food was preserved. The proof is that it was not one of his countrymen who baked the food and set it before him, but he was filled with an angelic provision. Hence the strength produced in his body by that food was full and could not be exhausted. But here, with no change in the usual course, reason was the measure of food, supplying to the body not as much as nature wanted but as much as the law of self-control commanded. The teacher's priesthood imitates the riddles of the prophet's priesthood, drawing down the heavenly fire on the sacred rites by a threefold confession in the word of faith. And we have been taught that the power of the Holy Spirit is often called fire by Scripture. The teacher neither ended nor brought on a drought of the land. But there the great prophet, having struck the land with the scourge of rainlessness, himself becomes the healer of the wound too, granting them by the healing a relief equal to the pain of the scourge. If one must tell a wonder of our Elijah in answer to this too: once, when such a calamity was threatened by the divine will, and the whole winter season had passed dry, and no hope of crops was appearing, then the teacher fell down before God and stopped the fear at the threat, propitiating the Divine with supplications and dissolving through prayers the gloom of the drought. And our own life has in the teacher something like the relief of famine that the great Elijah showed for one widow. For once, when a severe famine was afflicting the very city in which he was living and the whole country subject to the city, he sold his own possessions and
1 Kgs 19:5–8 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:34–38 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:41–45 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Kgs 17:8–16 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:18 (echo, low confidence) · Matt 3:11 (echo, low confidence) · Acts 2:3 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basil shared Elijah's zeal, austerity, and dignity; his lifelong frugality answers Elijah's forty-day fast; his Trinitarian faith draws down the Spirit's fire; his prayer ended a drought, and in a famine he sold his goods.
- “A threefold confession” (τρισσεύειν) alludes to Elijah's drenching the sacrifice three times (1 Kgs 18:34) and to the Trinitarian faith.
- Allusions: 1 Kgs 19:5–8; 1 Kgs 18:34–38; 1 Kgs 18:41–45; 1 Kgs 17:8–16; 2 Cor 4:18 (things seen and unseen); the Spirit as fire (Matt 3:11; Acts 2:3).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter error; OCR lost letters; OCR stray mark splitting a word): ἀσί. τῳ → ἀσίτῳ; ὅτον → ὅσον; καὶ τρὸς τοῦ → καὶ ἰατρὸς τοῦ.
Topics: Trinity, Fasting, Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Bas. 805 (PG 46:805–806; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/805). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-in-basilium/805
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-in-basilium-805) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.