The following is an analytical book review that I wrote for one of my college courses last semester. The book is On the Holy Spirit
by St. Basil the Great, which I highly recommend. Not a light read by any stretch, but it contains plenty of good content.Basil wrote his book On the Holy Spirit in 375 AD, part way between the first two ecumenical councils. Not only did people have questions about the divinity of the Spirit but there were many lingering questions about the nature of the Son as well. Two of his opponents, the Eunomians and pneumatomachians, were subordinationists, giving the Father the greatest honour and placing the Son and Spirit underneath him. Since denying the Spirit's divinity in this way is no small matter, Basil set out to show that the Father, Son and Spirit are all worthy of equal glory.
The book's first major argument concerns Basil's use of the doxology in the form of “Glory to the Father with the son together with the Holy Spirit.” His opponents argued that this was in opposition to the more customary form “Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit” (see introduction page 11 for doxologies). The subordinationists claimed that the words “through” and “in” were evidence that the Son and Spirit were underneath the Father. Basil shows, however, that the basis for their claim was found only in pagan literature (3.5). The scriptures use these same words in relation to the Father as well as to the Son and Spirit (5.10). If “through” and “in” are used to imply that a person is underneath someone else, then who is the Father less than (5.8)? Basil continues his argument by demonstrating from the Psalms that “with” can be used in the place of “in” (25.28). What we discover is that the theology and meaning of both doxologies is actually the same. Although they each serve a different purpose and help us to understand different aspects of the Godhead, they both acknowledge the mystery of the Trinity and the divinity of all three persons. It was the subordinationists who had read false meaning into the words “through” and “in.”
Jesus' command to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matt 28:19) also plays an important role in Basil's argument. It shows the equality of all three persons and implies that each plays an important role in salvation. It is also important as a defense of Basil's doxology, since the word “and,” which has basically the same meaning as “with,”(25.59) is used to refer to all three persons of the Trinity. Some of Basil's opponents must have taken issue with the fact that Basil placed so much emphasis on this command and so he devotes a large section of his work to refuting their specific arguments.
Basil gives three main reasons, besides the fact that believers are baptized into the Spirit, why he believes that the Spirit is of divine nature. First, he shares many titles with the Father and Son. These titles include Spirit (John 4:24), good, upright (Ps 92:15), and Paraclete (John 14:16; 19.48). Secondly, he does similar works to the other persons of the Trinity. The Spirit works miracles (19.49) and also plays a key part in the remission of sins (1 Cor 6:11) and resurrection from the dead (Ps 104:30). He leads people and speaks with the authority of the Lord (Acts 13:2). Like Christ, he is our intercessor (Rom 8:26). These are all divine acts that only God can accomplish. Lastly, the Spirit, like the Father and Son, cannot be grasped by human thought (22.53; John 14:17). In fact, the only one who knows God's thoughts is the Spirit (16.40; 1 Cor 2:11).
Tradition played a major role as a source of Basil's theology. In fact, he goes so far as to give the Bible and tradition “equal force” (27.66). His doxology had been disputed on the grounds that it had no basis in tradition of the church fathers. Basil reverses this argument by giving numerous examples of how his form of the doxology was used by many significant church leaders before him.
We have explored four of the main threads that run throughout Basil's book which demonstrate that the Spirit is divine. We will now look at the implications of this discovery for our own lives. For Basil it was important that we give praise and honour to the Spirit as a result of his works. Together with the Father and Son, the Spirit is worthy of glory (23.54). To deny him this glory is to fall into heresy. Basil reminds us of the scripture which tells us that “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven” (28.70; Luke 12:10). While we might not be tempted to deny the divinity of the Spirit as the pneumatomachians did, my own experience is that we often remember the Father and Son in our worship and prayers but forget to acknowledge the Spirit. If we are to take Basil's words to heart, we should honour the Spirit to the same extent that we do the Father and Son.
Posts
