Basil of Caesarea on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

 

In this series, I will be examining what the Eastern church father Basil of Caesarea believed concerning Scripture and tradition.

Part 1 will be taking a look at the quotes used by Roman Catholic apologists against sola scriptura, and part 2 will give evidence from his writings in favor of it. 

I am responding to a few passages at once, by looking at the meaning of "tradition" in Basil, similar to what I did with Epiphanius in another article on this blog. 

On the Holy Spirit, 22

"Let us now investigate what are our common conceptions concerning the Spirit, as well those which have been gathered by us from Holy Scripture concerning It as those which we have received from the unwritten tradition of the Fathers. " (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3203.htm)

On the Holy Spirit, 25

"they clamour for written proof, and reject as worthless the unwritten tradition of the Fathers. But we will not slacken in our defense of the truth. We will not cowardly abandon the cause. The Lord has delivered to us as a necessary and saving doctrine that the Holy Spirit is to be ranked with the Father. " (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3203.htm)

On the Holy Spirit, 66-67

"Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us in a mystery by the tradition of the apostles; ..... If they deprecate our doxology on the ground that it lacks written authority, let them give us the written evidence for the confession of our faith and the other matters which we have enumerated. While the unwritten traditions are so many, and their bearing on the mystery of godliness 1 Timothy 3:16 is so important, can they refuse to allow us a single word which has come down to us from the Fathers;— which we found, derived from untutored custom, abiding in unperverted churches;— a word for which the arguments are strong, and which contributes in no small degree to the completeness of the force of the mystery?" (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3203.htm)

On the Holy Spirit, 79

"we too are undismayed at the cloud of our enemies, and, resting our hope on the aid of the Spirit, have, with all boldness, proclaimed the truth. Had I not so done, it would truly have been terrible that the blasphemers of the Spirit should so easily be emboldened in their attack upon true religion, and that we, with so mighty an ally and supporter at our side, should shrink from the service of that doctrine, which by the tradition of the Fathers has been preserved by an unbroken sequence of memory to our own day" (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3203.htm)

(Note: It should be noted that there is some minor dispute as to whether chapters 66-67 are the genuine words of Basil or not. Some scholars like Erasmus had doubts concerning it. However, I am not an expert on the manuscripts and versions of the church fathers and other ancient writings besides the Bible, so I cannot make an qualified judgment on this matter. For the sake of the debate, I will grant that these are the genuine words of Basil). 

Sections 66-67 is probably where we get the most "Roman Catholic" language from Basil on Scripture and tradition, and it is often cited by Roman Catholic apologists, so I will deal with it first.

It is possible that Basil is simply contradicting himself, since he elsewhere teaches a formal sufficiency of Scripture (as we will see later). 

There are examples of where the "traditions" of Basil are simply silly and not even held to by Roman Catholicism. One such "tradition" is found in Basil's Homily on Christ's Nativity he thinks that Zechariah (the one in Matthew 23:35) was the father of John the Baptist and placed the virgin Mary among other virgins in the temple.

Basil, in section 66 of On the Holy Spirit, says we should turn to the east when we pray. Neither Roman Catholics nor Protestants practice this tradition today.

In fact, even in the past, Christians didn't practice this. We know this from Socrates' church history (book 5, chapter 22) that the Christians in Antioch faced west during their prayers. 

If Roman Catholics themselves refuse to practice many of Basil's "traditions", why would they then try to press them on us?

In part 2, we will show how Basil seems to contradict himself elsewhere by actually teaching the formal sufficiency of Scripture. What can be seen so far is that his teaching on tradition(s) is in disagreement with both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.