Basil of Caesarea

by Philip Rousseau

• ISBN13: 9780520082380
• ISBN10: 0520082389
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2023-09-01
• Publisher: University of California Press

Summary

Basil of Caesarea is thought of most often as an opponent of heresy and a pioneer of monastic life in the eastern church. In this new biographical study, however, controversy is no longer seen as the central preoccupation of his life nor are his ascetic initiatives viewed as separable from his pastoral concern for all Christians. Basil's letters, sermons, and theological treatises, together with the testimonies of his relatives and friends, reveal a man beset by doubt. He demanded loyalty, but gave it also, and made it a central feature of his church. In Rousseau's portrait, Basil's understanding of human nature emerges as his major legacy.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Preface
A Cappadocian Family	p. 1
Athens	p. 27
The Philosophic Life	p. 61
Eunomius	p. 93
City and Church	p. 133
The Ascetic Writings	p. 190
Eustathius and Other Friends	p. 233
Basil on the World Stage	p. 270
'We Seek the Ancient Fatherland'	p. 318
Appendices I: Valens's Visits to Caesarea	p. 351
Appendices II: The Formation of the Asceticon	p. 354
Appendices III: The Date of Basil's Death and of the Hexaemeron	p. 360
Bibliography: Sources	p. 365
Bibliography: Secondary Works	p. 370
Bibliography: Supplement: The Numbering of the Homilies	p. 388
General Index	p. 391
Index of Citations	p. 399
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