Basil the Great lived and worked in a most contentious age – between the Council of Nicaea (325) and the Council of Constantinople (381). At issue was the Christian revelation of God. Basil’s opponents were the semi-Arians, Sabellians, and the Pneumatomachi (Spirit-fighters), all of whom denied the equal divine nature of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, thereby denying the doctrine of Holy Trinity.
Basil utilizes two sources for his teaching – Scripture and Tradition – both of which are authoritative (9.22; 27.66). Tradition refers to ecclesial practices not explicitly taught in Scripture, but are implicit and support Church dogma. In presenting the Holy Spirit as hypostasis within the divine ousia (a person within the divine substance, or divine nature), Basil appeals to (1) the Spirit’s relations with the Father and the Son within Holy Trinity; (2) the Holy Spirit’s work in the salvation of the world, and (3) the adoration of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy of the church.
Basil appeals to the testimony of Scripture which declares that the Spirit “comes forth from the Father” (John 15:26) and shares in the incommunicable attributes of God. The Spirit is incorporeal, immaterial, indivisible, “simple in substance,” immutable, “infinite in power, unlimited in greatness, immeasurable by time” and “wholly present everywhere” (9.22; 23.54). The Holy Spirit is not merely an agent of God similar to the angels; rather, the Spirit is the Lord of Life whom the angels serve (13.29). The Spirit is God because Spirit participates fully within the Trinitarian communion (13.30). Basil insists that “in everything the Holy Spirit is indivisible and inseparable from the Father and the Son” (16.37). The three persons are one perfect source with a singular will (16.38). The doctrine of the monarchy of the Father speaks to the eternal begotteness of the Son and the eternal procession of the Spirit, both from the ousia of the Father. However, the three persons are not to be ranked in a hierarchical order, or “divided into substrates” (17.41; 18.45, 47). There is no subordination of the Spirit, or the Son, to the Father (6.15, 18.44).
As to the salvation of humanity, the divine Spirit “is inaccessible in nature, but approachable in goodness and shares his energy” with the faithful (9.22). The Holy Spirit is the source of life, holiness, and intellectual light. Believers are regenerated through water baptism – a “salvation established through the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (10.26). This is explicit evidence of the shared nature and power of the persons within Holy Trinity. Basil addresses the objection of his opponents, specifically to the nature of Trinity revealed in Baptism. He acknowledges the tendency of the apostles to baptize and heal “in the name of Jesus” (only?). He declares that to invoke the name of Jesus Christ is to confess the Holy Trinity because Christ is the anointed one, the Father is the anointer, and the Spirit is the anointing. In fact, any baptism that does not equally confess the Father, Son, and Spirit might bring judgement upon the officiant and does not effect regeneration upon the recipient (12.28). The Spirit regenerates, restores, perfects, adopts, and grants eternal life and glory to all baptized believers (9.22-23; 15.36).
The Spirit illuminates those who have turned their heart towards God. Basil speaks of the believer being “filled with light” and themselves gleaming with divine light. This might correspond with the Pentecostal encounter of baptism in/with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Basil declares that with this divine illumination believers become mediators of divine grace. Those who are illuminated with the Spirit are gifted with “foreknowledge of the future” (prophecy), “understanding of mysteries” (word of wisdom), “apprehension of secrets” (word of knowledge), “distribution of graces” (faith, healing, miracles), and divinization (9.23). While I do not suggest that Basil taught the contemporary Pentecostal doctrine of Spirit-baptism with signs following, it does appear that Pentecostals can find support for their pneumatology in this ancient theologian.
The Holy Spirit is to be worshiped with the Father and the Son. Since only God may be worshipped, the Holy Spirit is of the same ousia of the Father and the Son. Basil’s practice was to pray “to the Father with the Son together with the Holy Spirit” or “to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit” (1.3). He argued that this is faithful to the ancient practice of the apostles. This practice speaks to the shared divine ousia of the persons of Holy Trinity (5.7). The shared ousia means that there is no inferior dignity among the three hypostasis (26.63). The names and title of the Son and Spirit should not be interpreted to suggest inferiority to the Father (8.17). Divine power and authority are not divided nor apportioned. The Son and the Spirit are equal to the Father in glory (6.15). Worship “in the Spirit” is the contemplation of Holy Trinity with regard to the three persons and common ousia (26.64; 27.68). Like the Son, the Spirit is uncreated and has a unique relationship with the Father (18.45). The Spirit is to be equally glorified and worshiped with the Father and the Son because Spirit “exist everywhere and co-exists with God” and Spirit’s glory has filled the earth (23.54). The Spirit reveals divine mysteries and gives life with the Father and Son (24.56). The descent of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost anticipates eternal life and new creation (27.66). The Holy Scripture used in the liturgy is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), given by the will of God to men moved by the Spirit and speaking the Word of God (1 Peter 1.21). If the Holy Spirit is not God, then the sacred Scriptures do not have the authority of God (21.52).
For reflection: The Pentecostal doctrine of Spirit baptism insists that believers may be filled with the Spirit, or “filled to all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). If the Spirit is less than God, of inferior nature to the Father and Son, how might that inform our understanding of Spirit baptism? How does understanding the Spirit as sharing the ousia of the Father and Son inform our understanding of Spirit baptism. What are the soteriological implications?
St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit (Popular Patristics 42). St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2011.
