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Longer Rules

St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925

Rule 8: Concerning Renunciation. Must a Man First Renounce All and Then Come to the Life…

Since our Lord Jesus Christ after much demonstration confirmed by many actions says to all: “If any man comes to me let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”²; and again: “So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple,”³ we think that this commandment extends to the many things alienation from which is necessary. For first of all we who have given up the hidden things of shame renounce the devil and the lusts of the flesh, and physical relationships, and human friendships, and any manner of life which conflicts with the strictness of the gospel of salvation. And, what is still more necessary, he that has put off the old man with his works, which waxeth corrupt according to the lusts of deceit, renounces himself. He renounces also all affections of this world which can hinder the aim of godliness. Such a man will consider his true parents those who in Christ Jesus begat him through the Gospel; as his brethren, those who received the same spirit of adoption; and he will deem all possessions foreign to him, as indeed they are. In a word, how can he to whom the whole world has been crucified on account of Christ, and he to the world, be partaker any longer of the cares of the world? For our Lord Jesus Christ goes to extremes in hatred of the soul and denial of self, when He says: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross”⁴; and He added then: “And follow me.” Again: “If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”⁵ Accordingly perfect renunciation⁶ consists in a man’s attaining complete impassivity as regards actual living and having “the sentence of death,”⁷ so as to put no confidence in himself. Whereas its beginnings consist of alienation from external things, such as possessions, vainglory, the common customs of life, or attachment to useless things. Examples are given us by the holy disciples of the Lord: John and James, who left their father Zebedee and even the boat, their sole source of livelihood; Matthew, who rose up from the receipt of custom itself and followed the Lord, not only leaving the gains in the custom-house, but also despising the dangers that were likely to come upon himself and his family at the hands of the authorities for leaving the accounts of the custom-house in disorder; Paul, to whom the whole world was crucified, and he unto the world.

So he who is seized by the vehement desire of following Christ can no longer care for anything to do with this life. Not for the love of parents or relations, should it be in opposition to the commands of the Lord, for then the words apply: “If any man cometh unto me and hateth not his father and mother etc.”⁸ Not for the fear of men, so that any part of his duty is affected by it, according to the example of the Saints who said: “We must obey God rather than men.”⁹ Nor for mockery at good works on the part of those without, so as to be influenced by their contempt. But if anyone wishes to know with accuracy and clearness the vigour which is linked with the desire of those who follow the Lord let him remember the words of the apostle about himself, spoken for our instruction: “If any man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the Church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord; for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do count them to be but dung, that I may gain Christ.”¹⁰ Now let me say something bold but true. If the apostle likened the privileges given by God in the law for a season to the loathsome matters which are cast out from the body, which we hasten to remove out of sight, thinking them hindrances to the knowledge of Christ and the righteousness that is in Him and conformity with His death, what would anyone say about the regulations of men? And what need is there to confirm the word by arguments of ours and the examples of the Saints, when we are able to adduce the actual words of the Lord and convince by their means the trembling soul, as He declares clearly and unanswerably: “So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple”¹¹? And elsewhere He says first: “If thou wouldest be perfect,” and then adds: “Go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor”; ending with “Come, follow me.”¹² And it is clear to every fair-minded man that the parable of the merchantmen conveys the same lesson. “The kingdom of heaven” it says “is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: who having found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”¹³ For it is clear that the precious pearl is used as an example of the heavenly Kingdom, which the word of the Lord shows us we cannot attain unless we have first sacrificed, in order to win it, all our possessions together—riches, fame, family, and whatever else is commonly cherished. B In the next place, the Lord declared that it is impossible to gain one’s end when the mind is divided among a variety of cares, saying, “No man can serve two masters”; and again, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”¹⁴ We must choose therefore the one heavenly treasure, that we may have our heart in it. “For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.”¹⁵ If then we reserve to ourselves some earthly possession and corruptible riches, our mind is buried therein as it were in mud, and in consequence our soul cannot see God, nor can it be stirred to desire the heavenly beauty and the good things stored up for us in God’s promises. In fact these things are unattainable without an undistracted and passionate desire leading us to ask for them and lightening the toil necessary to win them.

Renunciation then, so we have seen, is a loosing of the chains which bind us to the present material and transitory life, a freeing from human obligations, making us more ready to start on the God-ward way. It is an opportunity without drawbacks of acquiring and using those precious things which are “more to be desired than gold and much precious stone.”¹⁶ And, in brief, it is a removal of the human heart to the citizenship in heaven, so as to be able to say, “Our citizenship is in heaven.”¹⁷ And, greatest of all, it is the beginning of our being made like unto Christ, Who “though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor”¹⁸; which likeness unless we have first attained, it is impossible to reach the manner of living prescribed by the Gospel of Christ. For how can contrition of heart, or humility of mind, or freedom from anger, grief, worries, and, in brief, from all harmful passions of the soul, be achieved in the midst of wealth and the cares of this life, attachment to and familiarity with external things? Finally, when a man is not allowed to be careful even about necessary things, such as food and clothing, who could suppose that he may be detained by the bad cares of wealth as if by thorns, which hinder the seed sown by the Husbandman of our souls from bearing fruit? For our Lord said: “But these are they which fell among the thorns, which are choked by cares and riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”¹⁹

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