Library › St Basil the Great › Shorter Rules
Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
297. Rule 297: How Should One Turn from Sins?
By imitating the disposition of David who said first: “I made known my iniquity and my sin I did not hide. I said, I will confess against myself my iniquity to the Lord.” Then by declaring his state of soul as he learns to do in the sixth psalm and in others in different ways. From the apostle too he learns how he testified to the Corinthians on behalf of another’s sin, saying: “Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of.” And he adds the marks of sorrow: “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what longing, yea, what zeal, yea, what avenging. In everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter.” So that it is clear from these things that not only should we depart from sin and suffer these things on behalf of sinners, but we should also withdraw from sinners themselves. David showed this when he said: “Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity ’1; and the apostle commanded us2 with such a one not even to eat.”
Notes
- 2 Cor. vii. 10 κατεργάζεται for ἐργάζεται K; 11 add ἐν before ὑμῖν*, add ἐν before τῷ πράγματι K.
- Ps. vi. 8.