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Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
Rule 298: Does Scripture Allow Us to Do Good According to Individual Pleasure?
He who pleases himself pleases man, for each individual is himself a man. As then1 Cursed is the man who putteth his trust in man, and will strengthen the flesh of his arm”2— meaning confidence in himself; to which it adds: “and his soul departs from the Lord,” so also he who pleases another and does anything according to individual pleasure falls from godliness and falls into men-pleasing. “For they do it’ says the Lord “to be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.”3 And the apostle confesses: “If I were still pleasing men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”4 But a graver threat is conveyed by inspired Scripture when it says: God hath scattered the bones of men-pleasers.”5
Notes
- Cor. v. 111.
- Jer. xvii. 5 as in 389B.
- Mt. vi. 5 conflated with xxiii. 5 **.
- Gal. i. 10.
- Ps. liii. 5.