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Shorter Rules

St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925

Rule 74: We Ask to Be Taught from the Scripture Whether Those Who Go Out from the…

The Lord often said: “The Son doeth nothing of himself”²; and “I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of the Father that sent me”’³; and the apostle testifies: ‘“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, that we may not do the things that we would.”⁴ Therefore whatever is chosen to please one’s own will is alien to the character of godly men. But we have answered more fully on this subject in the longer rules.⁵

Notes

ἀφορίζειν. An ambiguous word. If “allowed to go” were a possible rendering it would make good sense. In B. 44 ἀφορισμός means “cutting off” (from prayer presumably), and ἀποκόπτειν is reserved for a severer penalty. See below.
Jn. v. 19¶.
Jn. vi. 38 ἐκ for ἀπό K, add πατρός after με.
Gal. v. 17 δέ for γάρ K, ἀντίκειται before ἀλλήλοις K, θέλωμεν . . . ποιῶμεν for θέλητε . . . ποιῆτε**.
F. 7. See Clarke pp. 109–112, which can be briefly summarised thus. Later the Eastern Church valued coenobitism as a preparatory stage for the higher solitary life. Is there any justification for this in B.’s teaching? (a) F. 7 decides in favour of the common life on every count, but allows for the possibility of retiring to a cell without severing his connexion entirely; see note on μὴ προενωθέντα. (b) F. 36 seems to exclude any leaving the coenobium for a cell. (c) The present answer is ambiguous. If ἀφορίζειν could mean “let him go,” the meaning would be that a man could not go unless the Superior sent him. The reference to F. 7 shows that B. wishes to emphasise the superiority of the common life. If ἀφορίζειν means “cut off” (in an unfriendly sense), the reference to F. 7 may mean that a Superior is at liberty to allow a monk to retire to a cell, provided he has a spiritual guide and confessor in the coenobium. (d) Ep. xlii to Chilo is generally held to be not genuine. (e) Greg. Naz. Or. xliii. 62 states, according to the version in N. & P.N.F. series, that Basil “founded cells for ascetics and hermits, but at no great distance from his cenobitic communities.” If this rendering stands, then this answer means that a monk may go to a cell with the approval of the Superior. In 1913 I argued at great length in favour of another rendering. Until my arguments are answered I maintain the position that B. allowed no passing over to the solitary life in his coenobia. But the Shorter Rules probably date from B.’s episcopate, and by this time B. may have come to tolerate other forms of monasticism than his own. He gives a studiously ambiguous answer and refers to F. 7 for his ideal. But I am not sure that my 1913 arguments are valid and should be glad to have them answered.