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Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
Rule 94: If a Man Joins the Brotherhood with Unpaid Taxes Still Due and His Family are…
Our Lord Jesus Christ said to those who asked Him whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not: “Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it?” And when they said Caesar’s, He replied thus: “Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”2 It is clear then from this that those among whom the things of Caesar are current are shown to be subject to Caesar’s commands. So if the man when he came to the brotherhood brought with him any of the things that pertain to Caesar then he must pay the taxes. But if he left everything to his family before he came away, neither he nor those who received him need feel any perplexity.
Notes
- One of the motives for renouncing the world in the fourth century was the intolerable pressure of taxes. A landed proprietor who sold his land and retired to a monastery, either distributing the proceeds to the poor himself or inviting the Superior to do so for him, would cause serious loss to the Exchequer. This question and answer suggest that there was a good deal of friction, which B. as bishop tried to prevent.
- Lk. xx. 22–24 (summarised).