Marvin Jones

If you grew up in American evangelicalism, like I did, your grasp of church history, especially of the church fathers, may be relatively weak. Like a good fundamentalist, I grew up knowing all about D.L. Moody, George Whitfield, and Billy Sunday. I also had heard of Martin Luther and John Calvin, although I had more suspicion of them. But the church fathers were Roman Catholics from who knows when, and they didn’t have anything to teach me.

This idea, mind you, was “caught,” not “taught.” Church history has much to teach us, and the church fathers wouldn’t so easily fit into the mold of Catholicism as we know it. The early church fathers, especially, are worthy of study, and to them we owe thanks for an orthodox understanding and articulation of such important doctrines as the deity of Christ, the Trinity, and the deity of the Holy Spirit.

Basil of Caesarea (329-379 AD), a Greek-speaking Bishop in what is now Turkey, was so important a figure in the fight for biblical orthodoxy, that he is remembered as Basil the Great. He may be the most significant church father that most people haven’t heard of. Athanasius gets more notoriety for defending the Trinity contra mundum (against the world), but Basil was right there with him. Basil’s writings against the Arians, and his work On the Holy Spirit, helped to provide the church with some of the terminology that would eventually make up the orthodox definition of the Trinity: “one essence, but three persons.”

Marvin Jones provides a useful introduction to Basil’s life and thought in Basil of Caesarea: His Life and Impact. The book is short and accessible and aims to allow Basil to influence the modern Evangelical church. Due to a collection of 350 letters of Basil to his impressive family (his father, sister and brother are all considered saints by the Eastern Orthodox Church) and others, we know more about Basil than any other Christian of the ancient church with the exception of Augustine of Hippo. Basil wrote on a variety of topics too. He aimed at reforming the liturgy or worship of his church, he appreciated but also critiqued monasticism, writing a helpful book with rules geared toward reforming the movement. He interacted with several key figures of the day and became more and more orthodox in his understanding of the Trinity over the course of his ministry. He even left us two series of sermons, one of which is one of the earliest known literal interpretations of the book of Genesis, including a defense of literal 24-hour days in Genesis 1.

Excerpt:
This excerpt focuses on Basil’s capable defense of the deity of Jesus Christ.

"Basil reviewed [his opponents'] rationale by stating, 'They say that the Son is not equal to the Father, but comes after the Father. Therefore it follows that glory should be ascribed to the Father through Him, but not with Him. With Him expresses equality but through Him indicates subordination.'

"Basil refuted this concept with a discussion on the word after. Basil asked, 'In what way do they say that the Son is after the Father? Is He later in time, or in rank, or in dignity?' The issue is that one cannot conceive of the Father without the Son as if there was an interval in their relationship or existence. He quoted John 1:1 and focused upon the word was as settling the issue of the Son’s eternality. Basil stated, 'No matter how far your thoughts travel backward, you cannot get beyond the was. No matter how hard you strain to see what is beyond the Son, you will find it impossible to pass outside the confines of the beginning. Therefore, true religion teaches us to think of the Son with the Father.'" (Kindle location 2106-2112)

Evaluation:
This book does what it aims to do: it introduces the reader to Basil and the theological debates of his era. In reading some of Basil’s arguments and by considering the doctrines debated, I am impressed by his forceful and clear grasp of the significance of the doctrine of God, and his recognition of the key place that Scripture, over and above tradition, holds. His literal approach to Genesis and his reformer’s approach to monasticism should make studying important and relevant for today’s church.

This book and others in the “Early Church Fathers” series, would make for a great supplement to a homeschool or Christian school curriculum. Many parents, like me, should also read up on this forgotten father. I highly recommend this brief work, and hope that Basil’s passion for the truth will continue to bless the wider church, now and always.

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by Christian Focus via the CrossFocusedReviews.com. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.… (more)

Everything I know about Basil of Caeserea I learned from this book. Seriously. Before reading this new work from Marvin Jones, I knew absolutely nothing of this immensely important Church Father and I would not be surprised if you knew almost as little I did. That is a shame.

I was stunned to come to know that we (yep, I am throwing you under the bus with me) knew so little about someone who played such a pivotal role at such a crucial point in church history. But fret you not, this newest volume in the Early Church Fathers Series is set to rectify this massive injustice! And it does a fine job.

This work serves the reader in many ways. It introduces us to Basil and shows us the Christ-centered way in which he filled the numerous roles entrusted to him. We see Basil-the humble theologian as he grows in his understanding of the Trinity and wrestles with ousia and stases and all those issues that are complex to us with 1600 more years of Church history to draw from than that to which Basil was privileged.

We see Basil the moderate monk who sought to bring some outward focus to the monastic life. We see Basil the courageous Church statesman as he went to war for truth and Scriptural fidelity, losing friends and prestige along the way but being used by God posthumously in a mighty way (Council of Constantinople). We see Basil the pastor as he guides his flock through the depths of Genesis in a world of heresy-breeding allegory, ever-concerned with the spiritual health of those entrusted to him. You will not walk away from this work without an appreciation of the grace of God that operated lavishly in the life of Basil of Ceasarea.
As far as this volume goes, there were points that it was a bit redundant. I’ll let you decide if this is a benefit or detriment since the redundancy is good in that it reinforces the information but bad since this can also be a bit tedious. Also, for one who has a basic working knowledge of early church history, some of the coverage (of Arianism and Nicea and elsewhere) is a bit of rehash.

The ordering of the book at times was confusing. The chapters did not seem to necessarily build off each other and had some overlapping content. If you are reading this straight through that can be slightly off-putting, but it is neat because the chapters have an essay feel where they can be read individually and still be beneficial.

The chapter on Basil’s Hexaemeron was really good in parts (the pastoral aspect of Basil’s teaching is a wonderful challenge and ecnouragement) but Jones’ focus on the anti-evolution aspect of Basil’s Genesis exposition does not simply “risk being anachronistic”, it runs head on into anachronism and embraces it fully. The comparison between Basil’s rejection of a Platonic worldview and the modern Evangelical’s struggle with a Darwinian worldview was interesting and helpful, if at times a tad overstated.

That being said, this is an excellent work that covers topics that are just as crucial today as when they were being formalized and attacked early in our history. The Trinity, the deity of Christ and the Spirit, the strange bed-fellows of Secular/civil government and the church, all are areas of importance today. There is so much in Christian thought and practice that we, almost 2000 years removed from the cross, take for granted. Issues that had to be discussed and debated and fought for and we are the recipients of so much work and struggle, hardship and enduring. God blessed the Church with men like Basil that we might enjoy the fruit of their effort and God’s grace. We would do well to learn about these men so that we might thank God for his continued faithfulness to his people throughout the ages. that we would benefit from learning from Basil’s teaching and experience.

I received a copy of this book for review purposes.… (more)