SOURCE: "Basil the Great" in Ethical Patterns in Early Christian Thought," Cambridge University Press, 1976, pp. 84-113.

In the essay reprinted below, Osborn examines Basil's views on the moral and ethical obligations of a Christian. Drawing especially on the Moralia and the Longer and Shorter Rules, the critic contends that Basil's guidelines for devoting one's life to the glory of God were intended for the laity as well as for members of the monastic community, even though Basil believed that only an ascetic could achieve perfect righteousness.

Basil was born in Caesarea of Cappadocia about 330 of rich but honest parents.¹ His father was a teacher of rhetoric, a lawyer and a wealthy land-owner. One of his grandfathers had died a martyr. The piety and devotion of Basil's mother was reflected in her children, three of whom became bishops, one a nun and another a monk. Three of these children...