Basil of Caesarea

Basil was educated at Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens, then turned to an ascetic life and wrote rules for monastic communities. As bishop of Caesarea he opposed the Arian policy of the emperor Valens and defended the full deity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. His works include Against Eunomius, On the Holy Spirit, homilies (among them the Hexaemeron on the six days of creation), and more than three hundred letters.

Dates

ca. 330 – 378/379 (approximate)

See or city

Caesarea in Cappadocia

Region

Cappadocia

Also known as

Basil the Great; Basilius Magnus

Notes

Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370. With his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus he is counted among the "Cappadocian Fathers". The year of his death (378 or 379) is disputed.

Works

• On the Holy SpiritDe Spiritu Sancto · ca. 374–375 · CPG 2839 (not yet checked)
• Homilies on the HexaemeronHomiliae in Hexaemeron · ca. 370 · CPG 2835 (not yet checked)
• LettersEpistulae · ca. 357–378 · CPG 2900 (not yet checked)
• Homilies and SermonsHomiliae et sermones · ca. 363-378 · CPG 2837-2862 range (not yet checked)
• Homilies on the PsalmsHomiliae in psalmos · ca. 360-378 · CPG 2836 (not yet checked)
• Against EunomiusAdversus Eunomium · ca. 364 · CPG 2837 (not yet checked)