The Cappadocian Response and What It Does Not Say

Out of necessity, St. Basil the Great responds to the Eunomian teaching primarily to negate the fallacies. Meaning, in those responses, and those of the other Cappadocian fathers after him, they are stating more of why those teachings are problematic and less setting forth a full and affirmative understanding of the knowledge of God.

St. Basil, himself, mentions the need for a “more accurate” approach to combat Eunomius: “Now marveling at the beautiful things is not difficult, but attaining an accurate comprehension of the things at which one marvels is hard and nearly impossible.” In Basil’s homily on the first two verses of the Gospel of John, he boils down his argument to what the people would need to hear to avoid confusion about such teachings. He points out how St. John’s statement, He was with God in beginning, places “he was” in perfect apposition to “in beginning”, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

However, when speaking directly against Eunomius, that is, back in the language of negation, he clarifies why there can be no division between Father and Son: Eunomius “alienates...the Son from communion with the God and Father”. Communion and fellowship are the issue. That is why the Cappadocians felt so strongly about rebutting this harmful teaching.

Basil is undeniably a lover of Scripture and speaks from an unbroken continuation of the teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Not only does he preface his comments on the Gospels by saying, “Every statement of the Gospels is nobler than the other teachings transmitted by the Spirit”, mentioning the prophets in particular, but it reveals the importance he places on phrases of the Gospels that we might not notice. He emphasizes, “in the gospels the Master conversed with us in his own person” (ἐν δὲ τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις αὑτοπροσώπως διελέχθη ἡμῖν ὀ Δεσπότης), or to his own face. This brings to mind the statement of a later father, St. John Climacus, who said, “Those whose mind has learned true prayer converse with the Lord face to face.” This is not figurative language. The fathers are saying that our communion with Christ is (or can be) exactly what it is for the Apostles: face-to-face.

There is no need to go searching through theologies or responses to heresy for answers about the depth of our communion with God, for, as Basil says, it is most clear in John’s words, This one was in the beginning with God...

"Do not look outside yourself, searching for what [this One] indicates, but enter into the hidden recesses of your own soul. There, once you have identified and marveled at the God whom you have learned was in the beginning, who proceeded as Word, who is with God; once you have worshipped your own Master who dwells in you through this teaching, realize that this one was in the beginning, that is, he is always with God his Father. … Return to the words of the gospel and remain there: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This one was in the beginning with God."

"For [the word] is neither severed nor divided from the intellect, nor does it flow out from and leave the intellect. On the contrary, while the whole of the intellect remains in its proper state, it brings the word into existence, whole and complete."