Customer Reviews

On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great (Popular Patristics)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title of this book is a little misleading. When people talk about "social justice" today, they usually mean a State policy of economic redistribution, i.e. state socialism, marxism, etc. That's not what St. Basil is talking about.

These sermons concern the Christian's duty to give to the poor. It's a theological concern, an outgrowth of the Incarnation, to be engaged within and through the Church, not a political program for a secular State.

St. Basil's vision is radical and unrelenting. He calls for sacrificial giving, to say the least. What he sees as the Christian's duty goes way beyond what most of us are taught in our churches. Hopefully, you will not only be challenged, but might actually change the way you live your life after reading these sermons.

I've read most of the books in SVS Press' Popular Patristics series, and St. Basil has definitely come out as my favorite Church Father and this book in particular is especially powerful, possibly one of the most powerful Patristic texts I've come across. Highly recommended.

The extent to which social justice was focused upon by the early church is a sociological and theological topic that hasn't gotten enough attention. Basil of Caesarea, also known as Saint Basil the Great, is a famous 4th century bishop who is known for his theological propositions and liturgical writings. However, he also wrote on practical matters of money and power, and in these five sermons he challenges Christians to a degree that would be difficult in any modern church. Besides two sermons generally addressed to the wealthy, the book also includes sermons on the proper response to natural disaster, advice to those who loan or wish to procure loans with interest, and the twin precepts of mercy and justice. My only gripe with the book is that it is too short - I could have heard much more from Basil.

To finish out the review, I wanted to include one passage from the book. The following comes from Homily 6, entitled "I Shall Tear Down My Barns" (in reference to Luke 12).

"'But whom do I treat unjustly,' you say, 'by keeping what is my own?' Tell me, what is your own? What did you bring into this life? From where did you receive it? It is as if someone were to take the first seat in the theater, then bar everyone else from attending, so that one person alone enjoys what is offered for the benefit of all in common -- this is what the rich do. They seize common goods before others have the opportunity, then claim them as their own by right of preemption. For if we all took only what was necessary to satisfy our own needs, giving the rest to those who lack, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, and no one would be in need.

Did you not come forth naked from the womb, and will you not return naked to the earth? Where then did you obtain your belongings? If you say that you acquired them by chance, then you deny God, since you neither recognize your Creator, nor are you grateful to the One who gave these things to you. But if you acknowledge that they were given to you by God, then tell me, for what purpose did you receive them? Is God unjust, when He distributes to us unequally the things that are necessary for life? Why then are you wealthy while another is poor? Why else, but so that you might receive the reward of benevolence and faithful stewardship, while the poor are honored for patient endurance in their struggles? But you, stuffing everything into the bottomless pockets for your greed, assume that you wrong no one; yet how many do you in fact dispossess?

Who are the greedy? Those who are not satisfied with what suffices for their own needs. Who are the robbers? Those who take for themselves what rightfully belongs to everyone. And you, are you not greedy? Are you not a robber? The things you received in trust as a stewardship, have you not appropriated them for yourself? Is not the person who strips another of clothing called a thief? And those who do not clothe the naked when they have the power to do so, should they not be called the same? The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy. You are thus guilty of injustice toward as many as you might have aided, and did not."

This collection of Homilies exemplifies the concern for social justice of early Christians, specifically St. Basil the Great. This reading is essential for anyone who wants to understand charity in the eyes of one of the the three hierarchical pillars of the Orthodox Church.

This paperback came in excellent condition without any writing or markings in it. The pages of the book (including the cover) were not torn or folded.