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Translated by Bl. Jackson.
St Basil the Great Resources Online and in Print
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88 Pages
Page 69
Chapter XXVI.
That the word "in," in as many senses as it bears, is understood of the Spirit.
61. Now, short and simple as this utterance is, it appears to me, as I consider it, that its meanings are many and various. For of the senses in which "in" is used, we find that all help our conceptions of the Spirit. Form is said to be in Matter; Power to be in what is capable of it; Habit to be in him who is affected by it; and so on. [1229] Therefore, inasmuch as the Holy Spirit perfects rational beings, completing their excellence, He is analogous to Form. For he, who no longer "lives after the flesh," [1230] but, being "led by the Spirit of God," [1231] is called a Son of God, being "conformed to the image of the Son of God," [1232] is described as spiritual. And as is the power of seeing in the healthy eye, so is the operation of the Spirit in the purified soul. Wherefore also Paul prays for the Ephesians that they may have their "eyes enlightened" by "the Spirit of wisdom." [1233] And as the art in him who has acquired it, so is the grace of the Spirit in the recipient ever present, though not continuously in operation. For as the art is potentially in the artist, but only in operation when he is working in accordance with it, so also the Spirit is ever present with those that are worthy, but works, as need requires, in prophecies, or in healings, or in some other actual carrying into effect of His potential action. [1234] Furthermore as in our bodies is health, or heat, or, generally, their variable conditions, so, very frequently is the Spirit in the soul; since He does not abide with those who, on account of the instability of their will, easily reject the grace which they have received. An instance of this is seen in Saul, [1235] and the seventy elders of the children of Israel, except Eldad and Medad, with whom alone the Spirit appears to have remained, [1236] and, generally, any one similar to these in character.
[1229] cf. Note on Chapter iii. p. 4. In the Aristotelian philosophy, eidos, or Forma, is the to ti en einai, the essence or formal cause. cf. Ar., Met. vi. 7, 4. eidos de lego to ti en einai hekaston kai ten proten ousian. Dunamis, or Potentia, is potential action or existence, as opposed to energeia, actus, actual action or existence, or entelecheia. cf. Ar., Met., viii. 3, 9, and viii. 8, 11. Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph. i. 178-180.
[1230] Rom. viii. 12.
[1231] Rom. viii. 14.
[1232] Rom. viii. 29.
[1233] Eph. i. 17, 18.
[1234] en allois tisi dunameon energemasi. The Benedictine translation is in aliis miraculorum operationibus." It is of course quite true that dunamis is one of the four words used in the New Testament for miracle, and often has that sense, but here the context suggest the antithesis between potential and actual operation, and moreover non-miraculous (in the ordinary sense) operations of the Spirit need not be excluded; in a deep sense all His operations are miraculous. energema is an uncommon word, meaning the work wrought by energeia or operation.
[1235] 1 Sam. xvi. 14.
[1236] Numb. xi. 25, 26, LXX. and R.V. "did so no more" for "did not cease" of A.V.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/basil/holy-spirit.asp?pg=69
