A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

BASILIUS Bishop of Seleucia.

BASIL, Bishop of Seleucia, a City of Isauria, flourished in the time of the Contest of Eutyches. He was present at the Council of Constantinople, held under Flavian in 448. * 1.1 and at the Council of Chalcedon, where after he had begged Pardon for what he had done in the Council of Ephesus held under Dioscorus, he was restored, and believed as others.

We have at this day * 1.2 40 Homilies of this Bishop. Photius had seen but 15 of them, but the other being of the same Stile and Coherence, it cannot be doubted but that they are the same Authors.

The first of these Homilies is upon the first words of Genesis, In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. It seems to have been preached at the beginning of the solemn Fast of Lent. He therein describes very elegantly the Production of all Creatures, and the admi∣rable Order of the Universe. Speaking of the Creation of Man, he observes, That the words which the Scripture uses, being in the Plural Number, Let us make Man in our Image, is an Argument of a Trinity of Persons. He makes the Likeness of Man, with God, to con∣sist in this, that he considers upon the Heavens, but doth his Works upon Earth, and that he establisheth Government and Laws.

In the 2d. Homily he explains more particularly the Creation of Man, and the Formation of Woman.

In the 3d. he describes the Estate of Adam in the Earthly Paradise, and his unlucky and miserable fall. He had an absolute freedom. He might take all sorts of innocent Pleasures, because Pleasure was not then infectious and deadly: All the Creatures were subject to him, he could make use of them without Sinning, except one Fruit only. But the Devil envying his Happiness took on him the Form of a Serpent, and perswaded the Woman to eat the for∣bidden Fruit. She gave it to her Husband, and they immediately knew that they were naked. God called them, upbraided them with their Disobedience, and condemned them to different Punishments, both them and their Posterity; but he must not, for all that, despair of his Salvation. Jesus Christ is come to cure Man of that old Wound. He hath brought Medi∣cines contrary to those things, which were the cause of his Fall. He opposeth Solitude to Pa∣radise, Fasting to Delights, the Trophee of the Cross to the Deceit of the Devil; a Virgin conceiving without the Curse of Sin, to the first Woman; a Child born of a Virgin, and free from the old Disease, to the miserable Children of Adam. The new Adam is entred again into Paradise, from whence the first was driven; and from thence he sends forth his Darts to wound the Serpent.

Cain and Abel are the subject of the 4th. Homily. Moses sets down their History as a dreadful Example, to teach Men to love Vertue and hate Vice. The Stories of the old Testament have all no other end. This teaches us, That God debaseth himself to Men; That he accepts their Sacrifices, tho' he hath no need of them to instruct them, who offer them to him, and that he hath care of good Men after their Death. Abel is the first just Man slain wrongfully. The Vengeance, which God inflicted upon his Death, gives cause to hope for a Resurrection. Cain is the first Child of Eve, a wicked Man, an Enemy of Nature, whose Crimes and Punishments are there painted in a lively manner.

The 5th. Homily is concerning Noab and the Flood. 'Twas Man's sins that brought it upon him; he delayed it as long as he could; he admonished them several times; he invited them to Repentance; but Men not growing better by his Admonitions, were all overwhelmed with a Deluge, except Noah and his Family, who were saved in the Ark. The Wood, which was the instrument of Man's Destruction in Adam, was the Instrument of their safety in the times of Noah.

The 6th. is also about some Question, which might be made concerning the Deluge. He ob∣serves there, That the Sons of God, of whom 'tis said, that they had Commerce with the Daughters of Men, are not the Angels, but the Posterity of Seth, who had Commerce with the Race of Cain. He gives the reason of the difference of Clean and Unclean Beasts. He saith, That God commanded it, that he might make the Jews afraid to eat of those Creatures which they were forbidden to eat; as also, that they might not adore them. He believes, That Noah was not obliged to hunt after all those Creatures that went into the Ark with him, and catch them, but that they came thither of themselves. He teaches us to admire Noah's Dexterity in building the Ark, and the Providence of God in the course of the Flood.

In the 7th. he propounds to our observation the ready Obedience of Abraham, and the blind submission which he yielded to the Command of God in preparing himself to sacrifice his Son. He describes this History in a very affecting manner.

The 8th. gives us the perfect History of Joseph, and makes a faithful Description of his Vertues.

The 9th. manifests to us the Providence of God in the Life of Moses.

The 10th. compares Elisha to Jesus Christ, and the Son of the Shunamite, raised from the dead by that Prophet, with the Gentiles.

The 11th. contains some Reflections upon the Life of the Prophet Elias.

In the 12th. Basil uses the History of J•…•…, and the Conversion of the Ninevites, to prove how great the mer•••• and goodness of God 〈◊〉〈◊〉 towards Sinners.

In the 13th. he explains the resemblances of Jonas to Jesus Christ.

The 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th. are upon King David. In the three first he extolls the spe∣cial Favours, which God bestowed upon that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 King. In the ••••st he discourses of his Sin and of his Repentance.

In the 18th. he endeavours to create a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Action of Herod and Herodias.

The 19th. is upon the History of the C•…•…on.

The 20th. is upon the Woman of Canaan.

The 21st. is upon the Healing of the Lame Man, who lay at the Gate of the Temple.

The 22d. is upon the Storm appeased by Jesus Christ.

The 23d. is upon the Cure of him that was 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with the Legion of Devils.

The 24th. is upon those words of the Mother of Zebedee's Children, Grant that these my two Sons may fit, the one on thy Right Hand, and the other on thy Left in thy Kingdom.

The 25th. is upon these words of Jesus Christ to the Apostles, Whom do Men say that I am.

The 26th. is upon these other words of our Saviour, I am the Goodshepherd.

The 27th. is against the Festival, and shews of the Olympick Games.

The 28th. is upon these words of Jesus Christ, Except ye be Converted, and become as little Children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Wherein he treats of Humility.

The 29th. is upon these other words, Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The 30th. is upon these, Follow me, and I will make you Fishers of Men.

The 31st. is upon what Jesus Christ says, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of Sinners, &c.

The 32d. is upon that Prayer of Jesus Christ to his Father, Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me.

The 33d. is upon the Miracle of the 5000 Men Fed with the Five Loaves, related in S. Matth. 14.

The 34th. is upon the Question which John's Disciples put to Jesus Christ, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

The 35th. is upon the Parable of the Pharisee and Publican.

The 36th. is upon the Two Blind Men cured by Jesus Christ.

The 37th. is upon the Bloody Murther of the Infants, which he describes in a very Elegant and Passionate manner.

In the 38th. he proves by the Prophecies, and particularly by Daniel's, that the Messiah is come, and that it is Jesus Christ. He fixes the beginning of the 70 Weeks at the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Cyrus, the Birth of Jesus Christ in the 29th. Year of the Reign of Augustus, his Death in the 19th. Year of Tiberius, and so counts 483 Years from the first Year of Cy∣rus to the Ascension of Christ into Heaven, which make 69 Weeks of Years. The 70th, ends the Ninth Year of the Emperor Caius, under whom the War began. This Writing is rather a Treatise than an Homily.

The 39th. is upon the Annunciation of the Virgin. In it he Extols the Dignity of the Mother of God, and stirs up our Admiration of the Mystery of the Incarnation.

The Last is upon the Transfiguration of our Lord. F. Combefis hath [Printed at Paris in 1656, Octavo] Published an Homily upon S. Stephen, which bears the Name of this Au∣thor.

As to the Stile, and manner of Writing, which this Author uses, Photius gives this Judg∣ment of them.

His Discourse, saith he, is figurative, and lofty. He observes, as much as any Man whatsoever, an even Cadence. He hath joined Clearness and Pleasure to∣gether, but his Tropes and Figures are very troublesome. By these he wearies his Hearer always, and creates in him a bad Opinion of himself, as a Person Ignorant, how to make Art and Nature accord, and keep just measures to cut off Superfluities.

Nevertheless we must own, That altho' he hath a great Number of Figures, yet he keeps up his Stile very well, and his Discourse very rarely dwindles into flat Allusions. Nor doth it render him ob∣scure, because he illustrates his Discourse by the distinction of the Parts, and Periods, and by the Elegancy of his Expressions, clears up the difficulties in the Figures. But the great number of his Figures takes away the grace of it, and so much the more, because they are used too roughly, and the Artifice of them is not sufficiently concealed.

Photius adds, That it was that Basil who was the Friend of S. Chrysostom, rather than Ba∣sil the Great, but he is mistaken in this. (It is perhaps neither of them, as we have observed elsewhere). But he is not deceived in what he says further, That in his Sermons he follows the foot-steps of S. Chrysostom, and that he hath taken his sence from his Discourses, especially as to what relates to the Explication of Scripture. Photius hath well done to make this re∣striction, for 'tis in that particular only that he imitates S. Chrysostom. The Homilies of this Patriarch of Constantinople have Two Parts, as we have already Noted. In the first he Explains the Scripture according to the Letter, and joins to it some Moral Reflections. In

the Second he takes in hand some Moral Doctrine, which he handles very largely. Basil of Seleucia meddles not with the last part, but contents himself to imitate the first, but has not performed it so naturally as S. Chrysostom. Photius also tells us, That Basil of Seleucia had written the Life of the Eminent Martyr S. Thecla in Verse. We have at this Day one in Prose, which is attributed to Basil of Seleucia. But there is no Proof that it is his; it doth not resemble his Stile, and it seems to have been compiled by some more Modern Greek. [Pantinus Published it in Greek and Latin, at Antwerp, 1608.]

The Homilies of Basil of Seleucia were Printed in Greek at Heydelberg in the Year 1596. In Greek and Latin with Dausquius's Version and Notes at the same place, 1604. This Editi∣on, with the Life of S. Thecla, in Greek and Latin, Translated by Pantinus, is put into the Collection of Greek Fathers made at Paris in * 1.3 1621, which contains the Works of S. Grego∣ry Thaumaturgus, Macarius, and Basil of Seleucia, with a small Commentary upon the Cano∣nical Epistles attributed to Zonaras. F. Combefis hath Printed a Translation of these Homi∣lies in his Latin Ecclesiastes of Greek Authors Printed in 1674. He pretends to have Cor∣rected many faults of the Translator, but if he hath rendred some places more agree∣ably to the Greek Text, he hath Translated others more Barbarously, and made them harder to be understood. He hath also Published the Sermon upon S. Stephen. These Works also are to be found in the Bibliotheca Patrum.

[Dr. Cave mentions a Treatise of this Authors, Entitled; A Demonstration of the coming of Christ against the Jews, Published by Turrian at Ingolstadt, 1616, Octavo, and in Greek in Dausquius's-Edition, which this Author hath omitted.]

Notes

• * 1.1

  Basilius of Seleucia.
• * 1.2

  [Dr. Cave reckons 43, viz. 17 up∣on the old, and 26 upon the new Testament]
• * 1.3

  [cave. 1622.]