REDEEMER SEMINARY
TO MAKE THE HEARER A PARTICIPATOR
SUBMITTED TO DR. STEPHEN BAGBY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF CH211: ANCIENT CHURCH
BY JOHN PETERSON DECEMBER, 6, 2013
1 Every time we look back to those who went before us it gives us an opportunity to be thankful. The church fathers helped blaze the trail of tradition we now follow. As we look back in gratitude, we should also consider what we can build upon the foundation others have laid. We should look for insights that can be gathered and what actions we should take based on what the church fathers helped establish by God's grace. I argue that Basil's use of rhetoric is to draw us in as participants to the life of Christ by describing settings people are familiar with. Basil's abundant and effective use of metaphors and rhetoric provide us an inspiration and guide to follow today. St. Basil helps pastors uncover the value of rhetoric in ministry, for both moral exhortation and praise.1 Through his use of rhetorical techniques such as vivid metaphors, Basil invites us to stand with eyes wide in amazement at our God through the marvel of creation.
Before we launch out onto our journey we should survey relevant history along with terms that will anchor us as landmarks. What we speak of as “rhetoric” can be defined as “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.” 2 Rhetoric aims to persuade you. A rhetorician wants to so vividly describe a truth or event so that you can see it in your mind's eye. One of rhetoric's techniques is that of metaphor, “a comparison made by referring to one thing as another.” 3
From his youth, Basil would have been surrounded by a rhetorical environment as his father was a noted rhetorician. St. Basil's father, Basil the Elder, began his son's initial training personally. The younger Basil later traveled to Caesarea for formal training in rhetoric.4 Basil grew in his skills as a rhetorician so that he was able to become a teacher in rhetoric in Caesarea
1 I am grateful to Bouteneff who pointed out the moral and doxological implications of Basil's writings. 2 Definition of “rhetoric” n.p. Accessed 3 December 2013. Online: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/rhetoric 3 Gideon O. Burton, “Metaphor” n.p. Accessed 6 December 2013. Online: http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm 4 C. Paul Schroeder, Introduction to On Social Justice by St. Basil, ed.& trans C. Paul Schroeder; (Crestwood NY.; St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2009), 16-17. 2 in 356. 5 Basil's role within the church grew as he moved from his retreat as a monk to become a priest in 365. He was eventually appointed as a bishop in 370, a position he held until his death in 379. 6 It was his early training in rhetoric where Basil would make effective use of it throughout his writings and homilies.
To begin our journey of how Basil employed his rhetorical skills, we jump to the end of
Basil's ministry to listen to him offer us what acts as an effective focusing lens of his thoughts on using the world to point us to God. “You will finally discover that the world was not conceived by chance and without reason, but for a useful end for the great advantage of all beings, since it is really the school where reasonable souls exercise themselves, the training ground where they learn to know God.” 7 This statement comes from Basil's Homilies on the Hexaemeron.
Hexaemeron is the Greek term used to refer to the account of the six days of creation, from hexa-, meaning "six", and (h)emer(a), meaning "day". 8 When Basil speaks of a “training ground” he is telling us that God has made the world in such a way that it teaches us about himself. Basil believed that God has embedded moral lesson's that teach us about obedient behavior that leads us to God within the created nature. Peter Bouteneff describes one portion of
Basil's Hexaemeron by saying, “Natural phenomena frequently invite comparison with human situations and bring moral lessons.” 9
One way humans learn is through observation. God shows his generosity to us in how he allows us to make analogical jumps between things we can touch, see and hear, to drawing conclusions about him. The principal that Basil draws on to conclude this comes from Romans 5 Schroeder, On Social Justice, 18. 6 Schroeder, On Social Justice, 20, 34. 7 St. Basil, “Hexaemeron” 1.6 in The Patristic Understanding of Creation, (Eds William Dembski, Wayne J. Downs, and Fr. Justin B. A. Frederick; Riesel, TX: Erasmus Press, 2008), 288. 8 Definition of “Hexaemeron” n.p. Accessed 4 December 2013 Online http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hexaemeron 9 Peter C. Bouteneff, Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008) 136. 3 1:19–20 (ESV) 10, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Paul illustrates that God depicts aspects of his character in creation and
Basil follows suit, putting this into practice in his rhetorical skills such as metaphors. Other church fathers have wrestled with the role of nature as a teacher. Maximus the Confessor pondered the issue of using the world as a type of Scripture when he said, “In an analogous way the author of existence gives himself to be beheld through visible things.” 11 St. Athanasius also implicitly describes creation as a type of Scripture. “The knowledge of God...can be also reaching from the visible things...given that by its order and harmony...creation points to, and loudly declares, its Lord and Creator, as though through letters...” 12 It is clear that the church fathers built on Paul's example in Romans to use the world as teaching ground to help us to know
God.
One example of how Basil used vivid metaphors from the world around us is in his homily “To the Rich.” Basil wants his hearers to consider that one day they will be dead after a greedy life stockpiling possessions, he makes them consider, “what good will all those things be then?” But he doesn't directly speak of “death” which can have an intangible and abstract quality to it. Instead, he speaks about the place you'll be when you're dead. “Is not all that awaits you a six-foot plot of earth?” 13 It is easy to visualize a hole in the ground that matches my size. Many people have already seen one. I have a hard time imagining what it means to be dead, but I can
10 Bouteneff, Beginnings 135. 11 Maximuss the Confessor, Maximus the Confessor ed. & trans. Andrew Louth, (NY.; Routledge, 1996), 110. 12 Athanasius, “Against the Pagans” 34 PG 25, 69A quoted in Doru Costache, Christian Worldview: Understanding from St. Basil the Great. (Phronema 25 (2010): 21-56. Accessed December 2, 2013. https://www.academia.edu/attachments/6595938/download_file) 32. 13 Basil, On Social Justice, 51. 4 see what it means to be buried under a boulder's worth of dirt. Basil uses a tangible place, a physical location, to depict a reality rather than an abstract concept. This is a methodology modern pastors should seek to imitate.
This vividness was emblematic of his vocabulary. 14 Vividness, or in Greek enargeia, was a common term within rhetoric helping to explain Basil's regular use of it as a trained rhetorician.
Enargeia is “the technical term that ancient critics employ to describe how language creates a vivid, visual presence, bringing the event described, and all the emotions that attend its perception, before the reader's eyes.” 15 It is almost as if the speaker is using words to hold up a snow globe in your mind's eye to allow you to see the scenery he is describing. It is the difference between hearing the word “death” and trying to think about what means not to think compared to calling up an image in your mind of your burial plot surrounded by people crying over your departure. That was Basil's goal in his uses of such metaphors.
Death is the end we all face 16 and it brings us face to face with what matters most.
Modern, secular thinkers have recognized this as well such as Steve Jobs. In a commencement address he once said, “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” 17 Steve Jobs was driven to greatness in part by his recognition of his limited time on this earth. He pursued what he thought most important by leaving a legacy of technological innovation. Basil evoked a six-foot plot of earth in a setting 14 George L. Kustas, “Saint Basil and the Rhetorical Tradition” in Basil of Caesarea: Christian, humanist, ascetic: a sixteen-hundredth anniversary symposium. ed. Paul J. Fedwick; Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1981), 252. 15 Andrew D. Walker, "Enargeia and the Spectator in Greek Historiography." Transactions of the American Philological Association 123 (1993), 353. 16 Except for those alive at the return of Jesus. 17 Steve Jobs. "Text of Steve Jobs Commencent Address (2005)." n.p.. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html (accessed December 4, 2013). 5 where people claimed to be in pursuit of eternal life but their decisions showed their commitment was to this present, momentary life. 18 His effort as a pastor was to move them to honor and trust
God now; Basil knew there is no recourse in the afterlife for such actions. 19
Beside their emotional persuasiveness, physical metaphors also offer the potential of longevity over time. They hold up more effectively across the ages because we all live in the physical world. Sigmund Freud’s theory employed some terminology relating to the recently developed technology of the day (hydraulics). 20 Alternatively, Basil speaks of deserts, dirty holes in the ground, pebbles, of appetites and cravings and so on. Hundreds of years from now, people will still be familiar with the timeless things Basil depicted, while era specific items like hydraulics may simply fall to the side as a footnote in our grandchildrens' history and physics lessons. Will Freud's theory still be as intelligible and relevant then?
There are two components of Basil's use of rhetoric in ministry to which I'm calling attention. The first, as described previously, was to call us to moral obedience and knowledge of the God. The second, as I'll now address, has to do with our knowledge of God through creation leading us to praise him, also known as doxology. Basil's close friend Gregory Nazianzus said that Basil's goal in his Homilies on the Hexaemeron, “was to lead his hearers from the 'creation of what is visible and the beautiful things in the world to the knowledge of the Creator of all things.'” 21 Basil was encouraging his congregation to marvel at their Creator through the beautiful things he made. In Basil's own words he said, “I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that everywhere, wherever you may be, the least plant may bring to you the
18 Basil, On Social Justice, 42. 19 Basil, On Social Justice, 55. 20 Stanton Jones, “Integration View” in Psychology and Christianity: Five Views (ed. Eric L Johnson, Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2010) 114. 21 Gregory Nazianzus “Apologetic Explanation of the Hexaemeron” (PG44:66a) quoted in Robert L Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 139- 140. 6 clear remembrance of the Creator.” 22
The Apostle Paul offers himself as an example of one who used rhetorical, vivid language in his ministry in Galatians 3:1, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” Richard Longenecker states in his commentary on Galatians that it was part of the rhetoric of the day to ask, “who bewitched you?” 23 So we see that Paul laces this passage with various rhetorical strategies such as vividness and rhetorical questions. When we consider the statement “publicly portrayed as crucified” it is doubtful that a large number of the Galatians would have seen Jesus crucified in person. Longenecker suggests that the Greek “probably has a locative sense” as in a public placard. 24 I would agree with him that the Greek carries a locative or geographical meaning, but not on the location he suggests. I argue that Paul is referring to what he has preached to them of
Jesus on his mission's trips that he helped them see in their mind's eye. Paul is speaking metaphorically. Paul is trying to draw them back to remembering their experience of receiving
God's Spirit as the means of steadying their swaying faith. 25
As Tim Keller describes this passage in Galatians he too agrees with its use in a metaphorical sense as in our imagination or mind's eye. He says, “[t]his portrayal was achieved through preaching, through 'what you heard' (vv 2, 5). Paul isn't referring to a literal picture, but a metaphorical one.” 26 If we are to worship and praise Jesus as a Redeemer, we must begin to have a clear understanding of who he is and what he has accomplished for us. We need a message, an announcement, a proclamation to help us “see” and know a person who we can't see at the current time. That is why the gospel is referred to as good news. It is worth-while to quote
22 Basil, “Hexaemeron” 5.2, 318. 23 Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, Word Biblical Commentary 41. (Dallas, Tex: Word Books, 1990), 100. 24 Longenecker, Galatians, 100. 25 Longenecker, Galatians, 101. 26 Timothy Keller, Galatians for You. God's Word For You. (Surrey, England: The Good Book Company, 2013) 66. 7 Keller at length on the nature of the gospel as a message.
There was a message communicated – 'Jesus Christ...crucified” (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Notice that the essence of this message is not how to live, but what Jesus has done for us on the cross. The gospel is an announcement of historical events before it is instructions on how to live. It is the proclamation of what has been done for us before it is a direction of what we must do... We are saved by a rationally clear and heart-moving presentation of Christ's work on our behalf. 27
This “heart-moving” presentation is accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit as the gospel is proclaimed. However, I argue that it is a fair connection to make between the “heart-moving” vividness of metaphors used by Basil to seeing them as part of the means by which the Holy
Spirit draws us to Jesus in the Gospel.
Vivid metaphors and concrete stories have been recognized as part of how God persuades and draws us to himself. Biblical counselor David Powlison had this say when comparing the persuasive power of anecdotes versus statistics, “...surely it is significant that God himself chooses to redeem the world by vivid anecdotes. The Lord sways us from death to life by living and telling a true story, inviting us join him, not by citing statistical realities.” 28 God gives us historical stories as part of his plan to redeem his people. Biblical narratives are filled with people we can easily identify with; Abraham as a man far away from his family and homeland,
Naomi as a mother who loses her husband and both her children and countless other examples.
It is also filled with imagery we can quickly visualize, as in Isaiah 63:2, “Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?” When we hear this, we can see an image in our mind of someone with the haunting color of red stained on their clothing. When speaking on the topic of allegory, Robert Wilken said this about the terminology of Scripture,
“Allegory is about privileging the language of the Bible. It assumes that it is better to express
27 Keller, Galatians for You, 66. 28 David Powlison “A Biblical Counseling Response to Levels of Explanation” in Psychology and Christianity: Five Views (ed. Eric L Johnson, Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2010) 98. 8 things in the language of the Scriptures than in another idiom.” 29 Indeed, God knew how to communicate his message in a way that could be translated to cross cultural boundaries. God's idioms help to create the vividness that Basil as a church father imitated.
As Basil concluded his third Homily on the Hexaemeron he states, “Thus earth, air, sky, water, day, night, all visible things, remind us of who is our Benefactor. We shall not therefore give occasion to sin, we shall not give place to the enemy within us, if by unbroken recollection we keep God ever dwelling in our hearts, to Whom be all glory and all adoration, now and for ever, world without end. Amen.” 30 Here Basil gives a very high place to the role of “all visible things.” He states his belief that through “unbroken recollection” or contemplation of creation we may avoid temptation to sin if it reminds us of God. This has a doxological aspect in that it has linked praise of our creator with admiration for his craftsmanship. We can see why Bouteneff says, “Basil finds the greatest joy and inspiration in the literal, visible, tangible physicality of the world” 31 The everyman, the layman, the stay at home mom is familiar with what is being mentioned when Basil described the physical world. If they watch them closely they can be moved to marvel at the Creator of such beauty.
Modern day pastors should strive to learn from the masterful example set before them in the feast of St. Basil's work. The vividness Basil strove for and achieved allowed his listeners to become “spectators” to truths and events they had not physically taken part in. We can learn from his writings to use metaphors and to choose them well to help draw our listeners in. If, in our sermons, our extra-biblical examples and stories require a large amount of details and background before they can be understood, we should reconsider their usefulness. Abraham
29 Robert L. Wilken, "Allegory and the Interpretation of the Old Testament in the 21st Century." Letter & Spirit 1 (2005), 20. 30 Basil, “Hexaemeron” 3.10, 313. 31 Bouteneff, Beginnings 136. 9 Lincoln carefully choose his words for the Gettysburg address so that “of some 270 words — about two-thirds are single-syllable, and a half-dozen, four-syllable.” 32 The simplicity of his address allowed it to connect with his hearers while remaining a timeless announcement. We too as shepherds must carefully choose how elaborate we are when we bring the truth of Scriptures before our congregation.
We are calling people to abandon pursuing the joys of this life as their primary goal and instead to follow our Savior Jesus who will bring us to eternity. Basil used one of his many metaphors to say it like this, “Consider yourself to have two daughters: the enjoyment of this life, and the life to come in the heavens. If you do not want to give everything to the better cause, at least divide your possessions equally between the immoderate child and the prudent one. Do not enrich the present life while leaving the other naked and clothed in rages.” 33 Basil used this tangible metaphor to show the connection between being a responsible parent and providing for your children equally and related it to the fact that there are two lives we face; the present day and eternity after resurrection. He makes a bridge between what many of his listeners understood from being parents and draws them to see its connection to eternal life.
Even as the Apostle Paul employed references to concrete things such as clay jars (1 Cor
4:7), light and darkness (1 Cor 6:14), a warrior's armor (Eph 6:13-17) and many others, he also offers a warning for those who may rely on excessive use of rhetorical techniques and attempts at persuasive arguments to save others.
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were
32 Allen C. Guelzo "Lincoln’s Sound Bite: Have Faith in Democracy." n.p. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/lincolns-sound-bite-have-faith-in-democracy/?_r=1 (accessed December 4, 2013). 33 Basil, On Social Justice, 87. 10 not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:1-5, emphasis mine)
Paul is telling us that whenever we are calling people to follow Christ, it always must rest on God's power, not our skills at persuasion. It is God alone who saves. While being clear, well trained communicators may aid in reaching out to others, we must rely on prayer and the Holy Spirit to truly save souls. For it is “only God who gives the growth”
(1 Cor 3:7). This is our fundamental principle in teaching and preaching: that we offer our talents through our weak bodies so that we may “show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Cor 4:7).
Basil is a guide for us today in learning to be clear communicators, taking our cues from the discipline of rhetoric as it lines up with the example of Scripture. He wanted us to behold the wonder and majesty of our God. What author Andrew D. Walker writes about enargeia and its effects by Thucydides can serve instead as a wonderful summary of how Basil sought to minister to others. He is described as “always striving for this vividness (enargeia) in his writing, since it is his desire to make the reader a spectator, as it were, and to produce vividly (energasasthai) in the minds of those who peruse his narrative the emotions of amazement and consternation which were experienced by those who beheld them.” 34 Basil's speaking and writing was to help us become part of the life of Christ. Basil wanted his listeners to be more than simply hearers and instead to become actual participants of Christ's life. It is one thing to hear about a football game after it's over. It is an entirely different experience to watch it in person yourself or to be one of the players on the field. It is this movement from an unmoved hearer, to a motivated participant that radiates from Basil and guides his rhetorical flare. When we preach, counsel others or
34 Walker, "Enargeia," 357. 11 evangelize, we should keep our examples as down to earth as possible following Basil's example.
Basil is effectively taking us along-side him on a walk vividly depicting to us things we've seen before but casting them in a new light, revealing a deeper meaning they possess.
I feel it only appropriate to end with a doxology, to show gratitude to our God who provides shepherds such as Basil to guide us to the Shepherd of our souls. “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and
Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev 1:5-6).
12 Bibliography
St. Basil the Great. On Social Justice. Translated by Paul C. Schroeder. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2009. St. Basil the Great, “Hexaemeron.” Pages 284-339 in The Patristic Understanding of Creation: An Anthology of Writings from the Church Fathers on Creation and Design. Edited by Dembski, William A., Wayne J. Downs, and Justin B. A. Frederick. Riesel, TX: Erasmus Press, 2008. Bouteneff, Peter C. Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2008. Burton, Gideon O. , “Metaphor” n.p. Accessed 6 December 2013. Online: http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm Costache, Doru. "Christian Worldview: Understanding from St. Basil the Great." Phronema 25 (2010): 21-56. Accessed December 2, 2013. https://www.academia.edu/attachments/6595938/download_file. Definition of “hexaemeron”, no pages accessed 4 December 2013. Online http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hexaemeron Defintion of “rhetoric”, no pages accessed 3 December 2013. Online http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/rhetoric. Guelzo, Allen C. "Lincoln’s Sound Bite: Have Faith in Democracy." New York Times. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/lincolns-sound-bite-have-faith-in- democracy/?_r=1 (accessed December 4, 2013). Jobs, Steve. "Text of Steve Jobs Commencent Address (2005)." Standford News. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html (accessed December 4, 2013). Johnson, Eric L., and David G. Myers. Psychology & Christianity: Five Views. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2010. Keller, Timothy. Galatians for You. God's Word For You. Surrey, England: The Good Book Company, 2013. Kustas, George L., “Saint Basil and the Rhetorical Tradition” Pages 221-279 in Basil of Caesarea: Christian, humanist, ascetic: a sixteen-hundredth anniversary symposium. Edited by Paul J. Fedwick Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1981. Longenecker, Richard N. Galatians. Word Biblical Commentary 41. Dallas: Word Books, 1990. Maximus the Confessor, Maximus the Confessor (ed. & trans. Andrew Louth; NY. Routledge, 1996). Walker, Andrew. "Enargeia and the Spectator in Greek Historiography." Transactions of the American Philological Association 123 (1993), http://www.jstor.org/stable/284335 (accessed December 4, 2013).
13 Wilken, Robert L. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
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