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Approaching the Christian Worldviewwith St.Basil the Great
Aspects Relevant to Current Conversationsin Science and Theology
Revd. DORU COSTACHE
St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College,Sydney College of Divinity, Australia
B
eyond the outdated character of some of its aspects, the traditionalChristian depiction of reality still offers surprises, representing a vastlyignored,yet truly inspirational accomplishment in the history of scienceand theology. St.Basil the Great’s notorious contributions can undoubt-edly be considered as the pinnacle of such efforts and achievements.Misinterpreted and oversimplified at times (like in Lindberg [2002], p. 50),St.Basil’s worldview nevertheless represents a landmark for the spirit inwhich the Orthodox Church has traditionally interacted with the scientificculture of the late antiquity. The purpose of this essay is to point out a fewfacets of St.Basil’s contributions to the Christian worldview and theirpossible relevance to current attempts to bridge the traditional and thescientific representations of reality.
The world as a Theological School:
 Homilies on the Hexaemeron
I
t is perhaps a truism to state once more how St.Basil offered in his
 Hexaemeron
, whose date of publication is still disputed, a gem of Christian scholarship. The great Cappadocian displayed a breadth of pro-fane knowledge (Copleston [2007], p.29) — which he interpreted in light
Transdisciplinarity in Science and Religion© Curtea Veche Publ., 2009No. 6 / 2009, pp. 45-56
 
of the ecclesial faith —in an endeavour to provide his audience andreadership with a comprehensive depiction of created reality, heavenlyand earthly, human and biological, astronomical and mineral. It should be noted that this descriptive approach, as impressive as it might have been for his first audience and up until the dawn of modernity, could not be upheld as St.Basil’s major contribution. The ancient representation of the created realm, on which the
 Hexaemeron
heavily depends, has becomeoutdated in fact, and together with it the scientific knowledge illustrated by the saint’s analysis of the natural world. Nevertheless, his realisticassessment of the natural decay or mortality of creation (
 Hexaemeron
, 1.3,PG 29, 9C), also his sense of wonder for the fine tuning of the universe’sparameters (
 Hexaemeron
, 1.1, PG 29, 4A) together with the ethical para-digms that can be inferred from various animal behaviours (
 Hexaemeron
,9.3, PG 29, 192B-196B), represent tremendous intuitions and an inspira-tion for all time. Furthermore, when considered within the framework of the contemporary anthropic cosmological principle (Barrow & Tipler[1986], pp. 16-20), his point on the interconnected character of human andcosmic realities, both ontologically and teleologically (
 Hexaemeron
, 1.4,PG 29, 12BC), remains valid.There are, however, some other important aspects —theological innature —that should not be overlooked, given their perennial relevanceto the ecclesial worldview and experience. In fact, these theological fea-tures constitute the outstanding contribution of the great Cappadocian,demonstrating the capacity of our Christian representation of reality topeacefully coexist and interact in history with the shifting cultural pat-terns or cosmological paradigms (
cf.
Lossky [2002], p. 106). This coexistenceis possible only insofar as all parties acknowledge the descriptive charac-ter of scientific cosmology and, respectively, the interpretive character of the theological worldview. St.Basil’s
 Hexaemeron
abundantly illustratessuch discernment.One among the most relevant aspects undoubtedly is St.Basil’sassessment of the world as being what can be construed as a theologicalschool or, literally, a teaching ground (
*4*"F6"8g\@< 6"Â B"4*gLJZD4@<
—
 Hexaemeron
, 1.5, PG 29, 13B). This approach seems to be consistent withhis understanding of the Genesis narrative of creation as a pedagogicalstory. Thus, in the first of the two homilies attributed to him (
On the Originof Humanity
, 17), the Cappadocian states: “The story of human makingconstitutes education for our lives” (
º ÊFJ@D\" J¬H z"<2DTB\<0H B8VFgTHB"\*gLF\H
¦
FJ4 J@
×
$\@L º:gJXD@L
;PG 30, 33A).Indeed, in line with the scriptural narrative of creation, St.Basilpresents the cosmos as a privileged place where people are offered thechance to learn of God’s wisdom and the meaning of their own lives.
DORU COSTACHE
46
 
Without dwelling on the significance of the theme of the world as a school,similar conclusions are drawn by Bouteneff ([2008], p. 136). The Basilianapproach seems to reiterate an Origenist theme —as illustrated by Ori-gen’s own elaborations on the contemplation of physical reality (Louth[1983], pp.59-61) —though rendered on a very positive note, purified of any pessimistic appraisal of the world as a transitory place of punishment.This positive approach might indicate the Cappadocian’s dependenceon the canonical version of the Alexandrian tradition, as represented bySt.Athanasius the Great. For St.Athanasius, the whole creation constitutesa divine syntax, each thing, living or not, representing a written character.All these letters convey —within the book of the universe —one theo-logical message. In his own words,The knowledge of God (
J¬< BgDÂ J@Ø 1g@Ø (<äF4<
) can befurther reached from the visible things (
z"BÎ Jä< N"4<@:X
-
<T<
) since creation, through its order and harmony (
*4
Jy0HJV>gTH 6"Â
D:@<\"H
), signals and loudly declares its Lordand Creator as though through letters (
òFBgD (DV::"F4
—
 Against the Pagans
, 34.4).
1
It is very likely that within the
 Hexaemeron
the theme here consideredsignifies an immediate reaction against the Manichean myth of creation,which presented the material world as brought into being by an evil deityand therefore a manifestation of pure evil (
 Hexaemeron
, 2.4, PG 29, 36BCD)
2
,deprived of a theological dimension. Furthermore, and even more clearly,through the implications of this topic St.Basil opposed the fundamentalatheism of some ancient cosmologies that refused the idea of a purpose-ful universe (
 Hexaemeron
, 1.2, PG 29, 5C-9A; 11, PG 29, 25A-28B)
3
.
APPROACHING THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW WITH ST.BASIL THE GREAT
47
1.St. Athanasius himself seems to have depended on the identical elaborations of Origenin his
Commentary on Genesis
, 1.1-9 and 3.20. See Origen,
Omilii, comentarii ºi adnotãrila Genezã 
, bilingual edition, introduction, translation and notes by Adrian Muraru (Ia
º
i,Polirom, 2006) pp. 464-469, 506-509.2.The frequent references and allusions to Manichean hermeneutics indicate this syncret-istic sect as St. Basil’s main target and not the Arian heresy, as maintained by Bouteneff ([2008], p.131).3.St. Basil considered atheism as the source of inconsistency characterizing the ancientcosmologies: “The wise men of the Greeks produced many treatises about nature (
BgDÂNbFgTH
), but not one theory (
8`(@H
) elaborated by them remained unmoved andunshaken, the latter overthrowing the previous one. […] Ignoring God, they did notconsider that an intelligent cause (
"ÆJ\"< §:ND@<"
) preceded the genesis of everything(
Jy0H (g<XFgTH Jä< Ó8T<
) but they drew their successive conclusions in a manner con-sistent with their initial ignorance about God” (
 Hexaemeron
, 1.2, PG 29, 8A).
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