29 September 2005

Patristic Quote for the Day

The Lord describes in the Gospel the pattern of life we must be trained to follow after the (baptismal) resurrection: gentleness, endurance, freedom from the defiling love of pleasure, and from covetousness. We must be determined to acquire in this life all the qualities of the life to come. To define the Gospel as a description of what the resurrectional life should be like seems to be correct and appropriate, as far as I am concerned. - St. Basil the Great, *On the Holy Spirit*, par. 35

Note that this expresses powerfully the patristic insight into ethics: living the values of the age that is to come in this present age!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We must be determined to acquire in this life all the qualities of the life to come....

I've been thinking about this in relation to marriage and virginity. In your opinion would it be fair to say, that marriage foreshadows the life to come typologically, and virginity foreshadows it, physically (in actuality)? Or am I way off base here? Ps. I realize that he is addressing morality more than anything...so forgive me if I've diverged too far...it just made me start thinking...(always a dangerous thing to do :) )

William Weedon said...

I think I would put it like this:

Marriage is indeed a type of the life to come; but
Virginity does not so much foreshadow the life to come as it is the struggle to anticipate that life already now, to live it out here in this world.

This, by the way, offers quite a different light on monasticism. Not a way of life chosen to EARN heaven, but a way of life chosen to LIVE heaven.

Anonymous said...

but a way of life chosen to LIVE heaven.

I like that....

Personally, I wish the lutheran church encouraged monastic communities. I think it would be a great benefit to the church and would ease the burden of many married people, trying to devote their lives to the church and their families all at one time. Just think, entire community devoted to nothing other than to go where the church calls them. They would exist to carry out the needs of the church. I also feel that it would be a wonderful opportunity for undividuals...those who chose a life of virginity, could live out their lives in a community of like-minded people...what a great support system. And it wouldn't just be for them...of course they would be the staple of these communities...but everyone should be welcomed...they could be set up for anyone who needed that sort of thing at that point in their life.