Christians as Soldiers of Christ. Military Metaphors in Basil of Caesarea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/sacrascripta.2023.11Keywords:
Basil of Caesarea, Canon 13, military metaphors, asceticism, spiritual warfareAbstract
Basil’s position regarding military service is commonly discussed from the perspective of Canon 13 (Ep. 188.13). The use of military topics and metaphors has received little attention. This paper explores the use of military virtues, metaphors, and scenarios in the Basilian corpus. While these do not refer to war and military duty as such, identifying Christians with soldiers, setting the military as an example of virtuous, committed service can work only when military virtues have a positive significance and combat experiences have a lesson to teach. Nonetheless such texts should not be weaponized to justify wars of aggression.
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