The Use of the Epistle to the Colossians by St. Basil the Great in the Treatise Περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/sacrascripta.2023.12Keywords:
God, Holy Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Colossians, St. Paul, On the Holy Spirit, St. Basil, New Testament TheologyAbstract
Throughout his treatise on the Holy Spirit, St. Basil of Caesarea argues that the Holy Spirit must be given the same honor and glory as the Father and the Son. The baptismal formula (Matthew 20:19) is crucial to his argument, for it reveals that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son. The Spirit participates with the Father and the Son in all divine activity, from the creation of angelic beings to the final judgment. To demonstrate the divine status of the Holy Spirit, St. Basil uses more than four hundred quotations, allusions, echoes, and parallels from the New Testament text. For St. Basil, the place and role of the Epistle to the Colossians in his treatise On the Holy Spirit proves that the argument of demonstration is a deep reflection of New Testament theology.
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