study of inspired Scripture
St. Basil’s second letter describes scriptural study as instruction about conduct and an encounter with the lives of faithful people. Scripture gives examples through which a person can consider a virtue they need to practice. Reading therefore serves the life before God, including the conduct that remains after the book is closed. Basil, Letter 2, section 3
Basil names Joseph as an example of chastity and Job as an example of endurance; he also considers Moses’s meekness and courage. His attention is specific. A scriptural life can help us consider a particular virtue without flattening every event into a rule that must be copied literally. Basil, Letter 2, section 3
Paul tells Timothy that Scripture makes him wise for salvation through faith in Christ and equips for good works through teaching, correction and training in righteousness. Its purpose includes both truth received and conduct formed. This provides the scriptural setting for Basil’s emphasis upon learning how to live. 2 Timothy 3:14-17
As you read, ask what the passage actually says before choosing a lesson from it. Consider its setting and the person or command it describes. Where it calls for a virtue, examine the responsibility that virtue has in your own life. Basil’s examples direct us toward practice, while accuracy keeps us from turning an imagined detail into instruction. Basil, Letter 2, section 3
A small act can answer what has been read: patient endurance, truthful speech or a refusal to indulge a temptation. The act should follow the text’s teaching and the Church’s received understanding. Scripture’s witness leads toward faith in Christ and good works; Basil invites us to become attentive learners of that life. Basil, Letter 2, section 3
For prayer, use the Lord’s Prayer given by Christ in Matthew 6:9–13.
Sources and edition notes
- Basil, Letter 2. Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 8. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202002.htm.
Scripture references link to these comparison editions: NKJV. Biblical passages are paraphrased. Biblical language within a patristic quotation follows the identified historical English translation.