The age was not without men of merit.  John Chrysostom (345-407) was a golden-tongued preacher of extraordinary courage and tenacity.  Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) was a brilliant theologian, a gifted poet and hymn writer, and a careful expositor.  But as dynamic as both of these men were, they were unable to turn the tide.  In the end they were defeated, deposed, and sent into exile by the opponents of Biblical orthodoxy.

“And thus was he called Ichabod, for the glory of the Lord had departed.”  1 Samuel 4:21

The rising tide of heresy in the latter half of the fourth century very nearly engulfed the entire church.  Most of the Nicean fathers had either passed into glory or were constrained by dotage.  Even the seemingly ageless Athanasius gave up his long struggle contra mundum and in 373 entered into his eternal reward.

The age was not without men of merit.  John Chrysostom (345-407) was a golden-tongued preacher of extraordinary courage and tenacity.  Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) was a brilliant theologian, a gifted poet and hymn writer, and a careful expositor.  But as dynamic as both of these men were, they were unable to turn the tide.  In the end they were defeated, deposed, and sent into exile by the opponents of Biblical orthodoxy.  By all accounts it was the delicate, retiring, and sensitive Basil of Caesarea (329-379) who ultimately stood foursquare against the surging sea and prevailed.

It was into a family of great wealth and distinction that Basil was born.  Of all the great dynasties that mankind has seen emerge out of the morass of convention and commonality, perhaps none has left as permanent an impress on the course of history as that of the Cappadocian Valenzias.  The Habsburgs, the Romanovs, and the Medicis were prodigious in their accomplishments.  The Stuarts, the Bourbons, and the Mings were remarkable for their impact.  The Warburgs, the Rothchilds, and the Carlyles gave shape to one generation after another.  But, the Valenzias outshone them all.

Basil’s grandmother, Macri of Lyyra, his father Battia of Cappadocia, his mother, Emmelia of Athens, his sister, Macrina of Pontus, and his two younger brothers, Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebastea were all numbered among the early saints of the church.  One of his other brothers, Paulus of Ry, became Chief Counsel to the Emperor and still another, Stephen of Alexandria, became the Imperial Governor of Byzantium’s largest colonial region.  Three of his decedents eventually bore the Imperial Scepter and two others ascended to the Ecumenical Throne.  For more than a thousand years some member of this remarkable family held a high position in Constantinople’s corridors of  power and influence.

But as great as his family was, Basil was himself, greater still.  Renowned for his encyclopedic learning, he studied in all the great schools of his day—in Caesarea, Constantinople, Athens, and Rome.  For a short time he practiced law with an eye toward a public career, but he determined to heed a call into the ministry instead.  He helped to establish a Christian community in Annesi where he distinguished himself as a man of extraordinary charity and brilliance.  It was not long before his reputation reached the farthest edges of the Empire: he had a productive theological pen; and he was a man who combined a deep and sincere piety with a tough and realistic practicality; he had a heart for the poor and a passion for justice.  In short order, he was called to the very prominent parish ministry of Caesarea.

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