“In Against Eunomius, we see the clash not simply of two dogmatic positions on the doctrine of the Trinity, but of two fundamentally opposed ways of doing theology. Basil’s treatise is as much about how theology ought to be done and what human beings can and cannot know about God as it is about the exposition of Trinitarian doctrine. Basil rejects Eunomius’s view that humans can know the essence of God. His response requires him to articulate how one can have meaningful knowledge of something that falls short of knowledge of that subject’s essence. He insists that humans cannot comprehend what it is to be God, but that this in no way leaves theology with nothing to say. Rather, the theological endeavor directs the theologian ever more fully to what humans do know of God, especially through Scripture: God’s goodness, justice, wisdom, and benevolent providence. It is these conceptions, which we learn from God’s activities, that provide good theology with its subject-matter.” —“INTRODUCTION”
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments Abbreviations Select Bibliography INTRODUCTION Introduction I. The Significance of the Work Against Eunomius and of this translation II. Basil’s Life: An Overview III. The Historical Context of Against Eunomius The Remote Context The Proximate Context The Aftermath of the Debate between Basil and Eunomius IV. The Polemical and Theological Content of Against Eunomius The Genre of Against Eunomius Synopsis: The Major Arguments of Against Eunomius V. An Inquiry into Basil’s Sources Scripture and Basil’s Exegesis of Scripture Ecclesiastical Authors Philosophical Authors VI. A Glossary of Technical Vocabulary in Against Eunomius VII. A Note on the Text and Translation AGAINST EUNOMIUS Book One Book Two, On the Son Book Three, On the Holy Spirit INDICES General Index Index of Holy Scripture
Item Number: BKCU646C Publication Data: Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011 Format: hardcover Number of Pages: xvi + 207 Dimensions (l × w × h): 21.7 cm × 14.1 cm × 1.8 cm Additional Information: dust jacket ISBN: 978‒0‒8132‒0122‒1
