Basil

Growing up in a very Christian and religious environment, there were certainly a few secular influences that I avoided. While I was not over-protected or anything, I was able to live in a very positive environment. However, St. Basil questions the extent to which this has a positive influence on a person’s spiritual condition. As Christians, we need to understand how much of the world that we are to be a part of, and we need to know when to reject what the world is giving us.
Often, as Christians, we feel that we need to completely isolate ourselves from the rest of the world, keeping to ourselves. While forming a community of Christ-followers is a very important thing, it is also necessary that we take some role in the world for many different reasons. One important one is that we need to share our faith with the rest of the world, as they, too, need to know about God. On page 1, Basil states that “profane learning should ornament the mind, as foliage graces the fruit-bearing tree”. He is stating that it is important that we don’t completely isolate ourselves from the secular world, and by learning about it we can further elevate our own knowledge. In contrast to the teachings of the world, the truth found in God is visibly on a higher level. Basil sees the importance of finding examples of living virtuously in all contexts. Even though other people may have different beliefs, St. Basil believes that we can still look to them for their examples of moral actions. However, when it comes to these people’s gods or religions, Basil believes that we are to completely ignore what they have to say. On the other hand, I would say that we should use these opportunities to lead them to God. While we need to know what is the truth and to what extent we should listen to others, but we still need to use opportunities to spread God’s word. 
St. Basil’s ideas closely relate to some of the other readings so far, and even ones that do not believe in our God. Basil’s thought that we need to gain knowledge by the process of learning in order to ascend relates to Plato’s cave allegory. In order to gain understanding, we need to go through the process of learning and gaining a deeper comprehension. This goes along with Basil’s belief that we need to learn what we can from secular influences such as Plato. Basil’s concept of learning is similar to that of other, non-religious sources, and forms similar conclusions to that of others. His ideas that we need to not completely separate ourselves from the world are helpful for the case of spreading God’s word, and I agree that it is important that we are able to form relationships with those that aren’t Christians.