Letter 250: There has been some delay in my receiving your answer to my former letter; but it has reached me through the well-beloved Strategius, and I have given thanks to the Lord for your continuance in your love to me. What you have now been kind enough to write on the same subject proves your good intentions, for you think as you ought, and you counsel...

Your reply to my earlier letter was delayed, but it reached me through the beloved Strategius, and I give thanks to the Lord for your continued affection. What you have now written confirms your good intentions -- you think rightly and counsel me to my benefit. But I see that if I tried to respond to everything in your letter, I would go on far too long. So I will say only this: if the blessing of peace amounts to nothing more than the word "peace," it is absurd to go around selecting individuals who may enjoy it while countless others are excluded. But if making peace with wicked men under the appearance of unity actually does the kind of damage an enemy would do to everyone who consents to it, then consider carefully who these men are that have been welcomed into the fold -- men who harbor an unrighteous hatred against me. There is no need for me to name them. They have been invited to Sebasteia. They have taken charge of the church. They have served at the altar. They have distributed their own bread to all the people, been proclaimed bishops by the local clergy, and been paraded through the whole district as saints in communion. If we must embrace the faction of these men, it makes no sense to start at the edges rather than deal with the ringleaders. If we are to count no one a heretic and shun no one at all, then why do you yourself separate from the communion of certain people? But if some must be shunned, then let me be told by these paragons of consistency to which party the men they imported from Galatia belong. If these things grieve you, put the blame for the division where it belongs. If you judge them unimportant, then forgive me for refusing to become the leaven of false doctrine. If you are willing, stop trafficking in plausible arguments and openly confront those who are not walking uprightly in the truth of the Gospel.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Patrophilus, bishop of Ægæ. There has been some delay in my receiving your answer to my former letter; but it has reached me through the well-beloved Strategius, and I have given thanks to the Lord for your continuance in your love to me. What you have now been kind enough to write on the same subject proves your good intentions, for you think as you ought, and you counsel me to my gain. But I see that my words will be extending too far, if I am to reply to everything written to me by your excellency. I therefore say no more than this, that, if the blessing of peace goes no further than the mere name of peace, it is ridiculous to go on picking out here one and there another, and allow them alone a share in the boon, while others beyond number are excluded from it. But if agreement with mischievous men, under the appearance of peace, really does the harm an enemy might do to all who consent to it, then only consider who those men are who have been admitted to their companionship, who have conceived an unrighteous hatred against me; who but men of the faction not in communion with me. There is no need now for me to mention them by name. They have been invited by them to Sebasteia; they have assumed the charge of the Church; they have performed service at the altar: they have given of their own bread to all the people, being proclaimed bishops by the clergy there, and escorted through all the district as saints and in communion. If one must adopt the faction of these men, it is absurd to begin at the extremities, and not rather to hold intercourse with those that are their heads. If then we are to count heretic and shun no one at all, why, tell me, do you separate yourself from the communion of certain persons? But if any are to be shunned, let me be told by these people who are so logically consistent in everything, to what party those belong whom they have invited over from Galatia to join them? If such things seem grievous to you, charge the separation on those who are responsible for it. If you judge them to be of no importance, forgive me for declining to be of the leaven of the teachers of wrong doctrine. Wherefore, if you will, have no more to do with those specious arguments, but with all openness confute them that do not walk aright in the truth of the Gospel.

[Πρός: Πατροφίλῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ τῆς ἐν Αἰγεαῖς ἐκκλησίας] Ὀψὲ μὲν ἐδεξάμην τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς προτέροις γράμμασιν ἀποκρίσεις, ἐδεξάμην δʼ οὖν ὅμως διὰ τοῦ ποθεινοτάτου Στρατηγίου, καὶ εὐχαρίστησα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι διαμένεις ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀγάπῃ. ἃ δὲ νῦν κατηξίωσας περὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποθέσεως ἐπιστεῖλαι, ἀπόδειξιν ἔχει τῆς ἀγαθῆς σου προαιρέσεως, ὅτι φρονεῖς τὰ δέοντα, καὶ συμβουλεύεις ἡμῖν τὰ λυσιτελῆ. Πλὴν ἀλλʼ , ἐπειδὴ πάλιν ὁρῶ μακρότερόν μοι τὸν λόγον γινόμενον, εἰ μέλλοιμι πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπεσταλμένων παρὰ τῆς σῆς συνέσεως ἀποκρίνεσθαι, τοσοῦτον λέγω· ὅτι τὸ τῆς εἰρήνης καλόν, εἰ μὲν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τῆς εἰρήνης περιγράφεται μόνῳ, καταγέλαστόν ἐστι τὸν δεῖνα καὶ τὸν δεῖνα ἐκλεγομένους, τούτοις μόνον μεταδιδόναι τοῦ εἰρηνεύειν, ἑτέρους δὲ μυρίους ἀποκλείειν τῆς πρὸς τὸ καλὸν κοινωνίας· εἰ δὲ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς βλαβεροὺς συμφωνία ἐν εἰρήνης προσχήματι τὰ τῶν πολεμίων τοὺς προσδεχομένους ἐργάζεται, σκόπει τίνες εἰσίν, οἷς ἀνέμιξαν ἑαυτούς, οἳ τὸ ἄδικον μῖσος ἐμίσησαν ἡμᾶς, ἀλλʼ οἱ τῆς μερίδος τῶν ἀκοινωνήτων ἡμῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ δέομαι νῦν ὀνομαστὶ μεμνῆσθαι. οὗτοι καὶ ἐκλήθησαν παρʼ αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν Σεβάστειαν, καὶ παρέλαβον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ἐλειτούργησαν ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου ἄρτου παντὶ μετέδωκαν τῷ λαῷ, ἐπίσκοποι κηρυσσόμενοι παρὰ τῷ ἐκεῖ κλήρῳ καὶ διὰ πάσης τῆς χώρας ὡς ἅγιοι παρʼ αὐτῶν καὶ κοινωνικοὶ παραπεμπόμενοι. ὧν εἰ χρὴ ἑλέσθαι τὴν μερίδα, καταγέλαστόν ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν ὀνύχων ἄρχεσθαι, καὶ μὴ αὐταῖς αὐτῶν ταῖς κεφαλαῖς προσδιαλέγεσθαι. Εἰ μὲν οὖν οὐδένα δεῖ καθόλου αἱρετικὸν νομίζειν οὐδὲ ἐκτρέπεσθαι, ἀντὶ τίνος, εἰπέ μοι, σεαυτὸν ἀφορίζεις σὺ καὶ ὑποστέλλῃ τήν τινων κοινωνίαν; εἰ δέ εἰσί τινες φευκτοί, κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀκριβείας λόγον εἰπάτωσαν ἡμῖν, οἱ πάντα ἀκριβεῖς, τῆς ποίας εἰσὶ μερίδος, οὓς ἐκ τῆς Γαλατίας πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς προσηγάγοντο. Ταῦτα εἰ μὲν ἄξια λύπης σοι καταφαίνεται, τοῖς αἰτίοις τούτων λογίζου τὸν χωρισμόν· εἰ δὲ ἀδιάφορα κρίνεις, σύγγνωθι ἡμῖν μὴ καταδεχομένοις τῆς ζύμης γενέσθαι τῶν ἑτεροδιδασκαλούντων. ὥστε, εἰ δοκεῖ, τῶν εὐπροσώπων ἐκείνων ἀφέμενος λόγων, ἐν πάσῃ παρρησίᾳ ἔλεγχε τοὺς μὴ ὀρθοποδοῦντας πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου.