NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works - Holy Bible Institute

Against those who assert that it is not proper for “with whom” to be said of the Son, andthat the proper phrase is “through whom.”Chapter VII.Against those who assert that it is not proper for “with whom” to be said of the Son, and thatthe proper phrase is “through whom.”16. But their contention is that to use the phrase “with him” is altogether strange andunusual, while “through him” is at once most familiar in Holy Scripture, and very commonin the language of the brotherhood. 817 What is our answer to this? We say, Blessed are theears that have not heard you and the hearts that have been kept from the wounds of yourwords. To you, on the other hand, who are lovers of Christ, 818 I say that the Church recognizesboth uses, and deprecates neither as subversive of the other. For whenever we arecontemplating the majesty of the nature of the Only Begotten, and the excellence of Hisdignity, we bear witness that the glory is with the Father; while on the other hand, wheneverwe bethink us of His bestowal 819 on us of good gifts, and of our access 820 to, and admissioninto, the household of God, 821 we confess that this grace is effected for us through Him andby 822 Him.It follows that the one phrase “with whom” is the proper one to be used in the ascriptionof glory, while the other, “through whom,” is specially appropriate in giving of thanks. It isalso quite untrue to allege that the phrase “with whom” is unfamiliar in the usage of thedevout. All those whose soundness of character leads them to hold the dignity of antiquityto be more honourable than mere new-fangled novelty, and who have preserved the traditionof their fathers 823 unadulterated, alike in town and in country, have employed this phrase.It is, on the contrary, they who are surfeited with the familiar and the customary, and arrogantlyassail the old as stale, who welcome innovation, just as in dress your lovers of displayalways prefer some utter novelty to what is generally worn. So you may even still see thatthe language of country folk preserves the ancient fashion, while of these, our cunning experts824 in logomachy, the language bears the brand of the new philosophy.817 The word ἀδελφότης is in the New Testament peculiar to S. Peter (1 Peter ii. 17, and v. 9); it occurs inthe Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, Chap. ii.818 Φιλόχριστοι. The word is not common, but occurs in inscriptions. cf. Anth. Pal. I. x. 13. ὀρθὴν πίστινἔχουσα φιλοχρίστοιο μενοινῆς.819 χορηγία. cf. the use of the cognate verb in 1 Pet. iv. 11. ἐξ ἰσχύος ἧς χορηγεί ὁ θεός.820 προσαγωγή. cf. Eph. ii. 18.821 οἰκείωσιν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. cf. οἰκεῖοι τοῦ Θεοῦ in Eph. ii. 19.822 ἐν.823 cf. Gal. i. 14.824 The verb, ἐντρίβομαι, appears to be used by St. Basil, if he wrote ἐντετριμμένων in the sense of to beἐντριβής or versed in a thing (cf. Soph. Ant. 177)—a sense not illustrated by classical usage. But the reading of160