“basil and gregory’s sermons on usury: credit where credit is due”

7/29/2019 Basil and Gregorys Sermons on Usury: Credit Where Credit Is Due

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Basil and Gregorys Sermons on Usury: Credit Where Credit

Is DueBrenda Llewellyn Ihssen

Journal of Early Christian Studies, Volume 16, Number 3, Fall

2008, pp. 403-430 (Article)

Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press

DOI: 10.1353/earl.0.0182

For additional information about this article

Access Provided by Harvard University at 04/05/11 11:03PM GMT

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/earl/summary/v016/16.3.ihssen.html
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Basil and GregorysSermons on Usury:Credit Where Credit Is Due

BRENDA LLEWELLYN IHSSEN

Signicant eatures in St. Gregory o Nyssas sermon Contra usurarios indicatethat the younger brother o St. Basil the Great did not merely imitate thelatters earlier contribution on the destructive and corrosive nature o usury.Gregorys homily has an internal integrity that sets it apart rom BasilsHomilia in psalmum 14. Though they used common themes when writingabout usurythet, alsehood, anxiety, enslavement, heavenly usury, and thenatural worldBasil and Gregory approached these themes dierently, were

inspired and infuenced by dierent Scripture and philosophy, and had dier-ent motives.

The answer to the question posed by Psalm 15, Lord who may abide in

your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?includes those who walk

blamelessly and do what is right, those who speak the truth and do not

slander, those who do no evil to riends or neighbors, and those who despise

the wicked and maintain their oaths even to their own detriment. In addi-

tion to these persons and those who reuse bribes, individuals who do

not lend money at interest are included among the righteous who will

inherit the reuge o the Lord.

While commerce is accepted by the early church as a necessaryi unor-

tunateactor, charging interest on a loan has traditionally been looked

Journal o Early Christian Studies 16:3, 403430 2008 The Johns Hopkins University Press

I would like to thank T. Allan Smith at the Faculty o Theology, University o St.Michaels College, or suggesting that I work with these two texts and or his guid-

ance during the construction o this scholarship; I would like to thank the ReligionDepartment at Pacic Lutheran University or the insightul comments that they madewhen I presented this during our religion colloquium; I would like to thank DavidBrakke and the anonymous reviewers oJECS, whose comments made this articleimmeasurably better; nally, I would like to thank Ellen Muehlberger, whose kind-ness and patient guidance made the editing process almost joyul.


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404 JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES

upon as a particularly oul practice, primarily because it operates under

the guise o helping an impoverished individual; while it appears as i the

usurer is oering someone help in their time o trial, in act they are set-

ting up a condition o debt rom which it is oten unlikely that the desti-tute person will successully emerge. Appearing charitable and altruistic

when preying on those who most need the assistance o their comrades,

the usurer throws an anvil rather than a rope to one who is drowning.

Following the precedent set by Jewish and Greco-Roman law, the con-

demnation o usury is a consistent theme that runs throughout the writ-

ings by early church authors. They write that those who lend money at

interest, who practice usury, or who are usurious in their behavior, are

committing a sin against the individual, against the greater community obelievers, and against God.

In the most recent century scholars have not been shy to write about

commerce and the church, nor about the polarity that individuals previ-

ously believed to have existed between theology and economics. Prior to

the twentieth century, scant academic attention was paid to the economic

musings o early church authors, but as the conspicuous consumption o

the two largest North American countries as well as those in Europe have

driven other, less consumer-driven countries urther into debt, it appearsthat nowas much as always i not more than everthe problems o the

imbalance in world economics need a theological answer. This the early

church authors consistently attempted by addressing rom the pulpit the

radical nancial imbalances that seem always to exist in any given cir-

cumstance, at any given time.

Concerning such nancial imbalances o the rst ew centuries o Christi-

anity, Basil o Caesarea, Gregory o Nyssa, and most notably John Chrysos-

tom are notorious or their condemnation o the behavior and greed o

the wealthy. And like avarice, so too usury is regarded as a particular viceo the wealthy, but one which is considerably more under the control o

the individual, and less the result o the mere circumstances o lie. With

usury, there is no accidental sinning, or small degree o sinning. One

does not inherit the sin o usury as a side eect o inherited wealth; usury

is premeditated and purposeul, a sin o wicked proportions and with

enormous ramications both moral and economic, equally detrimental

or both the individual and society.

In the body o scholarship that addresses money-lending and its relation-ship with the church, Gregory o Nyssas Contra usurarios1has generally

1. Gregory o Nyssa, Contra usurarios (PG44:43352; J 195207), Gregorii Nys-seni Opera, Sermons Pars I, Vol. 9, ed. W. Jaeger (Leiden: Brill, 1967), 195207;


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IHSSEN/BASIL AND GREGORY ON USURY 405

gathered little respect, i any. Though residing in the shadow o Basil o

Caesareas highly infuential and popular sermon on Psalm 15(14)Hom-ilia in psalmum 142signicant actors in Gregorys sermon indicate thatrather than merely parroting Basils earlier contribution, Gregorys homilyon usury has an integrity that sets it apart rom Basils sermon. Thereore

this paper seeks to rehabilitate Gregory with respect to usury scholarship

by highlighting the dierent scriptural and philosophical infuences in his

and Basils work, dierent ways in which they used common themes when

writing about usuryincluding thet, alsehoods, anxiety, the natural

world, and heavenly usuryand possible motives or their sermons.3

The texts under consideration in this essayBasils Homilia in psalmum

14, and Gregory o Nyssas Contra usurariosare two unique sermonsbecause rather than treating usury as a secondary subject which emerges

during the course o a scriptural exegesis on greed, wealth, or poverty,4

the two Cappadocian bishops took usury as a primary subject and com-

posed sermons around it.5

Casimir McCambley, Against Those Who Practice Usury by Gregory o Nyssa,Greek Orthodox Theological Review 36 (1991): 287302.

2. Basil o Caesarea, Homilia in psalmum 14 (PG 29:26480); A Psalm o Davidagainst Usurers (On Psalm 14), in Saint Basil Exegetical Homilies, trans. Sister AgnesC. Way, C. D. P., FC 46 (Washington, DC: Catholic University o America Press,1963), 18191.

3. While I respect gender-inclusive language, I here reer to the debtor(s) and theusurer(s) as males as the original authors o the primary source material do in theirsermons. This is not to say that usurious practices were restricted to men. In a chapterrom the Apostolic Constitutions the author chastises widows who are nancially sup-ported by the church but engage in spiritually immoral economic activity: For whenthey ought to be content with their subsistence rom the Church, as having moderate

desires, on the contrary, they run rom one o their neighbors houses to another, anddisturb them, heaping up to themselves plenty o money, and lend at bitter usury, andare only solicitous about mammon, whose bag is their god. The woman who partici-pated in such activities was dealt with harshly at the discretion o her bishop: But iwithout direction she does any one o these things, let her be punished with asting,or else let her be separated on account o her rashness. The Apostolic Constitutions3.7 (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson eds., The Apostolic Constitutions, ANF7 [Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999], 428).

4. Early church authors who write about usury but not as the primary subjectinclude John Chrysostom, Clement o Alexandria, Cyril o Jerusalem, Gregory o

Nazianzus, Theodoret o Cyrrhus, and Ambrose o Milan.5. Neither sermon stands independently. Basils Homilia in psalmum 14 secundais the second portion o his Homilia in psalmum 14 prima (PG 30:35257), whichaddresses justice, moral thought, philanthropy, and the distribution o goods, ratherthan poverty. See Susan R. Holman, The Hungry Are Dying: Beggars and Bishopsin Roman Cappadocia (Oxord: Oxord University Press, 2001), 11112. Gregorys


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MOTIVES

In his chronology o the works o Basil, Paul Fedwick places Homilia in

psalmum 14, prima and secunda between the years 363 and 378.6

Despitethe rather obvious problem in Basils community o people drowning in

debt, it is dicult to construct an immediate motive or the sermon, as

there is no acute crisis specically reerred to in the text, unlike Basils

other sermons on amine or poverty.

Basils Homilia in psalmum 14 begins with an acknowledgement ohis own debt, describing himsel as a debtor to his audience, a shrewd

portend o his theme. Basil addresses the Psalm specically on this day

because the previous day he had spoken on Psalm 14 in its entirety, but

due to time constraints he neglected to nish his sermon. The actual degree

o signicance o this small passage is indicated by the layering o biblical

passages which uphold a position he has not yet even established: in addi-

tion to quoting twice rom the Psalm which concerns usury, Basil identies

ve additional passages against usury: Ezek 22.12, Deut 23.19, Jer 9.6,

Ps 54.12, and Matt 5.42.

For one text that is allegedly based on another, Gregory o Nyssas

Contra usurarios could not begin more dierently than Basils. While

Basil begins the rst sentence oHomilia in psalmum 14 with reerenceto Ps 147 and subsequent biblical passages, Gregory begins his sermon

with an introduction brimming with a proper Platonic denition o those

who love virtue as living in accord with reason by ollowing benecial

Contra usurarios is one o three sermons delivered during the same period, all owhich address problems o poverty. Only these two sermons o the total ve, however,

address specically the issue o usury. Translations or the two additional sermonsby GregoryDe benefcentia (PG 46:45370) and Quatenus uni ex his ecistis mihiecistis (PG 46:47190) (W. Jaeger, Gregorii Nysseni Opera, vol. 9 [Leiden: Brill,1964])are provided in Holmans The Hungry are Dying. While the ormer o thetwo homiliesOn the Love o the Poor: 1 On Good Worksis entirely devotedto the plight o the poor, it does not specically address usury; the latter sermonOnthe Love o the Poor 2: On the Saying, Whoever Has Done It to One o TheseHas Done It to Meaddressesthe attitude o the Cappadocian population towardsthose who are twice poor (in poverty and ill health; the disease described by Gregoryreers most likely to leprosy).

6. Paul Fedwick, A Chronology o the Lie and Works o Basil o Caesarea, inPaul Fedwick, ed., Basil o Caesarea: Christian, Humanist, Ascetic. A Sixteen-Hun-dredth Anniversary Symposium, vol. 1 (Toronto: Pontical Institute o MedievalStudies, 1981), 910.

7. Basil, hom. in Ps., PG 29:26465.


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laws and ordinances.8 Without these qualities, Gregory claims, an indi-

vidual is unable to live well, excepting he has virtue or a mother and

puts evil to fight.9 The dierences between the texts continue, or while

Basils homily was based on a single line rom Ps 14, Gregorys sermon isthematic; although Gregory quotes Ezek 22.12 in the rst paragraph, he

never returns to it, but instead uses a variety o Scripture passages or his

position, which will be considered below.

Jean Danilou, in Chronologie des sermons de Saint Grgoire de

Nysse, writes that Gregorys sermon was probably delivered during the

month o March, in the season o Lent in 379, and possibly in Caesarea.10

I Basil died January 1 o 379, and i Gregory was delivering this sermon in

Caesarea only a ew months later, perhaps Gregorys audience would havebeen amiliar with the Basils previous sermon on usury. This could explain

why Gregory initially adopts a tone o reluctance and is loath to compete

with his brothers memory, Basil having so recently departed.11 Gregory

states that his metaphorical treatment o the subject matter is that o being

8. Gregory o Nyssa, usur., PG 46:433; J. 195; ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 294. This passage is reminiscent o a passage in Platos Republic,or Socrates claims that virtuous persons are noted by two common characteristics:the rst distinction is that o being inimical to wickedness, and the second is theyavour good deeds (Rep., 4.444de; trans. Shorey, LCL).

9. Gregory o Nyssa, usur., PG 46:433; J. 195; ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 294.

10. Nous pensons donc que ce sermon a t prononc au dbut de Carme de379; Jean Danilou, Chronologie des Sermons de Saint Gregoire de Nysse, Revuedes Sciences Contra usurarios Religieuses, 29 (1955): 348. Jean Bernardi, in his briesection on Contra usurarios, does not support Danilous date unequivocally, but in

light o a more convincing alternative, agrees: Sil est vrai que les voyages de Gr-goire en 380 ne lui permirent gure de prcher, comme lavait tabli Kiekamp, il nesensuit pas ncessairement que lanne 379 puisse seule tre retenue, bien quellesoit assez probable en denitive; Jean Bernardi, La predication des peres cappado-ciens: le predicateur et son auditoire, Publications de la Facult des lettres et scienceshumaines de lUniversit de Monpellier 30 (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France,1968), 26465.

11. Bernardi suggests that this sermon was delivered during the Feast o the FortyMartyrs, when the Cappadocian bishops gathered together in Caesarea to assist theMetropolitan, and, in this case, to elect a successor to Basil. It would not have been

uncommon or Gregory and the others to deliver several sermons at this time: Ilest normal que Grgoire ait eu, au cours de ce sjour, comme ses collgues, et peut-tre plus queux en sa qualit de rre et dhritier spirituel du dunt, loccasion deprcher devant les dles de Csare; Bernardi, La predication des peres cappado-ciens, 265.


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yoked to an ass or ox,12 and asks his audience not to reproach himone

who is skilled in speaking and philosophy and trained in every type o

learning13or having thus ar not spoken on the subject o usury,14 but

promises that now he will descend to the contest at hand.15 However,McCambleys translation okaykaas descend and millaas con-test are only partial translations, in no way incorrect, but not complete. A

uller understanding okayka(rom kaykv/katkv) includes to come,or go down, (esp.) to ght, while a more comprehensive denition or millaincludes contest or superiority, confict, and rivalry, generallya struggle. O course Gregory did not use the opportunity o his Lenten

sermon to one-up his recently deceased brother, but it is noted by more

than one scholar that Gregory oten worked as a spiritual complementto Basil, the grand ecclesiastical organizer. Anthony Meredith notes that

Gregory made a career o composing mystical versions o works already

accomplished by Basil: On Virginity, which he claims is a philosophi-cal underpinning to Basils own Rules, and Gregorys On the Six Days oCreation and On the Making o Man, which Meredith labels as criticalcontinuations o Basils own works in the same areas.16 Jean Danilou

makes a similar claim about Gregorys relationship with Basils scholar-

ship, claiming that Gregorys obligation was not merely to carry on thework o Basil; he has also to bring it to completion.17 Virginia Woods

Callahan18 also states that Gregorys theological output consistently refects

12. Gregory o Nyssa, usur., PG 46:436; J 19596; ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 29495. Additional examples o metaphorical comparisonsto Basil are abundant: The small always appears with the great and the luminousmoon with the radiant sun. . . . A merchant ship is carried along by the wind and asmall boat traverses the deep; trained athletes as well as youths sprinkle sand over

themselves beore wrestling.13. Gregory o Nyssa, usur., PG 46:433; J 195; ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 294.14. Gregory mentions in a letter that Divine Scripture orbids accumulation and

usury as well as the appropriation o another persons possessions, even though it isdone under the pretext o a contract; Gregory o Nyssa, Epistola Canonica AS S.Letoium Melitines Episcopum (PG 45:233B), in McCambley, Against Those WhoPractice Usury, 291.

15. Gregory o Nyssa, usur., PG 46:433; J 19596; ed. McCambley, AgainstThose Who Practice Usury, 294.

16. Anthony Meredith, The Cappadocians (New York: St. Vladimirs SeminaryPress, 1995), 53.17. Jean Danilou, Glory to Glory: Texts rom Gregory o Nyssas Mystical Writ-

ings, trans. Herbert Musurillo (London: John Murray, 1962), 5.18. Saint Gregory o Nyssa: Ascetical Works, trans. Virginia Woods Callahan

(Washington, DC: Catholic University o America Press, 1967).


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a passionate commitment to Basils interests, and notes that Gregorys

Lie o Moses, On the Psalms,19 and On the Canticle o Canticles20 refectGregorys desire to provide philosophical, theological, and mystical inter-

pretation o Basils Rules.21 With this in mind, Gregorys Contra usurariossurely unctions in a similar way to many o the works mentioned above:

as a complementto Basils earlier homily, as an attempt to complete thehomiletic exploration o the topic, and as urther evidence o a theologi-

cal rivalry, which may or may not have existed at least in the mind o

Gregory, i not his brothers as well.22 But in addition to the conception

o competition lies that o responsibility, and Danilou acknowledges the

tension that surely existed between the two andat the same timeclaims

that Gregory was ully aware o the responsibilities that ell to him at hisbrothers death:

It may well have been that Basils dominant personality had, up till then,prevented Gregory rom expressing himsel. . . . But now, with Basilsdeath, Gregory was orced to stand on his own, and thus in the years thatollowed he was able to reveal himsel as he really was.23

This may have been yet another opportunity or Gregory to bring theo-

logical closure to his brothers work; Gregory rose to the occasion.

INFLUENCES

A glut o biblical quotations at the beginning o Basils sermon predicts

a strong scriptural oundation. Surprisingly, this is not the case; nor does

it appear that Scripture is even the sole oundation or Basils homily,

though he uses Scripture liberally throughout his text. Robert P. Maloney

19. Gregory o Nyssa, In psalmorum inscriptions (PG 44:431608) (W. Jaeger ed.,Gregorii Nysseni Opera, vol. 5 [Leiden: Brill, 1962]), in Callahan, Saint Gregory oNyssa, xiii.

20. Gregory o Nyssa, In Canticum Canticorum (PG 44.7551120) (W. Jaeger, ed.,Gregorii Nysseni Opera, vol. 6 [Leiden: Brill, 1962]), in Callahan, Saint Gregory oNyssa, xiii.

21. Basil o Caesarea, Opera Sancti Basilii: Regul Fusius Tractat (PG 31:8901052); in Callahan, Saint Gregory o Nyssa, xiii.

22. Werner Jaeger would never tolerate my suggestion o competition, as he claims

that it is not by chance that Gregorys texts oten complement Basils, or Basil musthave impressed him rom the beginning with the idea that they could prevail only ithey combined their orces, and Gregory clung to this ideal even ater Basils death;Werner Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works o Ancient Christian Literature: Gregory oNyssa and Macarius (Leiden: Brill, 1965), 19.

23. Danilou, From Glory to Glory, 5.


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remarks that Basils text is marked by the infuences o Aristotle24 and

Philo,25 but a close reading o the text indicates that it was Plutarch who

actually made the greatest impression on the Cappadocian bishop. In the

nineteenth century, Eugene Fialon, who noted the similarities, provideda side-by-side examination o seven passages rom Basils Homily andPlutarchs That We Ought Not To Borrow rom Moralia in his tudehistorique et littraire sur Saint Basile suivie de lhexameron.26 Fialonsconclusions, which were partially summarized and then summarily dis-

missed by Stanislas Giet,27 were that prior to delivering his homily Basil

had read and removed portions o Plutarchs treatise against debtors.28

But, Fialon asserts, the bishop does not reproduce Plutarch verbatim, but

introduces some signicant dierences to the text: primarily, Basil removedthe mythology and secular history inserted by Plutarch and replaced it with

biblical truth.29 Despite this structural change, and though Basils homily

is more lively, animated, and sympathetic to the misortunate person,30 it

is in the end, Fialon claims, Plutarch who speaks rom the Christian pulpit

through the mouth o Basil.31 As Basils congregation has received a prop-

erly Christian ethical position concerning wealth and specically usury,

one wonders why such a notion as Basils Greek infuence should be so

oensive to Giet, who works very hard to demonstrate Basils scripturalbasis or his position. Giet dismisses Fialons claim as non sans une exa-

gration vidente,32 but does not produce any other infuence that is more

persuasive, and eventually settles with Basils main passagePs 14and

legislation o the Council o Nicaea. Giet is orced to admit:

24. Robert P. Maloney, The Teaching o the Fathers on Usury: An Historical Study

on the Development o Christian Thinking, VC 27 (1973): 248.25. Maloney, The Teaching o the Fathers on Usury, 249.26. Eugene Fialon, tude historique et littraire sur Saint Basile suivie de lhexa-

meron (Paris: Ernest Thorin, 1869), 19195.27. Stanislas Giet, Les ides et laction sociales de saint Basile (Paris: Librairie

Lecore, 1941), 12122. See also Stanislas Giet, De Saint Basile Saint Ambroise:La condamnation du prt intrt au IVe siecle, Science Religieuse: Travaux etRecherches (Paris, 1944), 120.

28. Fialon, tude historique et littraire sur Saint Basile, 191.29. La mythologie et lhistoire proane ont disparu dans lhomlie pour aire place

la Bible; Fialon, tude historique et littraire sur Saint Basile,195.30. Fialon, tude historique et littraire sur Saint Basile, 195.31. Touteois, il aut le reconnatre: part ces dierences, cest Plutarque qui

parle dans la chaire chretinne par la bouche de Basile; Fialon, tude historique etlittraire sur Saint Basile, 196.

32. Giet, De Saint Basile Saint Ambroise, 120.


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Il est dicile de savoir si Basile a connu quelques-uns de ces textes puisquilnen cite aucun; mais il ne pouvait ignoreret peut-tre avons-nous ici laraison pour laquelle, entre tous les textes de lAncien Testament, il sest

attach au commentaire du psaume 14le dix-septime canon de Nicecontre les clercs adonns a lusure.33

Thereore, in the absence o a more explicit infuence, we can conclude

that Basil was guided by the spirit o Plutarch as he composed his sermon,

with Plutarchs That We Ought Not to Borrow unctioning as a sub-

structure or Basils Homily.Gregorys sources and infuencesas in his other writingsare not

overt; unlike Basils, they do not provide so clear a point o reerence, and

thereore also do not present such a clear oundation or Gregorys sermonas Plutarch does or Basils. As mentioned previously, there is the rather

Platonic introduction, butconsistent or Gregoryhe does not cite his

infuences.34 Aside rom this it is possible to note in this text Gregorys

thoughts on the purication o the soul, themes which are similar to those

ound in his text On the Soul and Resurrectiona document inspired byPlatos Phaedo;35 in Contra usurarios, Gregory writes that the aoremen-tioned humiliations o the usurer will not condemn him merely to the mis-

ery o the present time: Then an ineective repentance accompanied byheavy groans and the inevitability o punishment will seize you. In no way

will gold assist you nor silver deend you since the distribution o loaned

money is a more bitter wrath.36 Gregory presents in Contra usurariosas he does in On the Soul and Resurrection, the notion o the scento the material world clinging to the soul o an individual through death

into the aterlie, contaminating a post-death existence either with urther

pains or diminished pleasure. This echoes Platos notion o the soul being

gripped by the needs o the fesh, with the result that it has been pol-

luted.37 Such a soul, Plato writes, will continue to be saturated by whatis temporal and, as a result, will be dragged back to the visible region.38

33. Giet, De Saint Basile Saint Ambroise, 121.34. Even so, Gregory o Nyssa is by contrast reticent, especially since he is thought

o, rightly, as more deeply imbued with philosophy than his namesake. He may attimes use ideas derived rom philosophy but he does not attribute these ideas to theirsources; Anthony Meredith, Gregory o Nyssa (London: Routledge, 1999), 82.

35. Plato, Phaedo, trans. G. M. A. Grube (Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Com-pany, Inc., 1977), 81, C.36. Gregory o Nyssa, usur., PG 46:449; J 204; ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 300.37. Plato, Phaedo, ed. Grube, 81, C.38. Plato, Phaedo, ed. Grube, 81, C.


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Gregory baptizes this concept and applies it not to gluttony, drunkenness,

or wanton behavior, but to the unjust acquisition o wealth, a sin which

also ollows the sinner into the aterlie; he writes in On the Soul and Res-

urrection: The rich man still sticks to the feshly lie as i with bird-limewhich he has not thoroughly cleaned o even when he has ceased rom

lie. He is still concerned with fesh and blood. . . .39 While Gregory is

not claiming that the usurer is unable to attain salvation because o this

sin, or that these individuals pass into other orms o lie,40 still, through

their grievous actions they have humiliated their own nature and they

will bear this stench into the next stage o existence; the inevitability o

punishment will render the usurers gold and silver acquired in lietime

undamentally useless. But even beyond this next immaterial existence,there are no guarantees or the avaricious in this lietime; Gregory, in his

Fourth Homily in his Commentary on Ecclesiastes, sadly concludes thatthe abundance o wealth does not guarantee that one will thereby become

wise, sagacious, refective, learned, a riend o God, prudent, pure, passion-

ree, detached and aloo rom all that draws him towards evil.41 Gold,

Gregory notes, might transer its luster to our bodies, but it cannot cover

a deormity or heal an ailment, and its malevolent qualities will ollow

the soul beyond the grave.

SCRIPTURE

Basil does not comment urther on the ve biblical passages previously

mentioned, but ater quoting them launches straightaway into his tirade

against the practice o usury. Enlisting a passage rom Proverbs 5a prov-

erb which cautions against adulteryand drawing directly rom Plutarch,

Basil encourages the poor to tap into all available resources beore dip-

ping into anothers well:

39. Gregory o Nyssa, S. Gregorii eposcopi Nysseni De Anima et resurrectione cumsorore sua Macrina dialogues (PG 46:11160) (J. G. Krabinger, ed. [Lepzig, 1837]);On the Soul and Resurrection, trans. Catharine P. Roth (New York: St. VladimirsSeminary Press, 1993), 7576. Both Meredith and Roth note the infuence whichPlatos Phaedo had on Gregorys On the Soul, not only in Gregorys staging o thetext, but in the relationship between the Platonic immortality o the soul and theChristian resurrection o the body. Roth, On the Soul and Resurrection, 75; Mer-

edith, Gregory o Nyssa, 25; 85.40. Grube, Phaedo, 82, E.41. Gregory o Nyssa, hom. 4, rom homiliae in Eccl. (PG 44:615754), ed. W.

Jaeger, Gregorii Nysseni Opera, In Ecclesiasten homiliae, vol. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 1986),195442, in Commentary on Ecclesiastes (trans. Stuart George Hall and Rachel Mori-arty; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1993), 78.


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Drink water out o thy own cistern.42 That is, examine your ownresources, do not go to the springs belonging to others, but rom your ownstreams gather or yoursel the consolations o lie. Do you have metal

plates, clothing, beasts o burden, utensils o every kind? Sell them; permitall things to go except your liberty.43

In the course o his text Basil also directly quotes Prov 19.1744 and Matt

5.42.45 Though his sermon is a direct response to a passage o Scripture,

he does little with it other than to use these passages to make it immedi-

ately clear that Scripture encourages giving rather than lending to those

in need, and that those who lend to the poor are lending to God.

Gregorys use o Scripture is more subtle than Basils; urging the poor

to take the example o John the Baptist and scorn usurers as a broodo vipers,46 Gregory stretches the comparison to urther warn the poor

against a poisonous serpent47 which preys on the soul o the needy.

Gregory directly quotes Matt 5.42Do not reuse him who would bor-

row rom youthen oers an allusion to the parable o the rich man

and Lazarus ound in Luke 16.1931, a parable which emphasizes the

hard-heartedness o the wealthy even against the wisdom o Moses and

the prophets. Gregory reminds his congregation that they are blind to the

42. Prov 5.15.43. Basil, hom. in Ps., PG 29:269; ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 184.44. Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, in Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG

29:277); Basil does not nish the line, which reads: . . . and will be repaid inull.

45. The Lord has laid a clear command on us, saying: And rom him who wouldborrow o you, do not turn away. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:265); ed. Way, OnPsalm 14, 182.

46. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J 196); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 295. Reerence to Matt 3.7: You brood o vipers! Who warnedyou to fee rom the wrath to come?

47. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J 196); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 295. Reerencing the appearance o the serpent in Gen 3.1,Gregory uses this metaphor or greed in his Commentary on Ecclesiastes as well:

Perhaps that is why the sense o pleasure is called in scripture a serpent(Gen3.1), which has the natural ability, i its head slips into a chink in the wall, topull all the rest o its coils in behind it. What do I mean? Nature makes housingnecessary or humans, but pleasure, slipping by means o this need into the clink

in the soul, turns the need into an immoderate extravagance in beauticationand transers the urge to that. . . . Ater this she comes to a peak o arroganceand winds pride around her, astening under her the dominion o over her ownkindred. She drags her coil o desire or money over these, and with that neces-sarily goes license, the hindmost part and tail o the bestiality o pleasure. (hom.4, ed. and trans. Hall and Moriarty, 82)


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needs o those seated at their gates: The destitute person is making suppli-

cation and is seated outside your door.48 Hearing this, the audience might

well remember that while starving and covered with sores licked by dogs,

destitute Lazarus sits at the gates o an unnamed rich man, who dresses innery and easts daily on ne linens.49 As Gregory exclaims, in his need

he seeks your wealth to bring relie,50 those listening might recall that

while both men died, only one received comort in the aterlie, while the

otherthe selsh and unnamed rich manreceived the torment o Hades

or his outrageous comportment.51 Gregory warns his audience that their

reusal to aid those who are in need will do more than provide stability

or the bankbook o the wealthy, but it will, in act, turn him [the poor]

into an adversary.52 This is exactly how the rich man now views Lazarus,who resides under the protection o Abraham and enjoys the comorts that

the rich man sought to eradicate during their time on earth.

Scriptural allusions do not end or Gregory, and he uses them to chilling

eect; ater these accusations he digresses rom the usurer as the object o

his wrath, and ocuses his attention on the activity o money-lending itsel.

In what can only be described as an eerie passage, Gregory personies

money-lending as an evil, beast-like spirit, rapacious and valueless, delight-

ing in banquets and producing that which it has not tilled. Continuingthe image he writes that Money-lending has alternative, i not unnatu-

ral, tools: . . . a reed or a plough, papyrus or a eld, and black ink or

seed.53 His description grows disturbingly vivid, and usury is described as

praying or afiction and misortune, despising people contented with

their possessions, watching courts o law to nd distress in persons,

and using their wealth as dangled bait as a wild beast to those in distress

in order to ensnare them in their need. This evil daily counts its gain

and cannot be satised, and is disconcerted by gold hidden in a persons

home because it remains idle and unprotable.54 Vaguely reminiscent o

48. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J 195); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 295.

49. Luke 16.1921.50. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J 195); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 295.51. Luke 16.2226.

52. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J 195); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 295.53. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:437; J 197); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 295.54. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:437; J 19798); ed. McCambley, Against

Those Who Practice Usury, 29596.


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Gods warning to Cain that I you do not do well, sin is lurking at the

door; its desire is or you, but you must master it,55 Gregorys device

demonstrates the all-consuming nature o an evil which so penetrates the

soul o the money-lender that the person no longer exists as a being,but as a personication o evil.

THEFT

According to Basil, the act o usury begins with deceit, proo alone that

the usurer knows that such actions are oul, and thereore must ormulate

a ruse in order to bring about the desired result: Calling down curses on

himsel and swearing that he is entirely without money . . . he is believedin his lie because o his oaths, and incurs the guilt o perjury as the evil

gains o his humanity.56 Basil presents his audience with a miscellany o

alsehood in his description o the initial transaction: rst, the usurer claims

that he has no money; second, the usurer has taken oaths to this end; third,

the usurer claims that the money on his person is actually not his own,

but is the possession o a riend or relative to whom the unds have been

entrusted in order to remove himsel rom the act o usury itsel; nally,

the amount o interest is lowered or the debtor, as the usurer eignsthat he is taking a lossno doubt on account o his great humanitarian-

ism, or which the debtor should be appropriately grateul.

Gregory considers usury as thet in a manner less obvious, but deeper

and more disturbing, and more in keeping with the Jewish understand-

ing o thet. Gregorys concern with the nature o the body results in an

application o unique metaphors that combine the valuable properties o

metal and fesh. In Contra usurarios he makes reerence to the usurersbody as already being composed o copper and gold,57 implying that

seeking more o the same is equivalent to consuming the fesh o the poor,who still share in nature i not in wealth. I one cannot give up ones own

fesh, but yet still must remit that which they cannot give, then it can only

be taken or grasped. Those who are greedy and grasping take not just a

possession, but opportunity or lie; this can be the equivalent not only to

thet, but to murder as well.58

55. Gen 4.7b.56. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:26568); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 18283.57. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:441; J 200); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 298.58. Over and above the economic loss involved in thet and the moral eect on

the individuals concerned, the rabbis were clearly aware o its eect on the social and


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For Gregory the body itsel isor an individuala sign o great or-

tune, a valuable possession; despite this, some still all into need, and

those who are petitioned or more are asked to recall that the need or a

loan is a request or mercy cheerully bestowed,59 not an opportunity toorce poverty on those who are rich.60 He reminds the congregation o

the scriptural injunctions against usury in the Pentateuch,61 as well as that

o Luke 6.3462 and the parable o the unjust servant,63 and addresses to

the congregation the same question he addresses the usurer in Sermon 5,Forgive us our debts, as we orgive our debtors: How can you pray likethis, oh usurer? How can you make a request rom God in good conscience

since he has everything and you do not know how to give?64 One must

consider that the inability o the lender to give is the least o his sins, asthe prayers o the lender consist o contemptuous words, paid or by

the misortunes, tears and lamentations o others.65 That Gregory con-

siders usury to be equivalent to thet is more explicit in another sermon

delivered within the same time period as Contra usurarios:

Starve to death your greed or Mammon! Let there be nothing in yourhouse that has been acquired by violence or thet. What good is it to keepmeat out o your mouth i you bite your brother with wickedness? . . .

Judas, ater all, asted along with the eleven, but ailed to master his greed;his salvation gained nothing by asting.66

moral abric o society. Judaism has always maintained that evil actions and wrong-doing, such as thet and robbery . . . are not only the problem o the parties con-cerned. Rather, by perverting concepts o what is permitted and what is orbidden,they eventually undermine the whole basis o society. Permissiveness in regard to thetsooner or later aects mans religious behaviour, his sexual mores, and even his regardor the sanctity o human lie. Meir Tamari, With All Your PossessionsJewish

Ethics and Economic Lie (New York: The Free Press, 1987), 41.59. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:441; J 201); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 298.60. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:441; J 200); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 298.61. Exod 22.25: I you lend money to my people, the poor among you, you shall

not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest rom them.62. Luke 6.34: I you lend to those rom whom you wish to receive, what credit

is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.63. Matt 18.2834.


Who Practice Usury, 298.66. Gregory o Nyssa, De benefcentia, (PG 46.453); ed. Holman, Concerning

Benefcence, in Holman, The Hungry are Dying, 193.


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Though the concept o usury is not explicit in this brie passage, what

is evident is that Gregory draws a parallel between unjust business prac-

tices and grave sin. Dishonest prots is a clear indicator o usury and

can reer either to excessive interest or to other orms o thet, such asovercharging on products or services, or selling aulty goods. Taking a

bite out o ones brother is reminiscent o one o the Hebrew words

or usury, nsk,meaning a literal bite, as in the debtor being bittenby the lender.67

ANXIETY

Basil begins by characterizing the debtor as a poor man, one who is su-ering misortune beyond his desert.68 But as his sermon develops the

debtor is portrayed in a new light. This debtor is not one who is experi-

encing nancial distress and who wishes to temporarily ease a pressing

economic burden, but instead one who has borrowed and adopted a lav-

ish liestyle which he could not otherwise aord, and the moneyhis or

nothas attracted the usual bottom-eeders o society:

He who has received the money is at rst bright and cheerul, gladdened

by anothers prosperity and showing it by the change in his lie. Histable is lavish, his clothing more costly, his servants are charged to dressto something more brilliant; there are fatterers, boon companions,innumerable dining-hall drones.69

But the situation grows desperate as the time or payment approaches,

until he sees in his sleep the money-lender standing at his head, an evil

dream; i he is awake, his whole thought and care is the interest.70 Basil

67. Edward Neueld, Prohibitions against Loans at Interest in Ancient HebrewLaws, Hebrew Union College Annual, 26 (1955): 355.

68. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:265); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 182.69. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:268); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 183.70. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:268); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 184. The opening scene

o an early th century b.c.e. Hellenic comedy by Aristophanes, Nubes, detly depictsa man torn by just such ears. Basil, having enjoyed a classical education, might pos-sibly have been amiliar witheven perhaps infuenced bythis powerul openingscene: Damn! Im so bitten up by all these blasted bedbuggering debts and bills and

stable-ees, I cant catch a wink. And all because o YOU! Yes, you and your damnedhorses! Gigs, rigs, nags, ponytails . . . Hell, horses everywhere! Horses in your dreams!But me? Im bankrupt, broke, ruined, waiting or the end o the month when all thesedebts come due. Aristophanes, Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Clouds, The Birds,Lysistrata, The Frogs, trans. William Arrowsmith, Richard Lattimore, and DouglasParker (New York: Meridian Classic, 1962), 23.


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charts the unhappiness o the debtor in detail, and describes the descent

o disquiet into which the debtor sinks as the time o payment draws near,

not to mention the loss o personal reedom. The time or payment draws

near and yet the debtor is no richer than he was prior to the loan; conse-quently, he becomes sleepless, anxious, covetous, and heavy-hearted, ear-

ing each knock on the door and each barking dog. Desperately, he begins

to ormulate lies to deer the usurer.71 Gregorys depiction o anxiety is

analogous in content, but dierent with respect to point o view:

Why do you harm yoursel with anxiety by calculating days, months, thesum o money, dreaming o prot, and earing the appointed day whoseruitul harvest brings hail? . . . Such an impatient disposition results in

obsession. I the usurer has loaned to a sailor, he would sit on the shore,worry about the winds movement, constantly examine their diminishmentand await the report o a wreck or some other misortune. His soul isdisquieted whenever he sees the sea angered; he examines dreams andreveals his disposition through the events which had transpired during theday.72

This passage is similar to Basils,73 but Gregory once again complements

his brothers work by walking the same idea down a dierent road: here

he presents the usurer rather than the debtor as the one suering undueanxiety over the loan.74 Further, the loss o personal reedom is also relevant

to the usurer as he becomes enslaved by the notion o repayment, earul

that circumstances will orestall the coveted event. Gregorys suggestion

that the usurer loses personal reedom through his occupation echoes that

o Seneca, who wrote o the enslavement o wealthy to greed:

He who craves riches eels ear on their account. No man, however, enjoysa blessing that brings anxiety; he is always trying to add a little more. Whilehe puzzles over increasing his wealth, he orgets how to use it. He collects

71. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:26869).72. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:44041; J 199200); ed. McCambley, Against

Those Who Practice Usury,297.73. But, as the money slips away, and the advancing time increases the interest

due, the nights bring him [the debtor] no rest, the day is not bright, nor is the sunpleasant, but he is disgusted with lie, he hates the days which hasten on toward theappointed time, he ears the months, the parents, as it were, o his interest. Basil,

hom. in Ps. (PG 29:268); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 18384.74. This point is noted by both Holman in The Hungry are Dying, 123, and Malo-ney in Teaching o the Fathers on Usury, 250; both observe that Gregory ocuseson the usurer while Basil concentrates on the position o the debtor, an observationthat serves as another example o how Gregorys refection on this topic presents analternative to Basils sermon.


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his accounts, he wears out the pavement in the orum, he turns over hisledger,in short, he ceases to be a master and becomes a steward.75

I one were to note infuence, clearly Senecas greedy individual who isentrapped or enslaved by wealthor the idea o potential wealthis closer

to Gregorys usurer who covets the day o payment, than Basils debtor,

who dreads that very same day.

THE NATURAL WORLD

Basil employs metaphors rom the natural world to describe the human

whom envy has made venomous:76 the usurer is lower than a dog, unable

to be satised once he receives what he wants; the usurer is a beast towhich the debtor has yoked himsel; and the rapid growth o interest is

compared to the ecundity o rabbits:

They say that hares bring orth and at the same time both rear young andbecome doubly pregnant. So also with money-lenders, the money is lentout and, at the same time, it reproduces rom itsel and is in a process ogrowth. You have not yet received it in your hands and you have beenrequired to pay out the interest or the present month.77

Because o this interest that gives birth to interest, Basil ollows the ertil-

ity o the hares with a brie consideration o the ertility o money. Unlike

the natural world in which animals and plants bring orth their ospring

in due time, tkow78 is perverse because the ospring is born immediately,immediately begins to consume, and never grows to maturity:

Seeds spring up in time; and animals in time bring their ospring toperection; but the interest is produced today, and today again beginsits breeding . . . . Everything that increases, when it reaches its proper

size, stops increasing; but the money o avaricious men always increasesprogressively with time. The animals, ater transmitting to the ospring thepower o bearing, desist rom conception; both the money o the money-lenders and the accruing interest produce, and the capital is redoubled. Donot, then, make trial o this unnatural beast.79

75. Seneca, Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, vol. 3 trans. Richard A. Gummere(London: William Heinmann, 1967), 110.

76. See also Homilia de invidia (PG 31:37186), Saint Basil: Ascetical Works, trans.

Sister M. Monica Wagner, FC 9 (Washington, DC: Catholic University o AmericaPress: 1950), 469.77. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:273); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 187.78. Tkowbirth, ospring, interest, or oppression. H. G. Liddell and R. Scott,

LSJ1803.79. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:276); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 188.


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Gregory also draws rom nature to describe the usurer, whom he likens

to birds soon to be caught ater greedily easting on seed, or hunters who

deplete each populated valley o wildlie, then move on with their nets to

the next ertile valley.80 The imbalance in the human world contrasted withthe natural balance in the wild kingdom is a theme adopted rom the Greek

philosophers, who would hold the two domains up against one another or

unavorable comparisons.81 Despite his intellectual background, however,

Gregory does not dwell on this as much in Contra usurarios as he does inConcerning Benefcence, where he writes movingly about the rape o thenatural world to gorge the maw o the sel-indulgent:

Our gourmands do not, in act, even spare the bottom o the sea, nor do

they limit themselves to the sh that swim in the water, but they also bringup the crawling marine beasts rom the ocean bed and drag them to shore.One pillages the oyster banks, one pursues the sea urchin, one capturesthe creeping cuttle sh, one plucks the octopus rom the rock it grips, oneeradicates the mollusks rom their pedestal. All animal species, those thatswim in the surace waters or live in the depths o the sea, all are broughtup into the atmosphere. The artul skills o the hedonist cleverly devisetraps appropriate to each.82

In both texts, Gregory addresses the human desire to hungrily harvestthe world o its creatures to satisy sensual pleasures o the belly, likening

the usurer to those who hunt creatures who might otherwise have lived

peaceully, residing saely in beauty and comort, had it not been or the

arrival o one with a perverted hunger, a net, and a hook.

HEAVENLY USURY

Basil ends his homily with an invective against the rich. He questions i

the rich among his listeners have noted that he has encouraged the poorand destitute that it is better to remain in such a condition than to put


81. One example can be ound in Plutarch, who writes: Swallows do not borrow,ants do not borrow, creatures upon which natures has bestowed neither hands, rea-son, nor art; but men, with their superior intellect, support through their ingenuity

horses, dogs, partridges, hares and jackdaws in addition to themselves. . . . Do younot see how many opportunities are oered on land and in the sea? Plutarch, Devitando aere alieno, Moralia, vol. 10, trans. Harold North Fowler (London: WilliamHeinemann, 1936), 32931.

82. Gregory o Nyssa, De benefcentia (PG 46.46568); ed. Holman, The Hungryare Dying, 198.


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themselves at the mercy o such afictions as are accompanied by interest.

Basil sadly notes that had his parishioners been heeding Scripture83 that this

sermon would be completely superfuous,84 and he encourages his richer

parishioners to place themselves in a more avorable position beore Godby lending to the poor without hope or repayment. Maloney, in The

Teaching o the Fathers on Usury, writes that Basils closing resembles

Philos On the Virtues, but it is dicult to nd overt infuence. Perhaps thebest example is Philos statement that i they are unwilling to give, they

should at least lend with all readiness and alacrity, not with the prospect

o receiving anything back except the principal.85 It appears that the two

are in agreement o spirit, and one could make the claim that Basils allega-

tion that . . . i you are seeking additional payment, be satised with thatrom the Lord. He will pay the interest or the poor,86 shows evidence o

Philos infuence. This ollows rom Basils exhortation or the miserly to

consider that their ree git to the poor is yet a loan, and here he quotes

Prov 19.17 as assurance: Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,

and will be repaid in ull.87 This is more explicitly stated in his Homiliadicta tempore amis et siccitatis:

O poor one, lend to the rich God. Believe in the one who is at all times

taking up the cause o the aficted in his own person and supplying gracerom his own stores. Trustworthy guarantor, he has vast treasuries all overthe earth and sea. In act, even i you were to demand back the loan in themiddle o the ocean, you would be guaranteed to receive the capital withinterest.88

Basil brings to a close Homilia in psalmum 14 by telling his wealthyparishioners to Give the money, since it is lying idle, without weighing

it down with additional charges, and it will be good or both o you.89

By this statement Basil is attempting to change the perception that moneythat is notworking or the wealthy is an unaithul asset, and as such willlead the wealthy to their ruin. But God, assures Basil, is not inhumane,

and will no more let the rich go to ruin than the poor. Loans, Basil would

83. Here Basil quotes Luke 6.35: But love your enemies; do good, and lend,expecting nothing in return. In Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:277).

84. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29.277).85. Philo, De virtutibus, On the Virtues, vol. 8, trans. F. H. Colson (Cambridge,

MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 14.83.86. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:277); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 190.87. Prov 19.17; Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:277).88. Basil, Homilia dicta tempore amis et siccitatis (PG 31:321A); ed. Holman,

The Hungry are Dying, 190.89. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:27780); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 190.


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claim, are not the enemy; it is interest that crushes the poor, or interest,

which you take, is ull o extreme inhumanity.90

Basil concludes with sure-re proo o the wickedness o the usurer and

his interest (those who say the bitter is sweet and the sweet bitter91)pointing out that like the wicked master in the parable, the usurer claims

an unnatural place in society as one who reaps without sowing, claims the

seed along with the produce, and harvests the ruits along with demands

or the principle.92 But the benet o hope-lled Christianity, in this case,

is evident, or the bishop closes his homily with an appeal or the wicked

to do good and not to turn away rom those in need, in order that when

it might be their time to pass the wealthy might also depart to the Lord

with good hope, receiving there the interest rom your good deeds.93Gregory, or his part, worked diligently to unlock active ear in the

lender, a ear which would alter the lenders erroneous belie that paradise

might be gained by placing a corruptible bond on a poor person; instead,

he writes to the lender, construct a pledge with God, the caretaker o an

incorruptible bond.94 Gregory urges his listeners to put away the need or

written contracts and bonds, or the only written contract with which

one need be concerned is the Gospels, and thoseGregory claimswere

written and authorized by our persons, not one; in addition, the oath othe Gospels is not limited to one transaction, but is relevant rom the time

o the salvation o Christians.95 Through the contract o the Gospels the

Christian has the assurance o a pledge o paradise and a worthy token.96

Although Basil and other authors reer to such heavenly usury, Gods

role is never more explicit as in Gregorys sermon. By means o a bold

twist o terminology that seems almost proane, Gregory reers to God

90. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:280); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 190.

91. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:280); rom Isa 5.20: Ah, you who call evil goodand good evil, who put darkness or light and light or darkness, who put bitter orsweet and sweet or bitter!

92. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:280). This reading equates the usurer directly withthe wicked master (or harsh man)who also believed that he was entitled to collectsomething or nothing, who was told by his servant that the servant did nothing onbehal o his master because I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where youdid not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was araid, and Iwent and hid your talent in the ground. Matt 25.2425.

93. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:280); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 191.


Who Practice Usury, 296.96. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:440; J 198); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 296.


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as the Debtor, the xresthw;97 now this is not a debtor as eitherwe or Gregorys audience understands the term, but one who has control

over the entire world and its possessions, much like a parent over a child

and all that the child possesses. In Gregorys text, God is a debtor (par-ent) who will wisely attend to the lenders needs in entirety i the lender

(the child) will only give abundantly rather than demand what is not his

to secure.98 While Basil urges the human debtor to see that the sun is

ree,99 Gregory takes the other direction, and beseeches the lender to

consider as their pledge the present bounty o the earth, and all which is

inheritable rom God:

Consider the skys expanse, examine the boundless sea, learn rom the

earths magnitude and count the living beings which it nourishes. . . . Donot demand gain but give bountiully and without corruption. Then youwill see God who abundantly dispenses his grace.100

Gregory oers as insurance the promise Christ makes to Peter, who won-

ders or what benet have they let their homes and amilies behind: And

everyone who has let houses or brothers or sisters or ather or mother or

children or elds, or my names sake, will receive a hundred-old, and will

inherit eternal lie.101 Gregorys rhetorical question to the lenderAre

you aware o his generosity and goodness?102leads to statements onthe philanthropy o a God who reely gives to those who are charitable;

Gregory contrasts this with the miserable condition o the money-lender

who gives and spends his days and nights agonizing over the return.103


98. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:440; J 198); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 296. Gregory also uses this language in Sermon 5 on theLords Prayer: For the orgiving o debts is the special prerogative o God, since itis said, No man can orgive sins but God alone. Gregory o Nyssa, Oratio 5 (PG44:117894); Philip Scha and Henry Wace, eds., Gregory o Nyssa: The LordsPrayer; The Beatitudes, ACW 18 (Washington, DC: Catholic University o AmericaPress, 1954), 71.

99. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29.276); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 188.100. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:440; J 199); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 297.101. Matt 19.29; Gregory leaves out the implication that individuals will receive

their hundred-old at the consummation o Gods purpose, rather than during theindividuals earthly lietime.102. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:440; J 199); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 297.103. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:44041; J 199200); ed. McCambley, Against

Those Who Practice Usury, 297.


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Gregorys nal statement to usurers is a call to alter their pernicious ways,

but he ends on a less hopeul note than did Basil, or Gregory acknowledges

those in his audience who are murmuring under your teeth104 about his

words; such persons, he claims, are likely to shut their doors to personsin need.105 Faced with this likelihood, he advocates the lending o money

without interest or simple acts o charity, but his nal words on the subject

are that any who do otherwise are hostile to God.106

In a postscript, Gregory acknowledges that he will not address the

plight o the debtor, and notes in a humble and demure statement that

our holy ather Basil has already quite suciently covered this prob-

lem.107 Humble and demure is oten the light within which Gregory is

cast in relation to Basil, the bright star o this amous Cappadocian amily,who oten commands the greatest attentionand the evidence suggests

that Gregory would consider this to be appropriate. But, i one accepts

that the phrase mentioned earlier, to descend to the contest at hand108

might imply a vague competition, as well as the statements o the scholars

above that Gregory took on the task o completing andcomplementinghis brothers works, then one might grant that Gregory set himsel a task

o moving the Christian ethical position on usury beyond his brothers

previous homily on the same subject. While Gregory cannot have wantedto openly contend either with Basil or his memory, still, when the oppor-

104. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:452; J 206); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 301. This gives us some impression as to how Gregorys ser-mon was received.



107. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:452; J 206); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 301. This is not the rst time Gregory adds a statement whichdraws the attention rom himsel to his brother, and Anthony Meredith points to Greg-orys opening passage in On Virginity, which Meredith considers to contain a directreerence to Basil; Gregory writes: Since it is customary or everyone to participatemore eagerly in a pursuit in which he sees someone especially outstanding, we have,o necessity, recalled the glorious unmarried saints; and since descriptions aimed atestablishing virtue are not as powerul as the living voice and the actual examples owhat is good, we have, perorce, reerred at the end o the discourse to our most rev-erend bishop and ather as the only one capable o teaching these things. We did not

mention him by name, but the treatise reers to him enigmatically, so that the advicebidding the young man to ollow in the ootsteps o one who has gone beore themmay not seem incomprehensible to those who have access to the treatise. Gregory oNyssa, De virginitate (PG 46.317416); in Callahan, Saint Gregory o Nyssa, 7.

108. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:433; J 19596); ed. McCambley, AgainstThose Who Practice Usury, 294.


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tunity presented itsel, he rose to the occasion, orin his own words

descended. I one accepts that Gregory sought to improve upon what

Basil had done beore, to write more thoroughly, to address other angles

o the same problem which accompany usury and the sins which accom-pany such a oul deed, then quite clearly Gregorys homily on usury can

be understood and appreciated as it is, a sermon with its own integrity,

independent o Basils homily.

CONCLUSION

Without question, Basil and Gregory wrote two distinct sermons on usury,

with dierent audiences in mind and with dissimilar oundational infu-ences. Their variances are evident rom the rst paragraphs: Basils hom-

ily addresses usury because he is completing a two-part homily on Ps 14,

whereas Gregory is specically addressing the subject o usury; this dier-

ence alone would indicate that they would take two distinct approaches.

Basil begins by humbling himsel and introduces the subject as one o

such importance that he dare not neglect it or the sake o his audience.109

Gregory, on the other hand, begins reluctantly, indicating that he does

not wish to have to speak on this subject, either because Basil has alreadycovered the material, or perhaps he knows that his audience will not be

receptive. Previously noted actors also indicate that his reluctance might

have been a rhetorical device contrived or appropriate humility beore

adding additional teaching to what is clearly a pressing issue in the com-

munity o Caesarea.

With respect to Scripture, Gregory relies more on Scripture than does

Basil, who reerences a ew passages and moves on. In all, there are

twenty-six scriptural reerences in Gregorys homily,110 to Basils seven-

teen reerences,111 with ve passages in common. The passages whichthey share in their homiliesDeut 23.1920; Ezek 22.12; Ps 14.5; Prov

19.17; Matt 5.42are even used in dierent ways: Gregory cites passages

against usury ound in Deut 23.20 and Ps 14.5,112 and Basilwhose entire

109. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:26465).110. Exod 16.15, 17.6, 22.2425 (twice); Deut 23.20; 1 Sam 1.20; Ezek 22.12; Isa

6.10; Amos 8.45; Ps 14.5; Prov 19.17; Matt 3.7, 5.42 (twice), 6.12 (twice), 18.2834(twice), 19.27; Luke 1.13, 2.7, 6.3438 (our times), 8.13.111. Deut 23.19; Ezek 22.12; Ps 14.5 (twice), 54.12; Prov 5.15, 19.17, 23.27,

24.34, 29.13; Jer 9.6; Isa 5.20; Judg 14.14; Matt 5.42 (twice), 7.1617 (twice).112. Have you heard them [the usurers] cry out in one voice about love and com-

passion saying To your brother you will not lend interest (Deut 23.20), He has not


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homily is based on the text ound in Ps 14.5utilizes Deut 23.19 at the

beginning o his homily, reerring to it as evidence o the law against the

practice.113 Both brothers enlist Ezekiels condemnation in 22.12 within

the rst paragraphs, with neither o them quoting the prophet directly,but merely paraphrasing his words.114 Prov 19.17 is merely alluded to in

Gregorys text,115 while Basil quotes more specically;116 either way, they

both use the Proverbs passage as assurance to the lender that God will be

bountiul to the one who extends his ortune to include others. The nal

Scripture that the brothers have in common is Matt 5.42, again alluded

to in Gregory,117 and cited clearly in Basil.118 Gregory, whose homily is

more heavily saturated with Scripture, quotes little, while Basil quotes

Scripture explicitly. In addition, Gregory provides allusions to Genesis119

given his money on usury (Ps 14.5) . . . . Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:44849;J 204); ed. McCambley, Against Those Who Practice Usury, 300.

113. You shall not lend at interest to your brother, and to your neighbor. Basil,hom. in Ps. (PG 29.264).

114. This sin has been censured in many places in Scripture. Indeed, Ezekiel places

it among the greatest o evils to take interest or any prot, and the law expresslyorbids it. Basil, hom. in Ps., 29.265; ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 181; Hence we areassembled here today to hear Gods commands and to pay close attention to theprophet. He slew the evil o money-lending whose child is usury and has banishedrom his lie money gained through trade. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:433; J195); ed. McCambley, Against Those Who Practice Usury, 294.

115. Make a pledge to him who is immortal and believe in his reliable bondwhich can never be sundered. Do not demand gain but give bountiully and withoutcorruption (Prov 19.17). Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:440; J 199); ed. McCam-bley, Against Those Who Practice Usury, 297.

116. Whenever you have the intention o providing or a poor man or the Lordssake, the same thing is both a git and a loan, a git because o the expectation ono repayment, but a loan because o the great git o the Master who pays in hisplace, and who, receiving trifing things through a poor man, will give great thingsin return or them. He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth to God. Do you notwish to have the Lord o the universe answerable to you or payment? Basil, hom.in Ps. (PG 29:277); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 190.

117. On the other hand we have the Apostles admonition concerning personswho give not through charity but out o greed. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:437;

J 198); ed. McCambley, Against Those Who Practice Usury, 296.118. The Lord has laid a clear command on us, saying: And rom him who

would borrow o thee, do not turn away. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:280); ed. Way,On Psalm 14, 191.

119. Gen 4.7b; Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:437; J 19798); ed. McCambley,Against Those Who Practice Usury, 29596.


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and Luke,120 which allows his audience to recall the Scriptures, even i he

does not specically reer to them.

In addition to Scripture, their philosophical infuences are dierent, as

well: Plutarch or Basil and Plato or Gregory. While scholars claim theinfuences o Aristotle and Philo on Basils homily, Fialons assessment

that Plutarch parle dans la chaire chretinne par la bouche de Basile121

should be included in the conversation about classical infuences on Basil,

with the addendum that in no way does Basil simply mimic the philoso-

pher butas Fialon also correctly noteddimpled Plutarchs text with

a distinctly Christian impression, providing the more hopeul Christian

conclusion. Overt evidence o Gregorys philosophical infuence is prima-

rily limited to his introduction, but though he begins with a denition ovirtue his Scripture-bound text clearly indicates that he understands either

the limits o his subject, his audience, or both. Less candidbut perhaps

still present in subtle waysis the infuence o Phaedo, which shapesGregorys concerns or the aterlie o the usurer, tainted by his actions in

this present world.

Even as it is clear that the brothers made use o similar themes in their

sermons, they approached the same themes dierently. First, both authors

claim that usurers are well aware o the sinulness o their actions. However,their methods o revealing the known sin o the usurer are completely die-

rent: in Basils homily the usurer concocts an elaborate ruse, pretending to

have no money and then producing the money by sheer coincidence, proo

that he knows that his actions are despicable;122 Gregory, however, notes

that the usurers turn Scripture upon one another, chastising each other as

i the reproos were meant or someone else and not or themselves.123 The

brothers both compare usurers to murderous physicians who treat their

ill patients by aficting them with urther illnesses, wounding when they

should be healing, and killing under the mien o oering a balm.124 Basil

120. Luke 16.1931; Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J 196); ed. McCambley,Against Those Who Practice Usury, 295.

121. Fialon, tude historique et littraire sur Saint Basile,196.122. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:268); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 182.123. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:448; J 204); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 300.124. A person burning with ever has an unquenchable thirst and earnestly begs

wine. Although the cup given him out o charity satises or a while, the raging eversoon returns with a ten-old vengeance. Thus whoever lends money to a destitute personintensies his misery instead o relieving distress. Do not live with eigned charity nor


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and Gregory each describe anxieties that abound when money is lent or

borrowed, but while Basil portrays the mental woes o the one in debt,

Gregory ocuses on the distress o the usurer.125 Both draw rom the natural

world to describe the characteristics o the usurer, yet while Basil describesthe usurer in eral terms, like a wild beast,126 Gregory casts the usurer in

the role o the hunter o the beasts themselves, destroying nature and the

ree abundance o God.127 Finally, similar to other early church authors

who touch on the subject o usury, Basil asserts the primacy o heavenly

usury (redemptive alms) to that o any interest gained on earth;128 Greg-

ory does this as well, but pushes this concept urther, reerring explicitly

to God as a debtor.129

While we know how Gregorys homily was receivedFor I know youare murmuring under your teeth,130less is known about the reception

o Basils homily. It is entirely possible that the greatest impact o these

homilies was more literary than philanthropic or spiritual, as their themes

and styles were adopted by other early church authorscontemporary to

the Cappadocians and others in later yearswho touched on the problem

o usurers and usury in their own homilies.131 The act that Gregory delive-

be a murderous physician with the pretence to heal or prot; i you do this, a persontrusting in your skill can suer great harm. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:436; J197); ed. McCambley, Against Those Who Practice Usury, 295. Coming or assis-tance he ound hostility. When searching or antidotes, he came upon poisons. It wasyour duty to relieve the destitution o the man, but you, seeking to drain the desertdry, increased his need. Just as some physician, visiting the sick, instead o restoringhealth to them would take away even their little remnant o bodily strength, so youalso would make the misortune o the wretched an opportunity o revenue. Compar-ing both poverty and debt to illness or disease, Basil oers the ollowing prescriptionto his audience: No one treats wounds with another wound, nor cures an ill with

another ill. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:268); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 183.125. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:44041; J 199200); ed. McCambley,

Against Those Who Practice Usury, 297; Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:269); ed. Way,On Psalm 14, 184.

126. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29.27376); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 187.127. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:445; J 202); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 299.128. Basil, hom. in Ps. (PG 29:277); ed. Way, On Psalm 14, 190.129. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:440; J 198); ed. McCambley, Against Those

Who Practice Usury, 296.

130. Gregory o Nyssa, usur. (PG 46:452; J 206); ed. McCambley, Against ThoseWho Practice Usury, 301.131. O the early authors who wrote on the topic o usury, St. Ambrose showed

the greatest dependence on Basils text in his De Tobia (PL 14:75994). See Giet,De Saint Basile Saint Ambroise; see also Maloney, The Teaching o the Fatherson Usury.


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red what was a second homily on the same subject or the same city does

indicate the possibility o the extreme hard-heartedness o the wealthy in

Caesarea,132 even though we know through Gregory o Nazianzus that

Basil was able to work near miracles among the stingy in his see.133Though there is no dispute that the two usury homilies o Basil and

Gregory have elements in common, it has been shown that those elements

were applied quite dierently; this, coupled with Gregorys own veiled

statements, suggests that Gregory had no intention o merely parroting

what was done previously by his elder brother, but that he set himsel to

the task o moving the Christian ethical position on usury beyond Basils

previous homily on the same subject. Basils homily ocused on three prob-

lems: the usurer, the poor who borrow rather than make do, and thosewho borrow to continue living at a certain standard. Unlike Basil, signi-

cant actors indicate that or Gregory this homily was not merely about

the practice o usury, but about the moral concerns that stretch beyond

the needs o the present. For Gregory, the usurer ails to act in a way

that properly mirrors the godly potential that is dormant in all humans,

a moral ailure that he ties to the usurer in additional texts beyond this

homily.134 For Gregory, proper understanding o shared humanityeven

i that understanding comes by an evaluation o economicscan resultin a goodness that moves both individuals involved towards the original

state o purity; in this, acts o benevolence towards the needy clariy the

divine image.

Clearly Gregory o Nyssa sought to improve upon what Basil had done

beore him: to write more thoroughly on the same subject, and to address

other angles o the problems which accompany usury and the subsequent

sins which accompany such a oul deed. Skirmishes with the stingy were

just one o the many problems that bishops aced, but the unortunate and

unorgiving social conditions o Cappadocia required that even the mostesoteric o bishops turn himsel momentarily rom the theological battles

being waged about the doctrines o orthodoxy to attend to more nite

132. Justo Gonzlez notes: It is impossible to know how this particular sermono Basil was received. We do know that he and a number o his colleagues were ableto induce signicance liberality, at least rom a number o their parishioners. JustoGonzlez, Faith and Wealth: A History o Early Christian Ideas on the Origin, Sig-

nifcance, and Use o Money (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990), 176.133. Gregory o Nazianzus, Oration 43: The Panegyric on St. Basil(PG 36:494606)(Philip Scha and Henry Wace, eds., Cyril o Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen, NPNF27 [Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishing, 1997]), 395422.

134. Gregory o Nyssa, Oratio 5 in Grae, 7185; see also Gregory o Nyssa, hom.4 in Hall and Moriarty, 7677.


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concerns. These homilies show that both Basil and Gregory attended to

the immediate and genuine concerns in their communities, and they did

so with considerable theological and philosophical refection. Further, in

no way did they simply mirror what had been said beore them; instead,each used infuences readily available, improving upon what was said pre-

viously. A statement by Hans Urs von Balthasarwho was writing about

Gregory o Nyssa at the timesums up neatly the connections which exist

between the one who infuences, and the one who is infuenced:

Never will looking backward towards the sources and the basic elementsreplace a looking orward that endeavors to grasp the synthesis that hasbeen eected, the irreducible novelty that has been attained. The ruit o

these labors, even though it is contained in the roots, is always somethingnew and unexpected.135

With their own styles intact and their infuences accounted or, both Basil

o Caesarea and his younger brother Gregory o Nyssa contributed and

urthered the reasoned teaching against usury, in new and unexpected

ways.

Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen is Visiting Assistant Proessor o Religious

History/Historical Theology at Pacifc Lutheran University

135. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Essence and Thought: An Essay on the ReligiousPhilosophy o Gregory o Nyssa, trans. Mark Sebanc (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,1995), 17.

“basil and gregory’s sermons on usury: credit where credit is due”

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