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Shorter Rules

St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925

Rule 20: Whether the Man Who is Versed in Sin Must Avoid the Society of the Heterodox and…

Since the apostle said: ‘Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which ye received of us,”¹ generally speaking, for every man every participation in every forbidden thing, whether in thought word or deed, is harmful and dangerous. But those who have lived in sins must be watched even more carefully. First of all, because the soul that has become used to sin is for the most part more prone to fall into it. Then again, just as with those who are weak in body their care demands closer watchfulness, so that they often shun what is beneficial to the healthy, so also in the case of those whose souls are weak there is much more need of watchfulness and care. But how much harm is caused by the society of sinners is shown by the same apostle when he argues thus: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”² But if so great damage arises in the case of those who fall into errors of morals, what are we to say of those who hold depraved notions of God, whose depravity prevents their good health even in other matters, being handed over once for all because of it to dishonourable passions? As is shown in many places but especially by what is said in the Epistle to the Romans about certain men: “And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge God handed them over unto a reprobate mind....”³

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