Правило 45 Василия Великого

If anyone, having accepted the name of a Christian, insults Christ, there is no benefit to such a person from the name. Literally understanding the words of the rule: “if anyone insults Christ” (εάν τις ένυβρίζη τόν Χριστόν) would mean that the rule condemns blasphemy (βλασφημία), for which the Holy Scripture threatens sinners by God's vengeance 89. Because of this, the rules do not specifically mention the actual crime. Byzantine legislation strictly punishes the crime of blasphemy, based on the position that, as stated in one of Justinian’s novels, if slander against people is not left unpunished, then those who slander God deserve punishment all the more. In the Slavic Kormcha there is a decree of Byzantine legislation that commands regarding a person who blasphemes God - “let his tongue be cut” 91 . However, medieval Greek commentators give another explanation for the “insult” of Christ, which the present (45) rule of Basil the Great speaks about, namely, that this rule condemns those who do not live in accordance with the divine commandments, but transgress them and thereby insult Christ, whose name they bear on themselves. And this interpretation has its basis. Anyone who bears the name of a Christian, but does not fulfill what Christianity prescribes, and thereby offends Christ, cannot use the grace-filled gifts that the church gives to its faithful, and thus must be considered outside the church. This rule is in a brief form - the 7th moral rule (ηθικός όρος) of Basil the Great, which reads: “even if someone appears to confess the Lord and listen to His word, however, if he does not fulfill His commandments, he must be condemned, despite the fact that by the mercy of the Lord he has received spiritual gifts,” and the relevant passages from Holy Scripture (Matthew 7:21–23; Luke 6:46; Titus 1:16) 92. Basil the Great says the same thing in his interpretation of the prophet Isaiah: “let no one deceive himself with the words: although I am a sinner, I am nevertheless a Christian, and therefore I will not end up in Gehenna, where there are idolaters, for the very name Christian will help me, even if I do not fulfill the commandments of Christ” 93 . Matt. 12, 31; 15, 19; 26, 65; Onion. 5, 21; John 10, 33. Ch. 48, gr. 39, § 46. Regarding punishments for blasphemy in the legislation of Peter the Great, see A. Popov, Court and punishments against faith (Kazan, 1904), p. 287. [Migne, s. g., t. 31, col. 712]. Comment.in Isai. 1, 31 [Migne, s. g., t. 30, col. 229]. You might be interested in: