In this book Olga Druzhinina analyzes St. Basil's understanding of the church, paying special attention to his Trinitarian approach to its life. Although the role of God the Trinity in the life of the church occupies a considerable place in St. Basil's thought, as Druzhinina demonstrates, it is a subject that has not previously been addressed by scholars. The analysis offered here of the life of the church as grounded in Trinitarian philanthropy provides fresh insights into St. Basil's understanding of the worldwide fellowship of believers. Druzhinina also brings into focus another neglected aspect of St. Basil's ecclesiology--his perception of the church as a two-dimensional, heaven-and-earth mystical reality with a strong bond between both parts (the heavenly and the earthly). ""It is often said that ecclesiology had not yet emerged, as a focus of coherent theological reflection, in the early church, especially the East. But the early Fathers certainly had a working theology of the church which permeated all their thought. It can be retrieved by painstaking research into a wide range of sources and genres. This is what Dr. Olga Druzhinina has done for St. Basil the Great. Without her work we would probably not be aware of Basil's sophisticated Trinitarian theology of the church, with the golden thread of love and divine-human philanthropy running through it. For Basil, the church is a communion, a 'fellowship of love,' into which we are drawn through participation in the holy mysteries of the Liturgy. We will not be able to look at the achievement of Basil and patristic ecclesiology in quite the same way again."" --Paul Avis, Visiting Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Exeter; editor-in-chief of