It’s odd. We’ve never had a King Basil in England. We’ve had Harolds, Henrys, Edwards and Georges in abundance but never a Basil. What makes this odd, you ask? Well, we take Christian names from the Bible and we use the word ‘church’ and the Scots use the word ‘kirk’ to describe a building for worship. Both come from the Greek word ‘kurios’ meaning ‘lord’. But ‘Basil’ no. It was, however, a favoured name in the early Church and understandably so. Why? Well, in Mark’s Gospel we read that Jesus appeared on the scene with a message (Mark 1.15). He said: ‘The time has arrived. The kingdom of God is upon you. Repent, and believe the gospel.’ The word ‘kingdom’ translates a Greek word ‘basileia’.
So here we have the message of Jesus. It might be thought that this would be a word to be treasured – rather like Abba, meaning Father. Parables about the kingdom are plentiful in the Gospels, and the kingdom has a central place in the Lord’s Prayer. ‘Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it,’ says a popular hymn. Not quite so well-known is another hymn ‘Jesus is King and I will extol him’.
Perhaps we shy away from the word ‘kingdom’ because it suggests a nation, as in UK, and even a territory. It might be different if we used the word ‘kingship’. This makes sense if we are talking about parables and the rule or reign of God in our everyday lives. The pundits tell us there is good ground for using the word in this sense.
With that in mind, we might consider the merits of ‘Basil’ when we have the responsibility of naming a child. As I was putting this piece together somebody pointed out to me that Basil is a herb. And so it is. And it so happens (which I had never before realised) that the herb therefore means ‘royal’. It comes from ‘basilikos’.
As I said to Humpty, ‘You learn something every day.’ I have a hunch that Humpty knew all about this and was letting me down lightly. At least he didn’t mention Basil Brush. Boom boom!
ST BASIL’S CATHEDRAL
Moscow’s Orthodox Cathedral is named after St Basil. With its nine domes it is a prime tourist attraction. You will have to search long and hard to find a Church of England parish church of that name but at Fenham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne St James’s and St Basil’s church is welcoming Chris Mason of the BBC to be one of a panel answering questions on Friday 16 July.
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Opmerkingen