What are the views of St. Basil the Great (c. 326–379) on participating in military service?

The answer

St. Basil the Great excluded those who extend their hands to violence from the holies. This sensibility is also found in the writings of his contemporary St. Ambrose of Milan, who insists that priests must not use violence under any circumstance. And when St. Basil talks about the heavenly battle with Satan, he borrows an analogy from the structure and rules of an army.⁹⁷²

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty