“Those who, in anger, resort to their own hands to commit murder, or who are guilty of any other acts of violence, if they are in the ministry, should be excommunicated from the communion of the Holy Mysteries; if they are clerics, they should be deposed from their rank. For it is said, ‘all who take up the sword will perish by the sword’ (Matt. 26:52).” (Canon 22, 23 of Ancyra; Athanasius the Great 1; Basil the Great 8, 13, 43; Gregory of Nyssa 6).
Canon 56 of Basil the Great:
“Whoever has committed murder voluntarily and then repented, should be without communion of the Holy Mysteries for twenty years. These twenty years should be divided as follows: for four years he should weep, standing outside the doors of the church, asking the faithful who enter to pray for him, confessing his crime. After four years, he should be admitted among those who listen to the Scriptures and join them for five years. For seven years, he should pray among the penitents and join them. For four years, he should stand only with the faithful, but he should not partake of communion. After fulfilling this, he may partake of the Holy Mysteries.” (Apostolic Canons 65; Trullan 91; Canon 21, 22, 23 of Ancyra; Basil the Great 2, 8, 11, 43, 54, 57; Gregory of Nyssa 5).
Canon 57 of Basil the Great:
“Whoever has killed involuntarily should be without communion of the Holy Mysteries for ten years. The distribution of these ten years should be as follows: for two years he should weep, for three years he should be among those who listen, for four years he should be among the penitents, and for one year he should stand only with the faithful, and then he may partake of the Holy Mysteries.” (Apostolic Canons 65; Trullan 91; Canon 21, 22, 23 of Ancyra; Basil the Great 2, 8, 11, 43, 54, 56; Gregory of Nyssa 5).
This letter from Basil the Great had a long and complicated history, showing the deep division in Christian consciousness regarding this issue. The letter of Basil the Great demonstrates the presence among Christians of an extremely negative attitude towards the military way of life on the one hand, and a sufficiently authoritative opinion on the impossibility of avoiding militarism, and thus the need for economy and a missionary approach on the other. From this letter, it becomes clear that with the mass spread of Christianity in the army (Christianity in the fourth century became the state religion of the empire: everyone and everything was baptized (being a Christian = being a citizen of the empire, and vice versa)!? – already in the contemporary church the proportion of spirit-bearers, i.e., Christians, was very small! The Church had become not a gathering of God’s people, those who repent and move towards Christ, towards the measure of Christ’s growth, but a gathering of careerists and formally baptized with water (and not with the Holy Spirit), at best – catechumens! Although the fruits show that among those baptized with water there were very few catechumens!), this topic moved into the stage of positive discussion – Christian soldiers: who are they, “those who despised God”, as we read in the “Apostolic Canons”, or found by Him?
On one hand, a soldier who became a Christian violates the commandment “do not kill”; on the other hand, a Christian who remains a soldier only “renders to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”. The moral dilemma was so delicate that St. Basil the Great, mentioning “murders that were not considered murders” (a quote that most likely hid the first attempts of “military clergy” (chaplains) to ease their lot), still proposed, as advice, a penance for three years. Thus, the “sacred” military duty becomes, in Basil’s view, just a duty, and one that falls under church prohibition. The negative attitude towards military service did not disappear with the conversion of the emperor to Christianity (the Church in the person of its spirit-bearers at the beginning (fourth century) still fervently opposed the powerful, total secularization that began under the pressure of the machine called the Roman Empire, and later the so-called Byzantine Empire. Unfortunately, over time, the Church capitulated and had to flee to the Desert, while the stewards (bishops, presbyters), who remained to pasture the formal catechumens (baptized with water), obediently sang songs ordered by the emperor-president).
Sulpicius Severus, the spiritual disciple and hagiographer of St. Martin of Tours, in the Life of the saint puts into Martin’s mouth an absolutely wild statement for a Roman officer: “I am a soldier of Christ, and I am forbidden to fight.”
In the fourth century, the topic of spiritual danger and pagan cults is closed. A new military doctrine comes into play. The banner of Christ enters the legions, freeing them from their demonic past. Henceforth, the old army is called to serve the new faith. In an exalted speech dedicated to Constantine, Eusebius of Caesarea asserts that by placing the image of the Cross on the military standards, imperishable and saving, as a sign “of the protection of the Roman Empire and the kingdom of the universe”, the emperor immediately received two victories – over enemies and demons.