Divine beauty in the texts of St. Basil the Great in connection with his teaching on the knowledge of God

Starting from the 18th century, the question of beauty was in the sole jurisdiction of aesthetics. Since the 1960s, along with the aesthetic discourse, a theological discourse on beauty, called “theological aesthetics”, originates. An urgent task of Orthodox theological aesthetics today is to comprehend the place of beauty in Holy Tradition and, in particular, in Eastern patristics. The article deals with the concept of divine beauty in the texts of St. Basil the Great, an outstanding representative of Eastern patristics. Based on the analysis of specific contexts, two theses are put forward. First, the concept of divine beauty in the texts of the saint has nothing to do with the aesthetically beautiful, but, on the contrary, follows from his theology. Second, divine beauty is identified with the knowable in God, that is, with the divine energies