Basil the Great (330-379) was a Greek bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church. Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa are collectively referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. The principal theological writings of Basil are his On the Holy Spirit, a lucid and edifying appeal to Scripture and early Christian tradition, and his Refutation of the Apology of the Impious Eunomius.