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The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa
... Karakteristik kedua ialah adanya unsur epektasis dalam berjumpa dan mencinta Allah sebagaimana ia ulas di dalam De Vita Moysis. Epektasis adalah progresivitas rasa rindu di dalam jiwa kepada Allah yang tanpa henti, sebab semakin seseorang mengenal-Nya semakin pula ia merindu pada-Nya (Mateo-Seco & Maspero, 2010). Kekhasan ketiga ialah penekanan cinta yang trinitaris. ...
Protestantism is considered a movement for the desacralization of Christianity which tends to prioritize doctrinal knowledge over spiritual experience. In fact, the Protestant Christian movement is seen as the fruit of the Enlightenment era. In fact, the aspect of affection or feeling does not have a place in this tradition, let alone spirituality and mysticism. The term 'mysticism' is even considered something evil. However, history seems to be filled with church mystics, some of whom influenced the thinking of the reformers. Those who understand the theology of mystical love are recorded as having a very deep experience of faith with God. This article seeks to provide a critical appreciation of the mysticism of love in church history and how this understanding contributes to the spirituality of Christians today. The method used is literature study, involving primary and secondary sources. The results show that some of the thoughts of the mystics of love can be applied today in the Protestant tradition, including Evangelicalism, and some cannot.
... Description supplants explanation. In other words, the focus changes from the fixed essence to the fluctuating appearance (Maspero, 2010). In this sense, non-representational paradigms and the posthuman consumer echo Christian ontology in that it never concerns itself with reaching and fully knowing the essence, which is to say that, at the most fundamental dogmatic level, there is no tenable distinction between ontology and epistemology anymore (cf., Giesler & Venkatesh, 2005;also Hietanen et al., 2014). ...
In this study, we critically examine the ongoing adoption of various posthumanist influences into the fields of marketing and consumer research from a theological perspective. By conducting a theological-historical assessment, we propose that it is not posthuman notions of human/technology relations, nor their broader context in the emerging non-representational paradigms, that mark radically new disruptions in the continuing restructuring of the disciplines of marketing and consumer research. Instead, we argue that what is taking place is an implicit adherence to a contemporary form of age-old Christian dogma. As a radical conjecture, we thus propose that an identification of certain similarities between Christian dogma and the grounds for various posthumanist frameworks suggest that posthuman thought may well herald the global dissemination of a far more elusive, authoritarian, and hegemonic system than that which posthumanists typically claim to have abandoned. Consequently, we elaborate on implications to developments in marketing thought.
... St. John Climacus recognized the real possibility of universal salvation, yet among the saved he distinguished those advanced in the spiritual life (having attained a passionless state) from those favorable to God: "That all should attain to complete detachment is impossible. But it is not impossible that all should be saved and reconciled to God." 39 fallen angels is also interesting: "if pride turned some of the angels into demons, then humility can doubtless make angels out of demons. So take heart, all you sinners." ...
La Vita di Macrina, scritta da Gregorio di Nissa, è una biografia filosofica che presenta la realizzazione del percorso verso la santità di una donna esemplare: Macrina. Attraverso la scelta di una vita filosofica, Macrina è giunta alla vita angelica (βίος ἀγγελικός), superando le debolezze della natura femminile, mentre grazie alla contemplazione è diventata simile agli angeli, entrando a far parte schiere angeliche. Durante tutto questo percorso, le esperienze vissute da Macrina sono state essenziali all’incontro finale con Cristo: l’ascesi filosofica conduce all’ascesi mistica. Questo aspetto emerge molto bene nella descrizione della morte di Macrina. In questa occasione, Macrina manifesta il suo divino e puro amore per lo Sposo invisibile, così che l’ascesi filosofica assume adesso un volto: il volto di Cristo. L’anima di Macrina è stata colta dall’impulso appassionato di avvicinarsi a Dio, e non ha mai cessato di tendere verso colui che è sempre stato davanti a lei: il Cristo Sposo. Macrina ha crocifisso le sue passioni per crocifiggere se stessa con Cristo. Questa doppia crocifissione ha portato al rifiuto delle passioni del saeculum, per aspirare all’amore divino.
This article presents a comparative analysis of the use of the terms κοινωνία and μετουσία in Trinitarian, Christological and soteriological as well as sacramental contexts in Gregory of Nyssa's Oratio catechetica magna. As a result, we can discover that Gregory consciously and precisely distinguishes between the concepts under discussion and treats the term κοινωνία as a bridge connecting the disputed topics of dogmatic theology. Moreover, the analysis shows that the Bishop of Nyssa's use of the term κοινωνία betrays his desire to transcend the dialectical understanding of the relationship between unity and difference. Instead of this conception originating in Platonism, Gregory seeks a synthetic account that preserves the autonomy and independence and, simultaneously, the possibility of true unity between God and man. The conclusion of the analysis is the need for further research into the use of the concept of κοινωνία in the works of the youngest of the Cappadocian Fathers.
This article examines Philo's philosophical interpretation of the three theophanies in Exodus, which would, centuries later, continue to be considered by the great thinkers responsible for developing negative theology, such as Gregory of Nyssa and Dionysius the Areopagite. Although Exod 33:11 clearly states that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as if someone were to speak to his own friend, according to Philo, the lawgiver neither saw the face of God, nor learned the proper name of God, nor was he able to comprehend the essence of God. These very statements became the inspiration for later apophaticism. The present article seeks to establish to what extent Philo's theses were influenced by Plato's philosophy or by later Middle Platonism, and to what extent Philo, by commenting allegorically on the Pentateuch, becomes the initiator of new ideas hitherto unknown in philosophical discourse. In the course of the analyses, three great questions of apophatic theology are discussed: 1. the unnameability of God; 2. the unknowability of God's essence; and 3. the knowability of God's nature by grace.
Introduction. Traditionally, several books of the OT are ascribed to King Solomon, but, according to Jewish tradition, he wrote only three biblical books, viz.: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. According to early Christian, early Byzantine and medieval Armenian interpreters, this order of books in the Solomon trilogy is not accidental. Although in the Christian tradition, this order of books has been attested already from the first centuries, nevertheless, today there are discrepancies and not only about the order of the books in question. Each of these books brings forth a certain semantic and symbolic meaning. They are connected with each other, being, as they were, “steps of the stairs” on the way to knowledge, not to mention the fact that each of these books occupies its worthy place in the treasury of human thought. Methods and materials. These circumstances make the appeal to questions related to Solomon’s tripartite, which are worthy of research using a method of a comparative analysis of various sources. Such a conviction is supported by new data concerning the issues under discussion provided by Armenian sources. Among these testimonies аn important role will be assigned to the use of unpublished yet manuscripts on the topic. A special place is occupied by the codex, which contains an Armenian medieval isagogical collection of the late 12th – early 13th centuries. Analysis. It was compiled by the abbot of the Sanahin monastery Grigor, son of Abas, and is known under the provisional name Book of Causes. The full title of the book is attested only in one manuscript – the most important and earliest from all that have reached us, stored in the Mashtots’ Matenadaran under the number 1879. This medieval textbook includes isagogical questions or prolegomena (presented in Armenian manuscripts under different names, mainly “cause”, “beginning” – hence the Book of Causes) to the all canonical books of the Bible and to the so-called “subtle” writings. The “subtle writings” are certain works that include the writings of both “external” (in relation to Christianity) as well Christian (mainly – “church fathers”) authors. Being of a philosophical and religious character they serve sort of a connecting link, and not only between the OT and the NT. The “subtle writings” were irreplaceable when using philosophical ideas to prove or refute one or another dogmatic position or postulate. As far as can be judged today, this title of certain works has survived only in Armenian; there is no doubt, however, that it had its prototype, at least in the Greek tradition. From the above it follows that the Book of Causes is significant also by the fact that it contains mainly Armenian translations of the introductions to the Bible commentaries of the Church Fathers. Along with them, the Armenian original prolegomena to interpretations are presented here as well. In this manual, there are several prolegomena related to Solomon’s trilogy. Results. These chapters not only confirm the data of early Christian and early Byzantine authors, but also provide some interesting evidence that has not come down to us from other sources (as far as I know). I hope that suggested here analysis of Armenian sources, especially the testimonies from the unpublished isagogical textbook called the Book of Causes will contribute to the international knowledge concerning the discussed questions.
In this book, Nathan Howard explores gender and identity formation in fourth-century Cappadocia, where pro-Nicene bishops used a rhetoric of contest that aligned with conventions of classical Greek masculinity. Howard demonstrates that epistolary exhibitions served as 'a locus for' asserting manhood in the fourth century. These performances illustrate how a culture of orality that had defined manhood among civic elites was reframed as a contest whereby one accrued status through merits of composition. Howard shows how the Cappadocians' rhetoric also reordered the body and materiality as components of a maleness over which they moderated. He interrogates fourth-century theological conflict as part of a rhetorical battle over claims to manhood that supported the Cappadocians' theology and cast doubt on non-Trinitarian rivals, whom they cast as effeminate and disingenuous. Investigating accounts of pro-Nicene protagonists overcoming struggles, Howard establishes that tropes based on classical standards of gender contributed to the formation of Trinitarian orthodoxy.
This article presents unpublished images that survived from the time when Cappadocia was a province of the Byzantine Empire. It adduces supplementary information to that provided by the most recent works about this geographical area: my article “Shrines and Schools in Byzantine Cappadocia” (2019), and Robert G. Ousterhout’s book Visualizing Community: Art, Material Culture, and Settlement in Byzantine Cappadocia (2017). One novelty my talk brings is to indicate the fact that, even though traditionally only Mary is presented as undergoing the test, in the Cappadocian art Joseph is also subjected to it.
Additionally to this iconographic motif, my piece shows and comments on an unpublished image that represent a very rare topic known in iconography as ‘Christ’s first bath’, which is a part of the decoration that embellishes the walls of Karabaş Kilise, or, in translation, ‘The Big Church’, in Soğanlı Valley, southern Cappadocia.
The literary sources for both these visual themes are the apocryphal texts known as the Protoevangelion of James and the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.
Die Theologie der Gesamtbewegung: Das Tradierte und das Innovative im Denken des Gregor von Nyssa*
Die vorliegende Monographie stellt einen Versuch dar, uber den oft verwendeten Begriff der Bewegung (kivnhsi~) in Gregors von Nyssa Schriftum den Zugang zur erneuten Leseart seiner Gedankenwelt zu finden. Die Kreuz- und Scheidewege der griechischen Philosophie und der christlichen Theologie bilden jenen Nahrboden, der reichen Stoff zum Nachdenken uber die Gesetzmassigkeit der Modifizierung des jeweiligen philosophischen Begriffs bietet. Dies gilt auch von dem in der griechischen Philosophie nach Platon gepragten Gattungsbegriff kivnhsi. Einem Forscher, der am Sprachgut Gregors von Nyssa Interesse findet, wird der haufige Gebrauch dieses Begriffes und anderer Wortermit demselben Stamm auffallen. Das Plastische dieser lexikalischen Formative bringt auf den Gedanken, dass es sich um eine entwickelte Idee uber die Natur der Bewegung handle. Wenn man die Frage stellt, in welchen Texten des Gesamtwerkes Gregors von Nyssa der kivnhsi~-Begriff sein Hauptwirkungsfeld findet, so bestatigt man, dass er in allen Bereichen seiner Theologie vorkommt. So durchsichtig, wie der Begriff in den Texten verwendet wird, lasst er sich als eine monistische Lehre von der geistigen Bewegung definieren, da nur in Bezug auf die geistige Dynamik ein beliebiger Typ physischer Bewegung bei ihm betrachtet wird. Davon ausgehend, ist der Hauptzweck dieses Werkes nicht, die physischen Bewegungstypen und ihre Funktionen an sich naturwissenschaftlich darzulegen, was in der Theologie des jungeren Kappadokiers auf philosophisch Tradiertes zuruckgeht, sondern eben den geistigen Aspekt der Bewegung zu hinterfragen und seine Modifizierungtypen auf den verschiedenen ontologischen Ebenen nachvollziehen. Da die damit verknupften Fragen um das zentrale Thema der Wechselbeziehung zwischen Welt, Mensch und Gott konzentriert sind, reflektiert das Buch die Untersuchung in drei Kapiteln mit dem entsprechenden Problemkreis: I. Die Bewegungsarten in der Schopfung nach Gregor von Nyssa; II. Die Kategorie der Bewegung in Gregors von Nyssa Anthropologie; III. Die Bewegung als Gottespradikat: Spatplatonische Pramisse und die Kappadokische Neuerung. So seltsam es auch scheinen mag, ist die platonische Bewegungstheorie trotz ihrer ungeheueren Bedeutung fur die postplatonische Philosophie und die Patristik noch nicht gebuhrend eingeschatzt worden, weshalb diese Darlegung von bedeutendem Nutzen ist.
The problem of the hiddenness of God has at least two kinds: an experiential and an intellectual problem. Despite differences, a solution to either would require some account of how God is personally known. Yet for the Christian tradition, God is known in the man Jesus Christ. I suggest, then, a Christological reformulation of the hiddenness argument, and proceed to offer an account of how Christ is known. With special attention to the ecclesiology of Gregory of Nyssa, I offer an account of knowing Christ in the church. I then explore this as a response to the problems of divine hiddenness, and anticipate a considerable objection to my response.
Desire is a key feature for understanding human beings, but there are different conceptions of its nature and its role in human life. Modern thinkers tend to understand desire as a force that must be regulated, whereas classical philosophy proposes ways of integrating and harmonizing desires in the context of the whole life. Christian early thinkers argued that our desire tends toward an infinite good whose pursuit implies an always-open personal growth. From this perspective, the integration of human desires can no longer be seen as mere limitation or regulation. In this context, it is possible to understand the classical notions of habit and virtue as a kind of personal growth, which includes growth in one’s capacity for desire. However, the question arises of how to reconcile this perpetual growth with the pursuit of happiness and peace.
Током проучавања дела св. Максима Исповедника, приликом рада на докторској дисертацији, јавиле су се одређене тешкоће, али и могућности теолошке интерпретације појединих Максимових становишта. Тада није било могуће позабавити се овим проблемима који су сада дошли на ред. Ова монографија је подељена у седам целина, од којих прво поглавље постулира дефинисање питања на општем плану, што утемељује сагледавање различитих тематских целина кроз обједињавајућу призму преовлађујућих интенција Максимовог теолошког мишљења. Треће, шесто и седмо поглавље се темеље на раније спроведеним истраживањима, с тим што су иста значајно проширена и измењена. Ово посебно важи за седмо поглавље, где је раније становиште ревидирано и суштински промењено.
The article deals with the programmatic first chapter of the Physiologus, which concerns the lion. Its three allegories refer to Christ’s incarnation, his death and his resurrection. In general, the author of the Physiologus only alludes to dogmatic conceptions and exegetical traditions of his age and expects his readers to fill any voids (‘Leerstellen’). A detailed analysis of the complex religioushistorical background of the lion chapter supports some chronological conclusions (based on the assumption that the 1st chapter has to be regarded as an integral part of the Physiologus’ first version). Whereas the figure of the hidden descent of the Saviour can be traced back to ‘heterodox’ Christian traditions of the 2nd / 3rd centuries CE, the motive of his angelomorphic status and the intertextual reference to Ps 24 (23LXX) are indebted to Origen and his theology. Moreover, the christological vocabulary - namely the leitmotiv of Christ’s “divine nature (θεότης) hidden in the flesh (/body)” - points most likely to the 4th century CE. The lion chapter also shows traces of 4th century debates about the status of Christ between death and resurrection (triduum mortis). If the first known version of the Physiologus originated in the first half of the 4th century, his milieu might probably be found among Origenist monks in Egypt (who may also have transmitted Gnostic traditions and texts). Finally, the article adresses the hermeneutical profile of the Physiologus’ allegorical method and his basic conception of the ‘two books of God’, nature and Scripture.
A collection of contemplative musings on contemplation, in word and image.
Primeval East Church was very careful in the use of classical greek's terms specyfying love. The article presents conception breaking above tendency − the idea of ecstatic, ardent eros in St. Gregory's of Nyssa first written tractate − De virginitate, and is intended to submit variety of types of love and role of love in virginal life. The bishop of Nyssa, seeing main purpose of all human efforts in assimilation to God, emphasizes the virtue of chastity, which increases with love. Owing to this virtue, soul-bride reflects in itself intertrinitarian relations. Through love man rises his nature, assuming triad assigned to nature of God: holiness, impeccability and chastity, and becoming completely and entirely open to experience of spiritual marriage with God.
Modern scholarship on Late Antique philosophy seems to be more interested than ever before in examining in depth convergences and divergences between Platonism and Early Christian thought. Plotinus is a key figure in such an examination. This paper proposes a preliminary study of the Plotinian concept of aptitude, as it emerges throughout the Enneads and aims at shedding light to certain aspects of Plotinian metaphysics that bring Plotinus into dialogue with the thought of Church fathers by means either of similarities or differences between Neoplatonist and Christian thought. It will be argued that the concept of aptitude is crucial as it involves the relation between the One and the many, the reality of participation, the relation of the cosmos with, and its dependence on, the superior spheres of being, the bestowal of divine gifts upon beings, and the possibility of the deification of the human being.
There are two influential and opposing theological paradigms concerning the relationship between God's love and punitive wrath. According to the first paradigm, which is here labelled the ‘divergent account’, God may sometimes punish an individual in a manner that is opposed to his love. Alternatively, there is the ‘unitary account’, according to which God's punitive wrath is an expression of love that seeks the creature's good. In the present article, an argument for the unitary account is provided, and a fresh way of understanding God's punishment therein is considered. The article proceeds as follows. In the first section, a dominant motivation for the divergent account is distilled through an examination of the writings of Emil Brunner. This motivation is then rejected and the unitary account is defended in the next section, in light of the New Testament ethic of love. In the third section, the work of Gregory of Nyssa and the contemporary philosopher R.A. Duff is utilized to develop a communicative theory of God's punishment, which illuminates and fortifies the unitary account. In the final section, the unitary account, together with the communicative theory of divine punishment, is applied to the doctrine of hell.
Durante muito tempo, a historiografia analisou os documentos de Gregório de Nissa (335/340-394 d. C.) como apêndice para os escritos dos outros dois Padres Capadócios: Basílio de Cesareia e Gregório de Nazianzo. Este artigo tem o objetivo de compreender o período de produção e circulação do discurso Contra Eunômio de Gregório de Nissa a partir de eventos vivenciados pelo próprio autor. Dessa maneira, intentamos relacionar os períodos de exilium e relegatio de Gregório com a produção e circulação de seu discurso Contra Eunômio.
Pierwotny Kościół wschodni zachowywał dużą ostrożność w stosowaniu greckich klasycznych terminów określających miłość. W artykule prezentowana jest przełamująca tę tendencję koncepcja ekstatycznego, żarliwego erosa w pierwszym spisanym traktacie św. Grzegorza z Nyssy – De virginitate. Autorka pragnie przybliżyć różnorodność typów miłości oraz jej podstawową rolę w życiu dziewiczym. Widząc w upodobnieniu do Boga cel wszelkich wysiłków człowieka, Nysseńczyk akcentuje wzrastającą wraz z miłością cnotę czystości, dzięki której dusza-oblubienica odzwierciedla w sobie relacje wewnątrztrynitarne. Dzięki miłości człowiek wznosi swą naturę, przybierając triadę właściwą naturze Boskiej: świętość, nieskazitelność i czystość, stając się całkowicie i niepodzielnie otwartym na doświadczenie duchowych zaślubin z Bogiem.
The article Christology of Gregory of Nyssa. Doctrine and Context presents three basic factors stimulating origins of St. Gregory's of Nyssa christological doctrine – social, philosophical and psychological context. Good rhetoric education, continuation of apophatic theology's traditions and progressive distancing of Platonic discourse are the main elements configuring the author's Christology, which remains in inseparable connection with soteriology and mysticism. These factors show the impact on the formation of the idea of all mankind's unity, which is crucial for St. Gregory. This monad is the fundamental binder which combines adopted by Christ in the Incarnation, unitary, individual human nature with all mankind. So this is the culmination of the whole Christology of the Nyssian, expressed in two basic terms – 'humanisation' and 'deification'.
Gregory of Nyssa makes clear reference to Job and the Book of Job in his works. Sometimes Job is described as a great figure of the OT, full of virtues and imitable for his wisdom, his faith and his trust in God. In other instances, Gregory adduces the Book of Job when he deals with important theological issues like the origin of language or the descent of Christ into hell. This paper discusses Gregory’s exegesis of the Book of Job and points out both, his respect for the text and his high spiritual and theological comprehension of Scripture.
Analysing attitudes towards grief and desire in Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Saint Macrina (Macr) illumines the question of whether or not the passions should be understood as essential to the soul. Gregory’s account of grief, and the views of body and soul on which it is founded, is controversial. I argue that despite Macrina’s strictures, grief, like other desires, is for Gregory essential to created human nature. Such desires are necessary for humans to fulfil their divinely intended nature. Gregory’s anthropology tends towards the view that the different parts of the soul can seek the same divinely sanctioned ends; while bodily desire is ultimately transfigured, it is not essentially opposed to the reasoning soul. Grief is necessary for divine contemplation, spurs humans to repentance and love of God and other people and is a generating impetus for hagiography. Framed by hagiography and the liturgy of lamentation, grief may be rationally directed towards individuals and is not incompatible with hope.
A partir de la informaci?n que nos proporciona la Ep?stola XXV de Gregorio de Nisa (335-394/5 d.C.), se pretende restablecer el sistema de proporciones que pudo regir al martyrium que Gregorio pretende construir en Nisa (Capadocia) y del que no se conoce ninguna otra informaci?n. Seg?n se indica en la ep?stola, el edificio debe seguir un esquema en planta de cruz griega con oct?gono central y cubierta cupulada, adem?s de un peristilo, siguiendo los par?metros propios de la arquitectura cristiana martirial de la ?poca.
This article explores two traditions on Marriage from the New Testament to the leading Christian Humanist of the Renaissance, Francis de Sales. It shows that although de Sales' position that marriage is a vocation and sacramental way to fully live in Jesus is at odds with the Council of Trent, which holds that religious life is the highest state, his humanist theology of marriage is in fact robustly represented in the Church Fathers, Scholastics and Early Modern theologians. It explains how de Sales resolves issues presented by 1 Corinthians 7 and the Neo-platonists to interpret the whole Gosspel as the vocation to live God's love in marriage and in family life that is equal to the celibate, giving sexuality a goodness that takes nothing away from the lay state and places it on a par or above the religious state of celibacy.
Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335–after 394 ce) was one of the great Cappadocian church fathers, together with his brother Basil of Caesarea and his friend and namesake Gregory of Nazianzus.Keywords:Byzantine history;Christianity;religious history
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