Gregory of Nazianzus
(c. 330-390)

Advert: Discount voucher for Perlego applied at checkout

Theology on the Web helps over 2.5 million people every year to find high quality theological resources that will help to equip them to serve God and to know Him better (2 Timothy 2:15). Like other websites that provide free services, it is dependent on donations to enable it to grow and develop and only 0.004% of visitors currently do so. If you would like to support this site, please use one of the options to the right of this message.

Gregory of Nazianzus (from André Thevet)
Click on thumbnail for information on how to
purchase a larger version of this image
(see copyright information)

Synopsis

Gregory, a friend of both Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa, was the son of a wealthy bishop (also called Gregory).[1] Like Basil he was well-educated and deeply influenced by the teachings of Origen.[2] In this regard Gregory stood halfway between the literalism of Basil and the allegory of Gregory of Nyssa. Again, like hus f riend Basil, Gregory was an ascetic at heart. After many years of periodic withdrawal into monasteries he was made bishop, a position that he did not take up willingly.[3] Many of Gregory's works have survived, including his Five Theological Orations which have a distinct Trinitarian emphasis.[4]

Rob Bradshaw, Webmaster

References

[1] Frederick W. Norris, "Gregory of Nazianzus," Everett Ferguson, editor, Encylopedia of Early Christianity. (New York: Garland, 1990), 397.

[2] Rosemary R. Ruether, Gregory of Nazianzus, Rhetor and Philosopher. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), 26-27: "...Gregory seems ignorant of Neoplatonic writings, of Plotinus in particular. If we conclude that he did not know Neoplatonic thinkers or writings directly, this helps to explain why Gregory, who inherited his Neoplatonism from Origen, can so readily assume these ideas to be Christian."

[3] Norris, "Gregory of Nazianzus," Everett Ferguson, editor, Encylopedia of Early Christianity. (New York: Garland, 1990), 398; Ruether, 32. Indeed he was forced into it by his father.

[4] E.R. Hardy, "Gregory of Nazianzus," Encyclopedia Briutannica Micropedia, Vol. 5, 482.

Primary Sources

	C.G. Browne & J.E. Swallow, eds. Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, Vol. 7. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1894. pp.185-498.
	Gregory of Nazianzus (Christian Classic Ethereal Library)
	St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Three Poems, Fathers of the Church, Vol. 75, trans. Denis Molaise Meehan. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1992. Hbk. ISBN: 081320075X. pp.142.
	Edward R. Hardy, ed. Christology of the Later Fathers, J. Baillie et al, eds. Library of Christian Classics, Vol. 3. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1995. Pbk. ISBN: 0664241522. pp.113-232.
	St Gregory Nazianzen & St. Ambrose, Funeral Orations, Fathers of the Church, Vol. 22, trans. Leo P. McCauley et al. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press. Hbk. ISBN: 0813200228.
	John McGuckin, trans. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: Three Poems. The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 75. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001. Pbk. ISBN: 0881412228. pp.575.

Secondary Sources

	Michael Azkoul, "St. Gregory the Theologian: Poetry and Faith," Patristic and Byzantine Review 14.1-3 (1995): 59-68.
	Brian Daley, ed., Gregory Nazianzen. Early Church Fathers. London: Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd., 2005. Pbk. ISBN: 0415121817. pp.192.
	K. Demoen, "Biblical vs. Non-Biblical Vocabulary in Gregorius Nazianzenus; a Quantitative Approach," Informatique 2 (1988-89): 243-53.
	J. Egan, "Gregory of Nazianzus and the Logos Doctrine," J. Plevnic, ed., Word and Spirit: Essays in Honor of David Michael Stanley. Willowdale, ON: 1975. pp.281-322.
	Anna-Stina Ellverson, The Dual Nature of Man: A Study in in the Theological Anthropology of Gregory of Nazianzus. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 1981. Pbk. ISBN: 9155412068.
	Gerald Fitzpatrick, "St Gregory Nazianzen: Education for Salvation," Patristic and Byzantine Review 10.1-2 (1991): 47-55.
	Adrian Fortescue [1874-1923], The Greek Fathers. London: The Catholic Truth Society, 1908. Hbk. pp.255. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain]
	R.C. Gregg, Consolation Philosophy: Greek and Christian Paideia in Basil and the Two Gregories. Washington, DC: Paperback Publisher: Catholic University of America Press, 1975. Pbk. ISBN: 0813210003.
	V. Harrison, "Some Aspects of Saint Gregory (Nazianzen) the Theologian's Soteriology," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 34 (1989): 19-43/11-18.
	Susan R. Holman, "Healing the Social Leper in Gregory of Nyssa's and Gregory of Nazianzus's peri philoptochias," Harvard Theological Review 92.3 (1999): 283-309.
	M. Edmund Hussey,."The Theology of the Holy Spirit in the Writings of St. Gregory of Nazianzus," Diakonia 14.3 (1979): 224-233.
	Vasiliki Limberis, ."'Religion' as the Cipher for Identity: The Cases of Emperor Julian, Libanius, and Gregory Nazianzus," Harvard Theological Review 93.4 (2000): 373-400.
	George A. Kennedy, Greek Rhetoric Under Christian Emperors. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. Hbk. ISBN: 0691035652. pp.215-239.
	N.B. McLynn, "The Other Olympias: Gregory of Nazianzen and the Family of Vitalianus," ZAC 2 (1998): 227-46.
	Ruth Majercik, "A Reminiscence of the Chaldean Oracles at Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 29,2," Vigiliae Christianae 52.3 (1998): 286-292.
	P.J. Maritz, "Logos Articulation in Gregory of Nazianzus," Acta Patristica et Byzantina 6 (1995): 99-108.
	E.P. Meijuring, "The Doctrine of the Will and the Trinity in the Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus," Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 27.3 (1973): 224-234.
	Celica Milovanovic-Barham, "Gregory of Nazianzus: Ars Poetica (In suos versus: Carmen 2.1.39)," Journal of Early Christian Studies 5.4 (1997): 497-510.
	H. Musurillo, "The Poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus," Thought 45 (1970): 45-55.
	Tom A. Noble, "Gregory Nazianzen's Use of Scripture in Defence of the Deity of the Spirit," Tyndale Bulletin 39 (1988): 101-123. pdf
	F.W. Norris, "Of Thorns and Roses: The Logic of Belief in Gregory of Nazianzen," Church History, Vol. 53 (1984): 455-464.
	F.W. Norris, "The Tetragrammaton in Gregory Nazianzen (Or. 30.17)," Vigiliae Christianae 43 (1989): 339-44.
	F.W. Norris, Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning: The Five Theological Orations of Gregory Nazianzen. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, Vol 13. Leiden: Brill, 1990. Hbk. ISBN: 9004092536. pp.314.
	Jay Wesley Richards, "Can a Male Savior Save Women?: Gregory of Nazianzus on the Logos' Assumption of Human Nature," Christian Scholar's Review 28.1 (1998): 42-57.
	K. Skurat, "St. Gregory of Nazianzus on Philosophy and Knowledge of God," Journal of Moscow Patriarchate 10 (October 1989): 57-62.
	R.E. Snee, "Gregory Nazianzen's Constantinopolitan Career, A.D. 379-381." Dissertation, University of Washington, 1981.
	Donald A. Sykes, "Understandings of the Church in the Cappadocians," Horton Davies, ed., Studies of the Church in History. Essays Honoring Robert S. Paul on his Sixty-fifth Birthday. Allison Park, PA: Pickwick Publications, 1983. pp.73-83. pdf [Reproduced by permission of Wipf & Stock Publishers] For more information about the reprint of this title see here.
	Frank Thielman, "The Place of the Apocalypse in the Canon of St Gregory Nazianzen," Tyndale Bulletin 49.1 (1998): 155-157. pdf
	Steven Peter Tsichlis, "The Nature of Theology in the Theological Orations of St. Gregory Nazianzus," Diakonia 16.3 (1981): 238-246.
	Raymond Van Dam, "Self-Representation in the Will of Gregory of Nazianzus," Journal of Theological Studies 46.1 (1995): 118-148.
	M. Vinson, "Gregory Nazianzen's Homily 15 and the Genesis of the Christian Cult of the Maccabean Martyrs," Byzantion 64 (1994): 166-92.
	Kenneth Paul Wesche, "The Union of God and Man in Jesus Christ in the Thought of Gregory of Nazianzus," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 28.2 (1984): 83-98.
	Donald F. Winslow, "Gregory of Nazianzus and Love for the Poor," Anglican Theological Review 47 (1965): 348-359.
	Donald F. Winslow, The Dynamics of Salvation: A Study in Gregory of Nazianzus. North American Patristic Society, 1979. Pbk. ISBN: 0915646064.

Biographies

	Carol Harrison & Brian Daley (Editor), Gregory Nazianzen. Routledge, 1999. Pbk. ISBN: 0415121817. pp.192.
	Frederic William Farrar [1831-1903], Lives of the Fathers. Sketches of Church History in Biography, 2 Vols. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1907. Hbk. pp.781+737. pdf [This material is in the Public Domain]
	John McGuckin, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Continuum International Publishing Group - St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001. Pbk. ISBN: 0881412228. pp.575.
	Rosemary Radford Ruether, Gregory of Nazianzus, Rhetor and Philosopher. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. Hbk. ISBN: 0198266197. pp.184.