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Gregory of Nyssa
(330-394 AD)


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Synopsis

Gregory did not follow his older brother to the centres of learning of his day. He claimed that he owed his education mainly to Basil,[1] but he was also deeply influenced by his sister Macrina[2] as well as firsthand study of the works of Plato and Plotinus. He is remembered primarily as a scholar and champion of Nicene orthodoxy rather than for his administrative skill as a bishop, which was often lacking. Gregory's theology was the result of a subtle blending of Platonism and the Scriptures.[3] Gregory wrote On the Making of Man to complete the work of his brother Basil had started on Genesis, which did not include the origin of man.[4] Gregory's interpretation was highly Platonic and rendered the account as an allegory of the fall and return of the human soul. Gregory believed that the world was created by God ex nihilo,[5] but identified this creation with the Platonic idea of emanation from God. (The Platonist Plotinus [c.205-270] had likened the emanation of the world to heat being produced by a fire or light from the sun.)[6] Gregory was probably the first of the fathers to make this identification.[7] He believed that the world was created in a single act in the form of seminal principles,[8] which developed automatically to form the world that we now know.[9]

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References

[1] Gregory of Nyssa, Letter 13 (NPNF, 2nd series, Vol. 5, 535-538; Frances Young, Nicaea To Chalcedon. (London: SCM, 1983), 95.

[2] David L. Balás, "Gregory of Nyssa," Everett Ferguson, editor, Encylopedia of Early Christianity. (New York: Garland, 1990), 400.

[3] Young, Nicaea, 117.

[4] Gregory of Nyssa, On the Making of Man, Preface (NPNF, 2nd series, Vol. 5, 387).

[5] Gregory of Nyssa, On the Making of Man, 23.3-5; 24.3 (NPNF, 2nd series, Vol. 5, 413-414).

[6] Plotinus, Enneads, 5.1.6.

[7] Harry A. Wolfson, "The Identification of Ex Nihilo With Emanation in Gregory of Nyssa," Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 63 (1970): 55.

[8] Gregory of Nyssa, Apologia in Hexaemeron, 77D.

[9] Gregory of Nyssa, In Psalm 6; Apologia in Hexaemeron, 72B-C, 113B, 121D.

Primary Sources

Book or monograph Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Ascetical Works Virginia Woods Callahan, translator, The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 58. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1967. Hbk. ISBN: 081320058X. pp.288.
Book or monograph St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Lord's Prayer, The Beatitudes, H.C. Graef, translator. Ancient Christian Writers, Vol. 18. New York: Newman, 1954.
On-line Resource Gregory of Nyssa (Christian Classic Ethereal Library)
Book or monograph Gregory of Nyssa, Ascetical Works. Fathers of the Church, Vol. 58. Virginia Woods Callahan, trans. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. Hbk. ISBN: 0813209692.
Book or monograph Edward R. Hardy, ed. Christology of the Later Fathers, J. Baillie et al, eds. Library of Christian Classics. Philadelphia: Westminter John Knox Press, 1977. Pbk. ISBN: 0664241522.
Book or monograph Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of MosesA.J. Malherbe & Everett, Ferguson, trans., Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of Moses. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist, 1978. Pbk. ISBN: 0809121123. pp.278.
Book or monograph Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on the Song of Songs, C. McCauley, translator. Archbishop Iakovos Library of Ecclesiastical and Historical Sources, No 12. Brookline: Hellenic College, 1988. Hbk. 0917653173.
Book or monograph Lenka Karfikova. Thomas Bohm, Scot Douglass & Johannes Zachhuber, eds., Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eunomium: An English Version with Supporting Studies Proceedings of the 10th International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa (Olomouc, September 15-18, 2004): v. 2. Vigiliae Christianae Supplement 82. Leiden: Brill, 2007. Hbk. ISBN: 900415518X. pp.480.
Book or monograph W. Moore & H.A. Wilson, eds. Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, Vol. 5. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1893. pp.185-498.
Article in Journal or Book Alden A. Mosshammer, "Non-Being and Evil in Gregory of Nyssa," Vigiliae Christianae 44.2 (1990): 136-167.
Book or monograph Herbert Musurillo, From Glory to Glory: Texts from Gregory of Nyssa's Mystical Writings. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1981. Pbk. ISBN: 0913836540. pp.313.
Book or monograph Andreas Spira & Christoph Klock, eds. The Easter Sermons of Gregory of Nyssa: Translation and Commentary. North American Patristic Society, 1979. Pbk. ISBN: 0915646080. pp.384.
Book or monograph James Herbert Srawley, ed., The Catechetical Oration of Gregory of Nyssa. Cambridge Patristic Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903. pp.181.

Secondary Sources

Book or monograph D.L. Balás, "Metousia Theou": Man's Participation in God's Perfections According to St. Gregory of Nyssa. Rome: Herder, 1966.
Article in Journal or Book D.L. Balás, "Christian Transformation of Greek Philosophy Illustrated by Gregory of Nyssa's Use of the Notion of Participatuion," Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, Vol 40 (1966): 152-157.
Book or monograph Balthasar: Presence and ThoughtHans Urs Von Balthasar, Presence and Thought: An Essay on the Religious Philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa (A Communio Book). Ignatius PR, 1995. Pbk. ISBN: 0898705215. pp.194.
Book or monograph Barnes: The Power of GodMichel Rene Barnes, The Power of God: Dynamis in Gregory of Nyssa's Trinitarian Theology. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001. Hbk. ISBN: 0813209293. pp.333.
Article in Journal or Book Georges Barrois, "The Alleged Origenism of St. Gregory of Nyssa," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 30.1 (1986): 7-16.
Article in Journal or Book Paul M. Blowers, "Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Concept of 'Perpetual Progress'," Vigiliae Christianae 46.2 (1992): 151-171.
Article in Journal or Book Stuart Burns, "Divine Ecstasy in Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Macarius: Flight and Intoxication," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 44.1-4 (1999): 309-327.
Article in Journal or Book J.B. Cahill, "The Date and Setting of Gregory of Nyssa's Commentary on the Song of Songs," Journal of Theological Studies 32 (1981): 447-60.
Article in Journal or Book Bro. Casimir, "A Treatise on First Corinthians 15:28 by Saint Gregory of Nyssa," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 28 (1983): 1-25.
Article in Journal or Book Steven L. Chase, "What Happens Next?: Biblical Exegesis and the Path of the Soul's Journey in Origen and Gregory of Nyssa," Patristic and Byzantine Review 10.1-2 (1991): 33-45.
Article in Journal or Book Kevin Corrigan, "Solitary Mysticism in Plotinus, Proclus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Pseudo-Dionysius," Journal of Religion 76.1 (1996): 28-42.
Article in Journal or Book Richard Cross, "Gregory of Nyssa on Universals," Vigilae Christianae 56.4 (2002): 372-410.
Article in Journal or Book Brian E. Daley, "'Heavenly Man' and 'Eternal Christ': Apollinarius and Gregory of Nyssa on the Personal Identity of the Savior," Journal of Early Christian Studies 10.4 (2002): 469-488.
Article in Journal or Book T.J. Dennis, "St. Gregory of Nyssa's Defence of the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body," Ekklesia kai theologia 1 (1980): 431-58.
Article in Journal or Book George Dion Dragas, "The Anti-Apollinarist Christology of St. Gregory of Nyssa: A First Analysis," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 42.3-4 (1997): 299-314.
Article in Journal or Book Donald F. Duclow, "Gregory of Nyssa and Nicholas of Cusa: Infinity, ANthropology and the Via Negativa," Downside Review 92.2 (1974): 102-108.
Article in Journal or Book A.S. Dunstone, "The Meaning of Grace in the Writings of Gregory of Nyssa," Scottish Journal of Theology 15 (1962): 235-244.
On-line Resource A.S. Dunstone, The Atonement in Gregory of Nyssa. London: Tyndale Press, 1964. Pbk. pp.31.View in PDF format pdf
Article in Journal or Book Everett Ferguson, "God's Infinity and Man's Mutability. Perpetual Progress according to Gregory of Nyssa," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 17, 1-2 (1973): 59-78.
Article in Journal or Book Everett Ferguson, "Preaching at Epiphany: Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom on Baptism and the Church," Church History 66.1 (1997): 1-17.
Book or monograph 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.
Article in Journal or Book Bruce D. Griffith, "Yearning: Gregory of Nyssa and the Vision of God," Sewanee Theological Review 43.3 (2000): 273-284.
Article in Journal or Book Verna E.F. Harrison, "Allegory and Asceticism in Gregory of Nyssa," Semeia 57 (1992): 113-130.
Article in Journal or Book David Bentley Hart, "The "Whole Humanity": Gregory of Nyssa's Critique of Slavery in Light of His Eschatology," Scottish Journal of Theology 54.1 (2001): 51-69.
Article in Journal or Book David Bentley Hart, "The Mirror of the Infinite: Gregory of Nyssa on the Vestigia Trinitatis," Modern Theology 18.4 (2002): 541-561.
Article in Journal or Book M.D. Hart, "Gregory of Nyssa's Ironic Praise of the Celibate Life," Heythrop Journal 33 (1992): 1-19.
On-line Resource Michael A.G. Haykin, "Defending the Holy Spirit’s Deity: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Pneumatomachian Controversy of the 4th Century," Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 7.3 (Autumn 2003): 74-79.
Article in Journal or Book Malcolm Heath, "Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa," Vigiliae Christianae 53.4 (1999): 395-400.
Book or monograph R. Heine, Perfection in the Victorious Life: A Study in the Relationship between Edification and Polemical Theology in Gregory of Nyssa's De Vita Moysis. Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1975. ISBN: 0915646013. pp.247.
Article in Journal or Book Matti Ijas, "The Lord's Prayer Interpreted by Gregory of Nyssa and Martin Luther," Theology and Life 22 (1999): 73-79.
Book or monograph Lenka Karfikova, Thomas Bohm, Scot Douglass & Johannes Zachhuber, eds., Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eunomium: An English Version with Supporting Studies Proceedings of the 10th International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa (Olomouc, September 15-18, 2004): v. 2. Vigiliae Christianae Supplements. Leiden: Brill, 2007. ISBN: 900415518X. pp.480.
Article in Journal or Book A.F.J. Klijn, "Some Remarks on the Quotations of the Gospels in Greogry of Nyssa 'De instituto christiano' and Macarius' 'Epistola Magna'," Vigiliae Christianae 19 (1965): 164-68.
Article in Journal or Book G.B. Ladner, "The Philosophical Anthropology of Saint Gregory of Nyssa," Dunbarton Oaks Papers 12 (1958): 59-94.
Article in Journal or Book Martin Laird, "Gregory of Nyssa and the Mysticism of Darkness: A Reconsideration," Journal of Religion 79.4 (1999): 592-616.
Article in Journal or Book Johan Leemans, "On the Date of Gregory of Nyssa's First Homilies on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (IA and IB)," Journal of Theological Studies 52.1 (2001): 93-97.
Article in Journal or Book John J. Lynch,"Prosopon in Gregory of Nyssa: A Theological Word in Transition," Theological Studies 40.4 (1979): 728-738.
Article in Journal or Book Casimir McCambley, "Against Those Who Practice Usury by Gregory of Nyssa," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 36.3-4 (1991): 287-302.
Article in Journal or Book C.W. Macleod, "Allegory and Mysticism in Origen and Gregory of Nyssa," Journal of Theological Studies 22.2 (1971): 362-379.
Article in Journal or Book C.W. Macleod, "The Preface to Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Moses," Journal of Theological Studies 33 (1982): 183-91.
Article in Journal or Book Fridolin Marxer, "Gregory of Nyssa - Father of Christian Mysticism," Theology Digest 42.2 (1995): 145-151.
Article in Journal or Book Anthony Meredith, "Origen's De Principiis and Gregory of Nyssa's Oratio Catechetica," Heythrop Journal 36.1 (1995): 1-14.
Book or monograph Gregory of NyssaAnthony Meredith, Gregory of Nyssa. Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd, 1998. Pbk. ISBN: 0415118409. pp.176.
Article in Journal or Book Anthony Meredith, "Origen and Gregory of Nyssa on The Lord's Prayer," Heythrop Journal 43.3 (2002): 344-356.
Article in Journal or Book Alden A. Mosshammer, "Non-Being and Evil in Gregory of Nyssa," Vigiliae Christianae 44.2 (1990): 136-167.
Article in Journal or Book R.A. Norris, "The Soul Takes Flight: Gregory of Nyssa and the Song of Songs," Anglican Theological Review 80.4 (1998): 517-532.
Article in Journal or Book Patrick F. O'Connell, "The Double Journal in Saint Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of Moses," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 28.4 (1983): 301-324.
Article in Journal or Book M.F.G. Parmentier, "A Syriac Commentary on Gregory of Nyssa's Contra Eunomium," Bijdragen. Tijdschrift voor philosophie en theologie 49 (1988): 2-17.
Article in Journal or Book Enrico Peroli, "Gregory of Nyssa and the Neoplatonic Doctrine of the Soul," Vigiliae Christianae 51.2 (1997): 117-139.
Article in Journal or Book Paul Plass, "Transcendent Time and Eternity in Gregory of Nyssa," Vigiliae Christianae 34.2 (1980): 180-192.
Article in Journal or Book C.P. Roth, "Plantonic and Pauline Elements in the Ascent of the Soul in Gregory of Nyssa's Dialogue on the Soul and the Resurrection," Vigiliae Christianae 46 (1992): 1-19.
Article in Journal or Book Paul S. Russell, "Saint Gregory’s Exegeses Against the Arians, Still a Viable Christian Tool," The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 39.1-2 (Spr. 1994): 123-130.
Article in Journal or Book Daniel E. Scuiry, "The Anthropology of St. Gregory of Nyssa," Diakonia 18.1 (1983): 31-42.
Book or monograph Andreas Spira, ed. The Biographical Works of Gregory of Nyssa, Proceedings of the Fifth International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa, Mainz, 6-10 September, 1982. Cambridge: Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1984. Pbk.
Article in Journal or Book James Herbert Srawley [1868-1954], "St Gregory of Nyssa on the Sinlessness of Christ," Journal of Theological Studies 7 No 27 (April 1906): 434-441.
Article in Journal or Book Daniel F. Stramara, "Gregory of Nyssa's Terminology for Trinitarian Perichoresis," Vigiliae Christianae 52.3 (1998): 257-263.
On-line Resource 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.View in PDF format pdf [Reproduced by permission of Wipf & Stock Publishers] For more information about the reprint of this title see here.
Article in Journal or Book Michael J. Tori, "Apokatastasis in Gregory of Nyssa: From Origen to Orthodoxy," Patristic and Byzantine Review 15.1-3 (1997): 87-100.
Article in Journal or Book A.L. Townsley, "Parmenides and Gregory of Nyssa. An Antecedent of the 'Dialectic' of 'Participationin Being' in De Vita Moysis," Salesianum 36 (1974): 641-46.
Article in Journal or Book C.N. Tsirpanlis, "The Concept of Universal Salvation in Saint Gregory of Nyssa," Kleronomia 12 (1980): 19-35.
Article in Journal or Book J.C.M. van Winden, "A Textual Problem in Gregory of Nyssa, Apologia in Haxaemeron ch. 69," Vigiliae Christianae 33 (1979): 179.
Article in Journal or Book Harry A. Wolfson, "The Identification of Ex Nihilo With Emanation in Gregory of Nyssa," Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 63 (1970): 53-60.
Article in Journal or Book F.M. Young, "Adam and Anthropos; a Study of the Interaction of Science and the Biblein Two Anthropological Treatises of the Fourth-Century (Greg. Nyss.; Nemesius)," Vigiliae Christianae 37 (1983): 110-40.

Biographies

Article in Journal or Book Joe Hogan,"St. Gregory of Nyssa: A Biographical Sketch," Diakonia 14.2 (1979): 138-144.
On-line Resource Gregory of Nyssa (James E. Kiefer)

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