Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons

Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons
Author: Lucian Turcescu
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2005-02-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0195174259

Turcescu offers an in-depth analysis of Gregory's writings about the divine persons. Turcescu's work not only contributes to our knowledge of the history of Trinitarian theology but can be helpful to theologians who are dealing with issues in contemporary ethics.

Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons

Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons
Author: Lucian Turcescu
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2005-02-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0198038836

The concept of personhood is central to a wide range of contemporary issues, ranging from reproductive rights to the death penalty and euthanasia. We may think that the concept of person is a modern development. In fact, however, this idea does not originate with our discovery of human rights, consciousness, and individuality. In this study Lucian Turcescu shows that the fourth-century theologian Gregory of Nyssa developed a very sophisticated concept of the person in the context of his attempts to clarify the paradox of the Trinity-a single God comprising three distinct persons. Turcescu offers the first in-depth analysis of Gregory's writings about the divine persons. He shows that Gregory understood personhood as characterized by uniqueness, relationality, and freedom. He reasoned that the three persons of the Trinity have distinctive properties that make them individuals, that is, capable of being enumerated and circumscribed. But this idea of individuation, inherited from the neo-Platonists, falls short of expressing a clear notion of personal uniqueness. By itself it would suggest that a person is merely a collection of properties. Gregory's great contribution was to perceive the importance of relationality to personhood. The three divine persons know and love each other, are in communion with each other, and freely act together in their common will. This understanding, argues Turcescu, adds up to a concept of personal uniqueness much like our modern one. Turcescu's work not only contributes to our knowledge of the history of Trinitarian theology but can be helpful to theologians who are dealing with issues in contemporary ethics.

Gregory of Nyssa Against Eunomius

Gregory of Nyssa Against Eunomius
Author: Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Publisher: Aeterna Press
Total Pages: 491
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

It seems that the wish to benefit all, and to lavish indiscriminately upon the first comer one’s own gifts, was not a thing altogether commendable, or even free from reproach in the eyes of the many; seeing that the gratuitous waste of many prepared drugs on the incurably-diseased produces no result worth caring about, either in the way of gain to the recipient, or reputation to the would-be benefactor. Rather such an attempt becomes in many cases the occasion of a change for the worse. The hopelessly-diseased and now dying patient receives only a speedier end from the more active medicines; the fierce unreasonable temper is only made worse by the kindness of the lavished pearls, as the Gospel tells us. I think it best, therefore, in accordance with the Divine command, for any one to separate the valuable from the worthless when either have to be given away, and to avoid the pain which a generous giver must receive from one who treads upon his pearl,’ and insults him by his utter want of feeling for its beauty.

On Virginity

On Virginity
Author: St. Gregory of Nyssa
Publisher: Dalcassian Publishing Company
Total Pages: 58
Release: 2020-03-18
Genre:
ISBN:

Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith

Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith
Author: Martin S. Laird
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2004
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0199267995

Scholars of Gregory of Nyssa have long acknowledged the centrality of faith in his theory of divine union. To date, however, there has been no sustained examination of this key topic. The present study fills this gap and elucidates important auxiliary themes that accrue to Gregory's notion of faith as a faculty of apophatic union with God. The result adjusts how we understand the Cappadocian's apophaticism in general and his so-called mysticism of darkness in particular. After a general discussion of the increasing value of faith in late Neoplatonism and an overview of important work done on Gregorian faith, this study moves on to sketch a portrait of the mind and its dynamic, varying cognitive states and how these respond to the divine pedagogy of scripture, baptism, and the presence of God. With this portrait of the mind as a backdrop we see how Gregory values faith for its ability to unite with God, who remains beyond the comprehending grasp of mind. A close examination of the relationship between faith and mind shows Gregory bestowing on faith qualities which Plotinus would have granted only to the `crest of the wave of intellect'. While Gregorian faith serves as the faculty of apophatic union with God, faith yet gives something to mind. This dimension of Gregory's apophaticism has gone largely unnoticed by scholars. At the apex of an apophatic ascent faith unites with God the Word; by virtue of this union the believer takes on the qualities of the Word, who speaks (logophasis) in the deeds and discourse of the believer. Finally this study redresses how Gregory has been identified with a `mysticism of darkness' and argues that he proposes no less a `mysticism of light'.

Gregory of Nyssa (CWS)

Gregory of Nyssa (CWS)
Author: Saint Gregory (of Nyssa)
Publisher: Paulist Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1978
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780809121120

Here is an award-winning, new translation that brings to light Gregory's complex identity as an early mystic. Gregory (c. 332-395) was one of the Greek Cappadocian Fathers, along with St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen. +

Presence and Thought

Presence and Thought
Author: Hans Urs Von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2012-10-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 168149390X

Von Balthasar presents one of the few serious studies available on the thought of one of the most important, and yet most neglected Fathers of the Church, Gregory of Nyssa. He was the most profound Greek philosopher of the Christian era, a mystic and an incomparable poet whom St. Maximus designated as the "Universal Doctor" and the Second Council of Nicaea declared him "Father of Fathers." Less prolific than Origen, less cultivated than Gregory Nazianzen, less practical than Basil, Gregory of Nyssa nonetheless outstrips them all in the profundity of his thought, for he knew better than anyone how to transpose ideas inwardly from the spiritual heritage of ancient Greece into a Christian mode.

Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Transformation of Divine Simplicity

Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Transformation of Divine Simplicity
Author: Andrew Radde-Gallwitz
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2009-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199574111

Divine simplicity is the idea that, as the ultimate principle of the universe, God must be a non-composite unity not made up of parts or diverse attributes. Radde-Gallwitz explores how this idea was appropriated by early Christian theologians from non-Christian philosophy with particular reference to Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa.

On the Holy Trinity

On the Holy Trinity
Author: Gregory of Nyssa
Publisher:
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2014-04-23
Genre:
ISBN: 9781499219937

On the Holy Trinity by St. Gregory of Nyssa written to Eustathius. Enjoy this classic work!

On the Soul and the Resurrection

On the Soul and the Resurrection
Author: St. Gregory of Nyssa
Publisher: Wyatt North Publishing, LLC
Total Pages: 109
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1622780299

St. Gregory of Nyssa (c 335 – after 394) was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity. Some historians identify Theosebia the deaconess as his wife, others hold that she, like Macrina the Younger, was actually a sister of Gregory and Basil. Gregory along with his brother Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus are known as the Cappadocian Fathers. They attempted to establish Christian philosophy as superior to Greek philosophy. You can purchase other religious works directly from Wyatt North Publishing.