Gregory of Nyssa

by Gregory of Nyssa, Anthony Meredith (Editor)

Gregory of Nyssa provides a concise and accessible introduction to the thought of this early church father with new translations of key selections of his writings. Anthony Meredith presents a diverse range of Gregory's writings:

his contribution to the debates of the period about the nature of God in argument with a form of extreme Arianism his discussion of the nature and work of the Holy Ghost, against the so-called 'Spirit fighters' his defence of the humanity of Christ against those who denied it (notably Apollinarius) the nature of fate and other philosophical issues.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Spirituality, Religion, Biography, Philosophy, Nonfiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 1999

About the author

Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity.

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.

Reviews

[Scriptor Ignotus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregory's a mensch, but I found the introduction and commentaries in this volume less than stellar, and the selections themselves a bit scattershot, giving little sense of the overall shape of Gregory's worldview. I'm still on the lookout for a book that does for Gregory what Fr. John Behr has done for Origen: providing complete, reliable translations with a serious introductory essay that ties everything together. Gregory is one of the most unique and fascinating of the Church fathers, and is well deserving of such a treatment.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some introduction, background, and reflection on Gregory of Nyssa, as well as numerous select passages in translation to give a sampling of his thought and writing. Meredith does a good job of giving enough to provide an idea of Gregory but make you want to go read more at first hand!

The book is very very poorly edited, unfortunately, with mistakes in the Greek, missing footnotes and bibliography, etc. For example, p. 87 has a Greek word with Roman "s" instead of Greek "σ/ς," and n22 on p. 145 refers to an earlier n15 to see what Torrance thought about Gregory, Athanasius, and Basil—but there is no n15 that touches on the issue, and Torrance is mentioned nowhere else in book, notes, or bibliography.

So, 4 stars for the author, but no stars for Routledge!

[Dominic Muresan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating figure is Gregory. He strongly foreshadowed elements from the philosophy of religion and that of God, with just pure, handcrafted courage. His concept of God as infinite and thus incomprehensible became famous because of a certain Areopagite who turned those ideas back to their Platonic roots. But thats not all. God's infiniteness has to mean that at the end of everything, not one will be able to resist Him. Gregory would see the devil himself saved through Christ. The courage to proclaim these kinds of conclusions is striking, precisely because he was in the midst of those highly controversial trinitarian debates.

So, if you need an introduction to his life, his thought and read through extensive fragments of his works, there's no other place but here. At 175 pages, its a breeze.

[Andy Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less a biography and more a reader, this book is great for what it is: an examination of Gregory and his relationship to doctrine, philosophy, and spirituality. Meredith provides context and background for Gregory and explains his argument with newly translated excerpts from a handful of Gregory's writings. Overall good and informative; perhaps best used as a reference.