What do you think?
Rate this book
From Glory to Glory: Texts from Gregory of Nyssa's Mystical Writings
This collection of the spiritual writings of St Gregory of Nyssa, selected and introduced by Jean Danielou, has long been recognized as an authoritative introduction to the 'father of mysticism,' who exploded classical antiquity's static understanding of perfection by showing the Christian life as one of never-ending growth, a true dynamic movement 'from glory to glory.' Modern thought has come more and more to appreciate the depth and insight of Gregory of he epitomizes, in a sense, all that is best in post-Nicean patristic thought... In Gregory's teaching of the sacred history of the story of God's dealings with men history and symbol fuse in a way that reveals all the uniqueness of the Christian message. Jean Danielou, from the Preface
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
13 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Jean Daniélou
126 books42 followersJean Daniélou S.J. (1905–1974) was a theologian, historian, cardinal and a member of the Académie Française.
Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, son of Charles and Madeleine (née Clamorgan). His father was an anticlerical politician, several times minister, and his mother an educator and founder of institutions for women's education. His brother Alain (1907–1964) was a noted Indologist.
Daniélou studied at the Sorbonne, and passed his agrégation in Grammar in 1927. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1929, becoming an educator, initially at a boys' school in Poitiers. He subsequently studied theology at Fourvière in Lyon under Henri de Lubac, who introduced him to patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. He was ordained in 1938.
During World War II, he served with the Armée de l'Air (Air Force) in 1939–1940. He was demobilised and returned to civilian life. He received his doctorate in theology in 1942 and was appointed chaplain to the ENSJF, the female section of the École Normale Supérieure, at Sèvres. It was at this time that he began his own writings on patristics. He was one of the founders of the Sources Chrétiennes collection. In 1944 he was made Professor of Early Christian History at the Institut Catholique de Paris, and later became dean. Beginning in the 1950s, he produced several historical studies, including The Bible and the Liturgy, The Lord of History, and From Shadows to Reality, that provided a major impetus to the development of Covenantal Theology.
At the request of Pope John XXIII, he served as an expert to the Second Vatican Council, and in 1969 was consecrated as a bishop and made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. He was elected to the Académie Française on 9 November 1972, to succeed Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant.
His unexpected death in 1974, in the home of a prostitute, was very diversely interpreted. He died on the stairs of a brothel that he was visiting. It turned out he was bringing her money to pay for the bail of her lover. Thanks to a group including Henri Marrou, his reputation was cleared.
Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, son of Charles and Madeleine (née Clamorgan). His father was an anticlerical politician, several times minister, and his mother an educator and founder of institutions for women's education. His brother Alain (1907–1964) was a noted Indologist.
Daniélou studied at the Sorbonne, and passed his agrégation in Grammar in 1927. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1929, becoming an educator, initially at a boys' school in Poitiers. He subsequently studied theology at Fourvière in Lyon under Henri de Lubac, who introduced him to patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. He was ordained in 1938.
During World War II, he served with the Armée de l'Air (Air Force) in 1939–1940. He was demobilised and returned to civilian life. He received his doctorate in theology in 1942 and was appointed chaplain to the ENSJF, the female section of the École Normale Supérieure, at Sèvres. It was at this time that he began his own writings on patristics. He was one of the founders of the Sources Chrétiennes collection. In 1944 he was made Professor of Early Christian History at the Institut Catholique de Paris, and later became dean. Beginning in the 1950s, he produced several historical studies, including The Bible and the Liturgy, The Lord of History, and From Shadows to Reality, that provided a major impetus to the development of Covenantal Theology.
At the request of Pope John XXIII, he served as an expert to the Second Vatican Council, and in 1969 was consecrated as a bishop and made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. He was elected to the Académie Française on 9 November 1972, to succeed Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant.
His unexpected death in 1974, in the home of a prostitute, was very diversely interpreted. He died on the stairs of a brothel that he was visiting. It turned out he was bringing her money to pay for the bail of her lover. Thanks to a group including Henri Marrou, his reputation was cleared.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 13, 2023
“Our greatest protection is self-knowledge, and to avoid the delusion that we are seeing ourselves when we are in reality looking at something else. . . . The most secure protection for our treasure is to know ourselves: each one must know himself as he is, and distinguish himself from all that is not he, that he may not unconsciously be protecting something else instead of himself. . . . No passing thing is strictly ours. . . . For this is the safest way to protect the good things you enjoy: by realizing how much your Creator has honored you above all other creatures. He did not make the heavens in His image, nor the moon, the sun, the beauty of the stars, nor anything else which you can see in the created universe.
You alone are made in the likeness of that nature which surpasses all understanding; you alone are a similitude of eternal beauty, a receptacle of happiness, an image of the true Light; and if you look up to Him, you will become what He is, imitating Him Who shines within you, Whose glory is reflected in your purity. Nothing in all creation can equal your grandeur. All the heavens can fit into the palm of God’s hand; the earth and the sea are measured in the hollow of His hand (Is. 40.12). And though He is so great that He can grasp all creation in His palm, you can wholly embrace Him; He dwells within you, nor is He cramped as He pervades your entire being, saying: I will dwell in them, and walk among them (2 Cor. 6.16).
If you realize this, you will not allow your eye to rest on anything of this world. Indeed, you will no longer marvel even at the heavens. For how can you admire the heavens, my son, when you see that you are more permanent than they? For the heavens pass away, but you will abide for all eternity with Him Who is forever. Do not admire, then, the vastness of the earth or the ocean that stretches out to infinity, for like a chariot and horses they have been given in your charge. You have these elements in your power to be obedient to your will. For the earth ministers the necessities of life, and the sea offers its back like a tame steed to its rider.
If, then, thou knowest thyself, O fairest among women, [Song of Songs 1.8, Septuagint] you will despise the entire universe, and with your eye upon that spiritual goal you will overlook the wandering footprints which you find in life. And so, be on your guard, and make no mistake about the flock of goats, and then you will not be marked out as a goat instead of a sheep on the day of Judgment, or excluded from a place at the right hand of the throne. Rather, you will hear that sweet voice that speaks to all the humble and wool-bearing sheep: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matth. 25.34).”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“In theatrical spectacles it is always the same actors who act out the proposed plot, but we always think that different characters appear, because the actors take on different roles by changing their masks. So, for example, the same actor who came out before as a slave and a private citizen next appears as a noble or as a soldier; then afterwards, taking off the costume of the subordinate, he comes on in the character of a general or else with the costume of a king. So it is with the life of perfection. Those who, in their desire for higher things are being transformed from glory do not remain in the same character; but according to the degree of perfection which is established in each one, a different character will manifest itself in their lives, a new one always following on the old, by reason of their increase in grace.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“For it is impossible for our human nature ever to stop moving; it has been made by its Creator ever to keep changing.”
–On Virginity
“[T]he finest aspect of our mutability is the possibility of growth in good; and this capacity for improvement transforms the soul, as it changes, more and more into the divine.”
–On Perfection
“In days of old the human race grew cold with the chill of idolatry, and man’s changeable nature was transformed into the nature of the immobile objects which he worshipped. As the Scripture says: Let them that make them become like unto them: and all such as trust in them (Ps. 115.8). And this was only likely. For those who look towards the true God receive within themselves the characteristics of the divine nature; so too, those who turn their minds to the vanity of idols are transformed into the objects which they look at, and become stones instead of men. Turned thus to stone by the worship of idols, human nature became immovable and unable to advance; it had become stiff with the chill of idolatry. And therefore the Sun of Justice rose in this cruel winter, the spring came, the south wind dispelled that chill, and together with the rising of the sun’s rays warmed everything that lay in its path.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“The sovereign and highest Good, whose nature is goodness, this is divine nature itself. . . . Now since those who have come to know the highest good, desire completely to share in it, and since this good is limitless, it follows that their desire must necessarily be coextensive with the limitless, and therefore have no limit. . . . For it may be that human perfection consists precisely in this constant growth in the good.”
– The Life of Moses
“[T]he Only-Begotten, by Whom all things were made, is Himself the place for those who run; He is, according to His own words, the very Way of the course, as well as the Rock for those who are well grounded, and the Mansion for those who take their rest. . . . Moses sought to see God, and this is the instruction he receives on how he is to see Him: seeing God means following Him wherever He might lead. And God’s passing refers to His leading of those who follow Him. . . . Thus the Lord says to those who are being guided: You shall not see my face (Exod. 33.20), or, in other words: Do not face your guide.”
–The Life of Moses
“Now Jesus, who is born as a child for us, advances in wisdom and age and grace (Luke 2.52) in different ways in the hearts of those who receive Him. He is not the same in everyone, but only according to the measure of those in Whom He dwells, adapting Himself to the capacity of each one who receives Him: to some He comes as a Babe, to others as one advancing, to others in full maturity, according to the nature of the cluster. And hence He is never seen on the vine in the same form, but He changes His appearance with the course of time, now budding, now in full bloom, now mature, now fully ripe.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“The Lord does not say that it is blessed to know something about God, but rather to possess God in oneself: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God (Matth. 5.8). By this I do not think He means that the man who purifies the eye of his soul will enjoy an immediate vision of God; rather I think this marvelous saying teaches us the same lesson that the Word expressed more clearly to others when He said: The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17.21). And this teaches us that the man who purifies his heart of every creature and of every passionate impulse will see the image of the divine nature in his own beauty.
So too in this short sentence the Word, I think, is giving us the following advice: All you mortals who have within yourselves a desire to behold the supreme Good, when you are told that the majesty of God is exalted above the heavens, that the divine glory is inexpressible, its beauty indescribable, its nature inaccessible, do not despair at never being able to behold what you desire. For you do have within your grasp the degree of the knowledge of God which you can attain. For, when God made you, He at once endowed your nature with this perfection: upon the structure of your nature He imprinted an imitation of the perfections of His own nature, just as one would impress upon wax the outline of an emblem. But the wickedness that has been poured all over this divine engraving has made your perfection useless and hidden it with a vicious coating. You must then wash away, by a life of virtue, the dirt that has come to cling to your heart like plaster, and then your divine beauty will once again shine forth. . . .
Thus if such a man [the pure of heart] will look at himself he will see within himself the object of his desire; and thus he will become blessed, for in gazing upon his own purity he will see the archetype within the image.”
-On the Beatitudes, Sermon 6
“The soul that is rising upwards must leave all that it has already attained as falling far short of its desire; only then will it begin to grasp something of that magnificence which is beyond the stars. But how is it possible for us to attain this if our desires are for earthly things? How can we fly to heaven without celestial wings, if we are not already light, and borne on air by a lofty way of life?
No one could be so uninitiated in the mysteries of the Gospel as to be unaware that man has but one vehicle that can carry him to heaven; he must assume the wings of the descending Dove, such as even the prophet David longed for [Ps. 55.6-8]. In this way does the Scripture symbolically express the power of the spirit. . . . Thus the man who avoids all bitterness and all the odors of the flesh, will raise himself upon the wings of the Dove above all the lowly strivings of the world and, indeed, above the entire universe; he will discovery that which alone is worthy of our desire; he will become beautiful because he has drawn near to Beauty; and there he will become as luminous as light because he is in communion with the true light.”*
–On Virginity
*I particularly like this one, because Gregory is analogizing the Holy Spirit to the winged chariot of Plato’s Phaedrus
“For He, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2.4), shows us in this book the most perfect and glorious path of salvation, I mean, by way of love. For some are saved by fear, as for example, when we break off from sin because we have our eyes on the threatened punishment of Hell. There are others, too who live lives of virtue because of the rewards promised to the good; and these possess their goal not by charity but by their hope of reward. But he who runs in spirit to reach perfection, casts out fear. For it is the attitude of a slave, who does not stay with his master out of love and simply does not run away for fear he will be beaten. The truly virtuous man even despises rewards, lest he give the impression that he esteems the gift more than the giver. He loves with his whole heart and soul and strength (Deut. 6.5) not the creatures that come from God but Him Who is the source of all good. And He Who calls us to share in Him commands that this disposition be in the souls of all of us who listen to Him.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“The bride says: Because I am wounded with love [Song of Songs 2.5, Septuagint]. Here she explains the dart that has gone right through her heart, and the Bowman is Love. From the Scriptures we learn that God is love (1 John 4.8), and also that He sends forth His only begotten Son as His chosen arrow (Is. 49.2) to the elect, dipping the triple point at its tip in the Spirit of life. The arrow’s tip is faith, and it unites to the Bowman whomsoever it strikes. As the Lord has said: I and the Father are one (John 10.30), and we will come, and will make our abode with him (John 14.23).
As the soul then is raised up by these divine elevations, she sees within herself the sweet dart of love that has wounded her, and she glorifies in the wound: I am wounded with love. Indeed it is a good wound and a sweet pain by which life penetrates the soul; for by the tearing of the arrow she opens, as it were, a door, and entrance into herself. For no sooner does she receive the dart of love than the image of archery is transformed into a scene of nuptial joy. . . .
In the previous text the bride had been the arrow’s target; now she sees herself as the arrow itself in the hands of the Archer, held on the one side by His right hand and on the other by His left. But the images in which the doctrine is contained are developed, according to the context, along the lines of a marriage allegory. Hence the text does not say that the pointed end of the arrow is held by the left hand and the rest by the right, as though the soul were a dart in the hands of a powerful archer aimed at the heavenly goal. Rather, it says that His left hand is supporting not the arrow-point but her head, and the rest he holds in His right hand. And the reason for this is, I think, that the Word by using two kinds of symbols wishes to teach us the same lesson with regard to our ascent towards God. The Bridegroom and our Archer are the same. And the bride and the arrow is the purified soul which he takes and aims at a good target. . . . With His right hand He takes and draws me back and makes my journey to heaven an easy one, and I am sped thither on my way even though I do not leave the Archer; I am carried on my flight and yet I rest in the arms of my Master.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
You alone are made in the likeness of that nature which surpasses all understanding; you alone are a similitude of eternal beauty, a receptacle of happiness, an image of the true Light; and if you look up to Him, you will become what He is, imitating Him Who shines within you, Whose glory is reflected in your purity. Nothing in all creation can equal your grandeur. All the heavens can fit into the palm of God’s hand; the earth and the sea are measured in the hollow of His hand (Is. 40.12). And though He is so great that He can grasp all creation in His palm, you can wholly embrace Him; He dwells within you, nor is He cramped as He pervades your entire being, saying: I will dwell in them, and walk among them (2 Cor. 6.16).
If you realize this, you will not allow your eye to rest on anything of this world. Indeed, you will no longer marvel even at the heavens. For how can you admire the heavens, my son, when you see that you are more permanent than they? For the heavens pass away, but you will abide for all eternity with Him Who is forever. Do not admire, then, the vastness of the earth or the ocean that stretches out to infinity, for like a chariot and horses they have been given in your charge. You have these elements in your power to be obedient to your will. For the earth ministers the necessities of life, and the sea offers its back like a tame steed to its rider.
If, then, thou knowest thyself, O fairest among women, [Song of Songs 1.8, Septuagint] you will despise the entire universe, and with your eye upon that spiritual goal you will overlook the wandering footprints which you find in life. And so, be on your guard, and make no mistake about the flock of goats, and then you will not be marked out as a goat instead of a sheep on the day of Judgment, or excluded from a place at the right hand of the throne. Rather, you will hear that sweet voice that speaks to all the humble and wool-bearing sheep: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matth. 25.34).”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“In theatrical spectacles it is always the same actors who act out the proposed plot, but we always think that different characters appear, because the actors take on different roles by changing their masks. So, for example, the same actor who came out before as a slave and a private citizen next appears as a noble or as a soldier; then afterwards, taking off the costume of the subordinate, he comes on in the character of a general or else with the costume of a king. So it is with the life of perfection. Those who, in their desire for higher things are being transformed from glory do not remain in the same character; but according to the degree of perfection which is established in each one, a different character will manifest itself in their lives, a new one always following on the old, by reason of their increase in grace.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“For it is impossible for our human nature ever to stop moving; it has been made by its Creator ever to keep changing.”
–On Virginity
“[T]he finest aspect of our mutability is the possibility of growth in good; and this capacity for improvement transforms the soul, as it changes, more and more into the divine.”
–On Perfection
“In days of old the human race grew cold with the chill of idolatry, and man’s changeable nature was transformed into the nature of the immobile objects which he worshipped. As the Scripture says: Let them that make them become like unto them: and all such as trust in them (Ps. 115.8). And this was only likely. For those who look towards the true God receive within themselves the characteristics of the divine nature; so too, those who turn their minds to the vanity of idols are transformed into the objects which they look at, and become stones instead of men. Turned thus to stone by the worship of idols, human nature became immovable and unable to advance; it had become stiff with the chill of idolatry. And therefore the Sun of Justice rose in this cruel winter, the spring came, the south wind dispelled that chill, and together with the rising of the sun’s rays warmed everything that lay in its path.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“The sovereign and highest Good, whose nature is goodness, this is divine nature itself. . . . Now since those who have come to know the highest good, desire completely to share in it, and since this good is limitless, it follows that their desire must necessarily be coextensive with the limitless, and therefore have no limit. . . . For it may be that human perfection consists precisely in this constant growth in the good.”
– The Life of Moses
“[T]he Only-Begotten, by Whom all things were made, is Himself the place for those who run; He is, according to His own words, the very Way of the course, as well as the Rock for those who are well grounded, and the Mansion for those who take their rest. . . . Moses sought to see God, and this is the instruction he receives on how he is to see Him: seeing God means following Him wherever He might lead. And God’s passing refers to His leading of those who follow Him. . . . Thus the Lord says to those who are being guided: You shall not see my face (Exod. 33.20), or, in other words: Do not face your guide.”
–The Life of Moses
“Now Jesus, who is born as a child for us, advances in wisdom and age and grace (Luke 2.52) in different ways in the hearts of those who receive Him. He is not the same in everyone, but only according to the measure of those in Whom He dwells, adapting Himself to the capacity of each one who receives Him: to some He comes as a Babe, to others as one advancing, to others in full maturity, according to the nature of the cluster. And hence He is never seen on the vine in the same form, but He changes His appearance with the course of time, now budding, now in full bloom, now mature, now fully ripe.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“The Lord does not say that it is blessed to know something about God, but rather to possess God in oneself: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God (Matth. 5.8). By this I do not think He means that the man who purifies the eye of his soul will enjoy an immediate vision of God; rather I think this marvelous saying teaches us the same lesson that the Word expressed more clearly to others when He said: The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17.21). And this teaches us that the man who purifies his heart of every creature and of every passionate impulse will see the image of the divine nature in his own beauty.
So too in this short sentence the Word, I think, is giving us the following advice: All you mortals who have within yourselves a desire to behold the supreme Good, when you are told that the majesty of God is exalted above the heavens, that the divine glory is inexpressible, its beauty indescribable, its nature inaccessible, do not despair at never being able to behold what you desire. For you do have within your grasp the degree of the knowledge of God which you can attain. For, when God made you, He at once endowed your nature with this perfection: upon the structure of your nature He imprinted an imitation of the perfections of His own nature, just as one would impress upon wax the outline of an emblem. But the wickedness that has been poured all over this divine engraving has made your perfection useless and hidden it with a vicious coating. You must then wash away, by a life of virtue, the dirt that has come to cling to your heart like plaster, and then your divine beauty will once again shine forth. . . .
Thus if such a man [the pure of heart] will look at himself he will see within himself the object of his desire; and thus he will become blessed, for in gazing upon his own purity he will see the archetype within the image.”
-On the Beatitudes, Sermon 6
“The soul that is rising upwards must leave all that it has already attained as falling far short of its desire; only then will it begin to grasp something of that magnificence which is beyond the stars. But how is it possible for us to attain this if our desires are for earthly things? How can we fly to heaven without celestial wings, if we are not already light, and borne on air by a lofty way of life?
No one could be so uninitiated in the mysteries of the Gospel as to be unaware that man has but one vehicle that can carry him to heaven; he must assume the wings of the descending Dove, such as even the prophet David longed for [Ps. 55.6-8]. In this way does the Scripture symbolically express the power of the spirit. . . . Thus the man who avoids all bitterness and all the odors of the flesh, will raise himself upon the wings of the Dove above all the lowly strivings of the world and, indeed, above the entire universe; he will discovery that which alone is worthy of our desire; he will become beautiful because he has drawn near to Beauty; and there he will become as luminous as light because he is in communion with the true light.”*
–On Virginity
*I particularly like this one, because Gregory is analogizing the Holy Spirit to the winged chariot of Plato’s Phaedrus
“For He, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2.4), shows us in this book the most perfect and glorious path of salvation, I mean, by way of love. For some are saved by fear, as for example, when we break off from sin because we have our eyes on the threatened punishment of Hell. There are others, too who live lives of virtue because of the rewards promised to the good; and these possess their goal not by charity but by their hope of reward. But he who runs in spirit to reach perfection, casts out fear. For it is the attitude of a slave, who does not stay with his master out of love and simply does not run away for fear he will be beaten. The truly virtuous man even despises rewards, lest he give the impression that he esteems the gift more than the giver. He loves with his whole heart and soul and strength (Deut. 6.5) not the creatures that come from God but Him Who is the source of all good. And He Who calls us to share in Him commands that this disposition be in the souls of all of us who listen to Him.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
“The bride says: Because I am wounded with love [Song of Songs 2.5, Septuagint]. Here she explains the dart that has gone right through her heart, and the Bowman is Love. From the Scriptures we learn that God is love (1 John 4.8), and also that He sends forth His only begotten Son as His chosen arrow (Is. 49.2) to the elect, dipping the triple point at its tip in the Spirit of life. The arrow’s tip is faith, and it unites to the Bowman whomsoever it strikes. As the Lord has said: I and the Father are one (John 10.30), and we will come, and will make our abode with him (John 14.23).
As the soul then is raised up by these divine elevations, she sees within herself the sweet dart of love that has wounded her, and she glorifies in the wound: I am wounded with love. Indeed it is a good wound and a sweet pain by which life penetrates the soul; for by the tearing of the arrow she opens, as it were, a door, and entrance into herself. For no sooner does she receive the dart of love than the image of archery is transformed into a scene of nuptial joy. . . .
In the previous text the bride had been the arrow’s target; now she sees herself as the arrow itself in the hands of the Archer, held on the one side by His right hand and on the other by His left. But the images in which the doctrine is contained are developed, according to the context, along the lines of a marriage allegory. Hence the text does not say that the pointed end of the arrow is held by the left hand and the rest by the right, as though the soul were a dart in the hands of a powerful archer aimed at the heavenly goal. Rather, it says that His left hand is supporting not the arrow-point but her head, and the rest he holds in His right hand. And the reason for this is, I think, that the Word by using two kinds of symbols wishes to teach us the same lesson with regard to our ascent towards God. The Bridegroom and our Archer are the same. And the bride and the arrow is the purified soul which he takes and aims at a good target. . . . With His right hand He takes and draws me back and makes my journey to heaven an easy one, and I am sped thither on my way even though I do not leave the Archer; I am carried on my flight and yet I rest in the arms of my Master.”
-Commentary on the Song of Songs
May 30, 2020
St. Gregory of Nyssa may be my favorite of the early Church Fathers. This text, which describes the spiritual life, is incredible, and Danielou's introduction is very good as well.
I don't really know how to explain why it took me three years to read it. I know it got lost under/at the bottom of the nightstand stack a few times. This last time, though, I had a hard time putting it down.
I don't really know how to explain why it took me three years to read it. I know it got lost under/at the bottom of the nightstand stack a few times. This last time, though, I had a hard time putting it down.
September 29, 2017
Throughout Gregory of Nyssa’s From Glory to Glory there is a continual yearning for the soul to strain towards the Transcendent. Gregory declares that “the soul that looks up to God never ceases to desire Him” for once we have witnessed God’s Goodness and His Beauty, all other earthly desires pale in comparison (104, 146). Our age (every age) is marked by competing passions and desires and Gregory’s insistence that the Transcendent God is the highest Good and Beauty is a compelling counter-narrative to the zeitgeist of carpe diem which collapses everything that matters into the present.
This lifelong quest for God will never be fully complete for even though we try to pursue virtue, we will never fully attain it and be perfected but in seeking after this virtue the soul “participates in God Himself, because He is infinite virtue” (82, 191). As we contemplate God we take on His likeness for He has imprinted His nature upon us but sin has distorted our ability to see Him and to comprehend invisible realities, and marred our likeness to Him; we image what we worship and if we do not worship the true God then we instead resemble earthly idols (101-102, 114, 172, 184).
Gregory states “the Bridegroom gives the soul that is ascending towards Him a greater increase and intensity in her enjoyment of perfection not only by showing His bride His own beauty, but also by reminding her of the terrifying beasts” (216). Our experience of sin enhances our capacity to enjoy God because God reminds us that we were once alienated from God (Col. 1:21) but now we have been invited into God’s Presence.
Gregory sometimes comes across as dualistic as he clearly favours the interior or the spiritual in favour of the sensual. He states that the “contemplation of truth is far superior to all sense perception” (98). While admitting that our senses can lead us to God, Gregory also believes that we must go beyond the merely sensual in order to seek the invisible. God Himself is not visible but is only witnessed through His actions in the world and our senses alone do not tell us how we ought to act in a given situation (84-85, 108, 161).
One witnesses seeming affinities between Eastern Orthodoxy and Arminianism/Wesleyanism. Gregory insists that human beings are not only capable of evil because if this were the case they would not seek after the good (p. 83-84). Certain strains of Reformed thought often emphasize mankind’s total depravity to such an extent that one wonders how such a sinful being could possibly ever seek after God who is good. Additionally, Gregory’s mantra that we are being “transformed from glory to glory” is reminiscent of the Wesleyan emphasis on continual sanctification (the Reformed believe in sanctification as well, but do not emphasize it as much as Arminians/Wesleyans) since both deification and sanctification stress our ongoing alteration into Christlikeness (p. 84).
Gregory asserts “our souls cannot be united with God in any other way than by purity and incorruptibility. For the soul in that state is truly like God; and she will be able to attain to Him Whom she resembles by placing herself, like a mirror, beneath His purity” (110). Gregory offers a commendable exhortation for Christians to be pure, but in his admonition for Christians be holy the perfect righteousness of Christ and his role as our mediator is muted. Mature Christians gradually grow in holiness, but God also meets us in sin (I’m not advocating sin!); indeed, grace is sometimes most palpably experienced by the believer when they stagger in the dark night of the soul.
This lifelong quest for God will never be fully complete for even though we try to pursue virtue, we will never fully attain it and be perfected but in seeking after this virtue the soul “participates in God Himself, because He is infinite virtue” (82, 191). As we contemplate God we take on His likeness for He has imprinted His nature upon us but sin has distorted our ability to see Him and to comprehend invisible realities, and marred our likeness to Him; we image what we worship and if we do not worship the true God then we instead resemble earthly idols (101-102, 114, 172, 184).
Gregory states “the Bridegroom gives the soul that is ascending towards Him a greater increase and intensity in her enjoyment of perfection not only by showing His bride His own beauty, but also by reminding her of the terrifying beasts” (216). Our experience of sin enhances our capacity to enjoy God because God reminds us that we were once alienated from God (Col. 1:21) but now we have been invited into God’s Presence.
Gregory sometimes comes across as dualistic as he clearly favours the interior or the spiritual in favour of the sensual. He states that the “contemplation of truth is far superior to all sense perception” (98). While admitting that our senses can lead us to God, Gregory also believes that we must go beyond the merely sensual in order to seek the invisible. God Himself is not visible but is only witnessed through His actions in the world and our senses alone do not tell us how we ought to act in a given situation (84-85, 108, 161).
One witnesses seeming affinities between Eastern Orthodoxy and Arminianism/Wesleyanism. Gregory insists that human beings are not only capable of evil because if this were the case they would not seek after the good (p. 83-84). Certain strains of Reformed thought often emphasize mankind’s total depravity to such an extent that one wonders how such a sinful being could possibly ever seek after God who is good. Additionally, Gregory’s mantra that we are being “transformed from glory to glory” is reminiscent of the Wesleyan emphasis on continual sanctification (the Reformed believe in sanctification as well, but do not emphasize it as much as Arminians/Wesleyans) since both deification and sanctification stress our ongoing alteration into Christlikeness (p. 84).
Gregory asserts “our souls cannot be united with God in any other way than by purity and incorruptibility. For the soul in that state is truly like God; and she will be able to attain to Him Whom she resembles by placing herself, like a mirror, beneath His purity” (110). Gregory offers a commendable exhortation for Christians to be pure, but in his admonition for Christians be holy the perfect righteousness of Christ and his role as our mediator is muted. Mature Christians gradually grow in holiness, but God also meets us in sin (I’m not advocating sin!); indeed, grace is sometimes most palpably experienced by the believer when they stagger in the dark night of the soul.
February 9, 2024
While I did value some of the comments St Gregory makes in his interpretation of Scripture, I'm not a mystic and so feel a reluctance at just accepting his commentary on certain issues. He relies very heavily on allegory, and because just about everything he is commenting on (mostly from the life of Moses and on the Song of Songs) is an allegory for something else, it strikes me at points at being almost whimsical. Gregory does say several times that he is not making a claim to be absolutely correct in his interpretation and that others may have better ideas than he. Gregory is endeavoring to make the Jewish scriptures relevant to Gentiles, Hellenists, and other non-Jewish intellectuals and mystics. And while I agree that a totally literalistic interpretation of the Old Testament does not work, I also find myself a bit uncomfortable with making everything allegorical. It does change the OT text from being merely Jewish history to a spiritual text that non-Jews can appreciate, but it leaves me feeling the interpretation borders on the whimsical. The text has no meaning but what the reader gives it.
September 30, 2017
Good intro to Gregory of Nyssa's mysticism (which is God-focussed and Christ-oriented, so it remains Christian mysticism) and a good example of how he handles narrative and wisdom genres of Scripture (especially the lives of Abraham and Moses, and the Song of Songs). Gregory sees the believer, the soul of the Christian, as progressing toward God by infinite gradations. The soul that truly desires deepest union with God in his Goodness will always be arriving at deeper levels of purity and virtue but once there will find that this destination is but the departure point for the next leg of the infinite journey of ascent toward the incomprehensible, transcendent God.
July 16, 2020
Gregory is a favorite theologian of many of my favorite theologians (Balthasar, Tanner, Coakley) and this is a beautiful introduction to his main texts (Life is Moses and Sermons on the Song of Songs) and his main innovation in the Christianization of Neoplatonism: the quality of the human to be always growing and changing is a great gift In our constant growth in God—as we grow and change, we have the ability and grace to constantly, untiringly, change more into the Divine Likeness and enjoy more and more fully the divine presence. Being is not a barren stasis, even if it is perfection. Also just beautiful.
April 13, 2016
I'm not a big fan of Gregory's allegorical exegesis. What makes me suspect is that he preaches the same sermon every time from every text. Now, I know many Baptist preachers who are guilty of the same error. However, I don't see the allegorical method (at least to the extent Gregory exercises it) as a viable way of interpreting scripture. It seems like what you say when you aren't sure what the text means. I applaud that it's aim is to take in the entire content and Christian faith, but I don't think it's be the best way.
Also, while Gregory is definitely Trinitarian, and this is very evident from his other writings, he is more concerned with God as "The Good" in a singular way. Again, not too much like Baptists and evangelicals (although I know Gregory is far from being a Baptist!), he focuses much on God in these works without focusing on God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
These critiques aside, Gregory is clearly brilliant and a great orator. I like some of the things he said about the Christian life and faith, but just not adorned in such allegorical exegesis. Not as fun or insightful as Gregory of Nazianzus or Basil.
Also, while Gregory is definitely Trinitarian, and this is very evident from his other writings, he is more concerned with God as "The Good" in a singular way. Again, not too much like Baptists and evangelicals (although I know Gregory is far from being a Baptist!), he focuses much on God in these works without focusing on God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
These critiques aside, Gregory is clearly brilliant and a great orator. I like some of the things he said about the Christian life and faith, but just not adorned in such allegorical exegesis. Not as fun or insightful as Gregory of Nazianzus or Basil.
January 30, 2014
Some beautiful areas, the lengthy introduction is definitely worthwhile, especially as I am new to reading from the church fathers.
The many pages of allegorical interpretation was difficult, but really interesting to get exposed to.
The many pages of allegorical interpretation was difficult, but really interesting to get exposed to.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews