St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-394 CE), who came from an illustrious Christian family of Capadocia, became bishop of the small town of Nyssa in 371 and is known as one of the founders of mystical theology in the Church. In The Life of Moses, one of the most important books in the study of Christian mysticism, Gregory retells the story of Moses's life from the biblical account in Exodus and Numbers and then refers back to these stories as the basis for profound spiritual lessons. The ultimate goal of Gregory's spirituality is to strive for infinite progress in the never-completed journey to God. His exhortations to lead a life of virtue will inspire all who hope to increase their knowledge and love of God.
What an enchanting evaluation of the role of Moses from an abstract, metaphorical perspective. I only have four stars cause some of his ideas are far fetched, but he also had three concepts that intrigued me and added to my spiritual understanding of the Bible. My favorite of his analogies and his strongest is where he connects Christ on the cross with Moses and the serpents, where the serpents are attacking the Jews and Moses holds up his staff and all those who look up to the staff are cured of the poison. Gregory says that we are all in that situation in this life where all the worldly desires and sin are the serpents attacking us and the only salvation is to look up to the cross and see His passion to cure us. I loved this book!