The Legacy of Gregory of Nyssa - Essay Example

Gregory of Nyssa If one takes a close look at the human civilization, one can not help noticing that it is different from any other group that is formed by the living creatures. One of the most peculiar aspects that comes to mind right away is the highly respected notion of spirituality. Indeed, faith largely defines the nature of people. That is why it is particularly important to analyze religions as well as prominent individuals who contributed their ideas to its development. This paper will analyze the legacy of Gregory of Nyssa: a prominent Christian mystic whose works are studied up to this day. At first the text will provide a brief biographical as well as social-cultural background, while the rest of the paper will be devoted to careful examination of his teaching. To begin with, one might point out that the future Christian saint was born in a large family in the city that used to be called Neocaesarea in the province of Pontus (Silvas 4). It would not be surprising that his mother and father, together with his numerous brother and sisters, where Christians which made them different from a large part of their contemporary society. In addition to that, it should be noted that the region where he lived, namely Cappadocia is known for several reasons: thus, Christianity did not spread there much, unlike in the other regions; nevertheless, this particular part of Europe was able to nurture the prominent Christian theologists who are referred to collectively as the Cappadocian Fathers. The saint in question was born in the first half of the fourth century. One would make no mistake pointing out that this was a rather important period of time for the development of Christian communities around the world since this spiritual tradition was no longer regarded as some kind of a sect, but it enjoyed recognition and many people adopted it. Speaking of any events that compelled Gregory to pursue the path of a Christian mystic, one should note that he had a happy marriage, but the most fruitful period of his work as a theologist emerged after the death of his wife. In addition to that, one may also note that at the time there was a considerable number of different heresies which were taught in the region; so, Gregory, being extremely educated, felt that he is able to provide people with valid answers to the questions that they were not able to answer themselves. All this resulted in the fact that for a considerable period of time this saint experienced different conflicts with the churches in region (Seco 110). One even might point out the fact that there was a situation when Gregory of Nyssa was arrested and he had to flee and hide himself for some time. All in all, his hate for different heresies was widely known and that is the primary reason why have got involved in so many conflicts: at that time the Christian faith did not have one established point of view on different controversial issues; so, the coexistence of heresies and orthodoxy was a common practice and neither side wanted to acknowledge the opposite one and find reconciliation. The legacy which was left behind after the death of the saint in question is extremely important for the Christian religion. It may be best seen in the way the above mentioned Cappadocian Fathers were treated: Basil of Caesarea was praised for actions, Gregory of Nazianzus – for the speeches that he gave and Gregory of Nyssa – for the ideas that he developed. It is beyond any doubt that over the course of centuries neither actions nor speeches influenced the hearts of the Christians, but prominent ideas which were developed in the fourth century. As for the recognition in the Christian world, one should note that was a considerable period of time he was regarded as a smaller figure if compared to his contemporary Basil of Caesarea, for example. However, after the scholars were able to read this works fully, they were able to see the important points which were brought up in them and the quality of thinking contributed to the emergence of the new ideas. At the present moment several scholars chose his works are the subject of their future researches. Now it would be important to examine in great detail his legacy. First of all, one should note that Gregory of Nyssa devoted a considerable amount of time to developing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and explanation of it. Thus, it was his approach that all the Persons in it are independent, but their essence is one. In addition to that, Gregory dwelled on the idea of different priorities that each of the Persons had: God the Father had the priority in ontology; God the Son had the priority in Epistemology and God the Holy Spirit has the priority in metaphysics. Another interesting point which was developed by Gregory of Nyssa is the concept of infinity of God (Heller 30). Based on different evidence, the saint in question thought that the human mind which was created and had limits would never be able to comprehend the infinite majesty of God. All this resulted in the peculiar manner of his theology, namely the fact that it is apophatic which means that the nature of God is largely defined by the things that He is not, rather than definition of what He is. This is particularly important since the proponents of this approach may always refer to the works of Gregory of Nyssa. Another interesting implication that the idea about infinity of God has is the fact that the human soul will always be in the process of approaching the divine and can hardly ever reach it. Speaking of the significance of this idea one might suggest that it constitutes the foundation for the necessity to perform constant work on inner self which urges people to live a life that is more pious. Finally, Gregory of Nyssa also described the three stages that the every Christian soul experiences: at first it suffers because of ignorance and lives in darkness; afterwards is illuminated by the light of the Christian teaching and, finally after death, it tried to comprehend God. It is quite obvious that this kind of thinking reflects the Christian world view and encourages people to adopt this religion. The next aspect of legacy that was left by Gregory of Nyssa primarily deals with the issues that are connected to the nature of salvation. Thus, it must be noted that this Christian saint was a proponent of the idea of universal salvation. According to him, after the Day of Judgment, not only those who were resurrected, but those in hell as well will be able to receive a change for salvation. It is rather interesting to point out that not only sinners who were tortured in hell are the subject of salvation, but the demons as well. This idea is primarily backed up by several passages from the New Testament that proclaim that grace of God will be present everywhere including the underworld. However, if one examined the views of Gregory of Nyssa on salvation closely, one will be able to witness the fact that some of the ideas might contradict with each other. On the one hand, according to this Christian saint only those people who were baptized could be saved by God. In addition to that, those people who at the Judgment day are recognized to a pious life will always be saved. On other hand, Gregory of Nyssa thinks of the Day of Judgment as the event when the world will finally be able to return to the point what it was sinless. It is beyond any doubt that this means that all the inhabitants of the world will be redeemed of their sins. This is quite a peculiar point since this largely contradicts with the view of the person who is known to have influenced the Gregory of Nyssa, namely Origen. Thus, the latter was a strong proponent of the idea of universal salvation. The legacy of the Christian saint in question also contains a considerable number of ideas that hold significant implications for understanding the nature of human beings. Thus, as it has already been stated, Gregory of Nyssa thought that both the body of men and the soul of men were created by God which placed some limits on our ability to comprehend his essence. In addition to that, a lot of attention is dedicated to the concept that man is an image of God. Thus, the Christian theologist suggests that the two aspects that are a direct reflection of this is the self awareness of the people as well as free will (Louth 28). Moreover, all the art that may be created by men should be treated as a work of apprentice who can hardly be compared to the master. The views of Gregory of Nyssa on one of the most dramatic episodes that were described in the Bible may sometimes be rather surprising. For example, the Fall of Man which is largely regarded to be one of the most dramatic episodes of Genesis is perceived as quite optimistic by the above mentioned theologist as the emergence of the entire humanity would not have occurred with Adam and Eve did not have to leave Eden. Finally, the writing of Gregory of Nyssa feature extremely progressive view on the issue of slavery: he was one of the earliest critics who pointed about that slavery should be considered to be a disgrace to all the humanity and therefore should be banned. One of the main arguments that he brought up was the fact that no money or any material object is able to reflect the universal value of a human being. Finally, the legacy of Gregory of Nyssa is also known to contain several ideas that might be classified as Neo-Platonic. Indeed, it would not be a big exaggeration to mention that the philosophical teaching of Ancient Greece have had an impact on the world view of this saint. For example, he is known to be the proponent of the idea that people will never be able to experience the reality of God and are doomed to be captives of the world that is limited by the their nature. Nevertheless, there are also points where Gregory of Nyssa proclaims the ideas which contradict to the traditional Neo-Platonic philosophy. Thus, according to him beauty may largely be considered to be equal to goodness and vice versa, while this idea can hardly be accepted by the philosophers who adhere to the above mentioned school of thought. It is quite obvious that the legacy that Gregory of Nyssa left behind is extremely excessive and deep. That is why the people should understand it in the following way: only the careful examination of human nature is able to shed light on our place in the universe; in addition to that, it is always important to remember about supremacy of God and his infinite nature. Speaking of the medium that the saint in question used to convey his ideal, one should note that he primarily chose spiritual writing. Thus, there are several books that present his point of view such as Against Euthonius, Life After Death or Life of Moses. If one considers that relationship between the teaching of this mystic and the classical philosophy, one will be able to identify that they both put a great emphasis on the necessity to define the major definitions and base the understanding of more complex ideas on them. Having examined all the evidence that was carefully examined in the paragraphs above, one might come to the following conclusion: the legacy of Gregory of Nyssa is extremely important when it comes to understanding some of the most fundamental ideas in the Christian Church, such as the nature of the Holy Trinity, the concept of salvation as well the place of humans in the creation. Works Cited Heller, Micha. Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011. Print. Louth, Andrew. Genesis 1-11. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2001. Print. Seco, Lucas F. The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Print. Silvas, Anna. Gregory of Nyssa the Letters. Leiden: Brill, 2007. Print. Read More