Trinity and Man: Gregory of Nyssa’s Ad Ablabium (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae)

249 Pages·2007·1.22 MB·English

by  Maspero

Trinity and Man
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Supplements
to
Vigiliae Christianae
Formerly Philosophia Patrum
Text and Studies of Early
Christian Life and Language
Editors
J. den Boeft – J. van Oort – W.L. Petersen †
D.T. Runia – C. Scholten – J.C.M. van Winden
VOLUME 86
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Trinity and Man
Gregory of Nyssa’s Ad Ablabium
By
Giulio Maspero
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2007
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
ISSN 0920-623x
ISBN 978 90 04 15872 6
© Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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from the publisher.
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The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
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CONTENTS
Abbreviations ........................................................................... ix
Introduction to the Treatise .................................................... xi
I. Trinity and Man ............................................................... xi
II. Content of the Ad Ablabium ........................................... xiv
III. Dating the Treatise ........................................................... xix
IV. Linguistic Analysis ............................................................ xxii
V. Keys to Reading ................................................................ xxviii
Chapter One Nature and Action ......................................... 1
I. Universal Nature ............................................................... 1
a. The Ad Ablabium ........................................................ 1
b. Universal Nature .......................................................... 4
c. Nature and Essence ..................................................... 10
d. Nature and Time ......................................................... 17
e. Conclusion .................................................................... 26
II. The Energies ..................................................................... 27
a. The Ad Ablabium ........................................................ 27
b. The (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9) ................................................................ 31
c. Activity .......................................................................... 38
d. Palamism ...................................................................... 45
III. Unity of Action ............................................................... 53
a. The Ad Ablabium ........................................................ 53
b. Unity of Action ............................................................ 56
c. Economy and Immanence ........................................... 60
d. The Unity of Men ...................................................... 66
e. The Apokatastasis ........................................................ 76
1. The Interpretations .................................................. 76
2. Gregory .................................................................... 80
3. Evolution .................................................................. 83
4. Terminology ............................................................. 86
5. The Condemnation ................................................. 88
6. The Misunderstanding ............................................ 91
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vi contents
Chapter Two Apophatism and Person ..................................... 95
I. Introduction .......................................................................... 95
II. Names ................................................................................... 99
a. Eunomius ......................................................................... 99
b. The Names and God ....................................................... 100
c. Number ............................................................................ 103
d. Passage to the Person ...................................................... 104
III. The Ad Ablabium ................................................................. 105
IV. Eunomius, Nature and Excess .............................................. 111
V. The Concept of Person ........................................................ 117
VI. The Theology of Name ....................................................... 125
a. The Name of Christ .......................................................... 125
b. The Image ........................................................................ 129
c. Connaturality ................................................................... 133
Conclusion ............................................................................ 138
Chapter Three The Spirit and Unity ...................................... 149
I. Introduction .......................................................................... 149
a. East and West .................................................................. 149
b. Gregory ............................................................................ 151
II. The Ad Ablabium ................................................................. 153
III. The ‘Cause’ ........................................................................... 158
IV. The Theology of Light ........................................................ 163
a. The Light ......................................................................... 163
b. The Sun ........................................................................... 165
c. The Flame ........................................................................ 170
V. The Role of the Son ............................................................ 171
a. Per Filium ........................................................................... 171
b. Ex Filio? ............................................................................ 174
VI. Unity ..................................................................................... 177
a. (cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:13) (cid:7)(cid:14)(cid:3)(cid:9)(cid:8) ........................................................................ 177
b. Glory ................................................................................ 180
Conclusion ............................................................................ 183
General Conclusions .................................................................... 193
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contents vii
Bibliography ................................................................................. 201
Cited Works and Abbreviations .............................................. 201
Dictionaries, Concordances and other Sources ...................... 202
Monographs ............................................................................. 203
Articles ..................................................................................... 205
Index of Persons .......................................................................... 211
Index of Biblical References ....................................................... 215
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ABBREVIATIONS
All abbreviations in the present study are from S. Schwertner, Internatio-
nales Abkürzungsverzeichnis für Theologie und Grenzgebiete (IATG²), Berlin-New
York 1992. The work is an expanded list of the abbreviations found in
the Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE).
The abbreviations of the works of Gregory of Nyssa are included
in the bibliography.
The Abbreviation GNO refers to Brill’s Gregorii Nysseni Opera, com-
menced by W. Jaeger.
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