Gregory of Nazianzus (The Early Church Fathers)

285 Pages·2006·1.52 MB·English

by  Brian E. Daley

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS
Gregory of Nazianzus, a complex and colorful figure in a crucial age (fourth
century AD) when it was permissible for the first time to be a public
Christian intellectual, was well placed to become one of the outstanding
defenders and formulators of Church doctrine.
A gifted and skilled rhetorician, poet, and orator and a profound
theologian, Gregory was ordained a bishop and served for almost two years
as head of the orthodox Christian community in Constantinople, where
he played a crucial role in formulating the classical doctrines of the Trinity
and the person of Christ. Under fire from opponents in the Church, the
enigmatic Gregory eventually retreated into a quiet life of study and simple
asceticism in his native Cappadocia, concentrating there on bringing the
broad canon of his own writings to their present form.
The body of his works, including poetry, letters, sermons, and lectures
on religious themes and written with the precision and elegance found in
classical Greek literature, was recognized in the Byzantine age as equal in
quality to the achievements of the greatest Greek writers.
A collection of new translations of a selection of these works, with an
extensive introduction to Gregory’s life, thought, and writings, Gregory of
Nazianzus presents to us a vivid portrait of a fascinating character who
deserves to be regarded as one of the Christian tradition’s outstanding
theologians and as the first true Christian humanist.
Brian E. Daley, S.J., is the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at
the University of Notre Dame. A student of the theology of the Church
Fathers, he has been a member of the North American Roman Catholic-
Orthodox dialogue for over 25 years. His publications include The Hope of
the Early Church (1991).
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THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Edited by Carol Harrison
University of Durham
The Greek and Latin fathers of the Church are central to the creation of Christian
doctrine, yet often unapproachable because of the sheer volume of their writing
and the relative paucity of accessible translations. This series makes available
translations of key selected texts by the major Fathers to all students of the Early
Church
CYRIL OF JERUSALEM
Edward Yarnold, S.J.
EARLY CHRISTIAN LATIN POETS
Caroline White
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
Norman Russell
MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR
Andrew Louth
IRENAEUS OF LYONS
Robert M. Grant
AMBROSE
Boniface Ramsey, O.P.
ORIGEN
Joseph W. Trigg
GREGORY OF NYSSA
Anthony Meredith, S.J.
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Wendy Mayer and Pauline Allen
JEROME
Stefan Rebenich
TERTULLIAN
Geoffrey Dunn
ATHANASIUS
Khaled Anatolios
SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH
Pauline Allen and C.T.R. Hayward
GREGORY THE GREAT
John Moorhead
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS
Brian E. Daley, S.J.
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GREGORY OF
NAZIANZUS
Brian E. Daley, S.J.
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First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 2006 Brian E. Daley, S.J.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN10: 0–415–12180–9 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–12181–7 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–12180–4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–12181–7 (pbk)
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For John W. O’Malley, S.J.,
another Christian humanist
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To Gregory the Theologian
(before an icon of the “Three Hierarchs”)
Father, what has this pensive face of yours to say?
Perhaps you feel constrained to tell me something new,
But cannot find new words! For what to us seems strange,
Your sermons have already clarified for me.
Michael Psellos (1018–after 1081)
(PG 122.909 A3–7)
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction 1
Gregory the Man 3
Gregory the Humanist 26
Gregory the Philosopher 34
Gregory the Theologian 41
Gregory the Priest 50
These translations 60
2 Orations 62
1. Oration 8: Funeral Oration for his Sister Gorgonia 63
2. Oration 14: On the Love of the Poor 75
3. Oration 20: On Theology, and the Appointment of Bishops 98
4. Oration 26: About Himself, on his Return from the Country 105
5. Oration 38: On the Theophany 117
6. Oration 39: On the Holy Lights 127
7. Oration 42: The Farewell Address 138
8. Oration 44: For “New Sunday” 154
3 Poems 162
On His Own Verses 163
A Hymn To God 165
A Hymn of Thanksgiving 167
Evening Hymn 167
Prayer Before Reading Scripture 168
Prayer Befor a Journey 169
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CONTENTS
Prayer Before a Journey to Constantinople 169
A Prayer to Christ 170
Three Prayers for a Day 170
Supplication 171
4 Letters 172
Letter 11: To Gregory (of Nyssa) 173
Letter 20: To Caesarius 174
Letter 30: To Philagrius 175
Letter 31: To Philagrius 176
Letter 48: To Basil 176
Letter 51: To Nicoboulus 177
Letter 58: To Basil 179
Letter 76: To Gregory of Nyssa 181
Letter 80: To Philagrius 181
Letter 90: To Anysius 181
Letter 178: To Eudoxius 182
5 Gregory’s Will 184
Notes 190
Bibliography 259
Index 268
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A completed book always bears the traces of many hands. Although I take
full responsibility for all the shortcomings and inaccuracies from which this
book may suffer, I also express my profound gratitude to the many people
who helped it on the long journey from conception to birth: to Dr. Carol
Harrison, of the University of Durham, the general editor of The Early
Church Fathers, for her patience and kind encouragement, and for her many
helpful suggestions on how to improve the final draft; to her colleagues at
Routledge, particularly Dr. Richard Stoneman, for showing continuing
interest in the book’s progress, without ever exerting pressure; to the staff of
the Center of Theological Inquiry, in Princeton, NJ, and to my fellow resident
members there in 2004–2005, for offering me a setting of warm colleagueship
in which to bring the project to completion; to Ms. Kate Skrebutenas and
the rest of the staff at the library of the Princeton Theological Seminary, for
friendly help in the midst of unparalleled library resources; to my student
and assistant, Mr. Scott Moringiello, of the University of Notre Dame, for
his lively interest and perceptive comments; and to my friend, colleague,
and former student, Professor Christopher Beeley, of Yale Divinity School,
for his enthusiasm, careful critique, and unfailing scholarly help during all
the years both of us were puzzling over Gregory of Nazianzus together and
for saving the book’s final version from many errors of fact and judgment. I
hope the Cappadocian Saint, in a mood of unusual geniality, smiles on us
all and that he is pleased with the result—despite the barbarity of our speech!
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