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[[image:Gregorynyssa.jpg|right|thumb|St. Gregory of Nyssa, one of the [[Cappadocian Fathers]].]]Our father among the saints '''Gregory of Nyssa''' (''ca.'' A.D. 335 – after 384) was [[bishop]] of Nyssa and a prominent [[theologian]] of the fourth century. He was the younger brother of [[Basil the Great]] and friend of [[Gregory the Theologian]]. Gregory's influence on Church doctrine has remained important, although some have accused this theology of containing an [[Origen|Origenist]] influence. He is commemorated on [[January 10]].
==Life==
Gregory was raised in a very pious (and large) Christian family of ten children; his grandmother [[Macrina the Elder]], his mother [[Emily]], his father [[Basil the Elder]], his sisters [[Macrina the Younger]] and [[Theosebia the Deaconess|Theosebia]], and his brothers [[Basil the Great]] and [[Peter of Sebaste]] have all been recognized as saints. He received a good education and taught rhetoric at one point. In 372, his brother Basil [[ordination|ordained]] him the [[bishop]] of Nyssa in Cappadocia (in present-day Turkey).
Gregory and Basil both spent much effort defending the Faith against the attacks of the [[Arianism|Arians]]. He was twice deposed as leader of from his See see because of false accusations made by the heretics. His position as bishop He was finally restored in 378.
The next year, 379, his brother [[Basil the Great]] died. As the two were extremely close, Gregory was very grieved at his loss. To honor his brother, Gregory wrote his funeral oration and then completed Basil's ''Hexaemeron''("Six Days"), a series of nine sermons, delivered during [[Great Lent]], which described and elaborated upon the [[Genesis]] account of the world's creation in six days (Hexaemeron means "six days"). The following year, Gregory's sister [[Macrina the Younger|Macrina]] also died, and Gregory wrote a [[hagiography]] detailing her life.
About this time Gregory attended the Council of Antioch, a local [[synod]], in which he zealously defended Orthodoxy. The council was called to rebut refute a [[heresy]] which denied the perpetual virginity of the [[Theotokos]], on one hand, and other the other hand forbid . The council also forbade worship of her as God or part of the Godhead. Gregory was simultaneously continuing to fight Arianism. Next, he He also attended the [[Second Ecumenical Council]] in Constantinople, which added the final section concerning the [[Holy Spirit]] to the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]].
For the rest of his life, Gregory continued to attend church councils, discuss doctrinal matters, and combat various heresies.
He reached old age and finally reposed in the Lord near the end of the fourth century.
Gregory's influence on Church doctrine has remained important, and while influenced by the work of [[Origen]] (who was eventually condemned by the Church centuries after his death), his writings are prominent among the early Church Fathers.
==Gregory's Theology==
Gregory speaks of three stages of spiritual progression: initial darkness or ignorance, then spiritual illumination, and finally a darkness of the mind in contemplation of the God who cannot be comprehended. (See [[apophatic theology]].)
Like earlier authors, including the Jewish [[Philo of Alexandria]], he uses the story of [[Moses]] as an allegory for the spiritual life. Moses first meets God in the [[Burning Bush|burning bush]], a [[theophany]] of light and illumination, but then he meets him again in the cloud, where he realizes that God cannot be seen by the eyes. Ascending [[Mount Sinai]], he finally comes to the "divine darkness", and realizes that God cannot be known by the mind either.
It is only through not-knowing and not-seeing that God can, paradoxically, be known and seen. This notion would be extremely influential in both Western and Eastern spirituality, via the mystical writings of Pseudo-[[Dionysius the Areopagite]]. Thus he is a major figure in the history of apophatic theology and spirituality.
===Epektasis===
Related to this is Gregory's idea of epektasis or constant progress. Platonic philosophy said that stability is perfection and change is for the worse; in contrast, Gregory described the ideal of human perfection as constant progress in virtue and godliness. In Gregory’s theology, God himself has always been perfect and has never changed, and never will. Humanity fell from grace in the [[Garden of Eden]], but rather than return to an unchanging state, humanity's goal is to become more and more perfect, more like God, even though humanity will never understand, much less attain, God's transcendence. This idea has had a profound influence on the Eastern Orthodox teaching regarding [[theosis]] or "divinization".
Gregory also taught that while it cannot be known whether or not all humans will be saved, as [[Origen ]] speculated, faithful Christians may hope and pray for the salvation of all, even after death. He thus presents a hopeful alternative to those theologies, such as that of [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], which state that at least some, of necessity, will be eternally condemned to [[hell]].
===Quotes===
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:4th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Church Fathers]]
[[Category:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Byzantine Saints]]
[[Category:4th-century saints]]
[[ar:غريغوريوس النصصي]]
[[fr:Grégoire de Nysse]][[pt:Gregório de Nissa]][[ro:Grigorie de Nyssaal Nissei]]
