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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==
===Infinity===
Gregory's second main contribution is his spiritual theology. He is the first Christian [[theologian ]] to argue for the infinity of God. [[Origen]], often called a major influence on Gregory, had explicitly argued that God is limited, an essential notion in Platonism, since to be limited is to be clearly defined and knowable. Gregory, however, argues that if God is limited he must be limited by something greater than himself; he is therefore without boundaries. The idea had already been developed by neoplatonic philosophers, especially Plotinus, another important influence on Gregory, but he is the first Christian to defend it, apart from some hints in the work of [[Irenaeus of Lyons|Irenaeus]].
Accordingly, Gregory argues that since God is infinite he cannot be comprehended. In contrast, Origen had spoken of the spiritual journey as a progression of increasing illumination, as the mystic studies [[Holy Scripture|Scripture]] and comes to learn more about God.
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===
"The soul has followed Moses and the cloud, both of these serving as guides for those who would advance in virtue; Moses here represents the commandments of the Law; and the cloud that leads the way, its spiritual meaning. The soul has been purified by crossing the Sea; it has removed from itself and destroyed the enemy army. It has tasted of the waters of Marah, that is, of life deprived of all sinful pleasure; and this at first had seemed bitter and unpleasant to the taste but offered a sensation of sweetness to those who accepted the wood. Next it enjoyed the beauty of the palm trees of the gospel and the springs; it filled itself with the living water, that is, the rock. It took within itself the bread of heaven. It overwhelmed the foreign host—a victory due to the extended arms of the Lawgiver, which thus foreshadowed the mystery of the Cross. Only then can the soul go on to the contemplation of transcendent Being."
==Writings==
===Dogmatic Treatises===
*Against Eunomius
*Answer to Eunomius’ Second Book
*On the Holy Spirit
*On the Holy Trinity, and of the Godhead of the Holy Spirit
*On “Not Three Gods.”
*On the Faith
===Ascetic and Moral Treatises===
*On Virginity
*On Infants’ Early Deaths
*On Pilgrimages
===Philosophical Works===
*On the Making of Man
*On the Soul and the Resurrection
*The Life of Moses
===Apologetic Works===
*The Great Catechism
===Oratorical Works===
*Funeral Oration on Meletius
*On the Baptism of Christ
===Letters===
*To Eusebius
*To the City of Sebasteia
*To Ablabius
*To Cynegius
*A Testimonial
*To Stagirius
*To a Friend
*To a Student of the Classics
*An Invitation
*To Libanius
*Second Letter to Libanius
*On His work against Eunomius
*To the Church at [[Nicomedia]]
*To the Bishop of Melitene
*To Adelphius the Lawyer
*To Amphilochius
*To Eustathia, Ambrosia, and Basilissa
*To Flavian
==Sources and external links==
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:4th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Church Fathers]]
[[Category:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:WonderworkerByzantine Saints]][[Category:4th-century saints]]
[[ar:غريغوريوس النصصي]]
[[fr:Grégoire de Nysse]][[pt:Gregório de Nissa]][[ro:Grigorie de Nyssaal Nissei]]
