Without the Son the Father Has Neither Existence Nor Name

Many people fear that the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son implies a sort of subordination of the Son to the Father, as the Son is dependent upon the Father for his being.  However, Gregory is able to reverse this sentiment and say that the Father is dependent on the Son for his [...]

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Ungenerate and Unoriginate

Gregory freely admits that ungenerate is simply a way to say Father (Against Eunomius 1.37) He prefers the revealed terms of Father, Son, and Spirit to any systematic terms like ungenerate and generate, but he understands the necessity of the latter given the heresies of his day.
He is concerned with guarding the eternality and [...]

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Nyssa on the Unity of Divine Operations

In On “Not Three Gods”, Gregory mentions that the persons of the Godhead are united by their operations (works).  This manner of speaking has been accosted for the purpose of social formulations of the Trinity, but a careful reading of the way in which Gregory employs the divine operations should dissuade us of any such [...]

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Nyssa and Absolute Divine Simplicity

Bound up in his adherence to the infinity of the divine nature (which is the only pure being), is Gregory’s commitment to divine simplicity. Eunomius was content to use the terminology of “simple,” however he held to a plurality of being among the Father, Son, and Spirit. Thus, for Eunomius, each being was [...]

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Nyssa on Essence and Energies

Eunomius had relied on Aristotelian metaphysics to construct a theology where the Son and Spirit were “energies” of the Father. In Eunomius’ thought, this also entailed that they were distinct from the Father’s essence and of a lower quality.
In rejecting this way of thinking, Gregory gives us some insights on his own understanding of [...]

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Nyssa on the Infinity of the Good

In his treatise Against Eunomius, Gregory begins with a discussion on “pure being,” which is, by necessity of its pure being-ness, infinite. All else that “be’s” is only able to do so as it moves towards that which is pure being. That which is totally pure is also infinite, for it lacks all [...]

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Nyssa on Baptism

Let us now address ourselves to the next point. What is it that we achieve by holy baptism? Is it not a share in the life that is no longer a prey to death? I hardly think anyone who was in any sense a Christian would deny this. But is this [...]

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Gregory of Nyssa: Plato, Infinity, and Beyond!

Gregory’s idea of God, with which we begin, represents in an original way the conflation of three quite distinct elements: the biblical, the philosophic and the doctrinal. He shares with the Bible certain primary ideas, some of which, although not all, find a parallel in the philosophical tradition in which he also stands. [...]

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