Oὐσíα and ὑπóσταıς in the Trinitarian Theology of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil and Gregory of Nyssa

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Corrigan
Keyword(s):  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers

The Cappadocian Fathers and Civic Patriotism

1974 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Kopecek
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Strong Sense ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers

In a recent article I argued that the famous Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth century were by birth members of the eastern empire's municipal aristocracy, the so-called curial class. Libanius of Antioch, himself born of a curial family, indicates that this social class was characterized by three traditional values: civic patriotism, devotion to Greek paideia and a strong sense of the importance of family ties and tradition. The purpose of the present essay is to focus on the first and most important component of the threcfold “curial ideal” —that is, civic patriotism — and to investigate the extent to which this value of the social circles to which the Fathers belonged influenced their thought and action as clerics. Although Gregory of Nyssa, the youngest of the Cappadocian Fathers, was not at all immune to the influence of other curial values, our sources reveal little effect of civic patriotism upon his clerical activity. Therefore our study will concentrate on the older Cappadocians, Bishop Gregory the Elder of Nazianzus, his son Bishop Gregory of Nazianzus and Bishop Basil of Caesarea.

scholarly journals Can We Predicate of and Speak about God, and What Are the Rules for Doing So?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zhyrkova
Keyword(s):  
Considerable Extent ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Theological Discourse

The present study aims to outline the epistemological and logical principles and ground–rules developed during Trinitarian debates by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa: ones which, for the most part, function to define what counts as applicable to and possible for theological discourse when speaking about God. These principles not only underlie Cappadocian Trinitarian theology, but also can be seen as furnishing a key to the proper understanding and interpretation of the Conciliar Trinitarian account, which to a considerable extent was formulated on the basis of and in terms indebted to Cappadocian teaching. As will be argued here, the principles show very clearly the problems associated with addressing God in terms of “essence”—issues that in fact underlie most of the difficulties and incoherences presented by Trinitarian discourse as such.  

The Cappadocians

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers

This chapter examines the theologies of salvation of the Cappadocian Fathers—Basil of Caesarea, his younger brother Gregory of Nyssa, and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus. The theology of the Cappadocians, though with disagreements among the members at points, is relatively unified under the ideas of the believer’s salvation being collective, that it is our nature that is saved.

The Cappadocians and their Christian Philosophy

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-71
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Abstract Theory ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers

This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the philosophy underlying the teaching of the so-called Cappadocian fathers. After an introductory overview of their historical and intellectual background in the trinitarian controversy of the fourth century, the chapter initially turns to Basil of Caesarea. He introduced a distinctive terminological and conceptual framework to articulate his proposal for a solution to the trinitarian controversy. Philosophically, it is geared towards grammar and logic; it is therefore called the ‘abstract’ dimension of the Cappadocian theory. All three Cappadocians accept this abstract theory. Subsequently, the chapter turns to Gregory of Nyssa who in his cosmological and trinitarian writings develops a corresponding theory geared towards physics and ontology. It will be referred to as the ‘concrete’ dimension of Cappadocian philosophy. These two are conceived as complementary but their difference introduces a conceptual tension into the Cappadocian theory.

scholarly journals Listy Ojców Kapadockich do kobiet

Vox Patrum ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 123-146
Author(s):  
Jolanta Dybała
Keyword(s):  
Essential Role ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Proper Functioning ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers ◽  
Female Audience

The letters of the Cappadocian Fathers serve as part of the evidence that in the early Church correspondence of its leaders played an essential role in ensuring its proper functioning. Among the addresses of the epistles of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa we find a few women. They came from diverse backgrounds. Some of them devoted their lives to the service of God, others were lay people. This article seeks to present a part of the bishops’ corres­pondence and answer questions concerning its female audience. The letters were divided into three groups: 1) consolatory ones; 2) parenetic ones; 3) and the rest of them, that because of their thematic variety were grouped together.

Gregory of Nyssa and the Three Gods Problem

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Radde-Gallwitz
Keyword(s):  
Intentional Action ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Action Model

This chapter argues that Gregory’s principal claim in his treatise To Ablabius—On Not Saying ‘Three Gods’ (one of the most widely cited works of patristic Trinitarian theology) is that it is the unity of activity—as opposed to the unity of nature—that defeats the idea that the three hypostases are three gods. Here it is maintained that Gregory is concerned in To Ablabius with the semantics of the term ‘deity’ (θεότης‎), and that his etymological exposition of this term as a name of activity is illuminated by attention to overlooked parallels between this work and Gregory’s second book Against Eunomius. The chapter shows that Gregory understands the unity of divine action by analogy with the unity of any intentional action—an account of Trintarian unity that is here called the ‘intentional action’ model.

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