Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus (329–89), monk and bishop. The son of the bishop of Nazianzus (Cappadocia), Gregory received the best education available, at the University of Athens, where Basil, his lifelong friend, and Julian, the future emperor (the ‘Apostate’), were fellow-students. In 359 he left Athens and became a monk, leading a solitary life with Basil as his companion in beautiful surroundings at Pontus. Their frequent discussions on theology and monasticism bore fruit in the active organization of Basil and the theological depth and penetration of the contemplative Gregory. After two years Gregory went home to help his father (then aged eighty) to manage his diocese and estates. Against his own inclination he was ordained priest. He fled to Basil for 10 weeks, but eventually returned to his new duties; he wrote an apologia for his flight, which became a classic on the nature and duties of the priesthood.
Meanwhile Basil had become archbishop of Caesarea. Faced with a rival at Tyana, he had Gregory consecrated bishop of Sasima, an unhealthy border-town, in order to maintain his own influence in a disputed area. This episode caused a quarrel between the two: Basil accused Gregory, who never visited Sasima, of slackness, while Gregory was not prepared to live in a hostile and unpleasant town, still less to become a pawn in ecclesiastical politics. Later Basil and Gregory were reconciled, but their friendship never quite recovered its former warmth. Meanwhile, Gregory continued as coadjutor at Nazianzus to his father, who died in 374. But he always desired the solitary life and his health broke down in 375. He lived in Seleucia for the next five years.
After the death of the persecuting emperor Valens, peace returned to the Church, but much reconstruction was necessary, especially at Constantinople itself. For over 30 years the capital had been dominated by Arians; orthodox believers even lacked a church. Neighbouring bishops sent for Gregory to restore its Christian community. Once again he protested, but finally consented, although the intrigue and violence of Constantinople were utterly repugnant to this scholarly contemplative. In spite of his evident poverty and premature old age, the next few years were the most important in his life.
He transformed his house into a church; there he preached the famous sermons on the Trinity which gave him the surname of Theologian, i.e. one who penetrates in faith and understanding to the Divinity of Christ. Through his skilful and profound teaching his reputation spread, his audience increased. Arians attacked him by slander, insults, and violence but he persisted in preaching the faith and doctrine of Nicea. In 381, under the emperor Theodosius, the Council of Constantinople finally established and confirmed the conclusions of Nicea as authentic Christian doctrine. Both in this and in its other doctrinal conclusions Gregory played an important part. During this council he was appointed bishop of Constantinople and installed in the basilica of Santa Sophia. Opposition to him, however, did not cease; he soon resigned for the sake of peace, his most important work of restoring orthodoxy in the capital was done.
He returned to his home town of Nazianzus, still without a bishop, and administered the see until a successor was appointed. In c.384 he retired to his estates and spent his time reading and writing, enjoying his garden with its fountains and shady groves. To these years belong his religious poems and his autobiography. He died at Nazianzus. His relics were translated, first to Constantinople and later to St. Peter's Rome. As one of the four great Eastern Doctors his cult has been universal. Feast: In the East, 25 and 30 January; in the West, formerly 9 May (translation on 11 June); but since 1969, with Basil, on 2 January.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- AA.SS. Maii II (1680), 369–459: works in P.G., xxxv–xxxviii, Theological Orations (ed. A. J. Mason, 1899); Letters ed. P. Gallay (
2 vols. , with French tr., 1964–7) and Eng. tr. in Post-Nicene Christian Fathers, ser. II, vol. vii (1894). French biography by P. Gallay (1943); see also J. H. Newman, Historical Sketches, iii (1903), 50–94 and R. R. Ruether, Gregory of Nazianzus: Rhetor and Philosopher (1969). D. F. Winslow, The Dynamics of Salvation (1979); F. W. Norris, Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning (1991); B.L.S., i. 13–19
