TURCESCU, L.,
Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Four of the papers are on
Gregory of Nyssa, others engage with Dionysius the Areopagite, Origen, and Augustine.
Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco, comes immediately to mind.
Yet,
Gregory of Nyssa focuses on points in scripture that interest him theologically while ignoring other points.
He is also well versed in classical figures from the history of Christian spirituality and mystical theology such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis De Sales, Julian of Norwich, the Desert fathers and mothers,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Thomas Merton.
Gregory of Nyssa wrote stunning mystical texts that spoke of inner spiritual ascent by means of a "sober inebriation" from God.
Musurillo, From Glory to Glory:
Gregory of Nyssa's Mystical Writings (1961);
Relying mainly on the letters of Basil of Caesarea,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus, with supplementary material from the many studies of city life in Anatolia, Raymond Van Dam studies the impact of Rome on Cappadocia and the role of Greek civic culture in the area.
Yet to exemplify this patristic view, I would like to turn to
Gregory of Nyssa. Speaking of our adoption as children of God,
Gregory of Nyssa stated that he was aware that divine Scripture uses the word "son" in two ways: In one sense, this appellation is derived "from nature" (ek phuseos); in other senses, it is "adventitious and artificial" (episkeuasten kai epikteton) or the "result of choice" (ek proaireseos).
Also, from the fourth century on, Greek fathers borrowed from Neoplatonic speculation to such an extent that, via
Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius, and Maximus Confessor, these sources have strongly influenced the structure of Christian mysticism.
76), known mainly from the way in which writers such as Aristotle responded to it, but expressed particularly forcefully by
Gregory of Nyssa, who is labelled `the hero of my narrative' (p.
Approaches range from careful philological analysis to a contemporary artist's meditation on the difference between the icon and "rhythmic painting." Despite the diversity of topics, certain ancient thinkers--for example, Origen,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus Confessor--figure prominently.