Gregory of Nazianzus

Gregory the Theologian

Lived

c. 329–390

Era

The fathers

Where

Cappadocia

Tradition

The apostolic communities

The five orations that settled the doctrine of the Trinity

A reluctant bishop and briefly, unhappily, archbishop of Constantinople, where he preached to a tiny Nicene congregation in a city almost entirely Arian, and presided for a time over the council of 381 before resigning in disgust at its politics.

Why it matters

The Theological Orations he gave in that small chapel are the classic statement of trinitarian doctrine in Greek, and the east calls him simply the Theologian, a title it gives to two other people. His formula against Apollinaris — that what is not assumed is not healed, so a Christ without a human mind saves no human minds — settled the question. He wanted to be a monk and a poet, said so constantly, and was overruled by everyone around him.

In the record

1. 381 AD Council

   Council of Constantinople

   Presided for a time, then resigned in disgust at its politics

All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.