Gregory of Nyssa
- Lived
- c. 335–c. 395
- Era
- The fathers
- Where
- Cappadocia
- Tradition
- The apostolic communities
Mystical theology, and an outright attack on slavery
The youngest of the three Cappadocians, brother to Basil and Macrina, a less effective bishop than either and a more original thinker than both.
Why it matters
He described the soul's ascent to God as endless progress into an infinity that can never be exhausted, which is his distinctive contribution and has no real precedent. His fourth homily on Ecclesiastes attacks slaveholding as such — not its abuses but the institution, on the ground that a being made in God's image cannot be priced — and stands alone in the ancient world for it. He held out for universal restoration, and unlike Origen was never condemned for it.
In the record
-
381 AD Council
Council of Constantinople
Present, and among the theologians whose work made the settlement possible
All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.