Gregory of Nyssa

(c. 330–c. 395)

   Bishop, Mystic, Theologian and Saint.

   Gregory was the younger brother of St basil and St macrina. Initially he became a teacher of rhetoric, but then he joined his brother’s community and was consecrated Bishop of Nyssa. He was deposed by an Arian synod in 376, but was reinstated after the death of the Emperor Valens in 378. He took a prominent part in the Councils of Constantinople of both 381 and 394; he was much in demand as a preacher and during his lifetime he did a great deal of travelling. However, Gregory is remembered as a theologian. Influenced by origen, he maintained that the Fall was a consequence of free will and that redemption is effected through the incarnation of Jesus Christ and communicated through the Sacraments. He may well have been the first to compare the atonement with a fish hook on which the devil is impaled. His works include the Sermo Catecheticus, which expounds the doctrines of the incarnation, redemption, Sacraments and Trinity. He also wrote various exegetical and mystical works, which include a treatise on virginity. Although he lacked the practical abilities of his brother and sister, he was undoubtedly the best theologian. He was designated ‘Father of Fathers’ at the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787.

   A. Meredith, The Cappadocians (1995);

   E. Ferguson and A.J. Malherbe, Gregory of Nyssa. The Life of Moses (1978).