GREGORIUS NYSSENUS
996
GREGORIUS NYSSENUS
his contemporaries. We are chiefl^v indebted for an account of tlioni to Gregory of Nyssa, who flourished a hundred years after Thaumaturgus, who wrote a pan- egyric of liim rather than a life, and who evidently re- corded every wonder of which he received a report without examination. Lardner, however, saj's that he will not assert that Gregorj' worked no miracles. The age of miracles was not entirely concluded, and had tliere been no foundation in truth, the wonderful sto- ries relating to Gregorj' would not have been believed. He is commemorated in the Koman Catholic Church on the 17th of November.
The creed of Gregory is very important, as showing us how clearly defined was at this time the faith of the orthodox. Its authenticity has been disputed, but it is received as genuine \yy liishop Bull and Dr. Water- land : it is as follows: "There is one God, Father of the living Word, the substantial wisdom and power and eternal express image : perfect Parent of one per- fect. Father of the only begotten Son. There is one Lord, One of One, God of God, the express character and image of the Godhead, the effective word, the wis- dom that grasps the sj-stem of the universe, and the power that made every creature, true Son of the true Father, invisible of invisible, incorruptible of incorrup- tible, immortal of immortal, and eternal of eternal. And there is one Holj' Ghost, having his subsistence from God, and shining forth by the Son (viz. to man- hind), perfect image of the perfect Son, life causal of all living, the holy fountain, essential sanctity, author of all sanctification ; in whom God the Father is mani- fested, who is above all and in all, and God the Son who is through all. A perfect Trinitj^ undivided, un- separated in glory, eternity, and dominion. There is, therefore, nothing created or servile in this Trinity, nothing adventitious that once was not, and came in after ; for the Father was never without the Son, nor the Son without the Spirit, but this Trinity abides the same unchangeable and invariable forever." Greg- ory's works, so far as we know an3'thing of them, are these : 1. A Panegi/ricul Oration in praise of Orif/en, pronounced in 239, still extant, and unquestionably his. Dupin saj-s of it "that it is -very eloquent, and that it may be reckoned one of the finest pieces of rhetoric in all antiquity." It is the more admirable, because per- haps it is the first thing of the kind among Christians. 2. A Paraphrase of (he Book nf L'crlesiastes, mentioned by Jerome in his catalogue, and quoted bj' him in his Commentarj' upon that book, and still e.xtant. 3. Je- rome afterwards adds in his catalogue that Gregory wrote several epistles, of which, however, we have now only one remaining, called a Canonical Epistle to an anonymous bishoj), written in 258 or 2G2, consisting, as we now have it, of eleven canons, all allowed to lie genuine except the last, which is doubted of, or plain!}' rejected, as no part of the original epistle, but since added to it. The editions of his works are, 1. That of Vossius (Mayence, 1G04, 4to, with a Life of Greffon/) ; 2. Opera omnia Grerjor. Neocces. Ufacarii et Basilii, Gr. et Lat. (I'aris, 1G22, fol.); 3. Migne's edition, Patrol. Cursus Complet., vol. x. This is the best edition. A life of Gregorj' has been published by Nic. Mar. Pal- lavicini (Koine, 1614). His writings are also given in Bit). Max. Patrum, vol. iii. See Lardner, Works, ii, G08-642 ; Hook, Ecclesiastical Biography, v, ."90 ; Du- pin,^cc/. Wi'iters, cent, iii; Neander, Ch. History, i, 71G- 720 ; Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. bks. vi, vii ; Cave, Hist. Lit. anno 2.j4 ; Fabricius, Bibl. Grceca, vii, 249 ; I?oye, Diss. (fe Greg. Thaumat. (Jena, 1703, 4to); Greg. Kj'ssenus, I 'ita (Jreg. Thaumat. 0pp. t. iii, p. 53G ; Mosheim, Ch. Hist, i, 170. ■
Gregorius Nyssenus (Gregory of Xyssa), one of tlic fatliers of the Eastern Church, was boro at C»- sarca in (Jappadocia about 332. He was a younger brother of Basil, enjoj'ed a lilieral educatiort under able masters, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in literature and science. He excelled in rhetoric, and
was successful both as a professor and pleader. He married a woman of virtue and piety, named Theose- bia, of whom Gregory of Nazianzus speaks in high commendation. He appears to have officiated as a reader in a church, and to have been originally intend- ed for the ecclesiastical life, but his passion for rheto- ric, to the study of which he had devoted his youth, haunted him so incessantly that, unable to withstand its continual allurements, he, for a time, forsook his clerical duties, and gave lessons to jouth in this his favorite art. Gregorj' of Nazianzus heard with grief of this dereliction in the brother of his friend, and wrote him a letter, still preserved (Kpist. 43), which recalled him to duty. No sooner was Basil elevated to the episcopal chair of Cassarca in 370, than he summoned I his brother Gregorj' to assist him in the duties of his j new diocese; but the bishopric of Nyssa, a city of Cap- padocia, near Lesser Armenia, becoming vacant the fol- lowing year, Basil gave up the pleasure of his brother's aid and society, and consecrated him to it against his will in 372. In this see he signalized his zeal in de- fence of the orthodox faith, in opposition to the Arians. He drew upon himself the vengeance of that party, and was banished from his see \)y the emperor Valens about 374. On the death of Valens in 378, he was recalled by Gratian, and I'estored to the possession of his see. A council, probably that of Antioch, ha'ving ordered Greg- ory of Nyssa to reform the Church of Arabia, and Pal- estine bordering upon it, he visited Jerusalem and the holy places, as well to perform a vow as to settle peace and tranquillitA' among them who governed the Church of Jerusalem. For his greater convenience in this jour- ne}' the emperor allowed him the use of the public car- riages, so that, having a wagon at his own disposal, it served him and those who accompanied him both as a church and a monastery ; they sang psalms, and ob- served their fasts as the}' travelled. He visited Beth- lehem, Mount Calvarj', the holj' Sepulchre, and the Mount of Olives ; however, he was not much edified b}' the inhabitants of the country, who, he saj's, were ver}' corrupt in their manners, and notoriously guiltj' of all sorts of crimes, especially murder. Therefore, being afterwards consulted \>y a monk of Cr.ppadocia concerning the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he declares "that he does not think it proper for such as have re- nounced the world, and have resolved to arrive at Christian perfection, to undertake these journeys. Ad- vise your brethren, therefore, rather to leave the body to go to the Lord, than to leave Cappadocia to go to Pal- estine." This was the opinion of Gregory of Nyssa concerning pilgrimages. In 381 and the suljsequent years, Gregory attended the Council of Constantino- ple. In this citj' he pronounced the funeral oration of his sister Macrina, and three j-ears afterwards he was deprived bj' death of his wife, a woman of many virtues, who, in her later years, devoted herself to re- ligious duties, and has been supposed by some to have become a deaconess. His own death took place in the beginning of the year 400.