Life and setting
Gregory is known especially for theological orations on God, Christ and the Holy Spirit and briefly served as bishop in Constantinople during the conflict that culminated in the council of 381.
Cappadocian Fathers • Eastern / Nicene Christianity
Gregory of Nazianzus
c. 329 – c. 390 • Bishop, poet and theologian
Why this person matters
His careful Trinitarian language was highly influential in Eastern Christianity and in later ecumenical theology.
What should not be sanitized
His difficult tenure in Constantinople illustrates the intense personal and political conflicts surrounding fourth-century church offices.