Exploring Gregory of Nyssa

This collection brings together an interdisciplinary team of historians, classicists, philosophers, and theologians for a holistic exploration of the thought of Gregory of Nyssa. Topics covered—some here examined for the first time—include: Gregory’s role in the main philosophical and religious controversies of his era, such as his ecclesiastical involvement in the Neo-Nicene apologetical movement; his complex relationships—for example with his brother Basil of Caesarea and with Gregory of Nazianzus; Gregory’s debt to Origen, but also the divergence between the two thinkers, and their relationships to Platonism; his wider philosophy and metaphysics; deep questions in philosophy of language such as the nature of predication and singular terms that inform our understanding of Gregory’s thought; the role of metaphysical concepts such as the nature of powers and identity; the nature of the soul, and connection to theological issues such as resurrection; questions that are still of interest in the philosophy of religion today, such as divine impassibility and the nature of the Trinity; returning to more immediately humane concerns, Gregory also has profound thoughts on topics such as vulnerability and self-direction. All of this paints a picture of Gregory as a groundbreaking philosopher-theologian.